it,  and,  hj  a  doubtful  word,  hath  given  occasion  to  titmslate
it ;  yet,  in  another  place,  in  a  more  punctual  description,
it  makes  it  improbable,  and  seems  to  overthrow  it.^  That
our  fathers,  after  the  flood,  erected  the  tower  of  Babel,^
to  preserve  themselves  against  a  second  deluge,  is  generally
opinioned  and  believed ;  yet  is  there  another  intention  of
theirs  expressed  in  Scripture.  Besides,  it  is  improbable,
from  the  circumstance  of  the  place ;  that  is,  a  plam  in  the
land  of  Shinar.  These  are  no  points  of  faith ;  and  there-
fore may  admit  a  free  dispute.  There  are  yet  others,  and
those  familiarly  concluded  fit>m  the  text,  wherein  (under
favour)  I  see  no  consequence.^  The  church  of  Bome  con-
fldently  proves  the  opinion  of  tutelary  angels,  from  that
answer,  when  Peter  knocked  at  the  door,  'Tis  not  he,  but
his  angel ;  that  is,  might  some  say,  his  messenger,  or  some-
body from  him;    for  so  the  original  signifies;  and  is  as

'  That  Judas  periakad  by  hanging  himsdf,  there  ia  no  ceiiainty  in  Serip-
Unrtj  <itc.]  The  doubt  arifles  from  the  word  cnrityiaTc,  in  Matthew
xxvii.  5,  which  dgnifieth  sufiboation  as  weU  as  hanging  ;  but  Emamns
transUtes  it  "  abiens  laqueo  se  aospendit."  The  words  in  the  Acts  are,
"  When  he  had  thrown  down  himself  headlong,  he  burst  in  the  midst^
and  aU  his  bowels  gashed  out  :*'  whioh  seems  to  differ  much  from  the
expression  of  Matthew,  yet  the  ancient  writers  and  &therB  of  the
church  do  unanimously  agree  that  he  was  hanged.  Some  are  so  par-
ticular, that  they  eren  mention  that  it  was  with  a  cord,  on  a  fig-tree,
the  day  after  the  kiss,  &c.  ;  but  there  are  two,  that  is,  Euthymius  and
(Ecumenius,  who  assert  that  hanging  did  not  kill  him  ;  but  that  either
the  rope  broke,  or  that  he  was  cut  down,  and  afterwards  cast  hinudf
down  headlong,  as  it  is  related  in  the  before-mentioned  place  of  the
Acts.  And  this  may  serre  to  reooocile  these  two  seemingly  diasgceeing
Scriptures. — K,

SKeok,  in  quoting  from  the  Acts,  c  i.  v.  18,  evidently  used  the  Genera
translation,  whieh  diffors  y^rj  m^erially  from  the  commonlv  used  ver-
sion. See  RoaaymiOUer,  Sdol,  in  loc.,  and  P$eud.  Epid,  lib,  'vii.
