Prototypes, or, The primary precedent presidents out of the book of Genesis showing, the…Prototypes, or, The primarie precedent presidents out of the booke of Genesis shewing, the…

¹Now to polygamy he addeth a notorious revengefulness. Having married a couple of women, it seems he found some distempers in them and therefore to calm and over-awe them a little, he falls to breath out revenge with violent threats, saying, that he would kill a man in his wound, or for his wound, he means because of wound received, and a young man for his hurt or bruise, he means because of a bruise or stripe given him, yea he goes farther and adds, that if Cain should be avenged seven-fold then he seventy times seven fold. If any man whosoever he were should hurt him, he should die for it, yea were he never so young and lusty a fellow that should offer to smite him, it should cost him his life, and he would proceed to an higher degree of revenge, then that which God himself had appointed to Cain's murderer, viz. he would be revenged seventy times seven times more,² that maketh in all almost five hundred times as much more, here is passion and pride in all extremity. To revenge is to render evil for evil, to revenge a thing seven times is to inflict a thing seven times more grievous upon a wrong doer then that ⟨p. 43⟩which he did to another, to revenge seventy times and seven is to lay an evil 490 times more heavy then that received. The Lord of Heaven hath cause, because he hath authority, to enlarge his punishing justice, and to execute a threat of seven times revenge, because after such a threat to commit the fault makes it seven degree more faulty, as being an audacious despising of his anger, and a very setting his threats at naught, but for any man to exceed measure so far in punishing though he were a lawful Magistrate, punishing the malefactor at the complaint and instance of the wronged person, it were a great offence. How much more then for a private man so far to exceed all degrees in respect of a wrong done to himself. Sure he that threatens to be revenged 400 times more then Cain, conceived himself to be more excellent than Cain 400 times, for according to the measure of the parties worth that was wronged, must the revenge be increased. O how proud a man was he!

¹Now to polygamie he addeth a notorious revengefullnesse. Having married a couple of women, it seemes he found some distempers in them and therefore to calme and over-awe them a little, hee falls to breath out revenge with violent threats, saying, that he would kill a man in his wound, or for his wound, hee meanes because of wound received, and a young man for his hurt or bruise, he meanes because of a bruise or stripe given him, yea he goes farther and adds, that if Caine should be avenged seven-fold then hee seventy times seven fold. If any man whosoever he were should hurt him, hee should die for it, yea were he never so young and lusty a fellow that should offer to smite him, it should cost him his life, and he would proceede to an higher degree of revenge, then that which God himselfe had appointed to Caines murderer, viz. hee would be revenged seventy times seven times more,