Chapter V (2)

And you may also grant that it is the smallest of Seeds of Plants apt to +dendrizein+, _arborescere_, _fruticescere_, or to grow unto a ligneous substance, and from an herby and oleraceous Vegetable, to become a kind of Tree, and to be accounted among the _Dendrolachana_, or _Arboroleracea_; as upon strong Seed, Culture and good Ground, is observable in some Cabbages, Mallows, and many more, and therefore expressed by +ginetai to dendron+, and +ginetai eis to dendron+, it becometh a Tree, or _arborescit_, as _Beza_ rendreth it.

Nor if warily considered doth the expression contain such difficulty. For the Parable may not ground it self upon generals, or imply any or every grain of Mustard, but point at such a grain as from its fertile spirit, and other concurrent advantages, hath the success to become arboreous, shoot into such a magnitude, and acquire the like tallness. And unto such a Grain the Kingdom of Heaven is likened which from such slender beginnings shall find such increase and grandeur.

The expression also that it might grow into such dimensions that Birds might lodge in the Branches thereof, may be literally conceived; if we allow the luxuriancy of plants in _Judaea_, above our Northern Regions; If we accept of but half the Story taken notice of by Tremellius, from the _Jerusalem Talmud_, of a Mustard Tree that was to be climbed like a Figg Tree; and of another, under whose shade a Potter daily wrought: and it may somewhat abate our doubts, if we take in the advertisement of _Herodotus_ concerning lesser Plants of _Milium_ and _Sesamum_ in the Babylonian Soil: _Milium ac Sesamum in proceritatem instar arborum crescere, etsi mihi compertum, tamen memorare supersedeo, probe sciens cis qui nunquam Babyloniam regionem adierunt perquam incredibile visum iri._ We may likewise consider that the word +kataskenosai+ doth not necessarily signifie _making a Nest_, but rather sitting, roosting, covering and resting in the Boughs, according as the same word is used by the _Septuagint_ in other places[197] as the Vulgar rendreth it in this, _inhabitant_, as our Translation, _lodgeth_, and the Rhemish, _resteth_ in the Branches.

[197] Dan. 4. 9. Ps. 1. 14. 12.

[Sidenote: _The Rod of_ Aaron. Numb. 17. 8.]

24. _And it came to pass that on the morrow Moses went into the Tabernacle of witness, and behold the Rod of Aaron for the House of Levi was budded, and brought forth Buds, and bloomed Blossomes, and yielded Almonds._ In the contention of the Tribes and decision of priority and primogeniture of _Aaron_, declared by the Rod, which in a night budded, flowred and brought forth Almonds, you cannot but apprehend a propriety in the Miracle from that species of Tree which leadeth in the Vernal germination of the year, unto all the Classes of Trees; and so apprehend how properly in a night and short space of time the Miracle arose, and somewhat answerable unto its nature the Flowers and Fruit appeared in this precocious Tree, and whose original Name[198] implies such speedy efflorescence, as in its proper nature flowering in _February_, and shewing its Fruit in _March_.

[198] Sbacher _from_ Sbachar festinus fuit _or_ maturuit.

This consideration of that Tree maketh the expression in _Jeremy_[SN: Jer. 1. 11.] more Emphatical, when 'tis said, _What seest thou? and he said, A Rod of an Almond Tree. Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen, for I will hasten the Word to perform it._ I will be quick and forward like the Almond Tree, to produce the effects of my word, and hasten to display my judgments upon them.

And we may hereby more easily apprehend the expression in _Ecclesiastes_ [SN: Eccles. 12. 5.]; _When the Almond Tree shall flourish_. That is when the Head, which is the prime part, and first sheweth it self in the world, shall grow white, like the Flowers of the Almond Tree, whose Fruit, as _Athenaeus_ delivereth, was first called +Karenon+, or the Head, from some resemblance and covering parts of it.

How properly the priority was confirmed by a Rod or Staff, and why the Rods and Staffs of the Princes were chosen for this decision, Philologists will consider. For these were the badges, signs and cognisances of their places, and were a kind of Sceptre in their hands, denoting their supereminencies. The Staff of Divinity is ordinarily described in the hands of Gods and Goddesses in old draughts. Trojan and Grecian Princes were not without the like, whereof the Shoulders of _Thersites_ felt from the hands of _Ulysses_. _Achilles_ in _Homer_, as by a desperate Oath, swears by his wooden Sceptre, which should never bud nor bear Leaves again; which seeming the greatest impossibility to him, advanceth the Miracle of _Aaron's_ Rod. And if it could be well made out that _Homer_ had seen the Books of _Moses_, in that expression of _Achilles_, he might allude unto this Miracle.

That power which proposed the experiment by Blossomes in the Rod, added also the Fruit of Almonds; the Text not strictly making out the Leaves, and so omitting the middle germination: the Leaves properly coming after the Flowers, and before the Almonds. And therefore if you have well perused Medals, you cannot but observe how in the impress of many Shekels, which pass among us by the name of the _Jerusalem_ Shekels, the Rod of _Aaron_ is improperly laden with many Leaves, whereas that which is shewn under the name of the Samaritan Shekel seems most conformable unto the Text, which describeth the Fruit without Leaves.

[Sidenote: _The Vine in_ Gen. 49. 11.]

25. _Binding his Foal unto the Vine, and his Asses Colt unto the choice Vine._

That Vines, which are commonly supported, should grow so large and bulky, as to be fit to fasten their Juments, and Beasts of labour unto them, may seem a hard expression unto many: which notwithstanding may easily be admitted, if we consider the account of _Pliny_, that in many places out of _Italy_ Vines do grow without any stay or support: nor will it be otherwise conceived of lusty Vines, if we call to mind how the same Authour[199] delivereth, that the _Statua_ of _Jupiter_ was made out of a Vine; and that out of one single Cyprian Vine a Scale or Ladder was made that reached unto the Roof of the Temple of _Diana_ at _Ephesus_.

[199] Plin. _lib. 14._

[Sidenote: _Rose of_ Jericho. Ecclus. 24. 14.]

