WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
BY
CHARLES ADAMS.
EDITED  BY DANIEL P. KIDDER.
New-9cIor':
PUBLISHED BY LANE & SCOTT,
FOR THE StUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CIITIRCH,
200 AMulberry-street.
JOSEPII LONGKING, PRINTER.
185L1




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851,
BY LANE & SCOTT,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of
New-York.




INTRODUCTION.
IN this book, the author has sought to contemplate
woman precisely as the inspired pen has represented
her, so far as she has arisen to view in the divine
history of God's providential and gracious dispensations to mankind, and so far as that pen may have
sketched more didactically her true position and
duties.
In pursuance of this plan, careful attention has
been given to all the more prominent female characters of the Holy Scriptures, and to whatever lights
and shades the unerring pen has left upon their
names for the instruction of posterity.  Of this department of the divine Book, as of all the rest, may
it be said, that it was given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the child
of God may be perfect. The author deems it just
to himself to add, that in attempting to throw himself
back amid Scripture characters and Scripture times,
he has aimed to keep his eye steady upon recorded
facts and incidents, and has forborne, as he hopes,




4               TST.0ODUCTION.
all undue license of the imagination, and all those
dreams of which it may be said that "there is no
light in them." Ile has endeavored to write a sober
and faithful book-such as, in its plan and execution, in its sentiment and diction, shall do no harm,
and may accomplish some good. Ile is not disposed
to conceal, that whatever other benefit may arise out
of his humble effort, he has hoped, by these brief
sketches concerning various interesting characters
of the Bible, to attract the eyes of his fair readers
more intently toward that blessed volume, and the
priceless treasures of wisdom and knowledge therein
contained.
That these aims will insure the approval of the
good and virtuous, the author entertains no doubt.
To what extent the means he has used for the
accomplishment of his object are pertinent and
promising, is herewith respectfully submitted to
their candid judgment.




CONTENTS.
PAGE                       PAGc
EvE...................   7  ANN   A.................  138
SARAH................. 11  WOMAN OF SAMARIA..... 142
LOT'S WIFE............ 19  WOMAN OF BLOODY ISSUE. 149
REBECCA...............  23  MARY OF BETHANY...... 153
LEA H AND RACHEL...... 30  IMARTHA............... 158
PHARAOH'S DAUGHTER... 37  MARTHA AND M!-ARY.... 162,AMIRIAM..- -...... 43  HERODIAS.............. 173
ZIPPORAH.............. 49  SALOME.-...   177
JEPHTHAH'S DAUGHTER.. 53  SYRO-PHENICIAN WO3AN.. 182
DEBORAH AND JAEL.....9  MOTHER OF JAM3ES AND'DELILAH.......... 63   JOHN..........          190
NAOMI........... 65  A MRY MA GDALNE N..... 194
RUTH ---—......... 71  SAPPHIRA.............. 196
HANNAH............... 77  DORCAS............ 199
ABIGAIL............... 8:  LYDIA,
BATHSHEBA............  88  PRISCILLA,
qUEEN OF SHEBA....   93  PHEBE,.     203
WIDOW OF SAREPTA.    97  TRYPHENA,
JEZEBEL........... 101  TRYPHOSA,
THE SHUNAMMIITE....... 10   PERSIS,
THE "LITTLE IMAID..... 111
VASHTI........... 114  THE FRETFUL WOM3IAN... 207
ESTHER.-..............     120  THE PROUD WOMAN.-. 210
THE VIRGIN MARY...... 124  THE STRANGE WOMAN... 214
ELISABETH............    132  THE VIRTUOUS WOMAN —. 219








WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
ALAS for her who was the first and eldest of her
sex! Mournful and sad are the associations that
cluster around her name. We think of deception, and of the hateful deceiver. We think of
the birth of sin,-and the flight of innocence, holiness, peace, and love, from this new-created and
beautiful world. We think of paradise lost, on
which the sun and stars shall shine no more. We
think of the fearfulness of the divine curse-of
pain and sorrow-of dying and of death. It is
true, there arises a bow upon the awful cloud.
There is a whisper of hope heard amid the thunders of this earliest storm of earth. Under that
cold and long eclipse, and amid the heaving,
and crushing, and dying, and those " signs of woe
that all is lost," may be seen a gleam of holy light
coming from afar. Yet the mystic ray reveals
no release from the fatal wreck. It tells that
death has arrived-that paradise must henceforth
be sought in other worlds, and that, too, by long
and painful struggles with the enemy of righteousness.




8           WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
Her more thoughtful sons and daughters will
forbear to curse their first mother. The blame
they attach to her will be mingled with pity. Yet
no one can compute the sorrow-the deep, heartbreaking sorrow, that has been felt by millions in
remembrance of her fall. They have thought of
her as, in the days of her innocence, she stood the
loveliest ornament of a lovely world,-whose
beauty and grace were such as that the inspired
pen forbore, as of the forms of angels, to portray
them; who was ushered, a perfect being, upon a
scene of perfect happiness; whose guiltless bosom swelled with naught save peace, and joy, and
love; across whose delighted vision there flitted
no images of sin, or grief, or drooping sickness, or
noisome graves; whose rejoicing spirit was as unconscious as the laughing infant's, of direful
changes, or dying scenes, along the illimitable
future; whose form of beauty, and flowing tresses,
and every line and feature of enchanting gracefulness, were fashioned for immortality; who
looked up upon her husband, and, reading there
at once the image of God and the counterpart
and companion of herself, leaned toward him
with a love ineffable, and hailed there the charm
of her soul and the completion of her blessedness; who, side by side with him, as they roamed
amid those groves, held long communings with superior beings, and listened to the songs of angels
swelling afar, and heard the footsteps of the Lord
God, and, in their innocence, were not afraid.




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.            9
The heart weeps as it meditates that such bliss
as this should, all suddenly, be crushed forever;
that the fair garniture of the virgin earth should,
as in a moment, be displaced by thorns and briers,
and all unsightly and noxious things. 0! there
are tears for the cloudless morning of that daythe day when sin and death were let loose along
this world-when beauty, formed for eternal
bloom, began to fade, and the image of heaven
was effaced from the human spirit-and the serpent first nestled there-and the sting of woe first
entered the soul-and tears of bitterness first
fell-and the smiles of the Eternal were withdrawn, to be replaced by his frown and curse, for
the sake of man. The mind is reluctant to look
upon the sad afterpart. Where goes she who,
just now, was fairer and happier than since have
been all the daughters of men? Is she driven
away from that garden of beauty and of safety,
to return no more? Hears she some dreadful
note,assuring her of "sorrows greatly multiplied?" And retiring from her early home-the
home of unsullied peace-do other suns now
light upon her? Do frightful storms beat upon
her head? Does she grow weary and faint?
Does she pine in sickness? Is she fading into
age?  Her husband, also; is he greatly changed?
Amid all, does she remember the days of her fair
morning of existence?  Does every pain, and
every discordant sound, and frowning look, and
fading brow, and every noise of strife and mur1*




10          WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
der, and each venomous and poisonous breath,
and all dark and mournful prospects, and every
ghastly dying scene; do they forever whisper of
the joys that were hers, when away in that garden of innocence and unfading happiness?
The time spent by our first parents in a state
of innocency is not known, although there are
indications that it was but brief. The fatal facility of Eve's deception impresses us that she had
but begun to taste of life; that the world to which
she was introduced was still rising before her
under aspects of novelty and freshness, and
awaking within her breast a curiosity as childlike
as it was intense. Then, again, she had no oflfspring while yet unfallen. This fact, taken in
connection with the command of God to our first
parents in reference to posterity, is almost, if not
quite conclusive that their days of innocence
were few indeed.  And further still. Cain and
Abel, though born after the fall, had come to manhood, and Abel had been murdered before the
birth of Seth; at which time their parents were
one hundred and thirty years of age. Considering the protracted youth and manhood of the race
a; that period, it seems fair to infer, therefore, that
those years had almost all elapsed since the transgression.  After the fall, we trace our first
mother to the birth of Seth; from which period
she is not named, and there is no record of the
duration of her life. We may, however, very
nearly identify her life with that of her husband;




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           11
and as he still lived for hundreds of years subsequently to the birth of Seth, and sons and daughters were born to him, we may count his history,
so far as given, to have been that of his wife.
They both lived long-very long, and then-they
died!
There is unfathomable-awful mystery in the
catastrophe of Eve. Let not her daughters be
too inquisitive and too censorious respecting her.
Beware that ye charge not God foolishly, nor
cherish a reproachful thought touching his inscrutable Providence. The solemn voice from that
great disaster whispers rather, Beware of the
ancient Serpent!  He is still abroad; his beguilings have not ceased, and his devices are
many; his darts fly in every direction; he seeks
whom he may devour; and millions are led captive by him at his will. Forget not that naught,
save One, can bruise him under your feet. With
the promised and great Deliverer, there is safety
and eternal victory. Away from him, there is
certain capture and ruin.
SARAH, who was originally named Sarai, was the
daughter of Terah, was born in Ur of the Chaldees, and became the wife of the illustrious Abraham. Subsequently to their marriage, and by
revelation to Abraham, the family, consisting of




12         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
her husband, her father, and Lot, emigrated to
Haran, where Terah ended his days, at the age
of two hundred and five years. After his death,
Abraham and Lot again removed westward, and
went to Canaan, which was then in possession of
the original race inhabiting that region of country.
Here Abraham was favored with special and repeated revelations from God; was promised that
the land to which he had come should be given
to his posterity, and he became great in wealth
and power.
Sarah appears to have been a woman of extraordinary beauty of person, which she retained to
a very late period of her life; so that, at ninety
years of age, she attracted the attention and love
of Abimelech, king of Gerar; he being unaware
of her relation to Abraham. At the age of seventy-five years, having relinquished the idea of
bearing children, she sought, according to a usage
not unknown to those times, to gain posterity by
proxy. Accordingly she gave to her husband as
a wife her bondmaid Hagar, who became the
mother of Ishmael. At the very advanced age
of ninety, however, Sarah also, and by an extraordinary providence, gave birth to a son, who was
Isaac, and heir of the special and Divine promises
which had been made to Abraham. After the
birth of her son, Sarah survived about thirtyseven years, and died at Kirjath-arba, afterwards
Hebron, aged one hundred and twenty-seven
years.




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          13
The character of Sarah, so far as portrayed on
the page of revelation, is marked, as is natural,
by alternate light and shade. She is not without
prominent excellences, and hers is recorded among
the honorable names of sacred story. At the
same time, we may discern, even in Sarah, the
marks of our fallen nature; some of those indisputable tokens that whisper to us of human imperfection.
We feel little admiration, for example, of her
arrangement with respect to her husband and
MIagar. We accord to her, it is true, the usual
indulgence allowed in consideration of customthe lack, in that early period, of Divine communication-and, perhaps, some other circumstances.
Yet we can hardly refrain from discerning in her
at this period, and in this incident of her history,
a deficiency of that patience which is so beautiful
a characteristic of the sex. We seem to detect
a want of that pious and graceful submission to
the will of Providence, so essential to woman,and of that commendable faith in the great Father,
which we are assured she was enabled to exercise
in after years. Had not God, long before, and
more than once, spoken to her husband by special
and heavenly messages? Had not that husband
already become great and powerful? And was
it a secret to the companion of Abraham, that to
him was promised, by the One who cannot lie, a
posterity that, in multitude, should vie with the
stars of heaven, and that in his seed all the kin



14         VWOMEN OF THIE BIBLE.
dreds of the earth were to be blessed? With
these Divine assurances in memory, was it necessary for her to arise and forestall the movements
of sacred Providence? Was she called to put
forth her hand?  Did any voice from  heaven
suggest in her ear that she must hasten, and, at
all events, make sure of the fulfillment of that
word which stands though heaven and earth depart? Was it not her province, rather, to "hope
and quietly wait?" What pity that, in that hour,
there occurred not to her mind what an angel, in
after time, inquired of her, saying, "Is anythimg
too hard for the Lord!"  Thus had it told for her
reputation for wisdom as well as for piety, in the
eyes of the millions of every age of time to whom
the name and history of Sarah were destined to
be familiar.' And it is not all recited to us-a
mere hint or two are given-of what were the
domestic broils; the frequent and numberless
vexations; the sad spoiling of earthly sunshine,
that commenced with Abraham's new and unnatural espousals, and ended —we know not when.
O! there is a time to act, and a time to cease
from our own works. There is a time to move
forward and achieve priceless victories, and a time
to stand still and see the salvation of God. And
she who, like the daughters of Israel, watches
with Moses the rising and reposing of the pillar
of cloud and fire-shall not fail, with Miriam and
her sisters, to sing that " the Lord hath triumphed
gloriously."




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           15
All the severity of Sarah toward her bondmaid, both at the first, when Hagar fled from her
face, and long afterwards, when she was driven
into exile with the consent of the weary and
weeping husband-all this we look for, as being
an incident of the tale as true to nature, as it is
unhappy for the reputation of the chief actress in
this scene of sadness. Gentleness and pity dwell
with goodness, and with the faith that makes not
haste, and with the love that suffereth long and is
kind. Shut these away from the female heart,
and no marvel if there be envy and contention;
yea, every evil work.
But there are brighter and fairer features toward which the hand must not fail to point, that
would portray correctly the beautiful consort-of
Abraham. She was not without blemish; yet
was she graceful in mind as well as in person.
More tokens than one go to mark her as belonging to the most distinguished of her sex, and in
many respects a fit companion of one of the greatest men of this world's history. For, is it not fair
to inquire as to what that woman must have
been, whose influence over a man like Abraham,
was what her influence was? In almost every
aspect, her husband was superior to most others.
Great in physical might, he, with his own household, rushed after and subdued the kings and their
hosts. Great in soul, he spurned the rich offer of
the prince of Sodom, and passed over to Lot the
little matter of assigning their. respective earthly




16          WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
possessions. Great in precedence, he was the ancestor and father of the faithful. Great in dignity,
God and angels often conversed with him. Great
afterwards in heaven, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
have certainly long been there. As we meditate,
then, "how great this man was," we may meditate, also, the greatness of her whom he evidently,
with all his greatness, profoundly respected, as
well as dearly loved. We hazard nothing in
writing, that the woman, whom a man like Abraham loved beyond all others for so many yearswhose opinion of her attractiveness was such as
that he sometimes deemed it dangerous to be
known as her husband-who, when at last she
slept, bowed his aged and dignified form, and
mourned and wept -over "his dead,"-still his,
though dead,-this woman, surely, can hold no
mean place among her sex, and we wonder not
that, long centuries after she retired from the
world, the hand of inspiration assigned to her
name a conspicuous place upon the list of those
who, in olden time, believed God, and it was
counted to them for righteousness.
Who has not sometimes roamed, in imagination, amid the scenes of patriarchal simplicity
and beauty? Has never my fair reader, upon
some sultry summer day, trod thoughtfully within
the groves of Mamre, and reclined beneath the
shady oaks hard by those spacious and graceful
tents? At the opening of those lofty and ample
folds, and almost facing thee, sits a man of a hun



WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           17
dred years; and who has, once and again, talked,
face to face, with God. It is a form of surpassing
dignity,-erect and strong as when, in other years,
he dealt relentless ruin among the conquerors of
the plain. Locks hoary, yet pure and beautiful,
curl over his shoulders, and a beard of snowy
brilliancy reposes upon his bosom,-his eye, large
and tranquil, is looking forth upon the magnificence
of glorious summer,-or turned upward, now and
then, toward the home of the faithful,-or closed,
at intervals, as the mind meditates upon remembered scenes, and calls up again unearthly and
enchanting voices that used to breathe into his
ear exceeding great and precious promises.
On a sudden, those eyes are fixed; the visage
becomes prolonged and direct; the whole form
leans forward, as with unusual earnestness. Turning your eye in the same direction, and three men
are approaching, "if it be lawful to call them
men."  They came from a far country, and the
patriarch is running to greet them, and his noble
form is already bowing lowly toward the ground
in profoundest obeisance. The greetings cease,
and the hospitalities proceed.
But where is Sarah? Just where we would
wish to find her, filling the place she is expected
to fill, acting the part assigned to her to perform,
and realizing to thine eye the obedience, activity,
skill, modesty, and dignity of a genuine princess
of her times, a worthy companion and friend of
one of the chief nobility of earth, and a lovely




18          WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
daughter of her God. Obedience, for her hand
is as that of him who directs; activity, for how
soon are all things in readiness; skill, for under
her superintendence a dish is made ready, of
which angels eat; modesty and dignity, for thou,
in all this time, and amid all these personages,
hast not discovered her, while even the guests
are inquiring, as if in wonder, " Where is Sarah?"
"Behold, in the tent," is the response; and such
it should have been. Would not a more noisy or
ostentatious lady —one of more bustle, but of less
skill-of more words, but of less dignity and
grace-would she not have been seen or heard
amid all those hospitable preparations?  But
there is no confusion-no exposure-no complaint.
There is no being "cumbered about much serving." All is order, as well as dispatch-propriety,
as well as efficiency.  "She is like the merchant
ships-she bringeth her food from far. She riseth
also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her
household, and a portion to her maidens. Her
husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth
among the elders of the land."
Of the latter Dispensation, as well as of the former, inspired fingers pointed back to Sarah; and
two apostles, under two aspects of exceeding
beauty, have registered her name. Paul presents
her in the celebrated galaxy of the ancient believers-one of those who obtained a good report
through faith, and that compose the great cloud
of witnesses beholding from their spheres of light




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          19
the progress of successive generations of the
Christian combatants, as they run up the path of
life. Peter presents her as the lovely woman and
companion, discarding exterior adorning, and coveting the adorning of the heart, the ornament of a
meek and quiet spirit, being in subjection, in the
appropriate sense, to her husband, observing
toward him the most respectful address and the
most exemplary deportment. Paul records her
dutifulness to her God; Peter, that to her husband. Paul writes her a believer; Peter, a welldoer also. Paul shows her a saint, looking upward;
Peter represents her a saint, forbearing, amid her
heavenly visions, to step aside from the proprieties of life. Paul exhibits her as an exemplar for
believers; Peter, as the mother of the daughters
that do well. The one tells you of her hand
being in God's; the other, that, her hand being
there, she was not afraid with any amazement.
"ARISE, take thy wife," said the angels to Lot, as
they urged him away from the city devoted to
destruction. Her relation only is noticed, and
neither her name nor those of her daughters appear upon the inspired page. Of her origin, also,
we have no information; and the angelic announcement quoted above, is the first allusion to




20         IWOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
her in the sacred Scriptures. It appears quite
probable that she was a native of Sodom, and became united to Lot after his commencing to
reside in that wicked and ill-fated city. When
the hour of judgment had come, and while Lot
still lingered, the angel men are represented as
laying hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of
his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters,
the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought
him forth, and set him without the city, and said,
"Escape for thy life! Look not behind theeneither stay thou in all the plain. Escape to the
mountain, lest thou be consumed." But as they
fled from the city, his wife looked behind her, and
became a pillar of salt.
A single melancholy allusion is made to her in
the New Testament, and by the lips of Christ.
As he instructs his disciples touching their flight
from the impending ruin of Jerusalem, and warns
them, as their flight commences, against returning
to their houses for the purpose of taking any of
their effects with them, he very naturally refers
back to the destruction of Sodom, and to the conduct of her who, as she fled from the city, "looked
behind her." "Remember Lot's wife," is the
concise and significant warning; and such is the
only use for which her name is adduced. She'is
not recalled, like Sarah, as an example of faith,
but is pointed to as a beacon of warning. She is
not, like Anna, produced as an illustration of looking to God always, but rather as representative




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.'21
of those who, at times at least, look another way.
She had not the promptness of Deborah, as she
assures Barak, "I will arise and go with thee;"
but she lingers, and hesitates, and pauses. She
did not, as did the apostle, press toward the mark;
but, as he did not, she remembered the things
which were behind. Nor did she, like Mary,
have respect to angel voices; but rather, like
Sapphira, she listened to the suggestions of covetousness. It was not sufficient that a divine messenger should assure her of the destruction behind,-she must look if it certainly be so.
Yet was it not natural? That city had been
her home, perhaps from infancy. Hers was,
doubtless, no mean residence there, for her husband was princely in his possessions. There, too,
were some of her dear children, whom, as she fled,
she had been compelled to leave behind her.
Must they, also, be lost in the threatened destruction? Then, again, what would she do in the
future?  Whither was she flying?  Would she
find another home, or would she be cast forth-a
forlorn exile-to pass her slight remnant of life in
poverty, suffering, and weeping?
We marvel not that she "looked behind her."
All the natural sentiments of her heart prompted
her to such an act. Yet should she not have consented. There are times when the soul must
rein itself up to a desperate effort,-when a momentary yielding to natural impulses, or a slight
wandering of the eye, or a single word or act of




22         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
indiscretion, leads on to consequences affecting
the destiny and happiness of a life. Especially
is disregard of an express injunction of Divine
authority pregnant with the most imminent danger. If a heavenly voice whisper, "Look not,"
then is the time to beware. No matter whether
the interdicted vision be of the wine sparkling in
the cup, or seductive forms stealing away the
heart from God, or terrestrial bowers of beauty
too often preferred to heaven, or golden wedges
and garments of magnificence captivating the
affections, or even home, dear home, where linger
those we love better than life-look not on themone or all of them-if such be God's bidding. Restraining thine eye, may be as if it should be
plucked from its socket; thy right hand pointing
forever heavenward, may be to thee as though
cut off and cast from thee; pressing always, and
to the last, after God's leadings, may be as if one
should "die daily;" yet let thine eye look right
on, and thine eyelids straight before thee; tarry
not in all the plain; but fly, for thy life, toward
the city and mount of everlasting safety.




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          23
REBECCA is not without fame in sacred story.
She was grand-daughter of Nahor, Abraham's
brother, and sister of Laban, the father of the
wives of her son Jacob. She was highly beautiful in person; and to this were added much
simplicity and loveliness of manners, a sprightly
action, a graceful hospitality, and, with some important exceptions, a pious trust in the God of
providence. On the arrival of Abraham's messenger, sent to procure a wife for Isaac, Rebecca
was divinely designated to him as the suitable
person for so distinguished a connection; and
with the approbation and blessing of her father's
house, and accompanied by her nurse and waitingmaids, she cheerfully bid adieu to her home, was
conducted to Hebron, the residence of Isaac, and
became his wife. This marriage, we may infer,
was eminently happy; for Isaac was thus consoled after his mother's death; and such was his
love for Rebecca, that, during her life, we do not
hear of him, as of Abraham and Jacob, that he
allied himself to any other wife. As a companion,
she was probably devoted, capable, and answering, in an eminent degree, all the wishes of her
husband; and "living faithfully together," no reason existed for any of those matrimonial difficul



24.         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
ties which arose so naturally in the families of his
father and his son. The whole history of Isaac,
indeed, impresses us that he was a man of a gentle,
meditative, and quiet spirit; seeking to cultivate
peace with all men. At the same time, the Lord
of providence gave him great prosperity; endowing him with princely possessions inherited from
his illustrious father, while, from the genial influences of an eastern soil and clime, there were
added to him the brilliant harvests of an hundredfold. Amid all his sources of happiness, his beautiful and accomplished Rebecca was, we may
believe, the crowning gem, —adding a charm unutterable to all the walks of his earthly pilgrimage,
and contributing her quiet, yet powerful influence,
in promoting the dignity and peace of a long and
tranquil life.
When, or at what age she died, is not recorded.
We do not hear of her in life after the departure
of Jacob to Haran; at which time her husband
was at least a hundred years of age. As Isaac
survived eighty years beyond that period, and as
there is no record of his being married a second
time, it may be presumed that Rebecca also lived
to a good old age. Her sepulchre was in the
field of Machpelah, purchased by Abraham as a
burying-place.  "There they buried Isaac and
Rebecca his wife."
As we review the history of Rebecca, there is
much in the picture that interests and captivates
us. We love to think that she was beautiful, and




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           25
" very fair to look upon." This was doubtless so,
however difficult it may be to realize the glory
that so long since passed away. We need not
doubt that graceful and attractive forms were
moving here in old and buried years; and there
is sadness in the thought that they have drooped
and faded, while the admiration and love which
they inspired are also hushed forever. Yet such
are we. The fashion of this world, as the everchanging scenery of the opera, passeth away. So
beauty, now blooming as Rebecca's bloomed, will,
like hers, decay, and, long before this passing
century shall be finished, will have disappeared as
the glorious bow upon the cloud of yesterday. A
dear and loved possession is that of personal
beauty-the perfection of material excellence —if,
indeed, it be lawful to call that material, with
which the intellectual and the spiritual are so
sublimely blended. Yet it tarries not. The "human face divine " puts off its brilliancy, and fades,
that it may bloom elsewhere in immortal loveliness.
Beauty of form and feature is more than doubly
beautiful, when associated with gracefulness of
mind and  character.  Such were Rebecca's
charms. Nothing can surpass the delicious pencilings of that first interview beitween Abraham's
servant and the blooming Syrian maid. As the
messenger prays, a damsel is in his thoughts.
While yet speaking, a damsel, as if lighting down
from above during his prayer, appears before him,
2




26          WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
and the sign he asked is given. She has filled her
pitcher with water, and is returning from the well.
"Give me to drink, I pray thee, a little water of
thy pitcher!" "Drink, my lord, and I will draw
water for thy camels also." Such was the respectful and sweet response of the maid, as with
equal promptitude and grace she suited the action
to the word. Meanwhile the stranger, in wonder
and in silence, ponders the scene before him;and He who had just now heard his prayer,
assured him that the being, concerning whom
that prayer was offered, was moving before his
eyes. Inquiries and explanations proceed; hospitalities are proffered in the house of Laban;
the important message is opened; all arrangements are considered and finished; all, save one.
"Rebecca," said they, "wilt thou go with this
man?"  " I will go," she answered, and thus decided her earthly destinies.
What indescribable beauty and simplicity are
here! What implicit trusting in the God of pro.
vidence! How prelusive is this whole scene, of
singular and illustrious consequences! How indicative of a Heaven-appointed and Heaven-approved happiness!
We should note here, too, the sublimity that
may be attached to any hour of human history.
One day, a sweet and artless girl is rejoicing
within one of the dwellings of the city of Nahor.
At evening, she goes out, as was customary with
the daughters of the city, to bring water from the




WOMEN OF TIE BIBLE.           27
neighboring fountain. The sun is sinking gradually into the great western sea, and soft airs
are breathing along the far-reaching plains of
Padan-aram. A stranger is near the fountain,
and God is listening there; and his great hand is
leading, step by step, and, in every accent of her
lips, that beautiful and happy maid. In all that
day, she dreamed not of the evening colloquy;
and as she drew those cooling waters for the refreshment of the stranger, it occurred not once to
her how that her very acts and words were all
pointing her to forthcoming and distinguished happiness. This evening, she is cheerfully acting
her part in the duties of her father's house. Yet,
as she moves, an unseen hand is upon her, touching the springs of great and sublime events, and
moving the keys of untold destinies. To-morrow,
Rebecca is on her way to become the wife of
Isaac-a mother in Israel-a link in the golden
chain that should reach to the Messiah of God.
Gentle reader, walk softly! Place thy frail hand
within the hand that is almighty. Thine own
prayer, and the prayer of the stranger, despise
not; for God is the great Arbiter-and he is
listening!
Would there were no shade upon the history of
Rebecca! Would that she had never withdrawn
her eye from the Divine pointing, nor ventured,
with rash step, to tread unhallowed ground! Her
favorite son seems likely to lose the principal
blessing within the gift of his father. How shall




28          WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
so great an evil be averted, and the dew of heaven,
and the fatness of the earth, and all abundance
and authority, crown and'adorn her beloved Jacob? If such be God's ordinance, can he not
bring it to pass? Needs he the rash fingerings
of human frailty, to help out his great designs'?
Especially, does he beckon for the dark steppings
of deceit and guilt for the unfolding of his glorious
plans? The decisive day is come; the day when
the soul of the patriarch confers its selectest
blessing. Esau is abroad with his bow, in joyous
pursuit of the desired repast that is to precede
the promised benediction. Meanwhile, dark words
and deeds are passing in the house of Isaac. A
spirit of darkness is invoked, to waken light and
joy. A jewel, rich and beautiful, rises on the
sight; and secured it must be, though the serpent
shall be roused to seize it where it lies, and sting
to the quick the hands that receive it from his
fangs. O! where now-was the trust of the good
Abraham, who would follow no hand but God's,
and that, too, though his hand might seem to urge
to tragedy and death! Could not the same voice
that preserved Isaac from dying on Moriah, deter
him now from giving a wrong direction to the
blessings of his father Abraham? How rare is
faith on the earth! And if, to-day, her slender
hand takes hold upon the great arm, no wonder if,
to-morrow, that hand be shattered, and nothing
remain but tempests, and tossings, and ruin.
Rebecca sins; —-and sin, when it is finished,




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           29
bringeth forth death. At once, we hear of hatred
where love was; and murderous threatenings are
whispered along those once peaceful halls;-and
there are dreams of blood-and fears that have
torment-and dark anticipations-and sad parting
scenes. "Upon me be thy curse, my son!" Alas
for such an assumption! Who shall bear another's curse?  Now trouble comes. That darling son becomes an exile, to save his life. That
fond mother must send him from her presence;
and whether she ever sees him again, history is
silent. We hear of his hailing his father in after
years, but thenceforth there is the silence of death
as to Rebecca. There is no voice to speak of her
again, telling how long she lived, or when or
where she died. Jacob, indeed, once lisps her
name; but it is when the damps of death are on
his brow; and he only speaks of her as-buried!
Yet hope for Rebecca. Respect her sorrows,
as she weeps over the sad absence of her beloved
child. Doubt not her penitence before her God,
and his forgiveness through the promised Seed.
Be there smiles for her dying hours; when the
Heaven-destined Isaac leaned over her who was
the joy of his life, and pointed her away to the
rest of the weary.  Joy to the mingled dust,
where " they buried Isaac and Rebecca." It shall
rise again, one day, in forms more beautiful by
far than ever roamed amid the groves of Beersheba, or bloomed by the fountains of Haran.




