The learned Prelate in this Comment, omits mentioning the spilling of the Seed, but it may be rationally presum’d he did it not so much out of a regard to Modesty, as its being a trifling part of the Charge against _ONAN_; since he determines _ONAN_’s great Crime to be his not complying with the Law of _Moses_, in the Marriage of his Brothers Wife; tho’ he adds, that his Sin was the more heinous for his acting contrary to the promise made to _Abraham_, in relation to the multiplying of his Seed. What provok’d _ONAN_ to the Breach of this Law, I take to be evident, was his not being allow’d the Reputation of begetting the first Child on his Brothers Wife, which in all Marriages is attended with more satisfaction, than any of the future Progeny. There might be other probable Reasons given for _ONAN_’s breaking this Law of _Moses_; as envy to the Memory of his deceas’d Brother, dislike or prejudice to his Wife, _&c._ But to Comment a little farther upon the 38 _Chapter_ of _Genesis_, in respect to _ONAN_’s Crime, it may not be amiss to examine some preceding Verses. Verse. 2. _And_ Judah _saw there, a Daughter of a certain_ Cananite, _whose Name was_ Shuah; _and he took her, and went in unto her. And she conceiv’d, and bare a Son, and he call’d his Name_ Er. By this, and many other parts of the Scripture it is apparent, that the Words _going in_ unto a Woman, were meant in those times actual Copulation, so that when _ONAN_ _went in_ unto his Brother’s Wife, it must be constru’d, that he began the pleasure of Matrimony, though, he did not perfect it by reason he spilt his Seed on the Ground; that is, he withdrew from his Brothers Wife, and did not consummate the Marriage; which displeas’d the Lord, wherefore he slew him. Agreeable to this in some measure, is the modern Custom amongst Persons of distinction in their amorous Intrigues; who after they are actually ingag’d in the pleasures of _Venus_, by a sudden ereption of the Privities, separate from the Female the instant they feel the Titillation in the extreme Parts, and before the _Emissio Seminis_; to prevent the effects of a teeming Womb, which would not only occasion a considerable expence, but expose the Female, and very much impair the Beauty of her Form. And of this nature, I take the Sin of _ONAN_ to be, in relation to his spilling his Seed on the Ground, though not committed with the same design. These particulars fully shew, that _ONAN_’s Sin was not Self-pollution, as laid down by the Author of _ONANIA_, and for that he had the Assistance of his Brother’s Wife. I come now to the Sin of Self-pollution, and begin with the Causes.