登陆注册
5214200000266

第266章

He added, too, that the Egyptians, of whose little years of four months we have spoken already, sometimes terminated their year at the wane of each moon; so that with them there are produced lifetimes of By these plausible arguments certain persons, with no desire to weaken the credit of this sacred history, but rather to facilitate belief in it by removing the difficulty of such incredible longevity, have been themselves persuaded, and think they act wisely in persuading others, that in these days the year was so brief that ten of their years equal but one of ours, while ten of ours equal 100 of theirs.But there is the plainest evidence to show that this is quite false.Before producing this evidence, however, it seems right to mention a conjecture which is yet more plausible.From the Hebrew manuscripts we could at once refute this confident statement; for in them Adam is found to have lived not 230 but 130 years before he begat his third son.If, then, this mean thirteen years by our ordinary computation, then he must have begotten his first son when he was only twelve or thereabouts.Who can at this age beget children according to the ordinary and familiar course of nature? But not to mention him, since it is possible he may have been able to beget his like as soon as he was created,--for tt is not credible that he was created so little as our infants are,--not to mention him, his son was not 205 years old when he begot Enos, as our versions have it, but 105, and consequently, according to this idea, was not eleven years old.But what shall I say of his son Cainan, who, though by our version 170 years old, was by the Hebrew text seventy when he beget Mahalaleel? If seventy years in those times meant only seven of our years, what man of seven years old begets children?

CHAP.13.--WHETHER, IN COMPUTING YEARS, WE OUGHT TO FOLLOW THE HEBREWOR THE

SEPTUAGINT.

But if I say this, I shall presently be answered, It is one of the Jews'

lies.This, however, we have disposed of above, showing that it cannot be that men of so just a reputation as the seventy translators should have falsified their version.However, if I ask them which of the two is more credible, that the Jewish nation, scattered far and wide, could have unanimously conspired to forge this lie, and so, through envying others the authority of their Scriptures, have deprived themselves of their verity; or that seventy men, who were also themselves Jews, shut up in one place (for Ptolemy king of Egypt had got them together for this work), should have envied foreign nations that same truth, and by common consent inserted these errors: who does not see which can be more naturally and readily believed? But far be it from any prudent man to believe either that the Jews, however malicious and wrong-headed, could have tampered with so many and so widely-dispersed manuscripts; or that those renowned seventy individuals had any common purpose to grudge the truth to the nations.One must therefore more plausibly maintain, that when first their labors began to be transcribed from the copy in Ptolemy's library, some such misstatement might find its way into the first copy made, and from it might be disseminated far and wide; and that this might arise from no fraud, but from a mere copyist's error.This is a sufficiently plausible account of the difficulty regarding Methuselah's life, and of that other case in which there is a difference in the total of twenty-four years.

But in those cases in which there is a methodical resemblance in the falsification, so that uniformly the one version allots to the period before a son and successor is born 100years more than the other, and to the period subsequent 100 years less, and vice versa, so that the totals may agree,--and this holds true of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and seventh generations,--in these cases error seems to have, if we may say so, a certain kind of constancy, and savors not of accident, but of design.

同类推荐
  • CRITO

    CRITO

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 太上赤文洞古经注

    太上赤文洞古经注

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 北山录

    北山录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Those Extraordinary Twins

    Those Extraordinary Twins

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 枫山语录

    枫山语录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • Ancient Poems

    Ancient Poems

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 天才魔妃太难追

    天才魔妃太难追

    她是医学界的奇才,文武双全,聪明睿智,轻狂腹黑,一点小懒,一点小坏,一点小馋。她是傲天大陆东商国,上官丞相家的千金,庶出之女,不受待见,还是个连话也说不清的痴傻女。当一个天才穿越到一个蠢才身上,盛世传奇就此开始……上官丞相家三小姐溺水窒息,再次睁开眼睛,一改以往呆滞,眉眼间冷魅锋芒,精光毕露,再也不是那个任人宰割的痴癫傻女,惩嫡姐、罚姨娘,在上官家活得风声四起,成了人见人畏的小魔女。一道圣旨,她摇身一变成了和亲公主,成了东商国巴结玥璃国的一颗棋子。和亲?尼玛说和亲就和亲啊?和你妹的亲!!大婚之夜,新郎不知所踪,新娘欣喜若狂,借此良机精心导演了一出‘王妃绑架案’。翌日,大红的喜房内,一个美如妖孽的男子,望着手中那张“劫匪”留下的清秀字迹,诲暗幽深的眸底迸射寒光,唇角勾起一抹冷魅——“掘地三尺,就算是把傲天大陆翻个底朝天,也要给本王把她找出来。”竟然敢在他宣王面前,玩这种不入眼的伎俩,他会让她知道,这样做会带来什么后果……
  • 秦时之仙

