a general name for all mankind who lived before the flood, and so includes the whole of the human race from Adam to Noah and his family.

As Moses has not set down the particular time of Chronology any transaction before the flood, except only the years of the father's age wherein the several descendants of Adam in the line of Seth were begotten, and the length of their several lives; it has been the business of chronologers to endeavour to fix the years of the lives and deaths of these patriarchs, and the distance of time from the creation to the deluge. In this there could be little difficulty, were there no varieties in the several copies we now have of Moses's writings; which are, the Hebrew, the Samaritan, and the Greek version of the Septuagint; but as these differ very considerably from one another, learned men are much divided in their opinion concerning the chronology of the first ages of the world; some preferring one copy, and some another.

That the reader may the better judge of the variations in the three copies in this period, they are exhibited in the following table, with the addition of those of Josephus as corrected by Dr Wells and Mr Whiston.

### A Table of the Years of the Antediluvian Patriarchs

| Their ages at their sons birth | Years they lived after their sons birth | Length of their lives | |-------------------------------|----------------------------------------|----------------------| | | Heb. Sam. Sept. Jof. | Heb. Sam. Sept. | | Adam, | 130 130 230 130 | 800 800 700 | | Seth, | 105 105 205 105 | 807 807 707 | | Enos, | 90 90 190 90 | 815 815 715 | | Cainan, | 70 70 170 70 | 840 840 740 | | Mahalaleel, | 65 65 165 65 | 830 830 730 | | Jared, | 162 62 162 62 | 800 785 800 | | Enoch, | 65 65 165 65 | 300 300 200 | | Methuselah, | 187 67 167 187 | 782 653 802 | | Lamech, | 182 53 188 182 | 595 600 565 | | Noah was aged, at the flood, | 600 600 600 600 | |

To the Flood, 1656 1307 2262 1556

To this Table it will be necessary, in order to explain the consequences of these variations, to add separate chronological tables, showing in what year of his contemporaries the birth and death of each patriarch happened, according to the computation of each of the said three copies. ### A Chronological Table of the Years of the Patriarchs, according to the Computation of the Hebrew

| Adam created | Seth born | Enos born | Cainan born | Mahalaleel born | Jared born | Enoch born | Methuselah born | Lamech born | Adam dies | Enoch translated | Seth dies | Noah born | Enos dies | Cainan dies | Mahalaleel dies | Jared dies | Japhet born | Shem born | Lamech dies | Methuselah dies | The Flood | |--------------|-----------|-----------|-------------|-----------------|------------|------------|---------------|-------------|-----------|-----------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-------------|-----------------|------------|-------------|-----------|-------------|-----------------|----------| | 1 | 130 | 235 | 325 | 395 | 460 | 622 | 687 | 874 | 930 | 987 | 1042 | 1056 | 1140 | 1235 | 1290 | 1422 | 1556 | 1558 | 1651 | 1656 | |

### A Chronological Table of the Years of the Patriarchs, according to the Computation of the Septuagint

| Adam created | Seth born | Enos born | Cainan born | Mahalaleel born | Jared born | Enoch born | Methuselah born | Lamech born | Adam dies | Enoch translated | Seth dies | Noah born | Enos dies | Cainan dies | Mahalaleel dies | Jared dies | Japhet born | Shem born | Lamech dies | Methuselah dies | The Flood | |--------------|-----------|-----------|-------------|-----------------|------------|------------|---------------|-------------|-----------|-----------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-------------|-----------------|------------|-------------|-----------|-------------|-----------------|----------| | 1 | 230 | 435 | 625 | 795 | 930 | 1122 | 1340 | 1474 | 960 | 1122 | 1422 | 1556 | 1651 | 1535 | 1662 | 1922 | 2162 | 2164 | 2227 | 2262 | | To the varieties exhibited in the two last tables, others might be added, by admitting the various readings of some numbers in the Samaritan and Septuagint: for as to the Hebrew copies, there is here a constant agreement among them.

The manuscript from which the Samaritan Pentateuch was published, agrees exactly with the Samaritan numbers given by Eusebius. But St Jerome tells us, that in his time, there were some Samaritan copies which make Methuselah 187 years old at the birth of Lamech, and Lamech 182 at the birth of Noah, just as the Hebrew does. Now if these numbers be approved as the true original numbers, the interval from the creation to the flood will be 1556 years; differing from the Hebrew computation but 100 years in the age of Jared at the birth of Enoch; and if this last be allowed to be a mistake of the transcriber, by his dropping a number, and writing 62 instead of 162, as has been suspected, the Samaritan will be perfectly reconciled with the Hebrew, and all difference between them vanish.

Scaliger, on the authority of an old Samaritan chronicle, having at the end a table of the years of the patriarchs to the time of Moses, would correct two of the Samaritan numbers in Eusebius; viz. instead of 65, the age of Mahalaleel when he begat Jared, he thinks it should be 75; and instead of 67, the age of Methuselah when he begat Lamech, he would have it 77. By which alterations he reckons 20 years more to the flood than Eusebius and the manuscript; that is, 1327. But, as he acknowledges the table, whereon he grounds these corrections, contains some great absurdities, it seems unreasonable to oppose it to the joint authority of Eusebius and the Samaritan manuscript.

As to the Septuagint, in the common editions of that version, the age of Methuselah at the birth of Lamech is 167; and consequently the sum of this period, according to them, is no more than 2242. But, in this case, Methuselah will outlive the flood 14 years; and we may well wonder, with Eusebius, where he was preferred. To obviate this objection, we are told, that, in some copies, Methuselah is said to have lived but 782 (not 802) years after the birth of Lamech, and no more than 949 in all. But the Alexandrian manuscript entirely takes away the difficulty, by giving the same number in this place with the Hebrew.

Pezron is of opinion, that the age of Lamech, at the birth of Noah, should be but 182, as it is both in the Hebrew and in Josephus, supposing, with St Austin, that the present number is the error of the scribe who first copied the original Septuagint manuscript in Ptolemy's library. So that he computes 2256 years to the flood. And, if this correction be admitted, and one more mentioned also by St Austin, viz. that Lamech lived 595 years after the birth of Noah, and not 655, as in the present copies, there will then remain no other difference between the Septuagint and the Hebrew than 600 years added to the ages of the five patriarchs when they begat their sons, and Methuselah will, conformably to the Hebrew and Samaritan, die in the year of the flood.

Having premised this chronological view, we shall proceed to the history of the antediluvian patriarchs.

Of the great progenitor we are told, that "the Lord Of Adam God took the man and put him into the garden," in Paradise. These words plainly indicate, that Adam was not created within the precincts of Paradise; and it is afterwards said, upon his being turned out of the garden, "He..." Adam was doubtless created in the prime of his life, with all his powers and faculties in the highest degree of strength and vigour. His body would be graceful, and well proportioned; while his countenance was comely, and glowed with all the lustre of youthful innocence. The poet thus describes our first parents:

Adam the goodliest man, of men since born His sons; the fairest of her daughters Eve. —for in their looks divine The image of their glorious Maker shone. Milton.

Many have entertained an opinion (as mentioned under the article Adam), that our first parent was created an adept in knowledge and in science, a consummate philosopher, and an accomplished divine. But the very reverse of this must be true, providing we give credit to the account which Moses gives of him. If Adam was created with intuitive knowledge, for what end was he endowed with the senses of a man, through which ideas might be conveyed to his mind, and make him capable of such improvements as arise from experience and observation? And if he originally possessed such a fund of valuable knowledge, why had he such an ardent thirst for an unwarrantable portion of more, and for the sake of this additional pittance forfeited his happiness and life? Besides, if Adam was at first all light and knowledge, and was soon after reduced to a state of ignorance and error, this transition would make a retrograde in the system of nature, quite dissimilar to that uniformity which obtains throughout the whole of the divine government and economy. Moses introduces our first parents into life in the most natural manner, as having capacities to acquire knowledge, senses to receive impressions from objects around them, and a sufficient degree of reason to form a judgment of the things perceived; yet all these faculties can only be considered as so many instruments, by the exercise of which they might be enabled to discharge the duties of their future life.

