drink foV Kis-peb'ple, we laid, Strike the rbck * with thy rod; and'there
gulhed thereout twelve fountains 4 according to the number o f the tribes, and all
rfien knew their refpeSUve drinking-place. Eat ahd drink of the bounty of
G o d , and commit not evil in the earth, afting unjuftly. And when ye laid,
O M oses, we will by no means be fatisfied with one kind o f food| pray unto
thy L ord therefore for us, that he would produce for us of that which the
earth bringeth forth, herbs, and cucumbers, and garlick, and lentils, and
onionsc ; M oses anfwered, Will ye exchange that which is better," for that
which is worfe ? Getyedown into E g y p t , for there lhall ye find what ye defire:
and they were fmitten with vilenefs and mifery, and drew on themfelves indignation
from G o d . . This they fuffered, becaufe they believed not in the
ligns of G o d , and killed the prophets unjuftly ; this, becaufe they rebelled
and tranfgreffed. Surely thofa who believe, and thole who Judaize, and. Chriftians,
and Sabians d, whoever, believeth in G o d , and the laft day, • and doth that
which is right, they lhall have their reward with their L o r d , there Jhall
come no fear on them, neither lhall they be grieved. Call to mind alfo when
ri: we
ter means of information in this refpeft, than to
fall into fttch a miftake; for the rock Hands
within the borders of Arabia, and fome of his
countrymen muft needs have feen it, if he him-
fetf did not, as it is molt probable he did.1 And in
effedV he feems to be in the right. For one who
went in to thofe parts in the end of the 15 century,
tells us exprefsly, that the water iffued froiji
twelve places of the rock, according to the number
of the tribes of Ifrael; egreffa funt aqua lar-
giJJima in duodecimlocis petra, juxta numerum duo-
deci'm tribuum IJrael5; A late curious traveller6
Obferves, that there are 24 holes in the Hone,
which may be ealily. counted 1 that is to fay, 12
On the flat fide, and as many-on the oppofite
round fide, every one being a foot deep, and an.
inch wide; and he adds, that the holes on one
fide do not communicate with thole on the 0-
ther ; which a lefs accurate fpedtator not perceiving
(for they are placed horizontally, within
2 foot of the top of the rock): might conclude
they pierced quire through the ftone, and fo
reckon them to be but J2.
- - * See Numb. xi. 5. (fee:.....
d Jews, Chriftians, and Sabians, whoever believeth,,
6fr.] From thefe words, which are repeated
in the 5th chapter, feveral writers.7 have
wrongly concluded .that.the Mohammedans hold
it to bejhe do&rine of their prophet, that every
man may be faved.in his.bwn religion, pro-
,.n av.v \;r>-voided
a ^The rock] The commentators fay this was
a ftone which Mofes brought from mount Sinai,
and the fame that fled away with his garments
which he laid upon it one day, while he waffled
: they add that Mofes ran after the ftone naked,
till he found'himfelf, ere he-was aware, in
the midft of the-people, Who on this accident
were convinced of the fàlflioôd of a report,
which had been raifed of their prophet, that he
was burften, or as others write, an hermaphrodite
T.
They deferibe it to be a fquare piece of white
marble, fhaped like a man’s head ; wherein they
differ riot much from the accounts of European
travellers, who fay this rock ftands among feveral
lelfer ones, about 100 paces from mount Ho-
reb, and.appears to have been loofened from the
neighbouring mountains, having no coherence
with the others ; that it is a huge mafs of red
granite, almoft round on one fide, and flat on the
other ; 12 feet high, and as many thick, but
broader than it is high, and about 5o feet in cir-.
cumference 2.
- b twelve fountains] Marracci thinks this cir-
cumftance looks like a Rabbinical fiétion, or elfe
that Mohammed confounds the water of the rock
at Horeb, with the 12 wells at Elim 3 ; for he
fays, feveral who have been on the fpot, affirm
there are but 3 orifices whence the water iflued4:
But it is to-be prefumed that Mohammed had betwe
1 J a l l a l o ’ d d i n , Y a h y a . 2 B r e y d e n b a c h . Itinerar. ehartdm.p. i . S i c a r d , danslesMemoires
des Mifftons p> 14* .27. Numb, xxxiii. 9. + M a r r a c c . Prodr. part4. f . 80.
B r e y d e n b a c h , ubi fup. 6 8 j c a r d , ubi Jup. 7 S e l d e n . dejure nat. & gentium fee. Hcbr. 1. 6. c. 12.
