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 THE EASTERN MIRROR. 
 

 •y- ■'\ 
 
THE 
 
 EASTERN MIRROR J 
 
 Av 
 
 ILE,USTM*4TIOM 
 
 OP THE 
 
 SACRED SCRIPTURES; 
 
 IN WHICH THE 
 
 1 
 
 Cu35tom0 af ^Btitinal M^mm 
 
 ARR 
 
 CLEARLY DEVELOPED BY THE WRITINGS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MOST CELEBRATED TRAVELLERS. 
 
 By the REV, W. FOWLER. 
 
 Read and revere the sacred page ; a p^ge 
 
 Where triumphs immcwtality ; a page 
 
 Wliich not the whole creation could produce. 
 
 Which not the conflagration shall destroy ; 
 
 Li nature's ruins not one letter lost. YouNO». 
 
 Understandfest thou what thou readest ? . And he said. How can I, except 
 some one should guide me ? — Acts viiL 30, 31. 
 
 EXETER: 
 
 PRINTED BY B^ WOOLMER, GAZETTE-OPPI€E ; 
 
 AND SOLD BY T. BLANCHARD, NO. 14, CITY-ROAD, LONDON ; 
 J. S. BROAD, NO. 4, BRIDEWELL-LANE, BRISTOL; S. WOOLMER, 
 EXETER j AND OTHER BOOKSELLERS IN TOWN AND COUNTRY. 
 
 1814. 
 
lOAN STACX 
 

 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The Bible is justly and universally allowed^ 
 by all the followers of the Lord Jesus Chrfet, to be a 
 book of the first importance. The Bible contains all 
 those subjects in which our best interests are most 
 deeply concerned ; and points out to us the only 
 path which can conduct us to happiness in this world, 
 or lead us finally to Heaven. From a deep sense of 
 its vast and general utility, pious characters in every 
 age have made it their study to elucidate and diffuse 
 the scriptures, while myriads have found them to be a 
 lamp unto iheirfeety and a light unto their paih» 
 
 As the scriptures were originally written in the 
 East, we meet with frequent allusions to customs and 
 scenes, not known among us in the Western parts of 
 the world. To satisfy the enquiring mind upon these 
 important subjects, the writings of many pious and 
 
 nr- 
 
 62 
 
Vr INTRODUCTION. 
 
 judicious travellers have been collected with care, and 
 examined with scrutiny. The result of this investi- 
 gation has added new laurels to the Christian system ; 
 whose transcendant beauties will always brighten, in 
 proportion to the information of its reader. 
 
 The valuable works of Mess. Harmer, Calmet, and 
 Burder, upon the subject of Eastern customs, are 
 too expensive to be acq.uired by some, and too volumi- 
 nous to be read by others. Their united labours^ to 
 the mass of society are a sealed fountain ; they hear 
 of its excellencies, but* cannot drink of its streams. 
 
 To remedy this evil, the compiler of the present 
 work has been encouraged to give the subject the 
 most serious consideration,^ to collect the most im- 
 portant particulars, and compress them into a single 
 volume. In the execution of this task, he has endea- 
 voured to expunge all extraneous matter^ to gather 
 the scattered ray« of light into one focus,^ and to ar- 
 range Mie various subjects under their proper beads. 
 
 It has beeu found necessary to make a thousand 
 alterations 'm the form of the subjects introduced 
 into this volume ; but the writer's ideas have been 
 fedthfully traced, where his language is not strictly 
 
INTRODUCTION^ V 
 
 followed. In some places where the reports of travel- 
 lers are of the discordant cast, instead of troubling the 
 reader with all their perplexing; disputes, the subject 
 has been impartially examined, and only that part 
 advanced which appears to merit the greatest 
 confidence. 
 
 The study of Eastern customs is doubtless of incal- 
 culable utility. Dr. Clarke says, " without such a 
 work, ninety-nine out of every hundred of those who 
 profess to teach the church of God, must remain, 
 in many important points, ignorant of the contents of 
 that book, which alone contains the science of salva- 
 tion.*' 
 
 That the study of the present volume may assist 
 in perfecting the Christian character, and make the 
 Minister a workman that needeth jvot to be ashamed, is 
 •the earnest prayer of 
 
 The reader's humble Servant, 
 
 W. FOWLER. 
 
THE 
 
 EASTERN MIRROR; 
 
 AN- 
 
 ILLUSTRATION 
 
 OF TIIR 
 
 SACRED SCRIPTURES. 
 
 GENESIS. 
 
 NO.l. — ANCIENT OFFERINGS. 
 
 iv. 3. Cai7i brought of the fruit of th& ground an 
 offering unto the Lord. 
 
 To offer to the source of all our comforts 
 the first fruits of the herbage, and of the different 
 kinds of grain and fruits, was the practice of mankind 
 from the beginning. The earliest instance of these, 
 oblations on record is that of Cain, the eldest son of 
 the first great husbandman, who doubtless following; 
 paternal precedent, brought of the fruit of the ground 
 an offering unto the Lord. Thus the Jews consecrated 
 the first fruits of their oil,their wine, and their wheat ; 
 and, by divine institution, whatsoever, opened the 
 womb, whether of man or of beast, was sacred to the 
 Lord. This same custom prevailed among the Gen- 
 tUes, who, when, they had gathered in. their fruits, 
 ♦ Numb. xvUi. 12. B. 
 
3 GENESIS. 
 
 offerocl solemn sacrifices, with thanks to God for hj^ 
 blessings. According to Porphyry, an ancient festival 
 was annually celebrated at Athens, to the honour of 
 Ihe sun, in which the simplicity of the offerings re- 
 sembled the practice of the first ages. Consecrated 
 ^ass was carried about, in which the kernels of olives 
 •were wrapped up together with figs, all kinds of pulse, 
 oaken leaves, with acorns, and cakes composed of the 
 ineal of wheat and barley, heaped up in a pyramidal 
 form, allusive to the beams which ripened the grain. 
 ,JBurder. — The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit : 
 « broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not 
 despise. — Psalm li. 17. 
 
 NO. 2. — TRANSLATION OF ENOCH. 
 
 V. 24. God took him. 
 Burder says the following singular tradition may 
 possibly have some reference to the translation of 
 Enoch : " The Kalmucks, among other idols, worship 
 in a peculiar manner one, which they call Xacamuni. 
 They say, that four thousand years ago, he was only 
 a sovereign prince in India ; but, on account of his 
 unparalleled sanctity, God had taken him up io 
 heaven alive." — Von Htrahlenherg. 
 
 NO. 3.— ABYSSINIAN CRUELTY. 
 
 ix. 4. But flesh with the life thereof, which is ihe 
 blood thereof, shall ye not eat. 
 Mr. Bruce has given us an account of the manner 
 of eating blood in Abyssinia. He says, that at a small 
 distance from its ancient capital he overtook three 
 persons driving a cow : they had lances and shields in 
 their hands, and appeared to be soldiers. He saw 
 these men trip up the cow and give it a rude fall 
 
GENESIS. 3 
 
 «pon the ground: one of them sat across her neck 
 
 holding down her head by the horns ; another twisted 
 
 an halter about her fore-feet, while the third, wha 
 
 had a knife in his hand,, getting across the poor 
 
 creature, gave it a deep wound in the upper part of 
 
 the buttock, and cut out two pieces of flesh, thicker 
 
 and longer than our ordinary beefsteaks, which they 
 
 spread upon the outside of one of their shields. They 
 
 then proceeded to care for the beast, and turning 
 
 back the skin oyer the wonnd, they fastened it to the 
 
 correspondent part by two or more small skewers or 
 
 pms, and covered it with a cataplasim of clay • they 
 
 then forced the animal to rise, and drove it on before 
 
 them to furnish them with a fuller meal when they 
 
 should meet their companions in the evening 
 
 It appears that the Israelites, in the days of Saul 
 had a strong propensity to this crime. After they 
 had conquered the Philistines they flew upon the 
 spoil and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and did 
 eat them with the blood: that is, they cut off the 
 flesh of the beasts whilst they were yet alive, and 
 ate ,t raw.-l Sam. xiv. 23. To prev;nt this, Saul 
 caused a great stone to be rolled to him, and ordered 
 tlia the cattle should all be killed upon that stone, by 
 cuftmg their throats. Thus the blood was poured 
 upon the ground like water, and the animal know.. 
 to be dead before its flesh was e&teii.Surcler. ' 
 
 NO. 4.-0PUnENCE OF E.^STERN SHEPHERDS. 
 
 xiii. 2. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in mlver,. 
 and in gold. 
 The cattle of the eastern shepherds comprized- 
 their greatest treasure, particularly their flocks of 
 
4. GENESIS. 
 
 sheep and goats ; for they were not so much concerned 
 about camels, horses, asses, and oxen, though they 
 had them in great numbers, for the carriage of their 
 portable cities, as they call their tents, which are in 
 common black, and made of goats' hair. 
 
 The opulence of those shepherds flowed from 
 various sources ; such as the sale of their cattle, 
 butter, milk, and the wool of their flocks. Their 
 expenditure was small ; for they drew their support 
 from their own cultivated lands and fruitful flocks : 
 hence they were continually making acquisitions of 
 money current with the merchant. — Gen. xxiii. 16. 
 The splendor of their equipage has struck the 
 traveller with astonishment. Sir J. Chardin says, he 
 has seen in Persia and Turkey, where the country is 
 full of those Turcomans, their chiefs travelling with 
 a great train, very well clothed and mounted. He 
 saw one between Parthia and Hyrcania, whose train 
 surprised and alarmed him. He had more then ten led 
 horses, with all their harness of solid gold and silver. 
 He was accompanied by many shepherds on horse- 
 b?ick, and well armed. Their rustic mien and tanned 
 complexion caused him at first to take them for 
 robbers; but he was soon undeceived. They treated 
 him with civility, and answered all the questions his 
 curiosity prompted him to offer, concerning their 
 jrifinner and way of life. The whole country, for ten 
 leaguos, was full of flocks that belonged to them. 
 Chardin adds, " about an hour after I saw his wives 
 and principal attendants passing along in a row ; 
 there were four in cajavehs: these are great square 
 cunes carried two upon a camel, which were not close 
 covered,. The rest were on camels, on asses, and o\\, 
 
GENESIS. 6 
 
 horseback, most of them with their faces unveiled. 
 I saw some very beautiful women among them." — 
 Harmer, 
 
 NO. 5. — INDULGENCE TO SLAVES. 
 
