him in Expressions suitable to his Divine Nature, and therefore when true Conceptions are had of him, it is fittest to speak of him in such terms, as may serve to raise and preserve in us a due Sense of God's Honour, and of our Duty to him. The Reasons then, why God is often spoken of in the Scriptures, after the manner in which we are wont to speak of Men, may be reduced to these Particulars. 1. The Use of Metaphorical and Figurative Expreffions is usual in all Languages, and no Language is sufficient to set forth the Majesty and Attributes of God. 2. The peculiar Nature and Genius of the Hebrew Tongue, inclin'd or constrain'd the Writers, in that Language, to express themselves in this manner, Gen. ix. 5. at the hand of every beast will I require it, that is, I will require it of every Beast. The Hand of the River is the Side of the River, Exod. ii. 5. the Hand of the way is the way-fide, Pfal. cxl. 5. and the Hand of the Sword is the Power of the Sword, Job v. 20. Pfal. Ixiii. 10. The Son of the Bow is the Arrow, Job xli. 28. And when in our Translation we read, Man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upwards, it is in the Original, as the fons of the burning coal lift up to fly, Job v. 7. The horn of the son of oil fignifies in our way of expression, a very fruitful hill, Ifa. v. 1. and Horn signify'd Strength in the Hebrew, as familiarly, as Robur or Oak fignifies the same in Latin. And not only the Vallies are said to shout and fing, Pfal. lxv. 13. but the beft Fruits in the land are in the Hebrew call'd the finging of the land, Gen. xliii. 11. The Word Rock is often used to denote the Almighty Power of God, and by the Septuagint and Vulgar Latin is sometimes tranlated God. For their Rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies thomselves being judges, Deut. xxxii. 31. Those Versions render it, their Gods, and our God: and in like manner, ver. 4, 15, 18. Pfal. xxxi. 3. lxxiii. 26. Is there any God besides me ? yea there is no God, I know 6 not not any, Isa. xlvi. 8. in the Hebrew it is, there is no Rock, as the Margin of our Bibles remarks. Ears, Mouth, Hands, and Heart, are ascrib'd to the Earth, or Land. Sin in the Hebrew signifies a Sin-offering, as it is tranflated, and must of necessity be understood in many places of Scripture, and in this Sense Chrift was made fin for us, 2 Cor. v. 21. Sometimes Sin is us'd for the Punishment of Sin, Gen. iv. 13. Zech. xiv. 19. We read Josh. xxiv. 27. that Joshua Said unto all the people, behold this stone shall be a witness unto us. For it hath heard all the words of the Lord, which he spake unto us, it shall therefore be a witness unto you, left ye deny your God. This might have been a very improper and unintelligible Speech to another People, but was most significant and emphatical to the People of Ifrael, who well understood upon what account sense was often ascribed to inanimate things, as Gen. xxxi. 52. Numb. xx. 8. Deut. iv. 26. xxx. 19. xxxii. 1. and afterwards frequently by the Prophets. 3. Every Expression in a Parable is not to be taken in a strict Sense; neither is it necessary, that whatever is set down in the Scripture, must therefore be of divine Inspiration, or absolutely true: for there we find the Speeches and Sayings of divers Men not inspired, and of fome very wicked Men, nay of the Devils themselves. So that we are to enquire, by whom and in what manner the Words were spoken, before we undertake to defend them. Wine is said to cheer God and Man, Judg. ix. 13. But this is spoken by the Vine in Jorbam's Parable. Yet there is nothing abfurd in it: for God, who is said to rejoice in his Works, might well be said to rejoice in the Fruit of the Vine, when he accepted of it in Drink-offerings. 4. An express Law was made against the worshipping of God under any Image or Similitude, and the People are put in mind, that they saw no fimilitude, but only heard a voice, when the Lord spake to them from the Mount, Deut. iv. 12. and that he is without Change Change or Repentance, Numb. xxiii. 19. 1 Sam. xv. 29. Malach.iii. 6. 5. When this Caution had been given, and sucha Law made, it cannot be expected, but that the Divine Writers should make use of such Expressions, as were commonly used, and were as commonly understood in a metaphorical or improper Sense, when applied to God, to give the more Force and Emphasis to their Discourse. monides has prov'd from the Propriety of the Hebrew Words, that the Image and Likeness of God, in which Man is faid to have been made, is to be understood of the Faculties of his Mind; and he lays this down as a general and known Rule amongst the Jews, Loquitur Lex fecundum linguam Filiorum hominum; and he likewise observes, that both Onkelos and Jonathan have in their Paraphrases taken care to give the true Sense of such Expressions, as seem to imply any thing