26. _I was exalted as a Palm Tree in Engaddi, and as a Rose Plant in Jericho._ That the Rose of _Jericho_, or that Plant which passeth among us under that denomination, was signified in this Text, you are not like to apprehend with some, who also name it the _Rose of S. Mary_, and deliver, that it openeth the Branches, and Flowers upon the Eve of our Saviour's Nativity: But rather conceive it some proper kind of Rose, which thrived and prospered in _Jericho_ more than in the neighbour Countries. For our Rose of _Jericho_ is a very low and hard Plant, a few inches above the ground; one whereof brought from _Judaea_ I have kept by me many years, nothing resembling a Rose Tree, either in Flowers, Branches, Leaves or Growth; and so, improper to answer the Emphatical word of exaltation in the Text: growing not only about _Jericho_, but other parts of _Judaea_ and _Arabia_, as _Bellonius_ hath observed: which being a drie and ligneous Plant, is preserved many years, and though crumpled and furdled up, yet, if infused in Water, will swell and display its parts.

[Sidenote: _Turpentine Tree in_ Ecclus. 24. 16.]

27. _Quasi Terebinthus extendi ramos_, when it is said in the same Chapter, _as a Turpentine Tree have I stretched out my Branches_: it will not seem strange unto such as have either seen that Tree, or examined its description: For it is a Plant that widely displayeth its Branches: and though in some European Countries it be but of a low and fruticeous growth, yet _Pliny_[200] observeth that it is great in _Syria_, and so allowably, or at least not improperly mentioned in the expression of _Hosea_[201] according to the Vulgar Translation. _Super capita montium sacrificant,_ etc. _sub quercu, populo et terebintho, quoniam bona est umbra ejus._ And this diffusion and spreading of its Branches, hath afforded the Proverb of _Terebintho stultior_, applicable unto arrogant or boasting persons, who spread and display their own acts, as _Erasmus_ hath observed.

[200] Terebinthus in Macedonia fruticat, in Syria, magna est. _Lib. 13._
Plin.

[201] Hosea. 4. 13.

[Sidenote: _Pomegranate in_ 1 Sam. 14. 2.]

28. It is said in our Translation. _Saul tarried in the uppermost parts of Gibeah, under a Pomegranate Tree which is in Migron: and the people which were with him were about six hundred men._ And when it is said in some Latin Translations, _Saul morabatur fixo tentorio sub Malogranato_, you will not be ready to take in the common literal sense, who know that a Pomegranate Tree is but low of growth, and very unfit to pitch a Tent under it; and may rather apprehend it as the name of a place, or the Rock of _Rimmon_, or Pomegranate; so named from Pomegranates which grew there, and which many think to have been the same place mentioned in _Judges_.[202]

[202] Judges 20. 45, 47. _Ch._ 21. 13.

[Sidenote: _A Green Field in_ Wisd. 19. 7.]

29. It is said in the Book of _Wisedom_, _Where water stood before, drie land appeared, and out of the red Sea a way appeared without impediment, and out of the violent streams a green Field_; or as the Latin renders it, _Campus germinans de profundo_: whereby it seems implied that the Israelites passed over a green Field at the bottom of the Sea: and though most would have this but a Metaphorical expression, yet may it be literally tolerable; and so may be safely apprehended by those that sensibly know what great number of Vegetables (as the several varieties of _Alga's_, _Sea Lettuce_, _Phasganium_, _Conferua_, _Caulis Marina_, _Abies_, _Erica_, _Tamarice_, divers sorts of _Muscus_, _Fucus_, _Quercus Marina_ and _Corallins_) are found at the bottom of the Sea. Since it is also now well known, that the Western Ocean, for many degrees, is covered with _Sargasso_ or _Lenticula Marina_, and found to arise from the bottom of that Sea; since, upon the coast of _Provence_ by the Isles of _Eres_, there is a part of the _Mediterranean Sea_, called _la Prairie_, or the _Meadowy Sea_, from the bottom thereof so plentifully covered with Plants: since vast heaps of Weeds are found in the Bellies of some Whales taken in the Northern Ocean, and at a great distance from the Shore: And since the providence of Nature hath provided this shelter for minor Fishes; both for their spawn, and safety of their young ones. And this might be more peculiarly allowed to be spoken of the Red Sea, since the Hebrews named it _Suph_, or the _Weedy Sea_: and, also, seeing _Theophrastus_ and _Pliny_, observing the growth of Vegetables under water, have made their chief illustrations from those in the Red Sea.

[Sidenote: _Sycamore._]

30. You will readily discover how widely they are mistaken, who accept the Sycamore mention'd in several parts of Scripture for the Sycamore, or Tree of that denomination, with us: which is properly but one kind or difference of _Acer_, and bears no Fruit with any resemblance unto a Figg.

But you will rather, thereby, apprehend the true and genuine Sycamore, or _Sycaminus_, which is a stranger in our parts. A Tree (according to the description of _Theophrastus_, _Dioscorides_ and _Galen_) resembling a Mulberry Tree in the Leaf, but in the Fruit a Figg; which it produceth not in the Twiggs but in the Trunck or greater Branches, answerable to the Sycamore of _AEgypt_, the AEgyptian Figg or Giamez of the Arabians, described by _Prosper Alpinus_, with a Leaf somewhat broader than a Mulberry, and in its Fruit like a Figg. Insomuch that some have fancied it to have had its first production from a Figg Tree grafted on a Mulberry.

It is a Tree common in _Judaea_, whereof they made frequent use in Buildings; and so understood, it explaineth that expression in _Isaiah_:[203] _Sycamori excisi sunt, Cedros substituemus. The Bricks are fallen down, we will build with hewen Stones: The Sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into Cedars._

[203] Isa. 9. 10

It is a broad spreading Tree, not onely fit for Walks, Groves and Shade, but also affording profit. And therefore it is said that King _David_[204] appointed _Baalhanan_ to be over his Olive Trees and Sycamores, which were in great plenty; and it is accordingly delivered,[205] that _Solomon made Cedars to be as the Sycamore Trees that are in the Vale for abundance_. That is, he planted many, though they did not come to perfection in his days.

[204] 1 Chron. 27. 28.

[205] 1 King. 10. 27.

And as it grew plentifully about the Plains, so was the Fruit good for Food; and, as _Bellonius_ and late accounts deliver, very refreshing unto Travellers in those hot and drie Countries: whereby the expression of _Amos_[206] becomes more intelligible, when he said he was _an Herdsman, and a gatherer of Sycamore Fruit_. And the expression of _David_[207] also becomes more Emphatical; _He destroyed their Vines with Hail, and their Sycamore Trees with Frost_. That is, their _Sicmoth_ in the Original, a word in the sound not far from the Sycamore.

