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| Chapter XXXI.—The History After the Flood.
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Chapter XXXI.—The History After the Flood.
After the flood was there again a beginning of
cities and kings, in the following manner:—The first city was
Babylon, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. And
their king was called Nebroth [Nimrod]. From these came Asshur, from
whom also the Assyrians receive their name. And Nimrod built the cities
Nineveh and Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resen, between Nineveh and Calah;
and Nineveh became a very great city. And another son of Shem, the son
of Noah, by name Mizraim, begat Ludim, and those called Anamim, and
Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, and Pathrusim, and Casluhim, out of whom came
Philistin. Of the three sons of Noah, however, and of their death and
genealogy, we have given a compendious register in the above-mentioned
book. But now we will mention the remaining facts both concerning cities
and kings, and the things that happened when there was one speech and
one language. Before the dividing of the languages these fore-mentioned
cities existed. But when men were about to be dispersed, they took counsel
of their own judgment, and not at the instigation of God, to build a
city, a tower whose top might reach into heaven, that they might make a
glorious name to themselves. Since, therefore, they had dared, contrary
to the will of God, to attempt a grand work, God destroyed their city, and
overthrew their tower. From that time He confounded the languages of men,
giving to each a different dialect. And similarly did the Sibyl speak,
when she declared that wrath would come on the world. She says:—
“When are fulfilled the threats of the great God,
With which He threatened men, when formerly
In the Assyrian land they built a tower,
And all were of one speech, and wished to rise
Even till they climbed unto the starry heaven,
Then the Immortal raised a mighty wind
And laid upon them strong necessity;
For when the wind threw down the mighty tower,
Then rose among mankind fierce strife and hate.
One speech was changed to many dialects,
And earth was filled with divers tribes and kings.”
And so on. These things, then,
happened in the land of the Chaldæans. And in the land of Canaan
there was a city, by name Haran. And in these days, Pharaoh, who by
the Egyptians was also called Nechaoth, was first king of Egypt, and
thus the kings followed in succession.612
| 612 But the Benedictine editor understands the
words to mean, that the succeeding kings were in like manner called
Pharaoh. | And in the land of Shinar, among those called
Chaldæans,
the first king was Arioch, and
next after him Ellasar, and after him Chedorlaomer, king of Elam,
and after him Tidal, king of the nations called Assyrians. And there
were five other cities in the territory of Ham, the son of Noah; the
first called Sodom, then Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Balah, which was
also called Zoar. And the names of their kings are these: Bera, king
of Sodom; Birsha, king of Gomorrah; Shinab, king of Admah; Shemeber,
king of Zeboiim; Bela, king of Zoar, which is also called Kephalac.613
| 613 Theophilus spells some of the
names differently from what they are given in our text. For Tidal he has
Thargal; for Bera, Ballas; for Birsha, Barsas; for Shinab, Senaar; for
Shemeber, Hymoor. Kephalac is taken to be a corruption for Balak, which
in the previous sentence is inserted by many editors, though it is not
in the best mss. |
These served Chedorlaomer, the king of the Assyrians, for twelve years,
and in the thirteenth year they revolted from Chedorlaomer; and thus it
came to pass at that time that the four Assyrian kings waged war upon the
five kings. This was the first commencement of making war on the earth;
and they destroyed the giants Karnaim, and the strong nations that were
with them in their city, and the Horites of the mountains called Seir,
as far as the plain of Paran, which is by the wilderness. And at that
time there was a righteous king called Melchisedek, in the city of Salem,
which now is Jerusalem. This was the first priest of all priests614
of the Most High God; and from him the above-named city Hierosolyma
was called Jerusalem.615
| 615
[Certainly a striking etymon, “Salem of the priest.”
But we can only accept it as a beautiful play upon words.] |
And from his time priests were found in all the earth. And after him
reigned Abimelech in Gerar; and after him another Abimelech. Then reigned
Ephron, surnamed the Hittite. Such are the names of the kings that were
in former times. And the rest of the kings of the Assyrians, during an
interval of many years, have been passed over in silence unrecorded,
all writers narrating the events of our recent days. There were these
kings of Assyria: Tiglath-Pileser, and after him Shalmaneser, then
Sennacherib; and Adrammelech the Ethiopian, who also reigned over Egypt,
was his triarch;—though these things, in comparison with our books,
are quite recent.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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