seemly situation to his brothers. And hence the reading of the Arabic version, "Ham, the father of Canaan," in the three branches of the prophecy, instead of " Canaan" singly, as the subject of the curse throughout, upon him and upon his posterity in general, extending even to the youngest, Canaan; has, either virtually or expressly, been adopted by the current of Commentators, ancient and modern; and was thence inadvertently introduced into the text itself, in the first edition of this work.

Josephus thus explains the transaction: While Noah lay in an unseemly posture, the youngest of his sons, seeing it, shewed it to his brothers, mocking: but they covered their father. And when Noah knew, he blessed his other sons; he did not curse Ham himself, on account of his kindred to him; but he cursed his descendants: and the rest escaping the curse, God inflicted it on the children of Canaan." Antiq. I. 6, 3.

Abulfaragi, also: "Noah cursed Canaan the son of Ham, although the offence was his father's, not his own, because he knew by revelation, what he would afterwards perpetrate, in making musical instruments, in fornication and other base practices, which the sons of Cain applied themselves to teach." Dynast. p. 11.

And even the most learned expositors have implicitly adopted the appropriation of the Curse of servitude to Ham and his posterity. Bochart styles Ham accursed; and represents Noah as foretelling that his children should be slaves; while Mede, not content with calling upon us to tremble at the horrible curse of impious Ham; and with intimating that he was destined to be a servant of servants to all his brethren, roundly asserts, that there hath never yet been a son of Ham that hath shaken a sceptre over the head of Japheth; that Shem hath subdued Japheth, and Japheth hath subdued Shem, but Ham never subdued either." Mede's Works, Disc. 49 and 50, pp. 271, 283.

The integrity, however, of the received text of the prophecy, limiting the curse to "Canaan" singly, is fully supported by the concurrence of the Masorete and Samaritan Hebrew texts, with all the other ancient versions, except the Arabic; and is acknowledged, we see, by Josephus and Abulfaragi, who evidently confine the curse to Canaan; though they inconsistently consider Ham as the offender, and are not a little embarrassed, to exempt him, and the rest of his children, from the operation

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of the curse; an exemption, indeed, attested by sacred and profane History: for Ham himself had his full share of earthly blessings, his son Misr colonized Egypt, thence styled the land of Ham," Ps. cv. 23, which soon became one of the earliest, most civilised and flourishing kingdoms of Antiquity, and was established before Abraham's days, Gen. xii. 14-20; and in the glorious reign of Sesostris, extended its conquests both in Asia and Europe into the territories of Shem and Japheth ; while Ham's posterity in the line of Cush, not only founded the first Assyrian Empire under Nimrod, but also the Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman Empires; in direct contradiction to the unguarded assertion of Mede.

How then is the propriety of the curse, exclusively to Canaan, to be vindicated? evidently by considering him as the only guilty person. And this may be done by adopting the very ingenious conjecture of Faber, that the "youngest son," who offended, was not Ham, but Canaan; not the son, but the. grandson of Noah. For the original, "his little son," according to the latitude of the Hebrew idiom, may denote a grandson; by the same analogy, that Nimrod, usually considered the youngest son of Cush, Gen. x. 8, was, most probably, his great grandson; as being the contemporary of Peleg, the great grandson of Shem," in whose days the earth was divided," Gen. x. 25; compare Gen. x. 10, and xi. 9.

And this interpretation is supported by ancient Jewish tradition, Beresith Rabba, § 37, recorded also by Theodoret, in Gen. quest. 57, that" Canaan first saw his grandsire's nakedness, and shewed it to his father, in mockery of the old man." The tradition indeed, adds, that Ham joined in the mockery; but for this addition there seems to be no sufficient ground: Canaan might have invited his father to come and see a ludicrous spec-. tacle, without precisely communicating what it was; and Ham might have been thus led, innocently and inadvertently, to see his father's exposure; not joining, however, in Canaan's mockery, he might have withdrawn in disgust, from the degrading spectacle, and with concern communicated it to Shem and Japheth

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*

* The original verp, N, rendered "he saw," in the active conjugation Kal, occurs in the same defective form in Hiphil, "he made to see," or shewed," 2 Kings xi. 4, and is in the same form in the passive Hophal, "was made to see," or was shewn," as acutely remarked by Faber.

without; and they, being thus made acquainted with their father's exposure, piously contrived to cover, without beholding it themselves. In this transaction Ham took no active part; Noah, therefore, passed him over in silence, without either a blessing or a curse; as he had done nothing to incur a curse, nor any thing to merit a special blessing; he only pronounced a curse upon the guilty and depraved Canaan, that he should be a servant of servants to his brethren" in general, to the other descendants of Ham, as well as to the descendants of Shem and Japheth; while he predicted appropriate blessings to their descendants, spiritual and temporal.

Hence we may see a reason, why Ham, at the beginning of the narrative, is described as the father of Canaan, rather than as the father of Cush, Misr, or Phut. It was evidently designed to draw attention to Canaan, though the youngest of his sons, on account of the curse of servitude denounced against him at the end; and, therefore, as pre-eminent in disgrace, on account of the enormity of his guilt.