[206] Amos 7. 14.

[207] Psal. 78 47.

Thus when it is said,[208] _If ye had Faith as a grain of Mustard-seed, ye might say unto this Sycamine Tree, Be thou plucked up by the roots, and be thou placed in the Sea, and it should obey you_: it might be more significantly spoken of this Sycamore; this being described to be _Arbor vasta_, a large and well rooted Tree, whose removal was more difficult than many others. And so the instance in that Text, is very properly made in the Sycamore Tree, one of the largest and less removable Trees among them. A Tree so lasting and well rooted, that the Sycamore which _Zacheus_ ascended, is still shewn in _Judaea_ unto Travellers; as also the hollow Sycamore at _Maturaea_ in _AEgypt_, where the blessed Virgin is said to have remained: which though it relisheth of the Legend, yet it plainly declareth what opinion they had of the lasting condition of that Tree, to countenance the Tradition; for which they might not be without some experience, since the learned describer of the _Pyramides_[209] observeth, that the old AEgyptians made Coffins of this Wood, which he found yet fresh and undecayed among divers of their Mummies.

[208] Luk. 17. 6.

[209] D. Greaves.

And thus, also, when _Zacheus_ climbed up into a Sycamore above any other Tree, this being a large and fair one, it cannot be denied that he made choice of a proper and advantageous Tree to look down upon our Saviour.

[Sidenote: _Increase of Seed 100. fold in_ Matt. 13. 23.]

31. Whether the expression of our Saviour in the Parable of the Sower, and the increase of the Seed _unto thirty, sixty and a hundred fold_, had any reference unto the ages of Believers, and measures of their Faith, as Children, Young and Old Persons, as to beginners, well advanced and strongly confirmed Christians, as learned men have hinted; or whether in this progressional assent there were any latent Mysteries, as the mystical Interpreters of Numbers may apprehend, I pretend not to determine.

But, how this multiplication may well be conceived, and in what way apprehended, and that this centesimal increase is not naturally strange, you that are no stranger in Agriculture, old and new, are not like to make great doubt.

That every Grain should produce an Ear affording an hundred Grains, is not like to be their conjecture who behold the growth of Corn in our Fields, wherein a common Grain doth produce far less in number. For barley consisting but of two _Versus_ or Rows, seldom exceedeth twenty Grains, that is, ten upon each +Stoichos+, or Row; Rye, of a square figure, is very fruitfull at forty: Wheat, besides the _Frit_ and _Uruncus_, or imperfect Grains of the small Husks at the top and bottom of the Ear, is fruitfull at ten treble _Glumae_ or Husks in a Row, each containing but three Grains in breadth, if the middle Grain arriveth at all to perfection; and so maketh up threescore Grains in both sides.

Yet even this centesimal fructification may be admitted in some sorts of _Cerealia_, and Grains from one Ear: if we take in the _Triticum centigranum_, or _fertilissimum Plinii_, Indian Wheat, and _Panicum_; which, in every Ear, containeth hundreds of Grains.

But this increase may easily be conceived of Grains in their total multiplication, in good and fertile ground, since, if every Grain of Wheat produceth but three Ears, the increase will arise above that number. Nor are we without examples of some grounds which have produced many more Ears, and above this centesimal increase: As _Pliny_ hath left recorded of the _Byzacian_ Field in _Africa_. _Misit ex eo loco Procurator ex uno quadraginta minus germina. Misit et Neroni pariter tercentum quadraginta stipulos, ex uno grano. Cum centessimos quidem Leontini Siciliae campi fundunt, aliique, et tota Boetica, et imprimis AEgyptus._ And even in our own Country, from one Grain of Wheat sowed in a Garden, I have numbred many more than an hundred.

And though many Grains are commonly lost which come not to sprouting or earing, yet the same is also verified in measure; as that one Bushel should produce a hundred, as is exemplified by the Corn in _Gerar_;[210] _Then Isaac sowed in that Land, and received in that year an hundred fold_. That is, as the Chaldee explaineth it, _a hundred for one_, when he measured it. And this _Pliny_ seems to intend, when he saith of the fertile Byzacian Territory before mentioned, _Ex uno centeni quinquaginta modii redduntur_. And may be favourably apprehended of the fertility of some grounds in _Poland_; wherein, after the account of _Gaguinus_, from Rye sowed in _August_, come thirty or forty Ears, and a Man on Horseback can scarce look over it. In the Sabbatical Crop of _Judaea_, there must be admitted a large increase, and probably not short of this centesimal multiplication: For it supplied part of the sixth year, the whole seventh, and eighth untill the Harvest of that year.

[210] Gen. 26. 12.

The _seven years of plenty in AEgypt_ must be of high increase; when, by storing up but the fifth part, they supplied the whole Land, and many of their neighbours after: for it is said,[211] the Famine was in all the Land about them. And therefore though the causes of the Dearth in _AEgypt_ be made out from the defect of the overflow of _Nilus_, according to the Dream of _Pharaoh_; yet was that no cause of the scarcity of the Land of _Canaan_, which may rather be ascribed to the want of the former and latter rains, for some succeeding years, if their Famine held time and duration with that of _AEgypt_; as may be probably gather'd from that expression of _Joseph_,[212] _Come down unto me [into AEgypt] and tarry not, and there will I nourish you: (for yet there are five years of Famine) lest thou and thy Household, and all that thou hast come to poverty_.

[211] Gen. 41. 56.

[212] Gen. 45. 9, 11.

How they preserved their Corn so long in _AEgypt_ may seem hard unto Northern and moist Climates, except we consider the many ways of preservation practised by antiquity, and also take in that handsome account of _Pliny_; What Corn soever is laid up in the Ear, it taketh no harm keep it as long as you will; although the best and most assured way to keep Corn is in Caves and Vaults under ground, according to the practice of _Cappadocia_ and _Thracia_.

