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Nation was of one blood, although it might be of a different blood from that of other Nations.
St. Paul did not say that God made all men, of one blood; but "all Nations of men" of one blood, If it had been intended to apply indiscriminately to all men, merely as individuals, then the words "Nations of," would be mere surplusage; because, the simple expression, that God hath made of one blood, all men, or all mankind, would have fully expressed the idea of its general application to all men , irrespective of their nationalities.
In corroboration of this view, we find the expression—"all men"—without the qualifying words—"all nations of men"—twice used by St. Paul in the same chapter, containing the quoted expression, viz:—in the 30th verse—"And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent," and in the 31st verse, he says—"Whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, that he hath raised him from the dead."[1]
Again, "The bounds of their habitation" evidently means the bounds of their habitations as Nations, as he was then speaking of Nations; because, if it had been intended to apply to them merely as individuals, it would necessarily apply to the bounds of their individual habitations; which, generally, have no permanency, even in civilized countries, where they are marked and defined by fixed bounderies; but are constantly changing. And some of those Nomadic tribes or Nations of the inferior Races, who subsist by hunting and fishing, have no defined individual habitations, but occupy their hunting and fishing grounds, in common, as Tribes or Nations.
The Fishes and Reptiles, being cold blooded, may be said to be of one blood. But it does not follow, that, because they
- ↑ Acts, chapter 7; 26, 30 and 31.