The following portrait of our first progenitor when he first came into life, drawn by the inimitable pencil of Buffon, is extremely beautiful, while it is dissonant from no part of the Mosaic history. "Let us suppose a man in the same situation with him who first received existence; a man whose organs were perfectly formed, but who was equally new to himself, and to every object which surrounded him. Were he to give a history of his thoughts, and of the manner in which he received impressions, he might give some such information as this. I remember the moment when my existence commenced. It was a moment replete with joy, with amazement and anxiety. I neither knew what I was, where I was, nor whence I came. I opened my eyes. But what an amazing increase of sensation! The light, the celestial vault, the verdure of the earth, the transparency of the waters, gave animation to my spirits, and conveyed pleasures which exceed the powers of expression. At first I believed that all these objects existed within me, and formed a part of myself. When, turning mine eyes to the sun, his splendour overpowered me. I voluntarily shut out the light, and felt a small degree of pain. During this moment of darkness, I imagined that I had lost the greatest part of my being. I was then roused with a variety of sounds. The singing of birds and the murmuring breezes formed a concert, which excited most sweet and enchanting emotions. I listened, and was convinced that these harmonious sounds existed within me.—I made a step forwards; and afterwards renewing my motion, I walked with my face turned towards the heavens; till I struck against a palm tree, and felt some degree of pain. Seized with terror, I ventured to lay my hand upon the object, and perceiving it to be a being distinct from myself, because it did not, like touching my own body, give me a double sensation. I resolved then to feel every object I saw, and had a strong desire to touch the sun; but stretching out my hands to embrace the heavens, they met without any intermediate object. All objects appeared to me equally near; and it was not till after many trials that I learned to use my eye as a guide to my hand. At last the train of my ideas was interrupted, and I lost the consciousness of my existence. My sleep was profound; but having no mode of measuring time, I knew nothing of its duration. When I awakened, I was astonished to find by my side another form, perfectly similar to my own. I conceived it to be another self; and instead of losing by my sleep, I imagined myself to be double. I ventured to lay my hand upon this new being. With rapture and astonishment I perceived that it was not myself, but something much more glorious and desirable."

This philosophical detail coincides with the opinion that, excepting what portions of knowledge Adam might acquire by the exercise of his senses, his Maker taught him everything that was necessary for his comfort and subsistence. But before the Almighty gave any instructions to our first parents, we must suppose he inspired them with the knowledge of the meaning of every word which they heard him speak; otherwise it would have been impossible that he could have had any such communication with them. The words which they heard and were made to understand, being imprinted upon their memories, would serve as the foundation of a language, which they would afterwards increase and enlarge as new objects began to multiply, and hence give rise to new terms and definitions.

One of the first lessons taught to Adam by his infallible Director, would be the necessity of food for the support of his life. Accordingly Moses informs us, that for this purpose a grant was made him to eat of every tree of the garden, excepting one. At the same time it was made known to him, in what manner he was to repair the decays of nature, namely, by eating of the tree of life. Then, in order to qualify him for social intercourse, he was ordered to exercise his faculty of speech, by giving names to different creatures. The author of the book of Ecclesiasticus says of our first parents, "They received the use of the five operations of the Lord; and in the sixth he imparted to them understanding; and in the seventh, speech to interpret the cogitations thereof." The meaning cannot be, that he gave them every word they were to pronounce, more than every idea which their senses were to convey to their understanding. Our talents, and the exercise of them, may be both said to be given us of God; but whatever capacities we receive from him, it is supposed that we ourselves must improve them, before we can attain to any requirements whatever. Although Adam had heard and understood the words of God, yet Moses does not give the least hint that he ever attempted to speak before this time. For if he had, as some imagine, innate knowledge and proper terms for every thing presented to him, what occasion was there to bring animals before him to see what names he would impose upon them? Some writers have endeavoured to turn into ridicule the whole of this transaction, and have asked, how could all creatures upon earth appear at once time before Adam? not only one, but many days would have elapsed before he could give each a name. But this objection arises from not understanding the words of Moses. What our translators render, to see what he would call THEM, is in the original, to see what name he would call IT. "And whatsoever Adam called it, (viz. the living creature), that was the name of it." The meaning seems to be no more than this: God brought a few creatures to Adam, to make him try to name them; and whatever he called any of them, that continued to be its name. And no doubt he would denominate every animal before him, from its external appearance, from its size, its colour, or its voice: And in process of time, he would give names to all those creatures which Providence brought within his view, or with which he became afterwards acquainted.

The next thing in which God instructed Adam, though probably in a trance or vision, was his near relation to Eve, as being a part of his own body. This piece of knowledge was imparted to him, in order to cement the greater love and affection between the two during the remaining period of their lives.

These, according to Moses, are all the transactions in which our first parents were interested during their abode in paradise, till they lost their innocence, and forfeited the enjoyments of their happy situation. And nothing can be more evident, than that the instructions which they received bespoke the infantile state of their minds; though there is no doubt but further and higher dispensations of knowledge would have been communicated to them, as they became able to bear them, and had their minds matured by experience and reflection.

How long our first parents retained their innocence, we are nowhere told. Many assert that they fell on the very first day of their creation. But Moses mentions so many transactions on that day, as must have engrossed the whole of their attention, and prevented them from falling into such temptations as arise from indolence and want of reflection. Besides, if, in such circumstances as they were placed, they could not refrain from an open violation of the Divine law for the space of one day, it would bepeak a deceitfulness of heart in them greater than in most of their posterity. It is somewhat singular, that many of the great trials recorded in sacred writing were limited to 40 days; which in prophetic style is sometimes equivalent to 40 years. This appears from the history of Moses, of Eli-

jah, of Nineveh, and of the Jewish nation after the death of Christ. And, what is very remarkable, he, of whom Adam was a type, was tempted 40 days in the wilderness. Agreeable to this part of the Divine economy, perhaps the trial of our first parents lasted so long. However, that they remained for a considerable time in the garden, appears highly probable from this consideration, that their indulgent Creator, who had manifested his tender concern for them while innocent, and extended his mercy to them when fallen, would never have turned them out of paradise, and sent them into an uncultivated world, before they had acquired the arts of living, and were capable of providing against the vicissitudes of their future lot. The particulars of this memorable transaction are considered under the article FALL.

Moses gives us no farther account of Adam's life after leaving the garden, but that he begat some children, and died at such an age. Yet we have no reason to doubt, but the venerable patriarch ever after led a life of penitence, and of the strictest piety. The various communications which he had enjoyed with his Maker in paradise, and which were probably renewed to him after his fall, could not fail to make the deepest impressions upon his mind. The gracious respite he had met with, from the execution of the sentence denounced against him, would make him cautious of offending for the time to come; lest the next violation of the Divine authority should put an end to his existence. The cherubim and flaming sword, or the devouring flame, on the east of Eden (which might continue burning all his life) would be to him what the vigilance of the ark were to Noah and his sons, an awful memorial of the danger of incurring the Divine displeasure. Besides, his worldly comforts being in a great measure withdrawn, his mind would be naturally disposed for relishing those pleasures which flow from piety and religion.

The first thing which we hear of Adam in his new situation was, that he knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bare Cain. Afterwards, we are told, she bare Abel. When the brothers were grown up, they betook themselves to distinct employments; the former to husbandry, and the latter to the keeping of sheep. Their inward dispositions were still more different; Cain being wicked and avaricious, but Abel just and virtuous.

In process of time they brought their respective offerings to God; Cain of the fruit of the ground, and Abel of the firstlings of his flock: but they met with very different success; for God accepted the offering of Abel, but Cain's he did not accept; the consequences of which are related under the articles ABEL and CAIN.

Soon after the murder of Abel, his loss was made up to his parents in another son they had, whom Eve named Seth, that is "appointed;" because he was appointed instead of Abel whom Cain slew.

As the whole progeny of Adam, of whom we have any mention in Scripture, were the descendants of Cain and Seth, it may be proper to give the following

Genealogical The sacred historian, confining himself chiefly to the line of Seth, from whence Noah was descended, has acquainted us with very few particulars relating to that of Cain: nor can we thus form any conjectures how long he or any of his descendants lived. All we know is, that Lamech, the fifth in descent from him, married two wives, Adah and Zillah, the first known instance of polygamy; that by the former he had two sons, Jabal, who was the first that dwelt in tents, and fed cattle, and Jubal, the inventor of music; and by the other, a son named Tubal-Cain, who found out the art of forging and working metals. Zillah likewise brought him a daughter named Naamah, supposed to have invented spinning and weaving: and we are told that, on some occasion or other, Lamech made a speech to his wives, the explication of which has greatly puzzled the interpreters. See LAMECH.

Seth. Moles proceeds to tell us, that Seth had a son born to him called Enos; and that then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. Commentators give us three different senses of these words. Some think the words should be rendered, Then men profaned in calling on the name of the Lord; and that even Enos arrogated to himself a power as if he had been a god. But this sense seems harsh and unnatural. There is nothing more unlikely, than that Adam's grandchildren, who lived under his own eye, would so soon shake off parental authority, and apostatize from the belief and worship of the one true God. Others think, that though men had hitherto worshipped God in private, yet they now instituted public assemblies, met in larger societies for solemn and social worship, and introduced liturgies and forms for more effectually paying their homage to the Almighty. This indeed is a very natural comment from those who place religion in modes and set forms of worship. But it is scarcely credible, that Adam and his family had never met together to worship God till now, when we are told that Cain and Abel, and probably both their families along with them, brought their offerings to the Lord; this they no doubt did every Sabbath day. Others, therefore, put a more consistent interpretation upon the words, namely, Antediluvian, namely, that men now called themselves by the name of the Lord. The meaning of which is, that about this period, the family of Seth, who adhered to God and his worship, began to give themselves a denomination, expressive of their relation and regards to him. They distinguished themselves from the irreligious family of Cain, and assumed the title of the sons or children of God; which denigration was afterwards applied to them by Moses; it was even used after the flood, and adopted by the writers of the New Testament.