In _AEgypt_ and _Mauritania_ above all things they look to this, that their Granaries stand on high ground; and how drie so ever their Floor be, they lay a course of Chaff betwixt it and the ground. Besides, they put up their Corn in Granaries and Binns together with the Ear. And _Varro_ delivereth that Wheat laid up in that manner will last fifty years; Millet an hundred; and Beans so conserved in a Cave of _Ambracia_, were known to last an hundred and twenty years; that is, from the time of King _Pyrrhus_, unto the Pyratick War under the conduct of _Pompey_.

More strange it may seem how, after seven years, the Grains conserved should be fruitfull for a new production. For it is said that _Joseph delivered Seed unto the AEgyptians, to sow their Land for the eighth year_: and Corn after seven years is like to afford little or no production, according to _Theophrastus_;[213] _Ad Sementem semen anniculum optimum putatur, binum deterius et trinum; ultra sterile ferme est, quanquam ad usum cibarium idoneum_.

[213] Theoph. _Hist. l. 8_.

Yet since, from former exemplifications, Corn may be made to last so long, the fructifying power may well be conceived to last in some good proportion, according to the region and place of its conservation, as the same _Theophrastus_ hath observed, and left a notable example from _Cappadocia_, where Corn might be kept sixty years, and remain fertile at forty; according to his expression thus translated; _In Cappadociae loco quodam petra dicto, triticum ad quadraginta annos foecundum est, at ad sementem percommodum durare proditum est, sexagenos aut septuagenos ad usum cibarium servari posse idoneum._ The situation of that Conservatory, was, as he delivereth, +hipselon, eupnoun, euauron+, _high, airy and exposed to several favourable winds_. And upon such consideration of winds and ventilation, some conceive the AEgyptian Granaries were made open, the Country being free from rain. Howsoever it was, that contrivance could not be without some hazard:[214] for the great Mists and Dews of that Country might dispose the Corn unto corruption.

[214] AEgypt +homichlodes, kai droseros+ _Vid._ Theophrastum

More plainly may they mistake, who from some analogy of name (as if _Pyramid_ were derived from +Pyron+, _Triticum_), conceive the AEgyptian Pyramids to have been built for Granaries; or look for any settled Monuments about the Desarts erected for that intention; since their Store-houses were made in the great Towns, according to Scripture expression,[215] _He gathered up all the Food of seven years, which was in the Land of AEgypt, and laid up the Food in the Cities: the Food of the Field which was round about every City, laid he up in the same_.

[215] Gen. 41. 48.

[Sidenote: _Olive Tree in_ Rom. 11. 24.]

32. _For if thou wert cut out of the Olive Tree, which is wild by nature, and wert grafted, contrary to nature, into a good Olive Tree, how much more shall these, which be the natural Branches, be grafted into their own Olive Tree?_ In which place, how answerable to the Doctrine of Husbandry this expression of S. _Paul_ is, you will readily apprehend who understand the rules of insition or grafting, and that way of vegetable propagation; wherein that is contrary to nature, or natural rules which Art observeth: _viz._ to make use of a Cyons more ignoble than the Stock, or to graft wild upon domestick and good Plants, according as _Theophrastus_[216] hath anciently observed, and, making instance in the Olive, hath left this Doctrine unto us; _Urbanum Sylvestribus ut satis Oleastris inserere. Nam si e contrario Sylvestrem in Urbanos severis, etsi differentia quaedam erit, tamen[217] bonae frugis Arbor nunquam profecto reddetur_: which is also agreeable unto our present practice, who graft Pears on Thorns, and Apples upon Crabb Stocks, not using the contrary insition. And when it is said, _How much more shall these, which are the natural Branches, be grafted into their own natural Olive Tree?_ this is also agreeable unto the rule of the same Author; +Esti de beltion enkentrismos, homoion eis homoia+, _Insitio melior est similium in similibus_: For the nearer consanguinity there is between the Cyons and the Stock, the readier comprehension is made, and the nobler fructification. According also unto the later caution of _Laurenbergius_;[218] _Arbores domesticae insitioni destinatae, semper anteponendae Sylvestribus_. And though the success be good, and may suffice upon Stocks of the same denomination; yet, to be grafted upon their own and Mother Stock, is the nearest insition: which way, though less practised of old, is now much imbraced, and found a notable way for melioration of the Fruit; and much the rather, if the Tree to be grafted on be a good and generous Plant, a good and fair Olive, as the Apostle seems to imply by a peculiar word[219] scarce to be found elsewhere.

[216] De causis Plant. _Lib. 1. Cap. 7_.

[217] +Kallikarpein ouk exei+.

[218] De horticultura.

[219] +Kallielaion+ Rom. 11. 42.

It must be also considered, that the _Oleaster_, or wild Olive, by cutting, transplanting and the best managery of Art, can be made but to produce such Olives as (_Theophrastus_ saith) were particularly named _Phaulia_, that is, but _bad Olives_; and that it was reckon'd among Prodigies, for the _Oleaster_ to become an Olive Tree.

And when insition and grafting, in the Text, is applied unto the Olive Tree, it hath an Emphatical sense, very agreeable unto that Tree which is best propagated this way; not at all by surculation, as _Theophrastus_ observeth, nor well by Seed, as hath been observed. _Omne semen simile genus perficit, praeter oleam, Oleastrum enim generat, hoc est sylvestrem oleam, et non oleam veram._

"If, therefore, thou Roman and Gentile Branch, which wert cut from the wild Olive, art now, by the signal mercy of God, beyond the ordinary and commonly expected way, grafted into the true Olive, the Church of God; if thou, which neither naturally nor by humane art canst be made to produce any good Fruit, and, next to a Miracle, to be made a true Olive, art now by the benignity of God grafted into the proper Olive; how much more shall the Jew, and natural Branch, be grafted into its genuine and mother Tree, wherein propinquity of nature is like, so readily and prosperously, to effect a coalition? And this more especially by the expressed way of insition or implantation, the Olive being not successfully propagable by Seed, nor at all by surculation."

[Sidenote: _Stork nesting on Firre Trees in_ Psal. 104. 17.]

