an idol." Neither did the Phoenicians worship only this stone at Bethel; but also, in imitation of this rite, erected several other Botylia, on the like occasion as Jacob erected his pillar of stone as a memorial of God's apparition to him. So in like manner both the Phoenicians and the Grecians, upon some imaginary apparition of some god, (or dust, rather,) would erect their Boetylia, or pillars, in commemoration of such an apparition. So Photius, out of Damascius, tells us that near Heliopolis, in Syria, Asclepiades ascended the mountain Libanus, and saw many Botylia, or Botyli; concerning which he relates many miracles. He relates also that these Botylia were consecrated, some to Saturn, some to Jupiter, and some to others. So Phavorimus says, Batylus is a stone which stands at Heliopolis, near Libanus. This stone some also called many, which is the same word by which the Seventy render Jacob's pillar. Gale's Court of the Gen. p. 1, b. 2, c. 7, p. 89, 90.

[169] Gen. xxviii. 18-22. "And he took the stone that he had set for his pillow, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it—And this stone which I have set up for a pillar shall be God's house." This anointed pillar is a type of the Messiah, or Anointed, who is often called a stone or a rock, and is the house of God, wherein the Godhead dwells and tabernacles. He was signified by the tabernacle and temple, as Christ tells us, when he says, "Destroy this temple," &c. And he, we are told, is the temple of the new Jerusalem. This is the stone that was Jacob's pillow; it signified the dependence the saints have upon Christ, and that it is in him they have rest and repose, as Christ invites those that are weary to come to him, and they shall find rest. The Psalmist says he will lay him down and sleep, and awake, the Lord sustaining him. And as the stones of the temple rested on the foundation, so the saints, the living stones, rest upon Christ, building and resting upon that rock. This stone signified the same with the other that he built there when he returned: chap. xxxv. 7: " And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el, because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother." Ver. 14, "And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink-offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon."

[417] Gen. xxxiii. 1—7. As Jacob's family returned to the land of Canaan, after Jacob had been long banished from thence, so it is probable will be the return of the spiritual Israel to God, its resting place, and as it were to the promised land, to the land flowing with milk and honey, to a state of glorious rest, plenty,

prosperity, and spiritual joy, and delights, in the latter days, which is often represented by the prophets as bringing God's people into the land of Israel, and recovering them from foreign lands, where he had driven them. Jacob, at his first entrance, meets with great opposition from those professors who are often in scripture represented by the elder brother, as Cain, and Ishmael, and Zarah, the son of Judah, who first put forth his hand, and David's eldest brother, and the elder brother of the prodigal. But Jacob's meek and humble behaviour towards his opposing brother, to soften and turn his heart, teaches the duty of Christians. Jacob's family was divided into several companies, one going before another with a space between; so the return of the church of God will be by several companies that will come in one after another in successive seasons of the pouring out of the Spirit of God, with a space between. In Jacob's family, the lowest and meanest went first, and afterwards the more honourable and most amiable, and best beloved; so, in the spiritual return of the church of Christ, God will first bring in the inferior sort of people; he will save the tents of Judah first, agreeable to the prophecy, Zech. xii. 7. "The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David, and the glory of the inbabitants of Jerusalem, do not magnify themselves against Judah.” And the first outpouring of the Spirit will be the least glorious, and they that are first brought in are not only inferior among men, but the least pure, beautiful, and amiable as Christians in their experiences and practice. In Jacob's family went first the hand-maids and their ehildren, so this is the blemish of the first children of Christ that shall be brought in at the glorious day of the church, that though they will be true children of Jacob, yet shall they be as it were children of the hand-maids, with much of a legal spirit, i. e. spiritual pride and self-confidence. After these comes Leah and her children, who were more honourable and better beloved than the former; she was a true wife, but yet less beautiful, and less beloved than his other wife; so after the first outpouring of the Spirit there will be a work of God that will break forth, that will be more glorious and more pure than the first. In Jacob's family came last of all the beautiful Rachel and Joseph, Jacob's best beloved and dearest child of all the family; so will it be in the church of God in days approaching. Jacob goes before them all, leads them all, and defends them all; so doth Christ go before his church as their leader and defence.

[126] Gen. xxxvii. 28. "And they lift up Joseph out of the pit." Joseph was here a type of Christ; he was designed death by his own brethren, as Christ was; he was cast into a pit, whereby his death and burial was signified. He was lifted out again,

and his resurrection was an occasion of their salvation from famine and death.

[127] Gen. xxxviii. 28, &c. " Zarah put his hand out first, but Pharez, from whom came Christ, broke forth before him." This imports much the same thing as Isaac's casting out Ishmael, as Jacob's taking hold of Esau's heel when they were born, and afterwards getting his birth-right of him, and as David's getting the kingdom from Saul.

