am more inclined to believe the opinion of Bochartus, who maintains that Saturn and Noah were the same. The reasons which he brings are these : 1. In the time of Noah *the whole earth spoke one language: and the ancient mythologists say, that the beasts understood this language. And it is said, that in Saturn's age there was but one language, which was common to men and brutes. 2. Noah is called in the Hebrew language ta man of the earth, that is, a husbandman, according to the usual phrase of Scripture, which calls a soldier la man of war; a strong man Sa man of arms; a murderer Ta man of blood; an orator **a_man of words; and a shepherd ††a man of cattle. Now Saturn is justly called a man of the earth, because he married Tellus, whose other names were Rhea and Ops. 3. As Noah was the first planter of vineyards, so the art of cultivating vines and fields is attributed to Saturn's invention. 4. As Noah was once overcome with wine, because perhaps he never experienced the strength of it before; so the Saturnalians did frequently drink excessively, because Saturn protected drunken men. 5. As Noah cursed his son Ham, because he saw his father's nakedness with delight; so Saturn made a law that whoever saw the gods naked should be punished. 6. Plato says, "that Saturn and his wife Rhea, and those with them, were born of Oceanus and Thetis" and thus Noah, and all that were with him, were in a manner new born out of the waters of the deluge, by the help of the ark. And if a ship was ştamped upon the ancient coins, because Saturn * Genesis xi. 1. Plato in Politicis. Vir terræ, Gen. ix. 20. || Joshua v. 4. § Job xxii. 3. 2 Samuel xvi. 17. **Exod. iv. tt Gen. xlvi. 32. came into Italy in a ship; surely this honour belonged rather to Noah, who in a ship preserved the race of mankind from utter destruction. 7. Did Noah foretel the coming of the flood? so did Saturn foretel, *" that there should be great quantities of rain, and an ark built, in which men, and birds, and creeping things, should all sail together." 8. Saturn is said to have devoured all his sons, except Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto. So Noah may be said to have condemned all men, †because he foretold that they would be destroyed in the flood. For in the scripture phrase, the prophets are said to "do the things which they foretel shall be done hereafter." But as Saturn had three sons left to him not devoured; so Noah had three, Shem, Cham or Ham, and Japhet, who were not destroyed by the flood. Furthermore, these reasons may persuade us that Noah's son Cham is Jupiter : 1. His Hebrew name Ham is by many called Cham, from which the Egyptians had the name 'Aμ [Amoun] and the Africans had Ammon or Hammon. 2. Cham was the youngest son of Noah, as Jupiter was of Saturn. 3. Jupiter is said to be lord of the heavens; thus Cham had Africa, which country is esteemed nearer the heavens than any other countries, because it has the planets vertical. Japhet is the same with Neptune; for as Neptune had the command of the sea, so the islands and peninsulas fell chiefly to Japhet's lot. Shem is supposed to be the Pluto of the ancients, which is thus accounted for: he was so holy, and so * Κρονος προσημαίνει ἔσεθαι πλῆθος ομβρων &c. id est, Saturnus prænunciat magnam imbrium vim futuram, et fabricandam, esse arcam, et in ea cum volucribus, reptilibus, atque jumentis esse navigandum. Alex. Polyhistor. Apud Cyril. contra Julian, 1. 1. t Hebrews xi. 7. great an enemy to idolatry, that the idolaters hated him while he lived, and endeavoured to blacken his memory when he died, by sending him to the Stygian darkness, and putting into his hand the sceptre of hell. The Greek words signifying Saturn and Time, differ only in one letter, from which it is plain, that by Saturn, Time may be meant. And on this account Saturn is painted devouring his children, and throwing them up again; as time devours and consumes all things that it has produced, which at length revive and are renewed. Our days, months, or years, are the children of Time, which he constantly devours and produces anew. Lastly, as Satnrn has his scythe, so has Time too, with which he mows down all things; neither can the hardest adamant withstand the edge thereof. QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. With what scripture character has Saturn been identified? What is the first reason for supposing Saturn and Noah to be the same person? What is the second' What is the fifth? What are the reasons for supposing Noah's son Cham to be Jupiter? With which of the scripture characters is Neptune compared? How is it accounted for that Shem and Pluto are the same personages? Point out the arguments to prove that Saturn and Time are the same? |