33. _As for the Stork, the Firre Trees are her House._ This expression, in our Translation, which keeps close to the Original _Chasidah_, is somewhat different from the Greek and Latin Translation; nor agreeable unto common observation, whereby they are known commonly to build upon Chimneys, or the tops of Houses, and high Buildings, which notwithstanding, the common Translation may clearly consist with observation, if we consider that this is commonly affirmed of the black Stork, and take notice of the description of _Ornithologus_ in _Aldrovandus_, that such Storks are often found in divers parts, and that they do _in Arboribus nidulari, praesertim in abietibus_; Make their Nests on Trees, especially upon Firre Trees. Nor wholly disagreeing unto the practice of the common white Stork, according unto _Varro_, _nidulantur in agris_: and the concession of _Aldrovandus_ that sometimes they build on Trees: and the assertion of _Bellonius_,[220] that men dress them Nests, and place Cradles upon high Trees, in Marish regions, that Storks may breed upon them: which course some observe for Herns and Cormorants with us. And this building of Storks upon Trees, may be also answerable unto the original and natural way of building of Storks before the political habitations of men, and the raising of Houses and high Buildings; before they were invited by such conveniences and prepared Nests, to relinquish their natural places of nidulation. I say, before or where such advantages are not ready; when Swallows found other places than Chimneys, and Daws found other places than holes in high Fabricks to build in.

[220] Bellonius _de Avibus_.

[Sidenote: _Balm, in_ Gen. 43. 11.]

34. _And, therefore, Israel said carry down the man a present, a little Balm, a little Honey, and Myrrhe, Nuts and Almonds._ Now whether this, which _Jacob_ sent, were the proper Balsam extolled by humane Writers, you cannot but make some doubt, who find the Greek Translation to be +Rhetine+, that is, _Resina_, and so may have some suspicion that it might be some pure distillation from the Turpentine Tree, which grows prosperously and plentifully in _Judaea_, and seems so understood by the Arabick; and was indeed esteemed by _Theophrastus_ and _Dioscorides_, the chiefest of resinous Bodies, and the word _Resina_ Emphatically used for it.

That the Balsam Plant hath grown and prospered in _Judaea_ we believe without dispute. For the same is attested by _Theophrastus_, _Pliny_, _Justinus_, and many more; from the commendation that _Galen_ affordeth of the Balsam of _Syria_, and the story of _Cleopatra_, that she obtain'd some Plants of Balsam from _Herod_ the Great to transplant into _AEgypt_. But whether it was so anciently in _Judaea_ as the time of _Jacob_; nay, whether this Plant was here before the time of _Solomon_, that great collectour of Vegetable rarities, some doubt may be made from the account of _Josephus_, that the Queen of _Sheba_, a part of _Arabia_, among presents unto _Solomon_, brought some Plants of the Balsam Tree, as one of the peculiar estimables of her Country.

Whether this ever had its natural growth, or were an original native Plant of _Judaea_, much more that it was peculiar unto that Country, a greater doubt may arise: while we reade in _Pausanias_, _Strabo_ and _Diodorus,_ that it grows also in _Arabia_, and find in _Theophrastus_,[221] that it grew in two Gardens about _Jericho_ in _Judaea_. And more especially whiles we seriously consider that notable discourse between _Abdella_, _Abdachim_ and _Alpinus_, concluding the natural and original place of this singular Plant to be in _Arabia_, about _Mecha_ and _Medina_, where it still plentifully groweth, and Mountains abound therein. From whence it hath been carefully transplanted by the _Basha's_ of _Grand Cairo_, into the Garden of _Matarea_; where, when it dies, it is repaired again from those parts of _Arabia_, from whence the _Grand Signior_ yearly receiveth a present of Balsam from the _Xeriff_ of _Mecha_, still called by the Arabians _Balessan_; whence they believe arose the Greek appellation _Balsam_. And since these Balsam-plants are not now to be found in _Judaea_, and though purposely cultivated, are often lost in _Judaea_, but everlastingly live, and naturally renew in _Arabia_; They probably concluded, that those of _Judaea_ were foreign and transplanted from these parts.

[221] Theophrast. _l. 9. c. 6_.

All which notwithstanding, since the same Plant may grow naturally and spontaneously in several Countries, and either from inward or outward causes be lost in one Region, while it continueth and subsisteth in another, the Balsam Tree might possibly be a native of _Judaea_ as well as of _Arabia_; which because _de facto_ it cannot be clearly made out, the ancient expressions of Scripture become doubtfull in this point. But since this Plant hath not, for a long time, grown in _Judaea_, and still plentifully prospers in _Arabia_, that which now comes in pretious parcels to us, and still is called the Balsam of _Judaea_, may now surrender its name, and more properly be called the Balsam of _Arabia_.

[Sidenote: _Barley Flax, &c. in_ Exod. 9. 31.]

35. _And the Flax and the Barley was smitten; for the Barley was in the Ear, and the Flax was bolled, but the Wheat and the Rye was not smitten, for they were not grown up._[222] How the Barley and the Flax should be smitten in the plague of Hail in _AEgypt_, and the Wheat and Rye escape, because they were not yet grown up, may seem strange unto English observers, who call Barley Summer Corn sown so many months after Wheat, and, beside _hordeum Polystichon_, or big Barley, sowe not Barley in the Winter, to anticipate the growth of Wheat.

[222] Linum folliculos germinavit, +spermatizon+ _Septuag._ Serotina,
_Lat._ +opsima+, _Gr._

And the same may also seem a preposterous expression unto all who do not consider the various Agriculture, and different Husbandry of Nations, and such as was practised in _AEgypt_, and fairly proved to have been also used in _Judaea_, wherein their Barley Harvest was before that of Wheat; as is confirmable from that expression in _Ruth_, that she _came into Bethlehem at the beginning of Barley Harvest_, and staid unto the end of Wheat Harvest; from the death of _Manasses_ the Father of _Judith_, Emphatically expressed to have happened in the Wheat Harvest, and more advanced heat of the Sun; and from the custom of the Jews, to offer the Barley Sheaf of the first fruits in _March_, and a Cake of Wheat Flower but at the end of _Pentecost_. Consonant unto the practice of the AEgyptians, who (as _Theophrastus_ delivereth) sowed their Barley early in reference to their first Fruits; and also the common rural practice, recorded by the same Authour, _Mature seritur Triticum, Hordeum, quod etiam maturius seritur; Wheat and Barley are sowed early, but Barley earlier of the two_.

