l'art I. P R 0 S 0 P 0 P E I A. trary to this is that?"'""""''' (zoopoiifts) quickening orliving of theSeed cail: int~ the Earth, by which its Jludding or Growth is noted, as m the followmg Verfes,. Ezek. xxxi. 9· Envy or Emulation; Verfe 14. Exalting or Elevatzon of Heart and drmkmg of Water Verfe 15. Mourning or Grief of Mind; Verfe 16. Confolation and Comfort are at;ributed to 'I'rees, by a certain Profopopeia and in a Way of Comparifon of a goodly Tree with the :King of Affiria. See Ho( ix. 6. Joel i. 1o. '!'he nr..v Wine is ajhamedor blujhed, that is, there is fo bad a Vintage or VVine Harvdr, that it is afhamcd, becaufe it did not anfwer the Pepple's Expectation. In the fame Verfe Languifhing or a Difeafe is attributed to Oil, which propedy belongs to Man, Pfal-, vi. 2, 3· but u;eta• phorically denotts a ~}Nil and Devaflatton of the Frmt of the Earth, as Ifa. xv1. 8. &c. lt is faid, Habak. 111. 17. '!'hat the Labor of the 0/zve foal/ !te, fo the Hebrew, when it anfwers not the Defires of Men, but fails their Expectation of much Fruit, which is alfo afcribed to nc·w Wine, Hof ix. 2. lt is faid, Pfal lviii. 9· Before your Pots can feel the '!'horns hejhalltake them away as with a Whirlwind, that is, before your Pots grow hot with a Fire of Thorns (which were wont to be ufed) for that Fire lail:s but a little while, and will not boil the Flefh, fo fhall they quickly perifh, &c. 4· Some Things are fpoken of inanimate Creatures, which properly belong to a livina Man (or more generall)' to living Creatures.) A'i, ( 1~) Of dead Men, Gen. iv. 1 o. 'The Voice of thy Brother's Blood crieth unto me from the Ground. Hear a Voice and Crying i> attnbuted to the Blood of Oain Abel by a very weiD"hty Emphajis. As to the l'hrafe of a Voice and Crying directed to God, it mani– feflly intimates thefe two Things. Firft, that he is a juft Judge, and the Avenger of Wickednefs, and therefore the violent Murder ofAbet, could not but come to-him for J uflice on the Affaf!in, a~ it i~ faid in the like Cafe, 2 Chrpn. xxiv. 22. The Lord look upon it, and require it, viz. the Blood of Zechariab. The Second is, that he is a gracious loving Father and Defender of fuch as are his, and minds them as well in Life as in l)eath; for he had not only a Refpect for Abet when alive, but hearkens alfo to the Cry of hiS Blood when dead, according eo Rom. xiv. 8. Whetber we live or die, we are the Lord's. . Some put an E;!iphajis in BLOODS being in the plural Number, intimating as it were, thar there wae many Oain in Abet, tl•~t is, fuch Offspring as he might have had, which facitly call for J uthce, hence theChaldee tranOates it-'l'heVoice of theSeeds of thyBrother's Blood which were to come, and iffue from thy Brother, but feems to be far fetched. By the plural Word of Bloods, are noted Slaughters, becaufe the Blood gufhin<>" from the Veins li::atters into diverfe Pans. Pfal. v. 6. '!'be Lord will abhor tbe Mrm of 0 B/oods and Deceit, fo the H ebrew. Pfal. li. 14- Deliver me from Bloods, we tranOate it Blood– guiltinefs. Hof iv. 2. 'They break out and Bloods tou.'h Bloods. But here Blood violently fhed 1s underlrood by a .lynecdoche, and Matth. XXIII. 35· The Blood ofAbel is expreffed in 1he fingular Number, "'I""' (haima) . As to the Senfe and Connexion, becaufe Cain did not only not con!'efs his fin , but alfo impudently deny that he was concerned in the Care or Keeping of his Brother, God deals more openly, faying: '!'he Voice of thy . Brother's Blood cries to me from the Earth, that is, thy Brother is llain; I do not vainly inquire where he is, his Blood demands Vengeance of me, and I am concerned to call his Murderer to Account, therefore fpeak plainly what haft thou done? that is, Why d1dfl thou dare or prefume to lay v1olent Hands on h1m ? Thou fayeli, thou art not his Keeper, as if the Quell:ion were whether thou haft kept him ? Tell rather what thou hall defigned againft him ; this is the Paraphra(e of Mufculus upon the P lace. Tq this Place, Heb. xii. 24. refers, where the crying Blood of dead Abel is fairly com– pared to the living Blood of Cbrift our Mediator and lnterreffor*. Ifa. xiv. g, I Q. The D£..1D are [eignc:.d to come from Hell or the Graves, to de– ride_the Pride and Haughtineli of that inhuman K1ng ofBaby/on, fpeakin<>" to him when fallen from hi-s Greatne(s, apd upbr~idipg him for his monflrous Pride, 0 and 11 1 amefuJ Downfall. Jer. xxxi. 15. Rnchel, the Mother of ]Qjeph and B'enjamin, IonD" before dead is brought in. as bitwly weeping for the Captiv•ty of the People; which Prophecy is a)– ledge~ to expref.> the Cruelty of Herod's Maff:1cre of the Infants, Matt. ii. 1 ~. for the Agreement of that tyrannical Fact with that Place. Rachei's SepLJlchre was near Beth- • Gram. Sacr. p. 261. lehem,
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