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ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION.

IN preparing for the press a second edition of these "Oriental Illustrations," it would be ungrateful in me not to notice the very favourable reviews of the first impression, which have been given, and for which I now tender my most cordial and heart-felt thanks.

During my eight years' residence at home, "among my own people," I have found leisure to revise and remodel. several paragraphs, and to make numerous additions to the former materials. The new articles on many passages of Holy Writ will, I hope, be found to possess considerable interest; and the whole to be expressed in English more intelligible and idiomatic than that in which it was originally written.

In the course of a few days, I shall embark for Madras; and, long before this brief address can meet the public eye, I shall be at sea; trusting in the wisdom and goodness of the Divine Being to be guided to the place where I would be, "to preach unto the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." Though it may be among the wise appointments of Heaven, that I am not to be permitted again to see my native land; yet nothing shall sever me from her interests, and I will ever pray that peace may be in her sanctuaries, and prosperity in her palaces.

LONDON,

JOSEPH ROBERTS.

6, MYDDELTON-SQUARE, PENTONVILLE,

January 2d, 1843.

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ORIENTAL ILLUSTRATIONS

OF

THE SACRED SCRIPTURES.

GENESIS.

СНАР. І.

Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life.-Verse 20.

THE Hebrew has for life, "soul;" and the Orientals believe that the vital principle in animals will never die; and when the life or soul has departed from one body, it is said to enter into and to animate some other body.

CHAP. II.

The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.Verse 7.

Those of the Easura faith believe that Satte produced Siva and his goddess, Vishnoo and Lechimy, also Brahma and the goddess Sarusuvathe; but that all souls come from BRAHM, "the Supreme."

The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden.-Verse 8. It may be of but little importance to us, at this day, to know where the garden of Eden was situated; and, perhaps, it is now impossible to identify its site. Some have fixed it in China; others in Arabia, or Palestine: some have said it was on the banks of the Ganges and others, in the island of Ceylon. The word Paradise, by which it is generally designated, is not Greek, but signifies, according to Dr. Clarke, in Arabic, "a garden," "a vineyard," also "the place of the blessed."

B

It is a well-known fact, that, by all the inhabitants of the East, Ceylon is considered one of the most sacred spots on earth; and the Arabians and Persians believe it was the Paradise. Though the names Adam's Bridge and Adam's Peak may not stamp with certainty the traditions concerning it; yet they show at least what has been, and still is, the popular opinion. It is, however, only fair to infer that the site chosen for the "place of the blessed," would be the most eligible that could be fixed on, not only in relation to the other parts of our globe, but also to universal nature; as its climate and productions would, in a great measure, depend on this. It is therefore as probable that it would be situated near the equator, as in any other place; for, after all deductions for the devastations made either by the fall or the flood, the fairy scenes that there break upon our view, the profuse and unaided gifts of nature, joined with the fewness of the wants of the inhabitants, may lead us to conclude that we have found out as probable a spot for the abode of the first happy pair, as can any where else be pointed out.*

Of every tree in the garden thou mayest freely eat.-Verse 16. The margin reads, "eating thou shalt eat ;" and this is truly Oriental. Does a man who is under the care of a physician, feel doubtful whether or not he ought to eat some kind of food, which has been recommended to him? and does he ask, "Shall I partake of this?" should it be approved of by the physician, he will reply, "Fear not; Posikavea, posikalām, -Eating you may eat." And this emphatic Orientalism has many parallels in the sacred volume. Thus, in Gen. ii. 17, the text is, "Thou shalt surely die;" but the Hebrew," dying thou shalt die;" which repetition stamps with certainty the fearful denunciation. When Isaac found Jacob had deceived him, and had taken away the blessing of Esau, the Hebrew has it, he "trembled with a great trembling greatly;"

• Lieutenant Burns, in his Journey through the Toorkmun Desert, says, "The inhabitants repeat a tradition, that the first of men tilled in Shurukhs, which was his garden, while Serendib, or Ceylon, was his house!" (Vol ii. p. 52.) And, again, when our traveller was introduced to the Shah of Persia, his Majesty inquired whether Abbas Meerra would be able to take Shurukhs, and whether the place would support his army; to which "one of the ministers, by way of adding to the information desiderated by his Majesty, stated that Shurukhs was the garden of Adam, who used to come from Ceylon (Serendib) and till itdaily." (Page 137.)

(Gen. xxvii. 33 ;) which reduplication shows the intenseness of his fear. When Judah spake to his father of the earnestness of Joseph, respecting Benjamin being brought to Egypt, the text is, "did solemnly protest;" but the original, "protesting protested;" (Gen. xliii. 3;) and when the patriarch complained of them for having told they "had yet a brother," they replied, "The man asking asked us;" meaning, he strictly inquired of them whether they had another brother: and "knowing could we know" he would tell us to bring him down? When Joseph saw his brethren, and Benjamin, on their return to buy corn, he said to his head-servant, "Kill a killing;" which means there was to be a great slaughter, an abundance of provision. And when they told the steward about the money being found in their sacks, in order to show the oneness of their design, they said, "Coming down we came down" to buy food. Look also at Moses, when he took upon himself to address the Almighty respecting the oppressions of Pharaoh, and the miseries of the people: he said, "Delivering thou hast not delivered" thy people. (Exod. v. 23.) So Jethro, on seeing the arduous duties of Moses in being the sole judge of Israel, said, in order to induce him to take others to assist him, "Fading thou wilt fade," if he continued to do that work alone. (Exod. xviii. 18.) Again: when the slave refused to be liberated, and "saying shall say, I will not go free," his master might retain his services. (Exod. xxi. 5.) To show the importance of the visit of the priest to those who were afflicted with the leprosy, it is said, "In coming in he shall come in." (Lev. xiv. 48.) In the law, also, respecting those animals caught in the chase, the terms, "that hunteth any hunting," strongly depict the eagerness of those engaged in the pursuit. (Lev. xvii. 13.) The unfailing goodness of Jehovah, in all ages, is emphatically described by the solemn repetition, "generation and generation;" so also in Psalm xxxiii. 11; xlix. 11; lxi. 6; lxxvii. 8; lxxix. 13; lxxxix. 1; c. 5; cxix. 90; Joel ii. 2. The strictness of the siege of Jericho is forcibly alluded to by Joshua, "It did shut up, and was shut up." (Joshua vi. 1.) Jephthah, to give solemnity to his rash vow, said, "That which cometh forth, which shall come forth, shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt-offering." (Judges xi. 31.) When David's child was sick, he "fasted a

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