the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel,' -1 Sam. xxvii. 8, 9. David made a farther slaughter and conquest of them at Ziglag,-1 Sam. xxx: and at last the sons of Simeon, in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, smote the rest of the Amalekites that were escaped, and dwelt in their habitations,' -1 Chron. iv. 41, 42, 43. And where is the name of the nation of Amalek subsisting at this day? What history, what tradition concerning them is remaining any where? They are but just enough known and remembered to shew, that what God had threatened he hath punctually fulfilled; I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; and his latter end shall be that he perish for ever.'

Then he looked on the Kenites; and took up his parable, and said, strong is thy dwelling place, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock. Nevertheless the Kenite shall be wasted, until Asshur shall carry thee away captive,'-ver. 21, 22. Commentators are perplexed, and much at a loss to say with any certainty who these Kenites were. There are Kenites mentioned, Gen xv. 19, among the Canaanitish nations, whose land was promised unto Abraham; and Le Clerc imagines "that those Kenites were the people here intended." "But the Canaanitish nations are not the subjects of Balaam's prophecies; and the Canaanitish nations were to be rooted out, but these Kenites were to continue as long as the Israelites themselves, and to be carried captive with them by the Assyrians; and in the opinion of Bochart, "those Kenites as well as the Kenizzites became extinct in the interval of time which passed between Abraham and Moses, being not mentioned by Joshua in the division of the land, nor reckoned among the nations conquered by him."+ The most probable account of these Kenites I conceive to be this. Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, is called in one place the priest of Midian,'-Exod. iii. 1, and in another the Kenites,'-Judg. i. 16. We may infer therefore, that the Midianites and the Kenites were the same, or at least that the Kenites were some of the tribes of Midian. The Midianites are said to be confederates with the

* Hi, antiquiores illi Kenæi intelligendi.—Le Clerc in locum. [Translated_in the text.]

+ Horum ego nomen deletum fuisse putaverim in eo temporis intervallo, quod inter Abrahami et Mosis ævum intercessit. Id certe necesse est, in obscuro latuisse tempore Josuæ, qui nec in divisione terræ, nec in censu gentium a se devictarum illorum meminit uspiam.-Phaleg. lib. 4, cap. 36, col 307. [Translated in the text.]

Moabites in the beginning of the story, and the elders of Midian as the elders of Moab invited Balaam to come and curse Israel; and one would naturally expect some notice to be taken of them or their tribes in the course of these prophecies. Now of the Kenites it appears that part followed Israel,-Judg. i. 16: but the greater part, we may presume, remained among the Midianites and Amalekites. We read in 1 Sam. xv. 6, that there were Kenites dwelling among the Amalekites, and so the Kenites are fitly mentioned here next after the Amalekites. Their situation is said to be strong and secure among the mountains, Strong is thy dwelling place, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock;' wherein is an allusion to the name, the same word in Hebrew signifying a nest and a Kenite. • Nevertheless the Kenite shall be wasted, until Asshur carry thee away captive.' The Amalekites were to be utterly destroyed, but the Kenites were to be carried captive. And accordingly, when Saul was sent by divine commission to destroy the Amalekites, he ordered the Kenites to depart from among them, 1 Sam. xv. 6,And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for ye shew ed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt;' for the kindness which some of them shewed to Israel their posterity was saved. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.' This showeth that they were wasted, and reduced to a low and weak condition; and as the kings of Assyria carried captive not only the Jews, but also the Syrians, 2 Kings, xvi. 9, and several other nations, 2 Kings, xix. 12, 13; it is most highly probable that the Kenites shared the same fate with their neighbours, and were carried away by the same torrent; and especially as we find some Kenites mentioned among the Jews after their return from captivity, 1 Chron. ii. 55.

The next verse, ver, 23-And he took up his parable, and said, Alas, who shall live when God doth this!' is by several commentators referred to what precedes; but it relates rather to what follows. And he took up his parable, and said:' this preface is used, when he enters upon some new subject. Alas, who shall live when God doth this!' this exclamation implies, that he is now prophesying of very distant and very calamitous times. And ships,' or rather for ships,' as the particle often signifies, and this instance among others is cited by Noldius.* For ships shall come

Noldii Part 137

from the coasts of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish for ever.'-ver. 24.

6

Chittim was one of the sons of Javan, who was one of the sons of Japheth, by whose posterity the isles of the Gentiles were divided.'-Gen. x. 5, and peopled, that is Europe, and the countries to which the Asiatics passed by sea, for such the Hebrews called islands. Chittim is used for the descendants of Chittim, as Asshur is put for the descendants of Asshur, that is, the Assyrians: but what people were the descendants of Chittim, or what country was meant by the coasts of Chittim,' it is not so easy to determine. The critics and commentators are generally divided into two opinions; the one asserting that Macedonia, and the other that Italy was the country here intended; and each opinion is recommended and authorized by some of the first and greatest names in learning; as not to mention any others, Grotius and Le Clerc* contend for the former, Bochart and Vitringat are strenuous for the latter. But there is no reason why we may not adopt both opinions; and especially as it is very well known and agreed on all hands, that colonies came from Greece to Italy; and, as Josephus saith," that all islands and most maritime places are called Chethim by the Hebrews;" and as manifest traces of the name are to be found in both countries, the ancient name of Macedonia having been Macettia, and the Latins having before been called Cetii. What appears most probable is, that the sons of Chittim settled first in Asia Minor, where were a people called Cetëi, and a river called Cetium, according to Homer and Strabo.|| From Asia they might pass over into the island Cyprus, which Josephus saith was possessed by Chethim, and called Chethima; and where was also the city Cittium, famous for being the birth-place of Zeno, the founder of the sect of the Stoics, who was therefore called the Cittiean. And from thence they might send forth colonies into Greece and

* Grotius in loc. et Clericus in loc. et in Genes. x. 4.

