Of Abbana and Pharphar, lucid ftreams. He alfo' against the house of God was bold: 470 1 For one of Syrian mode, whereon to burn of the Lord from its place, and fet up this new altar in its ftead, and offer'd thereon, 2 Kings XVI. 10. &c. and thenceforth gave himself up to idolatry, and instead of the God of Ifrael he facrific'd unto the Gods of Damafcus, 2 Chron. XXVIII. 23. whom he had fubdued. 478. Ofiris, Iris, Orus, and their train, &c.] Ofiris and fis were the principal deities of the Egyptians, by which it is moft probable they originally meant the fun and moon. Örus was the fon of Ofiris and Ifis, frequently confounded with Apollo: and thefe and the other Gods of the Egyptians were worshipped in monftrous fhapes, balls, cats, dogs, &c. and the reafon alleged for this monftrous worship is deriv'd from the fabulous tradition, that when the giants invaded Heaven, the Gods were fo affrighted that they With fled into Egypt, and there concealed themfelves in the fhapes of various animals; and the Egyp tians afterwards out of gratitude worshipped the creatures, whose fhapes the Gods had affum'd. Ovid Met. V. 319. &c. where is an account of their transformations: and therefore Milton here calls them Their wand'ring Gods difguis'd' in brutish forms Rather than human. 8. bed cla 482. Nor did Irael cape Th' infection, &c.] The Ifraelites by dwelling fo long in Egypt were infected with the fuperftitions of the Egyptians, and in all probability made the golden calf, or ox (for fo it is differently call'd, Pfal. CVI. 19, 20.) in imitation of that which reprefented Ofiris, and out of the golden earings, which it is most likely they borrow'd of the Egyptians, With monstrous shapes and forceries abus'd Their wand'ring Gods difguis'd in brutish forms 480 Th' infection, when their borrow'd gold compos'd The calf in Oreb; and the rebel king Doubled that fin in Bethel and in Dan, 485 Likening his Maker to the grazed ox, Jehovah, who in one night when he pass'd Both Egyptians, Exod. XII. 35. The that eateth grass: Jehovah, who in calf in Oreb, and fo the Pfalmift, one night when he pass'd from Egypt They made a calf in Horeb, Pfal. marching, for the children of Ifrael CVI. 19. while Mofes was upon not only pass'd from Egypt, but the mount with God. And the rebel march'd in a warlike manner, and king, Jeroboam made king by the the Lord brought them out, the Ifraelites who rebelled against Re- Lord went before them: equal'd hoboam, 1 Kings XII. doubled that with one froke both her firfl-born fin by making two golden calves, and all ber bleating Gods, for the probably in imitation of the Egyp- Lord flew all the firft-born in the tians with whom he had converfed, land of Egypt both man and beaft, who had a couple of oxen which and upon their Gods alfo the Lord they worshipped, one called Apis executed judgments. Exod. XII. 12. at Memphis the metropolis of the Numb. XXXIII. 4. and Milton upper Egypt, and the other Mnevis means all their Gods in general, at Hierapolis the chief city of the tho' he fays bleating Gods in partilower Egypt: and he fet them up cular, borrowing the metaphor in Bethel and in Dan, the two ex- from fheep, and ufing it for the tremities of the kingdom of Ifrael, cry of any fort of beafts. Dr. Bentthe former in the fouth, the latter ley fays indeed that the Egyptians in the north. Likening his Maker to did not worship fheep, they only the grazed ex, alluding to Pfal. abftain'd from eating them: but (as CVI. 20. Thus they changed their Dr. Pearce replies) was not Jupiglory into the fimilitude of an ox ter Ammon worshipped under a ram, Both her first-born and all her bleating Gods. Belial came laft, than whom a Spirit more lewd 490 ram, hence corniger Ammon? Clemens Alexandrinus tells us that the people of Sais and Thebes worshipped fheep; and R. Jarchi upon Gen. XLVI. 34. fays that a fhepherd was therefore an abomination to the Egyptians, because the Egyptians worshipped fheep as Gods. We may farther add, that Onkelos, Jonathan, and feveral others are of the fame opinion, and fay that shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians, because they had no greater regard to those creatures which the Egyptians worshipped, than to breed them up to be eaten. Thefe authorities are fufficient to justify our poet for calling them bleating Gods; he might make ufe of that epithet as one of the most infignificant and contemptible, with the fame air of difdain as Virgil fays Æn. VII. 698. Omnigenûmque deûm monftra & latrator Anubis ; 495 أن In ends the paffage as he began its with the Gods of Egypt. 