And not only Goshen, but a great part of Lower Egypt may have been comprehended under this emblem. This is countenanced by a passage in Isaiah, hitherto not well underftood, which it explains, and at the same time is confirmed by it.The Lord fhall utterly deftroy the tongue of the Egyptian fea; and with his mighty wind shall be shake his hand over the river, and shall fmite it in the feven Kreams, and make men go over dry-food, C. xi. v. 15.

Different Opinions confidered.

Some have thought, that the fea mentioned by Ifaiah was the Red-Sea and

among thofe of this opinion was the learned Bishop Lowth. But the force and peculiarity of the

The Nile was filed Oceanus. Ωκεανόν είναι τον παρ' αυτοις Νειλον.

p. 12.

Oi Aryvation voμiŜxow
Diodorus Sic. l. I.

Τον δε ποταμον αρχαιοτατον μεν ονομα σκειν Ωκεάμην, or as fome read, Queamy, ús esiv Èxani watavos, ibid. p. 17.

prophecy

prophecy is greatly prejudiced by this application. The Red-Sea lay at a distance from the land of the Mizraim; and was of great extent: fo that it was inhabited on each fide by various independent nations. The upper part was poffeffed by the Midianites, Edomites, and Nabatheans: alfo by different tribes of Arabians. In the times of the Ptolemies fome towns were built near the most northern recefs, but for want of water, and other neceffaries, they foon funk to ruin; and their fituation cannot easily be ascertained. But, in the time of Isaiah, we have no reason to think, that the Egyptians had a single town upon this part of the finus. And if they had, yet we can hardly fuppofe, that the inhabitants, and the nook upon which they ftood, were the great objects to which the prophet alluded.

It is well known, that the Nile increased in the fummer, and for fome months overflowed the whole country. The region about Delta particularly appeared like a vast sea : and the principal towns and cities became fo many islands and all communication was carried

carried on by fhips and boats.

Hence the river, as I have before mentioned, had the

2

name of Oceanus, or the fea: and was a fure guard to the whole region, which was hereby rendered impregnable. The feven ftreams were at all times a ftrong barrier: in which the people placed their chief fecurity. And, of all the cities, that at the point or tongue of Delta was particularly fortified, as commanding the paffage by water between Upper and Lower Egypt. The prophet therefore fays, that this tongue of the fea fhall be ruined, however it may seem secured by the surrounding waters. For the Lord would with a mighty (fouthern) wind force thefe waters downwards; by which means the feven channels fhould become empty, and dry fo that people fhould pass over without wetting their feet. Hence the king and people fhould be brought to ruin by being deprived of their chief defence, in which they blindly trufted. The prophet Ezekiel is accordingly ordered to fet his face against Pharaoh king of Egypt.-Thus faith

Herod. 1. 2. c. 97. p. 147.

2 Diodorus, 1. 1. p. 17.

the

the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which bath faid, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself. Behold therefore, I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and defolate from Migdol even to Syene, and the borders of Cufb. This was accomplished; and the prophet foretells by whom it was to be effected.- Therefore, thus faith the Lord God; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her Spoil, &c. c. 29. V. 2, 3. 10. 19. And they fhall know that I am the Lord, because he hath faid, The river is mine, and I have made it. v. 9. The fame conqueft is alluded to by the prophet Jeremiah, who mentions the like circumftances.-Egypt rifeth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers: and he faith, I will go up, and will cover the earth. c. 46. Here the widely extended army is compared to the overflowing of the Nile. Such is the hiftory of the fea of Egypt, which according to the prophecy was to be

v. 8.

exhausted:

exhausted: and all the rivers to be bereft of water, to facilitate the invafion of the Babylonish monarch, by whom the country was to be conquered. I will make the rivers dry. Ezekiel, c. 30. v. 12.

Hence it seems, I think, manifeft, that when Isaiah fays-The Lord fhall utterly deftroy the tongue of the Egyptian fea,and shall shake his hand over the river, and fball fmite it in its feven streams, &c. there is no reference to the Red-Sea, but to the river of Egypt folely.

The Departure, and Route, of the Children of Ifrael from Egypt.

After that such repeated wonders had been displayed in Egypt, and such a superiority manifested by the deity over all the gods of the country, to the confufion of their votaries; the children of Ifrael are at laft permitted to depart. It was not however a

bare