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THE FIFTH PLAGUE.

Ver. 1.

MURRAIN OF BEASTS.

EXODUS, Chap. ix.

Then the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

V. 2.

For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,

V. 3. Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.

V. 4. And the Lord shall sever between the cattle of Israel, and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel.

V. 5. And the Lord appointed a set time, saying, To-morrow the Lord shall do this thing in the land.

V. 6. And the Lord did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one.

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This judgment so precisely foretold, and so early carried into execution, must have had a great effect the minds of the Egyptians. And when they found, that the cattle of the Israelites were exempted from this evil, they could not but perceive the hand of God manifest throughout the whole operation. In consequence of which they must have been more ready to let the Israelites go, and to assist them at their departure, as soon as the obdurate heart of their prince was finally softened. It must likewise have rendered the Israelites more willing to depart, and to leave the gods of the country; to which they undoubtedly had before an attachment. And here we may observe a particular scope and meaning in this calamity, if we consider it in regard to the Egyptians, which would not have existed in respect to any other people. It is well known, that they held in idolatrous reverence the lion, wolf, dog, cat, ape, and goat. As they bordered upon Lybia they beasts, all

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must have been visited by wild

See Ezekiel xx. 8.

The tiger, dubber, or ahena, are still to be found: but not common. Pocock. Egypt. p. 207. Probably since the use of fire-arms they have been kept at a distance.

which they esteemed sacred. Εεσα δε Αιγυπτος όμερος τη Λιβυη " εν μαλα θηριώδης εστι, ταδε εοντα σφι άπαντα ἱρα νενόμισται. Herod. 1. 2. c. 64. p. 134. Porphyry likewise tells us--εις θεοποιιαν παρελαβον παν ζωον. p. 372. ὅθεν καὶ ὁ λεων ὡς θεος θρησκευεται. ib. p. 373. -μετα ταυτα και παντα τα ζωα--σεβεσιν. Ρ. 374. They admitted every animal as a representative of their gods.- -Hence the lion is by them worshipped as a deity--and together with these specified they worship every living creature. Hence Virgil very truly mentions.

-Latrator Anubis

Omnigenûmque deûm monstra.

Lucian, accordingly, with much wit ridicules the inconsistency of their worship, by shewing how little any temple among them corresponded with the object which it contained.--

Κακει γαρ αυτος μεν ὁ νεως, καλλιστος τε και ¿ μεγιστος, λίθοις τοις πολυτελεσιν ησκημένος, και χρησῳ και γραφαις διηνθισμένος, ενδον δε ην ζητης τον θεον, η πίθηκος εστιν, η Ιβις, η τραγος, η αίλερος. In Egypt the temple itself is found to be beautiful, and ample in its dimensions: built with choice

• So I should read, as the context seems to require, instead of ou.

Εικονες, v. 2. p. 12. See also Θεων Εκκλησία, v. 2. p. 956.

stones: and ornamented with gilding and hieroglyphics. But if you pry within to find out the god, you meet with a monkey, or a crane or else a goat, or a cat. But they had gods, which were held in still greater reverence than these. Such were the ox or steer: the cow and heifer:

and the ram. Among these the Apis and

Mnevis are well known: the former of which was a sacred bull adored at Memphis; as the latter was at Heliopolis. There was also a cow or heifer, which had the like honours at Momemphis. Nor were these only the places, where this custom prevailed: it seems to have been adopted in some degree in most of the Egyptian nomes. Εν δε τῷ Δελτα, και έξω αυτό, τοις μεν άρσην, τοις δε θήλεια βες τρέφεται. They are the words of Strabo, who tells us that both in the region of Delta and in the country above, steers and heifers were maintained in the temples: and he adds, that these were only held sacred, and not adored: whereas the Apis and Mnevis were really esteemed gods, and had divine honours paid to them. The like were shewn to the cow or heifer at Momemphis; and to the ram at Thebes, and

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2 Onua 685 isgx. ibid. The cow and the heifer were universally esteemed sacred and though the males were look

in the temple of Ammon. To these may be added the goat at Mendes; though perhaps not so celebrated as the others. This judgment therefore displayed upon the kine of Egypt was very significant in its execution and purport. For when the distemper spread irresistibly over the country, the Egyptians not only suffered a severe loss; but what was of far greater consequence, they saw the representative of their deities; and their deities themselves sink before the God of the Hebrews. They thought, that the soul of Osiris was uniformly resident in the body of the bull Apis.--- Τελευτησαντος Οσίριδος εις τετον * (ταυρον) ἡ ψυχη μετεστη, και

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upon with reverence, yet not in the same degree as the females. Τις δε 6ες της έρσενας τε Επαφε είναι νομιζεσιν. Herod. 1. 2. c. 38. p. 121.. -Τ8ς μεν ουν καθαρους βες τες έρσενας, και τις μοσχὲς ὁι παντες Αιγυπτιοι θυεσι. τας δε θηλείας ου εφι εξεςι θύειν. αλλα ίραι εισι της Ισιος. Ibid. 1. 2. c. 41. p. 123.

Of Apis see Herod. 1. 2. c. 131. p. 166. l. 3. c. 27, 28. p. 208,

1 Diodorus, 1. 1. p. 76. ß.

Ως ευμορφον εικονα χρη νομίζειν της Οσίριδος ψυχης τον Απίν. Plut. de Is. et Osir. p. 362. D.

? Sometimes he is stiled porxo5. So Herodotus speaks of him—ὁ μοσχος ὁ Απις καλεομενος. Herod. 1. 3. c. 28. p. 208. Sometimes B. Bus Axis, os esiv o autos Origis. Strabo, i. 17. p. 1160. See P. Mela, 1. 1. c. 9. p. 59. concerning this

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