Of the three next descendants of Seth, Caiman, Mahalalel, and Jared, and of Methuselah and Lamech, the grandfather and father of Noah, Moses has recorded no more than their several ages. The oriental authors commend them, as they do Seth and Enos, for their piety, and the salutary injunctions they left behind them, forbidding their children all intercourse with the race of cursed Cain.

Enoch, the son of Jared, and father of Methuselah, was a person of most extraordinary piety, walking with God, as the Scripture expresses it, for at least the last three hundred years of his life; as a reward for which exemplary behaviour in so corrupt an age, he was taken up by God into heaven, without suffering death. See Enoch.

Moses afterwards informs us, When men began to multiply, i.e., when the earth was filled with inhabitants, and tribes formerly living remote began to approach nearer to one another, Daughters were born unto them; meaning in greater abundance than formerly; which seems to hint, that at this period there were considerably more females than males born into the world. Some think that Moses, being now about to mention the wickedness of the Antediluvians, introduces the posterity of Cain as being the chief cause of their corruption; and that he styles them men and daughters of men, because they were sensual and earthly; in which sense the word men is sometimes used in the Scriptures.

The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all that they chose. These words have given rise to many absurd and ridiculous comments both of Jews and Christians. There are two meanings affixed to them, which may be mentioned as the most probable. Whenever the name of God is added to any thing, it not only denotes God's being the efficient cause, but it heightens and increases its usual meaning. For which reason any thing that is excellent in its kind, or uncommonly lofty and magnificent, was by the Jews said to be of God, or of the Lord. Thus the angels are called the sons of God. And Adam being created with a nobler image than any other creature, is said to be made in the image of God. The cedars of Lebanon are called the cedars of the Lord; and great mountains, the mountains of God. Therefore by the sons of God in this place are meant men of great opulence, power, and authority. And by way of contrast, the historian introduces those of poor and mean circumstances in life, and calls them the daughters of men. The words thus explained, are not an unlikely description of that dissolute age. The great and mighty in this world are commonly most addicted to sensual gratifications, because they have so many incentives to inflame their passions, and so few restraints to curb them; and, instead of using their power to punish and discountenance vice, are too often the greatest examples and promoters of lasciviousness and debauchery. Thus, these sons of God, these great men, when they happened to meet with the daughters of their inferiors, gazed upon them as fit objects to gratify their lust; and from among these they took to themselves, in a forcible manner, wives, or (as it may be rendered) concubines, of all that they chose, whether married or unmarried, without ever asking their consent. No wonder, then, that the earth should be filled with violence, when the highest rank of men were above the restraint of law, of reason, and religion, and not only oppressed the poor, but with impunity treated them and their children in such a base and cruel manner.

But there are other writers who cannot relish the above opinion; because they think it a harsh and unnatural construction, to call great and powerful persons the sons of God, and all mean and plebeian women the daughters of men. Besides, the text does not say, that the sons of God offered any violence to these inferior women; but that they saw that they were fair, and made choice of them for wives. And wherein is the unhonourableness of the offence, if men of a superior rank marry their inferiors, especially when an excess of beauty apologizes for their choice? Or why should a few unequal matches be reckoned among the causes of bringing upon the world an universal destruction? For these reasons many are of opinion, that the descendants of Seth, who were styled the sons of God on account of their near relation to him, saw the daughters of men, i.e., the impious progeny of Cain, and by intermarriages became associated with them; and surrendering to those enchantresses their hearts and their freedom, they surrendered at the same time their virtue and their religion. From this union proceeded effects similar to what has happened ever since. When a pure society mixes with a profane, the better principles of the one become soon tainted by the evil practices of the other; which verifies the old adage, Evil communication corrupts good manners. Thus it appears, that the great source of universal degeneracy was owing to the posterity of Seth mingling with the progeny of Cain, in opposition to what their pious fathers had strictly charged them.

It is afterwards said, There were giants in the earth in those days: and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men, which were of old men of renown. Translators are not agreed about the meaning of the word giants. Some render the word, violent and cruel men; others, men who fall upon and rush forward, as a robber does upon his prey: the meaning then is, that they were not more remarkable for their strength and stature, than for their violence and cruelty. In Luther's German translation of the Bible, this word is rendered tyrants. It is generally agreed, that in the first ages of the world, men were of a gigantic stature; though Moses does not mention them as giants till after the union of the families of Seth and Cain, when men used their superiority in bodily strength for the purposes of gratifying their unhallowed passions.

At this period of the world, and long after, political power and bodily strength went hand in hand together. Whoever was able to encounter and kill a fierce and dangerous wild beast, and clear the country of noxious animals, or who was able in the day of battle to destroy most of his enemies, was looked up to by the rest of his companions as the fittest to be their leader and commander. Thus Nimrod, from being a mighty hunter, became a great king, and, grasping at power, was never satisfied till every obstacle to his ambition was removed. And it appears from history, that all his successors have pretty nearly trodden in the same path. These giants then, or sons of God, might be the chief warriors, who formed themselves into chosen bands, and living among a cowardly and effeminate people, had no curb to their cruelty and lust. From them might spring an illegitimate race, resembling their fathers in body and mind, who, when they grew up, having no inheritance, would be turned loose upon the world, and follow no other employment but theft, rapine, and plunder. Thus they became mighty men and men of renown, and procured themselves a name; but this was owing to the mischief they did, and the feats of savage cruelty which they performed.

Mankind running thus headlong into all manner of vice, were admonished to repent; and God, out of his great mercy, was pleased to grant them a convenient time for that purpose; no less than 120 years, during which space, but no longer, he declared his Spirit should "strive with man," or endeavour to awaken and reclaim them from their wicked course of life.

Amidst this general corruption, one man, however, was found to be just and perfect in his generation, walking with God. This extraordinary person was Noah, the son of Lamech; who, not thinking it sufficient to be righteous himself, unless he did his utmost to turn others likewise to righteousness by admonition as well as example, became a preacher to the abandoned race among which he lived, employing both his counsel and authority to bring them to a reformation of their manners, and to restore the true religion among them. But all he could do was to no purpose; for they continued incorrigibly obstinate; so that at length (as Josephus tells us), finding himself and family in imminent danger of some violence in return for his good will, he departed from among them, with his wife and children.

On his departure, it is probable they fell into greater disorders than before; having now none to controul, or even to trouble them with unwelcome advice. Moses assures us, that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was continually evil; and that "the earth was corrupt and filled with violence, all flesh having corrupted his way upon the earth." These words leave no room to inquire into the particular crimes of the Antediluvian world, which seems to have been overrun with a complication of all manner of debauchery and wickedness, and above all with violence and injustice towards one another.

Things being in this state, God, as the sacred historian pathetically expresses it, "repented that he had made man on earth, and it grieved him at his heart." And the time of forbearance being elapsed, he passed the sentence of their utter destruction by a flood of waters; a sentence which likewise included the beasts of the earth, and every creeping thing, and the fowls of the air. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord; who had before acquainted him with his design of bringing a deluge on the earth, and directed him to make an ark, or vessel, of a certain form and size, capable of containing not only himself and family, but such numbers of animals of all sorts as would be sufficient to preserve the several species, and again replenish the earth, together with all necessary provisions for them. All these injunctions Noah performed; and, by God's peculiar favour and providence, he and those that were with him survived this tremendous calamity. See the article DELUGE.

As to any further transactions before the flood, we are left entirely in the dark by the sacred historian. The Jews and heathen nations, however, have made ample amendments for the silence of Moses, by the abundance of their traditions. The only part of these, which can be connected in any thing like history, is what follows.—After the death of Adam, Seth, with his family, separated themselves from the profligate race of Cain, and chose for their habitation the mountain where Adam was buried, the Cainites remaining below, in the plain where Abel was killed; and, according to our historians, this mountain was so high, that the inhabitants could hear the angels singing the praises of God, and even join them in that service. Here they lived in great purity and sanctity of manners. Their constant employment was praising God, from which they had few or no avocations; for their only food was the fruit of the trees which grew on the mountain, so that they had no occasion to undergo any servile labours, nor the trouble of sowing and gathering in their harvest. They were utter strangers to envy, injustice, or deceit. Their only oath was, "By the blood of Abel;" and they every day went up to the top of the mountain to worship God, and to visit the body of Adam, as a mean of procuring the divine blessing. Here, by contemplation of the heavenly bodies, they laid the foundations of the science of astronomy; and left their inventions should be forgotten, or lost before they were publicly known, understanding, from a prediction of Adam's, that there would be a general destruction of all things, once by fire, and once by water, they built two pillars, one of brick, and the other of stone, that if the brick one happened to be overthrown by the flood or otherwise destroyed, that of stone might remain. This last, Josephus says, was to be seen in his time in the land of Syria, (thought to be in Upper Egypt).

