Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia:: A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of That Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook.Major, Richard Henry
History
Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia:: A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of That Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook.
Major, Richard Henry
Australia -- Discovery and exploration; Discoveries in geography -- Portuguese; Voyages and travels
Moreover, long ago, the Divine Majesty foretold this same thing by the
prophet Obadiah, who says thus: “The captivity of Jerusalem, which is in
the Bosphorus, shall possess the cities of the south, and Saviours shall
come up on Mount Sion to judge the Mount of Esau.” And where our Vulgate
puts Bosphorus the Hebrew text says Sepharat, which signifies Spain,
according to the Chaldaic paraphrast and the Sederholan of the Hebrews
and Rabbi Zonathas Abenuciel and many other Hebrews. And it is with much
propriety that, in the place of Spain, our interpreter has put
Bosphorus, for that word signifies the passage of an ox, that is to say,
a strait. Now there are in the Mediterranean three straits of this name;
one is called the Thracian Bosphorus, which is that of Constantinople,
which is the passage from the said Mediterranean to the Black Sea;
another is called the Cimmerian Bosphorus, which is the passage from the
Black Sea to the Lake Meotis; the third is the Gaditan Bosphorus, which
is the Strait of Gibraltar. When, therefore, hydrographers speak of the
Bosphorus alone without addition, it is understood to mean the principal
one in the Mediterranean, by which it communicates with the ocean, and
therefore the prophet Obadiah meant the same when he said “the captivity
of Jerusalem which is in the Bosphorus,” that is to say, which is in
Spain. But, as has been said, our translator has with much propriety and
in accordance with the intention of the prophet, given Bosphorus as the
rendering for the word Sepharat; for although the transmigration of
Jerusalem which was in Spain was to possess the cities of the south, its
conquerors had to go forth principally from that part of Spain which is
nearest to the Bosphorus or Strait of Gibraltar, as is seen to be the
case.
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