30          WOMEN OF THIE BIBLE.
rt44  aub    Aarn t.
LEAII and Rachel were the daughters of Laban,
and nieces of Rebecca; and became the wives of
her favorite son, Jacob, after he emigrated to
Padan-aram. Rachel was the first of her father's
family whom Jacob saw after his arrival, and he
appears to have been immediately captivated by
her beauty. On his introduction to her father,
and after the space of a month, he proposed to
serve him seven years for the hand of. Rachel,
and the proposal was accepted. The seven years
seemed to Jacob "but a few days, for the love he
had to her."  At the end of the specified time,
however, the elder sister, Leah, was secretly led to
his bed instead of Rachel, and seven more years
were enjoined by the deceitful and rapacious
Laban upon Jacob, in order to the possession of
his beloved Rachel.
Thus, in violation of nature's wise and perfect
laws, Jacob became at once involved in the perplexing condition of bigamy; and, which might
appear one of the most melancholy forms of this
unnatural position, two sisters disputed with each
other for his affections and smiles. That their
common relation to Jacob exerted a highly deleterious influence upon their sisterly relations and
affection, we might very safely infer, while the




WOMSEN OF THE BIBLE.           31
brief incidents of their history sufficiently corroborate such a suspicion.
What nicely-balanced advantages, and what
extra-human goodness and forbearance, must
combine to insure, under such circumstances,
even ordinary tranquillity in the domestic circle!
In the case before us, there appears a certain
equalizing and opposition of considerations, which
may be regarded as providential. Rachel was
the more beautiful; Leah, the more fruitful: the
latter advantage, according to the sentiment of
the people and times, being fully equivalent to the
former. If the charms of Rachel won upon the
heart of her husband, the piety of Leah could not
fail to command his esteem. If Rachel was beautiful, she was yet forward and grasping; if Leah
was plain, she was also retiring and submissive.
With all the personal attractions of the younger
sister, she was, at times, impatient and imprudent;
and, on one occasion, at least, exhibited herself
as highly unreasonable and blameworthy. The
elder sister, on the other hand, impresses us as
evincing a grateful spirit for blessings received, as
well as a becoming forbearance at any ungraceful neglect on the part of one froin whom she
rightly conceived that she deserved a more respectful and affectionate bearing. If there were
beauty and favor in the tent of Rachel, there
were honor and dignity in that of her sister; and
if the former might assure herself of her superior
personal power over her husband, the latter might




82          WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
point to her blooming progeny, and, like the heroic
mothers of an after age, exclaim, "These are my
ornaments!"
It becomes us, indeed, to speak gently and cautiously of the two wives of Jacob. Place man or
woman in a position varying from that designed
by the God of nature and of providence, and no
marvel if there be derangement and confusion
in the result. There are beautiful simples, which,
if brought into certain combinations, produce but
deformity; and, in human society, there have
often existed alliances as unharmonious as they
were unphilosophical, and working out results as
awkward and unsightly, as the individuals concerned were, in their separate capacity, lovely
and hopeful. I have loved to contemplate the
daughters of Laban apart from their common relation to the son of Isaac. Before ever they saw
the stranger from afar, it is easy to imagine that,
as associates, they were lovely and pleasant in
their lives. Whether within doors, concerned
with their simple domestic duties, or abroad with
thoir father's flocks, amid the rich and sunny pastures of Padan-aram, we think of them only as
one in affection as well as in occupation. The
voice of sprightly mirth full often echoed through
those chestnut groves; and songs, breathed upon
delicious voices, and accompanied by the tabret
and the harp, were heard hard by where blissful
Eden bloomed in its glory. Were they not sisters then? And sisters should they always have




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          33
continued, and forborne to dispense with a relation
so interesting and innocent, that they might assume another so incongruous and unnatural as to
have always remained nameless. Rivalry, on the
part of two persons, for the affections of a third,
must always be deemed unfortunate and unhappy.
Especially melancholy is this state of things when
existing with two sisters, born and reared beneath
the same roof, and partaking, from infancy, in the
same joys and sorrows. And then if, yet further,
we conceive such rivalry to be, not the mere transient cloud passing onward, to leave again unbroken the smiling rays that were, for a moment,
intercepted-but rather the gloom of a life; a
cold and long eclipse, that shall be succeeded
only by the shadow of death; —contemplating
prospects like these, we are prepared for even
graver difficulties than what are written of the
wives of Jacob.
Laban, the prime mover, as it respects the unhappy position of his daughters, will be pronounced
by all generations as a man whose folly was surpassed only by his meanness. Why urge the
gentle Leah to the arms of one who never asked
for her?  Why not, like a man, inform Jacob,
right early, of that custom which was pleaded in
excuse for such a proceeding? When an alliance was in prospect, as happy perhaps as was
ever formed, why interpose thus lawlessly and absurdly, and spoil the earthly happiness of those
two lovely daughters? Why take those innocent
2*




34         WOIEN OF THE BIBLE.
and happy sisters, that had ever sympathized, and
"place them against each other for a life struggleand, from sisters, shape them into rivals; and in
bosoms where mutual love and good-will had been
wont to reign, there kindle up the tormenting
fires of jealousy, strife, and hatred?  Mean man!
Shameful violator of all good faith, and unnatural
murderer of thine own children's peace!
"Jacob loved Rachel." Ay,-and Rachel
should -have been the wife of Jacob,-and she
alone. He sought no other,-wished no other;
and had he been permitted to wed freely the one
he loved, their happiness had vied with that of
Isaac and Rebecca, and the dignity of their union
should have equaled that of Abraham and Sarah.
Rachel would have been equally beautiful, and
more excellent, as well as more honorable and
happy; and the companion of her childhood and
youth had never become an object of envy, nor
ever ceased to be a sister. Meanwhile, the God
of providence would have provided well for Leah;
and He who, when she was neglected by her husband, "looked upon her affliction," would have
led her to a better happiness than that to which
she was clandestinely conducted, on the sad night
of Jacob's deception.
Well, peace to the memory of Leah, the less
beloved! The shadows of melancholy that gather
over her history are yet strongly tinged with
beauty. The sympathies of a hundred generations linger around her name. More truly than




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           35
of any other one, may be it be said of her, that
she was "a mother in Israel."  None with a
purer and louder song gave praise unto God. Onehalf of " the twelve patriarchs " were born of her;
while from one of her sons, as concerning the
flesh, the Messiah came, who is over all, God
blessed forever. When, on the last day of time,
the trump of God shall agitate the sacred dust of
Machpelah, the form of Leah shall be seen rising
in glory, side by side with those of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob; and in the arrangements of
Heaven, she shall take her place among the
"daughters who have done virtuously."
Nor must we wrong Rachel, the beloved and
beautiful. She evinced, it is true, that she was
not an angel of light. There were faults —decided faults, in her character; and who of her sex
would not have betrayed some of them, if placed
in similar relations? Did she not know, that for
Iher it was thatl her husband toiled through those
seven years, which seemed so brief for the love
he bore her?  Did she not know  that Jacob
sought for her, and for no other; that he had designed no other companion of his life? And was
it then so strange, that she should count her own
a prior and a stronger claim to him who had preferred her? Thus, had she not even aggravated
inducements to dissatisfaction, jealousy, and envy?
Let us, then, accord to her the benefit of such
palliations. Let us remember her as human, and,
therefore, more or less imperfect. At the same




36          WOMEN 01 THE BIBLE.
time, we will contemplate her as the beloved of
Jacob, and as one who was heard and honored of
God. Let us-rejoice in her joy, as she became
the mother of the illustrious Joseph. Let us weep
for her grief, as, at the birth of Benjamin, she exclaimed, in dying, " Child of my sorrow!" " Child
of my right hand!" responded the heart-broken
father, as he loved him then, and always-loved
him most tenderly, for the sake of her that bare
him. Let us note where she died, and lies buried;
the spot of all the earth which she might select
where to lay aside her mortal vestments-where
Chlgist, the promised Seed, should first appear, and
within hearing of the accompanying hosannas
from eternity-the first and last song from angel
voices, falling on the ears of mortal men. There
Jacob left the faded form of his beloved Rachelthe tear of her last sorrow still moistening her
brow, as he laid her away in the chambers of
darkness. Long afterwards-and when the infants of Bethlehem were bleeding and dying-the
voice of inspiration, with matchless felicity, and
in the poetry of heaven, sung of her as rousing
from  her long sleep, to listen to the mournful
tragedy, and weeping yet again!-weeping for
her slaughtered children, and refusing to be comforted!
Rachel! When He shall come- the second time,
to gather all his chosen ones, and wipe away their
tears forever, thou shalt be there!




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           37
PHARAOH'S daughter will always be an object of
interest among the female characters of the Holy
Scriptures. The great Jewish historian, and the
Jewish Targums and doctors, generally assign to
her the name of Thermuthis. She was the daughter of that stupid and wicked prince then reigning
in Egypt, who, in order to the depression and
utter subjugation of the enslaved Israelites, imposed the additional burdens upon that unfortunate people, and issued orders for the murder, at
their birth, of all their male children. Let us
discern here, in passing, one of those singular providences, by which God often causes wicked men
to fight against themselves, and, while they imagine they are dealing utter destruction upon
others, are only driving the blade of ruin deeply
and fatally into their own vitals. Pharaoh orders
the destruction of the male infants. The infant
of Jochebed is consequently exposed in the ark of
bulrushes. The daughter of the murderer himself discovers the child. He thus becomes her
adopted son, and receives an education suited to
an Egyptian prince, and becomes specially quali-fled to act, in the sequel, as God's agent in the
utter overthrow of the power that sought to destroy him and his nation. When will men learn




38          WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
the absurdity of unrighteousness! Pharaoh may
contrive and counsel; yet God has him in hand
all the while, and will make him a mere illustration of the Divine power and skill, that will cause
every blow of the tyrant to come down upon his
own pate, and lay him prostrate at last, amid the
crushings of remediless ruin.
What was the character of Pharaoh's daughter,
we are not permitted to know with definiteness.
That she partook, more or less, of the diabolical
disposition of her father, we are not informed,
and need not infer. It is pleasant to perceive
that no evil thing is recorded of her. If she had
faults, the pen of inspiration has kindly spared
them; while most that is written, exhibits her
under aspects such as any princess of this world
might covet. There are innocence and beauty
in all the part she plays in the early history of
Israel's great lawgiver. We follow her with deep
interest, as, in company with her maidens, she
roams, that day, along the banks of the Nile. We
watch her, as her attention becomes arrested by
the unusual object among the reeds at the river's
brink. We almost hear her voice, as she gives
directions to one of her attendants to bring it
up upon the bank. We mark her graceful movements, as she cautiously lays open the secret
treasure —and partake of her interest as, with
sudden astonishment, she looks down upon that
sobbing, yet beautiful boy. We love her for the
gushing compassion of her heart, as she gazed




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           39
upon that exposed, and homeless, and cheerless
infant,-and for the kiss of affection which, doubtless, touched that moment the lips of the weeping.
We love her the more deeply, as we hear her exclaim, "Of the Hebrews' children this!" He is
one of those innocent, yet proscribed babes, doomed, by her father, to yield up the breath they have
just received. But goodness and pity still linger
within the halls of the murderous Pharaoh; and
where there are blood, and shrieks, and dying
cries, may be heard, swelling above the murmurings of despair, one voice so beautiful as though a
seraph whispered. A sister's watchful eyes, as
was meet, were upon the scene of the discovery.
" Shall I run for a nurse from the Hebrews?" she
asks of the noble princess.' "Run!" responds
that sprightly and compassionate voice; while, as
the nurse and mother comes, it adds, "Take this
boy away, and nurse him for me." Thus, there
is life instead of death,-and great joy, rather
than the mourning and weeping which will not
be comforted.
A fairer day than that never before arose over
the daughter of Pharaoh. A finer sport had
never awaited her, amid her rambles and rejoicings by that noble stream. Never before had
she so triumphantly played the part of angels, as
sung, long afterward, by the "sweet psalmist of
Israel."  An unseen Hand was near her-giving
her charge over the future " man of God," to keep
him in all his ways-drawing him out of many




40         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
waters-bearing him up in her hands-and bringing him forth into a large place. And if the
infant Moses was a type of the infant Jesus-and
if the murdered innocents of Egypt foreshadowed
those at Bethlehem-and if the bloody Herod answered back to hateful Pharaoh, as deep calleth
unto deep-then what beauteous being, whispering amid the dreams of 3Mary's husband, echoed
the voice of her who, in the ears of Moses's mother, uttered, "Take this child away!"
And the child was taken away —taken from
death, like the virgin's babe —and grew and
flourished till he came again into the presence of
his illustrious protectress, and became the son of
her adoption. She it was who gave to him the
name so greatly distinguished on earth, and has
long since been written in the book of life; and
will be often named with holy admiration among
the circles of immortality. Nor was she neglectful of the interesting charge which she had undertaken. As she commenced in good faith, so she
continued the steadfast friend-the kind benefactress-the munificent and devoted mother. She
withheld no privileges of mental or physical discipline-no books or tutors-nor any means available to the Egyptian court, for his education and
greatness. Nor were her attentions and efforts
unsuccessful; for her son became learned in all
the wisdom of the Egyptians, and mighty in words
and deeds.
Nor am I able to discern, with some, so abund



WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           41
ant reproach upon the patroness of Moses, springing from the fact of his declining, on coming to
age, the honor which she had generously proffered
him-the honor of being her own son, and inheriting all the privileges incident to such a distinguished relation. By that faith, of which he was
one of the bright examples, he chose to identify
himself with his own people and the people of
God; and that, too, notwithstanding all their deep
afflictions. To become an Egyptian, and an
Egyptian prince, with a prospect even of the
throne of Pharaoh-might be highly conducive to
his happiness as a worldly man; but a greater
prize was in his eye, and he aspired after the rewards of eternity.
All this speaks nothing very severe against her
who, next to his own parents, had been his best
earthly friend. It only tells of his resigning his
earthly prospects, which were of a most auspicious
character, that he might secure the better and
more enduring substance. How this decision of
Moses affected her who had befriended him-or
whether she survived to witness such a step on
his part, the record is silent. Utter darkness here
settles down upon the history of this distinguished
princess. For a brief space she appears upon the
stage-assumes a part of surpassing interestperforms with exceeding propriety and dignitygives utterance to music that charms the world,
and whose- echoings will "wander through eternity,"-then retires suddenly and forever. A




42          WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
vision of awful judgments soon succeeds; there
are lightnings, and tempests, and bloody spectres,
and dashing floods; yet " Pharaoh's daughter" is
away, and there is no light!-none save the glimmerings reflected from a life whose visible points
were only beautiful. There is somewhere living
a suspicion, that the early friend and benefactress
of Moses never witnessed the dread disasters
which, through his awful mediation, swept, in
after time, over her devoted country. Who shall
say that she was not taken away from the evil to
come? And, lingering in my thoughts, with the
fullness of her native pity and generosity-with the
fact that she was the providential agent of preserving, rearing, and educating a great "prince in
Israel,"-and the possible and probable influence
exerted upon her mind and heart by the example
of the son of her adoption,-and such a son, —who
shall forbid me from gathering up, though tremblingly, the welcome conclusion that, if not before,
yet when the death-shades drew over her, like the
darkness where the infant Moses was cradled,
one of the Beatitudes of eternal goodness came
where she lay, —broke in upon her darkness, and
sung in the ear of her departing spirit, "Blessed
are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           43
3T It'am
IT would be wrong to omit Miriam in these brief
notices of the women of the Bible. We cannot
help regarding her with reverence, not only as
being the sister of the great Moses, but the first
prophetess of whom we have any record. She
could not have been less than ten years the senior
of Moses, inasmuch as she was, doubtless, the sister that watched him when exposed in the ark of
bulrushes, and aided so materially in carrying out
the stratagem for his preservation. After this,
we hear no more of Miriam until just after the
Exodus, and amid the festivities and rejoicings
consequent upon the escape of the Israelites, and
the destruction of their enemies and pursuers in
the Red Sea. At this time she must have been,
at least, ninety years of age; and, of course, was
venerable for years, as well as for the position she
held, as associated with her two brethren in the
leadership of Israel. That, such was her official
relation, seems hinted by the scenery of the rejoicings already alluded to. For while Moses led
the great chorus of the sons of Israel, in the song
of triumph over Pharaoh,-Miriam, on the other
hand, at the head of all the women, with timbrels
and dances, answered back the glad notes of
praise unto God. And while the Psalmist presents the people of God as led, like a flock, by the




44          WOMEN OF TIHE BIBLE.
hand of MIoses and Aaron-regarding them as the
principal leaders-the prophet Micah adds Miriam,
by name, to her two brothers, as being associated
with them in this great commission. We may
recognize an entire fitness in such an arrangement, and especially as connected with Eastern
customs, relative to the separation of the two
sexes in their assemblies, joined, also, in the case
of the Israelites, with their itinerating position.
As a prophetess, she doubtless instructed the female portion of the community, as her brothers
instructed their own sex,-while the record of the
difficulty at Hazeroth seems to afford additional
proof of their joint, though not equal, participation
in leading and teaching the people.
From this view, it seems fair to assign to Miriam a very elevated place among the women
whose names appear upon the inspired page. An
elder and only sister of two of the most distinguished and honored of all men —herself partaking
with them  of the prophetic illumination-and
bearing so important a part as leader of the women
of Israel, not only in their songs and rejoicings,
but also as a divinely-appointed instructress-she
deserves a place in our thoughts, in sacred association with her illustrious brothers. If we assign
to Moses the mediatorship of the great legal dispensation,-and to Aaron the first place in the
Levitical priesthood,-so also to Miriam we are
to accord the honor of being the earliest of the
recorded prophetesses, as well as the most distin



WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           45
guished of all the daughters that danced in triumph
over the spoiling of their Egyptian foes.
Yet a shade appears upon the fair fame of Miriam. She evinces to us that, with all her advantages and dignity, she is but human, and subject
to human frailties.
In common with her brother Aaron, she appears
not to have fancied the wife of Moses-her whom
he had married in Midian, and whom he had returned, for a season, to her father, previously to
the judgments that fell upon Egypt. During the
stay of the Israelites in the vicinity of Sinai, Zipporah returned to her husband, accompanied by
her father and her two sons. This was, probably,
the first interview between the sister and wife of
Moses, and shortly after arose the difficulty,
whose results were so alarming, and so disreputable to Miriam. We are taught that she, in connection with Aaron, found fault with Moses by
reason of his alliance with a woman of another
nation, while their displeasure on this account
very naturally associated itself with envy at his
pre-eminence as a prophet of God. This displeasure and envy broke forth into bitter words
and dark questionings between Miriam and Aaron,
touching their brother.  Lord, what is man-or
what is woman! Had they not seen the great
distinction which God had so obviously given to
their brother? Had they forgotten the awful
judgments of Egypt, and the part he acted in
those frightful manifestations? Had not the thun



46         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
ders of Sinai just ceased —voices so terrible, that
those who heard them entreated that they might
hear them no more? Was not the pillar of
cloud and fire suspended with unearthly sublimity
over the encampment? Needed they to be reminded that Moses was the appointed agent in
these great movements, and the presiding genius
amid this strange scenery? Must those great and
distinguished personages suddenly receive a public
and terrible admonition? Must God come down
— and Aaron and Miriam be called forth, and instructed by special communication, as to the
position of their brother, and his universal faithfulness-and reminded that he was the one, such
as there was no other; to whom the Lord spake
face to face, and mouth to mouth? With amazing emphasis, therefore, must the question have
come home: "Why, then, were ye not afraid to
speak against my servant Moses?"  And there
was the kindling of God's anger-and his departure-and the uplifting of the cloud from the tabernacle; and lo! the great prophetess-the most
eminent of her sex through all that assembled nation-Miriam-poor Miriam, was a leper! " Heal
her now, I beseech thee," cried the injured brother; and his was a prayer that almost always
was greatly availing with God. She was healed,
though doomed to a temporary exclusion from the
camp; and seven days all Israel waited for Miriam amid the wilds of Hazeroth.
Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           47
lest he fall! Amid exaltation or depression —
prosperity or adversity —how wise, how necessary
to guard our spirit, and set a watch upon the door
of our lips, lest, in an evil hour, Satan shall gain
an advantage over us. The blemish of Miriam
should instruct every one-her own sex especially
-to  speak advisedly —to repress the earliest
risings of vanity or impure ambition-to look
well —each one-to her own ways; and, in a
quiet and contented spirit, fulfill, with dignity and
pleasure, the appropriate duties of her own sphere
of action. Providence and revelation both have
assigned their respective places to man and to
woman, and all attempts at interference, the one
with the other's special province of action, will
infallibly insure the contempt of all enlightened
spectators, and the displeasure of Him who rules
that every one move " in his own order."
After the events above referred to, we hear
little of Miriam. She survived to the great age
of, at least, one hundred and thirty years; and
when the congregation of Israel, after long wanderings, came to Kadesh, there they buried, presently, the distinguished and only sister of Moses
and Aaron. Her aged brothers followed her in
haste. Aaron slept on Mount Hor, about four
months after the death of Miriam at Kadesh;and just twelve months after her death, the nation
of Israel were passing over Jordan, —and Moses,
of course, was absent! From the heights of Pisgah he had seen the pledged inheritance stretching




48          WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
far away to "the utmost sea."  Afterwards the
great Moses died, and his funeral was singular
and awful-God buried him; —and his tomb issomewhere!
Thus, within one brief year, died those illustrious three. So passes the glory of the world.
And in such a year! Those tedious wanderings,
and wearisome sojournings, that consumed so
many of their precious days, were almost finished. Mysterious and awful providences had
walked, like the footsteps of God, amid their latter
years. Might not the clouds at last retire-and
the thunderings die away-and, reposing their
weary forms upon some green spot over amid
those promised fields, might they not be permitted
to see their sun sink cloudlessly to its settingandwith their trembling feet to tread, if but once,
the land promised to the ancient three, and where
they lay buried?
Hush, every murmur! He doeth all things
well. Weep not for the hour when the aged
righteous pass away to heaven.
" Farewell, conflicting hopes and fears,
Where lights and shades alternate dwell;
How bright the unchanging morn appears!
Farewell, inconstant world, farewell!"




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           49
WE would fain give a passing tribute to her who
was wife of the great Moses. But few words are
said of her in the sacred record; and the holy
man, who was commissioned to write of others,
seems to have been directed to pen but a line or
two of the companion of his life, and the mother
of his children.
The history of Moses' marriage bears a striking
resemblance to that of his great ancestor, Jacob.
As at forty years of age the latter was compelled
to flee for his life from his native country, so
Moses also, at the same age, and for the same object. As the one. in his pilgrimage, found, after
long wanderings, a shepherdess, and helped to
water her flock, and received the hospitalities of
her father's house-so did the other.  As, in the
one instance, the fair shepherdess became the wife
of the stranger, so in the other. And as, in the
case of the more ancient pair, the good providence
of God may have seemed to design the meeting
and the alliance, may we not suppose that the
same wise direction was concerned in the u.nion
of Moses and the Ethiopian maid? This great
man, possessed of extensive learning and rare capacities-and a prince in the matter of his education and accomplishments, was not the one to
contract a hasty and injudicious alliance; and it
3




50         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
may be safely inferred, that the woman of his
choice was more than ordinary in respect to her
character and abilities. It will not be forgotten
that she was the daughter of no ordinary manone who was capable, by his great wisdom, Of
advising and instructing his son-in-law concerning
the government of the Israelites, and whose instructions were respected and followed, to the
great relief and benefit, both of Moses and the
numerous people under his charge. Nor will it
be forgotten that this same man, so much respected by Moses, was a man of God. Being a descendant of Abraham  by ~Keturah, he retained
the knowledge of the true God, so specially and
abundantly given to his illustrious ancestor; and
knew how, at once, on hearing of the Divine
goodness to his son-in-law and the Israelites, to
bless the Lord wrho had delivered them from the
Egyptians —while, in his character of priest, he
offered up burnt-offerimngs and sacrifices in praise
of Him whom lie knew to be greater than all
gods.
Regarding, therefore, on the one hand, the character and capacity of her venerable father,-and
those, on the other hand, of the man who selected
her as his companion and wife —we may, amid
the silence of inspiration on the subject, infer for
Zipporah an elevated place among women. And
if but little is said or hinted of her excellences on
the holy page, who shall say but the very fact of
her relation to him wiho, by the Holy Ghost, was




WOMEN OF THIE BIBLE.         51
moved to write that page, may, in part, if not in
whole, explain the omission? We have seen her
in her youth a shepherdess, with her sisters, superintending their father's flock. On the arrival of
Moses from Egypt, she, with the approbation of
her father, became the wife of the exile, and the
mother of two sons. When her husband received the Divine commission to return to Egypt, she,
together with her children, accompanied him.
The extraordinary incident related of their journey has been thought to reflect, more or less, upon
the character of Zipporah. Yet our judgment
should be kind touching a matter that is confessedly mysterious. Moses, a circumcised Israelite,
would naturally desire'to distinguish, by the rite
of his nation, his own sons. His wife was of another family and nation, where the same rite was
probably not observed. -Under these circumstances, there might easily arise a strong objection
to the bloody ceremony, as performed upon her
children. To her'influence the meek and gentle
Moses may be supposed to have yielded, until God
met him, and convinced him that further delay
would be fatal. And when, under these stringent
circumstances, she at last yielded, it may have
been —it seems to have'been —with an accompanying reproach against her husband, while an
unbecoming gesture attended an unbecoming reflection upon his character as a husband and a
man of goodness.
Whether it was from the above-named incident,




52          WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
or in view of the solemn mission which, in connection with his brother, he was about to fulfill in
Egypt; or whether it was from some other cause,
that Moses directed Zipporah's temporary return,
with their sons, to Midian, seems not to be well
understood. She returned to her father, and remained with him during the dreadful judgments
upon Pharaoh and his people-and until the arrival of her husband and the Israelites in the
vicinity of Mount Siniai. Her father then accompanied her and her sons, as she came to join
her husband in the wilderness, and to identify
herself and her children with the fortunes of Moses and the nation of Israel. The meeting of
Moses and Jethro, and the mutual greetings, communications, and rejoicings that followed, amply
testify the pleasure of both parties on the occasion, and speak much for the mutual esteem and
affection between the man of God and his beloved
family.
And if such was the state of affairs, then should
all parties have been satisfied; and he who was
laden down with the multiplied cares of his most
arduous station, ought to have been left unmolested to partake of the consolations thus provi
dentially proffered him, in the return and presence
of his domestic circle. Not so thought Miriam
and Aaron. They had previously only heard of
their brother's wife; but now, upon her arrival in
the camp-a stranger from another country than
theirs-they complain of Moses because of " the




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          53
Ethiopian woman" whom he had seen fit to wed.
Alas for us, when we venture a reproach against
him whom the Lord loves and approves! Whosoever touches such a one, touches the apple of
God's eye. Such was the hapless position of her
who should have shown herself the sister, rather
than the reprover, of Moses and his wife; and
thus did she incur the condemnation of those who
take up a reproach against the innocent.
Here closes the scene. He who wrote of the
death and burial of Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachel,
was restrained from recording the sickness and
decease of his beloved Zipporah; —while of her
sepulchre may it be said, as truly as of that of her
illustrious husband, "no man knoweth where it is
until this day."
Two months of her history comprise all that we
certainly know of the daughter of Jephthah. She
is first introduced to us when grown up to youth,
and as being the only child of her father. What
remains of the account is in connection with the
rash vow of her parent,-of which the disastrous
influence fell with all its weight upon his beautiful and unfortunate child.
Jephthah, leading the host of Israel against the
Ammonites, made a vow to the Lord, of which
the following is the authorized translation: —




54          WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
" If thou shalt, without fail, deliver the children
of Ammon into my hands, then it shall be that
whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my
house to meet me when I return in peace from
the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's;
and I will offer it up for a burnt-offering."
We can hardly wonder that many, and even
some learned commentators, understood from this
vow, and the sequel, that the daughter of Jephthah,
who happened to be the one that "eame forth of
the doors" to meet her father on his return, was
actually slain by hini after the manner of burntofferings. It is pleasant, however, to meditate,
that there are strong, if not irresistible, reasons
against such a melancholy view. These reasons
may be summed up as follows:
Every scholar knows that the Hebrew copulative is often disjunctive also;-especially in case
of repetition, as here. Hence, the true reading
may be, and doubtless is, "Whatever cometh
forth of the doors of my house-either shall be
the Lord's, or I will offer it up for a burnt-offering."
The sacrifice of children to Moloch was ever
an abomination to the Lord. Of course such a
sacrifice to the Lord must have been a still greater abomination in his sight, —an abomination for
which there is no precedent or example. The
sacrifice of Isaac was never actually made, nor
was it ever intended on the part of God.
No father had power to put his child to death,




WOMEN OF T'IEI BIBLE.          55
as obvious from Deut. xxi, 18-21. King Saul
himself was forcibly restrained from slaughtering
his son Jonathan, in fulfillment of a vow which he
had made.
To kill an innocent person was directly forbidden by the law of God;-and, on the hypothesis
that Jephthah was a righteous man, he would not
deliberately commit a great crime, for the sake of
fulfilling a rash and unjustifiable vow.
Two entire months elapsed after his return, before he fulfilled his vow. Of course, there was
ample time for' consideration and a correct decision, even had he, at first, designed the death of
his daughter.
The vow, and the intended fulfillment, together
with the time, were all public; nor is it rational
to suppose that so revolting a tragedy as the destruction of his only child would be tolerated by
the people. There was the fullest opportunity for
interference, and such interference would have
actually taken place, as not long afterward for the
rescue of Jonathan.
These considerations appear sufficiently conelusive, that Jephthah never shed the blood of his
daughter;-Nwhile the sequel of the story seems
entirely confirmatory of this view. At the end
of two months, she returned from her wanderings
in the mountains of Gilead, to afford her father an
opportunity for the fulfillment of his vow; "and
he did with her according to his vow."  That is,
she became the Lord's, and consecrated to him,




56          WOMEN OF TIE BIBLE.
like the thirty-two virgins which were the Lord's
portion of the Midianitish captives, and who aided
to keep charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.
Num. xxxi, 31-41.
Eminent beauty is apparent in the character
of Jephthah's daughter. We are delighted with
her first appearance. Her victorious father has
arrived in the vicinity, having subdued the enemies of his country, and is come to Mizpeh, where
is the seat of his residence. Of course, there are
great rejoicings. Thousands are abroad to greet
the "mighty man of valor" as he'approaches.
Meanwhile, there is one whose soul swells in rapturous sympathy with the festivities of that day.
Yet she is not overcome by the excitement.
There is no ungraceful haste or exposure. With
delightful modesty, propriety, and dignity, she
tarries for her father in her father's house,-tarries
till he comes. Then, as was meet, she makes her
appearance. She has waited till the exact moment, concealed, as we would prefer, from the
confused crowd. Nor yet has she waited in idleness or indifference. A  select company of her
associates are there, and all are arranged in becoming dress, and their instruments of music are
in their hands. The father appears, and the
daughter comes out to meet him with timbrels
and dances. Thus, long before, did Miriam and
the women of Israel, when the "horse and his
rider were thrown into the sea."  Thus, long
afterwards, was the victorious David greeted, as




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          57
from many a city, with singing and dancing, and
instruments of -music, the daughters of Israel
chanted in his ear their joyous salutations.:But here ends, alas! the gladness and glory of
the festival of Mizpeh. The sprightly notes of
the timbrel, and the brilliant voices of the maidens of Gilead, and the shouts of the gathered
crowds-all suddenly die away on the ear; and
there is deep lamentation, and rending of garments-and the mighty man is brought low-very
low; and the beautiful child-the only one —becomes " one of his troubles "-the innocent occasion of sore and boundless grief.  "Alas, my
daughter!" ay; and alas for ten thousand delicious hopes of this strange world! The greatest
joy, they say, may all suddenly become transmuted to the deepest sorrow; and within the
sweetest rose of the vale may be concealed a
sting, the agony of whose piercings may long survive the deceitful blossom we venture carelessly
to touch. How striking the lesson of this day to
the triumphant Jephthah! How has a mysterious
Providence bowed him to the dust! After this,
will he ever again confide in terrestrial hopes?
In the midst of prosperity, and joyful conquest,
and personal elevation, will he not walk softly —
and cease to trust in a human arm —and lean
upon the Strong alone?
But our sympathies linger not with the father
alone. We think of her on whom the sad reverses of this day fall most fatally. We loQk with
3*




58'         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
intenisest interest to see what will be her bearing,
as she passes beneath the mournful cloud. We
listen to catch the words she will utter, as the
darkness is already enshrouding her.  As we
wait, music, more beautiful by far than the notes
of the timbrel, swells amid the gloom. " My father! thou hast opened thy mouth to Jehovahdo to me accordingly, since thine enemies are
conquered." Here we behold the child of deep
and sweet simplicity. Here breathes the spirit of
holy and sublime piety; —the great God is recognized. There must be no lightness in his presence-all vows and promises to him must be
remembered, whatever be the present sorrows
they involve. Let him be honored, though our
poor name be heard no longer among the thousands of Israel. Here glow the charms of filial
obedience. There is no rebellion-no resistance
-no displeasure-no murmur. The response of
those lips breathed but the soft notes of submission and cheerful acquiescence. Here-even ill
the midst of the fires-swells the voice of heavenly gratitude. "Pay thy vows, my father; for
the Lord hath avenged thee of thy enemies! Let
my worldly prospects be sacrificed, if such a
sacrifice shall praise Him who hath helped us."
After the two months upon the mountains of
Gilead, the child of Jephthah returned to her
father, who "did with her according to his vow."
She was not a "mother in Israel;" but she was
one of Israel's fairest, loveliest daughters. If, in




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           59
her life, she walked solitary-and lover and friend
were put far from her-and joyous children arose
not up to call her blessed,-yet did the Lord take
her up, and revealed her beauty to the eyes of all
after generations, who will forever count her
among the daughters that are " as corner-stonespolished after the similitude of a palace."
B1rhur~-!  anh  Sor{.
DEBORAH was a prophetess, and one of the line of
Judges that presided over the people, from the
days of Joshua and the elders that survived him,
to the establishment of the regal government under Saul. She was wife of Lapidoth, and her
residence Was beneath a palm-tree on Mount
Ephraim, a few miles northerly from Jerusalem,
whither the people of Israel resorted for judgment.
In her time the Israelites were under bondage to
Jabin, a powerful king of northern Canaan, who,
bfor twenty years, was permitted, by a judicial
Providence, to oppress them, on account of their
idolatry and general wickedness. The time had
come, however, for their deliverance; and Deborah commanded Barak, her chief captain-then
residing in the north-to summon from Zebulon
and Naphtali,-the two tribes nearest in vicinity
to the tyrant, Jabin,-a force of ten thousand men,
and attack Sisera, his general; —assuring him, by
prophecy, of success and victory. The two ar



60          WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
mies met near the river Kishon, the forces of
Sisera were completely routed, he himself, abandoning his chariot, fled on foot for his life. His
course lay toward' the dominions of Jabin, and
arriving in the vicinity of Kadesh, he is met by
Jael, wife of Heber, who was professedly friendly
to Jabin. She forthwith invites the fugitive general into her tent —still professes friendship and
peace-and proffers hospitality and concealment
from his pursuers. Through excessive weariness,
after his long flight and great excitement, he presently falls asleep; when Jael, providing herself
with a long tent-nail, or spike, with a mallet smites
it through his temples, and pins him to the eartha murdered man. Thus the oppression of Jabin
over Israel was broken, and the land had rest from
its enemies during forty years.
Deborah was present with her general and army
on the decisive day above noticed; —and her
name is famous principally, perhaps, from the
song she composed and sung in connection with
Barak, on occasion of her brilliant victory over
the king of Canaan. This song is highly distinguished for sublimity and beauty, and takes rank
with the highest style of poetry. It commences,
as is meet, with praise to Jehovah, and ascribes
to him all the prosperity of Israel, from their earliest deliverances down to the present triumph.
The names of most of Israel's ranks are caught
up in its sublime sweep, as it breathes reproach
upon one, and praise upon another, according as




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           61
they severally lingered at their homes, or rallied
against the mighty foe of their common country.
The lofty muse of Deborah contemplates even the
stars of heaven themselves as marshaling their
shining ranks against the enemies of Israel, and
the river of Kishon as being maddened into fury,
and sweeping them away with swift destruction.
But why, one may ask, breathes this song a
blessing upon the murderer of Sisera? Her husband's house is at profound peace with Jabin.
Sisera, in his flight from his conquerors, solicits
refuge with Jael, as being not unfriendly to his
master's cause. She meets him beyond her doors
-invites him to her tent-quiets his fears-provides a place of concealment-and ministers to
his wants. Sisera, in his excessive weariness,
presently sleeps, and in that slumber is killed by his
pretended benefactress. What is this but murder-aggravated murder-compassed by heartless,
cruel treachery? The character and deserts of
Sisera are here out of the question. It may be
easy to admit, that his measure of iniquity was
full, and that his death, with all the baseness and
cruelty of the accompanying circumstances, was
justly due;-yet there is no exculpation of Jael.
We must write her a murderess, and such, we
think, must be the verdict of every enlightened
conscience. No one loves the name and memory
of Jael. We think of her as a bloody woman.
"Her mouth is smoother than oil, but her end
is bitter as wormwood-sharp as a two-edged




62          WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
sword." Her tent is stained with blood. The
noise of slaughter and the-shrieks of the dying
are there. The winds of heaven moan as they
breathe along the plains of Zaanaim. No inviting
scenery allures the footstep. Beauty and innocence are absent-deceit, treachery, cruelty, laugh
there, and the blows of the assassin are the music
of the hateful sport.
What, then, of the blessing? Is it from the
Lord?  There is a CURSE from him upon the one
who does evil that good may come. Deceit and
falsehood are ever an abomination,in his sight.
Then he had no approval for the shameless, heartless Jael, nor does Deborah bless her from the
Lord. No blessing falls to her as being good and
righteous,-but as having uncommon courage
rather,-as having a firmness of nerve sufficient
to "put her hand to the nail, and her right hand
to the workman's hammer," and smite. Such a
species of daring was hers in an eminent degree,
and " above women" in general. For this she is
praised, and for nothing else; and a similar commendation has been often appropriately given to
characters who, like Jael, were among the deformed and graceless of the world.