[407] Gen. xli. The history of Joseph's advancement in Egypt, &c. "The Apis and Serapis of the Egyptians seems to signify Joseph, because, 1. It was the mode of the Egyptians to preserve the memories of their noble benefactors by some significative hieroglyphics, or symbols; and the great benefits which the Egyptians received from Joseph in supplying them with breadcorn, is aptly represented under the form of an ox, the symbol of an husbandman. Thus Suidas (in Serapis) tells us, "that Apis, being dead, had a temple built for him, wherein was nourished a bullock, the symbol of an husbandman." According to which resemblance also, Minutius, a Roman tribune, was in very like manner honoured with the form of a golden ox, or bull. 2. Joseph is compared to a bullock in scripture, Deut. xxxiii. 17, "His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth; and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.' 3. The same may be evinced from the names Apis and Serapis, for Apis seems evidently a derivative from 8, Father, as Joseph styles himself, Gen. xlv. 8, "So now, it was not you that sent me hither, but God; and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt." As for Serapis, it was the same with Apis, and also a symbol of Joseph, which Vossius collects from this: 1. It had a bushel on its head, as a symbol of Joseph's providing corn for the Egyptians. 2. From the etimon of Serapis, which is derived either from, an ox, or from, a prince, and Apis, both of which are applicable to Joseph." Gale's Court of Gen. p. 1, b. 2, c. 7, p. 93, 94.

T

[128] Gen. xli. 14. "And they brought Joseph out of the dungeon." By Joseph's being cast into the dungeon, is signified the death of Christ; by his being delivered, his resurrection; and the ensuing great advancement of Joseph, to be next to the king, signifies the exaltation of Christ at the right hand of the Father. Joseph rose from the dungeon, and was thus exalted to give salva

tion to the land of Egypt and to his brethren, as Christ to save his people.

[103] Gen. xliv. 32, 33. "For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever. Now, therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad, a bond man to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren." Judah is herein a type of his offspring, Jesus Christ.

[382] Gen. xlviii. 21. "And Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I die, but God shall be with you." So Joseph, when he was near his death, said to his brethren after the like manner, Gen. 1. 24, "And Joseph said unto his brethren. I die; and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." Thus the blessing of the presence of God with the children of Israel, and his favour and salvation, is consequent on the death of their Father, and their Brother, and Saviour: shadowing this forth, that the favour of God, and his presence, and salvation is by the death of Christ. He, when near death, said to his disciples, John xvi. 7, "It is expedient for you that I go away; for, if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you." And elsewhere he promises that the Father and the Son will come to them, and make their abode with them. Isaac's and Jacob's blessing their children before their death, and as it were making over to them their future inheritance, may probably be typical of our receiving the blessings of the cevenant of grace from Christ, as by his last will and testament. We find the covenant of grace represented as his testament. Christ, in the xiv., xv., and xvi. chapters of John, does as it were make his will, and conveys to his people their inheritance before his death, particularly the Comforter, or the Holy Spirit, which is the sum of the purchased inheritance..

"Silenus, so

[403] Gen. xlix. 10. "Until Shiloh come." famous among the poets, whom they place in the order of their gods, is derived from hence. Diodorus, lib. 3, says the first that ruled at Nisa was Silenus, whose genealogy is unknown to all, by reason of his antiquity, which is agreeable to what the scriptures say of the Messiah, Isai. liii. "Who shall declare his generation ?" And elsewhere, "To us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the everlasting Father," and other passages. As for Nisa, where Silenus reigned, it seems to be the same with Sina, (as was showed elsewhere. See No. 401.) The Messiah dwelt there. It was he that

dwelt there in the bush. And there he manifested himself and spake with Moses and the children of Israel. This is represented as his dwelling-place several times in scripture; and therefore, when God redeemed the children of Israel from Egypt, and brought them there, he is repressnted as bringing them to himself. Near this mountain was the altar called Jehovah-Nissi, which is a name Moses gave the Messiah. Of Shiloh it is said, and to him shall the np, the gathering, or the obedience, (as the word signifies,) of the people be. Thus Silenus is made by the poets to be the greatest doctor of his age, and he is called Bacchus's preceptor, i. e. according to Vossius's account, Bacchus was Moses, (see No. 401,) and Silenus, or Shilo, or Christ, instructed Moses on mount Sina, or Nysa, the place where Bacchus and Silenus were said to be. Bacchus and Silenus are made by the poets to be inseparable companions. Another attribute given to Silenus is, that he was carried for the most part on an ass, which Bochart refers to that of Genesis xlix. 11, "Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine and his clothes in the blood of grapes." The mythologists fable Silenus as a comrade of Bacchus, to be employed in treading out grapes; this Bochart refers to, Gen. xlix. "He washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes ;" and is agreeable to what is said of the Messiah elsewhere in the scripture, "I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the people was none with me." They characterize Silenus as one that was always drunk, as it is supposed from what follows, Gen. xlix. 12, "His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk," which Solomon makes the character of one overcome with wine. Prov. xxiii. 29, 30, "Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine." They ascribe to Silenus for his meat cow's milk, which Bochart makes to be traduced from Gen. xlix. 12. "And his teeth white with milk." That Silanus is the same with Shilo, further appears from that of Pausanius Eliacon 2. Εν γαρ τη Εβραιων Χώρα Σιληνού μνημα, the monument of Silenus remains in the country of the Hebrews." See Gale's Court of Gen. p. 1, b. 2, c. 6, p. 67, 68, 69.

[383] Exod. i. 6, 7. "And Joseph, and all his brethren, and all that generation, and the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty, and the land was filled with them." After the death of Christ, our Joseph, his spiritual Israel began abundantly to increase, and his death had an influence upon it. It was like the