Flax was also an early Plant, as may be illustrated from the neighbour Country of _Canaan_. For the Israelites kept the Passover in _Gilgal_ in the fourteenth day of the first Month, answering unto part of our _March_, having newly passed _Jordan_: And the Spies which were sent from _Shittim_ unto _Jericho_, not many days before, were hid by _Rahab_ under the stalks of Flax, which lay drying on the top of her House; which sheweth that the Flax was already and newly gathered. For this was the first preparation of Flax, and before fluviation or rotting, which, after _Pliny's_ account, was after Wheat Harvest.

_But the Wheat and the Rye were not smitten, for they were not grown up._ The Original signifies that it was _hidden_, or _dark_, the Vulgar and Septuagint that it was _serotinous_ or _late_, and our old Translation that it was _late sown_. And so the expression and interposition of _Moses_, who well understood the Husbandry of _AEgypt_, might Emphatically declare the state of Wheat and Rye in that particular year; and if so, the same is solvable from the time of the floud of _Nilus_, and the measure of its inundation. For if it were very high, and over-drenching the ground, they were forced to later Seed-time; and so the Wheat and the Rye escaped; for they were more slowly growing Grains, and, by reason of the greater inundation of the River, were sown later than ordinary that year, especially in the Plains near the River, where the ground drieth latest.

Some think the plagues of _AEgypt_ were acted in one Month, others but in the compass of twelve. In the delivery of Scripture there is no account, of what time of the year or particular Month they fell out; but the account of these grains, which were either smitten or escaped, make the plague of Hail to have probably hapned in _February_: This may be collected from the new and old account of the Seed time and Harvest in _AEgypt_. For, according to the account of _Radzevil_,[223] the river rising in _June_, and the Banks being cut in _September_, they sow about S. _Andrews_, when the Floud is retired, and the moderate driness of the ground permitteth. So that the Barley anticipating the Wheat, either in time of sowing or growing, might be in Ear in _February_.

[223] Radzevil's _Travels_.

The account of _Pliny_[224] is little different. They cast the Seed upon the Slime and Mudd when the River is down, which commonly happeneth in the beginning of _November_. They begin to reap and cut down a little before the Calends of _April_, about the middle of _March_, and in the Month of _May_ their Harvest is in. So that Barley anticipating Wheat, it might be in Ear in _February_, and Wheat not yet grown up, at least to the Spindle or Ear, to be destroyed by the Hail. For they cut down about the middle of _March_, at least their forward Corns, and in the Month of _May_ all sorts of Corns were in.

[224] Plin. _lib. 18. cap. 18_.

The _turning of the River into Bloud_ shews in what Month this happened not. That is, not when the River had overflown; for it is said, _the AEgyptians digged round about the River for Water to drink_, which they could not have done, if the River had been out, and the Fields under Water.

In the same Text you cannot, without some hesitation, pass over the translation of Rye, which the Original nameth _Cassumeth_, the Greek rendreth _Olyra_, the French and Dutch _Spelta_, the Latin _Zea_, and not _Secale_ the known word for Rye. But this common Rye so well understood at present, was not distinctly described, or not well known from early Antiquity. And therefore, in this uncertainty, some have thought it to have been the _Typha_ of the Ancients. _Cordus_ will have it to be _Olyra_, and _Ruellius_ some kind of _Oryza_. But having no vulgar and well known name for those Grains, we warily embrace an appellation of near affinity, and tolerably render it _Rye_.

While Flax, Barley, Wheat and Rye are named, some may wonder why no mention is made of Ryce, wherewith, at present, _AEgypt_ so much aboundeth. But whether that Plant grew so early in that Country, some doubt may be made: for Ryce is originally a Grain of _India_, and might not then be transplanted into _AEgypt_.

[Sidenote: _Sheaves of Grass, in_ Psal. 12. 6, 7.]

36. _Let them become as the Grass growing upon the House top, which withereth before it be plucked up, whereof the mower filleth not his hand, nor he that bindeth Sheaves his bosome._ Though the _filling of the hand_, and mention of _Sheaves of Hay_, may seem strange unto us, who use neither handfulls nor Sheaves in that kind of Husbandry, yet may it be properly taken, and you are not like to doubt thereof, who may find the like expressions in the Authours _de Re rustica_, concerning the old way of this Husbandry.

_Columella_,[225] delivering what Works were not to be permitted upon the Roman _Feriae_, or Festivals, among others sets down, that upon such days, it was not lawfull to carry or bind up Hay, _nec foenum vincire nec vehere, per religiones Ponteficum licet_.

[225] Columella _lib. 2 cap. 22_.

_Marcus Varro_[226] is more particular; _Primum de pratis herbarum cum crescere desiit, subsecari falcibus debet, et quoad peracescat furcillis versari, cum peracuit, de his manipulos fieri et vehi in villam_.

[226] Varro _lib. 1. cap. 49_.

And their course of mowing seems somewhat different from ours. For they cut not down clear at once, but used an after section, which they peculiarly called _Sicilitium_, according as the word is expounded by _Georgius Alexandrinus_, and _Beroaldus_ after _Pliny_; _Sicilire est falcibus consectari quae foenisecae praeterierunt, aut ea secare quae foenisecae praeterierunt_.

[Sidenote: _Juniper Tree, in_ 1 King. 19. 5, etc.]

37. When 'tis said that _Elias_ lay and slept under a Juniper Tree, some may wonder how that Tree, which in our parts groweth but low and shrubby, should afford him shade and covering. But others know that there is a lesser and a larger kind of that Vegetable; that it makes a Tree in its proper soil and region. And may find in _Pliny_ that in the Temple of _Diana Saguntina_ in _Spain_, the Rafters were made of Juniper.

In that expression of _David_,[227] _Sharp Arrows of the mighty, with Coals of Juniper_; Though Juniper be left out in the last Translation, yet may there be an Emphatical sense from that word; since Juniper abounds with a piercing Oil, and makes a smart Fire. And the rather, if that quality be half true, which _Pliny_ affirmeth, that the Coals of Juniper raked up will keep a glowing Fire for the space of a year. For so the expression will Emphatically imply, not onely the _smart burning, but the lasting fire of their malice_.

[227] Psal. 120. 4.

