Page:Early voyages to Terra Australis.djvu/158

 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 Zouathas 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.

The literal meaning of this prophecy therefore is, that the transmigration of Jerusalem which was in the Bosphorus, that is to say, the Spaniards who have been the most constant of the faithful, and to whom was transmitted the perseverance of the faith of Abraham and Jacob, are to possess the cities of the south, that is to say, the southern hemisphere, gaining over it a spiritual and apostolical conquest by the preaching of the gospel. And then the saviours, who are