Let us now proceed to the completion of the prophecy in its several parts.

I. The curse denounced against Canaan's posterity, to be servant of servants," the lowest of servants, even slaves, to their brethren in general, did not affect individuals, nor even nations, so long as they continued righteous. In Abraham's days, Melchisedek, whose name was expressive of his character, signifying "king of righteousness," was a worthy and revered "Priest of THE MOST HIGH GOD." And Abimelech, whose name denotes" parental king," pleaded the "integrity of his heart," and "the righteousness of his nation," before God: and his plea was accepted. Yet they both appear to have been Canaanites. See Gen. xiv. 18-20; xv. 16; xx. 4-9. At the same time, the impieties and abominations of their neighbours, in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, &c. drew down the signal vengeance of heaven in their overthrow.

In the fourth generation afterwards, when the" iniquity of the Canaanites was come to the full," or a general corruption had taken place; when in the energetic imagery of Scripture, "the land itself vomited forth its inhabitants," on account of their frightful impieties and abominations, as detailed, Levit. xviii. 25-28, containing the fullest justification of the infliction

of the national curse; Canaan was in part exterminated, and in part reduced to servitude, by the Israelites of the House of Shem, under the conduct of Moses, Joshua, and David. Afterwards he fell under the yoke of Ham and Shem, when he bowed the neck beneath the Medo-Persian Sceptre; he fell under the yoke of Ham and Japheth together, when his land became a province of the Macedo-Grecian and Roman Empires; and he was subjected to Japheth, Ham, and Shem, conjointly, when he finally yielded to the Tartaric Ottomans; under whose iron sceptre, he still languishes, enslaved.

II. Shem, signifying "name," or " renown," though he attained not to great temporal power, being usually under the influence of Japheth, received the promise of a spiritual blessing, which raised him high in dignity above either of his brothers. He was chosen to be the ancestor of the blessed" seed of the woman,' ""the Man CHRIST JESUS," in preference to his elder brother Japheth. To this glorious privilege, Noah, to whom it was probably revealed, might have alluded, in that devout ejaculation;" Blessed be THE LORD, THE GOD of Shem ;”— who was destined to be "the glory of his people Israel;” in after ages, while the rest of the Pagan world "lay in darkness and in the shadow of death."

III. Japheth signifies " enlargement." And how wonderfully did Providence enlarge the boundaries of Japheth! His posterity diverged eastwards and westwards; from the original settlement in Armenia, through the whole extent of Asia, north of the great range of Taurus, distinguished by the general names of Tartary and Siberia, as far as the Eastern Ocean; and in process of time, by an easy passage across Behring's streights, the entire continent of America; and they spread in the opposite direction, throughout the whole of Europe, to the Atlantic Ocean: thus literally encompassing the earth, within the precints of the northern temperate zone. While the enterprising and warlike genius of this hardy hunter-race, frequently led them to encroach on the settlements, and to dwell in "the tents of Shem," whose pastoral occupations rendered them more inactive, peaceable, and unwarlike : as when the Scythians invaded Media, and overran western Asia southwards, as far as Egypt, in the days of Cyaxares; and when the Greeks, and afterwards the Romans, subdued the Assyrians, Medes, and

Persians in the East, and the Syrians and Jews in the South; as foretold by the Assyrian prophet, Balaam :

"And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim,

And shall afflict the Assyrians, and afflict the Hebrews,

But he [the invader] shall perish himself at last."-Numb. xxiv. 24.

And by Moses:

"And the Lord shall bring thee [the Jews] into Egypt [or bondage] again with ships," &c.-Deut. xxviii. 68.

And by Daniel :

"For the ships of Chittim shall come against him" [Antiochus, king of Syria.]-Dan. xi. 30.

In these passages Chittim denotes the southern coasts of Europe, bordering on the Mediterranean Sea, called the "Isles of the Gentiles." Gen. x. 5. And in later times, the Tartars in the East have repeatedly invaded and subdued the Hindus and Chinese; while the warlike and enterprising genius of the British isles have spread their colonies, their arms, their arts, and their language, and in some measure, their religion, from the rising to the setting sun. And now, "Blessed be THE LORD!" He who was "the GOD of Shem," in former times, is now become more especially the GOD of Japheth!—Now Europe, that most highly and gratuitously favoured quarter of the Globe, though the smallest, is blessed with the marvellous light of the Gospel; while Asia has sunk, in turn, into the darkness of Idolatry and superstition: the lamps of the Asiatic Churches which formerly shone so brightly, are now well nigh extinguished! How long this inestimable blessing may be preserved to Europe is matter of awful and anxious concern: the apostacy of too many of the European Churches from the genuine faith of Christ, and the lukewarmness of the rest, threaten the extinction of their lamps also, and that ominous retaliation denounced against the invader, that " He shall perish at last!"

The mention of Canaan, the youngest son of Ham, proves that this signal prophecy was uttered long after the deluge, and probably near the end of Noah's days. It evidently alludes to the divine Decree for the orderly division of the Earth among the three primitive families of his sons; where it notices the "tents of Shem," and the "enlargement of Japheth." This de