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          63
Be 1i{a.i
UNHAPPY name! Will her sex pardon me, that I
am obliged to write it among others that are so
fragrant and pure? Here all is shadow. There
appears no redeeming feature. It is true, we may
suspect her to have been attractive in person, for
a strong man bowed before her. But what is a
comely exterior, where it covers naught save deformity?  What of the glowing colors of the
poisonous serpent? Or what the variegated brilliancy of the hateful leopard?  The heavenly
pen sketched nothing good of Delilah. She was
" a woman in the valley of Sorek." No ancestor
or child of hers is named-her nation is unknownher "valley," no one can point it out. "His roots
shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his
branch be cut off;-his remembrance shall perish
from the earth, and he shall have no name in the
street."
Delilah was a shameless seducer. "And a man
void of understanding, passing through the street
near her corner, went the way to her house in the
twilight-in the evening-in the black and dark
night; and there met him a woman, and with her
much fair speech she caused him to yield-with
the flattering of her lips she forced him. He
goeth after her straightway as an ox goeth to the
slaughter, or as a' fool to the correction of the




64          WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
stocks, till a dart strike through his liver, —as a
bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it
is for his life."
She was a heartless deceiver. Feigning affection for her lover, she, with unyielding pertinacity,
sought his desolation and ruin. Her mouth was
smoother than oil, but her end bitter as wormwood-sharp as a two-edged sword. The deceived one-strangers were filled with his wealth,
and his labors were in the house of a stranger,
and he mourned at the last.
She was disgustingly covetous. For money,
she could readily dispense with every principle
of righteousness or honor. Her own emolument
and aggrandizement were instead of all goodness,
purity, and love. "Entice him, and we will give
thee silver," was a note sufficient for her ear, and
to induce her, like the faithless reptile, to sting the
bosom that cherished her.
She was a foul traitress. She, like a certain
other, betrayed with a kiss. She fondled the victim she designed to immolate. Her eyes were as
full of murder as of adultery. Like a certain
horrid idol of heathenism, she pretended to embrace most affectionately, yet, as her arms enfolded the hapless object, he was pierced by a hundred
concealed and deadly blades. She cast down the
wounded-a strong man was slain by her. Her
house was the way to hell, going down to the
chambers of death.
Such was Delilah, the infamous. Furnished




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           5
she not a portion of the materials, when the wise
man drew his picture of " The Strange Woman?"
Let us weep for the frightfulness of the serpent.
Sin, alas, how mournful and sickening is its aspect! With what horror we contemplate the
near approach to which it advances us toward
the character of the utterly wicked and lost! 0!
how it has defaced and spoiled the fair image of
angelic goodness and beauty! Be there eternal
praises to Him whose " grace much more abounds!"
i aun1 i.
WE emerge again, suddenly, into fairer regions,
where, away from scenes of darkness and deceitof impurity and death, more graceful forms come
forth to greet us, and lovelier airs breathe over the
landscape, and heavenly Virtue, as the presiding
genius, waves her golden sceptre.
Naomi was the wife of Elimelech, a citizen of
Bethlehem, and who lived in the time of the
Judges. There being a famine in Judea, he, with
his family, consisting of his wife, Naomi, and
their two sons, emigrated to the country of Moab.
Elimelech died shortly after his removal; and
within about ten years, the sons, who had married
in Moab, both of them also died. Thus Naomi
the mother, and the two daughters-in-law, named
Orpah and Ruth, became widows. Under these
melancholy circumstances, Naomi, having learned




66         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
that abundance had succeeded to famine in her
native country, determined to return thither, and
spend her remaining days with her kindred. The
family commenced the journey accordingly. Before proceeding far, however, Naomi, addressing
her daughters-in-law, very affectingly advised,
and even entreated them both to return to their
former homes-explaining to them, in the most
faithful manner, how discouraging were their
prospects by remaining with her, and accompanying her to a foreign land. Orpah-though with
great reluctance and with many tears-gave to
her mother the kiss of adieu, and returned home.
Ruth, however, could not be persuaded to leave
her widowed and aged relative, and attended her
to Bethlehem, where a peaceful evening closed up
the stormy day of life that had passed over the
bereaved and desolate Naomi.
The history impresses us with deep and affecting interest. Viewing her, as her husband and
sons are buried, and herself alone in that distant
and gentile land, there rises a fit picture for all
bereaved spirits to contemplate. And let them
recall to mind, meanwhile, that their own is not
the first, and probably not the deepest sorrow that
has struck and broken the human heart. How
true to nature are the sighings of this lone widow
to tread, once more, her native soil! The dearest objects of her love are removed from her
sight;-she would fain go home, that she may die
with their kindred and hers. Though the record




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          67
is silent here, yet is it too much to imagine, that
ere she "went forth out of the place where she
was," she lingered long and sadly over those three
graves; and as she remembered other and happier
years, and forms that were beauty and glory to
her eye, she knew, in that dark hour, all the bitterness of grief?  Tearing herself away at last, and
turning her face toward her fatherland, and journeying wearily and heavily, and pondering-as
she went-her present desolation, and all the hopelessness shadowing the future-she pauses in the
way; and now opens a scene which, in mournful
tenderness-in deep and touching pathos, has
been surpassed by few that-have ever appealed to
human sympathies. Why should she involve
others in her own hard and cheerless destiny?
Since joy might yet remain to her daughters,
though none to her, why should she wish their
desolation to be added to hers, and lead them
away from their kindred, to die with her in widowhood and tears? Here generosity and grief
become beautifully blended. Here rises a spectacle of profoundest sorrow, accompanied, however, with the coolest and tenderest consideration.
Desolate grief, and prudent and disinterested counsel, here form a union as charming to contemplation, as it is honorable to humanity. "Go," said
Naomi to her daughters, "return each to her
mother's house; and the Lord deal kindly with
you, as ye have dealt with the dead and with me!"
She submits-nay, desires to be left alone. Her




68         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
only friends in that strange land are permitted to
go their own way. She would mourn apart. A
mother's house, with its varied consolations, is
theirs; but father and mother have forsaken her,
and lover and friend are hidden from her. The
widowed three have been as one hitherto,-their
interests,-their toils and sorrows were blended.
The mother asks now that the union, though affectionate and cordial, shall be dissolved, and their
destinies be henceforth separate. She would be
left with the dead-and begs the young to return
to the living, and forget the alliance which, though
pleasant when in being, yet now has passed forever away. "Deal kindly with you, as you-with
the dead and with me!" Interests two —separatedivided! Alas, what was the pang of that bitter
moment, as it rent to utter bleeding that poor
widow's heart! Will she bear up to add yet another prayer? "The Lord grant you to find rest,
each in her husband's house!" For them new
alliances and brighter days were probable, wherein
the griefs of the past would rise on the eye as
distant and flitting shadows, while soft and cheering sunshine should play around the present. Not
so with her. No " husband's house "~waited her
more. For her no green spot arose in rospectthere would be no smile to light on her-,-no arm
would be reached forth to her in her weariness,
and when she should "find rest," it would be that
of the tomb. As she prints the farewell~ kiss,
" We will return with thee!" respond tie weep



WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          69
ing children. "Turn again, my daughters! Why
will ye go with me?  With me all is desolation —
there are no more husbands-no more pleasant
homes. As the fig-tree alone in the desert, scathed
of the lightning, and withered and fruitless-so is
your sorrowful mother. It grieveth me much, for
your sakes, that the hand of the Lord hath gone
out against me."  Again the voice of bitter
weeping bursts upon the ear-the parting kiss of
Orpah is given, and the next moment she disappears forever. "Return after thy sister!" The
command is vain. Another destiny awaits the
devoted Ruth, and the younger and the more aged
widow pass, hand in hand, toward Judea.
One day, there is an unusual excitement in
Bethlehem. Two lonely women, arriving from
another country, in weariness and sadness, enter
the quiet city. The name of Naomi is whispered from house to house, and rumors and inquiries
pass rapidly from circle to circle. It is long since,
with her husband, strong in his ripened manhood,
and her sons, sprightly in youthful vigor and hope,
she sought a distant and gentile home. Since
then, there is no intelligence. Have they, at last,
returned?  "Is this Naomi?"  She treads the
sacred dust where beloved forms once moved in
beauty, but are now passed away. Perchance
she seeks the very mansion, and reclines mournfully in those same apartments where her departed
husband was wont to "bless his house," and
whence, in happier years, the morning and even



70          WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
ing orisons went up to heaven. As she looks,
and meditates, and remembers-the wormwood
and the gall are renewed- again is the great deep
broken up, and the fountains are opened-and the
billows pass over the bereaved. "Call me not
Naomi! Call me Mara! for very bitterly hath
the Almighty dealt with me. I went out full, and
he hath returned me empty."
Yet a peaceful evening awaits the sorrowful
Naomi after the storms that, in mournful repetition, were suffered to beat upon her fragile form.
There is One that sitteth on high, who rules the
tempest. "Call upon me in the day of trouble,"
he saith, "'I will deliver thee!" She sought rest
for her daughter, and He who "is able to give
abundantly more than we ask," while he provided
rest and joy for the child, gave quietness and
abundance to the mother.
Somewhere in Bethlehem stood a princely residence, where dwelt "a mighty man of wealth,"
-and good and noble, as he was rich and powerful. Great festivities wire shortly witnessed
within that mansion, and smiling groups might
have been seen there presenting their congratulations to Naomi, at her resting-place in the house
of Boaz, the husband of Ruth the Beautiful.
The moral of this tale appeals to the heart of
the widow. Her sorrow is deep —often sublimely
deep; and a stranger intermeddles not with it.
The hopes she formerly cherished are buried
with the form that was once her joy anti crown.




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           71
This wide world is hung with sackcloth; —and
O!-how empty show all its promises and joys!
Often, too, pale Want is in attendance-and
friends seem few-and health grows frail-and
every pleasing prospect goes out in darkness.
Now, then, is the hour, of all thy life, to reach out
the trembling hand and touch the garment of thy
God. Thy Maker is thy husband!
Lt5tt.
RUTH has been already introduced. She was a
AMoabitess, and became wife of Mahlon, one of the
sons of Naomi, whose'family, as we have seen,
emigrated to Moab. After the death of the father
and the two sons, and when the widowed mother
had determined on returning to Judea, she earnestly entreated her daughters-in-law to return to
their former homes, and. permit her to return
alone to her native country. Orpah sorrowfully
acquiesced, and took her leave; —but no persuasions could induce Ruth to forsake her adopted
mother. Her reply to the entreaties of that mother is stamped with perfect beauty, as well as
propriety, and has been the admiration of all generations since. "Entreat me not to leave thee,
or to return from following after thee; for whither
thou goest I will go-and where thou lodgest I
will lodge; —thy people shall be my people, and
thy God, my God;-where thou diest will I die,




72         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to
me, and more also, if aught but death part thee
and me!"
What entire devotion is here exhibited! What
daughter ever did more virtuously than this?
How fully-how unreservedly, did she wed herself to all the fallen fortunes of the afflicted Naomi! And, what was better still, how cordially
did she embrace the only true God! Whether,
having been born and bred a heathen, she had become a proselyte in the house of her husband,
does not appear. But in the decisive conversation with her mother-in-law, her adherence to the
true religion is fully declared. Nor is there room
for the slightest suspicion touching the simplicity
and purity of motive by which this lovely daughter was actuated. She obviously loved, with a
deep and quenchless love, her bereaved and sorrowful relative. Their sorrows, to some extent,
had been one. The streams of their grief had
met over the same graves-and over one especially. The soul of the child clave to the mother;
and though every worldly prospect faded, yet refused to be separated. To the last day of time,
will this devotion of Ruth the Moabitess be admired and praised. Millions of daughters will
read and ponder the sweet accents whereby she
vowed eternal adherence to her husband's mother;
and as they weep with delight, will find their own
filial affection and faithfulness confirmed and increased.




NWOMEN OF THE BIBLE.-         73
Ruth, with her mother, is at Bethlehem; and
the second scene of her history is the scene of the
harvest-field. Nor is it easy to conceive of a
more enchanting picture of earthly beauty than
what is here portrayed. There spreads out before
the eye an extensive field of ripened grain, waving
gracefully in the soft breezes of that lovely day.
The reapers are abroad, and their track is marked
by the shining rows of fallen grain stretching
away in the distance. The maidens are also
there-and they are wroathing the strong bands
that are to inclose the swelling sheaves, while, at
a little distance, is seen another, graceful, though
poor-noble in bearing, though of pensive and
modest aspect. Fairer days shone over her once.
Though yet young and beautiful,! she has drunk
deep of the cup of bitterness. She.has buried
the one she loved-she is far away from her native fields and forests. She has come of late, a
voluntary exile, to Judah's land, and has taken
refuge beneath the wing of Judah's God. This
morning, an unseen hand has led her to that
harvest scene; and she has sought permission to
glean behind the reapers, that she may gather the
widow's scanty pittance.
Meanwhile, another one arrives; it is the
wealthy and noble proprietor of the field. The
joy of harvest is beaming from his countenance,
as his eye rests upon the animated and brilliant
scenery, and his mind is ascending to the God of
providence, who has crowned the year with his
4




74          WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
goodness, and covered the valleys over with corn.
" The Lord be with you!" is his salutation to the
reapers. "The Lord bless. thee!" is their joint
and glad response. Well said, ye reapers! Your
prayer is heard, and the blessing invoked for your
master is already there, though he and you know
not of it. " Whose damsel this?" he whispers, as
he points to the beautiful gleaner. Was not that
first glance the glance of love? That heart of
goodness-is it not already trembling? Now the
eye no longer follows the reapers, as with their
shining sickles they gather the cumbrous grain.
The maidens ply their lighter tasks unnoticed.
That golden field is suddenly forgotten. An object more attractive than all harvest-scenes has
riveted his eye, and his soul cleaves, though almost unconsciously, to this gentle, lovely stranger.
Soft words succeed-the genuine accents of a
heart whose great deep is stirred-which leaps
forth to bless the charming object, but yet tremnbles at the first notes of its stifled voice. " Go not
to glean in another field. No harm shall touch
thee here. When thirsty, come and drink from
the vessels. At meal-time, come and eat to the
full. I have heard of thee, and of all thy sorrows
and sacrifices. The Lord recompense thee abundantly! Ye reapers, deal kindly and generously
with the gleaner!"
A high day was that to the gentle Ruth-and
not for the much corn she gathered. At evening,
bearing her treasure, she sought her beloved mo



WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          75
ther away in the city; and "the man's name"
failed not to be spoken, that night, in their humble dwelling. More than once that name was
blessed from the lips of Naomi; while, in her
heart, deep thoughts were struggling, as, at the
same moment, she spoke of Boaz, and glanced at
her lovely daughter. Other days came on and
passed, until the early and latter harvests were all
gathered, nor, to the end, was Ruth seen to glean
in " another field."
The scene of the threshing-floor next succeeds;-planned innocently, we must hope, by
the provident Naomi,-executed innocently, we
must hope, by the obedient daughter,-but to be
imitated never! "My daughter, shall I not seek
rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?"
Amiable impulse! Nor need we doubt that in
the soul of Ruth all was in readiness for such a
"rest."  Had she passed all those harvest-days in
the fields of Boaz-and received so many kindnesses at his generous hands-and glanced so
often upon that countenance that beamed naught
upon her save love and goodness,-and was her
heart untouched? Even in the earliest interview she said to him, " Thou hast comforted me."
Might she not have added more, as time elapsed,
and kind attentions multiplied? Tell me, ye who
can guess, where, amid those days, were lingering
the deep' affections —the secret hopes of Ruth?
If, on some day, the master of those harvest-fields
tarried in Bethlehem, and came not to salute the




76          WOMEN OF THE BIBLE..
reapers-was there not one spirit near by, to
whom his absence was more painful than she
wished to confess, even to herself? And when,
at coming, he would bless the company, as usual,
was not one response more deep and ardent than
all the others, as it spoke tremblingly, " The Lord
bless thee!"
Nor must we too hastily accuse her of advancing unbecomingly. There may have beenthere doubtless were, circumstances associated
with this strange interview, which we appreciate
only with great difficulty. "Thou art my kinsman," steals on the ear of Boaz in the dark night.
But it is a familiar voice-a voice of music to his
soul —and the meaning was plain —and the hint
was greatly welcome-and she knew it suchand the expected blessing was pronounced upon
her.
Then follows the closing scene of this exquisite
drama.  "Sit still, my daughter;-the  crisis
comes," saith Naomi, as, laden with corn, the
daughter returns from the mysterious colloquy.
The prediction proves true. The man is "not in
rest." All the necessary preliminaries are at
once attended to, and, ere that day declines, Boaz
and Ruth are one.
The record tells not to what needy ones those
gleanings passed, now that the fair gleaner came
to possess, so suddenly, the rich harvests themselves, and the owner thereof. Also, the brilliant
happiness that awaited the daughter, and the con



WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          77
solation that fell to the mother, remain to be inferred. Ere yet another season of reaping had
arrived, there nestled in the arms of Naomi an
infant boy, born of the beautiful Ruth. That boy
grew up to manhood, and his son's son was the
great king and bard of Israel. And whoever
shall trace the illustrious line running from Abraham to God's Messiah, will not fail to discern
there the name of her who, though born an alien
from the commonwealth of Israel, yet vowed to
one of Israel's weeping daughters, "Thy God
shall be my God!"
FEW of the female characters of the Bible arise
before us clothed with more interest and beauty
than Hannah;-and there are few, from whose
excellence so slight abatements are required to be
made. Her position and history remind' us of
those of Rachel. Like her ancient sister, she
was, unhappily, not the wife, but only one of the
wives of her husband, Elkanah. Like Rachel,
she was, however, the favorite wife; but also,
like her, she was for some years childless, while
her rival, Peninnah, was favored with sons and
daughters. This advantage-appears to have been
ostentatiously and offensively abused by the unworthy Peninnah. Her proud and arrogant behavior, in her prosperity, toward the amiable




78          WOMEN OF THE BIBLE..
Hannah, in her humiliation, has stamped her
name, so-far as it is thought of at all, with undying infamy. She was as graceless as she was
immodest-and as mean as she was ignorant and
senseless-and as proud as she was hypocriticaland as wicked as she was audacious and disgusting. What seems more closely to ally a human
being to a fiend, than to triumph over the unavoidable misfortunes of others? Nor can we
wonder that, under such circumstances, the finelywrought and sensitive spirit of Hannah was deeply
troubled. It seemed sufficiently afflictive to endure the reproaches of her adversary when at
home; and she had a right to expect, at least
when abroad with strangers —and, most of all,
when at the annual worship and sacrifice, and
within sight of the ark of God —that she might be
at peace. But when she perceived, from year to
year, that these public and solemn occasions were
specially selected as opportunities for pouring
contempt upon her, she wept in the bitterness of
her soul, and refused to be comforted by human
sympathy.
"Whom the Lord loveth he correcteth;" and
there are times when he deeply and painfully instructs such ones that all beneath is but shadow,and whosoever leaneth there will but pierce himself through with many sorrows. Peter, as he
sinks into the troubled and dark waters, can only
lift his feeble hands aloft. There is no solid
ground —every  hope dies, save one; "Lord,




WOMEN OF TIlE BIBLE.         79
save-1 perish!"  "Call upon me in the day of
trouble, I will deliver thee!" is one of the dearest
gems of the book of God. Here did the beloved
Hannah feel herself at last to be shut up. In the
anguish of her spirit, she "prayed unto the Lord."
With many tears, and with holy vows, she begged
of the Lord of hosts to look on her affliction, and
to forget her not. As she prayed deeply and
softly, the priest of God, while his eye fell upon
her pale and sad countenance, her lips silent, yet
speaking —mistook the agony of that prayer for
the excitement of wine. "No, my lord! I am
a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have poured
out my soul before the Lord, and out of the
abundance of my complaint and grief have I
spoken." The good priest pronounces his amen
to her prayer, and then her tears are dried up,
and her sadness passes away; and, having risen
at early morning, and worshiped, and renewed
her vows and thanksgivings, she returns, with her
husband, to Ramah.
The next time Hannah went up to the house
of the Lord in Shiloh, a lovely little child, her
own son, accompanied her, to be lent, by his mother, to the Lord, according to the vows which
she had made. She had called upon the great
Helper, and her prayer was heard, and her reproach was taken away, and her heart exulted,
and the pride and arrogance of her adversary
were humbled to the dust. The song of Hannah,
on this glad occasion, is full of exquisite beauty;




80          WOMTEN OF THE BIBLE.
while, as a prophecy, it takes rank among the
very first and loftiest of inspired compositions.
Therein stands portrayed, in colors of surpassing
sublimity, the glory of the Lord Jehovah. All
other things are forgotten as He rises on the
view. All other foundations disappear as he
comes forth-the Everlasting Rock. All vanity
and falsehood hide themselves before his dread
omniscience. All destinies are in his hands, and
at his bidding. The mighty and prosperous are
brought down-and the desolate and fainting are
revived- and come forth, when he commands, to
exceeding happiness and joy. The song swells
and rises in its course-seizing upon still loftier
strains, and, passing from the individual, it comprehends all nations, and sings of regal splendor
yet to be;- while the glorious name-Messiahswelling from the lips of Hannah, and spoken, by
her, first on earth-strikes the ravished ear, and
charms earth and heaven, as it forms the closing
notes of one of the loveliest songs that was ever
breathed in the hearing of mortals.
Hannah again returns to Ramah, having left at
Shiloh-there to minister before the Lord-her
consecrated boy. At every annual visit, as, in
company with her husband, she went up to offer
the yearly offering, she bears the "little coat,"
made by her hands, to adorn and comfort her
beloved Samuel. There dwelt the lad-lent of
his mother to Heaven-sand grew, a fragrant
plant, in the garden of the Lord. Doubtless his




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           81
pleasant name was often heard in Ramah-while
one was there, if no more, that daily spoke of him,
as on the ear of the Eternal rose her songs of
gratitude and rejoicing.
Meanwhile, new joys await the house of Hannah. She has lent to the Lord her child-her
only one; —yet shall she not remain solitary.
Other sons besides, and blooming daughters, rise
up and call her blessed, who, in her affliction,
sought after God, and trusted in him.
How full of instruction is the history of Hannah! Let the sorrowful remember where lives
the great and inexhaustible Source of consolation.
They may contemplate, in the mother of Samuel,
a rich commentary upon the apostolic injunction,
that if any is afflicted, he should pray. Let such
forget not to carry every sorrow to the great
Burden-bearer, and consider well that he is interested in whatever interests them. "Be careful
for nothing: but in everything, by prayer and
supplication, with, thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known unto God.".
Study the history of Hannah, and then, ever
afterwards, judge not according to' the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. To the superficial eye, how disconsolate, in-the midst of
her sorrows, was Hannah; —how prosperous, in
the midst of her boastings, was Peninnah! But
count not that a curse which urges us to the
Strong for help;-count not that, in effect, a
blessing, wherein we forget our dependence, and
AP




82         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
dispense with goodness. True, Peninnah triumphed, for a day, amid her sons and daughtersand, in her prosperity, despised the solitary and
weeping Hannah. But what of Peninnah? It is
one of the mean and insignificant names written
upon the Bible page, like as every true picture of
earthly scenery must show some unsightly object.
And what of her sons and daughters?  No man
knoweth their place or name. What now of
Hannah? It is one of the names of beautiful
and immortal fragrance; and often, to this day,
it is heard amid the circles of Zion's lovely
daughters,-allying to itself all pure and hallowed associations, and claiming to be grouped
with such select names as that of Ruth, of
Elizabeth, Anna, and Mary. And what of her
son —her eldest born? It is a name great and
most venerable; —renowned in the history of
God's Providence - distinguished among the
judges and prophets of Israel-and conspicuous
among the priests of the Most High.
And speaks there no voice from Hannah to the
mothers in Israel? As she lends that boy away
to the Lord, is she in this to be counted, in no
sense, as an example to her sisters of after generations? O! have Christian mothers no sons and
daughters to lend to Christ?: Have they, to this
day, restrained their vows, or, having vowed,
have they declined to fulfill, in good faith, the
pledges they have made? Why should not every
child of the Christian mother be counted, by her,




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.         83
as holy unto the Lord, and daily dedicated to
him-and daily led where Jesus is-and feel,
unceasingly, a holy atmosphere encompassing
him-and be conducted by a soft, yet unyielding
and constant influence, within the hallowed precincts of God's holy tabernacle?  Mother! have
you yet looked upon your son, and said, with
Hannah,' "As long as he liveth he shall be lent to
the Lord?" And then, after that, did you always
lend him accordingly-and, as often as you looked
upon him, count him as lent-and always spake
of him as such, when you talked with God-and
always taught the child that he was lent to
Christ-and always cherished him as a plant in
God's sacred vineyard-and always imparted to
him God's nurture-and trained him, every day,
directly for immortality? Well, then, in after
days, and "when he is old," he will be found
walking there;-and, subsequently, in the heavenly circles, where will be seen Hannah and
Samuel, there thou shalt greet thy own beloved
offspring-once lent to Christ, and now restored
to thee forever.




84         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
ABIGAIL rises before us as an example of a strong
understanding, joined with great prudence. She
was unequally yoked with a wealthy churl, Nabal by name, who resided in Maon, a few miles
south of Hebron, and whose flocks were pastured
in Carmel. At an annual sheep-shearing, David,
then a fugitive from Saul, and sojourning in that
vicinity, sent a deputation of ten young men to
Nabal, to present, in their master's name, the
salutations of peace, and to ask that, in the midst
of his festivities and feasting, he would send, by
the young men, a token of friendship, from whatever viands of the banquet might seem good to
him.  David, moreover, appears to have had
some special claim upon Nabal, having essentially aided, during his stay in Carmel, in the
protection of his flocks from depredation. Nabal, however, recognized no obligations to David,
reciprocated not at all his courteous salutations,
but sent back the deputation empty, and with
highly contemptuous and insulting insinuations
against him who had sent them. David immediately determined upon redress, and that, too,
with summary and unjustifiable severity. Meanwhile, one of Nabal's men informed Abigail, his
wife, touching the conduct of her husband to the
messengers of David.  Anticipating disastrous




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          85
consequences, she, in great haste, proceeded to
avert, if possible, the threatening ruin from the
house of her husband; and taking a suitable
offering, she, without his knowledge of her movements, hastens to David, and meets him at the
foot of Carmel, as he was already on his way
with four hundred men for the punishment of
Nabal. Then follows the memorable address of
Abigail to David, in which she confesses the
great fault of her husband —asserts her own ignorance of the message that had been sent-beseeches him to accept the offering which she had
brought-and, in the spirit of prophecy, announces her husband's fall, as well as the innocence, and certain victory and prosperity of
David, and closes her speech with asking that
she might not be forgotten when with him all
should be well.
This strong and prophetic eloquence, coming,
as it did, from a woman of uncommon beauty of
countenance and behavior, accomplished the desired result, and was the means of averting a
dreadful tragedy which, in the course of that
night, would have sent to the shades many an
innocent man, as well as the stupid Nabal.
Nor does this appear to have been the only
effect of the timely interview between Abigail
and David. - His heart, as well as his mind'and
judgment, was deeply affected at the presence
and bearing of this noble lady. His reply to her
bespeaks strong emotion, as well as profound




86         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
respect and consideration. He' gives praise to
God who had sent her to meet him. He pronounces his blessing upon the counsel which had
been given him, and upon the fair prophetess who
had uttered it, and who had thus preserved him
from the intended slaughter; —and, after receiving her present, he dismissed her in peaceassuring her thaT he had complied with her
wishes, and accepted her person.
Nabal, on being informed by his wife of the
destruction that had been aimed at himn and
from which, by her interference, he had barely
escaped, seems to have been struck with consternation and amazement, from which he never
recovered, and died, ten days afterward, by the
judgment-of God.
Thus a higher destiny opened before the intelligent and beautiful Abigail. However it may
have been with her heart, there was no sorrow
for David as he received intelligence of Nabal's
demise.  He remembered and loved the one
whose eloquence and gracefulness had, a few
days before, so won upon his heart, and from his
hand a winged message of love speedily flies to
the mansion of Abigail. Will the suspicion be
pardoned, that such a message was expected?
As, a few days since, she stood before that
mighty man, did her purified vision behold for
him "a sure house " —enemies vanquished-himself the approved ruler over Israel-the forthcoming decease of Nabal?  With these visions




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           87
before her, and as she closed her speech, asking
for herself a kind remembrance, was there no
impression, meanwhile, of any connection of
these great matters with her own future position?
Her modest and becoming response to the important message is not forgotten; nor that she
hasted, and, with her damsels, came, like Rebecca, and greeted and wedded the royal bridegroom.
t After this but little is written. One son was
born to her after her marriage with David. She
shared the affections of her husband, at first, with
Abinoam, a previous wife; while, not long afterward, we hear of other wives still in the king's
residence. Hence, how much the happiness of
her life was advanced by her new position, may
be a matter of uncertainty and doubt. Yet it is
refreshing, that while, in her, we are permitted
to discern uncommon prudence and strength of
understanding, combined, also, with piety of
heart, and much personal grace and beauty, no
reproach attaches itself to the name of Abigail.




