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sequence, was at too great a distance to be the object here menaced, and to be accounted the strength of Egypt.

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Land of Goshen.

This situation of Goshen agrees very well with the route of the children of Israel, when they first set out from Egypt; for we find that their second station was upon the borders of Etham near the Red-sea. Had they come from the Thebaïs, they could not have arrived till after many days and several stages; nor was there any part in Lower Egypt from whence they could have arrived in so short a time, and by so direct a road. Heliopolis lay nearly under the same latitude as the place of their encampment near Etham; and from this part of Egypt they first took their journey. The writers who treat of this history, however they may vary in other articles, yet agree in this, that the scene of of these great occurrences was in this province. Hence Apion mentions Moses as a na

"It lay nearly under the tropic, and was the most remote of any city of the country.

tive of Heliopolis. [* Μωυσης Ηλιοπολίτης : and Manetho goes so far as to mention him --Ηλιοπολιτης το γενος, an Heliopolitan by race. It is sufficient that he is adjudged to that city and province, where in his early days he resided, under the tuition of the princess 3 Merris, the daughter of Palmenothes, by which princess he was said to have been adopted. Joseph likewise is supposed to have resided here, and also to have obtained here a place of residence for his father and brethren. *'O βασιλευς συνεχώρησεν αυτω (Ιακωβῳ) ζην μετα των τεκνων εν Ηλιοπολεί (forte Ηλιοπολίτη) εν εκείνη γαρ δι αυτό ποιμένες τας νομας είχον. The king... granted to the patriarch Jacob, and to his family, a place for their residence in the nome of Heliopolis; for here his own shepherds took care of his pas tures. As the land of Goshen appears to have been contiguous, it might easily be looked upon as an appendage to Heliopolis, and is accordingly mentioned as a part of that district. For it is impossible to ascertain now how far

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Josephus cont. Ap. 1. 2. p. 469. Jnant dsult shunt 2 Ibid. p. 462. He more probably alludes to Joseph, Osarsiph; which is equally to the purpose.

3 Artapanus, apud Euseb. Præp. Evang. p. 432. 4 Josephus, Antiq. 1. 2. c. 7. p. 95.

any province of Egypt may have extended in those early times.os

Goshen only a Part of the Provinces

But however it may have been described and adjudged, it was certainly a distinct and separate part of the province. For when the rest of the land of Egypt was punished with hail---In the land of Goshen there was no hail. Exod. ix. 26. And when there was thick darkness, the children of Israel had light in their

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dwelling. chap. x. 23. And as it was the best of the land, there is no accounting for its being unoccupied but by the secession of the former inhabitants; of whose departure we have accounts in the histories of Egypt. When therefore Joseph instructs his brethren concerning the answer which they should give upon their being interrogated by Pharaoh, when he should inquire about their occupation, he tells them, Ye shall say, Thy servants trade hath been about cattle, from our youth even until now, both we and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen. Gen. xlvi. 34.

* I will sever in that day the land of Goshen. Exod. viii. 22.

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And antecedently, when he first sent a message to his father, his words were, Come down unto me, tarry not: And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me. chap. xlv. 9, 10. From hence Le Clerc collects, that it must have been in possession of shepherds; otherwise Qui colligere potuisset Josephus fratribus, arte editâ, eum tractum incolendum concessum iri, &c. The inference is good, that there must have been shepherds in those parts before; otherwise Joseph could not have foreseen, that, upon telling their occupation, the land would necessarily be given to his brethren. And when they are presented before Pharaoh, the king at once determines this place of residence for them. And he accordingly says to Joseph, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee: The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell. Gen. xlvii. 5, 6. They were undoubtedly the Arabian or Cuthite shepherds, who had been previously in possession of this land, from whence they had been lately ejected. The whole kingdom had been in subjection to their kings. But they were obliged to retire, being expelled by the

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natives. The other parts of the kingdom were immediately occupied. But pasturage being contrary to the taste of the Egyptians, this particular region lay in great measure neglected. Hence we have a satisfactory reason afforded for the Israelites finding such easy access into the country, so as not only to dwell in it, but to have the land of Goshen given them for a possession, even the best of the land of Egypt.---And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshens and they had pos sessions therein. Gen. xlvii. 27. AgainAnd Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. chap. xlvii. 11.

Concerning the Purport of the Name.

I once imagined, that the term Goshen was a variation of the name, , Cushan; and that the region was so called from the sons of Chus, who once resided there. But a learned

friend told me, that he thought the true etymology was from the Arabian word Gush, a

The reverend and learned Mr Costard.

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