, A n g e l , a S. J o s e p h .. Gqzgphylac. Ptrfic. ;• .Nic, C u.?a n u s in (f feibratipne^ Ajcor.anh
X X c. 2. See. .Miaa!04AiJAl 1
accepted your covenant, and lifted up the mountain o f SINAI over you *,
faying, Receive the teywhichwe have given you, with a refolution to keep it,
and remember that whidh is contained therein,' that ye may beware. After this
ye again turned back, lb that if it had not been for G o d ’ s indulgence and
mercy towards you, ye had certainly been deftroyed. Moreover ye know
what befell thofe of your nation who tranlgrefied on the fabbath day b; We
faid unto them, Be ye changed into apes, driven away frdm the■ fociety 1 o f
men. And1 we made’ thern an example unto thofe who were contemporary
with them,' and unto thofe who came after them, and a warning to the pious.
And when Mosts faid unto his people, Verily G od fcommandeth you
to facrifice a cow c ; they anfwered, Doll thou make a jell of us ? Mo-
SES faid, G od forbid that I fhould be one of the foolilh. ■ They faid,
Pray for us unto thy:LoRD, that he would lhew us what cow it is.'1 M o s e s
■ C : ’ anfwered,
vided he be fincere and lead a gobd life. ' ! It is
true, fome of their doftors do ' agrée this to be
the purport of the words 1 ; but then they fay
the latitude hereby granted was foon revoked,
for that this paflage is abrogated by feveral others
in the Koran, which exprefsly declare, that none
can be faved who is not of the Mohammedan
faith.; and particularly by thofe words of the ,3d
chapter, Whoever followeth any other religion than
Iflam (i. e. the Mohammedan,) it Jhall not tie accented
of him, and at the laß day be f t all be of
thofe who perijh 2. However, others are of opinion
that this paflage is not abrogated, but interpret
it differently; .taking the meaning, of. it
to be, that no man, whether he be a Jew, a
C hr iff an, or a Sabian, fhall be excluded from
falvation, provided he quit his erroneous religion
and become a Moflem, which they fay is intended
by the following words, Whoever believeth in
God and the laß day, and doth that which is right.
And this interpretation is approved by Mr. Reland,
who thinks the words here import no
more than thofe of the apoftle, In every nation
he that fearetb G od, and worketh righteoufnefs, is
accepted with him 3 ; from which it muft not be
inferred, that the religion of nature, or any o-
mer, is fufficient to fave, without faith in
C h r i s t 4 .
^ \Wben m lif teduPm°unt Sinai over you.] The
Mohammedan tradition is, that the Ifraelites reeling
to receive the law of Mofes, G od tore up'
t e mountain by the roots, and fliook it over
1 bert S* t0 terrify them int0 a compliance 5.
Thofe who tranfgreffed on the fabbath day, &c.l
Iile ftory to which this paflage refers, is as.fol-1
1 See C hardin’j Voyages, vol. 2. p. 326. 331.
f 3 Aas X. 35. **■ V , R e l a n d .
D!N. 6 A b u ’ l f e d a ,
lows, in the:days of David :lome Ifraelifes
dwelt at Ailab, or Elath, on the, Red fea, where on
the night of the fabbath the fifh ufed to come in
great numbers to the fhore, and ftay there all the
fabbath, to tempt them ; but the night following
they returned into the fea again; At length,
fome of the inhabitants negledling G od’s command,
patched fifti on the fabbath, and drefled
and eat.them; and afterwards cut canals from
the( fea, for the fifti to enter, with fluices, which
they ftiut on the fabbath, to' prevent their return
to the fea. The other part of the inhabitants,
who ftri&ly obferved the fabbath, ufed both per-
fuafion-and force, to flop this impiety, but to
no purpofe, the offenders growing only more
and more obftinate; whereupon David curfed
the fabbath-breakers, and G od transformed them
into apes. It is faid, that one going to fee a
friend of his that was among them, found him
in the ihape of an ape, moving his eyes about
wildly, and asking him whether he was not fuch
a one? the ape made a fign with his head, that
it was he; whereupon the friend faid to him,
Did not I advife you to defift ? at which the ape
wept. They add, that thefe unhappy people
remained three days in this condition, and were afterwards
deftroyed by a wind which fwept them
all into the fea 6.
_ c G od commandethyou to facrifice a cow, &c.J
The occafion o f this facrifice is thus related.
A certain man at his death left his fon, then a
child, a cow-calf, which wandred in the defart
till, he came to age; at which time his mother
told him the heifer was his, and bid hijn fetch
her, and fell her for three pieces of g61d. When
the
2 A bu l k a s b m H e b a t a l l a h de abrogante
derel. Mcbam. p. 128. (sfc. 1 J a l l a l o ’ d -