P R 0 S 0 P 0 P E I A. Book I. iehem, in which and the adjacent Places, that mofl: cruel Villainy was committed, &c. See alfo Ezek. xxxii. 21, &c. 2. Of other Things void of Life and Sot1l, Gen. iv. 11. A;id now art thou curfed from the Earth, whic-h bath opened her JVIouth to receive thy Brother's Blood from thy Hand; by this Profopopeia_ the Wickednefs of Cain is aggravated, as if he had fa id, the very Earth though defl:mne of Sen!e and Reafon, yet was more humane and kind to thy .Brother than thou werr, becaufe it received and laid up, that Blood which thou hafl: fpilt, from the Sight of Men, lefl: it fhould caufe Horror in them. Others lay, <hat this Speech denotes the extream Grievoufnefs of his Wickednefs, and the Horror of his guilty Confcience, rendering the very fenfelefs Creatures his Enemies, as if he had faid, the very Earth which (as it were) with open Mouth received the Blood of thy Brother from thy Hand, will account thee as execrable, which agrees fairly with the following Words. Gen. xlvii. 19. Death is ettributed to the Land, which denotes Defolation. Exod. ix. -I 8. it is laid of Mount Sinai, that Jehovah appearing, it quaked, that is, it had fuch Commo– tions, as if, like a Man, it had trembled for Fear-Levit. xviii. 18. Spuing out its Inba– .l;ita;lfs, is attributed to the Land, which fignifies their Expulfion for their Wickednefs. Deut. xxxii. 42, God is faid to make his Arrows drunk with Blood, that is, that out of his juft Wrath, he would f<nd the Enemies of the Land, to kill the wicked and re– bellious People. See Ifa. xxxiv. 5· Jer. xlvi. 10. Jojh. xxiv. 27. And Jofhua faid unto all the People, Behold this Stonejhall be a Witnefs zmto us: For it bath heardall the Words of the Lord, wbich be Jpake unto us, &c. The Stone ereEted there is by a Profopopeia, faid to hear, becaufe it was prefent (as it were a Wirnefs) and was appointed, a; a Memorial and tefl:imonial Sign of the Covenant God then made with lm People. • Judg. v. 20. '!'hey fought from Heaven, the Stars in their Courfes (or Degrees) fought againfi Sifera.-The Stars are faid to fight, becaufe they were Inftruments of ex– citing thofe Hails and Srorms, which God probably ufed againfl: his]; nemiesJofephus Jays, that when the Canaanites encountered with the Ifrae!ites, a violent Shower fell, and much Rain and Hail by the Force of the w;nd was fiercely driven into the Ca– naanites Faces, fo that their Bows and Slings became unprofitable and ufdefs, neither could they, being fo benumbed with Cold, handle their Swords; which Tempeft, neverrhelefs, did no way prejudice the Ifraelites. Brentius thus expounds it, we limply expound it that God was no way favorable, but an Enemy to the Enrerprize of Sifera, becaufe he dwells in Heaven and terrified the Haft and Chariots of Sifera, &c. Chap. iv. 15. And whereas the Stars' are faid to fight, it carries the !hew of a Proverb, figni– fying that no profperous Fortune was on Sijera's Side, for when any ill Luck betides Men, they are wont to fay, that no Star fhines upon them, or that the Srars refill: them, by which is meant, that all Creatures both earthly and heavenly threaten their Dt·ftruEtion. Junius and 'J'remellius tranGate that the Stars (e fuis aggeribus) from their Sconces or Bulwarks, fought againfl: Sifera, that is, from the fuperior Regions of the Air, a Speech tranGated from Soldiers fighting from higher !' laces. Job iii. 8. EYE-LIDS, in the Hebrew Text, are attribmed to the Morning, by which its early Beams are underftood, or the firfl: fhining of its Rays anfing from rhe approaching Sun; a Metaphor taken from one newly awake that lifts up his Eye-lids, or as others fay, from the fwift Motion and Vibration of the Eye-lids, becaufe the Sun-beams move fwiftly, till they are diffufed to the Ends of the Hen ifphere. Job xxxi. 38. If my Land cry againji rne, or that the Furrows thereof weep. The good Man declares that he is ready to bear Judgment, Cenfure, or Curfes, if any Perfon can jufl:ly complain, that he has done them Injury; which by an elegent Profopopeia he ex– preffes; the Explication follows, Verfe 39· If I have eaten the Fruits thereof without Mone)', or have caufed the Souls of the Owners thereof to expire, breathe out, or grieve, fo the Hebrew. lllyricus fays, that the Land and Furrows are put metonymically for the Hufbandmen, but the former Explication is the befl:. See Job xxxviii. 7· with Pfal. cxlviii. 2, 3, &c. A NA'f'IVIir, or Birth, is attributed to Rain, Dew, Ice and Froji, Job xxxviii. 28, 29, for their ProduEtion from God, where there is alfo an Anthropopathy. Pfal.
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