 XV. 3. And Abram said, behold to ine thou hast givcfd 
 
 no seed ; and lo one born in my house is mine heir. 
 
 When the easterns have no male issue, they fre- 
 quently marry their daughters to their slaves ; as in 
 1 Chron. ii. 84, 35. Now Skeshan had no sons, but, 
 daughters ; and Sheshan had a servant, an Egyptian y 
 whose name was Jarha ; and Sheshan gave his 
 daughter to Jarha his servant to wife. The rich 
 people of Barbary, when they have no children, are 
 known to purchase young slaves, to educate them in 
 their own faith, and sometimes to adopt them for their 
 own children. European relations would doubtless 
 charge such conduct with cruelty and injustice ; but 
 the people of the East entertained different ideas. 
 One born in my house is mine heir. Probably Abraham 
 alluded to one of his home-born slaves, though he had 
 brother's children, if not a brother, in Mesopotamia.^ 
 Gen. xxii. 20,24. 
 
 Maillet speaks of the risking of these slaves at times 
 to the- highest posts of state. He .says, there was an 
 eunuch at Cairo, when he resided there, who had 
 made three Beys or Princes of that country from 
 among his slaves ; and he speaks of another Bey wha 
 had at one time five or six of his slaves Beys like? 
 himself. 
 
 Thevenot informs us, that the greatest men of the 
 Ottoman Empire are well known to have beea 
 origjftallj Mayes, brought up in tUe serajglio : ^nd jt 
 
« ge:nesis. 
 
 appears from Monsieur D'Herbelot, that the Mameluke 
 King^s of Egypt themselves were originally slaves. 
 *rhus the advancement of Joseph to be Viceroy of 
 Egypt, and Daniel, another Hebrew slave, to be 
 chief minister of state in Babylon, corresponds with 
 the modern usages of the East. — Harmer^ 
 
 KO. 6~PIGE0NS, NUMEROUS TJf THE EAST. 
 
 XV. 9. Take me a young pigeon. 
 
 Norden informs us, that the number of pigeon-houses 
 in Upper Egypt is so great, that each habitation termi- 
 nates at the top by a pigeon-house, for three-fourths of 
 the way from the first cataract to Cairo ; and Le 
 Bruyn says they are numerous also in Lower Egypt. 
 Maundrell says that he found pigeons plentiful in some 
 parts of Syria, and there is reason to suppose that the 
 Jews also encouraged them in Judea. Where art inter- 
 venes not they build in those hollow places nature pro- 
 vided for them. The words of the Psalmist, Jiee as 
 a bird to your mountain, may refer to the doves flying 
 thither when frightened by the sportsman. 
 
 Pigeons, as they grow old, lose their agreeable 
 flavour and tenderness : hence, because the sacrifices 
 of God were to be of the best, these birds were to be 
 offered when they were young. There is not the 
 €ame restraint as to turtle-doves: they are birds of 
 passage, and are always good when they appear in 
 those countries. In Egypt, indeed, they kept a 
 number of tame turtle-doAcs ; and they might be kept 
 In many other places for pleasure and profit. Accord- 
 ing; to Baron de Tott, the Turkish Government allows 
 a certain premium in their favour. Dr. Chandler says, 
 that departing from Magnesia he was surprised 
 
GENESIS. 7 
 
 upon entering the town of Guzel-Nissar, to see innu- 
 merable tame turtle-doves sitting on the branches of 
 the trees, and upon the walls and roofs of the house?^ 
 cooing incessantly. 
 
 NO. 7. — ISHMAELITES LIVE BY PREY. 
 
 xvi. 12. His hand will be against every inan, anc^ 
 every man's hand against him. 
 
 The one is the natural consequence of the other. 
 Ishmael lived by prey and rapine in the wilderness: 
 and his posterity have all along infested Arabia and 
 the neighbouring countries with their robberies and in- 
 cursions : they live in a state of continual war with 
 the r€ist of the world ; and are both robbers by land, 
 and pirates by sea. As they have been such enemies 
 to mankind, it is no wonder that mankind have been 
 onemies to them again ; and that several attempts 
 have been made to extirpate them. Now, as well as 
 formerly, travellers are forced to go with arms, and in 
 caravans or large companies, in order to defend 
 themselves from the assaults of these free-booters, who 
 run about in troops, and rob and plunder all whom they 
 can by any means subdue. These robberies they 
 justify by alledging the hard usage of their father 
 Ishmael, who being turned out of doors by Abraham, 
 had the open plains and desarts given him by God for 
 his patrimony, with permission to take whatever he 
 could find there ; and on this account they think they 
 may, with a safe conscience, indemnify themselves, 
 as well as they can. — Newton. 
 
 I consider the prophecy concerning Ishmael and 
 his descendants, the Arabs, as one of the most extra- 
 ordinary that we meet with in the OJd Testament-. 
 
8 GENESIS. 
 
 -•God gave Ishmael that very wilderness which was 
 before the property of no man, in which Ishmael 
 was to erect a kingdom under the most improbable 
 circumstances, his hand was to he against every man, 
 and every man's hand against him. Never was a 
 prophecy more completely fulfilled : the power of the 
 
 ■ Arab descendants of Ishmael has subsisted from the 
 earliest ages : and this prophecy alone, in the truth of 
 w hich all sorts of religions agree, is of itself a sufficient 
 
 ^proof oftlie Divine authority of the scriptures. — 
 Bruce, 
 
 .,N0. 8.--EASTERN TENTS. 
 
 Xviii. 1 . He sat in the tent door 'in the heat of the day. 
 
 Dr. Chandler says, that those who lead a pastoral 
 life in the East, frequently place themselves in a similar 
 , situation with the patriarch, to enjoy the benefit of the 
 air, and to watch the flocks and cattle which may be 
 feeding round the scattered booths. These booths 
 were probably made of goats hair cloth, like the tents 
 of the Arabs, or formed of boughs of trees. Whatever 
 was the description of Abraham's tent, it appears that 
 Jiis sitting in the avenue to the tent was an innocent 
 patriarchal hiduigence. 
 
 According to D'Arvieux's account, the Arab Emirs 
 or Princes have always two tents, one for themselves, 
 and another for their wives; beside a number of 
 «mall ones for their domestics, together with a 
 tent of audience, which may be considered as a. picture 
 of patriarchal custom. Sir J. Chardin says, that their 
 tents were black in general, and made of goats' hair; 
 -that they were pretty lofty, and adorned, to the heighpt 
 of four feet from the base, with mats made of reeds. 
 :It appears, ths^t thc^e Emirs have carpets and^wUtf 
 
GENESIS. 9 
 
 ^i all sorts, and some very beautifully stitched with 
 •silk and gold ; and others woven and embroidered 
 with flowers of gold and silver, like those of the 
 Turks, and extremely handsome. — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 9. — ENTERTAINMENT OF STRANGERS IN THE EAST. 
 
 xviii. 8. And he took butter, and milk, and the calf 
 which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he 
 stood by them under the tree. 
 
 According to La Roque's account of the journey 
 
 of Mods. D'Arvieux to the camp of the great Emir, 
 
 it appears, that the Arabs are very hospitable. He 
 
 says, when strangers enter a village they enquire for 
 
 the Menzil, and beg to speak with the Sheikh, or 
 
 head of th-e village : after saluting him they mention 
 
 their wants, and the Sheikh kindly conducts them to 
 
 the Menzil. If the strangers lodge in the village, the 
 
 Sheikh's servants provide accordingly, and send it to 
 
 the Menzil in wooden bowls, which they place on a 
 
 great round straw mat, which usually serves for a 
 
 table, and is furnished with flesh, fowl, eggs, butter, 
 
 -cheese, curds, fruit, sallad, olives, &e. The Sheikh, 
 
 generally, sits down with the strangers, and the most 
 
 respectable of the village. They make no use of 
 
 knives at table, because the meat is all cut into small 
 
 •pieces before it is roasted; and this, according to 
 
 Russell and Pococke, is the common way of roasting 
 
 meat both at Aleppo and in Egypt. Provisions cannot 
 
 .be preserved in the East from meal to meal as in 
 
 Europe, therefore, the Easterns never bake their 
 
 thread, nor kill their cattle Hill necessity requires jt,. 
 
 Abraham's attitude was probably the effect p/ M§> 
 
 reverence ibr the angels. — Hg/rxmir.. 
 
30 GENESIS. 
 
 Anollier rit« of hospitality observed towardd 
 strangers among the ancients, was washing the feet. 
 *' We were not above a musket shot from Anna, when 
 we met with a comely old man, who came up to me, 
 and taking my horse by the bridle, * Friend,' said he, 
 ' come and wash thy feet, and eat bread at my house. 
 Thou art a stranger ; and since I have met thee upon 
 ,the road, never refuse me the favour which I desire 
 of thee.* We went along with him to his house, 
 ivhere he feasted us in the best manner he could, 
 giving us barley for our horses ; and for us he killed a 
 lamb and some hens." — Tavernier, 
 
 By Jove the stranger aiid tlie poor are scnt» 
 
 Aud what to those we give to Jove is lent ; 
 
 Tlien food supply, and bathe liis fanning limbs. 
 
 Where waving shades obscure the mazy streams. — Popf. 
 
 It appears, however, from tlie language of Abigail 
 to David's messengers, that this was a menial act : 
 ■let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the 
 -servants of my Lord. — 1 Sam. xxv. 41. 
 
 ^O. 10.— DESCRIPTION OF EASTERN GATES. 
 
 Xix. 1. ^nd there came two angels to Sodom at even ; 
 and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. 
 
 The gates of cities, or a void place, at the entrance 
 
 'of the gates, were anciently their market-places and 
 
 courts of judicature. That they held their markets 
 
 in their gates appears from 2 Kings, vii. 1. 18. where 
 
 we read, that a measure of fine flour was to be sold 
 
 for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, 
 
 in the gate of Samaria. That this same place was 
 
 used for a court of judicature, is manifest from 
 
 Acts xvi. 19. They caught Paul and Silas, and 
 
 drew them irito the market place unto the rulers. In 
 
GENESIS. 11 
 
 tills place Lot probably sat for amusement and society, 
 and not as a Magistrate, or they would hardly have 
 reproached him for setting up to be a judge. — V. ix. 
 
