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    T& the Edit&r . Sir , Before satisfying the wish of your correspondent J . C ; M ., ( p . 734 , } respecting Mr . Bellamy ' s version of Joshua x » 13 , 14 , which is the main cause of my now addressing $ ou , I would beg leave to say a few words on the arguments brought forward by him against my objections to the passage of th 6 sen and moon standing still , as it is rendered in our Authorized Version , without reference to those founded on the Hebrew original .

    In the first place , I will readily concede to J . C . M . the advantage he claims in respect to the supposed miracle being performed during the combat between the Israelites and the Amorites , ana shall waive for a moment myi right to collect from the account in the Common Version that it was a subsequentoccurrence . But , will J . C . M . gain much thereby > Does ttue-concession here made speak more in favour of the necessity of the miradB ^ I apprehend nou The general reason assigned for it ( iC I am not

    gifeatlysmistaken ) ^ is , that it was done to enable the Israelites to obtain a longer space of time by day-light , for the purpose of conquering the idolatrous Amcfctes * agreeably to ver . 13 of the authorized translations ' * And the sun stood still and the moon stayed , until the people had avenged themselves upan their enemies . " But , how can this be made to tally with the 11 th verse * in which the winding up of the discomfiture of the Araorites & thus related in our present version : " And it came to pass ; as 5 they 1 fled fiom before Israel , and were in the going down to Beth-horony that the-Lord cast

    down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah , and they died : they were more which died with hail-stones , than 4 hey whom >^ cr children of Israel slew with the sword . " Here the final defeat of the dispirited and exhausted Amorites is ascribed to the providence of God in sending a grievous hailstorm upon them ; but surely no otoe will > hav . e the hardihood to assert that for this purpose , or even to enable theferafelitfes to ascertain their victory , it was necessary for the sun aiid mocm'td stand still , or in other words * as far as the moon at least is concer ne 4 * forthe course of

    nature to be changed . I am perfectly aware , Sir , that I am here treading on tender ground , and that I may be told by persons like J . G . M ., that if the Almighty ^ is recorded ( of course only in our Authorized Version ) to have performed a miracle , it ill befits me or anyone else to inquire into the cause of it , much less to dispute its actual performance ; but as I have given the reasons in my former paper why I consider Mr . Bellamy ' s Version to be strictly conformable with the Hebrew , ( in which no such miracle is recorded , ) in opposition to our present translation , I feel myself compelled , with every courteous allowance for J . C . M . ' s candid avowal of his ignorance Of the

    sacred language , to shelter myself from obloquy there . J . C . M . next asserts that Joshua did not perform the miracle in question by his own sole power , as pretended by me ( i . e . if the miracle werd per- * formed at all ); and as a proof of this , he says , ' * in fact we have an intimation that , previously to performing the miracle , he addressed the Supreme Being , though the words of his address are not given . " A little explanation may perhaps here be necessary to shield J . C . M . from the dilemma of

    a perfect non sequitur . By addressing Jehovah , he certainly means offering up prayers to him , and he most probably supposes that in answer to these prayers the Almighty authorized him to command the sun and the moon to stand still . Now here I feel a little disposed to quarrel with J . C . M . for having stated in the introduction of his essay that my objections which / Jie

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    " it . V . . ¦ ' j . . > . ' ON THE , qpMMANDi O £ Jf > S * rai *

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    I 881 }

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1827, page 881, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1803/page/25/