490. Belial came laft, &c.] The characters of Moloch and Belial prepare the reader's mind for their refpective fpeeches and behaviour in the fecond and fixth book. Addifon, And they are very properly made, one the firft, and the other the last, in this catalogue, as they both make fo great a figure afterwards in the poem. Moloch the first, as he was the furceft Spirit that fought in Heaven, II. 44. and Belial the laft, as he is reprefented as the most tim morous and flothful, II. 117. It doth not appear that he was ever worfhipped; but lewd profligate fellows, fuch as regard neither God. nor Man, are called in Scripture the children of Belial, Deut. XIII 13. So the fons of Eli are call'd 1 Sam. II. 12. Now the fons of Eli were fons of Belief, they know not the Lord. So the men of Gibeah, and fo returns to his fubject, and who abus'd the Levite's wife, Judg. XIX. In courts and palaces he alfo reigns And in luxurious cities, where the noife But flown I conceive is a participle from the verb fly, and the meaning is that they were raised and hight en'd with infolence and wine, infolence and wine made them fly out into thefe extravagances. Or as others think, it may be a participle from the verb flow, as overflown is fometimes used for overflow'd. And the meaning is the fame as flush'd with infolence and wine. An expreffion very common from the verb flue. In the fame fenfe we ufe fubd with fuccefs, as Mr. Thyer obferves. VOL. I. 500 Expos'd 504. when the hofpitable door Expos'd a matron to avoid worfe rape.] So Milton caus'd it to be printed in the fecond edition; the first ran thus, -when hofpitable doors Yielded their matrons to prevent worfe rape. And Milton did well in altering the paffage for it was not true of Sodom, that any matron was yielded there; the women had not known man, Gen. XIX. 8. and as they were only offer'd not accepted, it is not proper to fay that they were yielded. But obferve that Milton in the fecond edition changed yielded into expos'd, because in what was done at Gibeah, Judg. XIX. 25. the Levite's wife was not only yielded, but put out of doors and expos'd to the mens lewdnefs. Why then does Dr. Bentley prefer Milton's firft reading to his fecond, when he alter'd the paffage to make it more agreeable to the Scriptural ftory? N Pearce. 506. Thefe Expos'd a matron to avoid worse rape.. These were the prime in order and in might; 505 Gods, yet confefs'd later than Heav'n and Earth, 506. These were the prime] It is obferved by Macrobius and others, in commendation of Homer's catalogue of fhips and warriors, that he hath therein mention'd every body who doth, and no body who doth not afterwards make his appearance in the poem: whereas it is otherwise in Virgil; fome have a place in the lift, who are never heard of in the battels, and others ..make a figure in the battels, who are not taken notice of in the lift. Neither hath Milton in this refpect attain'd Homer's excellence and beauty; but then it should be confider'd what was his intent and purpose in this catalogue. It was not poffible for him to exhibit as complete a catalogue of the fallen Angels, as Homer hath given us of the Grecian and Trojan com 515 Of manders; and as it was not poffible or indeed proper, fo neither was it at all his intention. He propos'd only to mention the chief, and fuch who were known in Palestine and the neighbouring countries, and had encroach'd upon the worfhip of the God of Ifrael: and what he propos'd he hath executed with wonderful learning and judg ment. He hath inlarg'd very much upon each of thefe idols, as he drew most of his materials from Scripture: The reft were long to tell, the rest he flightly paffes over, as our knowledge of them is deriv'd only from fabulous antiquity. 508. Th' Ionian Gods, of Javan's iue beld Gods, &c.] Javan, the fourth fon of Japhet, and grandson of Noah |