 Prior to the erection of synagogues it appears that 
 these places were occasionally devoted to religious 
 purposes, see Pjov. i. 20, 21, Wisdom crieth withouU 
 she utterefh her voice in the streets : she crieth in the 
 chief place of concourse in the opening of the gates, tVc> 
 Here it was that the apostle Paul held frequent dis- ' 
 futes with them that met with him. Acts xvii. 17.— 
 Harmer. 
 
 Lord grant that the reader may not be ashamed when 
 he speaks with his enemies in the gate, Ps. cxxvii. 5. 
 
 IfO. 11. — DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH. 
 
 xix. 24. The Lord rained upon Sodom and upon 
 Gomorrah brimstone and fire. 
 
 The plain of Sodom was probably intersected with 
 canals, abounded with fruit, and had the richest pas- 
 turage. This delightful plain must have been exten- 
 sive, for the dead sea, which now occupies the spot, 
 appears to be twenty four leagues long, and six 
 or seven broad. Here we see that sin converts a 
 fruitfulland into barrenness^ for the wickedness of 
 them that dirsll therein. — Psalm cvii. 34. 
 
 The truth of the narrative before us is confirmed by 
 profane historians and by modern travellers. Diodo- 
 Tus Siculus says, that the water, which covers the 
 country where these towns were formerly situated, is 
 bitter and foetid to the last degree ; insomuch that 
 neither fish noT any other aquatic animals are able to 
 live in it. Tacitus says, that a tradition prevailed in 
 his days of certain cities being dcvstroyed by thunder 
 
n GENESIS. 
 
 and lightning, and of the plain in which they wer 
 situated being burnt up ; and adds, that evident trace 
 of such a catastrophe remained, and that whatevc 
 vegetation sprung up, gradually withered away an 
 crumbled into dust. 
 
 Strabo, after describing the nature of the lake A: 
 phaltis, says, that the whole of its appearance gives a 
 air of probability to the prevailing tradition, that thi; 
 teen cities, the chief of which was Sodom, were at one 
 destroyed by earthquakes, fire, and inundation of boi 
 jng sulphurious water. Thevenot says, that the watt 
 of this lake is so salt that it burns like fire the man wli 
 presumes to taste it — hence it is called the Salt Se; 
 He adds, that when the fish of the river Jordan com 
 down so low, they strive to return against the stream 
 but such as are carried into it by the current of tli 
 water, immediately die. The land within thre 
 leagues round jt is not cultivated, but is white, an 
 mingled with salt and ashes. In short, we mus 
 think that there is a heavy curse of God upon the 
 place, seeing it was once so pleasant a country, i 
 Lord, mercifully keep the reader from the miseries c 
 tlie infernal lake of fire and brimsiorie. Rev. xx. 10 
 where the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for eve 
 find ever, — Rev. xiv, 11, 
 
 KO. 12. — THE EXPOSURE OF ISHMAEL. 
 
 xxi. lb. And the water was spent in the bottle, am 
 she cast the child ujider one of the shrubs. 
 We shall not be surprized to find jthat there wer( 
 shrubs in that part of the wilderness., where Haga 
 •wandered with lier son, if we can believe Irwin's re 
 l^ort ojf this desart, who declares lhajtthoro-:tree.sj^jros^ 
 
GENESIS. 13 
 
 there in abundance, with rosemary bushes, and shrubs 
 of considerable fragrance. 
 
 It appears from comparing Gen. xvi. 16, with chap. 
 xxi. 5. that Ishmael was fourteen years old when 
 Isaac was born, and probably seventeen when Isaac 
 was weaned, for it was the ancienq custom in those 
 countries to suckle children till they were three years 
 old : see 2 Mac.vii.27. and the account given of Samuel, 
 1 Sam. i. 22. Hagar's casting the fainting youth 
 under a shrub, must mean her gently suffering him to 
 drop within the shade of some bush, where he desired 
 to lie, which indeed is the meaning of the original. — 
 Harmer. 
 
 NO. 13. — CUSTOM OF MOURNING FOR THE DEAD. 
 
 xxiii. 2. And Abraham came io mourn for Harali, 
 and to weep for her. 
 
 Some have supposed, from comparing chap. xxii.. 
 19, with the verse before us, that Abraham came 
 from Beersheba to Hebron, a distance of twenty-four 
 miles, to mourn for Sarah ; but this is uncertain. 
 
 Potter says, that it was a custom among the Greeks 
 to place their dead near their doors, and to attend 
 them there with mourning; and, he thinks, that 
 Abraham came from his own to Sarah's tent, and 
 seated himself upon the ground near the door, where 
 the corpse was laid, in order to perform the ordinary 
 and public rites of mourning. Some passages of the 
 Jewish Prophets allude to their stripping themselves 
 of some of their clothes in time of deep humiliation. 
 Micah says. Therefore X will wail and howl' I will 
 go stript and naked. : I will make a wailing like the 
 dragons,, and mourning as the oiols. — -Micahy i. 8.. 
 Saul's stripping himself, mentioned 1 Sam. xiX'.^4. 
 
ti 
 
 GENESIS. 
 
 may be nnderstood of his assuming tlie appearance 
 of those that were deeply enj^aged in devotional 
 exercises, into which he was unintentionally brought 
 by prophetic influences. 
 
 According to Pitts, this ceremony is *till practised 
 in the East among the Mahommedan Pilgrims. He 
 gays, that on their way to Mecca the male Pilgrims 
 strip themselves at Rabbock, and put on two large 
 white cotton wrappers: one of them they put about 
 the middle^ which reaches down to the ancles, and 
 with the other they cover the upper part of the body, 
 except the head, which is left naked : they wear 
 nothing beside, except a pair of sandals, with just 
 leather enough to cover their toes : in this manner, 
 like humble penitents, they approach the temple of 
 Mecca, after having braved the scorching sun for no 
 less than seven days, 'till the skin is burnt off their 
 backs and arms, and their heads swollen to an amazing 
 degree. — Harmer., 
 
 NO. 14. — DESCRIPTION OF EASTERN .^lONEY. 
 
 xxiii. 1 6. u4iid Abraham weigJied io Ephroji iJie silver,. 
 Ancient nations have discovered a singular coinci- 
 dence in the management of their money. The Jews 
 appear to have used silver in lumps, perhaps of various 
 dimensions and weights ; and certainly on some occa- 
 sions at least, impressed with a particular stamp. The 
 primitive race of men. being, shepherds, and their 
 wealth consisting in their cattle, the earliest coins 
 were stamped with the figure of an ox or a sheep. We 
 are informed, that Jacob bought a parcel of a field 
 for a hundred pieces of money. The original Hebrew- 
 translated pieces of money is kesiioth, which signifies- 
 
GENESIS, 15 
 
 lambs, with the figure of which tiie metal was, 
 doubtless, stamped. 
 
 Macartney informs us, that there is no sllv^er coin 
 in China, notwithstanding payments are made With 
 that metal, in masses of about ten ounces, having the 
 form of the crucibles they are refined in, with the 
 stamp of a single character upon them, denoting their 
 weight. The practice of weighing money is- general 
 in Syria, E^ypt, and all Turkey, as in the days of 
 Abraham, when he purchased his sepulchre. — CalmeU 
 
 NO 15.— EASTERN MANNER OF SWEARING. 
 
 xxiv. 2, 3. Puti I pray theCythy hand under my fkigh;^ 
 and I will make Ihee sipear by the Lord. 
 
 Mr. Bruce informs us, that in his passage up the 
 Nile, at a place called Shekh Ammer, the people, after 
 joining hands, repeated a prayer, in which they 
 invocated curses upon themselves and their children, 
 if ever they lifted their hands against him in the field,, 
 the desart, or the river; and bound themselves to 
 protect him, or his, who should fly to them for refuge,, 
 even at the risk of their lives, their families, and their 
 fortunes. This manner of joining hands may cast 
 light upon Prov. xi. 21, and 2 Kings, x. 15. 
 
 It appears that Abraham's ancient manner of 
 swearing had been to lift up his hand unto the 
 Lord, as he informs the King of Sodom Gen. xiv. 22. 
 And thus in Homer we read of Agamemnon, 
 
 To all the Gods lils sceptre he uplifts. 
 
 But when the Lord had covenanted with Abraham, 
 and enjoined circumcision as the proper sign and 
 seal of that -covenant, then the mode of swearing: 
 appears to have been altered j thence, when his 
 
16 GENESIS. 
 
 servant would swear to be faithful to his master's 
 orders, he is to put his hand under his master's thigh, 
 and swear by the covenant of circumcision: this is 
 the manner in which Joseph swore to meet the wishes 
 of his father Israel, chap, xlvii. 29. Some suppose 
 that this ceremony had some relation to thoir faith in 
 the promise of God, to bless all the nations of the 
 earth by means of one that was to descend from 
 Abraham. — Harmer, ^c. 
 
 NO. 16. — ANCIENT WELLS AND PITCHERS. 
 
 jxiv. 16. She wejit dow7i to the well, and filled he'i 
 pitcher, and came up. 
 
 It appears from various authority, that some of the 
 wells in the east were furnished with a flight of steps 
 down to the water, which appears to be the case witt 
 the well before us. There are wells in Persia and 
 Arabia in the driest places, and above all in the Indies 
 with troughs and basins of stones by the side of them 
 It is manifest that this well had something of this 
 kind, as also the Arabian well, to which the daughters 
 of Jethro resorted, Ex. ii. 16. 
 
 Sir J. Chardin says that in Arabia and other places, 
 they cover their wells, lest the sand, which is mucl 
 agitated by the winds, should stop them up. So we fin<^ 
 Gen. xxix. 1, that they gathered their flocks togethei 
 before they opened the well, and having drawn as much 
 water as was necessary, they covered it up again im- 
 mediately. He says he has known the Easterns lock 
 up their wells or cisterns, whea water has been 
 scarce. 
 
 Niebuhr informs us that some of the wells are ar 
 hundred and sixty feet deep, dug out in sloping ground- 
 
GENESIS. 17 
 
 According to Thevenot, the people are obliged to 
 carry lines and leathern buckets with them, to draw 
 water ; and with these the merchants, who travel in 
 caravans, are generally furnished. This reminds us 
 of the language of the woman of Samaria to our 
 Lord, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw withy and thi 
 well is deep. — John iv. 11. 
 
 Homer mentions the custom of women being em- 
 ployed in drawing water among the Pheeacians, and 
 Laestrygonians. Dr. Shaw says, the Moorish women 
 in Barbary tie their sucking children behind them, 
 and travel with their pitcher or goat-skin, two or three 
 miles, to get water. This custom prevaiiis in ancient 
 Greece, and in other places,. 
 
