"Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine *[1]." Here the several nations are distinctly and separately mentioned in their places, but the whole meaning of the passage would have been lost, had not the situation of these nations been perfectly known; or, had not the Sabeans been mentioned separately, for both the Sabeans and the Cushite were certainly Ethiopians. Now, the meaning of the verse is, that the fruit of the agriculture of Egypt, which is wheat, the commodities of the negro, gold, silver, ivory, and perfumes, would be brought by the Sabean shepherds, their carriers, a nation of great power,
which should join themselves with you.
Again, Ezekiel says, †[2] "And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and when all her helpers shall be destroyed." — "In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships, to make the careless Ethiopians afraid." Now, Nebuchadnezzar was to destroy Egypt ‡[3], from the frontiers of Palestine, to the mountains above Atbara, where the Cushite dwelt. Between this and Egypt is a great desert; the country beyond it, and on both sides, was possessed by half a million of men. The Cushite, or negro merchant, was secure under these circumstances from any insult by land, but they were open to the sea, and had no defender, and messengers, therefore, in ships or a fleet had easy access to them, to alarm and keep them at home, that they did not fall into danger by marching into Egypt against Nebuchadnezzar, or interrupting the service upon which God had sent him. But this does not appear from transla-
- Isa. chap. xlv. ver. 14. † Ezek. chap. xxx. ver. 8. and 9.- ‡ Ezek. chap. xxix. ver. 10
