Chap. 39. efn Expofition upon the Book of o B. Verf. 9. than an Vnicorn. But the C-ceks generally are more conflant 'in reaching it anV'nicore, than a Rhinocerote; and in this al- ' mot} all interpreters, both they who tranflate the Scriptures in- ' to the Latine tongue, and they who tranflate them into their ' Mother tongue, follow them, and do fo too ; the Ra6bins air() ' go the fame way. And therefore one of them writing upon 'thofe words of eiT'tofes concerning 3ofepb (-Dent. 33. 17. ) His horns are like the horns of ( Reem) an Vnicorn ( which 'feems tooppofe this opinion which makes Reem to be the Uni- ' corn, a beaPof one horn ; he I fay, to avoid this difficulty ) ' faith that place is to be underPood by an Enallage or change of ' the number, the word Ream Unicorn, being put for Reemiw, Unicorns ; with which anfwer feveral others wipe off that ob- ' je&ion. Nor doch it a little help this inrerpreation that moll of thole marks, which the Scripture takes notice of in that beaft called ' Reem, namely, his extream fiercenefs, great ftrenyth, and the ' extraordinary magnitude of his horn, are all afcribed byAu- ' [hors to the Unicorn. Yet to me this interpretation feems the lets probable, be- ' caute Unicorns are found only in India, fay they, who have writ- ' ten of them. Now it is not likely, that M David, and the ' Prophets fhould fpeak fo oftenof,and take 1 militudes from,and. that God himfelf fhould fpend fo much time in a difcourfe with 'lob about a creature unknown in their Countries. And it. muaneeds be, . that he was there ( and to them) unknown, if ' no Country nearer than India produced the Unicorn ; for the ' world was not fo di'icovered in thole times, by mutual com- merce, that living creatures , and things proper to Nations, (hould be familiarIy or much known, inNations far remote. Of ' this we have a clear inflance in the Elephant, of which famous ' animal, fo ufeful to man for various fervices, and fo abounding many parts of Africa and Af :a, the Ifraelites feem ro have had little or no knowledge at all which we may well conic- ' eure by that deep filence in Scripture concerning him, there 'being no mention made of the Elephantany where but in the `book of Yob: And job was not anlfraelite, nor an iniabitant of 'Canaan, but of Arabia ; whole neighbours on theother fide of ' the Red-tea, the csEthsopians and T'roglodites abounded with ' Elephants, 34-9
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=