The descendants of Seth continued in the practice of virtue till the 430th year of Jared, when an hundred of them hearing the noise of the music and the riotous mirth of the Cainites, agreed to go down to them from the holy mountain. On their arrival in the plain, they were immediately captivated by the beauty of the women, who were naked, and with whom they defiled themselves; and this is what is meant by the intermarriage of the sons of God with the daughters of men, mentioned by Moses. The example of these apostate sons of Seth was soon followed by others; and from time to time great numbers continued to descend from the mountain, who in like manner took wives from the abandoned race of Cain. From these marriages sprung the giants (who, however, according to Moses, existed before); and these being as remarkable for their impiety as for their strength of body, tyrannized in a cruel manner, and polluted the earth with wickedness of every kind. This defection became at last so universal, that none were left in the holy mountain, except Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives.

Berothus, a Chaldean historian, who flourished in the time of Alexander the Great, enumerates ten kings who reigned in Chaldea before the flood; of whom the first, called Alorus, is supposed to be Adam, and Xifuthrus, the last, to be Noah.—This Alorus declared that he held his kingdom by divine right, and that God himself had appointed him to be the pastor of the people. According to our historian, in the first year of the world, there appeared out of the Red sea, at a place near the confines of Babylonia, a certain irrational animal called Oannes. He had his whole body like that of a fish; but beneath his fish's head grew another of a different form (probably a human one). He had also feet like a man, which proceeded from his fish's tail, and a human voice, the picture of him being preferred ever after. This animal conversed with mankind in the daytime, without eating anything; he delivered to them the knowledge of letters, sciences, and various arts: he taught them to dwell together in cities, to erect temples, to introduce laws, and instructed them in geometry: he likewise showed them how to gather seeds and fruits, and imparted to them whatever was necessary and convenient for a civilized life; but after this time there was nothing excellent invented. When the sun set, Oannes retired into the sea, and continued there all night. He not only delivered his instructions by word of mouth, but, as our author affirms us, wrote of the origin of things, and of political economy. This, or a similar animal, is also mentioned by other authors.

Of Alafporus, the second king, nothing remarkable is related. His successor, Amelon, or Amillarus, was of a city called Pantabibla. In his time another animal resembling the former appeared, 265 years after the beginning of this monarchy. Amelon was succeeded by Metalarius; and he by Daonus, all of whom were of the same city. In the time of the latter, four animals of a double form, half man and half fish, made their appearance. Their names were Euedocus, Eneugamus, Encubulus and Auenentas. Under the next prince, who was likewise of Pantabibla, appeared another animal of the same kind, whose name was Odaccon. All these explained more particularly what had been concisely delivered by Oannes.

In the reign of the tenth king, Xifuthrus, happened the great deluge, of which our author gives the following account: Cronus, or Saturn, appeared to Xifuthrus in a dream, and warned him, that on the fifteenth of the month Daeius mankind would be destroyed by a flood, and therefore commanded him to write down the original, intermediate state, and end of all things, and bury the writings under ground in Sippara, the city of the sun; that he should also build a ship, and go into it with his relations and dearest friends, having first furnished it with provisions, and taken into it fowls and four-footed beasts; and that, when he had provided everything, and was asked whither he was failing, he should answer, To the gods, to pray for happiness to mankind. Xifuthrus did not disobey; but built a vessel, whose length was five furlongs, and breadth two furlongs. He put on board all he was directed; and went into it with his wife, children, and friends. The flood being come, and soon ensuing, Xifuthrus let out certain birds, which finding no food, nor place to rest upon, returned again to the ship. Xifuthrus, after some days, let out the birds again; but they returned to the ship, having their feet daubed with mud: but, when they were let go the third time, they came no more to the ship, whereby Xifuthrus understood that the earth appeared again; and thereupon he made an opening between the planks of the ship, and seeing that it rested on a certain mountain, he came out with his wife, and his daughter, and his pilot: and having worshipped the earth, and raised an altar, and sacrificed to the gods, he and those who went out with him disappeared. They who were left behind in the ship, finding that Xifuthrus and the persons that accompanied him did not return, went out themselves to seek for him, calling him aloud by his name; but Xifuthrus was no more seen by them: only a voice came out of the air, which enjoined them, as their duty was, to be religious; and informed them, that on account of his own piety he was gone to dwell with the gods, and that his wife and daughter and pilot were partakers of the same honour. It also directed them to return to Babylon, and that, as the fates had ordained, they should take the writings from Sippara, and communicate them to mankind; and told them, that the place where they were was the country of Armenia. When they had heard this, they offered sacrifice to the gods, and unanimously went to Babylon; and when they came thither, they dug up the writings at Sippara, built many cities, raised temples, and rebuilt Babylon.

The Egyptians, who would give place to no nation in point of antiquity, have also a series of kings, who, as is pretended, reigned in Egypt before the flood; and to be even with the Chaldeans, began their account the very same year that theirs does according to Berothus.

There was an ancient chronicle extant among the Egyptians, not many centuries ago, which contained 30 dynasties of princes who ruled in that country, by a series of 113 generations, through an immense space of 36,525 years, during which Egypt was successively governed by three different races; of whom the first were the Aurite, the second the Meistræi, and the third the Egyptians.

But this extravagant number of years Manetho (to whose remains we must chiefly have recourse for the ancient Egyptian history) has not adopted; however, in other respects, he is supposed to have been led into errors in chronology by this old chronicle, which yet seems to have been a composition since Manetho's time.

The account given by Berothus is manifestly taken from the writings of Moses; but we have another account of the first ages of mankind, in which no mention is made of the flood at all. This is contained in some fragments of a Phoenician author called Sancho-nia-tho, who is by some said to have been contemporary with Gideon, by others to have lived in the days of King David; while some boldly assert there never was such such a person, and that the whole is a fiction of Philo Biblius in opposition to the books of Josephus, written against Apion. To gratify the reader's curiosity, however, we have subjoined an account of the first ten generations mentioned by him, which are supposed by the compilers of the Universal History to correspond to the generations mentioned by Moses before the flood.

Sanchozatho having delivered his cosmogony, or generation of the other parts of the world, begins his history of mankind with the production of the first pair of mortals, whom Philo, his translator, calls Protogenus and Æon; the latter of whom found out the food which was gathered from trees.

Their issue were called Genus and Genea, and dwelt in Phenicia: but when the great droughts came, they stretched forth their hands to heaven towards the sun; for him they thought the only God and Lord of heaven, calling him Beelzaphen, which in Phoenician is Lord of heaven, and in Greek Zeus.

Afterwards from Genus, the son of Protogenus and Æon, other mortal issue was begotten, whose names were Phos, Phur, and Phlox; that is, Light, Fire, and Flame. They found out the way of germinating fire, by the rubbing of pieces of wood against each other, and taught men the use thereof. They begat sons of vast bulk and height, whose names were given to the mountains on which they seized: so from them were named Mount Cassius, Libanus, Antilibanus, and Brathyrs.

Of these last were begotten Memrammus and Hypuranus; but they were so named by their mothers, the women of those times, who without shame lay with any man they could light upon. Hypuranus inhabited Tyre, and he invented the making of huts of reeds and rushes and the papyrus. He also fell into enmity with his brother Ufous, who first invented a covering for his body out of the skins of the wild beasts which he could catch. And when violent tempests of winds and rains came, the boughs in Tyre, being rubbed against each other, took fire, and burnt the wood there. And Ufous, having taken a tree, and broke off its boughs, was so bold as to venture upon it into the sea. He also consecrated two rude stones, or pillars, to fire and wind; and he worshipped them, and poured out to them the blood of such wild beasts as had been caught in hunting. But when these were dead, those that remained consecrated to them stumps of wood and pillars, worshipping them, and kept anniversaries feasts unto them.

Many years after this generation came Agrous and Halicus, the inventors of the arts of hunting and fishing, from whom huntmen and fishermen are named.

Of these were begotten two brothers, the inventors of iron and of the forging thereof: one of these, called Chryso, the same with Hephefetus, or Vulcan, exercised himself in words and charms and divinations: found out the hook, bait, and fishing-line, and boats slightly built; and was the first of all men that failed. Wherefore he also was worshipped after his death for a god: and they called him Zeus Michius, or Jupiter the engineer; and some say his brother invented the way of making walls of brick.