88     ~ WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
"No reproach attaches itself to the name of Abigail." Not so, alas! with her whose name introduces the present chapter, The only pleasant
thing that is written of her is, that " the woman
was very beautiful to look upon." But how little
is this, if it be all! Even this is only melancholy,
if, as in the case before us, it prove but the occasion of temptation, diaster, and ruin. No student
of the Holy Scriptures ever feels any special love
for Bathsheba. In the absence of all allusion to
any intellectual or moral excellence, her exterior
charms are well-nigh unthought of. Her name is
never recalled without dragging along with it associations such as we would fain- shut away forever. Apostasy-impurity-conjugal infidelitydeceit-meanness-murder-the curse-such is
the frightful category that groups itself inseparably
with the name of Bathsheba-spoiling it as with
the serpent's slime, and setting it aside, like the
leprous garment, from whatever is healthy, innocent, and pure. True, there is pity mingled with
our profound disapprobation. In excluding her
from the circles of goodness, we are not conscious
of those feelings of detestation which arise with
all our recollections of Delilah. We fail to discern that settled and deep depravity-that determined and heartless iniquity, so characteristic of




*WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           89
the woman of Sorek. We think of Bathsheba as
slender in virtue, rather than as strong in vice.
We contemplate her as a negative in respect to
true goodness, instead of as a positive in respect
to moral deformity. Previous to the fatal evening, we hardly suspect any misconduct in the wife
of Uriah. In those days her husband was away
in the wars, valiant among the hosts of Israel, and
his wife, meanwhile, at her pleasant home on
Mount Zion, was innocent; and, in the day of
her fall, it may be, she thought of nothing so improbable as her infidelity to the brave man to
whom she was lawfully and virtuously joined.
This, to be sure, is conjecture; but it is an irresistble impression left upon the writer's mind,
from careful meditation of all that is recorded.
We are ashamed of her where the royal glance
first meets her. In our indignation, we exclaim,
with withering emphasis, that that ceremony
should have been elsewhere;-that if, in selecting
that situation, she was careless, it was a criminal
carelessness-if she was wicked, it was hateful
wickedness. Yet, if we assume the milder hypothesis, and charge her that on that evening she
cherished no fell intent, but was only guilty of
cruel and disgraceful negligence, then the greater
sin involved in the catastrophe will be charged to
another than to Bathsheba. That was the greater sinner who, after all God's wondrous dealings
in his behalf, and being gifted with extraordinary
powers of mind and body, and standing, by Di



90          WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
vine appointment, at the head of a great and
mighty people, and attracting to himself the eyes
of all his subjects, as well as of many nations
around, and of the angels above him, and seeing
fairer prospects rising before him than what had
ever glowed before fallen beings —he was the
greater sinner who, embraced by circumstances
so sublime, so restraining, should, with one fell
swoop, cut so deliberately the golden cords that
bound him to the great universe of purity and
goodness, and go down to take his place with the
filth and offscouring of the race, and join cordial
hands with the foul debauchee, the deceiver, the
robber, the murderer! I confess'that I recollect
but few crimes in the' bloody history of our race,
which, under all the circumstances, were so profoundly black, and disgusting, and frightful, as the
great crime of David. It is worse than idle to
disguise or palliate it. Let it appear in its whole
deformity before an astonished world; and let
that world stand more astonished still, as it hears
the voice of boundless grace exclaiming to this
strange sinner, " I have put away thy sin!"
We trust the preceding suggestions may hint
that we feel no disposition to deal unkindly with
Bathsheba. When, on the evening of the fatal
eclipse, the message reached her that her presence
was desired within the royal residefce, it is difficult for us to appreciate all the circumstances
that weighed upon her too fragile mind. There
meets her that night, and in that apartment, a




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           91
great and mighty king. _ He is, withal, noble and
beautiful in person; and his fame is great for
goodness, as well as for wealth, dignity, bravery,
and power. None of all the earth is equal to
him. Can such a one do wrong? But enough!
Bathsheba falls;-but there are some palliations. Righteousness utters, decisive condemnation,-while Pity sits by, and weeps for the
desolate.
How sudden, and how great the change!
When did ever misery fail to follow close upon
the heels of crime?  Sin, when it is finished,
bringeth forth death. Yesterday, all was innocence and sunny peace.  To-day the sky is
overcast, and distant and awful thunders portend
fearful tempests and ruin. Either the brave
Uriah; or else his guilty wife, with, perhaps, the
partner of her sin, must perish. The noble soldier, of course, dies-and Bathsheba passes speedily up to the arms of royalty. She rises thither,
but not to be happy. No smiling Providence had
invited her coming. It was a frightful passage
as she hastened. The shrieks of the murdered
were in her ear-and pools of blood were beneath
her feet-and ghastly spectres were hovering
near,-and pure angel beings had retired henceand the demon Shame hissed as she entered the
royal gates. And treading those splendid apartments, Peace never met her there. The Sword
dwelt there-and Death came often-and, now
and then, cries of deepest agony echoed through




92         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
those halls; and the night wheih Bathsheba fell
was with her the beginning of sorrows.
She survived her husband, the king of Israel,
and saw her son established upon the throne of
his father. He was a son of promise-virtuous
and lovely in his youth, as we may hope his mother was, before yet he had begun to be. Yet he,
too, resigned his integrity, and never did so bright
a morning go out in so mournful a darkness. The
fall of Solomon seemed the sad echo, of the disaster of Bathsheba-was permitted, perchance, as
one of the judicial visitations of Heaven-and
grew, for aught we know, by natural process,
from seeds whose springing and whose fruit are
far too sure and certain.
The moral of Bathsheba's history urges the
young of her sex to cultivate the sternest integrity of moral principle-and the utmost beauty
of character —and perfect modesty of movements
and manners. It reminds them to beware of
doubtful influences breathing upon them from
high places-to settle it well that nothing —nothing can supply the loss of goodness-that while
the lonely cottage where Christ and innocence
abide, is next to heaven —the palace, with all its
luxury and gold, if guilt be there, is but the brilliant haunting-place of woe.




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           93
IT falls not within the purpose of these brief
sketches to concern with uninspired and varying
speculations touching the characters coming under notice;-but to confine ourselves, rather, to
the simple presentation of Scripture, and avail
ourselves mainly of the hints afforded there from
which to derive any observations of instruction
or interest.
Solomon, among other enterprises of importance, appears to have carried on an extensive
commerce with Ophir, a tropical country, situated,
as is probable, on the eastern coast of Africa, and
judged, by Mr. Bruce, to have been the same with
Arabia or Sheba, of which the subject of this
sketch was the sovereign in the time of Solomon.
The vast quantities of gold, precious stones, and
trees imported by the king of Israel from that
country, and his great fame, which had, of course,
amid so much commercial intercourse, reached
the ears of the queen, very naturally excited a
strong curiosity to see and hear him. So deeply
interested was she in this matter, that notwithstanding the great distance, and other difficulties
which, in her case, must have had existence, she
undertook the journey to Jerusalem. Her equipage was princely, and suitable to a person of her
distinction, while her presents which she had pre



94         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
pared for king Solomon were, in the highest degree, magnificent and valuable. Her visit appears
to have proved entirely satisfactory to herself.
The great wisdom of Solomon, and the boundless
wealth and splendor of the temple and court,
filled her with amazement;-so that ample as her
expectations were, from the reports she had received at home, they were all more than realized
by a personal visit and examination.
Several things have been conjectured of this
illustrious queen, and her renowned visit to the
Jewish court, some of which appear to be not
specially eulogistic of her character. All these
we may easily afford to forget, while we hasten
to view her through that medium which, so far as
it may be used, is unerring.
It is thus that we are inclined to infer for the
queen of Sheba a pure and exalted motive and
conduct in her visit to the king of Israel. Was
it a mere idle curiosity by which she was actuated? Or was it some lower motive still? Permit
the inspired hand to write the true answer to all
such inquiries. "When the queen of Sheba
heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the
name of the Lord, she came to prove him with
hard questions." It was not, then, merely that
he was famous, that she desired to see him and
commune with him, but the great consideration
that he was famous concerning the name of the
Lord. Here is the key by which we are to open
to view the character of this illustrious woman;



WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          95
and the truth it reveals is a thousand-fold moreand a thousand-fold more precious, than of all unwarrantable speculations. The queen of Sheba
was either already a person of true piety, or desirous of becoming so. She came from far to
hear concerning the Lord. She came, for the
fame of Solomon's wisdom had excited within
her heart unusual hopes. She came with large
expense, and, probably, at great sacrifices. She
came with a mind adorned not only with great
intelligence and acuteness, but intent upon the
lofty purpose of her visit. She may have been a
Jewess; or, having been a Pagan, she may have
learned, by her intercourse with the traders from
Judea, concerning the true God, and of the mode
of seeking and worshiping him. Be all this as it
may, she desired, with a great desire, to know the
Lord more fully, while here centered all her inquiries which she presented to Solomon. There
were questions with which her active and intelligent mind found difficulty; and yet were they
questions of great importance, and for the solution of which she would not, and did not, hesitate
to go a great distance. Had this woman, with
the same mind and spirit, lived in the time of
Christ, and had heard by report, as the Jews heard
directly, of his wisdom, she would have taken
equal and greater pains to learn "concerning the
name of the Lord," from the lips of Him who was
so much greater than Solomon.
And the importance, as well as the propriety of




96-. WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
her inquiries may be rationally inferred from the
result. "Not anything was hid from the king
which he told her not." The Lord gave him the
requisite wisdom;-nothing " was hid " from him,
that he might communicate to her all the instruction that was necessary or desirable. So also
may the drift of her intentions, and the character
of her heart, be very clearly and satisfactorily
discerned in the effect produced upon her mind
by her intercourse with Solomon, and in her
pious as well as dignified address to him. Not
content with congratulating those whose privilege
it was to be constantly near him, and listen to his
wisdom, she adds most elegantly, "Blessed be the
Lord thy God which delighted in thee, to set thee
on the throne of Israel, because the Lord loved
Israel forever; therefore made he thee king to
do judgment and justice." Three things must
not fail to be detected here. The queen of Sheba
is assured that the Lord loved Israel forever.
What is this but faith? Secondly, she praises
the God who loved Israel. What is this but love?
Lastly, she recognizes judgment and justice, while,
with consummate skill, she reminds and persuades
Solomon to exercise them in his kingdom. What
is this but righteousness?  Faith-love —righteousness —" these three " were all thine, noble and
most excellent queen of the South! Such wast
thou as thy farewell was given to Israel, and thou
returnedst to " the uttermost parts of the earth!"
A Divine voice, that spake as never man spake,




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          97
deduced for-us the moral-a momentous lessonof the history of the queen of Sheba. She " shall
rise in the judgment to condemn this generation;
for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a
greater than Solomon is here." Thus said Christ
to the hardened Jews. Gentle reader!  Has this
no application to thee? She traversed a long.and weary distance-she devoted much time and
abundant treasure-to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Do you learn of Christ? And his wisdom
is far greater; —and he is near you;-and to
know him is eternal life!
TUT'hat  of   a r t a 
THERE was hanging over the land of Israel one
of those awful judgments which the God of providence saw to be often necessary, in order to
remind that stiffnecked people of their duty, and
lead them back from that idolatry to which, previous to the captivity, they were so strangely
liable. The prayer of Elijah had shut up the
heavens, and the frightful famine was abroad.
The Sidonian widow was gathering a few sticks
with which to bake her last loaf for herself and
little son, that they might eat it and die, "Bring
me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread," utters a stranger's voice, Her heart sunk within her, for that
voice fell on her ear with an unwonted authority,




98          WOMEN OF THIE BIBLE.
as it seemed to demand her last morsel. " Fear
not," adds the mysterious stranger; "provide
for me, and afterwards for thyself and son; for
thy jar and cruise shall not fail, till the famine be
ended." The widow believed, and, in her extremity, she divided her bread with the weary and
famishing prophet. The word of the Lord failed
her not; her giving was her receiving-and it
was good measure, pressed down, and running
over. There is a beautiful Providence that can
extract life from death itself, and reveal the honeycomb, even amid the decaying carcass. Abundance was the widow's allotment henceforth, for
" many days;"-yet shadows will pass over the
most favored, and gloom again settles upon the
humble mansion of the widow of Sarepta. That
little son falls sick;-and his sickness is dreadful,
and his breath departs.  In this world great
griefs will come, and there are times when they
will come suddenly. Blessed are they who then
possess their souls in patience, and remove not
their hand from the great Father's. In the wildness of the widow's sorrow, she glances upon the
good prophet, as though he had come'to bring
judgment to her house, rather than mercy, and as
if his hand were concerned in the death of her
boy. "Art thou come to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?" Be not in haste to
speak, especially when deep distress overshadows
thee, and when the agony of disappointment and
grief presses thee deeply to the dust. Weep softly,




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           99
and let thy heart bleed in silence. Or if thy lips
be opened-if thy cries must be uttered, let it be
rather in the ear of God, that is open to prayer.
There is hazard when, in such awful times, we
glance elsewhere than upon heaven. The aching
eye is often dim and confused. It may seem to
discern enemies when only friends are near. It
may think to detect secondary agencies, and be
blind to the great hand that holds and directs all
destinies. "It is the Lord," is Faith's solemn
voice;-and then the spirit, in its bitterness, is
hushed and still,-ahd cold suspicion dies-and
the heart is at peace with all men, and with itself-and " Blessed be the name of the Lord!" is
the song of the weeping.
And often, too, there is provided a way of escape. The walls of darkness may seem impenetrable, and the last hope may seem to give waywhen, all suddenly, the cloud heaves up, and we
look for it, and lo! it is gone; —and skies spread
themselves over us, such as are more beautiful
and brilliant than we had gazed upon before-and
the night is spent, and the day is come. Great is
God; and as good and merciful as he is great.
He pities the widow, and often remembers her
tears, when human sympathies are feeble and
few. " O Lord my God!" cries the prophet, "I
pray thee- let this child's soul come into him
again!" It is a sublime prayer. A man on
earth goes feeling after a soul resident in eternity; and the God of infinite sympathy helps,




100         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
and the departed spirit is permitted to return.
" See, thy son liveth!" saith the prophet, as he restores the lad to his astonished and rejoicing mother. Those eyes are animated andbrilliant once
more. The paleness of death has left those features, and the lips that just now appeared sealed
forever, open and speak again.
From that day, the widow of Sarepta trusted
in the God of Elijah.  "The word of the Lord is
truth i" she exclaimed, and as she believed, it was
counted to her for righteousness.  "Blessed are
all they that put their trust in Him!"
"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for
thereby some have entertained angels unawares."
Such appears to be the moral of what is written
of the Sidonian widow. Too often is the stranger, as he enters our doors, counted as unwelcome.  The world is shut out-and the little
circle is quiet now. A  chosen company are
there; and smiles, and joyous converse, and pleasant fruits, and delicious music, gladden the scenery. "Far off be the stranger;-nor may he
intermeddle with those hours of brilliancy!" Or,
there may be a different aspect. The dwelling
may be cold and cheerless —and the widow and
the orphan may be lingering there-and want and
sorrow  dwell there-and cries for bread from
helpless ones pierce often that poor mother's
heart,-and Hope has fled away, for the last loaf
is prepared, and the last scanty meal is made
ready, that they may eat and die. " Far off be




WO.MEN OF TIIE BIBLE.            101
the strangerS"  Yet pray not thus too ardently,
daughter of sadness! And if he come-come to
share thy last pittance-grieve not too sorely.
IHe may be God's messenger; he may be to thee
some angel of mercy, commissioned to bear to thy
cheerless mansion abundance instead of famine,
and life rather than death.
"Although the vine its fruit deny,
Although the olive yield no oil,
The withering fig-trecs droop and die,
The fields elude the tiller's toil,
The empty stall no herd afford,
And perish all the bleating race,Yet will I triumph in the Lord,
The God of my salvation praise!"
TnIis is, perhaps, the most hateful of the female
characters exhibited in the sacred Scriptures.
She was of royal descent, being daughter of the
king of Tyre; and having been bred a Pagan,
she remained a confirmed idolatress to the day
of her death.  Ahab, one of the most wicked of
Israel's kings, sought and obtained her hand, and
introducing his heathen wife to his court and
people, he also led in her idolatry, became himself
a worshiper of Baal, and established the heathen
altars and priesthood in all his kingdom. Four
hundred and fifty prophets of Baal were scattered
through his dominions, and four hundred, besides,




102         lrWOMEN OF TIIE BIBLE.
priests of the impure rites of the Sidonian Astarte,
were supported constantly at the table of the infamous Jezebel. Meanwhile, the prophets of the
Lord were everywhere persecuted and slain at
her command, and the true worship was interdicted, and substituted by the abominations of
heathenism.
The great Elijah, amid these troublous times,
was, of course, a doomed man, and his life was
especially sought by the wicked Ahab and Jezebel. He saw the frightful apostasies of the kingdom of Israel, and his prayer had gone up to God
for the withholding of the rains of heaven, in
order that, by the judgments of the Almighty
upon the land, the inhabitants thereof might
learn righteousness. Dreadful famine, as a consequence, was prevailing; but the king and
queen, like Pharaoh of Egypt, were only hardened, rather than subdued, by the judicial visitation; while their vengeance waxed hotter and
hotter against God and his people.
Elijah at length comes forth from his hidingplaces, and shows himself to Ahab, who hails him
as the troubler of Israel. With tremendous emphasis the prophet retorts the charge upon the
king, and, with his characteristic fearlessness,
proclaims to him the sad cause of all the widespread calamity. " Thou, and thy father's house,
have forsaken the commandment of the Lord, and
have followed Balaam." The great demonstration
at Mount Carmel succeeds, and the true God is




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          103
again acknowledged by the assembled multitude,
and the prophets of Baal die by Elijah's hand, and
again his prayer ascends, and the " heavens gave
rain." It would seem that the whole nation, together with their idolatrous rulers, must now be
certainly convinced, and that the true and righteous Jehovah would be recognized and honored.
So, probably, thought Elijah. But if so, he was
speedily undeceived. That mighty rain had yet
scarcely ceased to fall —the first for three years
and six months-ere the prophet receives a message from the hand of Jezebel, threatening his
immediate death. The voice of God was as if
sounding in her ears, as her malignant notes were
thundering in the ears of his faithful prophet.
Was there ever such a lesson touching the depth
of human wickedness when the heart is fully set
to do evil!
Elijah retires hastily firom the reach of the
hateful queen, and she sees him no more. Her
course is still downward and bloody. The unfortunate Naboth perishes by her instigation, and
Ahab, "whom Jezebel, his wife, stirred up," sold
himself to work wickedness beyond all men. He
died, at last, as all bad men must die. Jezebel
survived her -husband about thirteen years, and
died by violence at the command of Jehu, and
heK body was eaten of dogs.
The history of this heathen queen is only
melancholy. It is darkness without light. As
we contemplate it, we seem in a world of demons




104          WOMIEN OF TIlE BIBLE.
rather than of beings that are human. The soul
grows sick, and shudders at vwhat one of our
fallen race may become.  What! can manespecially can woman, sink, in this world, to degradation so extreme and awful?  Well may we
weep over sin, and flee from it as from the fell
serpent's fangs.  Well may we tremble at the
dire ravages of heathenism-effacing, as it does,
the image of God from the soul, scathing whatever is beautiful to behold, and transforming man
or woman into a fiend of darkness.  Well may
Christian mothers and daughters lay themselves
out for- the, redemption of their Pagan sisters, and
aid, to the utmost, in bearing'to them that only
remedy for the moral desolations of the race.
Jezebel was a heathen, and a representative of
heathenism-a monument of what a thousand
Christian women, without redemption, would be,
who are now the loveliest ornaments of this
world, and almost "as the angels of God in
heaven."
"Shall we, whose souls are lighted
With wisdom from on high,
Shall we, to souls benighted,
The lamp of life deny?
Salvation! 0 salvation!
The joyful sound proclaim,
Till earth's remotest nation
Has learn'd Messiah's name!"




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.-         105
- lre WIl    41amitt.
"ELISHA passed to Shunem where was a great
woman;"-distinguished for excellence of character and conduct; for such are they who are
great in the sight of the Lord. She appears to
have possessed an ardent temperament, which
imparted to her beneficence an -earnestness of
cordiality  beyond what is ordinary.  Elisha
would seem to have been residing, for a time,
in the vicinity, while his calls of duty often led
him  to pass her- dwelling.  It would not be
strange if, as she now and then glanced at the
man of God passing her residence, she observed
him to be weary and faint with his journeyings;
and hence her goodness of heart prompted her
earnest invitation that he would accept and enjoy
her hospitalities.  Having made her acquaintance, and realized her kindness, her residence
became a favored and favorite resting-place of
the prophet. And more prophets than one have
found occasion for lofty gratitude, as they have
been refreshed by the cheering smiles, and generous sympathies, of some intelligent and excellent
daughter of Zion. Long after Elisha and his
noble hostess of Shunem had passed away, the
great apostle of the Gentiles often rejoiced in the
house of Lydia, and was succored by the kind
attentions of Phebe. In the house of Priscilla,




106        WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
Apollos the eloquent not only found refireshment
and repose, but also learned, at her lips, " the way
of God more perfectly."  The "elect lady" was
greatly beloved by John, who was often welcomed
to her house, and with her had conversed with
fullness of joy. One of the mansions of Bethany
was a favored resting-place of the Man of sorrows, who loved Martha, and her sister, and
Lazarus. This thorny world shall not be utterly
a desert while such are scattered here and there
to bloom upon its surface, and cheer, with their
fragrance, the weary traveler.
There seems an elegant exuberance in the sympathy of the Shunammite, as well as admirable
prudence and discernment. Her generous hospitality is not satisfied with contemplating merely
ordinary arrangements. She would have a room
constructed and fitted up specially for the man
of God, whither, at his pleasure, he might retire
to meditate, and pray, and repose. Nor did she
proceed with arrangements so important without
the co-operation of her husband. "Behold now,"
she said to him, "I perceive that this is a holy
man of God which passeth by us continually."
And such discernment of hers, reveals to us, in
part, her own fair and excellent character. She
was not as the heath, knowing not when good
cometh, but her senses were exercised to know
good and evil. She could discern the character
of the prophet; and, discerning it, could sympathize with its sublimity and beauty. Piety and




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           107
goodness had no' repulsiveness in her eye, but
irresistible attraction rather.  She was not content that they should "pass continually " by her
-she invited their presence, and wished them to
linger with her, and welcomed them with the
warmest cordiality. It is refreshing to observe,
also, her interest to inspire the same sentiments
in her husband. She would have been greatly
distressed to be doomed, without his acquiescence
and pleasure to carry out her plans for the prophet's entertainment and comfort.  She seeks
that there be but one mind-one thought, in
those whom God had joined together. Nor is
she obtrusive, while she is forward in her plans
of goodness. There is no stepping aside from
the sweet proprieties of woman.  She was
"great," yet not imperious and haughty-not
selfish- and secluded.  "Let us make a little
chamber, I pray thee, on the wall." On the
one hand, she would do all possible for the comfort of the prophet; on the other, she is equally
solicitous for her husband's sympathy in her
benevolent projects.  Those projects are successfully fulfilled, and the messenger of Heaven
failed not to honor the prophet's chamber with
his presence.
"The Lord give mercy to the house of Onesiphorus; for he often refreshed me." Thus prayed
an apostle for one of the circles that were privileged to minister to his necessities. In like manner prayed Elisha as he was once reposing in




108        WOMEN OF TIHE BIBLE.
that little chamber made upon the wvall. And
who may compute the results of such a petition?
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man
availeth much. "Call this Shunammite!"  The
prophet has prayed, and the response would seem
to have been, that he select his blessing for the
favored woman. She has come, at his command,
and is standing before him. "Behold," he saith,
"thou hast been careful-very careful for me;what is to be done for thee?" It was no earthly
recompense that, in her kindness and beneficence,
had been sought for by this elegant lady; yet
such a recompense is suddenly proffered. "Wilt
thou be named to the king?"  Shall great favor
come to her from  the throne, or the camp?
Would she wish to pass up and tread in high
places, and mingle in the brilliant circles of the
court? "I dwell among mine own people," is
the reply of her to whose greatness inspiration
itself hath borne testimony. What was the pomp
and glory of the world to her, whose eye was reposing upon a far more glorious destiny, and who
was laboring not for the meat that perisheth?
Nor does she give further answer to the prophet's
inquiry. She was looking for no special reward
of her goodness to an eminent servant of the
Most High. Her privilege was her reward-and
she deemed it a high honor to lie at his feet, and
be permitted to provide for his necessities; while,
with her brief and characteristic response to the
prophet, she again disappears. But the man of




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           109
God is not at rest. "A blessing must come to
this house. What, then, is to be done for her?"
Such is the burden of a heart oppressed with holy
gratitude and affection. It must bless that it may
itself be refreshed.
The woman of Shunem  becomes a mother.
When five or six summers pass away, her little
son, like that of the Sidonian widow, droops and
perishes. Elijah, who had comforted the widow
in her bereavement, had, long since, passed away
to heaven in a chariot of fire, yet his mantle, as
he rose, fell upon Elisha, to whom was now hastening, in her affliction, his distinguished hostess.
She had laid away the little corpse upon the prophet's bed, and, turning her face toward Carmel,
she drove swiftly.' Afar off, the man of God, as
he stood aloft, marked her rapid approach. "Is
it well with thee —thy husband-thy child?"
" It is well!" and her trembling hands are seizing the prophet's feet, and the tears of her sorrow
are gushing swiftly and bitterly.
Yet, ere nightfall, this storm passes over, and
there is- brightness and brilliancy again, like the
clear shining after rain. Another spirit comes
back from eternity at the call of a man, and the
little corpse is reanimated, and rises up from the
prophet's bed; and she who, in the morning,
sought that room with mourning, came thither
again, at evening, to embrace  joy and rejoicing.




11.0          WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
"She rear'd a simple cloister there,
And placed its artless furniture;
And welcomed oft the man of prayer
Within the house she made so sure.
"And oft the weary prophet sought
Repose within those peaceful wallsThe quietness that lingers not
In folly's gay and noisy halls.
"That room was blessed!-it was there
He ask'd,' What shall be done for thee.'
And beauteous visions open'd where
She deck'd that bower thus gracefully.' There once she wept, indeed;'twas when,
Softly upon the prophet's bed,
She laid her boy; then sobb'd again,
And left him there all pale and dead.' Yet joy illumed again, at even,
The'little chamber on the wall,'
Where to her arms that boy was given,
Waked by the great Elisha's call.
" I'11 write it, then, with scenes of bliss,
Such as the soul shall long remember;
And, in my heart, will often kiss
The hand that rear'd that prophet's chamber."'




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
C, a t "   Xittt i   l IXyh 
MAY we not consent to notice what the Divine
pen has condescended to distinguish by an eternal
memorial?
And why, then, should we forget the little captive maid in the house of Naaman? It is true,
we hear little of her. She was one of the victims
of cruel and relentless war; and, by one of those
sudden invasions by which the Syrians were accustomed to vex the neighboring kingdom of Israel, this little daughter of misfortune was taken
captive, conveyed to Damascus, and became
waiting-maid to the wife of Naaman.
She was, probably, a native of Samaria, inasmuch as she was so familiar with the fact of
Elisha's residence there. How long she had
been a captive we are not informed; nor whether her family and kindred were still living; or
whether her parents, and others of her relatives,
perished when she was torn away from her
childhood's home; or whether they were also
captives in some other region of Syria. We
find her alone in the house of the Syrian captain. Yet she had not been long there; for she,
though young, yet remembers her native country
and city, and distinguished characters which she
has seen or heard of there. Of course, she was
capable of deep sorrow on account of her en



112        WVOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
slaved condition, and, doubtless, often wept as she
remembered her distant and beloved home, and the
mother whom she would see no more, and all the
beloved companions of her happy childhood.
Yet she is not overcome by her sorrows. We
regard her as possessing a fortitude and composure highly becoming for one so young and
frail. There are obvious, also, a decided affection
for her master and mistress, and interest for their
welfare. "Would God my lord were with the
prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover
him of his leprosy." These beautiful words are
all we are permitted to hear from this dear captive child. Yet these speak much; for they tell
of strong and earnest solicitude for the health and
comfort of her master. She does not merely
communicate the fact of a mighty prophet in
Samaria. - Such communication would be characteristic of a mind rising but a slight degree
above indifference.  Thus was not the "little
maid." The intelligence she imparts takes the
form of an earnest wish or prayer. It is the
outbreaking of an affectionate and devoted heart
-a heart overlooking all injuries of which she
may have been the subject in the matter of her
enslavement, and forcible detention from the
scenes of her nativity.
Her language bespeaks her intelligence, as well
as her sympathy and goodness. She was a little
maid, slight in stature, and of tender years; yet
her speech is mature. She knew the great pro



WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.         113
phet, and speaks of him with all the assurance of
full intelligence and unwavering confidence. " He
would recover him of his leprosy." That was
much to know, and much to say. Yet was it so
known, and so said, as to claim authority, and
produce conviction,-and that, too, upon superior
minds.  "Thus and thus said the maid," the
Syrian king was told. And the king was moved,
and the letter of introduction is prepared, directed
to the monarch of Israel; and the "great and
honorable captain"-the "mighty man of valor,"
is presently on his way to Samaria, with splendid
equipage and magnificent presents. That little
voice, and those few words-few, yet effectiveproduce great movements.
And there is no ultimate disappointment. The
great captain returns to his wife, and to the little
maid, a renewed being-renewed first, in body,
his flesh as that of a little child, —and renewed in
mind and spirit, offering thereafter, no sacrifice,
save to the true God, and bearing as he comes the
great prophet's blessing.
It seems safe, then, to infer a better destiny for
the captive child. Health, piety, happiness, and
life, had all come, through her agency, to the great
man her master. Did he not bless her, then, as he
returned with joy from the prophet's presence?
Found she not again her native home? And
were riches and honor withheld from her whose
fair wishes for her master's welfare were but the
prelude of their full accomplishment?




