Our A.V. translators are to be held, to
some extent, responsible for the freedom which speculation has
exercised, by themselves taking the C[=u]sh of the narrative to
"Ethiopia," i.e., to the African continent--for which there is no
authority whatever.
As regards the _allegorical_ interpretations, they are too extravagant
for serious notice. Souls, angels, human passions and motives, are
supposed to be represented by towns, rivers, and countries. To all this
it is enough to reply--What reason can we have for supposing an
allegory suddenly to be interpolated at Gen. ii. 8? There is no allegory
before it, there is none after.
Then as to the early geographical expounders. Josephus and others
supposed the allusion was made to the great rivers known to ancient
geography, all of which ran into that greatest river of all, which
encircled the globe. In this view, the Gihon might be the Nile, and the
Pison the Ganges! Here, again, it may be remarked it is impossible to
read the narrative and believe that the author meant any such widespread
region. Even if the author had the ancient ideas about cosmography
generally, that would not prevent his being accurate about a limited
region lying to the east of a well-known river in a populous country. In
later times Luther avoided the difficult speculation by supposing that
the Deluge had swept away all traces of the site! But unfortunately for
this convenient theory, it is a plain fact that the Deluge did not sweep
any two out of the four rivers named.
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