That passage of _Job_,[228] wherein he complains that poor and half famished fellows despised him, is of greater difficulty; _For want and famine they were solitary, they cut up Mallows by the Bushes, and Juniper roots for meat_. Wherein we might at first doubt the Translation, not onely from the Greek Text but the assertion of _Dioscorides_, who affirmeth that the roots of Juniper are of a venomous quality. But _Scaliger_ hath disproved the same from the practice of the African Physicians, who use the decoction of Juniper roots against the Venereal Disease. The Chaldee reads it _Genista_, or some kind of Broom, which will be also unusual and hard Diet, except thereby we understand the _Orobanche_, or Broom Rape, which groweth from the roots of Broom; and which, according to _Dioscorides_, men used to eat raw or boiled in the manner of _Asparagus_.

[228] Job 30. 3, 4.

And, therefore, this expression doth highly declare the misery, poverty and extremity of the persons who were now mockers of him; they being so contemptible and necessitous, that they were fain to be content, not with a mean Diet, but such as was no Diet at all, the roots of Trees, the roots of Juniper, which none would make use of for Food, but in the lowest necessity, and some degree of famishing.

[Sidenote: _Scarlet Tincture, in_ Gen. 38. 28. Exod. 25. 4, etc.]

38. While some have disputed whether _Theophrastus_ knew the Scarlet Berry, others may doubt whether that noble tincture were known unto the Hebrews, which notwithstanding seems clear from the early and iterated expressions of Scripture concerning the Scarlet Tincture, and is the less to be doubted because the Scarlet Berry grew plentifully in the Land of _Canaan_, and so they were furnished with the Materials of that Colour. For though _Dioscorides_ saith it groweth in _Armenia_ and _Cappadocia_, yet that it also grew in _Judaea_, seems more than probable from the account of _Bellonius_, who observed it to be so plentifull in that Country, that it afforded a profitable Commodity, and great quantity thereof was transported by the Venetian Merchants.

How this should be fitly expressed by the word _Tolagnoth_, _Vermis_, or _Worm_, may be made out from _Pliny_, who calls it _Coccus Scolecius_, or the _Wormy Berry_; as also from the name of that Colour called _Vermilion_, or the _Worm Colour_; and which is also answerable unto the true nature of it. For this is no proper Berry containing the fructifying part, but a kind of Vessicular excrescence, adhering commonly to the Leaf of the _Ilex Coccigera_, or dwarf and small kind of Oak, whose Leaves are always green, and its proper seminal parts Acrons. This little Bagg containeth a red Pulp, which, if not timely gathered, or left to it self, produceth small red Flies, and partly a red powder, both serviceable unto the tincture. And therefore, to prevent the generation of Flies, when it is first gathered, they sprinkle it over with Vinegar, especially such as make use of the fresh Pulp for the confection of _Alkermes_; which still retaineth the Arabick name, from the _Kermesberry_; which is agreeable unto the description of _Bellonius_ and _Quinqueranus_. And the same we have beheld in _Provence_ and _Languedock_, where it is plentifully gathered, and called _Manna Rusticorum_, from the considerable profit which the Peasants make by gathering of it.

[Sidenote: _Oaks, in_ Gen. 35. 4, 8. Josh. 24. 26. Isa. 1. 29. Ezek. 27. 6. Hosea. 4. 13, etc.]

39. Mention is made of Oaks in divers parts of Scripture, which though the Latin sometimes renders a Turpentine Tree, yet surely some kind of Oak may be understood thereby; but whether our common Oak as is commonly apprehended, you may well doubt; for the common Oak, which prospereth so well with us, delighteth not in hot regions. And that diligent Botanist _Bellonius_, who took such particular notice of the Plants of _Syria_ and _Judaea_, observed not the vulgar Oak in those parts. But he found the _Ilex_, _Chesne Vert_, or Ever-green Oak, in many places; as also that kind of Oak which is properly named _Esculus_: and he makes mention thereof in places about _Jerusalem_, and in his Journey from thence unto _Damascus_, where he found _Montes Ilice, et Esculo virentes_; which, in his Discourse of _Lemnos_, he saith are always green. And therefore when it is said[229] of _Absalom_, that his _Mule went under the thick Boughs of a great Oak, and his Head caught hold of the Oak, and he was taken up between the Heaven and the Earth_, that Oak might be some _Ilex_, or rather _Esculus_. For that is a thick and bushy kind, in _Orbem comosa_, as _Dale-champius_; _ramis in orbem dispositis comans_, as _Renealmus_ describeth it. And when it is said[230] that _Ezechias broke down the Images, and cut down the Groves_, they might much consist of Oaks, which were sacred unto Pagan Deities, as this more particularly, according to that of _Virgil_,

_Nemorumque Jovi quae maxima frondet Esculus._

And, in _Judaea_, where no hogs were eaten by the Jews, and few kept by others, 'tis not unlikely that they most cherished the _Esculus_, which might serve for Food of men. For the Acrons thereof are the sweetest of any Oak, and taste like Chesnuts; and so producing an edulious or esculent Fruit, is properly named _Esculus_.

[229] 2 Sam. 18. 9, 14.

[230] 2 King. 18. 4.

They which know the _Ilex_, or Ever-green Oak, with somewhat prickled leaves, named +Prinos+, will better understand the irreconcileable answer of the two Elders, when the one accused _Susanna_ of incontinency under a +Prinos+, or Ever-green Oak, the other under a +Schinos+, _Lentiscus_, or Mastick Tree, which are so different in Bigness, Boughs, Leaves and Fruit, the one bearing Acrons, the other Berries: And, without the knowledge hereof, will not Emphatically or distinctly understand that of the Poet,

_Flavaque de viridi stillabant Ilice mella._

[Sidenote: _Cedars of_ Libanus.]

40. When we often meet with the Cedars of _Libanus_, that expression may be used not onely because they grew in a known and neighbour Country, but also because they were of the noblest and largest kind of that Vegetable, and we find the Phoenician Cedar magnified by the Ancients. The Cedar of _Libanus_ is a _coniferous_ Tree, bearing _Cones_ or Cloggs; (not Berries) of such a vastness, that _Melchior Lussy_, a great Traveller, found one upon _Libanus_ as big as seven men could compass. Some are now so curious as to keep the Branches and _Cones_ thereof among their rare Collections. And, though much Cedar Wood be now brought from _America_, yet 'tis time to take notice of the true Cedar of _Libanus_, imployed in the Temple of _Solomon_; for they have been much destroyed and neglected, and become at last but thin. _Bellonius_ could reckon but twenty eight, _Rowolfius_ and _Radzevil_ but twenty four, and _Bidulphus_ the same number. And a later account[231] of some English Travellers saith, that they are now but in one place, and in a small compass, in _Libanus_.

