heaven; that he was the cause of vast wealth to their nation, and was styled by them the giver of riches and that on all these various accounts he was reverenced as a god, and received from them the sacred appellation of Thoth or Hermes.'

4. Nor was the famine forgotten, which afforded so remarkable an instance of Joseph's prophetic powers.

We are informed by Moses, that it was over all the face of the earth, and that all countries came into Egypt to buy corn, because the famine was sore in all lands.*

(1.) The same account is given by Diodorus. Siculus.

He tells us, that, in the reign of the Athenian Erechtheus, there was a grievous famine; which extended over the whole world, Egypt only excepted. It was occasioned by excessive drought; a circumstance, which did not affect that country on account of its peculiar nature: because it depended (for such, I think, is the plain meaning of the historian), rather upon the annual overflowing of the Nile, than upon the less regular bounty of the atmosphere. The Athenians suffering heavily from this calamity, Erechtheus caused a great abundance of corn to be transported from Egypt into Attica, claiming such assistance in virtue of their common ancestry with the Egyptians.3

Chron. Pasch. p. 44, 45. Cedren. Hist. Compend. p. 18. 2 Gen. xli. 54, 56, 57.

3 Diod. Bibl. lib. i. p. 25.

We have here a narrative, not indeed perfectly accurate, but sufficiently so to serve as a very remarkable attestation to the veracity of Moses. The land of Egypt, like the rest of the world, was indeed deprived of its usual fertility; nor did the peculiarity of its nature save it, as Diodorus erroneously relates, from the common visitation: but then its inhabitants were exempted from the horrors of famine by the miraculous providence of Joseph; so that the historian truly enough asserts, that it alone escaped the general calamity.

(2.) The expressions all countries and all lands, as used by Moses, might fairly be taken in a limited sense as not absolutely extending to the whole globe, on the same principle as that by which the Romans were wont to call their extensive empire the world: yet there is some reason for believing, that the seven years dearth foretold by Joseph affected even the remote region of China; whence it is not unnatural to conclude, that all the intermediate kingdoms suffered under its baneful influence.

In the reign of Tching-Tang, an universal drought is said to have commenced, the duration of which precisely accords with that of the famine mentioned by Moses: each lasted for the space of seven years. This numerical coincidence might possibly be thought the result of mere accident, if the identity of the two calamities had not been further established by their chronological agreement with each other. The famine, described in the Pentateuch, commenced, according to Abp.

Usher, 1708 years before the Christian era; that, which is mentioned by the Chinese historians, took place about 1740 years before the same epoch. The discrepancy therefore between the two calculations amounts only to 32 years; a difference so trifling in so large a period, that we can scarcely entertain a doubt respecting the identity of the two events.'

(3.) Justin not only mentions the famine, but likewise the very naine of Joseph; whom he describes, as being the youngest of the sons of Israel.

He tells us, that this patriarch was sold by his jealous brethren to foreign merchants, and that by them he was conveyed into Egypt. Here, through his great skill in magic, he recommended himself to the king and, in consequence of his wise interpretation of a dream, he saved the whole country from the horrors of a famine; for, by his advice, the corn of several years produce was carefully laid up, that it might be ready against the predicted time of necessity. So numerous in short were the proofs

Du Halde's Chin. vol. i. p. 299. vol. iii. p. 26. The Chinese computation is as follows. Tching-Tang reigned 13 years and we may suppose the famine to have prevailed during the last 7 years of his reign. To these 7 years add 116 years, the amount of the five succeeding reigns; and we shall Irave 123 years. But, at the close of those 123 years, comChinese cycle; which coincides with the year A. C. 1617. If then we finally add together 123 years and 1617 years, we shall have the year A. C. 1740 as the first of the seven years of the Chinese famine.

mences the 13th

of his supernatural powers, that his answers were considered as proceeding, not from man, but from God.1

VIII. These are the pagan traditions respecting the patriarch Joseph: various likewise are the profane authors, who speak, with more or less precision, of the great legislator of Israel.

1. According to Diodorus and Tacitus and Justin, Egypt was formerly inundated by foreigners. During their abode in the country, a pestilential disorder of the leprous kind broke out and the native gods declared, that it never would be removed, until all the strangers were expelled. Many of these, overpowered by force of arms, retired into Greece under the command of Danaus and Cadmus. Others again, who were the ancestors of the Jewish nation, chose for their leader a person named Moses; who was a man of most superior wisdom and courage, and who governed them with regal authority though without assuming the regal title. Advancing under his guidance into Palestine, they seized upon a number of cities, and particularly Jerusalem, which was held in high reverence among them on account of its temple. Moses taught them the worship of the Deity, and the peculiar ceremonies of their religion. He became likewise their lawgiver; and divided the whole nation into twelve tribes. All idolatry he utterly forbad; and contrived such a code of ritual observances for them, as would naturally separate them from every

Just. Hist. Philip. lib. xxxvi. c. 2.

other people. He established the priesthood in one particular family; and appointed judges, instead of kings, to decide all controversies among them. The chief priest however bore the supreme authority, and he was considered as the immediate messenger and delegate of heaven. Moses concluded the volume of his laws, with claiming for them divine inspiration.'

2. Such is the narrative of Diodorus, who wisely omits those absurd fables to which Tacitus gave too easy credence. In a similar manner Strabo notices the departure of Moses from the land of Egypt; and states at the same time, that he was accompanied by many persons who reverenced the Deity. He afterwards very truly remarks, that the Jewish legislator pronounced the idolatry of the Egyptians, the Libyans, and the Greeks, to be equally absurd; on the ground of its being a daring presumption to make any representation of the Most High. Strabo however is grossly mistaken in supposing the deity of Moses to be Universal Nature; an error common indeed among the Greek philosophers, but held up to abhorrence in the page of Revelation.*

3. Moses is also celebrated by Eupolemus, as being the first wise man and the inventor of letters; which the Phenicians received from the Jews, and the Greeks from the Phenicians.3

1 Diod. Sic. è lib. xl. Ecl. i. p. 921. Tacit. Hist. lib. v. c. 3. Justin. Hist. Philip. lib. xxxvi. c. 2.