 The pitcher was a vessel much like our Jars, and 
 made of earth, which the Eastern women used io 
 carry on the head or shoulder : yet that which was 
 given Hagar was probably a leathern bottle, or vessel 
 made of a skin. — Harmer^ 
 
 NO. 1 7. — EASTERN ORNAMENTS. 
 
 xxiv. 22, Tlie man took a golden ear-ring of half a 
 
 shekel weight, and two bracelets for her /lands of 
 
 ten shekels weight of gold, &;c. 
 
 It appears, from Sir J. Chard in, that the Asiatic 
 
 females wore the most cumbrous ornaments. Some 
 
 of their ear-rings were extremely large, made of 
 
 several kinds of metal, wood, and horn, according to 
 
 the quality of the people, and ornamented with diifer- 
 
 ent sorts of weighty pendents, which widen the hole 
 
 of the ear to an amazing size. Some of those rings are 
 
 ornamented with figures or charms, which, the Indians 
 
 say, are preservatives against enchantment. Perhaps 
 
 C 
 
 \ 
 
18 GENESIS* 
 
 the ear-rin^s, which Jacob buried with the strange 
 gods of his family, were of this description. — Gen. 
 XXXV. 4. 
 
 The bracelets put upon Rebecca weighed about 
 five ounces ; but Chardin says, he has seen them so 
 ponderous, as to resemble manacles rather than 
 bracelets. The females wear s5 many of them, as to 
 cover the arm from the wrist to the elbow. Poor 
 people have their ornaments of glass or horn. These 
 are their riches, which they rarely 'remove from their 
 bodies. 
 
 Chardin, who had large concerns in the jewel way, 
 says, it was common for the Eastern females to wear 
 a gold ring in the left nostril, which was bored low 
 in the middle. This ring was commonly ornamented 
 with two pearls, and a ruby between. That gentle- 
 man supposes, that the ring spoken of, v. 47, was not an 
 <1rnamentfor the forehead, as we read, Ezek. xvi. 12, 
 but that it should have been translated, I put the ri7ig 
 on her nose^ They wore only one, and hence but one 
 is mentioned. Harmer is of opinion, that certain 
 passages in Isaiah, Ezekiel, -and the Proverbs, should 
 be understood accordingly. Mungo Park says, that 
 the gold about an African lady of consequence, in full 
 dress, may be worth iVom fifty to eighty pounds ster* 
 ling. Men, as well as women, wore ornaments in 
 their ears. — Exod. xxxii. 2. Judges viii. 24. — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 18. — VEILS USED BY FEMALES IN THE EAST. 
 
 xxiv. 66. She took a veil atd covered herself. 
 This was the ceremony of presenting a bride to her 
 intended husband. Dr. Russel gives us an account of 
 a Maronite wedding, in which the bride's veil diifered 
 
GENESIS. n 
 
 from veils in common, she being veiled all over, and 
 that with red gauze. Rebecca's veil was doubtless 
 appropriate to that solemnity, in which she was pro- 
 bably presented to Isaac, in form, by her nurse and 
 other female attendants. — Harmer. 
 
 Rebecca's covering herself may be considered as an 
 expression of virgin modesty and reverence. 
 
 NO. 19.— DESCRIPTION OF ESAU'S POTTAGE. 
 
 XXV. 30. Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red 
 pottage;. 
 Dr. Shaw informs us, that the inhabitants of Barbary 
 use lentils boiled and stewed with oil and garlick, to 
 make a pottage of a chocolate colour. This probably 
 is a description of the red pottage for which Esau, 
 from thence called Edom,sold his birth-right. "Burder. 
 
 NO. 20-- STOPPING OF WELLS, AN ACT OF HOSTILITY. 
 
 X'XVK 18. Jnd Isaac digged again the icclLs of water 
 
 which they had digged in the days of Abraham his 
 
 father ; for the Philistines had stopped them. 
 
 The stopping of wells was one method of taking 
 
 vengeance on an enemy, or preventing theestablish- 
 
 ment of a professed friend. Niebuhr tells us, that the 
 
 Turkish Emperors lay claim to that part of Arabia 
 
 which lies between Mecca and the countries of Syria 
 
 and Egypt ; and that for the safety of their numerous 
 
 caravans of pilgrims, they have garrisons in different 
 
 parts of that mighty desart, near the wells which are 
 
 made on the road. 
 
 In addition to this, they had a custom of annually 
 bribing the Arab tribes, which lay near the road, to 
 keep them from destroying the wells, and to escort the 
 
 C, 
 
;8P GENESIS. 
 
 pi Igrrims across their country ; but in the iSth century, 
 a commander of a caravan of Syrian pilg^rims, instead 
 of giving the Shcekhs their usual presents, cut ( if their 
 heads and sent them in triumph, to Constantinople. 
 Two years after this, upon the return of the pilgrims, 
 the Arabs assembled, it is said, to the number of eighty 
 thousand, and pillaged the whole caravan ; and from 
 that time the' Turks have submitted to pay tribute to 
 the Arabs. 
 
 D'Herbelot informs us, that Gianabi, a rebel of 
 the tenth century, insulted the reigning Khalif, by pre- 
 5«enting himself boldly before Bagdat, his capital ; and 
 retiring, he filled up all the pits with sand, which had 
 been dug in the road to Mecca for the benefit of the 
 pilgrims. The Philistines were probably afraid of 
 Isaac's power; and considered the filiag up of his 
 welh Sisihe most effectual method of removing him at 
 a distance from them. — Harmer^ 
 
 NO. 21.— EASTERN DISHES. 
 
 xxvii. 4. Make me savoury meat, such as I love. 
 
 De la Roque says, that among the Arabs, whose 
 way of life resembles the Patriarchs, roast meat is 
 peculiar to the tables oif the Emirs or Princes, with 
 lambs or kids stewed whole, and stuffed with bread, 
 flour, fat, raisins, salt, pepper, saiFron^ mint, and other 
 aromatic herbs. 
 
 Dr. Rnssel informs us, that at Aleppo, which is a 
 large and rich commercial city, the food of the com- 
 mon people is plain and simple ; such as butter, bread, 
 cheese* rice, fruits, and a little mutton. The better 
 sort relish such dishes as are highly seasoned with 
 salt and spices ; nevertheless, some of their dishes 
 
GENESIS. 21 
 
 are of a sweet nature. A stewed Iamb, stuffed with 
 rice, almonds, raisins, &c. is a favorite dish with 
 them.—^ffarmer, 
 
 NO. 22. — VENERATION OF SACRED STONES. 
 
 "xxviii. 18. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, 
 and took the stone that he had put for his pillows^ 
 and set it up for a pillar^ and poured oil upon the 
 top of it. 
 
 One of the idols in the pagoda of Jaggernaut is 
 described by Captain Hamilton as a huge black stone, 
 fifty cubits high. Tavernier observed an idol of black 
 stone in the pagoda of Benares, and says, that one of 
 the principal ceremonies, incumbent upon the priests 
 of these stone deities, is to anoint them daily with 
 odoriferous oils. According to Bochart, the sacred 
 stones among the Pagans were supposed to be 
 animated, by means of magical incantations, with a 
 portion of the Deity, and were consulted on occasions 
 of great and presshig emergency as a kind of divine 
 oracle. Thus the setting up of a stone by this holy 
 person, in grateful memory of the celestial vision, 
 probably became the occasion of idolatry in succeeding 
 ages. — Maurice^s Indian Antiquities, 
 
 NO. 23— JACOB'S PILLAR. ^ 
 
 xxviii. 22. This stone, which I have set up for a pillar.y 
 shall be God's house. 
 Strange as language of this description may appear 
 to us, that a stone should be called a house, yet Major 
 Symes informs us, that the temples of the kingdom of 
 Ava are built witho«ut cavity of any sort. He says 
 tliat, at Pegu, the noble edifice ofShoemadoo, or the 
 
»5 GENESIS. 
 
 Golden Supreme, Is a pyramidical building composed 
 of brick and mortar, without excavation or aperture 
 of any sort ; octagonal at the base, and spiral at the 
 top. Each side of the base* measures one hundred 
 and sixty two feet. The extreme height of the edifice, 
 from the level of the country, is three hundred and 
 mfy'K)ne feet ; and above the interior terrace three 
 hundred and thirty-one feet. Along the whole extest 
 of the Northern face of the upper terrace, there is a 
 wooden shed for the convenience of devotees, who 
 come from a distant part of the country. There are 
 several low benches near the foot of the temple, on 
 which the person who comes to pray places his offering, 
 commonly consisting of boiled rice, a plate of sweet- 
 meats, or cocoa-nuts fried in oil. When it is given 
 the devotee cares not what becomes of it ; the crows 
 and wild dogs often devour it in the presence of the 
 donor, who never attempts to disturb the animals. — 
 Burder. 
 
 Places particularly devoted to prayer and sacrifice 
 -were called God^s house — here God particularly re- 
 vealed himself. — v. 17. ; and it was considered as the 
 place of his abode — This is the hill which God 
 desireth to dwell in; yea, the Lord- will dwell in it 
 ^or erer.— -Psalm Ixviii. 1 6. 
 
 NO. 24. — ORIGIN OF EASTERN NAMES. 
 
 xxix. .^2. And ^he called his name Reuben, for she 
 said, surely the Lord hath looked upon my affiictiov. 
 MungoPark informs us, that the custom of naming 
 children from particular incidents and circumstances, 
 is not peculiar to the Jews. — The children of the 
 Mandipgoes are not always named after their rela- 
 
GENESIS. 23 
 
 lions ; but frequently in consequence of some remark- 
 able occurrence : thus, my landlord at Kamalia was 
 called Karfa, a word signifying to replace ; because he 
 was born shortly after the death of one of his brothers. 
 Other names are descriptive of good or bad qualities : 
 as Modi, a good man ; Fadibba, father of the town, 
 &c. Indeed, the very names of their towns have 
 something descriptive in them ; as Sibidooloo, the 
 towo of Siboa trees, &c. Others appear to be given 
 by way of reproach : as Bammakoo, was a crocodile, 
 &c. Among the Negroes, every individual, besides 
 liis own proper name, has likewise a kongtong or 
 surname, to denote the family or clan to which he 
 belongs. Every Negro plumes himself on the im- 
 portance or antiquity of his clan, and is much flattered 
 when he is addressed by his kongtong. 
 
