Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/6_100.lzh/6_138.TXT

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says. Jerom interprets Citti,n of Italy; and Ben Go-
rion says{w} that Cittim are the Romans.
Vet. 7- Fine linen with broidcred work from Egypt,
&c.] From whence came the finest and whitestlinen;
and which they embroidered with needle-work, which
looked very beautiful. Pliny {x} says there were tbur
sorts of linen in Egypt, called Tanitic, Pelusiac, Butic,
and Tentyritic, from the names and provinces where
they were produced; of the second sort the garments
of the tiigh-priest among the Jews were made; for
they sayy, on the day of atonement he was in the morn-
ing clothed with Pelusiac garments; that is, with
garments made of linen which came from Pelusium,
a well-known city in Egypt; and which Jarchi{z} says
was the best, and in the greatest esteem; and one of
the Misnic commentators says{a} that the linen from
Pelusium is fine and beautiful, and comes from the
land of Raamses; and observes, that, in the Jerusalem
Targum, Raamses is said to be Pelusium; but though
they are not one and the same place, yet they are both
in the same country,'Egypt, and near one another; and
with this sort of linen the priests of Hercules were
clothed, according to Silius b; and so the \^vv\^, shesh, or
linen, of which the garments of the Jewish priests in
common were made, was linen from Egypt; and which
their Rabbins{e} say is the best, and is only found there.
The Phcenicians, of which Tyre was a principal city,
took 'linen of Egypt, and traded with other nations
with it, as well as made use of it for themselves; par-
ticularly with the Ethiopians, the inhabitants of the
isle of Cernes, now called the Canaries,,who took of
them Egyptian goods, as linen, &c.; in lieu of which
they had of them elephants' teeth, the skins of lions,
leopards, deer, and other creatures{d}: now such fine
linen as this was that which thou spreadest forth to be
thy sail: not content with canvass or coarse linen, which
would have done as well, they must have the finest
Egyptian linen, and this very curiously embroidered,
to make their sails of they spread upon their masts,
to receive the wind; at least this they spread .for a
..flag{e}, standard or ensign, as, the word may be rendered;
when they hoisted up their colours on any occasion,
they were such as these: blue and purple, from the
isles of Elishah, was that which covered thee; meaning
not garments made. of cloth of these colours,_which
the master of the vessel or mariners wore; but the tilts,
or tents, or canopies erected on the decks, where they
sat sheltered from the rain, wind, or sun; these were
made of stuff died of a violet and purple colour, the
best they could get; and which they fetched from the
isles of Elishah, or the Egean sea, from Coat Rhodia,
Nisyrus, and other places famous for purple, as Tyre
itself afterwards was. The Targum is, "from the
"province of Italy ;" or of Apulia, as othersf; see
Rev. xdii. 12, 16.
Ver. 8. The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were
thy mariners, &c.] Zidon was acity in Phoenicia, near to
Tyre, and older than that, by whose inhabitants it
was built; see the notes on Isa. xxiii. 2, 4. and Arvad
wasan island in Phoenicia, to the south of Zidon, not
far from Tyre. Mr. 1Vlaundrell{g} says it is about a
League distant from the shore; and is now called by
the Turks Ru-ad. It. seemed to the eye to be not
above two or three furlongs long, and wholly tilled
up with tall buildings like castles: its ancient inhabit-,
ants, he observes, were famous for navigation, and had
a command upon the continent as far as Gabale after
tnentioned, Dr, Shaw {h} says it is at present called
Rou-wadde; and that the prospect of it from the con-
tinent is wonderfully magnificent; promising at. a. dis-
tance a continued train of fine buildings and impreg-
nable fortifications; but this is entirely owing to the
height and rockiness of its situation; for. at. Fresent all
the strength and beauty it can boast of lies in a weak
unfortified castle, with a few small cannon to defend
it; so that the prophecy of Jeremiah appearsto be ful-
filled, Arpad is confounded, Jer, xlix, 23. This is
the Aradus of Strabo, and.. other writers; and which
he says is distant from the land twenty furlongs, and
is about seven furlongs in circumference; and issaid
to be built by the Sidenians{k}; the inhabitants of
it are the same with. the Arvadite, Gen. x, 18, these
places brought up abundance of seafaring men, and
which furnished. Tyre with rowers,. as the word{l} sig-
nifies; which was the most slavish work in naviga-
tion: thy wise men, O.Tyrus, that were in thee,-were
thy pilots; such, as had learnt the art of navigation;
were well versed in geography; understood the charts;
knew the shores of different places; where were creeks
and promontories, rocks and sands; these were brought
up among themselves, and made pilots or governors,
as the Targum renders it; who have their names here
from the ropes{m] the sails are fastened to; and which
they loosened or contracted, as they saw fit.
Vet. 9- Ttte ancients of Gebal, &c.] A promontory
of the Phcenicians, the same with the Gabale ofPliny {h}.
and with the land of the Giblites, Josh. xiii. 5. 1 Kings
v. 18. see Psal. lxxxiii. 7. It was by the Greeks called
Byblus; and so the Septuagint here render the words,
the elders of Bybli or Byblus, a place once famous for
the birth and temple of Adonis; it is now called Gibyle.
Mr. Maundrell* says it is pleasantly situated by the
sea-side, and that at present it contains but a little
extent of ground. yet more than enough for, the small
number of its inhabitants; it is tompassed with a dry
ditch, and a wall with square towers in it, at about
every forty yards' distance; on its south side it has
an old castle; within it is a church; besides which it
has nothing remarkable; though anciently it was a
place of no mean extent, as well as beauty, as may
appear from the many heaps of ruins, and the fine
pillars that are scattered up and down in the gardens

{w} Heb. Hist. I. 1.. c. 1. p. 7.
{x} Nat. Hist. I. 19 c. 1.
{y} Misn. Yoma, c. 3. sect. 7.
{z} Gloss. in T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 34.2.
{a} Bartenora in Misn. Yoma, ib.
{b} .... Velantur corpore lino,
Et Pelusiaco praefulget stamine vertex. L. 3. de Bell. Punic.
{c} Aben Ezra in Exod. xxv. 4.
{d} Vid. Reinesium de Lingua Punica, c. 2. sect. 13.
{e} \^owl\^ in signum, sive vexillum, Gussetius, so some in Bootius,
{f} So R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 48.1.
{g} Journey from Aleppo, &c. p. 19. E& 7.
{h} Travels, p. 267. Ed.2.
{k} Geograph. I. 16. p. 518;
{l} \^Myjv\^ remiges, Vulg. Lat. Pagninus, Junius & Tremellius, Pis-
cator, Polanus, Coceeius, Starckius.
{m} \^Kylbwx\^ a \^lbx\^ funis, ita dicuntur a contrahendis aut laxandis
funibus veli, Vatablus.
{n} Nat. Hist. I. 5. c. 20.
{o} Journey, &c. p. 33, 34.