Afterwards from this generation came two brothers; one of whom was called Technites, or the Artificer; the other Geinus Autochthon, [the home-born man of the earth.] These found out to mingle stubble, or small twigs, with the brick earth, and to dry them in the sun, and so made tiles.

By these were begotten others; of which one was called Agrus [Field]; and the other Agrouerus, or Agrotes [Husbandman], who had a statue much worshipped, and a temple carried about by one or more yoke of oxen, in Phenicia; and among those of Byblus he is eminently called the greatest of the gods. These found out how to make courts about men's houses, and fences, and caves or cellars. Husbandmen, and such as use dogs in hunting, derive from these; and they are also called Aleite and Titans.

Of these were begotten Amynus and Magus, who showed men to constitute villages and flocks.

In these men's age there was one Eliun, which imports in Greek Hypsilus [the most high] and his wife was named Beruth, who dwelt about Byblus: and by him was begot one Epigorus, or Autochthon, whom they afterwards called Uranus [heaven]; so that from him that element which is over us, by reason of its excellent beauty, is called heaven; and he had a sister of the same parents called Ge [the earth]; and by reason of her beauty the earth had her name given to it.

Hypsilus, the father of these, dying in fight with wild beasts, was consecrated, and his children offered sacrifices and libations to him.—But Uranus taking the kingdom of his father, married his sister Ge, and had by her four sons: Ilius, who is called Cronus, [or Saturn]; Betylus; Dagon, who is Siton, or the god of corn; and Atlas: but by other wives Uranus had much issue.

As to the customs, policy, and other general circumstances of the Antediluvians, we can only form conjectures.

The only thing we know as to their religious rites is, that they offered sacrifices, and that very early, both of the fruits of the earth and of animals; but whether the blood and flesh of the animals, or only their milk and wool, were offered, is a disputed point.

Of their arts and sciences, we have not much more Arts, &c., to say. The Antediluvians seem to have spent their Antediluvian time rather in luxury and wantonness, to which the abundant fertility of the first earth invited them, than in discoveries or improvements, which probably they owed much less in need of than their successors. The art of working metals was found out by the last generation of Cain's line; and music, which they might be supposed to practice for their pleasure, was not brought to any perfection, if invented, before the same generation. Some authors have supposed astronomy to have been cultivated by the Antediluvians, though this is probably owing to a mistake of Josephus: but it is to be presumed, the progress they made therein, or in any other science, was not extraordinary; it being even very doubtful whether letters were so much as known before the flood. See Alphabet.

As to their politics and civil constitutions, we have not so much as any circumstances whereon to build conjecture. It is probable, the patriarchal form of government, which certainly was the first, was set aside when tyranny and oppression began to take place, and much sooner among the race of Cain than that of Seth. It seems also that their communities were but few, and... confined of vastly larger numbers of people than any former since the flood: or rather, it is a question, whether, after the union of the two great families of Seth and Cain, there were any distinction of civil societies, or diversity of regular governments, at all. It is more likely, that all mankind then made but one great nation, though living in a kind of anarchy, divided into several disorderly associations; which, as it was almost the natural consequence of their having, in all probability, but one common language, so it was a circumstance which greatly contributed to that general corruption which otherwise perhaps could not have so universally overspread the Antediluvian world. And for this reason chiefly, as it seems, so soon as the posterity of Noah were sufficiently increased, a plurality of tongues was miraculously introduced, in order to divide them into distinct societies, and thereby prevent any such total depravation for the future. See Confusion of Tongues.

Of the condition of the Antediluvians, Mr Whitehurst, in his Inquiry into the original state and formation of the earth*, has given us the following picture: "Under a mild and serene sky, and when the spontaneous productions of the earth were more than sufficient for the calls of nature, without art or labour, mankind had no need of any other protection from the inclemency of the seasons, nor of barns for winter's store, than the benevolent Author of nature had plentifully provided for them. Consequently, in a state of nature like this, there was no temptation to acts of violence, injustice, fraud, &c.; every one having plenty and enough, each equally partook of the numerous blessings thus amply provided for him. Power and property being equally diffused, men lived together in perfect peace and harmony, without law, and without fear; therefore it may be truly said of the Antediluvians, that they slept away their time in sweet repose on the ever-verdant turf. Such apparently was the state of nature in the first ages of the world, or from the creation to the first convulsion in nature, whereby the world was not only universally deluged, but reduced to a heap of ruins." But our ingenious author, whose Inquiry is not professedly repugnant to revelation, seems here to have lost himself in a pleasing reverie. At least he has forgot to inform us, For what purpose, under such circumstances, he supposes the deluge to have been sent upon the earth; and, How we are to understand the account given by Moses, who represents the Antediluvians, not as an innocent race, quietly reposing on the ever-verdant turf, but as a corrupt generation, by whom "the earth was filled with violence."

One of the most extraordinary circumstances which occurs in the Antediluvian history, is the vast length of human lives in those first ages, in comparison with our own. Few persons now arrive at eighty or a hundred years; whereas, before the flood, they frequently lived to near a thousand: a disproportion almost incredible, though supported by the joint testimonies of sacred and profane writers. Some, to reconcile the matter with probability, have imagined that the ages of those first men might possibly be computed, not by solar years, but months; an expedient which reduces the length of their lives rather to a shorter period than our own. But for this there is not the least foundation; besides the many absurdities that would thence follow, such as their begetting children at about six years of age, as some of them in that case must have done, and the contracting of the whole interval between the creation and the deluge to considerably less than two hundred years, even according to the larger computation of the Septuagint.

Again: Josephus, the Jewish historian, and some Christian divines, are of opinion, that before the flood, and some time after, mankind in general did not live to such a remarkable age, but only a few beloved of God, such as the patriarchs mentioned by Moses. They reason in this manner: Though the historian records the names of some men, whose longevity was singular, yet that is no proof that the rest of mankind attained to the same period of life, more than that every man was then of a gigantic stature, because he says, in those days there were giants upon the earth. Besides, had the whole of the Antediluvians lived so very long, and increased in numbers in proportion to their age, before the flood of Noah, the earth could not have contained its inhabitants, even supposing no part of it had been sea. And had animals lived as long, and multiplied in the same manner as they have done afterwards, they would have consumed the whole produce of the globe, and the stronger would have extinguished many species of the weaker. Hence they conclude, that for wise and good ends, God extended only the lives of the patriarchs, and a few beside, to such an extraordinary length.

But most writers maintain the longevity of mankind in general in the early world, not only upon the authority of sacred, but likewise of profane history. And for such a constitution, the moral reasons are abundantly obvious. When the earth was wholly unpeopled, except by one pair, it was necessary to endow sons for this men with a stronger frame, and to allow them a longer longevity, continuance upon earth for peopling it with inhabitants. In the infant state of every mechanical art, relating to tillage, building, clothing, &c. it would require many years experience to invent proper tools and instruments to ease men of their labour, and by multiplied essays and experiments to bring their inventions to any degree of maturity and perfection. Every part of their work must have been exceedingly arduous from such a penury and coarseness of tools, and must have required longer time and more strength of body than afterwards, when mechanical knowledge was introduced into the world. If parents at this period had not continued long with their children, to have taught them the arts of providing for themselves, and have defended them from the attacks of wild beasts, and from other injuries to which they were exposed, many families would have been totally extinguished. But one of the best and most valuable ends which longevity would answer was, the transmitting of knowledge, particularly of religious knowledge, to mankind. And thus, before writing was invented, or any such easy and durable mode of conveyance was found out, a very few men served for many generations to instruct their posterity, who would not be at a loss to consult living and authentic records.

The natural causes of this longevity are variously assigned. Some have imputed it to the sobriety of the causes of the Antediluvians, and the simplicity of their diet; alleging that they had none of those provocations to gluttony, which... which wit and vice have since invented. Temperance might undoubtedly have some effect, but not possibly to such a degree. There have been many temperate and abstemious persons in later ages, who yet seldom have exceeded the usual period.—Others have thought that the long lives of those inhabitants of the old world proceeded from the strength of their stamina, or first principles of their bodily constitutions; which might, indeed, be a concurrent, but not the sole and adequate cause of their longevity; for Shem, who was born before the deluge, and had all the virtue of the antediluvian constitution, fell three hundred years short of the age of his forefathers, because the greatest part of his life was passed after the flood.—Others have computed the longevity of the Antediluvians to the excellency of their fruits, and some peculiar virtue in the herbs and plants of those days. But to this supposition it has been objected, that as the earth was curled immediately after the fall, its productions we may suppose gradually decreased in their virtue and goodness till the flood; and yet we do not see the length of men's lives decrease considerably, if at all, during that interval. Waving this objection, as the import of the curse is variously interpreted, it appears certain that the productions of the earth were at first, and probably continued till after the deluge, of a different nature, from what they were in future times. Buffon supposes this difference may have continued gradually to diminish for many ages subsequent to that catastrophe. The surface of the globe (according to his theory) was in the first ages of the world less solid and compact; because, gravity having acted only for a short time, terrestrial bodies had not acquired their present density and consistence. The produce of the earth, therefore, must have been analogous to its condition. The surface being more loose and moist, its productions would of course be more ductile and capable of extension. Their growth, therefore, and even that of the human body, would require a longer time of being completed. The softness and ductility of the bones, muscles, &c., would probably remain for a longer period, because every species of food was more soft and succulent. Hence the full expansion of the human body, or when it was capable of generating, must have required 120 or 130 years; and the duration of life would be in proportion to the time of growth, as is uniformly the case at present: For if we suppose the age of puberty, among the first races of men, to have been 130 years, as they now arrive at that age in 14 years, the age of the Antediluvians will be in exact proportion to that of the present race; since by multiplying these two numbers by seven, for example, the age of the present race will be 98, and that of the Antediluvians will be 910. The period of man's existence, therefore, may have gradually diminished in proportion as the surface of the earth acquired more solidity by the constant action of gravity; and it is probable, that the period from the creation, to the days of David, was sufficient to give the earth all the density it was capable of receiving from the influence of gravitation; and consequently that the surface of the earth has ever since remained in the same state, and that the terms of growth in the productions of the earth, as well as the duration of life, have been invariably fixed from that period.