114        WOMEN OF T/HE BIBLE.
Be her memory then forever lovely! Her voice
was delicious music, and the outbreathing of her
lips was health and fragrance. Her words were
full of modesty and discretion-and they were
"winged words " —and their echo was as protracted as it was beautiful. " Would my lord were
with the prophet!" He was promptly with the
prophet. "He would heal him!"  He did heal
him.
The moral of the story touching the "little
maid" is this:-That a child —a little captive one
-may, by a " fitly spoken" word, perform a good
whose influence shall be incalculable and everlasting.
gs3ti,
VASHTI was wife of Ahasuerus, king of Persiawho was the same as Artaxerxes, son of the famous
Xerxes. That period of her history of which we
have an account in the Scriptures, was four hundred and sixtyyears before the birth of Christ. Sacred and profane history both assign to her husband an extensive and mighty empire, reaching
from India on the east to Ethiopia west, and embracing one hundred and twenty-seven provinces.
Such was the great dignity of Vashti, whose beauty
and accomplishments appear to have been corresponderit with her lofty position. In the third year
of her husband's reign, extraordinary festivities




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.         115
were ordered by him, in his palace at Shushan,
where, during one hundred and eighty days, he
entertained all the princes and nobility of his
numerous provinces, and displayed before them
the exuberant riches and splendor of his kingdom.
At the end of the hundred and fourscore days, he
ordered another feast for the people of the city,
which continued seven days; and during the same
time Queen Vashti made a feast for the women,
in accordance with the oriental custom of the
separation of the sexes on such occasions.
On the closing day of this latter feast, and when
the king was "merry with wine," he sends his
seven chamberlains to conduct the queen, in full
array of royalty, to the presence of the king, in
order that he might exhibit to the assembled nobility and people her extraordinary beauty. The
queen refused compliance with the king's requisition, and, as a consequence, with the advice and
counsel of his wise men, she was divorced firom
her husband —was deprived of the royal dignity,
and another ascended to occupy the position which
she had forfeited.
After this there is no more related of Vashti;
nor is there necessity for anything further.
Enough is written to illustrate the perfect propriety
of her conduct, as well as the consummate injustice
she was compelled to receive at the hands of her
graceless husband. All those aspects of Vashti's
character which we are permitted to discern, are
becoming and beautiful. We observe a decorous




116        WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
cordiality and sympathy in the festivities which,
on this great occasion, were ordered by- the king.
We perceive her readiness to associate with him
in the feast of seven days to the people of Shushan,
and, in accordance with the Persian customs, to
entertain the mothers and daughters, while the
king should provide the banquetings for the fathers
and sons. She exhibits herself as prompt to every
act of propriety and courtesy. She was one with
her royal consort, so long as he was self-possessed
and rational. She was obedient, as was meet,
while the king was worthy of her obedience. But
when, after long wine-drinking, he became intoxicated, and was no longer a man, and reason was
dethroned, and virtue was prostrate, and the commands of his lips became but as the babblings of
insanity,-then, most appropriately and righteously, she declined his requirements. What virtuous
princess of modern kingdoms would not, in similar
circumstances, imitate her noble example?
There are several considerations that challenge
our respect and love for this beautiful queen of
Persia.
We respect and love her for her dignity. She
was a distinguished personage, and stood in a distinguished position. Few women were ever more
elevated in rank or station. With a proper appreciation of her position and duty, she justly
scorned to be placed on exhibition, and exposed to
the rude gaze of a bacchanalian host, with the
prince of bacchanals at their head, and acting as




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           117
master of ceremonies. WVhat respect, after such
a degrading ceremony, could she have ever
retained for herself-her husband-or her station?
We respect and love her for her modesty and humility. A vain and ostentatious lady might, with
little hesitation, have complied with the royal command. She might have been prompt, despite of
all impropriety or disgrace, to seize such an opportunity for the proclamation and display of her
charms. But nothing like this was the character
of this noble woman. She possessed beautypeerless beauty of person; for she stood at the
head of her sex throughout that vast kingdom-a
position for which personal elegance appears to
have been a capital test of qualification. Had
she been vain, rather than virtuous-and ostentatious, rather than modest, what a rare opportunity
was now presented for the gratification of her
ambition! But such a ceremony was utterly distasteful. She chose to bloom in retirement, and
counted the cruel exposure to which she was cited,
to be but the sad blighting of her charms, and the
eclipsing of all her brilliancy.
We respect and love her for her disinterestedness. The sacred narrative, with its characteristic brevity, forbears to admit us into the more
private halls of that splendid palace. We are not
permitted to look upon Vashti, as she receives the
shameful message to prepare herself to stand as a
public spectacle. The struggle which for a moment agitated that delicate and accomplished




118        WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
mind, is not revealed. Yet it is quite easy to
guess what she must have clearly foreseen.
When she consented to disobey the great monarch of Persia, she knew full well that the consequences would be momentous; and together
with her decision to decline, she decided also to
relinquish her fair station, and even to submit to
de'ath itself. To one, if not both of these melancholy results, she saw she would be doomed, and
still " she refused to come at the king's commandment."  Honor to her! She therein demonstrated
before the eyes of that vast nation, as well as to all
after generations, that she was as noble as she was
beautiful; and that the greatness of her mind, and the
refinement of her heart, were entirely commensurate
with the enchanting gracefulness of her person.
Thus do we presume to estimate this proscribed
and unfortunate lady,-if, indeed, it should be
reckoned a misfortune that so much loftiness and
excellence should become emancipated from so
much meanness and mire. Immeasurably too
lovely and good was such a queen to be linked, in
her destinies, with a purling drunkard-king though
he might be.. The heart of sympathy could wish
that she might never have entered that palace, to
be insulted by the presence of besotted royalty, and
sickened by the breath of magnificent beastliness.
Would she might have bloomed still in the vales
of peacefulness, and wedded there the brilliant
counterpart of her own inestimable beauty, dignity,
and worth! Too good was she for a king-too




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           119
noble for a palace-too virtuous for a court —too
beautiful for a crown.
Whither Vashti retired, when she "came no
more before king Ahasaerus," there is no record.
She saw another rise up to take her place and
wear the crown which had been unrighteously
torn from her own head. It is pleasant that no
other harm is discovered; and pleasant to believe
that self-respect, a good conscience, peace and
quietness, attended her who, by her virtue, and not
by her fault and vice, was compelled to lay off the
comfortless vestments of royalty.
Christianity enjoins upon the wife obedience to
her husband; yet guards her, in this matter, with
strong limitations. That husband is to love his
wife-love her as his own flesh. In other words,
he is never to tyrannize over her, —never to be
unkind,-never unreasonable,-never require what
is wrong, indecorous, or improper; while his very
commands —if, indeed, he ever utters any to his
wife-are to be but the outbreathings of kindness
and love. If, then, with a spirit the reverse of all
this, he demands of his wife, as of a servant, to do
this or that,-if he issue such demands, irrespective
of their righteousness or wrongfulness,-if he require what he ought not, and what ought not to be
complied with, then let the wife, in her great misfortune, look up to the God of the oppressed, and
standing, like Vashti, in the mighty strength of
virtue, decline obedience. In other words, let her
obey God and her conscience, rather than man.




120        WOMEN OF TIHE BIBLE.
ESTHER began to flourish about B. C. 462. She
was a Jewess, resident in Susa, and daughter of
Abihail, who appears to have been of the many
among that people who declined returning to Canaan after the Babylonian captivity. Her parents
having both died, she became the adopted daughter of her kinsman, Mordecai, who was one of
the king's porters at his palace in Shushan, and
who appears to have reared her up with extraordinary care. Esther is represented as possessing great beauty, and "obtained favor in the sight
of all that looked upon her."  She it was who,
after the banishment of the virtuous Vashti from
the king's presence, was selected by him to take
her place, and received the royal crown at his
hand. By her exaltation, she became the providential instrument of saving the people of her
nation in the conspiracy for their destruction
plotted by the infamous Haman. Greatly beloved
by the king, he was ready to bestow upon her
all her desire,-while thus signal advantages accrued to the Jewish people wherever scattered in
that vast empire. Her elevation, and her triumph
over Haman and all the enemies of her nation,
are the capital incidents of her history, as given
in the Scriptures. The number of years she
lived, and whether the sequel of her history was




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          121
equally prosperous as its commencement, are
matters which are not reported to us.
Nor is it necessary. To act the part which
she was commissioned to act, was glory sufficient
for one princess, even if no further prosperity and
happiness awaited her upon earth. The conspiracy of Haman, and its defeat, constitute one of
the great and prominent events of Jewish history. Ahasuerus is king of the great Assyrian
empire. Esther is his recently-wedded and beloved wife. Haman was the first of the nobility.
Mordecai was -one of the king's porters. Mordecai and Esther were Jews, and related to each
other as above. He refuses to Haman the usual
ceremonies of respect and reverence, paid to him
by the other servants of the king. Whether
Mordecai had sufficient reason — for a course of
conduct which placed in such imminent peril the
existence of the whole Jewish people, is not related. Haman becomes greatly exasperated, and
plots the ruin, not only.of Mordecai, but of all his
brethren throughout the empire. All arrangements are made for a simultaneous attack, and
utter extermination. To thisproject of wholesale murder the king had given his consent, and
had thus shown himself a fellow-murderer with
his chief minister. The curses -of posterity fall
heavily upon the head of Haman in remembrance
of this transaction. But if his name be so detestable, what shall be said of the man who, having power to prevent all the mischief, cordially
6




122        WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
consented to this greatest tragedy that was ever
projected, and the successful execution of which
would have covered with innocent blood the
greatest empire on earth, and blotted from existence, in a single day, one of the nations of the
world?
The human angel that was to step forth and
turn away this most fatal storm, was the beautiful
Esther. Instructed by Mordecai concerning the
danger that was pending, and the part she was to
act, she mediated with consummate addressbrought into requisition all her great influence
with her royal, brutal husband-procured the
condemnation and execution of her nation's great
enemy-obtained permission for the Jews in all
the empire to stand upon their defense on the day
appointed for their destruction,-and thus, by her
timely agency, saved her kindred and people.
A high place is to be assigned to Esther, therefore, in the list of eminent women that have
adorned this world. She did valiantly; nor can
we wonder that her name should be so honored
and dear in the minds of the Jewish people of
every generation. Not only are we to contemplate her as eminent in intellectual ability, but as
endowed also with extraordinary goodness of
heart. The fate of her nation was hanging, for a
time, upon her movements; and nobly did she
fulfill the mission which the Divine providence had
assigned to her. She laid her all upon the altar
of the public welfare.  "Fast ye for me," she




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          123
saith to Mordecai and all the Jews; "I also and
my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in
unto the king, which is not according to the law;
and if I perish, I perish." Such was the spirit
and temper of the beloved Esther. She determined, if need be, to sacrifice herself for the safety
of her kindred.
In the history of Esther there rises before us,
with wonderful clearness and emphasis, one of
those movements of special Providence which
the pure mind discerns so constantly on the page
of history. For aught that we can perceive, it
was utterly irrespective of Esther's connection
with the king that Haman receives the great offense which was likely to result so disastrously.
We -see not but the murderous and dreadful decree would have been made, whether she had ever
beheld the king or not. Yet when it is made,
and the frightful storm is gathering, she is directly
there, and clothed, providentially, with an authority such as no other person upon earth could
wield.' When a fate the most disastrous and terrible of all their history was hanging over all that
wide-spread people, the God of destinies had placed
the one being of all others in the one position of
all others, for the turning aside the dreadful blow!
Such is the grand fact-the sublime development,
in the inspired history of the illustrious Esther.
We love her for the admirable qualities of her
person. We respect her for the lofty place she
was called to occupy. We profoundly venerate




124         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
her for her accomplished tact and triumphant
success in overthrowing a conspiracy the bloodiest, perhaps, and the most diabolical, in the annals
of human history. At the same time, let us love,
and venerate, and adore infinitely more the great
unseen Hand that was concerned in all the phenomena of her history, and the Being who was
himself the great actor amid these solemn movements. Verily, there is a God that sitteth in the
heavens, who bringeth to naught the devices of
wicked men, and into the pit which they prepare
for others thrusts them down headlong to terrible
destruction.
The daughter who may chance to read this
brief essay will not, of course, infer that there
are to be many instances such as that of Esther.
Yet may every one be certain that, in the event
of her full submission to the Divine hand, that
hand shall accomplish in her, and by her, some
good which may not be measured by earthly
treasures.
oat Virgin var4.
MARY is the earliest of the female characters that
meet us in the New Testament Scriptures; and
she rises before us as the one of all the Bible
whom, in the way of description or history, we
approach the most reluctantly. We feel that
though human, and inheriting "like passions"




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          125
with her sex generally, yet, on the other hand,
she stands out distinctly from all others, and that
she is, as well in our thoughts, as in the angelic
sallutation, "blessed among women." Special and
profound reverence, therefore, shall be added to
our sacred affection, as we glance at her who was
divinely hailed as "highly favored,"-and who
was the mother of Jesus.
Mary was the daughter of Heli, and was, as
well as her husband, descended of the royal line
of David. She appears to have been a native of
Nazareth, and when she is first introduced by the
sacred writer, her hand is pledged to Joseph, and
the marriage-day is approaching.  It is during
this interesting interval that the- great event of
the Annunciation occurs. A solemn day was
that in Mary's history-a day unexpected —unthought of previously-and afterwards never to
be forgotten.  Up to this morning she was as
others of her sex and age, and bloomed, a lovely
being, somewhere within the city of Nazareth.
True, we know nothing of her previous history.
Yet we do not think of her as having ever before
looked upon superior beings, or listened, in amazement, to unearthly voices. Thero is no wonder,
then, that when that angel being met her, she was
astonished;-and  that when  those  sentences
of heavenly beauty fell upon her ear, she was
troubled. No extraordinary destiny, it is probable, ever arose to occupy her youthful dreams.
Her sober, thoughtful mind, as it gazed into the




126         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
future, embraced, it is true, delightful prospects;
yet were they such, and only such, as a thousand
lovely maids have looked upon, as they welcomed
the delicious visions of forthcoming and joyous
happiness. Joseph, if we do not misjudge both
him and her, was the man of all others to be
greatly loved by Mary. Intelligent, righteous,
candid, generous, and merciful, he was the fine
and noble counterpart of that female loveliness
and worth which, probably, have never been excelled. Her union with him was contemplated,
then, with calm and sunny hope, and their
united and happy destinies on earth would witness, as she trusted, a peaceful evening, and
they would pass afterward away to the heavenly
Canaan.
Were not something like the above the limits
of Mary's modest, though brilliant hopes, on the
morning of Gabriel's visit? But a scene new
and altogether extraordinary opens now. The
Virgin is no longer upon a level with others of
her sex. "Blessed art thou among women," is
announced to her from an authority more than
human, and henceforth "all generations" must
contemplate her as standing alone. There is none'like her-there can be none. She is the first of
her sex, from the ancient "mother of all living,"
down to the last maid that shall bloom in beauty
at the opposite and far-off extremity of Adam's
race. Standing as in the centre of human generations, there she rises, with a sublimity unearthly,




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          127
to the gaze of a wondering world-her form beaming with a radiance soft, yet novel and awful,
and with a beauty above human, and peerless.
Whoever speaks of her now, let him pause as he
pronounces a name not merely pleasant, but holy,
and attaching to itself associations as interesting
and as sublime as man's immortal weal. Is it a
goddess as we approach her-a being once human
and terrestrial, and now all suddenly deified, and
registered with celestial intelligences? Nothing
of this. Spare your adorations and your prayers.
Worship God! Here rises no divinity. Humanity is still here; but who shall tell its exaltation?
Who shall appreciate the overwhelming enchantment of this strange picture? The pen trembles
and falls here. Amazement seizes the bewildered
spectator; —the eye grows dim; —the spirit's
depths are stirred; —the natural powers give
way;-the whole being, like the Virgin alone and
looking upon that angel stranger, is troubled;strange visions, such as never waked before, rise
up, though dimly —then flit away again, as within
the shadows of eternity.
Who shall describe the interview, when that
swift immortal hailed the gentle Mary? Who
shall portray that presence? What was the
beauty of that countenance?-the glory of that
eye-the brilliancy of those tresses-the music
of that voice-the divine gracefulness of those
motions —the fragrance of those robes of immortality? Which way came he as he entered? In




128        VWOAMEN OF THE BIBLE.
what direction lay his course as, retiring, he passed
away heavenward?
Is it wicked that, with longings irrepressible,
we revolve such inquiries?  Since sometimes
human eyes have looked upon heavenly forms,
and human ears have listened to celestial voices,
is it a forbidden curiosity when, in the soul's deep
struggles, it looks out through the portals, and
weeps to descry beings that once touched this
earth-and have walked and conversed with
humble and lowly ones-and in music such as is
never heard from human lips, have whispered to
one, " Thou art greatly beloved!" and to another,
"The Lord is with thee!"
Thus was Mary saluted. Was she within doors,
or abroad upon the mountain ramble? Was it in
open day, or when the shadows of night were
reposing softly upon hill and vale? Did he.tarry
long, or was he soon away again, nearing the
shores of Paradise? It is not essential; nor is it
essential that Gabriel should come to me. His
mission to Mary was as if to every individual for
whom a Saviour was about to be revealed.
It seems needless to remark the exceeding appropriateness of so sublime an announcement as
that to the favored Mary. If mere men, as Isaac
and the Baptist, eminent though they were,
might be heralded by angel messengers, much
more should we expect such extraordinary proclamation to precede the advent of Him who was
the greatest of all prophets, and whose kingdom




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.         129
was to last forever. Strange that such a superhuman manifestation should ever raise a doubt in
a Christian mind! What thoughtful man would
not wonder, rather, at the absence of such species
of notice? Is not the entire process of redemption superhuman?  When the Divinity became
united with humanity; when the rescue of a
wicked world from sin, and from death eternal,
was planned; when a greater-work was about to
be consummated on earth, than the creation of
thousands of material worlds,-was it so strange
that celestial messengers from heaven to earth
should precede and accompany so momentous a
crisis in God's providential and gracious dispensations? On the contrary, all is in keeping. It
was fit that movemnents so sublime and wonderful
should be announced by angels, and that voices
from other worlds should be heard right early,
proclaiming the coming of the Desire of all nations.
And the message is given —the maid listens with
astonishment,-believes what she hears,-acquiesces in the Divine plans, and receives the angel's
blessing.
When the scene again opens, Mary is hastening
far from home to commune with Elisabeth. Arriving, strange salutations again meet her, as she
enters the mansion of her cousin.  Prophetic
words are once more breathed forth, and again are
the blessings of heaven pronounced upon the virgin, while, in glad response, her own lips are opened,
6*




130        WOMEN OF' THE BIBLE.
and, in a song of matchless beauty, she praises
the God who had exalted her to be the admiration
of all generations.
The scene of her perplexity then follows soon;
but Joseph is a just and feeling man, and his heart,
though, doubtless, racked and torn with bitterest
disappointment, yet leaned toward mercy. He
would not destroy the supposed guilty one. -He
was prudent and sincere, and God met him and
plead for the innocent, and banished all his fears,
and restored him again to his virtuous and beloved
Mary. " He will never suffer the righteous to be
moved."
Jesus Christ is born!-" born of the Virgin
Mary." Of this great event it scarcely becomes
us to speak in this connection. It stands out
prominently in the history of the universe, and
will attract to itself the admiration of holy intelligences so long as " life and thought and being last."
All suddenly it drew heaven down; and voices
without number, and such as never before lighted
on the'ears of fallen beings, breathed their triumphant minstrelsy in the vicinity of this earth.
Long before, indeed, the morning stars sang to.
gether, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.
But this was when the world's foundations were
laid, and before sin had spoiled the newly created
scene. Four thousand years had rolled slowly
and sadly away, while no heavenly harp was
heard in human habitations, or abroad in blooming groves, or aloft in micdair. Superior beings




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          131
were away; or if, at distant intervals, they ap.
proached our world on errands of mercy or of vengeance, it was to linger but for a moment, and then
again "fly swiftly " from scenes of guilt and woe
too mournful for the eyes of angels. The moment
of Christ's incarnation was the moment, in the
history of man, when heavenly voices first sung in
the ears of sinners. It was in the dark night, and
shepherds, at their vigils, were the favored auditors.  We wonder not that they were "sore
afraid;" nor that, as they saw those hosts return
heavenward, they said one to another, " Let us go
to Bethlehem and see!"
Mary, as is natural, appears now and then, as
we trace the inspired history of the Lord Jesus.
Wherever we discern her, along his infancy and
childhood, we always behold her deep and tender
interest-her fullness of affection-her unfeigned
modesty and humility —her sober thoughtfulness,
and the exceeding propriety of her whole bearing
and conduct. It might seem that, deeply pene,
trated with a sense of the transcendent dignity of
her position, she most assiduously eschewed every
word, and act, and thought, inconsistent with such
elevation. -She never obtrudes herself upon the
popular. gaze. Her words are few and select.
Perfectly assured of the extraordinary character
and destiny of her Son, she, at the same time,
moves with the strictest prudence, and, instead of
noise and ostentation, she "keeps all these things,
and ponders them in her heart." In the public




132        WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
career of Christ, she is p~rofoundly interested in all
his movements-takes not her eye away from him
— lingers near him to the last, and is in one of the
groups which, standing afar off, sees him suspended
from the cross. Then and there it was that she
felt to the quick the wound predicted to'her by
Simeon, and a sword pierced through her own
soul as she constrained herself to witness the
agonies of Him who was, at the same time, her son
and her Saviour. That son, (O, wonderfully beautiful!) in the very act of dying for the eternal life
of a world, gave her in charge to the beloved disciple, in order that quietness and plenty might bless
the evening of her days.
ELISABETH is a name of great reputation in the
Holy Scriptures. She was of the daughters of
Aaron, and wife of -Zachariah, who was of the
priesthood. The Scripture presentation of the
character of these two persons is, that " they were
both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless."
More than this, surely, need not be added. They
were obviously not like thousands of their nation,
and many even in the priesthood. They had not a
mere outwardly righteousness, but a righteousness
before God-4a righteousness that was real, sincere,




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          133
and such as met the Divine approval. It is  highly
refreshing, as well as interesting, to discern examples like these, moving amid that wicked generation. All accounts agree that the Jewish people
had become strangely degenerate. Though they
professed the worship of the true God, and the
temple service was still maintained, yet were they
an exceedingly rebellious and wicked people, and
were rapidly filling up the measure of their iniquities. Many of the priesthood were among the
vilest of men. They were full of hypocrisy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, and almost every
evil passion that was wont to riot in men abandoned to evil and wickedness. There seemed no
epithet too dreadful for inspired lips to attach to
them.  They were -blind guides, hypocrites —
whited sepulchers-serpents, and vipers, and murderers. Even the members of the great council
appear, almost to a, man, to have been on a level
with the very worst of men,-utterly regardless of
justice, truth, or even decorum. And as it- was
with the higher classes, so was it with the multitude. Righteousness, goodness, and the fear of the
Lord, seem to have almost utterly forsaken that
favored people. They had received the law by the
dispensation of angels, and had not kept it. Zachariah and Elisabeth, and others, here and there,
stood out from this general mass of wickedness.
They rose as pure and burning lights amid the darkness. The spirit of evil was all abroad; but they
remained untainted, and held fast their integrity.




134        WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
Such was Elisabeth. During many'years of a
wicked age, and encompassed by unrighteousness,
she was righteous before God. She kept herself
aloof from the raging flood of impiety. She joined
her husband most fully and cordially in adhering
to God and his law, amid surrounding darkness and
violence. She looked for a brighter day, and departed not from the fear of God. Her house was
a house of prayer. " The Scriptures " were there,
and they were perused and regarded, and the law
of God was laid up in her heart. We know of
Elisabeth that she sincerely loved and worshiped
the true God. She was pure in speech. She
sanctified the Sabbath-day. She rendered to all
their dues, and interfered with the rights of none.
No one had reasonably any evil thing to say of
her. She was blameless, harmless, without rebuke, before a wicked and perverse nation, among
whom she shone as a pure and brilliant light.
How fit a companion was she for a priest of the
most high God! How favored of Providence was
Zachariah in the lovely companion of his life!
And, on the other hand, how happy was such a
one as Elisabeth, that she was joined with a man
of prayer-a righteous man! What must have
been the mutual influence, especially in that cor,
rupt age, of their unflinching integrity, and unfailing righteousness! They joined hands for goodness and for heaven. They strengthened each
other in the Lord their God. They were not unequally yoked together. Theirs was a marriage




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.         135
indeed-a union in the great things of God, and in
the momentous interests of the soul.
God remembers his chosen ones, and often opens
up before them new scenes of happiness, even in
the present world. Continuing righteous before
God, and walking regularly and constantly in His
commandments and ordinances, it has more than
once transpired that, after long years of trial, blessings as unexpected as they were valuable, have
all suddenly been laid at the feet of the faithful
ones. I have heard of a traveler who wandered
long amid dark and apparently interminable forests.
As he advanced, the dense thicket still arose before him, beyond which no field or sky arose on the
weary eye; and there seemed, as the sombre days
and solitary nights passed slowly over him, only a
deeper and deeper burial within the cold, damp
wilderness.  And yet he rallied fortitude and
strength, and fanned the flickering flame of hope,
and still advanced, until, as in a twinkling, a brilliant opening shone through the ancient foresttrees; and approaching, he looked in transport
upon his long-desired and long-sought home, reposing in beauty amid the sunny vale beneath the
eminence whereon he stood entranced. And
then, as he looked up and breathed infinite gratitude into the ear of God, he forgot, in that hour of
transport, all-his dreary wanderings, and every
dark anxiety and fear, and hailed his present happiness as an ample compensation from the Hand
that doeth all things well.




136        WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
Thus was it with Elisabeth. She, like Sarah of
old, had passed into the vale of years, and without
embracing a son,-an event which appears to have
been counted a severe reproach and calamity by
the ancient women. Yet mark what honor succeeds to such reproach —what prosperity triumphs
over such calamity, in the examples of these illustrious worthies. Passing, both of them, beyond
the line within which lie human hope and probability, mysterious beings are suddenly passing
from heaven to earth,-and strange predictions
are uttered, and new revelations astonish and
cheer God's humble worshipers, —and renowned offspring, whose names are to be held in
everlasting remembrance, rise before those "who
were called barren." God's ways are a great
deep, and His paths are not known.
A son is born to Elisabeth, —-a son of- rich and
certain promise, and of sublime and glorious destiny. He was sacred from his birth, and the hand
of the Lord was near him. He passed his childhood and youth away from public gaze; and as he
grew in stature, his spirit waxed strong and mighty,
and going in and out before his parents, they knew
him to be ordered for extraordinary purposes.
Elisabeth's son became a prophet of the highest
-the predicted Elijah of the New Testament dispensation-the forerunner of God's Messiah, turning multitudes to the Lord their God. He was
great in the sight of the Lord-so great that none
born of woman had been greater than he. True,




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          137
he died disastrously, as have multitudes of others
of whom the world was not worthy. Yet he finished his course, and passed early to take his place
among the assembled prophets of former generations.
Daughter of Israel! How pure, as it flows to
thee, is the voice of thine ancient sister! It whispers, " Be thou always sincerely and deeply righteous, nor be swerved from thy duty by one of all
adverse influences. Hide the blessed law of God
within thy heart, and let all thy private, domestic,
and social walks be in exact accordance with its
precepts. Join hands, in beauteous harmony, with
thy husband, in all the ways of righteousness and
holiness. If he is hastening up the path of life,
hasten thou at his side. If he lingers, gently and
cautiously direct his eye aloft, and, with thy soft
hand, draw him onward. Love thou the house of
God, and linger always near His altars. Count
nothing unimportant which He has enjoined, and
let all His ordinances be precious with thee. And
be thou blameless-an Israelite indeed, in whom
there is no guile. Thus God shall appear for thee;
and brighter scenes shall yet open before thee-it
may be in this life —certainly in the life to come."




138        WOMEN OF TIHE BIBLE.
A FEW lines only of the Divine book are devoted
to her; yet they tell of excellent things, and will
bear the name of Anna, with honor, down to the
latest generation of the Saviour's followers. -On
her first and only appearance upon the Divine page,
she has traveled far down into the vale of years.
The husband and companion of her youth was
long since dead, and, resigning him to an early
grave, it might seem that she had, at the same
time, relinquished all earthly hopes-had consecrated herself to holy living-had dwelt long and
earnestly amid the Scriptures, and had delighted to
abide near the altar of God. The morning and
evening service at tie temple was dear to her; so
also was the silent closet, and the prayer which
went up from the heart to the Father who seeth
in secret. Her soul was in sympathy with him
of old, to whom the law of God was only delight,
and in that law he meditated day and night.
Long and intently had she pondered the ancient
prophecies, and she saw that brighter days were
laid up for her nation, and for the world. A prophetess herself, she held deep communings with
holy men of old, and with them she inquired, and
searched diligently concerning the great salvation
which they prophesied. With them, was she intent upon what, or what manner of time, the spirit




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.         139
of Christ which was in them did signify, when it
testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the
glory that should follow. She saw that the fullness
of time was come,-that Daniel's weeks were
spent-and, as the watchmen waiting for the star
of morning, she was looking. The Prince of
Peace-the Messiah of God-the Desire of all nations-He whose kingdom was to absorb all other
kingdoms, and was to last forever-the Redeemer
of men;-toward this long predicted Being were
directed the eyes of Anna the aged. Nor was she
without kindred minds that, within that wicked
city, were praying and expecting. In addition to
the prophetic impulse which touched her own
spirit, had she not conversed with the venerable
Simeon, and heard him express his assurance of
looking, before his death, upon the Lord's Anointed?
Interesting to the student of holy things are
these hallowed openings through which we are
permitted to look within the cloisters and the hearts
of ancient godly ones. How unutterably refreshing, even to us, far distant spectators, to behold the
spirit of prophecy again returning, after the long
interval of hundreds of melancholy years! How
welcome the renewed visits of ancient Gabrielancient, yet youthful, and glorious, and mighty, as
when, long before, he flew, at God's command,
and touched the beloved Daniel! 0! how sublimely beautiful to hear heaven's voices breathing
again through human organs! The songs of Zacharias, Simeon and Anna, joined with those angel




140        WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
responses high up above the enchanted shepherds,
breathe forth a chorus whose swift echoings along
this dying world have startled millions into lifeentranced them as they passed on through their
pilgrimage-while, lying down to die at last, they
still turned to listen to' the great anthem of salvation as they "breathed their lives out sweetly
there!"
And who might adequately measure the transports of the aged Anna? During many, many
years, she had seen "through a glass darkly."
True, she had hope of the promise made of God
unto the fathers; unto which promise, instantly
serving God, day and night, she hoped to come.
She looked to see the promised Seed before her
death. She longed that the clearer light should
shine and that " the glory of Israel " might rise, for
once, upon her eyes, ere her weary frame should
sink into the dust.
She was heard. At the exact moment, the
venerable Simeon "came, by the Spirit, into the
temple;" and Anna was seen " coming in that instant." There they stood, on that remembered
day, and as if representative of all men and
women. There they both looked upon the Messiah,-both rejoiced with joy unspeakable, —both
gave the prophetic testimony of his coming, —and
both sent their praises, a sweet savor, up to the
eternal throne.
Nor could this suffice for the enraptured Anna.
See her, as she passes from house to house, and




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.         141
from street to street, seeking out the praying,
hoping ones, assuring them that the Redeemer had
come. Pure and brilliant is that light to those
witnessing its last shining. That aged voice grows
young again; that withered countenance beams
with unwonted radiance; that faded eye grows
bright with celestial fire. New and strange energy
pervades that tottering frame. She takes hold of
strength-pushes diligently her final effort-and
departed not till she spake of Him to all that looked
for redemption in Jerusalem.
Ye aged mothers in spiritual Israel! Weep not,
for your light is come, and the glory of the Lord
is risen upon you! The world, it is true, grows
dim, and those that look out of the windows are
darkened, and the doors are shut in the streets, and
the daughters of music are brought low, and fears
are in the way, and the grasshopper is a burden.
As the trembling autumn leaf, ye are ready to
drop and be unseen. Yet cling to the H6pe of
"the holy women in the old time, who trusted in
God." Continue in supplications and prayers, as
the closing days and nights pass heavily, perhaps
painfully, away. Memory declines; yet seize upon
a few exceeding great and precious promises, or
upon only one, if sometimes all others fade from
view. Flesh and heart fail; yet lean, with unyielding confidence, upon Him who is the strength
of your hearts, and your portion forever. The
speech is feeble and slow; yet use it to praise God,
and give him perpetual thanksgiving. Pronounce




142         WOMEN OF TUE BIBLE.
often the name of your Redeemer, and speak of
Him " to all that look for redemption." Be not in
haste to say that the days of your usefulness are
gone. No marvel if your evening sun shall go
down in the midst of life's great harvest-time! At
all events, prophesy while you may —praise while
you live! Still sweep the broken, tuneless instrument, till the glad day of its exchange for the harp
of eternity-!
"I'll praise Him while He lends me breath,
And, when my voice is lost in death,
Praise shall employ my nobler powers;
My days of praise shall ne'er be past,
While life, and thought, and being last,
Or immortality endures."
T r Womana    of   anvaria,
THERE seems an air of mystery accompanying
this woman.  Was she, or was she not, a woman
of virtue?   Against the favorable hypothesis;
there stands the declaration, that when Christ
conversed with her she had had five husbands,
and was then in possession of a man who was not
her husband. Nothing else appears in the narrative prejudicial to her reputation; while, on the
contrary, the whole presentation, with the above
exception, exhibits her under favorable aspects.
What then of the exception?
That she had had five husbands, is no conclu



WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.         143
sive evidence against her; for so many might
have died early, and with no blame on her part.
Or some of them might have separated themselves
from her by divorce, in accordance with a custom
so painfully prevalent at that time, both with Samaritans and Jews. The darkest shade appears,
therefore, when Christ reminds her that the one
whom she now had was not her husband. But
criminality is uncertain even yet: -for the person
alluded to may have been a husband only in
prospect, and not actually such at the time of the
conversation; so that with exact propriety, and,
also, consistently with her virtue, the Lord might
have said to her, "He whom thou now hast is not
thy husband." All this, we repeat, may have
been, while yet, we are obliged to admit that, so
far as the language quoted is concerned, there is
reason for unpleasant doubt. We may say, however, that the conversation, as a whole, inclines
us to the favorable decision.
For, first, unless the sentence of Christ just
quoted be regarded as such, he seems to utter to
the Samaritan woman no reproof for immorality.
All his other observations to her appear to be
such as he might have very properly addressed to
any virtuous and intelligent woman of Samaria.
Then again, on the hypothesis of her criminality,
every one has wondered at the turn of her thoughts
on becoming convinced that Christ was a prophet.
If he has just convicted her of disgraceful conduct, and convinced her of his knowledge of her




144        WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
character, how did it happen that she, as her first
thought, pounced upon the long-disputed question
of the Jews and Samaritans, touching the appropriate place of worship? Supposing her innocence, her immediate inquiry on this subject was
perfectly natural. Now seemed to her a highly
favorable opportunity to gain an inspired decision
of this long-contested matter. But supposing her
guilt, all this train of thinking and conversation
looks unnatural and strained. She stands, on this
hypothesis, a convicted harlot, before one whom
she judged a prophet of God. Under such circumstances, would there be any disposition-any
tendency, to revert to the- question as to where
men ought to worship? What has she to do with
worship? Or what cares she for the fathers, or
the mountain, or place where they praised the
God of Israel? If, after such conviction of her
guilt as is here supposed, she utters anything
more, will there be no apology-not a single accent of penitence?  Will she still proceed in
conversation, precisely as though her position in'
society is without reproach?  And where also is
the reproof from Christ, which would seem to
have been due to a woman thus convicted of sin?
How is it-she being guilty-that he still converses with her as a woman of purity as well as
of judgment, and discourses to her of the true and
spiritual worship about to be introduced? When,
on another occasion, a woman was arraigned before him as guilty of adultery, he charged her to




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE-          145
sin no more. WVhy was there not a similar
charge, if she were a similar character, to thewoman of Samaria'?  Was it meet for the Saviour of the world to hold high converse with a:
woman of ill-fame, touching subjects in which
we cannot conceive she would feel any interest?
"Repent of this thy wickedness," would seem a
far more pertinent address.
Yet again, this woman is obviously looking for
the Messiah. She knows that he is coming, and
-she is expecting him soon. At the same time,
such is her confidence in him, that she is assured
he will teach her everything necessary. All this
sounds like an upright and well-informed woman
of Samnaria; but it is difficult to predicate such
sentiments of an adulteress; and equally incongruous, under such circumstances, is the Lord's
profession of Messiahship. To this woman he
tells-even before he has told any other personthat he was the Christ; while, upon the unfavorable hypothesis, he makes this very important revelation to a bad woman, and one exercising no
penitence or prayer. All this may have been,'but it is certainly unaccountable.
We may look a step further. On hearing that
the Being who talked with her was the Messiah,
and confiding in what she heard, she hastens into
the city; and as she communicates the intelligence, and tells the ground of her confidence,
" many of the Samaritans of that city believed on
him for the saying of the woman."  What! when
7




146        WOMEN QF THE BIBLE.
this same woman was of ill repute-whose good
name and character were gone? Why this high
degree of confidence in a wicked woman, so that
her proclamation of the Messiah was at once received implicitly by a multitude? And why were
so many others ready to go, at her word, and. see
for themselves the wondrous manifestation?
From  all these considerations, there appears
much reason to conclude that the woman of Samaria, with whom. the Lord Jesus held one of his
most important conversations recorded in the
sacred book, bore not that disreputable character
which many are accustomed to ascribe to her.
One single expression of Christ seems to throw
her into suspicion; but that expression may admit
of a construction favorable to the one addressed;
while, with the supposition of her innocence, the
whole conversation and narrative are harmonious,
but with the supposition of her guilt, there occur
decided incongruities.
We prefer, therefore, as well for the sake of
truth, as for the sake of the memory of the Sa.
maritan woman, to count her as being a woman
of unstained reputation —as having passed through
vicissitudes of life which, though extremely uncommon in Christian society, were yet far less
singular as growing out of known customs of the
people of that nation and age. To have been
joined to five husbands, and to be contemplating
a union with a sixth, would obviously be deemed
reproachful under Christian light; it all might




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          147
have been entirely innocent in Samaria, and even
in Judea, before the voice of Christ re-established
the true regimen touching marriage and divorce.
At the same time, all parties will be profoundly
interested in the scene at Jacob's well. There
sat Christ the Lord, wearied with his journey —
and it was high noon-and the powerful sunbeams, falling upon him, had increased his weariness and excited his thirst. His disciples, meanwhile, were gone to the neighboring city for provisions, and Jesus was alone when "the woman"
made her appearance. The dialogue that ensues
is surprisingly rich in spiritual instruction, and
marked throughout with what may be termed the
most perfect naturalness and simplicity. There
is seen the transition, as beautiful as it is natural,
from the cool and refreshing waters of that well,
to the living water which Christ bestows, and
whereof, if a man drink, he shall thirst no more.
The grace he gives shall satisfy, with perfect happiness, the.soul that receives it-waking within
him perpetual delights, and causing to spring up,
as an unfailing fountain, a bliss full, all-sufficient,
glorious, eternal. And in the midst of this interview and conversation arises also the most welcome assurance, that the Almighty source of
happiness is to be confined- to no one city or
mountain. The veil of the temple is about to be
rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and the
way into the holiest of all is to be made accessible
to all of every nation and place —while he will




14S         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
seek such to worship him, as worship in spirit andin truth.
The woman of Samaria retires from the presence of Christ a believer in him as the Saviour
of the world; and as she tells the story of her
conversion, many others receive the same faith,
and are saved in like manner. Forget not this
one suggestion, daughters of Zion! This woman
had found Christ, and she would not have done
well to hold her peace. Straight was the path
She took, as, forgetful of her pitcher, she hasted
away to the city. "Come!" was her earnest
word;-" Come, see the Messiah!" Too great
was the blessing she had found, to be concealed
for a moment. And as she told the story of her
faith, many others believed also. Thus shall it
ever be. This simple and sincere testimony, on
the lips of the Christian, shall be powerful in its
influence, and many shall hear, and fear, and turn
to the Lord. It is a mournful feature of Christian
society in these days, that what is termed common
conversation strongly tends to be worldly rather
than spiritual. Religion is too much confined to
churches, and sermons, and prayers. It flows
not forth, as it ought, to mingle itself with all the
affairs of.life, and to sanctify all the minutiae of
our transient existence upon earth. We would
not advocate a noisy or ostentatious religion.
Christians must of course, be wise, as well as holy.
But we would welcome the day when the spiritual element shall enter more freely and fully




VWOMEN OF THE BIBLE.        149
into our daily intercourse and conduct; —when
the glory of God shall be in our eye, even in the
matters of eating and drinking; and when no
corrupt communication shall proceed from our
mouths, but such as is good to the use of edifying,
that it may, like that of the Samaritan woman,
minister grace to the hearers.
(it Womnnau of tbh  bInnR4 i9ssts.
HERE rises another illustrious instance of woman's
faith. The person concerned had been long an
invalid, and her disorder was of a highly distressing and discouraging character. Twelve melancholy years had passed over her since the
commencement of her infirmity; one and another
physician had prescribed for her; many remedies
had been proposed and tested. Sometimes hope
would animate her; then again failure and discouragement would ensue. In many instances
harsh measures had been adopted, subjecting her
to much distress and anguish. All this she could
gladly have endured, if, beyond her sufferings, she
could have welcomed returning health and happiness. But every experiment, however painful,
was without effect, save -to leave her in a more
distressed and hopeless condition than before.
Meanwhile, so desirable to her was the great
blessing of health, she had spent all her substance
in purchasing those vain and injurious medica



150         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
ments. She had sold all that she had, to purchase
the healing of her infirmity; and when all was
gone she was "nothing better, but rather grew
worse."  Her sickness remained with her when
her means of sustenance were gone, and no house
remained to shelter her —-nor wardrobe from
which to clothe and warm her sinking frame.
It was under these dark circumstances that she
"heard of Jesus." His fame was now spread
abroad. Vast multitudes from various quarters
had flocked to see him, when they had heard
what great things he did. Many sick and diseased people had been all suddenly restored to
health. Distressed and dying ones had been
borne to him from various regions, and, in every
case, they rose up at his command, and returned
home with the fair bloom of perfect health sitting
upon their countenances. Raging demoniacs had
been released from the destroyer, and were sitting
among their friends, clothed, and in their right
mind. Hapless lepers, at his touch, had felt their
flesh renewed, in a twinkling, as the flesh of a
little child, and went from his presence publishing
abroad the great things that Jesus had done for
them.
Of all this, and more than this, she of whom we
write did hear, and, as she heard, she seized upon
faith for her own recovery. She had gone down to
deep extremity. Her health, and home, and bread
were all gone. Her last hope seemed to be dying,
when came the tidings of the heavenly Physician.




WOMEN OF THE BIBLB.         151
From this moment she seems to us to have entertained no lurking doubt. She saw that her time
had now come; that, after long sorrow, the hour
of joy was at hand; and the mournful night that
had so long hung over her, was about to end in a
bright and glorious morning.
We may readily imagine that she made no delay in hastening to Christ. Her faith was unusual,
and it bore her swiftly to where the multitude
were assembled, and urged her, as with a determined and final effort, through the crowds that
surrounded and thronged the Messiah. Who
may tell her emotions at this moment of her his.
tory, and as, in her violence, she said within herself, "If I may but touch his clothes, I shall be
whole!" What then was the trembling energy
of that frail hand, as she thrust it forth to realize
the blessed contact! She touched; and accords
ing to her faith so it was done to her. Her
plague was healed straightway, and she felt the
tide of health at once flowing blissfully through
her long-wearied and sickly frame.  "Who
touched my clothes?" And as she heard these
words, and his eye fell upon her, she feared exceedingly. For a moment it seemed, perhaps,
that her Saviour was displeased with the liberty
she had taken-was about to rebuke her forwardness-and resume the virtue that, without being
asked for, had "gone out of him." An awful
moment must that have been to the trembling
woman. How could she lose again the priceless




152         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
blessing which she had just received?  And how
could she endure, in addition, the reproach of the
great Deliverer? It seemed a great and momentous crisis, and she is speedily prostrated before
him. Here she tells him all; and, in return, there
is no rebuke. The accents of infinite beauty and
love fall upon her ear, saying, "Daughter, thy
faith hath made thee whole-go in peace, and be
whole of thy plague." His sacred approbation
and assurance are given now, and the reward of
her faith is pleasant, as are the months and years
of joyous health and -sunny peace, after long
periods of suffering and discouragement.
The faith of this woman stands among the
most precious and remarkable examples. It was
a confidence in the infinite exuberance of the:Messiah's power and goodness. In her eye he
was an inexhaustible fountain of glory and virtue.
In him she saw in realization the vision of the
prophet, and the very clothing of Jesus was the
robes of salvation, and the smell of his garments
was as the smell of Lebanon. In her mind it
was safety to be near him, and health and life to
hear his voice. She beheld in Christ the infinite
fullness that was ever ready to burst forth, and
like the electric spark, to fly wherever a connecting medium, slight though it were, might le established. The putting forth of her hand to
touch the sacred vestments, was but the visible
emblem  of her struggling and confiding soul.'Her spirit leaned, without the slightest hesitation,




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.         153
upon the Spirit Almighty and All-benevolent, and
was of course not disappointed.
Blessed are they whose faith in Christ's power
and mercy is unlimited, and who always and
joyfully realize that he is able to save to the
uttermost!
W3Thni  nf - Wt nan 
PASSING out of St. Stephen's gate, in the eastern
wall of the city of Jerusalem, crossing the brook
Cedron, and passing near the garden of Gethsemane, then turning, and, with the brook on your
right, following its southerly course a little space,
and presently circling eastward up Mount Olivet,
and crossing a double ridge, you descend into a
deep and narrow vale, about two miles from the
city you have just left. Here is Bethany,-so
famous in the evangelical narrative, and wreathing with its name associations-some, beautiful as
the walks of angels-others, awful as the voices
from the spirit world. Here was one of the favorite resting-places where the Saviour of the world
resorted for refreshment and repose, and here
were mansions where He was often welcomed
who came to be for salvation to the ends of the
earth.
It was in one of these happy homes where bloomed in modest beauty Mary of Bethany-one of the
purest and loveliest characters of the Holy Scrip7*




154         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
tures, and answering, almost without exception,
the true idea of female exellence. Martha was her
sister, and Lazarus her brother, while the parents
of the three were probably no longer among the
living. Several circumstances seem to bespeak
the more than ordinary respectability of this interesting family. That they were above want, is a
likely inference from their frequent and generous
hospitalities toward Christ and his companions, as
also from the expensive anointing, by Mary, at
the feast of Simon;-while their respectability, as
well as wealth, is an idea harmonious with the attention and sympathy exhibited to the sisters in
the visits of condolence from Jerusalem after the
death of their brother.*
There belongs, however, to Mary a character
infinitely more valuable than what might arise
from worldly riches and reputation. Her earliest
appearance in the inspired narrative is one of exceeding interest. She is listening with profound
attention and reverence to the great Teacher who
has condescended to honor her residence with his
presence, and speak to that circle, of matters the
most interesting to them in the universe. Mary
especially drinks in the words of life.  All things
else appear to lose their hold upon her attention
and affections. The outward world has lost its
attractions, and loved associates are, for the time,
neglected and forgotten. Even the domestic arrangements are esteemed of no importance in comDr. Otii.




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           155
parison of the words that flow, as spirit and life, to
her soul. She forgets her customary share of the
household duties, while the more careful Martha
is left to serve alone. She has found meat to eat
such as the world knows not of. A scene of enchantment has opened before her vision, and she
would fain gaze upon it forever. To tear herself
away from the Redeemer's feet, and cease to listen
to his voice, is as if passing from the charms of the
heavenly paradise to roam amid the rough hills
and ravines around her earthly abode. - A glimpse
of the immortal life is affecting deeply the heart of
Mary. What is the world to her,-" — its pomp, its
pleasure, and its nonsense all?"  What is there
here save emptiness? On what shall she lay her
hand, and say, "See, this is abiding and permanent?"  Whither shall she run, and entering, exclaim, "Lo, this is my fortress and- my strong
tower?"  In what fragrant and peaceful bowers
shall she recline, and, reposing there, sing, " Here
be my rest forever?"  On what peaceful shore
shall she stand,; and, amid the thrilling of unutterable happiness, whisper to herself, " Here glides the
river of the water of life?"  On what countenance
of entrancing loveliness shall she look, whose
spiritual beauty, and whose smiles divine, shall
still enrapture, when the stars shall have long
since set behind the shadows of eternity? " Mary,
come to my- help, that I serve not alone!" "Martha,
entreat me not to leave His feet, from whose lips
are flowing th6 words of eternal life t!'




156         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE;
" Master, bid her that she help me!'
"' Martha, —-artha! thou art troubled about
many things. One thing is needful: and Mary
hath chosen that good part, which shall never be
taken away from her."
But sadness came at length, and entered the
once pleasant mansion of Martha and Mary.
Their dear and only brother was sick, and it was
a sickness unto death. As he declined from day
to day, and all human help and wisdom proved
abortive, it was natural that they should think of
the great Physician who had healed so many of
their sicknesses.- He was away beyond the Jordan;
yet a messenger is suddenly despatched with the
intelligence that the one whom he loved was sick.
Jesus delays his visit, and for the present withholds his power, and the brother beloved is left to
die.. Four days afterhis burial, Christ and his disciples arrived in the vicinity, and Martha hastens
to meet him. The more quiet Mary waits, at the
house, the Saviour's coming, or tarries till she is
bidden to approach his presence. She comes with
the same salutation which Martha used, deeply expressive at once of their faith and their sorrow.
" Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not
died!"  Thus spake Mary, as, low at his sacred
feet, she wept in her bitterness. Here ceased her
words, but more eloquent still was the agony of her
grief. The Lord was silent. She especially was
dear to Christ, and as -he saw the intensity of her
mourning, his own spirit groaned and wept.




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.:         157
Great and awful was the transaction of that day
at the grave of Lazarus. There stood the twelve.
They had often seen the brother of Martha and
Mary, and had been partakers of his cheerful hospitalities. "Our friend Lazarus," were the pleasant words by which the Lord had spoken of him
when they heard of his illness. There stood also
the visitors from Jerusalem, who had come to
Bethany, that day, on a visit of condolence and
sympathy. And there were the two sisterstheir hearts swollen with grief too great to be comforted.- Lastly, there stood the weeping Son of
God-weeping with them that wept-mingling his
sacred tears with those of the bereaved. And
-there, at the same time, He stood girded with
omnipotence, while, as he spake, the reverberations of that voice rolled through paradise. The
time had come when the dead heard the voice of
the Son of God and lived. A slight tumult is
heard, for a moment, from within that dark and
noisome cavern, while without, all eyes have
ceased to weep, and are gazing with trembling
amazement toward the aperture. He is coming,
-Heaven pity us! The vestments of death are
upon him, and his swathed face is pale and thin;
but his eyes are open, and the fire of life is again
there. "Loose him, and let him go!"
After that, Mary could never for a moment forget the great Deliverer. She loved him before,
and-was never happier than when sitting at his
feet, and hearing his word, But now, added toall




158        WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.:
his other unspeakable benefits, he had restored her
dear and only brother, -and had lighted up her desolated home with unbounded rejoicing.
The anointing succeeds in the house of Simon,
as Jesus was sitting at his table in company with
Lazarus and others. The ointment was of great
price, and as Mary poured it upon the sacred person of the Messiah, he testified of her that she did
it for his burial. Whether she had received directly from his lips or otherwise the impression
that he was soon to die, is not revealed, though
highly probable. She would perform this last
kind office for him, and as her ministries must so
shortly cease, she would spare no expense in whatever service might be proper or agreeable. Injurious reproaches fall upon her for her apparent
profusion and waste; yet the greatest of advocates pleads in her behalf, and promises that
her deed should be told for a memorial of her as
far and as long as his blessed Gospel should be
preached.
" Now Jesus loved Martha."  She, as well as her
sister Mary, had a select place in the heart of Him
who knew all men; and hence, we may safely infer
for Martha a pure and excellent character. One
of her prominent features appears to have been
that of hospitality. Her house at Bethany was,




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.-        159
as we have seen, one of the special resting-places
of Christ and the apostles.  Like the woman of
Shunem, she prepared the place of lodging, in
order that holy ones, at their pleasure, might turn
in thither. A thousand families, and a thousand
sunny houses there were, where Jesus and his
companions never entered. They "knew him
not." He came to his own, but his own received
him not-neither into their hearts, nor into their
circles. But blessed were those doors that opened
as he approached, and the roofs that often sheltered the one who had not where to lay his head.
Such was the house of Martha. E To the "Man of
sorrows" that was one of his dearest homes amid
his earthly sojournings. There he was ever welcome. Smiles of friendship always greeted him
as he entered. Holy sympathy burned there,
while coldness and hostility full often met him
elsewhere. None arose with more alacrity than
Martha to provide for the refreshment of the
Saviour. None was more careful than she that
every arrangement for his entertainment and
comfort should be correspondent with her views
of his lofty dignity and transcendent worth. Too
much could not be done —too many hands could
not be employed —viands too many, or too delicious, could not be provided for Him who came to
save the lost. True, we once hear from his lips a
gentle-reproof of her exuberant preparations, and
her excessive solicitude, cautioning her to remem.
ber that her care about transient comforts should




160         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
not be allowed to interfere with that higher and
eternal festival which he came to provide.
A deeply interesting passage in Martha's history
is her interview with Christ on his tardy arrival
after the death and burial of her brother. Martha,
with her sister, had communicated the tidings of
his illness,-and their message, on this occasion,
was as affecting as it was modest and beautiful.
" Lord, behold he whom thou lovest is sick," were
the words of their brief epistle,-brief, for all attention was requisite for the help of their dying
brother; dutiful, that brother was greatly beloved by the Saviour; unassuming, they would
not venture to invite his attendance, though
their wishes are deeply and strongly intimated.
"Whom thou lovest;" —may not his special affection possibly induce him to- be present with his
healing mercy? Yet he hastens not to come, and
Lazarus sleeps and is buried. At length Jesus
arrives in the vicinity, and Martha, with her
characteristic ardor, goes forth to  meet him.
Many visitors from Jerusalem were there to sympathize with the sorrowful sisters; yet vain, in
that dark hour, was all human consolation; while,
that from Jesus she still looked for some relief,
there can be but little doubt. At all events, she
will hasten, and pour out her sorrows before him.
She believed him to be good beyond all otherswho knows but he may help and relieve though in
ways unknown?
Something like this may be supposed to have




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          161
been Martha's mind, as she met the Saviour, and,
in her deep agony, exclaimed: "Lord, if thou
hadst been here, my brother had not died."
Blessed was her confidence, so far as it went, in
the power of the Messiah. Yet it should have
reached further. Christ could heal, whether near
or far away. But pity thou her distress, and forget the confusion it may have induced, and overlook also the seemingly implied reproach upon the
Lord for the delay that looked so fatal! Courage
and faith are in the ascendant, as she adds, " But
JI know that even now, whatever thou wilt ask of
God, he will give it thee."  Martha is evidently
venturing her eye upon the restoration of her lost
brother.  A  broad and startling hint is here
thrown out, of a secret hope which she does not
plainly utter. A prayer of his would prevail
greatly, if it could be that he should be disposed to
"ask of God."  Martha's faith here was mighty,
not perfect. The Son had "life in himself," as
well as the Father; and he will lead her higher.
"Thy brother shall rise again," he answered; and
as he spoke, it was with the authority of omnipotence, and he meant that the rising would be immediate. Martha is still confused, as well as sad,
and falling back upon the long-admitted fact of a
final resurrection,-" I know," she saith, " that he
shall rise again at the resurrection at the last
day." There the Saviour meets her-the finisher
of her faith: "I am the resurrection and the
life!" Full conviction flashed now upon Martha.




162         WOMEN Oe THE BIBLE.
She saw that the raising of the dead was the pre.
rogative of Christ-whether at the final day, or at
present-a new hope kindled within her heart,
and, at the intimation of Jesus, she hastened to
call her sister.
Christ is near the tomb, and orders the stone,
closing up the entrance, to be removed. At this
moment of overwhelming excitement, Martha's
courage fails, and her eye transiently reverts from
life to death, and sight instead of faith, for a moment, predominates. A gentle reproof meets her
from the voice that is about to call the dead to
life,-and then.the great crisis occurs, and Lazarus
lives again on earth.
vartpa anh maott
HAVING glanced separately at Martha and Mary,
it may not be amiss to view them briefly together,
and as they stand related to each other. The
Bible student who carefully ponders these two
"elect ladies," will not fail to become more and
more interested in the contemplation. He will
see them possessing common features of character, and such a kind of similarity as might be expected to exist in two sisters reared up together,
and coming constantly in contact with like associations and influences. He will, at the same
time, discern a distinction-a distinction so permanent and marked as to entitle them to be con



WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          168
sidered as representatives of two important classes
of the sex, neither of which alone would meet the
wants of society, and standing as, in a sense, complements to each other.
Among the qualities that were common to the
two sisters, we easily discern that of intelligence.
They were, both of them, women of mind; and
were, doubtless, respectable for their general acquirements and information. They were well
read in the Jewish Scriptures, and their circumstances of competence, and the position they appear to -have held in society, indicate that, in respect to intellectual attainments, they were inferior to few of their sex in the circles where they
moved.   Martha's interesting colloquies with
Christ just previous to her brother's resurrection,
clearly evince her intelligence, regarded as a
Jewess. She had studied and digested the doctrines and teachings of the Jewish Scriptures,
while her views had received ample enlargement
and elevation from her intercourse with the great
Teacher. Equally discernible, though in a different way, is the intelligence of Mary. She, as well
as Martha, had given attention to sacred thingshad been conversant with the Scripture prophecies, and seemed even, more intent than her
sister upon learning of Him who was meek and
lowly in heart, and who yet knew all things. On
one occasion, at least, Mary's extraordinary diligence in hearing the instructions of Christ, was
esteemed by her sister as interfering with those




164:    WOMEN OF THE ]BIBL~.
domestic interests and duties in which they were
accustomed cordially to participate.
Again, these sisters cherished a common faith.
They were both believers in the ancient Scriptures, and both of them most cordially welcomed
Christ as the promised Messiah. Martha did but
speak the deep sentiment of herself and her sister
when she uttered to Christ that distinct and beautiful confession, saying, "I believe that thou art the
Christ, the Son of God, which should come into
the world." With such a confession as this,
their whole conduct was delightfully harmonious.
They never appeared to doubt, for a moment, thatJesus was the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
As such they received him and his companions to
their cheerful hospitalities;-as such they sat at
his feet, and heard his words,-and beckoned him
to come to them in trouble,-and leaned upon his
power, as upon no merely human help,-and saw
in him fully and literally revealed the resurrection
and the life.
Thus they possessed a common piety. Both of
them feared and loved God, and were ardently attached to him whom they firmly believed to be
the great and promised Messiah. Their love to
Christ, it is true, went out under different modes
of manifestation; yet was it, perhaps, equal in
strength and constancy in those two hearts, and
if with unequal speed, yet with equal certainty,
would they have embraced the stake for the sake
of Him whom their souls loved.




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          1656
A common hospitality was also theirs. Equally
rejoiced were they to receive Christ and his apostles within their mansion at Bethany.  Their
smiles of joy were harmonious, as they embraced
the privilege of ministering to their necessities.
Nothing in the eye of Martha was too good-no
domestic service was too great, if it were for the
comfort of her illustrious guest, and his -fivored
disciples.  So felt also the gentle Mary. Herhospitality was equal to Martha's, though modified
at times, in its -manifestations, by other preponderating sentiments hereafter to be noticed.  If
Martha flew to spread plenteously her table,
Mary rejoiced in her sister's zeal, though that zeal
might, now and then, reproach her own apparent
deficiency or neglect. Their varying movements
in the presence of their guests meant not that
within those two noble hearts there dwelt not a
harmony of cordiality, but they indicated a difference rather with which those hearts cherished
other views, and other motives of conduct. Both
were'alike hospitable-one, from another and a
lofty influence, was less attentive to the conduct
which hospitality might suggest.
But passing from these and other instances of
resemblance, it is time to notice those very obvious points of distinction and difference between
these interesting sisters.
Thus Martha was marked by more than ordinary activity both of body and mind. She was
quick of perception-vivid and strong in her




166        WOMEN OF THE BIBLE,
views of external propriety-and of great promptness in action. Her eye, ever active and direct,
appreciated with a glance the outward, the visible,
the decorous. She lacked not a strong mind and
a good heart,-yet she was, at the same time, solicitous that all arrangements with which she was
concerned should be orderly and becoming. We
may easily guess that her house, in all its apartments and furniture, was well-ordered, neat, and
inviting. There was a tendency in her to be
disturbed at the sight of anything deranged or
untasteful. She loved to hear the words of
Christ; yet she loved again to minister to his
wants-to provide- every physical comfort, and
was careful to omit no -attentions of this sort that
her nice discernment saw to be becoming, or her
means allowed her to- furnish. In contemplating
her, -we fail not to be strongly reminded of the
wise man's masterly portraiture of the virtuous
woman, whose price is far above rubies: "She
looked well to the ways of her household, and ate
not the bread of idleness."
Mary, on the other hand, was more thoughtful
than she was energetic and animated. She was
meditative rather than active. The outward and
the noisy had less attractions for her, and commanded less of her attention and care. If she
might converse with the Lord Jesus, and listen to
his heavenly wisdom, all else seemed to her as
comparatively of no account. She could easily
forget the little activities due to order, and even




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          167
to hospitality, while she would lose herself amid
the charms of sacred and holy visions. In her
raptures with the divine, she tended to forget the
human. Tasting the meat that endureth to everlasting life, it almost escaped her thoughts that
even the food that perishes is for a time necessary.
Her eye on the part which shall never be taken
away, she seemed exposed to utter disregard of
that action which, though immediately directed
to temporal consequences, was yet as capable of
being performed to the glory of God, as even
those exercises that are of a more spiritual and
more elevated order.
Martha, again, was forward;-yet not in that
sense which is deemed indecorous and offensive.
She was forward to speak; and if, at times, her
words were hasty, yet were they in general judicious as well as pleasing. She was forward to
move; yet hers were the movements of benevolence and generous sentiment. Her hands longed
to be occupied with some affectionate acts, such
as might conduce to the comfdrt and happiness
of worthy ones. In her graceful forwardness, she
could not do enough for her Saviour and his followers. Her step was as elastic as it was joyous;
her movements were as sprightly as they were
efficient, whenever she might administer to the
necessities of those who were despised and rejected by many, even of her own friends and
associates. Martha was forward; yet was it a
forwardness with which we could not dispense in




168         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
the fenmale sex. It wakes a thousand streams of
blessedness; it soothes a thousand sorrows; and
wipes multitudes of tears away. It flies where
the weary, and the faltering are; its voice is as
exhilarating as it is prompt and musical. It is, in
a word, one of the capital charms of the female
character; which being abstracted from the sex,
one half the brilliancy and beauty of human society would be, at once, extinguished forever.
Mary was more remarkable for her retiredness; a quality, by the way, by no means inconsistent with becoming forwardness; while the
two have been often blended, with exceeding loveliness, in the same individual. It was easy for
Mary to exchange the bustle of business, and the
excitement of conversation, for some obscure
place at Jesus' feet.. She loved -the Saviour as
well as Martha; yet while Martha- goes out
promptly to hail him as he approaches the mourning family, Mary sits still in the house. Martha
proceeds without ceremony, and as soon as she
hears his coming; Mary waits till the Master
calls for her. She sought to linger in seclusion
from the view of the multitude, leaving each
more prominent and public duty to the management of her stronger and more active sister.
Mary was the delicate and pure lily blooming in
the vale; her sister was the brilliant rose, opening
itself freely to the broad sunbeams.
Martha, yet again, was social. Prompt to
move and act, she was equally ready to speak.




