whom Moses in the Law, and the Prophets, did. write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph (g)." In a variety of passages in the Gospels, Acts, and Epistles, Moses is evidently considered as the author of the Pentateuch (h), and every one of the five books is quoted as written by him (i). And it is material to remark, as of itself a sufficient proof of the Inspiration of the Pentateuch, that Christ called the words of Exodus and Deuteronomy the words of God himself: "God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and thy mother; and he that curseth father or mother, let him die the death (k)." And upon another occasion Christ confirmed the divine authority of every part of the Pentateuch; "Think not that I am come to destroy the Law and the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil: for verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass,

(g) John, c. I. v. 45. (h) Luke, c. 24. v. 27. c. 15. v. 21. 2 Cor. c. 3. v. 15.

(i) Matt. c. 19. v. 7. Luke, c. 20. v. 28 and 37. c. 8. v. 5.

one

John, c. 5. v. 46. Acts, Heb. c. 7. v. 14. Mark, c. 12. v. 19 and 26. Rom. c. 10. v. 5. Heb.

v. 4. with Exod. c. 20.

(k) Compare Matt. c. 15. v. 12. and Deut. c. 5. v. 16. In the parallel passage of St. Mark, c. 7. v. 10. these precepts are called the words of Moses.

one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled (1).”

It may be observed, that we have the strongest possible negative testimony to the truth of the Mosaic history. The laborious Whiston asserts, and in support of his assertion appeals to a similar declaration of the learned Grotius, "That there do not appear in the genuine records of mankind, belonging to antient times, any testimonies that contradict those produced from the Old Testament; and that it may be confidently affirmed, there are no such to be found (m)." We are not, however, confined to negative testimony; for it would be easy to bring forward nearly demonstrative evidence to prove the positive agreement of antiquity with the narrative of the sacred historian; but I can only briefly mention some of the leading facts, concerning which the most ancient histories and earliest traditions very remarkably coincide with the Pentateuch, and refer to other authors for farther confirmation of this important point. The departure of a shepherd people out of Egypt, who were not originally Egyptians, but who, after being compelled to work in the quarries for some time, left it

(1) Matt. c. 5. v. 17 and 18. (m) Grot. lib, 3. sect. 13, 14 and 16. Joseph, Index, 1.

under

Whiston,

under the direction of Osarsiph or Moyses (which
latter word signifies, in the Egyptian language, a
person preserved out of the water) (m) and were
pursued over the sandy desert as far as the bounds
of Syria, was particularly mentioned by Manetho,
Chæremon, Lysimachus, and others. Manetho (n),
who wrote his history from the antient Egyptian
records, in speaking of the Jews, said also,
"It
was reported that the priest, who ordained the
polity and the laws of this people, who after-
wards settled in Judæa, was by birth of Helio-
polis; but that those laws were made, not in
compliance with, but in opposition to, the cus-
toms of the Egyptians (o)." Chæremon, who
likewise wrote an Egyptian history, mentioned
Moses as a scribe, and as an Egyptian priest.
The account which Lysimachus gave was very
extraordinary; he said, "that a people, in-
fected with the leprosy, left Egypt by the ad-
vice of one Moyses, who charged them to
have no kind regards for any man, but to
overthrow all the altars and temples of the gods
they should meet with, and travel till they came
to a place fit for habitation; which they accord-
ingly did; and following him across the desert,
settled

(m) Jos. Ant. lib. 2. cap. 9. sect. 6.
(n) He lived about 260 years before Christ,
(0) Jos. lib. 1. con, Ap.

settled at last in a land which is called Judæa, where they built a city, named at first Hierosyla, from their robbing the temples, but afterwards they changed its name to Hierosolyma (o)." Apion also acknowledged that Moses and the Jews came out of Egypt into Judæa, although he placed the Exodus much later than it really was (p). Procopius (q), Suidas(r), and Moses Choronensis (s), mention the famous inscription of Tangier, set up by the Canaanites who were driven out of Palestine by Joshua: "We are those exiles that were governors of the Canaanites, but have been driven away by the robber Joshua, and are come to inhabit here." Moses Choronensis mentions also an Armenian family or tribe, descended from one of the Canaanitish exiles, the manners of which country they still retained. The opposition of the Egyptian magicians to the miracles of Moses was mentioned by Numenius, the Exodus by Palemon, and the tablets of stone and the Hebrew rites in the verses ascribed to Orpheus (t).

(0) Lib. I. contr. Ap.

Eupo

(p) Lib. 2. contr. Ap.

(9) He lived in the sixth century after Christ.

(r) He is supposed to have lived in the tenth century. He has preserved many fragments of much more antient authors in his Lexicon.

(s) He lived in the fifth century. (t) Gray's Note, p. 97. 3d edit.

Eupolemus said, that Moses exercised the office of a prophet almost forty years, and related the history of Abraham nearly as it is recorded in Genesis (u). Several nations claimed Abraham as their ancestor, and his name and history were celebrated by many eastern writers. In the decree issued by the magistrates of Pergamus, fortyfour years before Christ, there is the following passage: "Our ancestors were friendly to the Jews, even in the days of Abraham, who was the father of all the Hebrews, as we have also found it set down in our public records (r)." Aristotle considered the Jews as derived from the Indian philosophers, which is a remarkable proof of his opinion of their high antiquity, and of the accuracy of his investigation, as the Indians have been most satisfactorily traced to Chaldæa as their parent country. Berosus (y), who collected the antient Chaldæan monuments, and published treatises of their astronomy and philosophy, gave an account in his history of a man among the Chaldæans, in the tenth generation after the flood," who was righteous, and great, and skilful

(u) Eus. Præp. Ev, lib. 9. cap. 17.

(*) Jos. Ant. lib. 14. cap. 10.

(y) Berosus flourished in the reign of Ptolemy Phila delphus.