usness, that when ye
fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations" ([Greek: skene]
= [Hebrew: ahl]), He expresses the view which we are now defending.
For, in that passage, it is not God who receives, but man: they who, by
their prayers, are more advanced, come to the help of those who have
made less progress; those who have already attained to the enjoyment of
salvation, make them partakers who stand in need of salvation.

Of those who correctly consider Japheth to be the subject, several (_J.
D. Michaelis_, _Vater_, _Gesenius_, _Winer_, _Knobel_) give the
translation: "and he shall dwell in renowned habitations." But it is
quite evident that this sense is admissible only as a secondary one: as
such, we must indeed admit it in a context in which the appellative
signification of the proper names is never lost sight of. That [Hebrew:
wM] is here, however, primarily a proper name, is shown by the
preceding verse.

The translation, "Japheth shall dwell in the tents of Shem," is, then,
the correct one. But now the question is,--How are these words to be
understood? According to the views of many interpreters, it is
intimated by Japheth's dwelling in the tents of Shem, that the true
religion would be preserved among the posterity of Shem, and would pass
over from them to the descendants of Japheth, who should be received
into the community [Pg 43] of the worshippers of the true God. So
_Jonathan_ explained its meaning: "The Lord shall make glorious the end
of Japheth; his sons shall be proselytes, and shall dwell in the
schools of Shem." So also _Jerome_: "Since it is said, And he shall
dwell in the tents of _Shem_, this is a prophecy concerning us, who,
after the rejection of Israel, enjoy the instruction and knowledge of
the Scriptures." _Augustine_ also (_c. Faustum_ xii. 24) understands by
the tents of Shem, "the churches which the apostles, the sons of the
prophets, have built up."

But although this explanation be, in the main, correct, it cannot, per
se, satisfy us. It must be reconciled with that other explanation given
by _Bochart_ (_Phaleg._ iii. 1 c. 147 sqq.), _Calmet_, _Clericus_, and
others, according to which the passage is to be understood literally,
as foretelling that the posterity of Japheth should, at some future
time, gain possession of the country belonging to the descendants of
Shem, and should reduce them to subjection.

The phrase, "and they dwelt in their tents," is, in 1 Chron. v. 10,