    秦时之仙

    这是一个人回到秦朝的故事,到达秦时,他成为了一个仙人,于是一位通晓古今的仙人出现了。群号:866355079
  • 白骨女的修炼生涯

    白骨女的修炼生涯

    其实我们的人生本来就不容易,男人不容易,女人不容易,如果这个女人是一个作者,那就更不容易了。女主梁小欢是一名作者,这份工作没有固定工资,没有社保,连最低的保障都没有,可以说除了整天写写写,什么都没有,为了生存,她会选择继续还是放弃?受过情伤、被骗上当后才发现有时花狐狸比狼还要可恨。坏人当道,好人能否全身而退?好人又是不是真的好心有好报?这又是一个令人深思的问题!写作确实是既沉闷又要耐得住寂寞的事,在诱惑与现实面前,她是否低头?有待关注!本故事纯属虚构,请勿对号入座!注:看到本书的那些评论,特别是那些置精的书评,我竟然可以眼眶湿湿的,你们总是令人感动,我心存感激!
  • 重生作女守则

    重生作女守则

    岑念念私以为,她与褚昌柏之间像极了唐玄宗与杨贵妃,周幽王与褒姒,商纣王与苏妲己,她就是那导致“从此君王不早朝”的“祸国妖妃”,虽然历史长河里她并未以容貌留名,可她胜在美貌与智慧皆有,乖巧与眼色并存。褚昌柏觉得,虽然这姑娘笨了点呆了点还娇气了点,但可贵在听话和特别听他话上,且容貌性格都十分合他心意,若是她一直能这般下去,作为她的男人,多宠多爱她点总是应该的。
  • 天才透视神医

    天才透视神医

    她妈嫌我穷、她妈让我两年内赚到五千万、赚到一千平的别墅、赚到百万级豪车,她妈不就是不想让她女儿跟老子好吗!好啊,老子发誓,以后要她妈求我娶她女儿!老子这么人见人爱、花见花开、憨厚老实的好男人、好医生……还怕讨不到好老婆?咦!“隔壁的护士在换衣服,非礼忽视!老子不能因为有了透视眼就乱看!可是,我是不是该提醒提醒她,你这妞该好好洗洗澡了……”
  • 从幕后走向巅峰

    从幕后走向巅峰

    经他策划的节目,无一不是爆款。他创作的音乐,尽是口口皆唱的经典。票房神话,国民老公,全能天王!唐星的传奇,从一个小电视台幕后开始……
  • 贵圈好乱之绯闻滚远点

    贵圈好乱之绯闻滚远点

    洛姐,最近有个新戏快上了,公司要你去和男一号炒个绯闻先……洛姐,这两天狗王在扒你的猛料,眉姐勒令你立即停止一切对外活动……洛姐,公司花五十万帮你买了三个月的热搜,欧阳总让我转告你,不作就不会死……洛姐,咱们的绯闻不小心炒糊了,贴吧、微博、粉丝群都已经炸得不要不要的了……洛姐,网上有人爆料你被宋氏集团某大佬包养了,说你靠脸上位……呃……这个没毛病,略过!略过!!★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★『据报道,近日非著名女星黎洛,金牡丹奖一举摘的视后桂冠,众网友毁誉参半,究竟是道德的沦丧?还是人性的扭曲?小编带你走进一代“绯闻女皇”不得不扒的黑历史……』
  • 斗战三国

    斗战三国

    新式三国玄幻,纯历史迷慎入!已经完本,放心阅读! _______少年自襄阳而出,人生就此改变。人才挤挤,坐拥强大宗师团,自建豪奢仙城,对天下枭雄指手画脚,弹指间天地翻覆。这是三国史上的一次玄幻大冒险。改变异域格局的少年王者,正在向你走来……
  • 猎人的王座

    猎人的王座

    这并不是一本正常向的猎人同人。是一本意图展现一个作者心中相对完整的猎人世界的同人小说。新书《这一切为了成为星空霸主》求大家支持一波