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.         169
She was eminently a communicative being. Her
buoyant and artless mind delighted to unburden
itself- to a friend. If within her mind were
thoughts, whether of complaint or of congratulation-whether hopeful or fearful, they were wont
to leap forth to meet the mind of an associate.
And if, at times, and from reasons already alluded
to, her words seemed verging toward impatience,
or even severity, yet may we safely infer that the
general character of her sociality was in harmony
with her intelligent mind, and her generous and
noble heart. Kind words-elevated, sprightly,
and pure words, were those: that fell more usually
from  the lips of Martha. Her conversation,
doubtless, constituted one of the prominent attractions presented by her house to the Saviour and
his apostles. And, after disputing in the temple
with the perverse and stupid Jews, it was with
genuine gratification, both to himself and to his
companions, that he retired at evening to Bethany,
and there, with spirits purer and more congenial,
held high and heavenly converse. Nor can we forbear the impression, that in these delightful colloquies, Martha, on the part of her family, bore a
prominent part.
For of the words and conversation of Lazarus,
nothing, I believe, is reported; and Mary, as is
obvious, while she was swift to hear, was slow to
speak. She seems a listener, rather than as a
sharer in the conversations that are passing. One
of the strokes of the evangelic pen characterizing
gl




170         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
the beloved Mary was, that she "sat at Jesus'
feet, and heard his word."  She was a hearer,
and was not careful to speak. Like another
Mary of whom we read, she appeared disposed,
rather, to " keep all these things, and ponder them
in her heart." She speaks, indeed, at times. Her
grief, for instance, breaks forth in words, on meeting Jesus near the tomb of her brother —"My
brother had not died!" But there she pauses,
and tears flow instead of words. She does not,
like Martha, proceed to express any faith for the
future, and thus draw forth the Saviour into conversation. Martha and her Lord had just exchanged sentiments of the greatest interest, and
that in a dialogue commenced by Martha. When
he meets Mary, no colloquy ensues. He listens
to her mournful reflection touching his absence.
He witnesses the gushing flood that followed her
few struggling words, and weeps with her.
Finally, Martha was solicitous. A fullness of
faith cannot be claimed for her; at least previous
to her last-recorded conversation with the Lord
Jesus. Her temperature was ardent; her dis.
cernment of the appropriate and the true was
vivid; her motions of mind and body were rapid
and earnest. Hence, an unruffled and undisturbed
spirit was not naturally so facile an attainment
with her as with others of a different constitution.
And of a different constitution was her sister
Mary. Hence, in part, her superior quietness.
If Martha was sometimes careful and troubled




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          171
about many things, Mary often failed to sympathize in her sister's solicitudes. Nor, in her quietness, was she careful to answer the reproof of
Martha, as the latter complained to Jesus of her
seeming negligence. There appears, likewise, the
same indifference when, in connection with the
anointing at Simon's feast, she was accused of
wastefulness. In all instances she wears the
same aspect of repose; and, not careful to answer
for herself, she commits her cause to Him who
judges righteously. Even the intelligence of
Christ's approach, after the death of her brother,
produces, to appearance, little or no excitement.
Martha, at the tidings, hastens to meet her Lord,
while Mary sits still in the house till the Master
calls for her.
On the whole, it is not the design of this sketch
so to compare these two eminent women of the
Scriptures, as to attempt any decision whatever
in respect to the question which of them possessed
the fairest, holiest character... He should be very
cautious who would thus essay to bring forth
their comparative merits. We shall perhaps be
more wise should we view them as with their
native-differences, both of them evincing great
excellencies of character, all of which are of great
value, and all necessary to the perfection of society. Mary was contemplative; Martha was
active. Mary was docile; Martha was inquisitive also. One of the apostles, when at their
house, would have had no suspicion of coldness in




172'        WOMEN OF'THE'BIBLE.Mary; he would have been fully convinced of
the cordiality of Martha. If he would have
praised the quietness of Mary, he would have rejoiced equally in the vivacity of Martha. We
love Mary as, at Simon's festival, she anointed
the Messiah's sacred person. We equally love
Martha as, at the same feast, she joyfully serves
the table where the Messiah is feasting. We approve the quietness of Mary, as she waited at her
house till Christ called her to witness her brother's
resurrection. We, at the same time, honor.Martha, who, in her earnestness, flies at once to the
great Comforter, and, in her sprightliness, draws
forth from his lips some of the most precious of
Divine declarations touching the general resurrection. Mary's silence is impressive and
beautiful; Martha's sociality:is instructive and
refreshing. We glance at Mary, and think of-the
eternal portion; we turn to Martha, and are reminded that activity to serve Christ is the sure
means of gaining that prize. We need Mary —
we cannot dispense with Martha. Remove the
one, and we shall wander in pensive sorrow to
find her; take away the other, and life's woes are
at once redoubled. We love Martha-we love
Mary. So did One other: "Now Jesus loved
Martha and her sister."




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.         173
ANOTHER Jezebel! But we must record her execrable name. -She was grand-daughter of Herod
the Great, and niece of the two Herods, Philip
and Antipas. She was married to her uncle
Philip; and Salome, the famous dancer, was their
daughter. She afterwards forsook her husband,
and married his brother, Herod Antipas, tetrarch
of Galilee. This disgraceful connection took
place, it is probable, about A. D. 33, and brought
upon Herod and Herodias the righteous admonitions of John the Baptist. At the faithfulness of
the man of God the guilty pair were deeply offended. It appears quite doubtful, however, that
Herod would have proceeded to extremities with
the Baptist. The latter, it is true, had displeased
him; while yet, as Luke informs us, Herod feared
John, and knew him to be a just and holy man,
and even -listened to him with pleasure; regarding, in his conduct, many of the instructions
which he had received from him. Acting by
himself, there seems but slight evidence that he
would have interfered at all with the life, or even
the liberty of the man, for whom he obviously felt
a very high respect.
Hence, when John was incarcerated at the
command of Herod, it was not so much to gratify
any vengeance of his own, but it was- "for He



174        WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
rodias' sake." The fearless preacher had pronounced her connection with Antipas, while her
husband was living, to be unlawful. "Therefore," as the sacred historian proceeds, " Herodias
had a quarrel against him, and would have killed
him, but she could not." And the difficulty lying
in the way of the murder was the above-named
reverence of Herod for one whom he knew, and
whom Herodias equally knew, to be a righteous
man. As yet she had succeeded so far only as
to procure from Herod his imprisonment. Such
a punishment as this, however, was utterly unsatisfactory to this most hateful woman.  Her
bloody eyes were still fastened upon the innocent
and noble minister of righteousness, and she
crouched like a panther, waiting an opportunity
to spring upon her imprisoned and helpless victim.
The fatal opportunity arrives hastily. Amid
the festivities of Herod's birthday, the daughter
of Herodias dances before him, and before the
assembled grandees of Galilee. In his foolish admiration of her performance, the king promises,
in the presence of the company, to give her
whatever she should desire of him. The maid,
consulting her mother touching the present to be
asked, was directed to request the head of John
the Baptist. Alas! what must have been the
murderous and extreme hatred of this detestable
woman! A very magnificent promise had been
made to her daughter. She was encouraged, by
her uncle, to request some gift that would enrich




WOiMEN OF THE BIBLE.         175
her for life. But, in the eyes of'her mother, there
could be nothing pleasant or desirable, so long as
the hated Baptist was breathing. The opportunity she had so eagerly sought was -presented.
She well knew the grat reluctance of the king.
She had very obviously pressed her murderous
measures before this time. Yet now, at last, had
Herod committed himself, and he was caught in
the snare that had been artfully laid to entrap
him. And the great forerunner of the Messiah
must bleed and die -untimely, and when the brilliancy of his " burning and shining" career had just
begun to flash before the eyes of startled multitudes.
Here comes the head! Open wide the palace
doors, ye waiters;-and thou, executioner, pass
in the charger. The dish is bloody, to be sure;
and its contents are dreadful —very dreadful to
behold; yet bring in the ghastly burden! Carry
it, man of the axe, —-carry it directly up to that
charming damsel; it is her treasure. Now her
fair and lily hands are reaching forth to take the
dish. Be careful, butcher, that she holds it firmly.
No matter for the blood upon those hands of
hers; it is a fit emblem; and perchance they may
be difficult to cleanse again. Bid her, as she
bears it, to look steadily upon her gift, lest accident occur. She should gaze directly into those
faded eyes; they are the gems which she preferred to half of Herod's kingdom. There, Salome!
now move firmly. Carry that to your mother.




176        WOMEN 1OF THE BIBLE.
" Mother, the head is come!" Now, damsel, rest
the charger upon that table; unclinch your slimy
hands, and retire.
Draw near, vampire! Thy work is done-the
blood is drawn-thy victim is prostrate. The
silence is profound. From that clotted mouth no
voice comes forth again to reprove thy lasciviousness. Those eyes seem gazing at thee, but it is
only the death-stare, and they see not thy filthiness. Thy monitor sleeps his long sleep; and
can any other voice disturb thy adulteries,? Vengeance is glutted; and thou hast only added murder-keen, cold murder-to thy former foulness.
Will there not be happiness as well as revelry now
along those palace halls?
Little is known of the sequel of this bad woman. History tells indeed of her ambitious projects to advance her paramour and herself to
loftier dignities-of her accompanying him to
Rome, to aid his influence with the emperor for
this object-the defeat of her hopes, through the
agency of her brother Agrippa-her subsequent
banishment with Herod to distant Spain, whence
they never returned. What they suffered therehow long they lived-how they died, no- man
cares to inquire. Let their memory perish!




WOMIEN OF THE BIBLE.        177
WE may give a passing notice to this child, who
was, as we have seen, the daughter of the unfortunate Herod Philip, and the infamous Herodias.
She appears to have accompanied her mother to
the house of Antipas, while all that is related of
her is in connection with the death of John the
Baptist. The aspects of her character which are
discernible from that brief and melancholy representation, are such as we might appropriately infer
and expect.  That she was an accomplished
dancer, is plain from the inspired narrative. Of
course, she had received an education in this, and,
probably, other kindred accomplishments. From
what is written of her, as well as from her rank,
we may suppose her to have been long and carefully trained in those arts and graces whose end is
to attract the admiration of the gay and licentious.
Among other teachers engaged to perfect her in
such a species of education, Herodias herself
would naturally stand prominent. The whole
process, indeed, had gone on under the supervision, and by the special directions of her mother.
At the same time that mother, whatever may
have been her external attractions, or intellectual
capacities, ranked, as we know, among the most
wicked and detestable of her sex. She was heartless - cruel —revengeful -- shameless —impure —




1,78       WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
ambitious, and, almost to the last degree, abominable. Her own gratification, at whatever expense
of goodness and reputation-at whatever sacrifice
of others' happiness, was the deity she worshiped.
Such being her character, what would naturally
be the impress she would make upon the daughter
that grew up in her presence, and inhaled, from
her infancy, an atmosphere thus polluted and
ruinous? Was not this hapless child coming forth
the sad counterpart of an abandoned mother's
temperament and character?  See we not here
the baleful blossom presaging the forthcoming and
bitter fruit?
But let us indulge a slight analysis. Salome
danced enchantingly. " But is there any harm in
dancing?'" The writer is not careful to respond
to this question. The history of this -famous
dancer supplies a sufficient answer. There was
certainly harm-great harm, in the present instance. The beginning, truly, was beauty and
rapture; but the ending was butchery, and deathstruggles, and blackness of guilt too deep, almost,
for grace to wipe away. "But it was an accidental, not a normal result." And is that so certain? Contemplate some of the circumstances
of the dancer. Who and what are they who are
the most forward in these scenes of amusements?
Are ladies of genuine virtue and goodness particularly fond of the ball-room, and are they often
seen there? What are the favorite hours of the
dance? What of their dress, who seek promi



WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          179
nence there? To be plain, is not the known result-and the designed result-an idolatrous admiration of the human form, -and human gracefulness-the awakening of those passions of the
heart whose undoubted tendency is to interfere
with righteousness? Does not the dance contemplate some other things than virtue, and something
inconsistent with virtue? And when, through
the influence of the dance, moral goodness is prostrated, and evil passions begin to rise and triumph
in the heart of a man, to what wicked extremities
is he not ready to be drawn? He who knows not
that from the dance-whether of the theatre, or
the ball-room-the path is very straight to the
"lusts that war against the soul," and that, from
the lusts that war against the soul, the path is very
straight to murder,-has, with all his knowledge,
one lesson touching man's fallen nature yet to
learn.
But what else of Salome?  Her heart was
steeled, and, to appearance, utterly insensible to
virtuous sentiment and feeling. " What shall I
ask, mother, of the king, who has promised to give
me all my request?". What pleasant as well as
innocent gratifications were now placed at her
feet! How princely and magnificent was the offer
which she received! Yet, receiving the directions
from her bloody mother, it would appear that all
was in keeping with her own disposition and taste.
We hear of no surprise or disgust-no reluctance or hesitation. We can discern no dis



180        WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
tinction, in that girl's mind, between the head
of a prophet murderously severed from his body,
and a joint of butcher's meat just brought
from the shambles. We look in vain to discern
a single trace of virtue, humanity, or delicacy.
She appears as if an imp suddenly sprung from
the head of Apollyon, and as callous in respect to every refined, and generous, and virtuous sentiment, as if to her, wounds were smiles
-and gushing blood were sport-and the-blows
of the death-ax, and the shrieks of the murdered,
were delicious music. Fit progeny of such a parent!-a daughter, the detestable pander to the
unnameable wickedness of a more detestable
mother! Both the one and the other seem thrown
a sickening blot upon the sex and upon the race;
-a nauseous excrescence hanging out upon human society; —of an almost doubtful classification; human and terrestrial in form, satanic and
infernal in genius.
Damsel! whose eyes shall glance along these
pages, be assured of the reluctance of the writer
to pain and sicken thee with even the briefest
portraiture of the graceless, shameless Salome.
It may, however, revive one sad, yet useful recollection; to wit, of what this nature of ours is
capable. Viewing the maid that so coolly asked
that a good man's head might be brought to her
in a charger, and the mother who directed such
a request from her child, let us assure ourselves
anew of our mournful tendencies, and flee, as from




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          181
the serpent, from whatever tends to indurate the
sympathies of humanity, and deprave and poison
the whole heart and character.  Guard with
watchful jealousy the fondness for what are termed fashionable accomplishments, and fashionable
ornaments. Court not the admiration of the gay
multitude. Care not to shine in splendors that
must soon fade away forever, and to be the enchantress of circles where Christ is not welcomed,
and where virtue and goodness too often weep and
retire. Waste not thy golden hours and precious
energies upon mere glitter and emptiness. Consider, rather, that for thee there is a loftier path,
where purer airs await thee, and lovelier suns
shall shine around thee, and every scenery shall
charm thy spirit, and living fruits shall gladden
and refresh thee by day and night. Walking
there, thou shalt be greeted, on the right and on
the left, by the excellent ones of earth. Intense
and holy sympathy shall cheer thee upward,
while, as life's terminus is approached, higher
and purer beauty shall gild the scenery, until
the nether paradise shall open into the everlasting
kingdom.




182        WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
(XI 4rn-i4uwniift t Wonman.
" A MINISTER of the circumcision" was Christ,
so far as his personal ministry was concerned;
and though he came to be a light to lighten the
Gentiles, as well as the glory of his people Israel,
yet it was not by his bodily presence in all nations
that he intended to be for salvation to the ends
of the earth. Hence, we hardly find Christ, in
his brief ministry on earth, traveling beyond the
limits of Canaan. - On one occasion, however, he
seems to have visited Phenicia; and, perhaps, for
the very purpose of affording help in the one instance named, and to give to the Church of all
coming ages so brilliant an example of genuine
faith. Having come to the confines of that country, and granted help to the distressed woman, he
immediately returned toward the sea of Galilee.
What had been the previous history of the
woman of Canaan, we are not told. We may
safely suppose, however, that she had either seen
Christ, or had heard of him before his present
visit to those parts, inasmuch as her whole conduct corresponds with such a hypothesis. It will
be borne in mind that Capernaum and Bethsaida
were not more than fifty miles from where Christ
met this woman; and it will be remembered,
also, that it was but a short time since, in
those places, great wonders had been wrought




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.         183
by his hands. Nor can it be conceived as possible, that the tidings of these things should not
have overspread the neighboring country of
Phenicia. Had not this good woman heard of
the wonderful cure of the Centurion's servant in
Capernaum? Had she not heard of the healing
of Peter's mother-in-law at the touch of Jesus?
And had she not heard of his casting out the
spirits with his word, and healing all that were
sick? These, and similar mighty works, had
been performed within a few miles of her own
country, and within a few months of the day she
met the great Physician. And in reference to
these works he had declared, that had they been
done in Tyre and Sidon-in the land where
dwelt this "woman of Canaan,"-the inhabitants
there would have repented in sackcloth and ashes.
Nor had Jesus confined himself to the vicinity of
the Sea of Galilee. By one of those sentences
of Scripture which speak volumes, we ascertain
that he went about all Galilee, (which borders
upon "the coast of Tyre and Sidon,") teaching
in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of
the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness,
and all manner of disease among the people. And
his fame went throughout all Syria.
The Syro-phenician woman, then, had unquestionably heard of Christ; perhaps had seen him;
and was already a firm believer in his power and
mercy. He was now in the vicinity; and as she
looked upon her poor, demoniac daughter, she,




184        WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
doubtless, revolved within herself whether this
great Physician and Prophet, who had done so
many wonderful things, and whose fame was all
abroad, would not, if besought, help her, though a
stranger and foreigner. At all events, she would
venture the application. She could but fail; she
might succeed. The case was one of extreme
urgency; her child was  "grievously vexed;"
there was no repose by day or by night. Her
dwelling was always frightful; the piercing cry
of the insane was there, and the glare of madness
was upon eyes which once looked upon that mother with filial and sweet affection. Hope seemed
rapidly dying out of that sorrow-stricken heart,
and she was perchance already wishing that her
desolate one was laid away amid the still repose
of the grave. There the wicked cease from
troubling; there the weary be at rest, nor hear
they the voice of the oppressor.
"But I will go for once and seek His aid, of
whose goodness and power I have heard so much."
Thus we seem to hear her exclaim; and she is
hastening to Jesus, and her cries are already falling upon his ear. "Have mercy on me, 0 Lord,
thou son of David!"  Mercy is her plea-mercy
for her daughter, and thus for herself —mercy, not
from man, but from the Messiah. "Son of David!"  This was her mighty argument; her appeal
was to the great Anointed Restorer. Too great
was he felt to be that she should presume to approach too closely, and her cry is from a distance.




WOMEN OF THE -BIBLE.         185
He passes on his way, as though no voice was
there, and still the cry of agony comes pealing on
the ear. And all the while that soul burdened
with pity was listening to the poor stranger,
though she knew it not. Despair not, ye pensive
ones, when, breathing your prayer toward heaven,
there may seem to be no access-no listening —
no care for you. Meanwhile, each softest complaint is heard, and every wish of yours interests
the heart of Jesus. Murmur not if sometimes
he tests your patience, your earnestness, and
faith. "Send her away," say the disciples, "for
she crieth after us." Nor in cruelty did they say
thus. They asked not their Master to send her
empty to her hapless home; but to send her thither
as he had often done in other instances, with joy
and rejoicing. "Send her away with the blessing
she seeks!" was the prayer of that company. He
spoke.now; but cold seemed his answer, and distant, and repulsive. "I am not sent to: her, but
only to Israel's lost sheep." Whether she heard
this chilling response seems not certain, though
probable. She was, by this time, at hand, and
the words just fallen from  the Redeemer's lips
appear designed for her ear, rather than for those
to whom they were addressed. And now, in her
agony, she is prostrate at the feet of the Deliverer,
and again her cry arises, "Lord, help me,!" Forbidding and dismal to that heart of sorrow were
his former words; yet her suit was urgent. How
could she go back to that melancholy home with




186        WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
no help! He had relieved others in happy multitudes. He had power to help her; and he was
her last hope. Jesus speaks again; but they are
cutting, lacerating words. True, they amount
not to an absolute negative. He does not precisely respond, "I have no blessing for thee!"
That would have gathered the damps of despair
densely over the unhappy suppliant.  Yet the
words she heard could seem to afford but a struggling ray of hope, as he replied, " It is not meet
to take the children's bread, and cast it to dogs."
Was she not stunned at this cheerless reply? As
the Master spoke thus, and the company was
listening there, and the sobbing woman was fallen
prostrate upon the earth, seemed it not, save to
herself and to One other, that all was lost? Will
she speak again?  "Truth, Lord; yet the dogs
eat the crumbs which fall from their master's
table!"  Thus she speaks; speaks thus to the
perfect admiration of all that ever glanced at this
incident of her history. Who has ever heard of
anything beyond this in all the story of human
intercessions? Profound respect and reverence
are here joined, as is natural, with perfect humility
and modesty. "Truth, Lord!" She worships
the Saviour; —worships in deepest self-abasement.
Wonderful aptness and judgment are here; and
the retort is as capital and just, as it is, under the
circumstances, impressive and affecting. Above
all, mighty faith is here. It is as if we heard her
exclaiming, " It is all as thou, Jesus, sayest. This




WOMIEN OF THE BIBLE.         187
poor suppliant is not among the children. She is,
in the comparison, as a dog-the name which thy
lips have given me, and which name itself will
insure to me thy blessing; for the dogs under the
table eat of the children's crumbs. At thy word,
I am the dog under the table, and hence, a crumb
is certainly for me."
Amazing triumph! The Infinite is conquered
now, and can hold out no more. That cold severity retires at once from the countenance of
the " Son of David," as when some dark cloud
passes, all suddenly, from an autumn sun. Words,
tender and beautiful as angels use, succeed to
such as seemed so repulsive and freezing. " Great
is thy faith-thy prayer is heard-the demon is
gone!"
Pleasant that day to the "woman of Canaan,"
was her return from the field of conflict. Bloodless and innocent had been the victory she gained,
like that of the ancient wrestler, at daybreak, on
the banks of the Jabbok. Blessed, as she entered
her doors, was the change that had passed over
her once wretched home. Satan, with the speed
of lightning, had been driven thence-the last
shriek of the maniac had ceased its wild echoings; and sunny peace, in soft whispers, was
breathing through those balls. Tremblingly she
enters, and her heart swelling with untold emotions, she seeks the child of her affections. Within
the chamber, reposing upon her couch in quietness, that child is found-her brilliant eyes falling,




188        WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
as she enters, upon her dearest mother. Long
tost, and driven and lashed, as amid the wild billows of a boiling, frightful, and shoreless sea,
where, above, lurid fires glared from sky to sky,
and hideous spectres were flitting across her
vision, and the horrid laugh of demons sickened
her whirling brain, she had, all suddenly, heard a
voice new, and of loveliness unutterable, hushing
to peace. Then, in a twinkling, she was standing
upon the solid earth, and looking aloft, the glorious
sun lay deep in the far-spreading azure-and
every sight and sound were only beautiful —and a
soft hand seemed laid upon her disheveled tresses,
composing to delightful tranquillity and healthfulness her agitated and tortured being. The transport, so sudden-so complete, had well nigh
overcome her strength, and she had sought her
couch, there to indulge her gushing tears of joy,
and praise the Hand that stooped to bless a child;
and there she waited the coming of her happy
mother.
In after days, did they not often think of Jesus,
and speak of him? Was not the "great faith"
of the mother still greater now, and her love
more elevated and intense?  And that daughter,
was she not, in the best sense, clothed, and in her
right mind?  And from  these kindred hearts,
arose there not the frequent song of praise and
thanksgiving, —until they passed, both of them,
away to where she who humbled herself to beg
for " a crumb," found eternal plenty!




rWOMEN ".OF THE BIBLE.       189
Mother! Is thy daughter as yet unrenewed,
and her heart drawn away by evil and downward
influences? Does the spirit of a sinful world still
enthrone itself within her heart? And seems she
fondly lured away by the hopes and vanities of a
brief and uncertain life, and averse to the rational and lofty pursuit of holiness and heaven?
The example of the woman of Canaan,is given
thee for thy instruction and encouragement.
Like-her, go, in behalf of thy daughter, directly
to the great and compassionate Redeemer. Seek
after and cherish "great faith" in his promises
and mercy. Exercise a perseverance, such as is
obstinate and unyielding; cultivate profound humility —begging, if it might be, but a crumb from
his infinite fullness. And while thou prayest,
bear always before thy child the spirit corresponding to thy prayers. Putting away all wrath, and
clamor, and evil-speaking, talk often and skillfully
of the things of Christ. Be his love always a
familiar theme. Let everything pertaining to thy
house be such as shall tend to invite the Saviour's
presence and power. So shall that presence and
that power dwell with thee, banishing evil spirits
and poisonous influences, and fitting thee and
thine for endless happiness and heaven.




190-        WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
3untetr Uf 3=mr5 gar Nw1t.
"THE mother of Zebedee's children" is several
times mentioned in the evangelical history. From
a comparison of Matthew xxvii, 56, with Mark
xv, 40, it would appear very probable that her
name was Salome. She was, -in all probability,
specially beloved by Christ. She doubtless entertained him often in Capernaum, and was one of
the women specially designated as ministering to
his wants in Galilee and other places. She was
one of the celebrated women that were not content to see Christ, and hear him, as in his travels
he passed their homes. At times we find her
abroad, listening to the words of the Saviour;
and in his last and dreadful agony, she was one of
the weeping witnesses of his crucifixion. At the
side of Mary Magdalene, and "the other Mary,"
stood the faithful Salome, looking on afar off, as
they crucified the Lord of glo'ry. She looked
upon that dreadful scene, and was a spectator of
the awful signs that accompanied the dying of the
Son of God. So also was she associated with the
Marys in the preparations for embalming the
sacred body. She proved herself one of his most
devoted and constant friends-lingering near him
to the last, and yielding the last service within
her power to proffer him.
One shade, however, rests upon the mother of




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.         191
Zebedee's children, and which seems inseparably
associated with her name. The Jewish idea of a
temporal Messiah, and of greattemporal prosperity
and power under his reign, seems never to have
been eradicated from the minds of the apostles,
even to the day of Christ's ascension to heaven.
On that very morning, as they assembled around
their Master, they inquired whether he would now
restore again the kingdom to Israel. They appear
to have advanced but by slow degrees to the true
idea of Christ's kingdom; and came not to the
knowledge of the whole truth on this important
subject until the ascension of the Lord, and the
outpouring of the Spirit that soon followed.
It was with this idea of- a temporal reign, that
the sons of Zebedee petitioned for the most honorable places under the new order of things.
We are surprised, in contemplating the ambition
of these brothers, as well as the apparent boldness
and imprudence with which they pushed their
request. That their proceedings in this matter
must produce the effect upon their brethren which
was actually produced, might have been foreseen
by a child, and could not have been unanticipated
by the petitioners. A species of recklessness,
therefore, appears to have accompanied their ungraceful ambition; while the whole affair is to be
numbered among the most inexplicable circumstances of the apostolic history. The employment
of their mother as their advocate in this case,
may be accounted for, perhaps, from the probable




192         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
fact of her great influence. We have seen her
to have been one of the most faithful of all Christ's
attendants who "ministered to his wants," —and
the sons naturally supposed that her intercessions
would be specially availing in their behalf. It
must be pronounced as being, on the part of
James and John, a mean, weak, and altogether
unfortunate transaction, and not at all in keeping
with what we learn besides of the spirit and character both of the sons and the mother. And on
the whole, how can we contemplate it otherwise
than-as one.of those sad mistakes to which even
very good people are exposed when at any time
they dispense, even for a moment, with watchfulness and prayer? We may not doubt the general
piety of the mother and her two sons; and they
were specially distinguished by the Lord -Jesus.
It was much that one from a single family should
be called to the apostleship. Much more was it
that two brothers should at once receive this high
distinction. It was more still, that both brothers
should be.recognized not only as apostles, but
confidential friends of Christ. No family on
earth was ever honored like that of Zebedee.
No other mother could tell of two of her sons
being both raised to the apostleship, and also to
be two out of the three on whom the great Mas-.
ter, for reasons known to himself, bestowed special
intimacy. - All this may possibly help to account
for the kindling of their unhallowed ambition, and
the indiscreet proceeding to which: it gave exist



WOMEN OF TIIE BIBLE.         193
ence. Christ had greatly exalted the whole family.
The result should have been their abounding gratitude and profound humility. But being, in this
instance, unduly lifted up, they were left to unwise and shallow conduct, and to incur merited
reproach. So true is it, that while humility is the
forerunner of elevation, he that exalteth himself
shall be abased.
Should some Christian mother, therefore, read
this sketch,-some mother whose son has been
called to God's holy ministry,-perhaps it may remind her to wish for that son, not that he may be
accounted greatest and most renowned among his
brethren. It will, I hope, be suggested to her to
pray, rather that he may be divested of all pride
and vain ambition; that he may, in his heart, lie
at the feet of all his brethren-that the eminence
he shall seek on earth shall be that of lofty devotion to Christ Jesus, and of far-spreading usefulness in his generation —that every faculty of his
be consecrated to salvation. And if these things
be so, that mother may dismiss her fears and rejoice. She shall see her son in great renown, one
day-when "they that be wise, shall shine as the
brightness of the firmanent; and they that turn
many to righteousness, as the stars forever and
ever."
9




194         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
Vuarq  Vaaghtfur
LITTLE is known of Mary Magdalene.  Her
place of birth and residence was probably Magdala, of Galilee; and she had been one of the
victims of demoniacal possession, and one of the
multitudes of these afflicted ones who had sought
and obtained relief from the Saviour's almighty
hand. Nothing that was more disreputable than
the affliction alluded to can be shown to have been
associated with her name and character; and
the various suspicions in which many have been
pleased to indulge themselves concerning this excellent lady, are as unjust to her as they are indicative of the ignorance or carelessness of such as
have been disposed to cherish them. It appears
likely that Mary Magdalene, as well in character
as in circumstances, possessed an unspotted reputation, and an elevated standing in society. Her
whole attitude toward her adorable Saviour appears amiable and beautiful in the highest degree.
She scarcely makes her appearance on the evangelical page, save in connection with the crucifixion and resurrection of the " Lord of glory."
We observe her prominent among other women
in witnessing his sufferings upon the cross. She
was one of the weeping ones who followed him
bearing his cross up the " dolorous pathway," and




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.         195
to whom he said, " Daughters of Jerusalem, weep
not for me!" She was at the side of the disconsolate Mary when those words of the expiring Redeemer fell on the ear of John, saying, "Behold
thy mother!" She was present when Joseph, the
good and just, deposited the sacred remains within the sepulchre, and she beheld the arrangements,
and how the body was laid. Of all the friends of
Jesus she was the first who revisited the sepulchre
on the morning of the resurrection; and was the
first of human beings that discovered and gave
information of the mysterious absence of the Saviour's body. Returning to the place of burial,
she it was who stood weeping there, and as she
wept, looked within the sepulchre and saw the
two angels robed in white, and heard their heavenly voices. She it was who, before all others,
saw the risen Christ. " Mary!" said the Lord of
Life. "Master!" responded the astonished disciple. She it was who, first of all, was commanded to proclaim her Saviour's resurrection, and
that his ascension on high was at hand. And
"Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples
that she had seen the Lord, and that he had
spoken these-things unto her." The apostles proclaimed to the world the resurrection of Christ;
-Mary proclaimed this resurrection to the apostles.
If Paul was the "last of all," Mary was the earliest of all, to see the risen Lord.
Such was Mary Magdalene. Only a scene or
two opens upon us in which she appears and acts.