 According to D'Herbelot, it is not unusual for the 
 Orientals to go by the rule of contrary in giving 
 names: thus camphire, which is a very white and 
 odoriferous gum or resin, is one of those names given 
 to the Negroes or Blacks in the East. 
 
 Homer gives unto the mother, the prerogative of 
 naming the child: — 
 
 Him on his mother's knees, when bal.»e he lay, 
 She naiu'd Araeus, on his natal day. 
 
 Odyss. Pope, 
 
 NO. 25. — JACOB'S FLIGHT. 
 
 xxxi. 21. Hejled with all thai he had. 
 It appears that, whilst Laban and his daughter dwelt 
 in a house, they that tended the flocks had tents for 
 their accommodation. The time of sheep-shearing, 
 in the Holy land, is about six weeks or two months 
 earlier than sheep-shearing among us in England. 
 
** GENESIS. 
 
 Those seasons being attended with great festivity, they 
 probably erected superior tents for the reception and 
 entertainment of their friends. Jacob having invited 
 his wives to the entertainment, and having all his house- 
 hold stuff brought to him, could decamp immediately 
 with his flocks and herds. Laban's distance from 
 Jacob was so great, that he did not receive the intel- 
 ligenee* until the third day. 
 
 According'to Dr. Pococke, the Easterns would oc- 
 casionally, ' in the summer season, hold their feastv«, 
 ficcompahiedwith music, under their tents. It appears 
 Tor a numberof years, that even the Persian Monarchs, 
 in the summer season, dwelt in tents ; and it is likely 
 that Solomon did the same,— ^Cant. i. 6. 
 
 La Roque informs «s, that the common Arabs had 
 ijair sacks, trunks, and baskets, in which to carry 
 their furnitirre, which consisted of kettles, pots, 
 pitchers, wooden bowls, and haRd-«niil!s. The bowls 
 and dishes of the Arab Emirs were frequently made 
 t)f copper, neatly tinned. This is probably a descrip- 
 tion of the vessel which Jael set before Sisera. — 
 Ilarmer. 
 
 NO 26.— EASTERN SINGING. 
 
 jtxxi,J27. That I might have sent thee away with 
 mirth, and with songs. 
 According to^he Prefetto of Egypt, whose journal 
 •^'a^ published by the Bishop of Ciogher, it was com- 
 Biou to part with 80?igs. The travelling songs of the 
 Easterns appear to have been extemporaneous: the 
 songs of the Israelitish Jwomen, when they went forth 
 to meet King Saul, after that David had smitten the 
 Fliilistiiies, appear to have been of the same kind, — 
 
GENESIS. 25 
 
 They answered one another as they played, and said, 
 Saul has slain his thousands ; and David his ten 
 thousa?ids. — 1 Sam. xviii. 7. This it appears was the 
 nature of some of their devotional songs in the church 
 at Corinth, i tTor. xiv. 26. ; and, from the Apostle's 
 language to the Colossians, chap. iii. 16. it appears to 
 have been an ordinary vehicle of instruction and 
 admonition. — Harnier* 
 
 Aristotle says, that people anciently sung their 
 i-aws ; and that the Agathyrsi continued to do so in his 
 days. Tully also informs us that it was customary, 
 with the old Romans, to have the virtues and praises 
 of famous men sung to a pipe at their feasts. This he 
 apprehends they learned from the ancient Pythago- 
 reans in Italy ; who were accustomed to deliver verses 
 containing those precepts which were the greatest 
 secrets in their philosophy ; and composed the minds 
 of the scholars to tranquillity, by songs and instru- 
 ments of music, 
 
 ISO. 27. — METHOD OF TRAVELLING IN THE EAST. 
 
 xxxi. 34. Now Rachel had. taken the images and put 
 them in the cameVs furniture, and sat upon them. 
 The Easterns had numerous beasts of carriage, such 
 as horses, camels, mules, and asses. Pococke informs 
 lis that one method of conveyance, among the Easterns, 
 is a sort of round basket with a cover, slung on each 
 side of a camel, which liolds all their necessaries, whilst 
 a person sits cross-legged upon the camel. Thevenot 
 says, that they have counes or haurpers, like cradles, 
 slung upon their camels, one on each side ; these are 
 made large enough to hold one person ; over whom 
 they lay a covering, to keep him from the raiii and 
 
J6i GENESIS. 
 
 sun ; which coverhig, according to Moryson, is made 
 of red cloth. This method of travelling, according to 
 Maillet, was a mark of distinction. La Roque says, 
 that ordinary women are mounted on camels, after 
 the manner of the Arabs, having about six ells of 
 serge, which they call the hiran, laid upon a wooden 
 saddle ; which, when they bait, and at night, is con- 
 verted into a mattress. It was probably under this 
 that Rachel hid her father's teraphim, and on which 
 she sat, according to their custom, in the tent, and was 
 therefore unsuspected. — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 28.--SUDDEN CHANGE OF WEATHER. 
 
 xxxi. 40. In the day the drought consumed me, and 
 the fro^t by night, 
 
 Jacob's complaint in relation to Mesopotamia, is 
 elucidated by Doubdan, who informs us that, on the 
 1 6th of May, he found the heat in the day time to be 
 so intolerable hear Tyre, that he was obliged to dis- 
 continue his journey ; and at night, near the rocks and 
 ruins of Tyre, his sufferings were as severe from the 
 violent cold, as they had been from the burning heat. 
 
 Rauwolf informs us that, in going down the Eu- 
 phrates, he was obliged at night to v^rap himself in a 
 frieze coat, to keep himself from the frost and dew. 
 Thus it hath pleased the Most High to temper the 
 heat of the sun by the coolness of the night ; and the 
 copiousness of the dews, which at times soak the 
 earth, and without which the greatest part of the 
 East would be an entire desart. With the severities 
 of this diurnal change was the King of Judah threat- 
 ened by the Lord. His dead- body shall be cast out 
 in the day to the heat, and in the night to the front. — 
 Jer. xxxvi. 30. — Harmer. 
 
GENESIS. 27 
 
 ^O. 29— SITTING ON STONES, 
 
 'xxxi. 46, And they took stones and made an heap^ 
 and iJiey did eat there upon the heap. 
 
 The Hebrew particle in this passage translated 
 vpon sometimes signifies near, as in Gen. xxiv. 13. 
 Behold I stand here by the well of i&ater, ^c, : and so 
 in many other places in the book of Genesis. Nieburh 
 says, that when he was admitted to an audience of th« 
 Imam of Yemen, at Sena of Arabia, he found some of 
 the principal officers of the Court, sitting in a scattered 
 manner, in the shade uipon stones. 
 
 Perhaps the ground was wet when Laban overtook 
 Jacob in Mount Gilead, and of course unfit to sit upon ; 
 and hence, Jacob might have g^ven orders to gather 
 stones iot tlieir accommodation. It might also appear 
 that their eatfng the fea^t of reconciliation upon that 
 heap, which wa« to be the lasting memorial of their 
 friendship, would more deeply impress the mind, and 
 render the covenant more durable. — Harmer. 
 
 Calmet supposes that Jacob's pillar, verse 45, was 
 probably a central stone, the highest he could find 
 within a competent distance ; and then forming a cir- 
 cle of stones, with intervals between them, they sacri- 
 ficed upon the centre stone, and ^te upon (Or at) the 
 circle. He thinks the name which Lftban gave it, 
 signified the circle of testimony; and that- which Jacob 
 gave it, signified the circle of witness, 
 
 NO. 30. — PURCHASING OF WIVES IN TtfE EAST. 
 
 xxxiv. 12. Ask me never so much dowry a?id gift, and 
 I will give according' as ye shall say unto me. 
 It appears, according to La Roque, that the Arabs 
 purchase their wives; and hence, Arabian fathers a^re 
 
ir GENESIS. 
 
 never more happy than when they have many daugh- 
 ters. La Roqne says, when a young man would treat 
 with a person, whose daughter he is inclined to marry, 
 it is common to say, " will you give me your daughter 
 for fifty sheep — for six camels — or for a dozen cows? 
 &c." If the parties agree, the contract is drawn up 
 by an Arabian Judge. 
 
 With regard to Shechem, who was an Hivite Prince 
 of the land of Canaan, he proposed both a dowry and 
 a gift : the dowry was a settlement for the wife, that 
 in case of his death, or being divorced, she might have 
 {Something to live upon ; and the gift appears to be a 
 present to the father, in order to obtain his consent. 
 Thus, Saul required a present at the hands of David 
 in order that Michal (Saul's daughter) might become 
 David's wife — 1 Sam. xviii. 25. 
 
 Chardin informs us, that notwithstanding it was 
 common for the father to sell the daughter, yet none 
 but very poor people married a daughter in the East, 
 without giving her a female slave for an handmaid — • 
 there being no hired servants there, as in Europe : — 
 thus, Laban gave unto his daughter Leah, Zilpak 
 his maid, for an handmaid. — Gen. xxix. 24. — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 31. — MEMORIALS OF THE DEAD. 
 
 XXXV. 20. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: 
 that is the pillar of RacheVs grave unto this day. 
 According to Doubdan, there are in the East three 
 d liferent kinds of memorials for the dead, such as build- 
 ings, trees, and flat grave-stones : that which is shewn 
 at present as the monument of Rachel's grave, is a large 
 dome of masonry, without any ornament, supported 
 by four large square pillars, and surrounded with a 
 
GENESIS. 29 
 
 low wall, in which inclosureare two other tombs of a 
 small size, but of similar shape with the large one : 
 That which perpetuated the remembrance of Deborah 
 was an oak, verse 8, which from that time was dis- 
 tinguished by the name of The Oak of Weeping,— 
 Harmer. 
 
 NO. 32. — ORIENTAL CARAVANS. 
 
 xxxvii. 28. T/tere passed hyMidianites, merchantmen ; 
 
 and ihey drew and lifted up Jo,jcrh out of the pity 
 
 and sold Joseph to the Ishmaeliie:j for twenty pieces 
 
 of silver. 
 
 A caravan is an assemblage of travellers, partly pil- 
 grims, and partly merchants ; who coalesce for their 
 personal defence against Arabic violence, through 
 hideous wilds and burning desarts. Colonel Campbell 
 says, a caravan is never formed but with the permis- 
 sion and licence of the prince ; in which licence the 
 number of men, carriages, beasts of burden, &c. are 
 all specified. — Calmet. 
 