It has been further supposed, that a principal cause of the longevity under consideration was the wholesome constitution of the Antediluvian air, which, after the deluge, became corrupted and unwholesome, breaking, by degrees, the pristine crafts of the body, and shortening men's lives, in a very few ages, to near the present standard.

The temperature of the air and seasons before that catastrophe are upon very probable grounds supposed to have been constantly uniform and mild: the burning heats of summer and the severities of winter's cold were not then come forth, but spring and autumn reigned perpetually together: And indeed, the circumstance above all others most conducive to the prolongation of human life in the postdiluvian world appears to be an equal and benign temperature of climate (see the article Longevity); whence it seems reasonable to infer, that the same cause might have produced the same effect in the Antediluvian world.

Whether flesh was permitted to be eaten before the deluge, is a question which has been much debated. Whether any flesh By the permission expressly given to Noah, for that might be purposed, after the flood, and God's assigning vegetables only for food to man, as well as beast, at the flood, creation, one would imagine it was not lawful before: yet others have supposed, that it was included in the general grant of power and dominion given to Adam by God over the animal creation; and the distinction of beasts into clean and unclean, which was well known before the flood, is insisted on as a strong argument on this side.

But in answer to this it has been observed that, if so, it does not appear what occasion there was to renew this grant after the flood, and to add, "Every moving thing that liveth shall be food for you, even as the green herb have I given you all things." This surely implies that the green herb and fruits of the trees were all that was granted to man at first; but now, over and above that, was added the grant of animal food; for in a deed of gift, all is specified that is given or granted, and whatever is not expressly mentioned is excluded, or not given. Here man's food is appointed and specified; what is not expressly mentioned is therefore reserved and not granted. Besides, his grant or appointment of man's food respected not Adam only, but all his posterity, till an additional grant was made.

To the animals no further grant was made than at first; but to man another was made immediately after his fall and expulsion from Paradise, implied in these words: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground." This was in truth a punishment for his transgression, as well as a grant of other food, but yet what was now become necessary to him. Paradise no doubt was planted with the most excellent fruits, sufficient to have sustained his life in health and vigour in his innocent state; but after his transgression, being thrust out from that happy abode, and having then only the fruits of the common earth to feed on; which were not so nutritious as those of Paradise, he stood in need of something else to sustain life; and therefore bread produced by culture and other preparations for his food was now added, which before was not necessary, and thence called the staff of life. This seems a plain reason why bread was added after he came to live on the common earth; though Antediluvians, though perhaps another reason also for that addition may be given from the change that happened in man's body after his fall. Bread being now become the staff of life, Cain, the first man born, became a tiller of the ground, or an husbandman; and as the next in birth, Abel, became a keeper or feeder of sheep.

As to the distinction between clean and unclean, this solely respected animals offered in sacrifice in the Antediluvian world; as is evident from hence, that Noah, upon his coming out of the ark, "took of every clean beast and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings unto the Lord;" and that upon the grant of animal food to him and his posterity, which was posterior in time to the sacrifice, there is not the least mention of any distinction between clean and unclean with respect to food, but the very contrary, since the grant runneth: "Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you, even as the green herb have I given you all things." That distinction of clean and unclean as to food, came in with the law of Moses, and was different from that of sacrifices, there being several creatures clean for food which were not to be offered in sacrifice.

But another objection here occurs. What occasion was there for keeping sheep, when none of them could be eaten? In answer to this, it has been observed, that sheep and other animals might at this period be of great use to men besides yielding them food. Their flocks, no doubt, consisted of such creatures as were of the domestic kind, and such as by the divine law were pronounced clean and fit for being offered in sacrifice; therefore numbers would be kept for this very purpose. Their skins, besides serving men as garments, might answer many other valuable intentions. Veitments of hair and wool soon succeeded the ruder coverings of skins; consequently great profit would be derived from such animals as could be found, especially in countries where the inhabitants led a pastoral life and dwelt in tents. And we afterwards find that Abel's sacrifice was of this kind. They might use several of these animals, as they still do in some parts of the world, for bearing of burdens and drawing of carriages: for we may take it for granted that the first inventions for easing men of labour, would be of the simplest kind, and such as came easiest to hand. But keeping flocks of sheep, goats, and such like, would be of great utility, by affording quantities of milk, which is found to be the most nourishing diet both to the young and the old; and their carcases, though not used as food, might answer some useful purposes perhaps in manuring the soil.

The Antediluvian world was, in all probability, stocked with a much greater number of inhabitants than the present earth either actually does, or perhaps is capable of containing or supplying. This seems naturally to follow from the great length of their lives, which exceeding the present standard of life in the proportion, at least, of ten to one, the Antediluvians must accordingly in any long space of time double themselves, at least in about the tenth part of the time in which mankind do now double themselves. It has been supposed that they began to beget children as early, and left off as late, in proportion, as men do now; and that the several children of the same father... But according to a later writer upon the subject, the above table, though the numbers there may be thought sufficient for the peopling of the earth, we could by no means depend upon, for several reasons; particularly,

1. It is laid down there as a foundation, that the Antediluvians would double themselves every 42 years; as indeed they would, and in less time, after there came to be 100 marriages. Now, had the author observed this regular progression in his computation, by adding forty years to every former period of the age of the world, the amount, instead of two millions of millions, &c. would have been above five millions of millions at the year 1656, the age of the world at the deluge, according to the Hebrew numbers, which he contends for. What would the sum then have been, had we carried on the computation for 600 years more, according to the Septuagint?

2. He supposes the period of doubling must have been much shorter in the earliest ages, and much longer in the later, contrary to reason and fact. For mankind being sprung from one pair only, the increase at first must have been very slow, but come on very fast when a considerable number were married. His table therefore is made not regularly, but according to fancy, by unequal starts or chasms, at great intervals in the latter part, where it should have been most regular; it would seem with no other view than to raise such a number, upon the whole, as might be thought sufficient to people the earth.

3. In that calculation the two material points, the time of nursing and the age of puberty, are quite overlooked, by which all computations of the numbers in the Antediluvian world must be regulated. What unavoidable mistakes this omission must occasion, will be seen by examining the first ten numbers of the said table.

| Years of the world and intervals of doubling | Number of increase according to the intervals | |---------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------| | 1 | 2 Adam and Eve. | | 2 | 4 Cain and Abel. | | 6 | 8 | | 12 | 16 | | 20 | 32 | | 30 | 64 | | 42 | 281 | | 56 | 256 | | 72 | 512 | | 90 | 1024 | | 110 | 2048 |

On this table it may be observed, 1. That though there were but two persons created at first, this computation makes four persons in the second year of the world. This could not possibly be, except Cain had been born within 12 months after the creation, which is highly improbable, and Abel in the second year, yet far more improbable; and in that case Eve could not have suckled Cain.

2. In the fifth year of the world we have eight persons, that is, six children of Eve's in five years. "But (our author adds) what shall Eve do with six infants in five years? Where could she find so many wet nurses for them? Or would the mother of all living deny her children that nourishment which the Creator had appointed for their first food, the milk in her breasts?"

Do they consider that there was but one woman in the Antediluvian world to do for herself, her husband, and her children, what belongs to women to do? We should surely have more respect and compassion for the mother of all mankind, than to lay such an intolerable burden upon her, whose sorrow for her own deception, and thereby ruining both herself and her husband, must have been very great for many years. In punishment of which, though God had said he would greatly multiply her sorrow and conception, the meaning was not, that she should have a child every year, which could not be, because the nature of that food and nourishment appointed by himself for her children would not permit it. Nor yet when he commanded them to increase and multiply and replenish the earth, could the command be obeyed in such a manner as was contrary to the order of nature and providence. But the method intended to answer the design of the command was to prolong their lives to above 800 and 900 years, and their prolific powers for 340 and 360 years of that term of life, that by slow and sure and long continuance of increase they might people the earth in due time."