corporeal in God. God is said to smell a sweet savour, when Noah offer'd Burnt-offerings on the Altar, which he built after the Flood, Gen. viii. 21. In the Hebrew it is a favour of Reft, as it is noted in the Margin: because in the Acceptance of it, God ceas'd from his Anger, as Buxtorf observes from Aben-Ezra. He is faid to bear the People of Ifrael on Eagles Wings, Exod. xix. 4. We read of the Wings of the Lord God of Ifrael, Ruth ii. 12. of the Shadow of the Almighty, Pf.xci. 1. of his Feathers, and the Shadow of his Wings, Pfal. xvii. 8. xci. 4. with Allusion to the Wings of the Cherubims, that cover'd the Ark; which signify'd God's Protection of his People with as much care and tenderness, as the winged kind have for their young, Matt. xxiii. 37. The Scriptures make mention of his Eyes, and Hands, and Feet, to express the Effects of those Actions, which are perform'd by Men with these Members: and when it was said, it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart, Gen. vi. 6. This was well Maimon. More Nevosh. Pt i. c. 1, 26, 27, 28, 36, 48. Mai under understood to mean no more than that God acted, as Men are wont to do, when they change their Minds, and repent and grieve at what they have done, and that he would certainly destroy the World which he had made: for Mofes himself instructs the Children of Ifrael, that God is without any bodily Shape or Substance, and therefore cannot be faid to have any Heart, or to be griev'd at his Heart, in the same Sense that it is said of Men. And Numb. xxiii. 19. it is declared, that God is not a man, that be should lye, neither the Son of man, that he should repent. And when God fays that it repented him that he had set up Saul to be King, 1 Sam. xv. II. this is explain'd ver. 29. where we read, that the strength of Ifrael will not lye, nor repent; for he is not a man that he should repent : and yet again in the last verse it is said, that the Lord repented, that he had made Saul King over Ifrael. The most careless Writer could not so soon and so often forget himself; but what is faid of God's repenting, is to be taken in an improper and figurative Sense, to imply that God would act in that cafe, as Men act when they repent of what they have done, tho' without any Change of Mind, or any Grief, or other Paffion in him attending it: the Effect was the fame as if God had repented; and therefore, by a Metonymy, the Effect is express'd by that which in Men is wont to be the Cause of such Effects, though in God Repentance was not the Cause of it; but the reason and state of the cafe, which he had fully known and consider'd from all Eternity, and therefore could not be furpriz'd, or mov'd to any Alteration of Judgment by it. His foul was grieved for the misery of Ifrael, Judg. x. 16. or, it was shortned, as the Hebrew word is literally translated in the Margin; that is, according to Maimonides, the Lord's Mind was shorten'd from afflicting them, or he had no longer a mind to punish ■ Maimon. More Nevoch. Pri. c. 41, 47. Pt iii. c. 24. them. them. God has commanded, that our Anger should be without Sin, and he is himself angry without the least Passion or Commotion: but he is displeas'd with Sinners, because he disapproves of their evil Actions, and he is most angry and displeas'd with those, whose Ways and Practices he most dislikes; infomuch that God often threatens to pour out his fury, upon impenitent Sinners, that is, to punish them in the most terrible manner, as their Sins deserve; but just and necessary Punishment, how great soever it may be, is not the Effect of Passion, but of the highest Reason. When God is faid to fee, the meaning is, that he knows what is done; when he is faid to hear, this fignifies, that he understands what is faid. • Now I know that thou fearest God, Gen. xxii. 12. that is, now I have had the Proof of it, and have made it evident, that I know it. To prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, Deut. viii. 2. is the same, as to make that appear, and become known, which I know to be in thine Heart, Gen. xi. 5. the Lord is said to come down to see the City and Tower of Babel, and Gen. xviii. 20. Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their fin is very grievous, I will go down now and see, whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me, and if not, I will know: which implies, that God is not forward or willing to punish, but that he proceeds as Men do in things about which they use most Care and Deliberation. God is represented as a good Governor, who is unwilling to believe ill Reports, and will make a full Enquiry and Inspection into the cafe, before he punish Offenders; or in short, here is an Illustration in Fact of that adorable Character, which God proclaims of himself, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracions, long-suffering and a |