456 Chap. 17. An Expofition upon the Bookof JOB. Verf. 6. Etignie ge- henneprint era, Rab. Da.Pag. Sum velut Ge- henna. ,q. d. Efiomme vivum adjudi- cànt Gehenna., tel miferando dimjut mortis generi. Sed res hoc quadrare non parejlnom (g- rit IUir vanit Ifrael, and the name Tophet was not given it till Come Ages oehenao min, after that, nor till the Idolatry of the Jews was grown to its quarn lob. its height ( which was not prefently, but by certain degres ) for ned.lYMecc. that 341 oftheirs in offering their Children to that Idol feems tobe the higheft growth and topebranch ofit.And therefore I parrs this Expofition. Sixthly,The word Tophet is conceived to let forth the man- ner of a punishment or torture ufed in thofe times : Some Ma- Eri i[r,oroph lefa6ors were adjudged to have their bodies stretchedout by frgn icarerpm- the four quarters uponan Engine, and then to be beaten up- pani;atumi.e on their bellies to fuch a number of ftroakesas the Law , or hominent qui fentence of the judge appointed. Which manner of torture pu uscf illud was called by the Greeks Tympanization, or as we may exprefs Grceci, vacant it in our language Drumming, and the perfon adjudged to Wismvev, La tini quoque Tympanum. Bold. Tympani{atio illa videtur the qua rent per quataor membradrflen. tut bacibá ad numerum in ventre tan- quam tympa- numpercutiei batur.Id. cry of the Children, and Tophet from the beating of Drums to drown the cry of the Children. And upon this account foie learned Tranflators render the fence thus, He bath made me a by mord, and 1 am as Hell: that is, they judge me worthy of Hell and damnation ; yea, that lam a very Hell, I am as Tophet before them ; or they look upon me, as a man in Hell aleady : But I find this interpretation difcharged from this Text upon good reafon , efpecially by a demonflrationof the invalidity of that reafon upon which it is grounded , either by the firtì Difcoverers or maintainers of it. For the Ido- latry offacrificing Children to Moloch in Tophet, and the fire in the Valley ofHinnon werenot heard of in the time ofJob the firti mention of the Valley of Hinnon is , folk. 18. i6, at the diftributionofthe Land ofCanaan among the Tribes of that puníthment was laid to be Drummed , when it was in- fliaed upon him, becaufe he was beaten upon his body like a Daum, and beaten alto like a Drum in meafure, or to a cers tain number of ftroakes , the greatest number not exceeding fourty, as the Judicial Law of Mofesappointed, Deut. 25. 2, 3. which may be a confirmation of this Notion upon Job's Text , to which alfo we may add the prefent cuftom of the Eaftern Countries:efpecially among the Turks,who common- lypunith their Captives andGallyflaves &etching them naked upon a broad Plank board, and giving them many cruel ftroakes upon their bellies : but above all, the Author ofthe Epifile to the Hebrews gives a clear light to this, Hebr.r 1.35. where
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