3. The same exception lies to all the following periods of doubling, where the number far exceeds what it could possibly be in fact; but we shall pass them over, and come to the last of them in the year 110, in which the number of mankind is made 2048. Now in the year 110, not one of Adam's children was married, because not yet come to the age of puberty. In that year of the world there could be no more than 18 or 20 persons, at single births, besides Adam and Eve. It is a great mistake therefore to imagine, that the periods of doubling were much shorter in the earlier times than in the latter; the contrary of which is evident to reason.

According to our author, two errors have been fallen into in treating of this point; namely, 1. That in the first ages of the world, both before and after the Flood, men began to propagate their kind as early as they commonly do at present. 2. That the children of the same father succeeded one after another as fast as they do now, that is, that the women brought forth children every year. The first of these errors he confutes, Of the age by shewing that the several periods or stages of man's puberty by life bear a just proportion to one another, and to the whole term of life; and that the period of puberty or maturity has not been the same at all times, but is according to the length or brevity of life in the different ages of the world, according to that remark of St Augustine, Tanto senior fuit proportione pubertas, quanto vitae totius major annos fuerit. Moses, he observes, gives the age of the world from the creation to the deluge, and from that period to his own time chiefly by generations. A generation is the interval of years between the births of father and son. This the Latins call ætas, and the Greeks ἔτος. Now, a generation, or the interval of years between father and son, has not been, neither possibly could be, the same in all ages from the beginning, as Vossius justly observes; but has varied greatly according to the length or brevity of man's life in the several periods of the world. Since the ordinary term of man's life has been reduced to 70 and 80 years, the time of puberty is in proportion to this brevity of life, and reckoned at 20 or 21, which is the fourth part of a life of four score. The several stages Antediluvians. Stages of human life are infancy, childhood, youth, manhood, full age, declension, old or decrepit age; all which commonly bear a proportion to the whole term of life. Now the bounds and limits of these several stages cannot be precisely the same in all, but vary in respect of the disposition of men's bodies, their course of life, and also the places and ages in which they live. In the Antediluvian world then, when men lived to upwards of 800 and 900 years, can it be thought that they passed through the several stages of life in as short time as men do now, who seldom exceed 80, and not one in ten arrives at that age? But if the Antediluvians arrived at puberty or manhood as soon as men do now, then would the several stages of human life have been lost or confounded, and men would have started from childhood to manhood at once, without any due or regular intervals, contrary to the order of nature: But if, according to the present economy of nature, man is but a youth at 20, which is a fourth part of our term of life, we may reasonably conclude, there would be a suitable proportion of years in a much longer term of life, since nature is constant and uniform in her operations. And though in so long a life as the Antediluvians enjoyed, the time of puberty might be a fifth or sixth part of their term of life, yet would they be but youths at 150 or 160; which bears much the same proportion to the whole of their life as 20 is to that of ours.

The other is an error, he thinks, which could never have been fallen into, had it been considered that every mother suckled her own children in those early days: and indeed where could she have found another to have done it for her?

Taking it for granted, then, that it was an universal custom for women to suckle their children as well before as after the flood, the next question is, for how long time they continued nurses? He shows various instances, that when man's life was reduced to 130 or 140 years, the ordinary time of nursing was two years; hence infers, that for three or four generations after the flood, when men lived to about 400 years, the time would be so much longer in proportion, and would not be less than three or four years; and consequently, that before the flood, when life was protracted to 800 or 900 years, it would be still longer, in proportion to their longevity; so that five years might be the ordinary time of nursing in the old world; and therefore that we cannot reckon less than five years between the births. For man's life being prolonged to so many hundred years at first for the more speedy peopling of the earth, he came by slow degrees to mature age, there being a long time required to rear up a body that was to last near 1000 years. The intervals, therefore, of infancy, childhood, youth, and mature age, were so much longer in proportion to ours as the difference is between our term of life and theirs: and 150 or 160 years, with respect to their longevity, was no more in proportion than 20 is to the brevity of our life. As the Antediluvians therefore were so very long in growing up to mature age, he concludes, that the time of nursing could not be shorter than five years, and that the distance between the births in a regular way must be set at five years.

Upon the whole, he thinks it evident that there could be no such speedy increase of mankind at the beginning as is imagined; that the time of nursing above Antediluvians specified was no more than necessary for that strength of constitution which was to last for 800 and 900 years; and that women who were to continue bearing children for 340 or 360 years of their life, should have them but slowly and at the distance of several years, that their strength might hold out, and that they might not be overburdened with too many cares at once; and therefore when Eve's first child was six years old, it was time enough for her to have another, and so on, though possibly sometimes twins.

These points being discussed, he proceeds, 1. To compute what number upon the whole might be born into calculation the world from the creation to near the time of the deluge; and then, 2. To state the needful deductions for deaths and other deficiencies.

I. 1. How long the parents of mankind continued in paradise, we know not; though longer perhaps than is commonly imagined. We shall even suppose two or three years, in which time there was no child born, nor any attempt towards it. We shall allow them two or three years more to lament their fall, and the miserable estate their want of faith and disobedience had brought them to, from a most happy condition; and suppose Cain to be born five years after the creation (in which supposition few, probably, will be apt to think us too hasty), and Abel again five years after him, and to every fifth year Eve to have had a child, the first seven, eight, or nine whereof probably were all males (the males being longer in coming to maturity than the females); and this distance between the births will also be thought a sufficient allowance. At this rate of increase Adam would have in 100 years 16 children, in 200 years 32, and in 400 years 64 children; when we will suppose Eve to have left off child-bearing. Nor need the number of Adam's children be thought too great, when there are instances in those later ages, and this short period of man's life, of those who have had 40 children at single births by two successive wives, and of many others who have had 20, 25, and 30, by one wife; though in such cases it is not to be supposed that the women suckled their children.

2. Though it is reasonable to think that the Antediluvians, notwithstanding their longevity, came to mature age at 150; yet, as we are not sure that they all married so soon as they were ripe for marriage, and that the earliest in the genealogies is born in the 162nd year of his father, who might probably be a first born, our author does not suppose Cain, Abel, or any of the succeeding children or grandchildren of Adam to have married till they were 162, but to have had children from 161 or 162 till they were of the age of 500, at the fore-named distance or interval between the births; though Noah we know had three sons after he was 500, at the due intervals. And to all the Antediluvians we may allow, without fear of exceeding, 50 or 54 children in general, according to the course of nature, and the longevity of those first ages of the world.

3. Let us next inquire in what number of years the men of that world might double themselves, notwithstanding the long intervals between the births. The increase indeed will be found very small for the first 300 or 400 years, as they were late in coming to maturity; but the succeeding ages will swell the account exceedingly. Antediluvians exceedingly. Let us suppose at present (what shall be proved afterwards) that in the year of the world 500, there were 200 persons only, male and female, of full age to marry, the men at 160, the women at 120 or thereabout. The first or second year after the marriage will probably produce 100 births from 100 couples, and every fifth year after 100 more. At this slow progression the 200 married persons will, in 19 or 20 years, be increased to 600: so that the number of mankind would be trebled in 20 years, after there came 100 pair to be married. And in this manner they would increase and multiply every 20 years, or in that space treble themselves.

It may perhaps be objected, that though it appears that such an increase might be at first from the first 100 marriages, yet they could not continue thus to multiply at such periods; because, according to the rule we have laid down, none of the issue of these 100 first marriages could increase the number of mankind till the men had attained the age of 160. It is true they could not: but then it must be remembered, that the first 100 pair are still adding every fifth year 100 more to the number of mankind, even till after the 400 born in the first 20 years are married, and begin a new stock for increase; so that when there came to be some hundred couples married, the increase and multiplication would come on very fast, and in 1000 years mankind would be prodigiously increased.

