An Expoftion ofthe Cr AP II. for Rule, Empire, and Authority. 'El, uecive+ Veal, is to be in Place ofPower; and. xtáT& £x r is tobe able to difpofe of what it relates unto. And in both fenfes, we (hall fee that the Devilis raid to have xpái& añ Sarclra, thepower ofdeath. Now there is not anynotion under which the Devil is more known unto, or fpoken of among the Jews, than thisof his having the power of death : his common appellation among them is, nogt -Rho, the Angel ofdeath. And they call him Sa- marl alfo. So theTargam ofJonathan, äI1101 72170'714Mrt 15/1i1ä norm, Gen. 3. g. And the womantaw Samael the Angel of death. AndMsimon : More Nebu. lib. 2. cap. 30. tells usfrom the Midrafh, that Samael rode upon the Serpent when he deceived Eve that isy ufed him as his,inftrument in that work. And moil of them acknowledge Sather, to be principally intended in the temptationofEve, though Aben Ezra deny it in his Comment on the words, and difputeagainfl it. And he addes, that by Samael, the Angel of death, they underftand Sathan, which he proves from the words of their trife men, who fay in fome places, that Sathan would have hindred Abraham from facrificingoflfaae; and inothers, that Samael wouldhave done it , which proves that it is one and the fame who by both names is intended. And hence they ufuallycall him, =mown `i1 wtil yurn two, the wicked Samael, the Prince of aUthe devils ; and fay ofhim, rep th t to o+1.t `,lino, Samael brought death upon all the world. So that by this Samael, or Angel of death, it is evident that they intend him who is termed ó 8tdßor&, as the Prince and Ruler ofthe refl. So alto they fpeak exprefly in Baba Bathra, dijfinc. Hafhatepbir. y1;1 - still mom `(tOorlin Tow íi17 ppoo "1f2 Rabbi Simeonfaid thefame is Sathan, and the Angel of death, and the evilfigment ; that is the caufe and authorof it.' And they call him the Angel(fdeath onmany accounts, theconfederation whereof may give us Come light into the reafon of the Exprefon here ufed by the Apofile. Theffrff is that before mentioned, namely that by his meant death entredandcame upon all the world. His temptation was the Eft occafion ofdeath : and for that reafon is hetermed by our Saviour, ,i,@puoroar;poc áexñs, yob. '8. 44. a murtberer from the beginning. And herein he had thepower of death, prevailing to renderall mankind obnoxious to the fentence and firokeofie. Secondlf, Becaute he is employed in great and lignal Judgments to inffifb death on men. He is the head of thofeO+y1 evil Angels, who flew the Egyptians, Pfal.78 49. So in Pfal. '91, 5. thofe words, Thou (halt not fear, t=ot+ 91y+ ro, from the arrow that flieth by day, are rendred by the Targum, tit)t'1 +1w12ii11D to-no, from the *row ofthe Angel ofdeath whichhefhoeteth by day. And in the next verfe thofe words, D+1rt 11tí1+ wapo, from the deffrullion that waffeth at noon day, they render, Moo ti trt íp1 ¿+ttstit)1 Ttl+w, from the troop ófdevil/ that walk at noon-day ; the Pfalmift treating ofgreat and fudden deftruetions, which they affirm to be all wrought by Sathan : and thence the Helleniffs alfo render the latter place by, d'a mti,ov, Nronµßurlr, the devil at noon-day ; wherein they are followed by the Vulgar Latine, Arabick and ÆthiopiekTranflations. And this the Apoßle Items to allude unto, t Cor. io. so. where he lays, that thofewhomurmured inthe wildernefswere delftyed kaa m isoltuvi, py the defiroyer; ó 4ye2,9 14000,71)s, that mom iit% the deffroying'Angel, or. the Angel ofdeath ; as in thisEpitìlehe terms him ó 'bnoetíomv, chap. a t. 28. And it may be this is he who is called MO 1171, Job IS. 13. thefirff-born ofdeath, or hethat hath right unto the adminiftration ofit. They term him altoril5wti, that is, iAOBpwvñs, the wafter or deffroyer : and 11D, from -ow, to wafle or def toy, as altoTY+ati ; which, as John tells us, isthe Hebrew name of the Angel ofthe bottomleflpit, Revel. 9. I r. as hisGreek,name is ell otauwt, that is, mom 1íi517, and úaoetlOTít. Thirdly, The latter Jews fuppofe that this Angel ofdeath takes awaythe life Ofevery man, evenof thofe who die a na- tural death. And hereby as they exprefs the oldfaith of the Church, that death it ?renal, and that it came upon all for fin through the temptationofSathan,' fo alto they dif- cover thebondage thatthey themfelves are infor fearof death all their days. For when a man is ready todie, they fay the Angel ofdeath appears to him in a terrible manner, with a fword drawn in his hand. From thence drops I know not what poifon into him, whereon he dies. Hence they wofully howl, lament, and rend their garments upon the death oftheir friends. And they have compofed a prayer for thennfelves againít this terrour. Becaufealtoofthis their beingtrain by the Angel ofdeath, theyhope '; and pray that their death may bean expiation for all their fins. Here lies the flingof death, mentioned bythe Apolìle, t Car. 15. 55 Hence they have a long story in their Midrafh, or myftiealExpofition of the Pentateuch, on the Tall feétion of Deuteronomy, . about Samaelicoming to take, away the life ofHefts, whom he repelled and drove away
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