 The caravans, which were composed of people of 
 different countries, were denominated a caravan of 
 that people to^ which the Caravan-bashaw or Captain 
 of it belonged. The persons who composed the cara- 
 van before us, and to whom Joseph was sold, were 
 Ishmaelites, who dwelt in the land of IMidian. Al- 
 though Midian was a son of Abraham, by Keturah^ 
 Gen. XXV. 2, and Ishmael a son of his by Ilagar, yet 
 it appears from Judges viii. 22, 24, that Ishmaelites 
 and Midia7iiies were names sometimes applied to the 
 same people — they both dwelt in the East ; and in the 
 age in which this book was written, were probably 
 called in a loose and general way, Ishmaelites, 
 
80 GENESIS. 
 
 « 
 
 Numerous caravans travel the Eastern roads 
 
 aiHiiially, on pilgriniag'e, through the desarts to Mecca. 
 
 T^hese caravans were very extensive. Maillet suppose* 
 
 that the caravans which went from Egypt to Mecca, 
 
 io the year 1697, amounted,,at least, to fifty thousand 
 
 souls, and as many camels. Pitts tells us, that they 
 
 travel four camels abreast. The caravan is divided 
 
 iato companies, each of which has its name, and 
 
 consists, it may be, of several thousand camels. At 
 
 the head of each company is a gentleman or officer, 
 
 ^ who is carried in a vehicle like a horse-litter ; and the 
 
 camel which carries his treasure has two bells, about 
 
 the size of our market bells, . hanging one on each 
 
 side ; the sound of which may be heard a great way 
 
 off. Many of the camels have bells about their necks 
 
 and legs ; which, with the servants singing, all night, 
 
 make a pleasant noise, and the journey passes away 
 
 delightfully ; and thus they travel 'till they come to 
 
 Grand Cairo. 
 
 The sun being, exceedingly hot in those countries^ 
 
 they avoid travelling much by day ; so that their 
 
 principal travelling is in the night season, with lights 
 
 carried on the tops of poles, to direct them in their 
 
 march. Pitts say«, "these lights are somewhat like 
 
 stoves, into which they put short- dry wood. Every 
 
 cotter has one or more of these poles. They are of 
 
 different figures — one oval— another triangular, &c. 
 
 so that every one knows his respective cotter, by 
 
 the number and figure of these stoves. The poles are 
 
 carried in the front, and set up in the place where- 
 
 the caravan is to pitch." The blowing of a trumpet 
 
 is the signal of the march. — Harmer, 
 
GENESIS. 31 
 
 NO. S3. — TOKEN OF GRIEF. 
 
 xxxvii. 31. And Jacob rent his clothes, and put 
 sackcloth upon his loins. 
 The Easterns usually wore new clothes at the 
 solemnization of a time of rejoicing; and expressed 
 their sorrow, in times of calamity, by rending their 
 clothes. 
 
 Latinus tears \m garments as he goes, 
 Both for his public and his private woes. 
 
 Dryden. 
 
 Thus We find, when the Patriarch, Jacob, apprehended 
 that his son was dead, he rent his clothes. Levi says, 
 that among the jews the custom was, for lamenting 
 the death of a brother, sister, son, daughter, or wife, 
 to cut the upper garment with a knife, on the right 
 side, and rend it a hand's breadth ; but for a father or 
 mother, the rent was made on the left side, and that 
 in all the garments, as coat, waistcoat, &c. — Burder, 
 It appears,^ that the patriarchal sacks were some- 
 times made of woollen ; and hence some infer, that 
 the sackcloth, with which the Easterns occasionally 
 clothed themselves, means coarse woollen cloth, of 
 texture resembling their sacks ; but it is certain that 
 they had d\so sackcloth of hair. — Rev. vi. 12. 
 
 NO. 34.— CIVIL INVESTITURE IN EGYPT. 
 
 xli. 42. And Pharoahtook off his ring from his hand ^ 
 and put it on Joseph's hand ; and arrayed him in 
 vestures of fine linen. 
 
 The manner in which Pharoah treated Joseph, was 
 the ancient mode of investing with the highest degree of 
 subordinate power in Egypt, and with some small va- 
 viation still continues in existence ; only the robes of the 
 
S3 GENESIS. 
 
 modern Sheekh billet* are faced with costly furs 
 the Paslia treats him with sherbet; and, when he de- 
 parts, presents him with a horse richly caparisoned. 
 The ring here alluded to was an instrument of autho- 
 rity, by which he had power to sign any decree in the 
 King's name. Esther iii. 10, and viii. 2. 
 
 According to Hasselquist, the F]gyptian flax appears 
 to have been very soft and good ; but not better than 
 the flax of Europe. If the linen wrapped round their 
 mummies be a specimen of their manufacture, it doth 
 by no means equal what is at present made in this 
 country. Hasselquist supposes it to be the finest of 
 the Egyptian linen, because it was used for persons of 
 great distinction, and about whom they spared no 
 expence. The clothing of the common people of 
 Egypt, is only linen dyed blue with indigo. — Harmer, 
 
 NO. 35. — THE CORN OF EGYPT. 
 
 xli. 47. And in the seven plenteous years the earth 
 brought forth by hand-fulls. 
 Dr. Shaw informs us, that in Barbary it is common 
 to see one gtain produce ten or fifteen stalks. Some 
 grains of the Murwaany wheat, which he brought 
 with him to Oxford, and sowed in the physic garden, 
 threw out, each of them, fifty stalks. Mugeratty, one 
 of the late Kaleefas, or Viceroys of the province of 
 liemsan, brought with him, to Algiers, a root that 
 yielded fourscore; and says, that the Prince of the 
 Western Pilgrims sent one to the Bashaw of Cairo 
 that yielded sixscorc. Pliny mentions some that 
 bore three or four hundred. 
 
 •The Shecl<h is one wlio acts under the government of the Pasha, who r$ 
 Ac representative of the Grand Seignior. 
 
GENESIS. 33 
 
 It appears that some of the Barbary corn, both 
 wheat and barley, throws forth two ears from one 
 stalk, whilst each of these ears will often shoot out 
 into a number of lesser ones, thereby affording a most 
 plentiful increase. Many of these large prolific ears 
 coming up upon one stalk, may explain what is said 
 of the seven plentiful years in Egypt, that the Earth 
 brought forth by handfuls. — Ilarmer. 
 
 NO. 36.— ORIGIN OF PROFANE SWEARING. 
 
 xlii, \B. By the lifeof Pharoah, surely ye are spies. 
 Selden observes, that the names of Gods were given 
 to Kings at an early period ; and that it probably arose 
 from the excellence of their heroic virtue, which made 
 them benefactors to mankind ; hence arose the custom 
 of swearing by them. Extraordinary as this kind of 
 oath may appear to us, it still continues in the East. 
 Mr. Hanway says, the most sacred oath among the 
 Persians is "by the King's head." Thevenot says, his 
 subjects never look upon him but with fear and trem- 
 bling ; they have such respect for him, and pay such 
 blind obedience to all his orders, that, however unjust 
 his com^mands may be, they perform them, though 
 against the laws both of God and of nature. If they 
 «?wearby the King's head, their oath is more authentic, 
 and of greater credit, than if they swore by all that is 
 most sacred in Heaven and upon Earth. In Egypt, 
 if any man swore by the King's head, and was found 
 to have sworn falsely, he received a capital punish- 
 ment for the offence. — Burden 
 
 NO. 37. — ISRAEL'S PRESENT TO JOSEPH. 
 
 xliii. II. Take of the best fruits in the land in your 
 
 D 
 
34 GENESIS. 
 
 vessels and carry down the man a present^ a 
 
 little babuy and a Utile Iioney, spices, and myrrh, 
 
 ntUs and almonds. 
 
 The balm was a sweet smelling and -medicinal g-um 
 extracted from the balm- tree, which.' is cultivated in 
 the manner of -the vine. The balm of Canaan, near 
 Engedi, and that of Gilead, were reckoned to be the 
 best. 
 
 There are VcTT ions sorts of homy used by tbe 
 Easterns, such as the honey -of grapes,' the fioney of 
 canes, and the honey of the palm4ree, as'well as 
 the.hoiiey of bees. Dr. Shaw informs us, that the 
 honey of the palm-tree or of dates has a more luscious 
 sweetness than the proper honey, and stands in high 
 esteem by persons of fashion. The people of Barbary 
 procure it by cutting off the top of 4he tree, and 
 receiving the sap in a sort of basin scooped, in the top 
 of the trunk. It appears-from the language of David, 
 ■that there is a peculiar delicacy in the flavour of 
 honey: in the comb — sweeter than ho?iQy and the 
 honey-coQub. — Psalm xix. 10. 
 
 The spices and myrrh were aromatic drugs: with 
 •these they seasoned their meat, gave flavour to their 
 -wines; perfumed their persons and beds, embalmed 
 »dead bodies, and burnt them in honour to their Kings. 
 
 Dr. Shaw andSir J.'Chardin supposcj that the mits 
 .mentioned by the Patriarch were the pistachio-nuts; 
 .and add, that the pistachios of Syria are the best ixi 
 4he world. The almond-tree appears to be the first 
 that blossoms in spring, andthe><last that fades in 
 harvest: its fruit is nourishing and medicinal. The 
 almonds which grew on Aaron's rod, when laid up 
 "beforethe Lord, imported the duration of the priest- 
 
GENESIS. 35 
 
 hood in his family. Sir J. Chardin supposes, that 
 all these things were carried in goat or kid skins. — 
 
 Harmer. 
 
 NO. 38. — EASTERN SALUTATION. 
 
 xliii. 29. God be gracious unto thee, my son. 
 
 The salutations of the Easterns are often marked 
 with sublimity and devotion : thus when Boaz came 
 from Bethlehem he said unto the reapers, the Lord be 
 with you; and they answered, the Lord bless thee. 
 The heathens are said to have their compliments of 
 this description, and would not touch their harvest 
 'till Ceres had been invoked : — 
 
 Thus in the spring, and thus in summer's lieat. 
 Before the sickles touch the rip'ning wheat. 
 On Ceres call ; and let the lab'ring hind, 
 Wiih oaken wreaths, his hollow temples bind : 
 y On Ceres let him call, and Ceres praise 
 
 With uncouth dancei, and with country lays, 
 
 Dhydev. 
 
