ch, they think, precludes the idea of
any lengthened periods or intervals. But the slightest reflection upon
the meaning of the word will show that _and_ can not of itself be any
_measure_ of time, its use being to indicate merely _sequence_ and
_connection_. When used historically, it always implies an interval of
time; for there can be no succession without an interval; but the length
of that interval must be determined from the context, or some other
source. A very cursory perusal of the Bible, either in English or
Hebrew, will show that very often in its brief narratives, the interval
indicated by _and_, and its Hebrew originals, is a very long time. The
descent of Jacob and his children into Egypt is connected with the
record of their deaths, in the very next verse, by this word _and_,
which thus includes nearly the lifetime of a generation. That event,
again, is connected with a change of dynasty in Egypt, and the
oppression and multiplication of the Israelites there, recorded in the
next verse, by the same word, _vau_, _and_; while the period over which
it reaches was over two hundred years.[233] So in the brief record of
the family of Adam, after reciting the birth of Seth, the historian
adds, in the next verse, "And to Seth also was born a son, and he called
his name Enos;" while the interval thus indicated by the word _and_ was
a hundred and five years. The command to build the ark, recorded in the
last verse of the sixth chapter of Genesis, is connected with the
command to enter into it, in the first verse of the seventh chapter, by
this same word _and_, although we know, from the nature of the case,
that the interval required for the construction of such a huge vessel
must have been considerable; and from the third verse of the sixth
chapter, we learn that it was a hundred and twenty years. So the births
and deaths of the antediluvians are connected by this same word _and_,
throughout the fifth chapter of Genesis; while the interval, as we see
from the narrative, was often eight or nine hundred years. The descent
of the Holy Spirit upon Christ, to qualify him for judging the world, is
connected with the actual discharge of that office, in the destruction
of Antichrist by the breath of his mouth, by this word _and_,[234]
although the interval has been over eighteen hundred years. If in the
records of the generations of mortal men, the word _and_ is customarily
employed as a connecting link in the narrations of