An Interesting Prophecy.
By George W. Amadon
In the forty-ninth chapter of Isaiah, twelfth verse, there is a prophecy relating to the final gathering of the great family of Heaven. It reads, “Behold, these shall come from far: and lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the LAND OF SINIM.” Recently, while using the book of Isaiah in Bible-class exercises, this prediction received particular attention in the class; and the position was taken that the prophecy particularly specified the people of China, and that in all probability it would receive its fulfillment in the last days, under the closing gathering work of the third angel’s message. The reasons for regarding it as referring to the Chinese are here presented, mainly in the language of others. Gesenius, the great Hebrew scholar in his Hebrew Lexicon, says:— “The context implies a country situated in the eastern or southern extremity of the earth: probably the Sinae, Chinese, whose country is Sina, China. This very ancient and celebrated people was known to the Arabians and Syrians by the name Sin; and a Hebrew writer might well have heard of them, especially if sojourning in Babylon, the metropolis as it were of all Asia. The name appears to have been given to the Chinese by other Asiatics; for the Chinese themselves, though not unacquainted with it, do not employ it.” Mr. Gesenius has lengthy remarks on the word Sinin, which for want of space are not given. He also refers to his “Thesaurus” for a fuller explanation. Albert Barnes, author of the commentary, in his Notes on Isaiah, dwells quite lengthily upon the term Sinin, from which the following extract is taken:— “Gesenius supposes that Sinin refers to the Chinese and that the country here referred to is Sina, or China. ‘This very ancient and celebrated people,’ says he, ‘was known to the Arabians and Syrians by the name Sin, Tsin, Tchini.’ . . . . . The Rev. Peter Parker, M. D., missionary to China, remarked in an address delivered in Philadelphia, that ‘the Chinese from time immemorial have been known by the name Tschin. Tschin means a Chinaman.’ Where they first received the appellation cannot be determined, nor is the reason of its being given to them now known. As there is remarkable permanency in the names as well as in the customs of the East, it is probable that they may have had it from the commencement of their history. . . . . . It may be added that this is the only place where that country is referred to in the Bible, and there may be some plausibility in the supposition that while so many other nations, far inferior in numbers and importance, are mentioned by name, one so vast as this would not be wholly omitted by the Spirit of Inspiration.” This sounds like correct reasoning, and without doubt in the great final gathering of the saints there will be many from the land of Sinin, or China. The view that Sinin refers to China, is somewhat cautiously adopted by Kitto in his “Biblical Cyclopedia.” He says:— “The context implies a remote region situated in the eastern or southern extremity of the earth. Many Biblical geographers think that this may possibly denote the Sinese or Chinese, whose country is Sina, China. This ancient people were known to the Arabians by the name of Sin, and to the Syrians by that of Tsini.” Referring to the Septuagint, he says that version gives “some support to the identification of the Chinese with Sinin.” Not less valuable than the preceding, and to the same effect, is the testimony of Smith’s Unabridged Bible Dictionary. It says: Modern authorities are in favor of referring this passage to some nation located in the extreme East, and adds that this people are identified by Gesenius, Hitzig, Knobel, and others, with the classical Sinae, the inhabitants of the southern part of China. Mr. Smith remarks that there is no improbability in the name of Sinae being known to the inhabitants of Western Asia in the time of Isaiah, for the Sinae obtained an independent position in Western China as early as the eighth century B. C.; and that in the third century B. C. they established their sway under the dynasty of Tsin over the whole of the empire. The “Cottage Bible,” referring to a contrary view on this passage, quoting Bagster’s Bible with notes, says:— “It seems more probable that it denotes China, called by the natives Sin, and by the Arabians and Syrians Zin.” Of this people, the Sinin of Isa. 49:12, the Religious Encyclopedia” testifies:— “Sinin is thought by Mr. Taylor, Dr. Morrison, and other writers, to be China, which Dr. Hager, in two very learned tracts, has attempted to prove was well known to the Greeks in early ages; and that the trade in silk was the life and soul of their intercourse with it.” The “Bible Dictionary” published by Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, of London and prepared by many authors, has the following:— “Sinin, The land of, a country in the distant East. . . . . . The usual opinion has been that China is meant, because the word Sinin more closely resembles the name by which China was known among the ancients than any other. Some have thought that Sin and others that Syene was meant. Neither of these is likely, because both Sin and Syene were known to the Hebrews by their proper names, and were cities, not countries. . . . . . Gesenius regarded Sinin as pointing to China, and Fürst agrees with him. We may therefore abide by the common explanation, and consider Sinin as the inhabitants of the land of Sin, or China. The word occurs in this form only once in the Scriptures [Isa. 49:12].” The “Bible Dictionary” of the American Tract Society remarks: “Sinin, Isa. 49:12, a people very remote from the Holy Land, towards the east or west, generally believed to mean the Chinese, who have been known to Western Asia from early time, and are called by the Arabians Sin, and by the Syrians Tsini.” The “Family Bible, with Notes,” by the above-named Society, also bears a testimony to the same effect. The “Comprehensive Commentary” remarks that very anciently there were Jews settled in China, and argues that the Chinese had some knowledge of the west from the phrase “Great West,” early in use among them. It also quotes Langles, who thinks that the Hebrew word is not different from zyn and syn, by which the Arabs designate China. This authority also refers to the opinions of Gesenius, and indorses it. We might add that Rabbi Manasseh ben Israel earnestly advocates the same ideas regarding the etymology and meaning of the word Sinin. No doubt authorities might be extended to far greater length, but these are amply sufficient for the purposes intended. In closing we will inquire, May not the remarkable immigration of the Chinese in these last days to America have something to do in fulfilling this prophecy? Dr. Gill, the gifted commentator, says if the prophecy has reference to the Chinese, it must apply to the end, when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. G. W. AMADON.