 Chardin says, that the manner in which Joseph 
 received Benjamin is a simple salutation in Asia, and 
 used instead of those complimentary assurances which 
 are customary in the West. But according to accounts, 
 the Easterns, who are so eloquent in their mutual 
 good wishes, are some of the most double-tongued 
 people in the world : to use the language of David, 
 they bless wiih their mouths, but they eurse inwardly. 
 Thus Joab saluted Amasa with apparent affection, 
 but stabbed him in the midst of his caresses ; and 
 Judas betrayed the son of man with a kiss. — Harmer. 
 
 D 2 
 
36 GENESIS. 
 
 NO. 39. — JOSEPH'S FEAST FOR HIS BRETHREN. 
 
 xliii. 34. And he took and sent messes unto them from 
 
 before him: but Benjamin^ s iness was five times 
 
 so much as any of tlieirs. 
 
 Sir J, Chardin says, that the Easterns:do not com- 
 monly make use of tables or chair^ ; but they cover 
 the floors of their houses with mats, pieces of felt, or 
 carpets, which serve instead \)i a table. The opulent 
 have embroidered or stitched coverings four feet wide, 
 and among people of quality the embroidery is of gold. 
 When the provisions are served up, they spread a 
 cloth in proportion to their company : the dishes are 
 €et before the master of the house, the principal guest, 
 or in the middle of the hall, and a carver helps the 
 company. He adds, the great men of state are always 
 by themselves in those feasts, and helped to double or 
 treble the quantity of other visitants. 
 
 Olearius says, it is the Persian custom for the do- 
 mestic who serves at table to help the company to 
 four or five different sorts of meat at once. At an 
 entertainment ^iven in India by the Great Mogul's 
 brother-in-law, the most honourable had the. greatest 
 variety of dishes set before them. Here we see that 
 Benjamin's having ^i?e times as much as his brethren, 
 may mean, that he had five times as much of every 
 thing as they ; that is, enough set before him, of each 
 sort of provisions, for his complete repast, in case he 
 ishould prefer one thing to the rest ; or else that a, 
 much greater variety was set before him than before 
 his brethren ; five or ten different things placed before 
 him, and only one or two before his brethren. Joseph 
 probably sat at the upper end of the hall; his brethren 
 
GENESIS, ^ S7 
 
 at the lower end ; and the Egyptians by the sides.-^ 
 
 IJarmef 
 
 NO. 40.— PATRIARCHAL SACKS. 
 
 x^lir. I. Fill the men^s sacks with food as muck antJierj 
 can carry, and put every man^s money in his sacFs 
 onouth. 
 
 Among the Easterns it is customary to pack up 
 their articles in different parcels, in goat or kid-skins, 
 and put them into a large coarse woollen sack, guarded 
 with leather to resist the water. There appear to be 
 two sorts of sacks taken notice of in the history before 
 us, one of which was used for the corn, and the other 
 for the baggage. In chap. xlii. v. 27. we read, as 
 one of tJiem opened his sack to give his ass provender 
 in the Inn, he espied his money ; for behold it was in 
 his sack^s mouth. Had this been a sack of wheat, it 
 would follow that they gave their beasts of burden 
 wheat at that time for their food, which is not at all 
 probable. — Chardin. 
 
 NO. 41. — JOSEPH'S CUP OF DIVINATION. 
 
 xliv. 5. Is not this it in which my Lord drinketh, and 
 whereby indeed he divineth. 
 There was a cup among the Persians called /ami 
 Jernsheed, the cup of Jemsheed a very ancient King 
 of Persia, by which they were supposed to know all 
 things, past, present, and to come. Julius Serenus 
 tells us, that the method of divining by the cup among 
 the Abyssinians, Chaldees, and Egyptians, was to fill it 
 first with water, then to throw into it their plates of 
 gold and silver, together with some precious stones, 
 whereon were engraven certain characters ; and after* 
 
S8 GENESIS. 
 
 that, the persons who came to consult the oracle used 
 certain incantations, and so calling upon the devil 
 received their answers several ways ; sometimes by 
 articulate sounds, sometimes by the characters which 
 were in the cup rising upon the surface of the water, 
 and many times by the visible appearing of the per- 
 sons themselves about whom the oracle was consulted. 
 Cornelius Agrippa says, that the manner of some was 
 to pour melted wax into the cup, wherein was water, 
 which wax would range itself into order, and so form 
 answers according to the questions proposed. 
 
 When Norden was at Derri, in the farthest part of 
 Egypt, ia a very dangerous situation, from which he 
 and hi.s company endeavoured to extricate themselves 
 by exerting great spirit, a spiteful and powerful Arab, 
 in a threatening way, told one of their people, whom 
 they had sent to him, that he knew what sort of 
 people they were, that he had consulted his cup, and 
 had found by it that they were those of whom one of 
 their Prophets had said, that Franks would come in 
 disguise, aud passing every where, examine the state 
 of the country, and afterwards bring over a great num- 
 ber of other Franks, conquer the country, and exter- 
 minate all. This is what Joseph meant, when he 
 talked of divining by his cup, — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 42.--joseph's gift of raiment. 
 
 xlv. 22, To all of them he gave each man changes of 
 raiment. 
 De la Motraye has favoured us with some informa- 
 tion upon this subject. 7'he Visier entered at another 
 door, and their Excellencies rose to salute him after 
 their manner, which was returned by a little inclining 
 
GENESIS.* 39 
 
 oi^.his head: aftei* which he sat down on thecornerN 
 of his sofa, which is the most honourable place ; then, 
 his Chancellor, his Kiabia, and the Chiaouz Bashaw 
 caipe aj?d stood before him, 'till coiFee was broiig'ht in ; 
 after which M^ de: Chateaunenf presented M. de 
 Ferrioi to him, as his successor, who delivered him 
 the King's letters, complimenting him as. from hl» 
 Majesty and himself; to which the Visier answered 
 very obligingly. After some discourse, which turned 
 upon the reciprocal readiness of propension towards 
 the continuance of a^good intelligence between tha: 
 Porte and the Court of France^ they gave two dishes 
 of coffee to their Excellencies with sweetmeats, and 
 after that perfumes and sherbet ; th6n they clothed 
 them with eaffetans* of a silver brocade, with, large 
 jsilk flowers; and ta those that -were admitted inta^ 
 the apartments with them they gave others of brocade, 
 aIs3iost : all silk, except some slight gold or silver 
 flowers, according to the custom usually observed 
 towards all foreign, Ministers. . 
 
 NO. 43. — JOSEPH CLOSING THE, EYES OF ISRAEIT. 
 
 xlvi. 4. Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. 
 The Lord had promised Israel, prior to his goings 
 down into Egypt, that Joseph should put his hand 
 upon hi^eyes; which appears to be an ancient custom 
 among the Jews, Greeks, g^nd Romans;, for relatives to 
 close the eyes, of departed friends. , Thus Tobias is 
 said to have shut the eyes of his^ wife'& fatlier and 
 mother, and to have buried them honourably. Mai- 
 nvonidas represents - it aa a customary rite.- Homer 
 
 * Caffetaos are long vests of gold or silveV brocade, flowered mth jsilk. , . 
 
40 GENESIS. 
 
 describes Ulyssesthus expressing himself on the death 
 of Sociis, 
 
 Ah, wretch ! no father shall thy corpse compose. 
 Thy dyhig ejes no tender mother cjlose. 
 
 Burder, 
 
 , NO. 44. — SCEPTRE AN ENSIGN OF AUTHORITY. 
 
 xlijc, 10. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, 
 nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh 
 come. 
 
 Sceptres, or staves of some kind or other, have been 
 among almost all nations the ensigns of civil authority, 
 as they are to this day ; being in themselves very 
 proper emblems of power extended, or acting at a 
 distance from the person. Achilles, who was the 
 chief of a Grecian tribe or clan, is described in Homer 
 as holding a sceptre or staff, which 
 
 The delegates of Jove, dispensbg laws. 
 Bear in then* hands. 
 
 Burder. 
 The Jewish Senators did long struggle with Herod 
 about the government, and did not yield it up to him 
 'till his last year, when they took an oath of fealty to 
 him, which was after Christ was born : nor indeed 
 was the sceptre quite gone from them then ; for that 
 council still had the power, though not of life and 
 death, yet of civil and ecclesiastical matters. — John 
 xviii. 31. So that if the sceptre was gone, the law- 
 giver remained there still : nor was their government 
 and commonwealth quite destroyed until the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem by Titus. — Poole. 
 
 NO. 45. — JOSEPH A FRUITFUL BOUGH. 
 
 xlix. 22, 23. Joseph is a fruitful bought even a fruitful 
 bough by a well^ whose branches run over tlie walL 
 
GENESIS. 41 
 
 The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at 
 
 him. 
 
 In all hot countries water is extremely conducive 
 to the growth of vegetables. Trees planted near the 
 water grow to an amazing size. According to Maillet,, 
 the wild Arabs of those countries are great plunderers 
 of fruit ; and the Egyptians, to secure it, often gathered 
 the fruit before it was fully ripe. It is probable, that 
 the Arabs used not to scale the wall, but to throw their 
 bludgeons at those luxuriant boughs which ran over 
 the wall of the inclosure, and gather up the fruit 
 which fell on the outside. The word translated 
 arrows means sticks, or bludgeons as well as arrows. 
 
 It doth not appear to be an allusion to the vine ; 
 because the grapes could not be thus dislodged by 
 bludgeons, or the fall would spoil the fruit. It might 
 mean the pomegranate, whose fruit has so hard a 
 shell as neither to be injured by the fall, or destroyed 
 by an accidental blow of the stick. 
 
 Joseph flourished in the favour of his father and 
 his God> like a tree by a reservoir of water ; but his 
 envious brethren by selling him for a slave did, for a 
 time, disgrace him, as a bough is disgraced by knocking 
 off its leaves and fruit. — Hatmer, 
 
 NO. 46.— ISRAEL'S CHARGE TO HIS SONS. 
 
 xlix. 29. Aiid he charged them and said unto them, 
 lam. to be gathered unto my j>eople : bury me with 
 my fathers. 
 
 iVinces and persons of quality, who died in foreign 
 parts, were usually carried into their own country, to 
 be buried with their fathers : and from Jacob's injunc- 
 tion we find that it was practised in the patriiirchal 
 
42 GENESIS. 
 
 times. It wag also the cnstomof the Greeks. Homer 
 represeijls the shade of Patroclus as thus addressing- 
 Ach;i4^s;, 
 
 Hear then ; and as in fiite and love wp join, 
 O^suffer that my bogesmay rest with thine! 
 Together have we liv'd, together bred. 
 One house recciv'd us, and one table fed ; 
 Tliat golden urn, thy goddess mother gave> . 
 r May mix oqr ashe.sin on^ common grave. 
 