[231] _A journey to_ Jerusalem, 1672.

[Sidenote: _Uncircumcised Fruit, in_ Levit. 19. 23.]

_Quando ingressi fueritis terram, et Plantaveritis in illa ligna Pomifera, auferetis praeputia eorum. Poma quae germinant immunda erunt vobis, nec edetis ex eis. Quarto autem anno, omnis fructus eorum sanctificabitur, laudabilis Domino. Quinto autem anno comedetis fructus._ By this Law they were injoyned not to eat of the Fruits of the Trees which they planted for the _first three years_: and, as the Vulgar expresseth it, to take away the Prepuces, from such Trees, during that time; the Fruits of _the fourth year being holy unto the Lord_, and those of the fifth allowable unto others. Now if _auferre praeputia_ be taken, as many learned men have thought, to pluck away the bearing Buds, before they proceed unto Flowers or Fruit, you will readily apprehend the Metaphor, from the analogy and similitude of those Sprouts and Buds, which, shutting up the fruitfull particle, resembleth the preputial part.

And you may also find herein a piece of Husbandry not mentioned in _Theophrastus_, or _Columella_. For by taking away of the Buds, and hindering fructification, the Trees become more vigorous, both in growth and future production. By such a way King _Pyrrhus_ got into a lusty race of Beeves, and such as were desired over all _Greece_, by keeping them from Generation untill the ninth year.

And you may also discover a physical advantage of the goodness of the Fruit, which becometh less crude and more wholsome, upon the fourth or fifth years production.

[Sidenote: _Partition of Plants into Herb and Tree, in_ Gen. 1. 11.]

41. While you reade in _Theophrastus_, or modern Herbalists, a strict division of Plants, into _Arbor_, _Frutex_, _Suffrutex et Herba_, you cannot but take notice of the Scriptural division at the Creation, into _Tree_ and _Herb_: and this may seem too narrow to comprehend the Classis of Vegetables; which, notwithstanding, may be sufficient, and a plain and intelligible division thereof. And therefore in this difficulty concerning the division of Plants, the learned Botanist, _Caesalpinus_, thus concludeth. _Clarius agemus si altera divisione neglecta, duo tantum Plantarum genera substituamus, Arborem scilicet, et Herbam, conjungentes cum Arboribus Frutices, et cum Herba Suffrutices_; _Frutices_ being the lesser Trees, and _Suffrutices_ the larger, harder and more solid Herbs.

And this division into Herb and Tree, may also suffice, if we take in that natural ground of the division of perfect Plants, and such as grow from Seeds. For Plants, in their first production, do send forth two Leaves adjoining to the Seed; and then afterwards, do either produce two other Leaves, and so successively before any Stalk; and such go under the name of +Poa, Botane+, or _Herb_; or else, after the first Leaves succeeding to the Seed Leaves, they send forth a Stalk, or rudiment of a Stalk before any other Leaves, and such fall under the Classis of +Dendron+, or _Tree_. So that, in this natural division, there are but two grand differences, that is, _Tree_ and _Herb_. The _Frutex_ and _Suffrutex_ have the way of production from the Seed, and in other respects the _Suffrutices_, or _Cremia_, have a middle and participating nature, and referable unto Herbs.

[Sidenote: _The Bay Tree, in_ Psal. 37. 35]

42. _I have seen the ungodly in great power, and flourishing like a green Bay Tree._ Both Scripture and humane Writers draw frequent illustrations from Plants. _Scribonius Largus_ illustrates the old Cymbals from the _Cotyledon Palustris_, or _Umbelicus Veneris_. Who would expect to find _Aaron's_ Mitre in any Plant? yet _Josephus_ hath taken some pains to make out the same in the seminal knop of _Hyoscyamus_, or Henbane. The Scripture compares the Figure of Manna unto the Seed of Coriander. In _Jeremy_[232] we find the expression, _Streight as a Palm Tree_: And here the wicked in their flourishing state are likened unto a Bay Tree. Which, sufficiently answering the sense of the Text, we are unwilling to exclude that noble Plant from the honour of having its name in Scripture. Yet we cannot but observe, that the Septuagint renders it _Cedars_, and the Vulgar accordingly, _Vidi impium superexaltatum, et elevatum sicut Cedros Libani_; and the Translation of _Tremelius_ mentions neither Bay nor Cedar; _Sese explicantem tanquam Arbor indigena virens_; which seems to have been followed by the last Low Dutch Translation. A private Translation renders it like _a green self-growing[233] Laurel_, The High Dutch of _Luther's_ Bible, retains the word _Laurel_; and so doth the old Saxon and Island Translation; so also the French, Spanish; and Italian of _Diodati_: yet his Notes acknowledge that some think it rather a Cedar, and others any large Tree in a prospering and natural Soil.

[232] Jer. 10. 5.

[233] Ainsworth.

But however these Translations differ, the sense is allowable and obvious unto apprehension: when no particular Plant is named, any proper to the sense may be supposed; where either Cedar or Laurel is mentioned, if the preceding words [_exalted and elevated_] be used, they are more appliable unto the Cedar; where the word [_flourishing_] is used, it is more agreeable unto the Laurel, which, in its prosperity, abounds with pleasant flowers, whereas those of the Cedar are very little, and scarce perceptible, answerable to the Firre, Pine and other coniferous Trees.

[Sidenote: _The Figg Tree, in_ S. Mark. 11. 13, etc.]

43. _And in the morning, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry; and seeing a Figg Tree afar off having Leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon; and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves: for the time of Figgs was not yet._ Singular conceptions have passed from learned men to make out this passage of S. _Mark_, which S. _Matthew_[234] so plainly delivereth; most men doubting why our Saviour should curse the Tree for bearing no Fruit, when the time of Fruit was not yet come; or why it is said that _the time of Figgs was not yet_, when, notwithstanding, Figgs might be found at that season.

[234] Matt. 21. 19.

_Heinsius_,[235] who thinks that _Elias_ must salve the doubt, according to the received Reading of the Text, undertaketh to vary the same, reading +hou gar en, kairos sykon+, that is, _for where he was, it was the season or time of Figgs_.

[235] Heinsius _in_ Nonnum.