196         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
Yet these suffice to indicate to us that she was
one of the most devoted of all the Saviour's devoted followers, and one of the most excellent of
women. During the ministry of her Lord and
Master she was one of those who "ministered
unto him of their substance." During his humiliation and passion she never left him for a moment. Of all his deep sufferings at the last she
was a partaker, and was present and heard when
he cried, " It is finished!" She " saw where he
was laid "within the sepulchre, and prepared the
spices and ointments for his body. She did what
she could; and none of sacred women rise on the
view, clad in fairer beauty and more becoming
gracefulness than Mary of Magdala.
THE story of Sapphira and her husband is one of
deep and painful melancholy. They were both,
as is probable, among the disciples; but of their
origin, residence, or other circumstances of their.history, the sacred record is silent. They rise before us only that we may contemplate their disastrous end, and the mournful cause that was concerned in bringing it to pass. Sapphira was obviously implicated entirely with her husband in
the guilty transaction that proved their ruin.
They were both concerned in the sale of the
estate. When her husband retained a part of the




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          197
price, Sapphira was privy to it, and consented to
the measure. Alas for that act! There she fell,
and there it was that loveliness and goodness departed hence. Her heart had yielded to crime,
and her lie to Peter was the expression and sealing of her wickedness; and God cursed her with
her husband, and the grave all suddenly closed
over them both.
Sapphira lied. It is not narrated to us that this
was her character. We are impressed rather
that such was not her habit,-that in ordinary
circumstances she was a truthful woman. In
the present instance covetousness interfered —
Satan was.at hand to take advantage of the corrupt motions of nature-what faith she had gave
way, and she sank. Great and terrible is the
crushing and the wreck, when a soul, heretofore
upright, deliberately consents to deception and
falsehood. It is as when some beautiful edifice,
reposing gracefully upon its foundations, falls instantly, by some dire convulsion, into a mass of
shattered and sightless ruins. It is as when the
brilliant and mighty engine leaps in its flight
upon some deadly obstacle; there is the crash, the
shock, the wreck, and the dying. Or it is as
when some tall and noble ship-a few moments
since, riding triumphantly over the billows-now
smitten by some woeful disaster, goes down at
once, beneath the cold and bottomless sea.
When a man consents to falsehood-when he
becomes guilty of a lie, then all is lost. If he has




198         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
up to that time retained his integrity, he is conscious now of an infinite descent. He has taken
a frightful leap. He has bidden adieu to goodness, purity, honor, rectitude, virtue.!Heaven is
veiled in blackness, and awful thunders alone
meet his ear; if perchance he ever afterwards
listens towards the eternal throne, a sickening
and mournful sense of self-degradation comes over
him. No external preacher or voice is necessary
to convince him that he is fallen.- A terrible
monitor within is beating the funeral knell of his
virtue and his happiness. If there be uprightness
and innocence on earth, he knows full well that
he belongs not among those elevated circles. Nay,
even the dog of the street appears less degraded,
and less hateful than he. That one lie still upon
his conscience and character, and yet unwashed
away, he will no more rise to goodness and to
peace. He will remain a moral wreck. He
may still sink —he will never ascend. God may
not strike him literally and suddenly dead; but
he has struck his own virtue to death, and has
fatally poisoned the last sweet for the sake of
which existence is desirable.
No warning can be too strong that we may
deter the young of either sex from consenting
ever, and by any means or mode, to the great and
foul sin of falsehood. That this is a crime of
special hatefulness, is sufficiently clear from the
terrible retribution that met the hapless Sapphira,
and her husband. Partners in falsehood, they




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.         199
were partners, the same day, in an untimely
grave.  The Lord slew them-slew  them  for
lying! After this will one ever venture upon this
melancholy ground? Will one venture even the
slightest approximation? Shall it be absent, for
any moment, from the mind, that lying stands recorded on the inspired page among the dark catalogue of transgressions that infallibly exclude the
guilty one from the everlasting kingdom. "For
there shall in no wise enter into it anything that
defileth —neither whatsoever worketh abomination,
or maketh a lie."
"THIS woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did."  What a beautiful testimonial is this to go down to all generations! How
preferable to all monuments of marble, and all the
proud memorials of fame and greatness! Far preferable even to the worship paid to learning and
genius is a celebrity like this. Yet who believes
it? Who discerns that to be greatly good and beneficent is the supreme end of life, and the highest
elevation to be attained on earth?
Dorcas was distinguished by good works.
Such were the operations of her hands. She
wrought not evil, but good. Actions and efforts
that were worthy, pure, benevolent, and lovely,
emanated from her. She liberally clothed the




200         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
naked.  "Coats and garments" were by her,
the products of her industry, with which to warm
and comfort needy and suffering ones.
Nor was she limited to any one species of welldoing. She gave alms of such things as she possessed, whether of garments or other matters
suitable for the relief of the destitute. Charitable
objects were much upon her mind and heart, and
she was disposed to bless in any mode which her
means and strength would allow.
And she was full of these heavenly charities.
They were not occasional with her. They were
not spasmodic ebullitions of kindness. Her good
works were a full and everflowing stream,-overflowing its banks and fertilizing the neighboring
regions. She lived to do good. This was felt to
be her calling-this was her occupation. Her
own wants were comparatively few. She did not
feel herself called upon to devote her time and
energies to superfluities of dress, or luxuries of
food. Many things in which most Christians indulge would have been agreeable to her likewise;
but she could deny herself of these, and by such
self-denial increase her means and- measure of
usefulness.  And she preferred the luxury of
doing good to all worldly enjoyments, and realized in her experience that it is more blessed to
give than to receive. Many, doubtless, wondered
at her course and manner of life. Some thought
her righteous overmuch-and others fancied, perhaps, that more attention was due to her own




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          201.
worldly interest and affairs. But she had a loftier
vision, and keener perception, and a purer faith.
Other ladies' were admired for their beauty, their
wit, and other and varied accomplishments; but
the blessing of such as were ready to perish fell
upon Dorcas, while beams of life and love, emanating from her, animated and cheered their fainting hearts. Other ladies were admired-she was
beloved. Others might be solicitous for themselves-she cared for the poor. Others might
have pined over their own sorrows-she wept for
the distresses of her neighbors.  Others might
have labored to escape the ills of life —she passed
her days and years in drying up those- ills, and
subtracting from the number of human tears.
She had no time for backbiting, tale-bearing, or
mischief-making of any sort. Every influence
going out from her was comforting, pure, and
beneficent.
Hence she was good of heart. Christ has given
us permission to estimate a tree by its fruit-a
rule, by the way, too lightly esteemed in this age
of creeds and parties. Yet it is by this same rule
that we all judge Dorcas. She abounded in good
works. These were the fruits; then the tree was
good. The streams were sweet and refreshing;
then the fountain was pure. We may assign her
a place among the selectest spirits of this lower
world. She had been translated out of the kingdom of nature into that of God's dear Son. She
was a new creature. Christ had substituted in
9*




202         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
her heart benevolence for selfishness-life for inertness-faith for sight-fire for coldness-beauty
for ashes-light for darkness. She had not originally an angel's nature; she wore not an angel's
form; yet had she come to possess an angel's
spirit and temper, and in her character was much
more nearly related to heaven than to earth. It
is difficult to imagine a stronger contrast than between Dorcas and some other female characters
noticed in the Scriptures. Place her aside of
Jezebel- or Herodias, and who is not filled with
wonder that beings so utterly diverse-can be of
the same race? Who exults not in his astonishment at the sublime triumph of grace, thus effectuating a moral change in man such as is scarcely
less than infinite?
But Dorcas, the good and beautiful, sickened
and died. Alas! who can escape that dreaded
crisis? Who shall be discharged from that war?
It would seem that if any one might escape, Dorcas might; so good was she-so benevolent-so
useful-so beloved. But she slept; and seemed
to sleep untimely, —drooped and fainted in the high
day of her beneficent and brilliant energies," Ceasing at once to work and live'."
And they laid away her body in an upper chanmber-laid it, as was meet, amid the memorials of
her benevolent industry. Is it too farfetched that
this should remind us of another scenery, when,
away in the repose of eternity, good men shall




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          203
one day be resting amid the loved fruits of godly
labors on earth? Blessed are they that rest from
their labors, and their works follow them.
But the death of Dorcas, so apparently disastrous, was with the Lord. He knew what IHe
would do. "Parts of his ways " we may sometimes discern, and in the lamented death and sudden resurrection of this eminent lady, God was
not without his designs of mercy; for it was
known throughout all Joppa. She who had so
fully honored Christ in her life and character, was
admitted to the high privilege of being made a
subject of his resurrection power before the eyes
of multitudes who knew her; of whom many, as
they saw the sight, believed in the Lord. In her
life, she was an instrument of many temporal
blessings and comforts; in her death and her recall, she was the occasion of a great turning to
the Lord.
AT the head of this chapter is written a cluster of
names- standing on the New Testament pages,.and written in the book of life. They were holy
women-friends of the apostle Paul-and helpers,
in their sphere, in the great work to -which he
dedicated his vast energiesLydia, "whose heart the Lord opened that she




204        WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
attended to the things which were spoken of
Paul," became, under his preaching, a convert to
Christ. Hence we wonder not that her doors
were thrown open for the entertainment of the
Apostle during his stay at Philippi; nor are we
surprised at the earnestness and warmth with
which she urged him to accept her Christian hospitalities. Well, it was a privilege indeed, when
one might welcome within their dwelling an apostle of the Lord Jesus. And yet a greater privilege is ours, if the Master himself will come to us
and take up his abode with us, and forever animate us with his spirit and his life.
Priscilla was another of the privileged ones that
was permitted to entertain, in her house, the
Apostle of the Gentiles. Paul first found her and
her husband at Corinth, they having been directed
by Claudius to depart, with other Jews, from the
city of Rome. They accompanied the Apostle
to Ephesus, where, after a time, they appear to
have returned again to Rome. While they were
at Ephesus, and after Paul departed from that city,
Apollos, an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures, arrived. Being not yet fully initiated into
the dispensation of the Spirit, Aquila and Priscilla,
when they had heard him, "took him unto them,
and expounded to him the way of God more perfectly." A beautiful picture this! Apollos was
mighty in the Scriptures-fervent in spirit-eloquent in speech-teaching diligently the things of
God-being instructed in the way of the Lord so




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.            205
far as to the baptism of John. Yet it remained
for Priscilla and her husband to introduce this
eminent man to a more accurate knowledge of
the Gospel-to enlighten him in respect to the full
dispensation of the Spirit, which, since the day of
Pentecost, had been granted to the world.
Happy are those pious women who, by their
diligence and faithfulness in the things of God, become competent to give important instructions,
even to able ministers of the gospel. Priscilla's
experience had been conversant with a higher
baptism than that of John, and to that higher baptism and experience was she instrumental in leading the eloquent Apollos. He could teach her in
most respects, as a Jew-as concerning the Old
Testament Scriptures —as far as to the extent of
John's ministry, Apollos was much her superior;
but as touching the way which "exceeded in
glory," she was the superior of Apollos, and became his instructress and helper.*
Phebe, also, is to be classed in the holy sisterhood. Beautiful things are written of her by the
apostle's pen. He styles her a servant of the
church at Cenchrea-a sister beloved-a succorer of many others, as well as of himself, and
commends her to the Christian sympathies and
* "There are many of the humblest babes of faith in corners
of obscurity here and there, who really know more, and have a
truer science of God, than some who are most distinguished
among the Christian doctors."-Dr. Bushnell on "Dogma and
Spirit."




206         WOMEN OF TIHE BIBLE.
aid of the Roman Christians, whom, for some
reason, she appears to have visited.
" A succorer of many." Eminent commendation —excellent character!  We ask no more.
We place her at once aside the beautiful Dorcas,
and think of her as one of the angels in human
shape that walk this earth, soothing myriads of
sorrows, charming away sickness, staying up
sinking hearts and hands that hang down, putting
to flight despondencies, waking a thousand smiles
and joys, and gladdening life's shadows with perpetual gleams of holy. sunshine.
Tryphena and Tryphosa, likewise, receive the
salutations of the apostle, accompanied with the
pleasant commendation that they were laborers
in the Lord.
The beloved Persis, too, "labored much in the
Lord."
These holy women were not idle. disciples.
There was a sphere of action in which they
could with propriety move, and thus they became
important " helpers " in promoting the great cause
of salvation. They were not spectators, faultfinders, drones; they were among the most
efficient laborers in the same cause in -which the
apostles were employed. They knew the way of
the Lord, and were capable of instructing others,
and of aiding them to enter and walk in the same
highway of holiness.




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.              207
%, Having noticed in the preceding pages certain specific and
prominent females brought to view in the Holy Scriptures, it remains
that we conclude our sketches with a brief analysis of two or three
abstract characters alluded to on the inspired page.
t  Artdful   nu au.
SuCH a woman is named in the sacred writings,
and her description is nearly what follows.
She brawls.  She opens her mouth wide, and
her voice is harsh and shrill, and is heard afar,
and passes without, and agitates the streets, It
is a coarse voice, for it is a coarse and low mind
that is roaring through it. When she performs,
all the house rings again, from foundation to garret; so that, should the confounded husband
attempt to seek refuge in the housetop, and in
the corner thereof,-according to the suggestion
of the wise man,-he would, by no means, escape
the amazing sound.
She contends. It is true, woman should be
slow to dispute; and she, especially, should leave
off contention before it be meddled with.  Yet
the fretful woman has never learned effectually
this great lesson. She is contentious, and even
against the one with whom a wise woman will
scarcely ever dispute-her own husband. In her
strife of words, she knows how to yield nothing,
save all her attractiveness and power. She seems




208        WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
to deem the " last word " of more importance than
the respect and affection of her husband, or the
peace of her family; and the last word she will have.
She is often angry-as a matter of certain consequence. When a woman contends, and her
voice is loud and harsh, we may expect a miracle
as reasonably as the absence of anger. She becomes inflamed. Her wrath aggravates the
grating tenor of her voice, and the latter again
blows up the rising flames of anger and of rage,
and the speech becomes rapid as well as clamorous; violent gestures accompany; the face becomes flushed; the eye wild and fiery; the aspect
menacing and frightful; love, beauty, sweetness,
grace, all are flown; while the astonished husband stands aghast at the contrast between the
object before him, and the fair being he used to
love so well.
Yet all this might not be utterly ruinous, if the
storms were seldom; but the unerring pen writes
that the contentions of a wife are a continual
dropping, aye, a continual dropping in a very
rainy day. The region is desolate where this
poor woman moves, and frets, and scolds. Transient and doubtful are the gleams of sunshine that
struggle between the clouds. The thunders are
often rolling; the wild storm-wind is often sweeping athwart the landscape, and its path is gloomy
and desolate. Peace and prosperity come not
there, and every lovely plant droops and fades.
"It is better to dwell in the wilderness than




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          209
with a contentious and angry woman;" so comfortless, so utterly cheerless, is the house and
home where such a woman bears sway. Her
husband is full of fears. He fears for his neighbors. Fain would he avoid that himself and his
family should be a nuisance amid the circle where
he dwells. He could, with greater fortitude, endure for himself; but he is -distressed that the
eruptions within his own habitation should send
their echoings abroad to the disturbance of other
families, or that of the strangers that pass peacefully through the street.
He fears for his wife. What becomes of her
peace, her piety, her influence, her reputation,
her health, her progress toward perfection?
He fears for his children. Alas! will they
grow up peaceful and lovely amid these stormy
and disastrous influences? Will they, save by
extraordinary providence, be preserved from
catching the dreadful infection with which their
home is daily charged?
He fears and mourns for himself. It is not too
much to say of him that he is a disappointed and
unfortunate man. The truth of the proverb finds
a deep and affecting response in his soul. He
thinks of the "wilderness," and wishes himself
there. If not strongly fortified by virtuous principle, no marvel if he seeks those haunts that are
even more dreadful than the desert, and those
companions that are more dangerous and more
hateful than the beasts of prey.




210        WIOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
SHE is a lover of brilliant dress. She is not careful for the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit,
which is, in the sight of God, of great price. She
covets rather the outward adorning of plaiting the
hair, and of wearing of gold, and the putting on
of apparel. We read of the chains, the bracelets,
the mufflers-of the head-bands, the ear-rings, the
finger-rings-of mantles, and wimples, and crisping pins. Such was the blazonry of pride in the
ancient days, and even among the daughters of
Zion. And such it is in every age. The putting
on of artificial ornaments is one of the prominent developments of this dreadful plague of the
human heart. If there be beauty, it must be thus
set off to the greatest imaginable advantage. If
natural beauty be absent, a sort of factitious elegance must be secured by the aid of outward
adorning. Thus it is that more than half of many
precious lives is worse than wasted, and multitudes of hearts debased and corrupted.
She is haughty. Having an inordinate esteem
for herself, she feels a corresponding disdain for
others. There is a circle with which she deigns
to associate; with the great multitude she has no
sympathy, and for them she has no pleasant word
-no smile of friendship —no sentiment of benevolence. These daughters, writes the prophet,




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           211
"are haughty, and walk with stretched forth
necks." Of lofty bearing are they, nor, as they
pass, can they so much as turn to look upon their
more humble fellow-traveler to the tomb.
She is selfish. It is self that she worships,
adorns, pampers. Instead of esteeming others
better than herself, she reverses that evangelical
rule, and none is so high in her esteem and admiration as her own person. In her thoughts she
stands first of her sex, while others, in the comparison, are lightly esteemed. For herself, and
her own immediate circle, she is alone interested.
Provided her own gratification and aggrandizement are secured, she feels very little concern for
all the rest of the world. All the beautiful charities of piety are strangers to her narrow and
callous heart. She would not dispense with one
of her expensive dresses, or useless ornaments, to
soothe a widow in her affliction, or save a weeping family from starvation. She lives for self,
and for self alone.
She is ignorant. Esteeming herself as better
than others, is she correct? Counting others as
undeserving of her notice, is she not mistaken?
Contemplating this transient life, as given to be
devoted to ostentation and vanity, has she not her
first lessons yet to learn? Absorbed in selfishness,
and forgetful of the grave, is she not blind? Certainly there can be no surer evidence of ignorance
the most deplorable than pride. The proud
woman imagines that she is rich and increased in




212        WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
goods, and knoweth not that she is poor, and
miserable, and wretched, and blind, and naked.
The whole work of goodness and grace she has
yet to study and learn. She is to put off her
haughtiness, and become as a little child, and sit,
with Mary, at Jesus' feet, and learn of him-all
this she must yet do, if she shall ever enter into
the kingdom of heaven.
She is ridiculous. What, in the clear eye of
good sense, are many of the ornaments she puts
on, and which she so highly values? What of
that " stretched forth neck," those " wanton eyes,"
that " walking and mincing as she goes?" What
of that self-esteem and self-adoration, too obvious
to be concealed from the most superficial eye?
And what of the supreme self-ignorance just
alluded to? What would' the proud woman say
or think, were she assured that the ridicule of the
multitude is fully equal to her own haughtiness?
Hast thou never witnessed, within the refuges for
the insane, a woman of lofty mien-of form strong,
straight, and stiff-of pompous gait-and robed
fantastically —and crowned withal-the self-imagined queen of some powerful state?  And, as
you looked, counted you the insane exhibition to
be ridiculous? And yet, not half so much so was
it, as the outgoings of pride in another woman,
reckoned' to be rational.
She is hateful. For pride is always hateful in
either sex, and at any age of life; a stain upon
~the character, that is unseemly and disgusting.




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          213
There is an unreasonableness that is felt to the
quick-a self-imagined superiority, which is as
deformed as it is ridiculous, and with which the
beholder has no sympathy. The folly involved
is as intolerable as it is conspicuous; the hateful —
ness is that which is, to the last degree, offensive
and sickening; the impure loftiness is that whose
depression and humiliation relieves and refreshes
our spirits, while it excites our pity.
In innumerable instances, pride has proved one
of woman's greatest defects-the foundation of a
large proportion of her faults and blemishes, and
has spoiled, by its presence, a form and aspect
that had otherwise been decidedly beautiful and
attractive.
And the proud woman is doomed to disappointment and sorrow.  Hateful as pride is in the
eyes of man, it is even much more so to God;
and, in his providence, is wont to be followed by
mournful consequences. To him- a proud look is
offensive, and every one that is proud of heart is
an abomination in his sight. Hence we read-of
his resisting the proud-of his knowing them afar
off-of his not respecting them. And we read
of his threatened judgments. The proud shall be
abased-they shall be taken in their pride, and a
fall is to succeed. Pride goes before destruction-it shall be marred-stained-brought down
— wept over-scattered.




214        WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
c1t 6trng X WXnmAun.
SHE forgets God. God is not in all her thoughts.
She is entirely estranged from Him who is the
fountain of all purity, and who cannot look upon
sin with the least degree of allowance. Her endeavor is to place God, and all thoughts of him,
as far as possible from her mind, while she is emphatically of that class who are without God in
the world. It is thus she prepares herself to work
all wickedness with greediness.  Cut off from
God-from all fear and love toward him, what, in
degradation, may not a human being become?
Shut off the sun, and turn away amid utter darkness, into what dreadful pitfalls and frightful
depths may we not fall?
She forsakes the guide of her youth. She was
taught better lessons in the happy days of her
childhood and early youth. The fear of the Lord
was impressed upon her mind and heart. Instructions pure and beautiful were wont to fall
upon her ear. A father's manly voice had taught
her-a mother's deep affection had entreated her.
And she once entered the house of God upon the
holy Sabbath-day, and used to hear the holy commandment preached and enforced, and the blessed
gospel breathing forth its invitation of boundless
mercy. And there sometimes swept by her, as it
had been sweet voices from another world, whis



WOMEN OF THE BIBLI.         215
pering of the beauties of holiness; and many an
upward and sacred influence came to guide her
youth to spiritual and immortal happiness. All
that was lovely and good —whether on earth, or
in purer and happier worlds-all pointed her away
from the joys of sense and the-pleasures of sin,
and prompted her to lift her heart for a higher
and holier destiny. Yet from every golden cord
she has broken away-from every scene of innocence and beauty she has retired.  From  all
elevated and lovely circles, she has gone down.
The guide of her youth is forsaken-and far off
the wanderer strays-and her feet are treading
near to the dead —and her steps take hold on hell.
She is clothed with the harlot's attire. The
costume appropriate to innocence and virtue
accords neither with her taste, nor with the purposes of her heart. She covets not the robes
with which truth, and beauty, and goodness' delight to deck themselves.  She adorns herself
rather that she may, in her subtilty, ensnare the
wandering eye, and the frail, unguarded heart.
She is without in the streets. What knows
she of the joys of home-the true and noble delights of the family circle? A husband's smilethe sweet simplicity of childhood-virtuous occupations-instructive books-refreshing converse
— holy love-what are all these to her?  That
mind is debased; that heart is withered; and all
the glory has departed; and she knows no home
save the excitement and the whirlpool of sin.




216         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
How can she linger in the presence of virtue?
Or how can she endure the company of her own
dark thoughts? She is abroad; and especially
"in the twilight."  The evening shades are more
favorable to her purposes. The destroyer that
approaches us will choose darkness rather than
light, for his deeds are evil.
She is cruel. She seeks only evil, and no good.
Her aim is not to shve, but to ruin. She promises, indeed, present joy, but her end is bitter as
wormwood-sharp as a two-edged sword. Straying far away from the path of life herself, she
would lure others to accompany her, as her feet
go down to death. She reacheth forth her arms
to embrace her victim, but it is the embrace of
destruction.
She watches for her prey. Her eyes are open,
as she is abroad in the streets, and she lieth in
wait at every corner. She is subtle of heart, and
cunning in that knowledge which is death, rather
than life. Her wandering yet observant eye is
scanning the passing multitude, and is keen to
detect, its prey. There he comes;. a youth, one
of the simple ones, and void of understanding.
Through the street he is coming, and he approaches near where she waits to deceive. Her
evil and practiced eye discerns at once. His
dress; his gait; the airs he assumes, all mark him
as the victim-alas, the willing victim! Happy,
had he been elsewhere amid " the dark night;" or
if there, it was a pity that his eye did not look




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          217
right on, and his eyelids straight before him, and
that, with the glad elasticity of youth, he had not
hastened his footsteps to his room, his Bible, and
his God!
She seduces. With varied and consummate
art she allures and captures her object. There is
the smile of apparent affection and interest; and
there are the lips whose words of flattery drop as
the honeycomb, and a voice which is smoother than
oil. The fascinating glance-the ensnaring gesture-the soft invitation-are all there. Engaging
professions and promises, it may be, are also there.
" i-came forth to meet thee-diligently to seek thy
face, and here I find thee."  With her much fair
speech she causeth him to yield, and "he goeth
after her!"
She destroys.  The simple one, being taken in
the snare of the strange woman, is ruined. If it
be his first step downward, the second step follows almost of course. He has shot within the
whirling basin of the awful. Maelstrom, and his
doom may be written as certain. As he goeth
after her, it is as an ox goeth to the slaughter; till
a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to
the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.
He is a wounded, bleeding man, cast down and
slain, where many a strong man has fallen. But
will he not rise again?  Yes, by miracle-not
ordinarily. They come not up from that disastrous ruin. For her house inclineth unto death,
and her paths unto the dead. None that go unto
10




218         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
her return again, neither take they hold of the
paths of life. It is said that there is mourning
at the last, when the flesh and the body are consumed. Her house is the way to hell, going down
to the chambers of death.
She destroys herself. Her career of sin is transient, and seems but commenced, when it closes
forever. Disease —her own disease-comes sternly,
and almost certainly. Beauty and attractiveness
rapidly wane away. Meanwhile, the heart is
already dead. This world is hung in sackcloth;
and the future is darker and more terrible still.
Herself wicked, wicked ones surround her. God
has withdrawn-heaven is closed —foul spirits
are in attendance-and she dies in despair,-welcomed out of this world by her associates in
crime-welcomed among -the unclean and the
lost-kindred beings, for whose companionship
she hath prepared herself.
Daughter! come not thou into their secret;to their hateful assembly be not thou united!




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.          219
SHE is of great price; of so much value as not to
be compared with precious stones, silver and gold,
houses and lands, or whatever riches the world
can afford. For what is all the world, if she be
absent? Or what of all other earthly losses, if
she remain?
Her husband trusts her; trusts her without
misgiving; trusts her with all his heart. Nor is
his confidence betrayed. He trusts her safely.
All the affairs of his house are managed with
great economy and wisdom, so that he has no
need of spoil; no need of invading the rights of
others, either for his own support or gratification.
She will do good to her husband, without mixture of evil. Her words are pleasant words as
he meets her at the table, in the parlor, or elsewhere. Her deeds are pleasant deeds, and such
as conduce to her husband's happiness and welfare; while, by her goodness and prudence, she
will give him no pain, and bring him no reproach
or injury. Such will be her practice perpetually.
The beauty of her conduct and character will
gild her husband's years with unclouded sunshine.
She is provident, and prepares whatever may
be necessary. Not careful for superfluities, all
materials for necessity and comfort are, if possible, in her house; nor are her own hands idle in




220         WOMEN OF THE -BIBLE.
all the requisite duties of her family. And there
is no reluctance. She suffers no caprice or discouragement to restrain her activity. Her efforts
and movements are sprightly, and willing, and
cheerful. Her heart accords with her judgment;
and she has no clearer perception of what is
proper in her house, than she has readiness and
delight in her efforts to secure it.
To say of her that she is not idle, is frigid. She
is of great industry. "She riseth while it is yet
night." The day commences with the dawn, and
it is a day of action-of decided, strong, and welldirected effort. She waits not for her duties to
be suggested by another; —" she seeketh;"-her
eye is intent upon what may be necessary or useful, and her powers- go forth in constant and
earnest industry. And those powers are strong
and efficient. In the midst of her industry, and
the high purposes of her mind and heart, she is
awake, and animated, and joyous. No time has
she for desponding, or weakness, or faltering, or
murmuring. She appreciates the important position which she holds, as well as the duties that are:appropriate, and "she- girdeth her loins with
strength, and strengtheneth her arms."  Should
reverses happen-as happen they will —she still
keeps her eye upon the great God of providenceappropriates his promise-emerges above the billows-and prosecutes with vigor the works of her
hands.
And the works of her hands are genuine and




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.           221
excellent. "She perceiveth that her merchandise
is good." Nothing marred, unseemly, defective,
proceeds from her industry. The linen she makes
is " fine linen;"-in other words, all her products
are beautiful and good. A pure and lovely fountain is she, and the streams thereof are only sweet
and refreshing streams.
She is of great enterprise. There is no meanness in her plans, nor in any of-her arrangements
or processes. She has the merchant's enterprise,
and food from distant countries is seen, at suitable
times, upon her table. For there may be piety,
as well as gratification, in tasting the fruits of
other climes; and-every creature of God is good,
and nothing to be refused, if it be received with
thanksgiving.
She is farseeing.  When there is necessity,
she can plan for the future comfort of her family,
as well as for present enjoyment. Hence, if any
exigency require it, she is capable of negociating
purchases, and of' providing more ample domains
-the fruit of her own industry and wisdom.
Thus, she is above want. Her house is comely
and respectable. She is not afraid of the snows
and storms of winter, for all her household are
clothed in scarlet. They are clothed abundantly,
in other words, and with appropriate neatness
and elegance. And her food, from far and near,
is laid up, and there is a sufficiency for all that
comprise her household. The aged ones, if they
be there-the maidens-the little children —the




2222        WOMEN OF TILE BIBLE.
husband —all are duly and abundantly provided for.
Nor, amid her abundance, are the desolate and
poor forgotten. Her virtuous heart is not encaged within her own doors. Providing well for
her own household, her eye is abroad also in
quest of suffering and sorrowing ones. For these
too she has a portion. Nor does she wait for
them to come to her-she seeks them out. " She
stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she
reacheth forth her hands to the needy." As she
moves amid the destitute and the suffering, her
steps are as those of some bright angel of mercy,
and'the blessings of such as are ready to perish
meet her as she goes.
She is benignant. When she speaks, it is with
wisdom. Her voice is music;-there is no harshness nor bitterness; but "in her tongue is the
law of kindness."  She is a friend to all; she
would do good to all; she will, if possible, give
pain to none. Her smiles are abundant, and
they are genial, like the reviving sunbeams, and
waking along her pathway a thousand hopes, and
cheering and blessing the heart of sadness. She
is beautiful, amid the circles of her influence and
usefulness, as the bright star of evening, and her
name is precious as ointment poured forth.
For she is honorable; honorable at home; and,
as a mother, "her children rise up and call her
blessed." A blessing has she been to them beyond human computation. A part of her worth
10*




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.         223
they see and appreciate, and pronounce their
blessing upon her. Through her influence, in a
great measure, they are coming forth upon the
theatre of life, a pious, comely, and useful company, fitted to adorn the circles of earth, and
promising to be flourishing and happy in the eternal sequel. "Her husband, also, and he praiseth
her."  She has been the greatest and best gift of
earth to him-the solace and charm of his mortal
existence; soothing his sorrows and enhancing
every joy of his life, and essentially aiding, by
her excellence of character and manners, his
reputation and honor. A woman of another
temper might have crushed his prospects and his
hopes; but now he "is known in the gates when
he sitteth among the elders of the land." He is
the husband of "the virtuous woman," and she is
honorable abroad-one of the selectest ornaments
of her neighborhood-a woman that feareth the
-Lord, and " she shall be praised;" for strength and
honor are her clothing.
"A woman that feareth the Lord;" thence her
high virtue- and excellence. The Divine pen
having written this one sentence, no further explanation is necessary. -The fear of the Lord is
the beginning of wisdom, and a good understanding have -all they that do his commandments.
The virtuous woman is a God-fearing woman.
She sees him ever around her. She hears him in
every passing breeze, and in every falling shower.
His book lies open upon her table, and the words




224         WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.
on which she ponders there, " they are spirit and
they are life" to -her soul. Her house —-God
reared it over her head; and those rooms, and all
the beautiful and pleasant things that meet her
there, God spread them out before her. Her husband-God placed him at her side, and her sons
and daughters were gifts from heaven. Her
health-her mind-her comfort-the bright sunshine of her life-GQd ordered all, and from him
came down every good and perfect gift. Her
sins-God has hidden them; her brilliant hopesGodi has inspired them; her eternal mansionGod has erected it, somewhere in heaven. God,
with her, is all, and in all. Toward him her spirit
leans with unutterable longing-to him she is
wedded in ineffable union-to please and glorify
him is the burning passion of her soul-to offend
him is the bitterness of death and woe to her
heart-to be like him is the strong and incessant
endeavor of her being-to participate in hip eternal kingdom and praises, is her absorbing expectation and hope. To shut God from her mind
and heart, would be like the setting of the sun
behind the shadows of eternity, and the sickening
eclipse of everlasting night. "Whom have I in
heaven but thee, and there is none upon the earth
that I desire besides thee," is poetry with which
her soul knows infinite sympathy. She "feareth
the Lord;" and it is a fear deep, inwrought, sanctifying, vivifying, abiding, saving. Here discern
the virtue of the virtuous woman. Here mark




WOMEN OF THE BIBLE.         225
the fountain whence issues every sweet and refreshing and gladdening stream.
No wonder, then, that we read of this woman,
that "she shall rejoice in time to come." The
virtuous woman, steadfast in her eminent virtue
-what harm can befall her?  She will pass on
to age; but they will be years of honor-years
of accumulated,wisdom, love, happiness. As
when one ascends far up some mountain-height,
her prospect of beauty will be reaching wide and
still wider into the distance. Lying down to die,
the blessings of multitudes shall encircle her
death-bed, and a voice from Eternity shall whisper, "Well done, good and faithful!" Retiring
from earth, she will live on high, conspicuous and
renowned among the many daughters that "have
done virtuously."
THE END.