But though there be nothing in this supposition contrary to reason, viz. That after the year of the world 500, they might treble themselves in 20 years; yet we will not reckon upon so short an interval, but will allow a much longer time even to their doubling themselves, and shall exhibit two tables of doubling; the first at the interval of 50 years (much too long indeed), the other at the interval of 40 years, and both beginning at the year 500, when there could not be fewer (whatever more there might be) than 100 married or marriageable persons descended from Adam and Eve.

| Years of the World | Number of Mankind | |-------------------|------------------| | 500 | 200 | | 550 | 400 | | 600 | 800 | | 650 | 1,600 | | 700 | 3,200 | | 750 | 6,400 | | 800 | 12,800 | | 850 | 25,600 | | 900 | 51,200 | | 950 | 102,400 | | 1000 | 204,800 | | 1050 | 409,600 | | 1100 | 819,200 | | 1150 | 1,638,400 | | 1200 | 3,276,800 | | 1250 | 6,553,600 | | 1300 | 13,107,200 | | 1350 | 26,214,400 | | 1400 | 52,428,800 | | 1450 | 104,857,600 | | 1500 | 209,715,200 | | 1550 | 419,420,400 | | 1600 | 838,860,800 | | 1650 | 1,677,721,600 |

This table is calculated at the long interval of 50 years, that it may appear that even by under-rating the number of mankind, there would be so many millions born into the world before the deluge came, that they would be obliged to spread themselves over the face of the earth, though but one half of the sum total of 429,496 millions had been alive at the time of the deluge; but as the interval here allowed may appear to be too long for the time of doubling, the second is calculated at the interval of 40 years, which comes nearer to the truth of the case, though even this may exceed the time of doubling.

| Years of the World | Number of Mankind | |-------------------|------------------| | 500 | 200 | | 540 | 400 | | 580 | 800 | | 620 | 1,600 | | 660 | 3,200 | | 700 | 6,400 | | 740 | 12,800 | | 780 | 25,600 | | 820 | 51,200 | | 860 | 102,400 | | 900 | 204,800 | | 940 | 409,600 | | 980 | 819,200 | | 1020 | 1,638,400 | | 1060 | 3,276,800 | | 1100 | 6,553,600 | | 1140 | 13,107,200 | | 1180 | 26,214,400 | | 1220 | 52,428,800 | | 1260 | 104,857,600 | | 1300 | 209,715,200 | | 1340 | 419,430,400 | | 1380 | 838,860,800 | | 1420 | 1,677,721,600 | | 1460 | 3,355,443,200 | | 1500 | 6,710,886,400 | | 1540 | 13,421,772,800 | | 1580 | 26,843,545,600 | | 1620 | 53,687,091,200 | | 1660 | 107,374,182,400 | | 1700 | 214,748,304,800 | | 1740 | 429,496,729,600 | | 1780 | 858,993,459,200 | | 1820 | 1,717,986,918,400| | 1860 | 3,435,973,836,800| | 1900 | 6,871,947,673,600| | 1940 | 13,743,895,347,200| | 1980 | 27,487,790,634,400| | 2020 | 54,975,581,388,800|

The first table is brought down no lower than to the year 2050, and the second to the year 2020, though though there remain by the first 206, and by the second 236 years to the flood: the reason is, that in those last 200 years of the world, mankind would not increase in any measure equal to what they had done in the preceding years (though regularly the increase should have been much greater); because that violence was then great in the earth, and thousands, yea millions, might have been cut off by untimely deaths; for which cause the world's destruction was determined 120 years before the flood came.

II. But now against this immense number of mankind that might in a regular and ordinary way have been born into the world between the creation and the deluge in 2056 years, it will no doubt be objected by some (as it has been done to far less numbers), that all such calculations are mere guess work, the product of fruitful imaginations.

But it should be considered, that in calculations of this nature some regular order or method must be observed; and though, according to the course of nature such an increase and multiplication of mankind there might have been periodically, especially at the beginning, when the command was to increase and multiply and replenish the earth; yet we will not suppose that all things went on thus regularly, without difference or interruption. We do not know what extraordinary obstructions or interruptions there might be to such a regular increase. Though every married pair might by the course of nature have had such a number of children as has been mentioned, yet the Divine Providence might order it otherwise in manifold instances, and it might possibly be in the old world, as it has been since the flood, viz. that some marriages have produced many children, others few, and some none at all. Allowing, therefore, for all such obstructions and deficiencies, and likewise for all casualties and accidents (to which men might be liable in that world as well as in the present), in as ample a manner as can be desired, let the former number be reduced to one half, viz. to $27,487,799,694,400$, that is, 27 billions, or millions of millions, four hundred and eighty-seven thousand seven hundred and ninety millions, six hundred and ninety-four thousand and four hundred. And this we shall now suppose to be the whole number of those who were born into the world before the deluge. But from this sum is to be subtracted the number of those who died before that time.

Of those in the genealogies from Adam by Seth, Enoch was translated at the age of 365, Lamech the father of Noah died just before the flood at 753, Mahalaleel at 895. Adam and the other five patriarchs lived to about 900. Before the year 900, therefore, we may suppose there were no deaths except that of Abel, who was slain, a young man, but that all born within that period were alive altogether. But in the tenth century death began to reign, and Adam and Eve, we may presume, were the first over whom death had power in a natural way, as their disobedience was the cause of it. The children also born of them in the first hundred years would also die in this 10th century, those born in the second hundred would die in the 11th, those born in the third century would die in the 12th, and so on. But though we are far from thinking that after the beginning of the 10th century (till which time few or none died), the deaths would be equal to the births; yet as we have made large concessions all Antediluvians along, we shall do the same in this case, and suppose them upon the whole to have been equal, especially since we cannot precisely say how long that violence or bloodshed, which was their crying sin, came to prevail; and therefore will reduce the last sum mentioned to one half again, to allow for the deaths and prevailing violence, and suppose the total number of mankind alive upon earth at the time of the deluge to have been no more than $13,743,895,347,200$, that is, 13 billions or millions of millions, seven hundred and forty-three thousand eight hundred and ninety-five millions, three hundred and forty-seven thousand and two hundred; a number vastly exceeding that of the present inhabitants of the whole earth.

Notwithstanding the very large allowances and abate probability made to reduce the number of mankind, yet even of the above calculation the last reduction to 13 billions or millions of millions, &c., seems to vastly great, that it will hardly be thought possible that such a number of men could ever be at one time upon the earth. Now, though we pretend to no certainty in this point (which made it the more requisite to allow largely for deaths and deficiencies), yet the calculation we have given must appear highly probable, since it is founded upon grounds certain and undeniable: for instance,

1. It cannot be denied but that the Antediluvians were come to the age of puberty and marriage at 160 years, when we find a son born in 162. Nor,

2. Can it be said, that they could not have children at the age of 500, when we have an instance of one that had three sons at due distances after that age. Neither,

3. Can it be alleged that we have not allowed a due distance or interval between the births, viz. six years, when most will be of opinion that it could not be so long. Nor yet,

4. Can it be judged that we have made the period of doubling far too short, when we had before showed that after 100 marriages consummated, they would treble themselves in half the time we have taken for their doubling. Nor,

5. Will any one make a doubt, but that there might be 200 persons of mature age for marriage in the year of the world 500, the men at 160, the women younger. Nevertheless, as this is the foundation of our calculation, we shall now show that there was at least such a number of persons marriageable at that age of the world.

It may be observed, that as we take 160 for the years of maturity and marriage, according to that period all married or marriageable in the year 500 must have been born in or before the year 340; the males at least, though the females, coming sooner to maturity, might some of them be born later or after the year 380. Now, according to this stated period of marriage,

1. In or before the year 340, Adam might have had 54 children, males and females, or 27 pair married or fit for marriage.

2. Cain, whom we suppose to be but six years younger than Adam (which by the by is more than others allow), and to have married in the year 166, might have in the year 340, 28 children, or 14 pair fit for marriage, which added to the former, makes 41 pair.

3 G 2

3. Abel, 3. Abel, married six years later, that is, in the year 172, and whom we shall suppose slain in the year 225 or 226, could in that case have no more than eight or nine children, or four pair, which with the former make 45 pair.

4. Adam's third son, married in the year 178, will afford us in the year 340, 26 children, or 13 pair, which increase the number of marriageable persons to 58 pair.

5. A fourth son of Adam's, married in the year 184, will give us in the year 340, 25 children, or 12 pair; which makes the number of pairs 70.

6. A fifth son of Adam's, married in the year 190, might in the year 340 have 24 children, or 12 pair again, which increase the former number to 82 pair.

7. A sixth son of Adam's, married in the year 196, would have in the year 340, 22 children, or 11 pair; which added to the former make up 93 pair.

8. A seventh son of Adam's, married in the year 202, will, in the year 340, give us 20 children, or 10 pair: which makes in the whole 103 pair, already three pair more than we reckoned upon. I need therefore go no farther on to the eighth or ninth son; but the following eight or nine births I may reasonably take to have been daughters, and married to the brothers that preceded them.

Here are now no more than 14 children of Adam's married, who have given us the 100 pair we have reckoned upon, and three over. We might yet have 13 pair to bring into the account, all born before the year 340, and marriageable in the year 500, which would very much increase the number of mankind. And by this the reader may perceive that we have been far from building on uncertain or precarious foundations, since we have omitted 13 pair more, which we might have taken into the account. And if it be considered that the command given to Adam was to increase and multiply and replenish the earth, no doubt can be made, but that his own and his children's marriages were fruitful in the procreation of children, that the earth might be inhabited.