which are by no means conclufive and fatisfactory. Cod. Can. Illuftr. i. 14. Was the Oracle mentioned by Jofephus in profe or in verfe? We cannot certainly tell, but it is most probable that it was in verfe, and that Jofephus gave us the fenfe and fubftance of it in profe. Had Jofephus thofe verses before him which are preferved by Theophilus? Beverege fays he had, and fo thinks Ifaac Voffius; and it may be fo. But then the verses seem to have undergone fome alteration afterwards; for the Sibyl in Jofephus fays that from the confufion of languages the place was called Babylon; the Sibyl in Theophilus fays it not: the Sibyl in Jofephus fays that of oì, the Gods, overthrew the edifice; but in the verses it is 'Alávat, God, which may feem better to agree with μeydroio Des that went before. One might conjecture that at first it was thus: Αὐτίκα δ' ΑΘΑΝΑΤΟΙ μεγάλίω ΕΠΕΘΗΚΑΝ ανάγ slee Πνεύμασιν, αὐτὰρ ἔπειτ ̓ ἄνεμοι μέγαν ὑψέθι πύργον By this change, 'Alavara may be the nominative cafe to @ρσαν, inftead of ἄνεμοι, and it feems more reasonable that the Gods than the winds fhould fet the men at variance. It is in a Pagan ftyle, and yet a Jewish Forger might write it, and take the bold liberty to say 'Abdvaros, meaning God and his Angels, or the Angels. Angels are fometimes called Gods, and in Genefis xi. 7. whence this account is taken, the Lord P 2 Said, faid, Let us go down, and there confound their language, in which words, according to many of the Rabbins, God fpeaks to his Angels. Jofephus himself now and then uses expreffions bordering upon Paganism. It is not fafe to truft ones memory in things of this kind; but I think that profane authors, though they fometimes fay 'Àlávam, for the Gods, and make it a fubftantive, yet never fay Abávar, fimply, for God, or the fupreme God. The Sibylline Oracles more than once use this word in this manner, and fhew by it that they are not the work of a Pagan. of The fuppofition which fome have made, that fuftin Martyr was guilty of forging the Sibylline Oracles, is groundlefs and perverfe. Juftin has written his own character in every page his works, and fhews himself pious, warm, fprightly, fearless, open, hafty, honeft, inquifitive, fincere, and as void of diffimulation and hypocrify as a child. Add to this, that he writes like a man who had no turn for fuch things, and was not only no poet, but not a verse-maker. But though he was incapable of forgery, he was deluded by these forged oracles, and perhaps by his authority led the Fathers who lived after him into the fame error. Tatian makes no ufe of the Sibylline Oracles, and only just mentions the Sibyl amongst the writers who were before Homer, and after Moses. Orat. contr. Grac. § 41. Athena Athenagoras, to fhew that the Gods of the Gentiles were men, produces fix verfes from the Sibyl. Legat. § 30. Theophilus gives us no lefs than eighty-four Sibylline verfes, ad Autol. ii. the fame which ftand in the beginning of the Editions of these Oracles, and which are mere patch-work of Scripture-phrafe. When the Greek poets faid things confonant to the holy Scriptures, Theophilus obferves that they stole their knowledge from the Law and the Prophets, κλέψαντες ταῦτα ἐκ νόμο και τα προφητῶν. It is frange that he did not fufpect the fame thing of the Sibyl, whofe thefts are fo open and glaring. ii. 37. The Sibylline verfes cited by the Fathers, and those which are preferved in our present collection, are often the fame, and always of the fame ftamp and value, and liable to the fame objections. It is a vain thing to receive the one, and reject the other: it is better to defend them all heroically in the lump, and not to do the work by halves, nor make a distinction where there is no difference. Clemens Alexandrinus was learned, and willing to fhew his learning, and to let the world fee that he had perused all forts of authors; and therefore could not poffibly omit the Sibyl. He produces thefe verfes (from the Sibyl, though he names her not) in praise of the Hebrews; Cohort. 60. Οἱ τινες οὐκ ἀπάτησι κεναῖς, ἐδ ̓ ἐργ ̓ ἀνθρώπων P 3 Τιμῶσιν, Τιμῶσιν, ὅσαπερ τε βροτοί, κενεόφρονι βουλῇ, Qui nufquam vanis erroribus inducti, hominum opera Mane ubi membra levant firato, quæ virgine lympha I give this verfion, as I find it in the Oxford Edition, and fhall not trouble myself to mend it. The fifth verfe feems to be taken from St. Paul-aigolas doíuç xêeas. 1 Tim. ii. 8. Perhaps, gis evov, for the fake of metre, and alo ὠλένας ἁγνὸς, from al; for the laft fyllable of waivas from when is long. In the laft verfe for 'Αθάνατον, Sylburgius would read ̓Αθανά TW, I know not why. This paffage may be found in the Sibyll. Or. L. iii. των, Amongst the Sibylline Verfes cited by Theophilus and Clemens, are these ; Εἷς Θεός έσι, βροχες, ανέμους, ζεισμὸς ἐπιπέμπων, Fulgura, fames, pefles, et luctus triftes, Et nives, et glaciem. Et quid fingula commemoro? This is taken from the Pfalms. To didin χίωνα — βάλλον & κρύςαλλον αυτό - Χάλαζα, χιών, κρύςαλλΘ, πνεῦμα καταιγίδα - cxlvii. cxlviii. Minucius Felix mentions not the Sibyl, though he was invited to it by his fubject, where he defends the Chriftians for teaching the doctrine of a conflagration and a future judgment, and appeals to the Poets and Philofophers who had faid the fame thing. c. xxxiv. etc. I am glad of it, for the fake of that ingenious and agreeable Author. The Phrygian Sibyl is faid to have been called Diana, "Agтeus, and to have uttered these verfes at Delphi: Ὦ Δελφοί θεράποντες ἑκηβόλου Απόλλων, O Delphi, Phabi ferientis qui eminus eftis Thus Clemens Strom. i. p. 384. and Paufanias also says that the Sibyl calls herself Herophile, and Diana, and the fifter, and fometimes the wife, and fometimes the daughter of Apollo. See the notes. We have here, I think, the fragment of a true old Sibylline Oracle made by a Pagan. It looks as if it were compofed by fome Prieft, who had a mind to fet up an Oracle in oppofition to the Delphic, and to draw the trade to another shop. |