+ Bocharti Phaleg. lib. 3, cap. 5, et Vitringa in Iesaiam. xxiii. 1.

4 Και ἀπ' αὐτης νησοι τε πασαι, και τα πλείω των παρα θάλασσαν, χεθιμ ύπο Εβραίων BoμT. Et ab ea [Chethima] insulæ omnes, et pleraque loca maritima ab Hebræis Chethim dicuntur.-Antiq. lib. 1, cap. 6, p. 17. Edit. Hudson, Vol. I. [Translated in the text.]

Vide Bochartum ibid.

Homer. Odyss. XI. 520. et Scholiast. ibid. Strabo. Geograph. lib. 13, p. 915, 916, Vol. 2. Edit. Amstel. 1707.

Chethimus autem

Η Χεθιμος δε Κεθιμα την νησον έσχεν. Κυπρος άυτη νυν καλείται. Chetimam insulam occupavit; ipsa vero nunc Cyprus vocatur.-Josephus ibid. [But Chethim possessed the island of Chethima; the same is now called Cyprus.]

Italy. This plainly appears, that wherever the land of Chittim' or the isles of Chittim' are mentioned in scripture, there are evidently meant some countries or islands in the Mediterranean.

Isaiah, prophesying of the destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar, saith, xxiii. 1,- Howl, ye ships of Tarshish,' that is, the ships trading from Tyre to Tartessus in Spain; for Tyre is laid waste from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them;' the news is brought first to the countries and islands in the Mediterranean, and from thence it is conveyed to Spain: and afterwards, ver. 12,'Arise, pass over to Chittim, there also shalt thou have no rest ;' the inhabitants might fly from Tyre, and pass over to the countries and islands in the Mediterranean, but even there they should find no secure place of refuge; God's judgments should still pursue them. Jeremiah, expostulating with the Jews concerning their causeless revolt, saith, ii. 10,- Pass over to the isles of Chittim, and see,' that is, the isles in the Mediterranean, which lay westward of Judah; and send unto Kedar,' which was in Arabia, and lay eastward of Judea; and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing;' go search east and west, and see if you can find any such instance of apostacy as this of the Jews. Ezekiel, describing the luxury of the Tyrians even in their shipping, saith, xxvii. 6, according to the true reading and interpretation of the words,*'they made their benches of ivory, inlaid on box, brought out of the isles of Chittim,' that is, out of the isles of the Mediterranean, and most probably from Corsica, which was famous above all places for box, as Bochart hath proved by the testimonies of Pliny, Theophrastus, and Diodorus. Daniel, foretelling the exploits of Antiochus Epiphanes, saith, xi. 29, 30, that he should come towards the south,' that is, invade Egypt; 'but the ships of Chittim shall come against him, therefore he shall be grieved and return ;' the ships of Chittim' can be none other than the ships of the Romans, whose ambassadors† coming from Italy to Greece, and from thence to Alexandria, obliged Antiochus, to his great grief and disappointment, to depart from Egypt without accomplishing his designs. The author of the first book of Maccabees, speaking of 'Alexander son of Philip the Macedonian,' saith, i. 1, that he 'came out of the land of Chittim :' and afterwards, viii. 5, Perseus,' the last king of Macedon, he calleth king of the Cittims.

* Bochart ibid. et Hierozoic. pars prior, lib. 2, cap. 24.

+ Vide Livii, lib. 45, cap 10, 11, 12. Polyb. Legat. p. 915, 916, edit. Casaubon.

:

By these instances it appears, 'that the land of Chittim' was a general name for the countries and islands in the Mediterranean and therefore when Baalam said that'ships should come from the coast of Chittim,' he might mean either Greece or Italy, or both, the particular names of those countries being at that time perhaps unknown in the east: and the passage may be the better understood of both, because it was equally true of both, and Greece and Italy were alike the scourges of Asia.

And shall afflict Asshur.'-Asshur, as we noted before, signifies properly the descendants of Asshur, the Assyrians: but "their name was of as large extent as their empire, and the Syrians and Assyrians are often confounded together, and mentioned as one and the same people."* Now it is so well known as to require no particular proof, that the Grecians, under the command of Alexander the Great, subdued all those countries. The Romans afterwards extended their empire into the same regions; and, as Dion informs us, Assyria, properly so called, was conquered by the emperor Trajan.+

And shall afflict Eber.'-Two interpretations are proposed of the word Eber,-either the posterity of a man so called, or the people who dwelt on the other side of the river Euphrates. If by Eber we understand the posterity of Eber, as by Asshur the posterity of Asshur, which appears a very natural construction; then Balaam, who was commissioned to bless Israel at first, prophesied evil concerning them at last, though under another name: but men and manners usually degenerate in a long course of time; and as the virtues of the progenitors might entitle them to a blessing, so the vices of the descendants might render them obnoxious to a curse. However we may avoid this seeming inconsistence, if we follow the other interpretation, and by Eber understand the people who dwelt on the other side of the river Euphrates, which sense is given by Onkelos,‡ and is approved by several of the ancients, as well as by many of the most able commentators among the moderns, and is particularly enforced by a learned professor, of eminent skill in the oriental languages.§ The two members of the period would Tam latè patuit hoc nomen quam latè patuit imperium,-multi veterum Syros et Assyrios pro iisdem habent.—Bochart. Phaleg. lib. 2, cap. 3, col. 72. [Translated in the text.7

† Dionis Hist. Rom. lib. 68, p. 783, edit. Leunclay. Hanov. 1606. Et subjicent trans flumen Euphratem.-Onk.

river Euphrates.]

Hydo Hist. Relig. Vet. Pers. cap. 2, p. 52-57.

[And they shall subdue beyond the