 Burder^ 
 
 NOi 47. — i\SIATIC EMBALMING, &C. 
 
 1::*26;; So- Joseph died, being an hundred and ten 
 
 years old: and ikey embalmed him, cmd ke-waa put 
 
 in a coffin in Egypt. 
 
 The Jewiish method of embalming; was different 
 from the Egyptian. The Egyptians used to embowel 
 their dead, but the Jews contented themselves with 
 an external tmction ; and, instead of myrrh and cassia, 
 they made use of myrrh and aloes, which is manifest 
 in the case of our Lord. 
 
 Herodotus says, that among the Eg:yptians it was 
 customary for the body to belaid in nitre thirty days, 
 to dry up ail its superfluous and-noxious moisture; 
 after which it was anointed with gums and spices fop 
 the space of forty days ; so that the body lay seventy- 
 days in the hands of the embalmers, during which 
 time the Egyptians mourned for Israel. — Gen. 1. 3. 
 
 Thevenof informs us, that the- Egyptians used to 
 swatire with an enormous length of bandage. On 
 examining one of their mummies, he found more than 
 a thousand ells of Tilletting about the body, besides 
 what was wrapped about the head. The Jews pro- 
 bably swathed the body after the same manner ; but 
 the heads of JLaz^irns and our Lord were. simply bound 
 
GENESIS. 43 
 
 Tound with a napkin, after the present Mahommedan 
 custom. 
 
 Josephus, speaking of the funeral of Aristobulus, 
 the last of the High-priests of the family of the 
 Maccabees, says, that the larger the quantity of the 
 spices used in their interments the greater honour 
 was thought to be done to the dead : and thus we 
 may easily account for the quantity procured by 
 Nicodemus for our Lord. — John xix. 39. 
 
 Coffins were not commonly used in the East. It 
 appears that Elisha was not put into a coffin (2 Kings, 
 xiii. 21.), neither the body of our Lord. Among the 
 ancient Egyptians, however, some of them had this 
 mark of distinction. Their coffins were various, made 
 of stone, sycamore wood, and a kind of paste-board, 
 formed by folding and glueing cloth together, which 
 they curiously plastered and painted with hierogly- 
 phics. Thus Joseph was treated after the most 
 sumptuous manner of the Egyptians. — Harmer, 
 
 EXODUS. 
 
 NO. 48. — BATHING IN THE NILE. 
 
 ii. 5. And the daughter of Pharoah came down to 
 wash herself at the river. 
 The people of Egypt, and particularly the 
 females ofthat country, express their veneration for the 
 l)enefits received from the Nile by plunging into it at 
 the time of its beginning to overflow the country ; 
 which was probably the case with Pharoah's daughter. 
 
44 EXODUS. 
 
 This, according to Maillet, was in the beginning o~ 
 May. 
 
 Irwin says, that on the 13th of August he was 
 Awakened from his first sleep by a band of Egyptian 
 females; who, with singing, dancing, and music, were 
 about to visit the river, and bless the benevolent 
 power who yearly distributes his waters to supply the 
 necessities of the natives. 
 
 It appears probable from Irwin's travels, that those 
 females do not disrobe themselves at those seasons ; 
 but that they enter the river with their clothes and 
 even ornaments upon them. This is done, not from a 
 desire of purification as the Indian females go into 
 the Ganges, but merely from a principle of veneration 
 or devotion. — Harmer, 
 
 NO. 49.-~FIRB, A TOKEN OF A DIVINE PRESENCE. 
 
 jii. 2. And the Angel of the Lord appeared unto Mm 
 in a flame of fire. 
 The traditionary notion of a miraculous light or 
 fire being the token of a divine presence prevailed 
 among the Greeks in the time of Homer ; for, after 
 relating that the Goddess Minerva attended on Ulysses 
 with her golden lamp, or rather torch, and afforded 
 him a refulgent light, he makes Telemachus cry out 
 to his father in rapture, 
 
 What.miiacle thus dazzles with surprise ? 
 
 Distinct in rows tUp radiant cohirans rise. 
 
 The walls, where'er my wondering sight I turn. 
 
 And roofs, amidst a blaze of glory bum : 
 
 Some visitant of pure ethereal race, 
 
 \Vith his bright presence, deigns the dome to grace. 
 
 Burden 
 
EXODUS. • 45 
 
 NO. 60.— THE FISH OF EGYPT, 
 ^ii. 17. And the fish that is in the river shall die. 
 Maillet assures us, that there are carp in the Nile, 
 with various other kinds of fish ; yet but few of our 
 river fish are found there. He says, in the months of 
 December, January, and February, they catch very 
 good herrings in the neighbourhood of Cairo. 
 
 Sandys says, that in going up the Nile they bought 
 as much fish for six-pence as would have satisfied 
 twenty people, but by reason of the muddy channel 
 they were not very wholesome. -Egmont andHayman 
 mention four sorts of fish taken from the Nile, which 
 are very palatable: one of these is said to weigh 
 between two and three hundred pounds; and they 
 are caught at all seasons of the year. 
 
 The Egyptians have various ways of catching their 
 fish. Dr. Shaw informs us, that they catch them with 
 toils: these toils are made 'of hurdles of reeds, fixed 
 in various directions, and ending in a point, into which 
 they drive their fish, and take them out with nets or* 
 baskets. It appears that they commonly fish with 
 tlie hook, and never with -nets, if Maillet's account be 
 accurate ; which appears strange, when we consider 
 that they were anciently common in £gypt. They 
 that spread nets upon the water shall languish. — Isa. 
 xix. 8. 
 
 Dr. Pococke says, that the Egyptians eat fish, in 
 common, with pleasure. In the months of April and 
 May it is their principal support. Some they eat 
 fresh, and others dried in the sun, which, though it 
 comes from the Rcd^ea, is prepared at Damietta. — '• 
 
 Jtarmev^ 
 
46 - EXODUS. 
 
 NO. 51.— WATER OF THE NILE. 
 
 vii, ] 8. And tJie Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the 
 water of the river. 
 It appears that the Nile water is both delicious 
 and wholesome. Maillet says, that the Turks excite 
 themselves to drink it by eating salt ; and say, that if 
 Mahommed had drunk of it he would have begged of 
 God tol)e continued on earth, that he might enjoy its 
 delicacy. When the Egyptians leave their country, 
 they speak of nothing with so much pleasure as that 
 of their returning to drink the Nile water. This 
 appears to be the only water drinkable in Egypt. 
 The well-water is so detestable and unwholesome, 
 that a fountain is a kind of prodigy in the country ; 
 and as for rain w'ater, very little falls in Egypt. 
 
 Le Bruyn informs us, that the water of the Nile 
 being thick and muddy, they purify it either by a 
 paste of almonds, or by filtrating it through pots oi 
 white earth. It appears that the Nile begins to rise 
 about the end of May, at which time the water is 
 discoloured and unwholesome, aud continues in this 
 state from twenty to forty days, during which time 
 the inhabitants of Cairo drink water preserved in 
 cisterns under their houses and mosques. 
 
 The Nile is the only river in E gy pt ; but it is divided 
 into seven branches before it falls into the sea. Seve- 
 ral vast lakes are formed by the inundations of the 
 Nile, and numerous canals made by art for the water- 
 ing of their lands. They have also numerous reservoirs 
 for retaining and preserving the water ; which being 
 sweet, is used by them when the Nile corrupts. 
 
 Maurice says, that Egypt is one continued vale, 
 above seven hundred miles long, and naturally barren* 
 
EXODUS. 47 
 
 Br. Shaw says, that the Egyptians make great re- 
 joicings when the Nile rises suvteen cubits ; yet it 
 appears that, to answer the demands of the whole 
 country, they wished it to rise a little higher. The 
 'Doctor says, that tlie soil near the banks is thirty feet 
 deep ; but at the utmost extremity -of the inundation it 
 ds but a few inches. They shall lofhe to drink of that 
 ^'twater which they had preferred ta -all the waters of 
 - the universe.— iyar;»er. 
 
 yO. 52.— MOSES SPRINKLING AiSHES IN EGYPT. 
 
 ix. 8. And the Lord saidnnto Moses and unto Aaron , 
 take to you handfuls of ashes of thefurjiace, and 
 let Moses sprinkle it toward the Heaven in the 
 sight of Pharaoh. 
 
 This mandate appears to have been exceedingly 
 
 ''Significant. The ashes were to be taken from the 
 
 fiery furnace ; which in the- scriptures was used as a 
 
 -type of the Israelites' slavery, and of all the cruelty 
 
 which they experienced in Egypt. This process has 
 
 ^an allusion to a» idolatrous and cruel rite, whicli was 
 
 common among the Egyptians, and to which it is 
 
 opposed a-sa contrast. They had sev^eral cities stiled 
 
 Typhonian : such as Heiiopoiis, Idithyia, Abarei, and 
 
 l^ersiris. In these, at particular seasons, they sacri- 
 
 ' ficed men. The objects thus destined'were persons of 
 
 bright hair and a particular complexion, such as were 
 
 seldom to be found among the native Egyptians. 
 
 > Hence we may infer that they were foreigners; and it 
 
 >s probable^ that while the Israqjlites resided in Egypt 
 
 rliey were chosen from their body. They were burnt 
 
 -alive upon an highvaltar, and thus sacrificed for the 
 
 -good of the people, -Ai the close of the sacrifice the 
 
48 EXODUS. 
 
 priests gathered together the ashes of those victims, 
 and scattered them upwards in the air ; in order, pro- 
 bably, that where any atom of this dust was wafted, a 
 blessing might be entailed. The like was done by 
 Moses with the ashes of the fiery furnace, but with a 
 different intention : they were scattered abroad, that 
 where any portion alighted, it might prove a plague 
 and a curse to this ungrateful, cruel, and infatuated 
 people. — Bryant. 
 
 NO. 53. — METHOD OF TRAVELLING ON FOOT. 
 
 xii. 1 \,And thus shall ye eat it : with your loins girded^ 
 your shoes on your feet y<ind your staff in your hand. 
 
 Such ^s travel on foot in the East fasten their 
 garments at a greater height from the feet than at 
 • other times. The dress of the Easterns is a long vest, 
 reaching down to the calf of the leg, and fastened 
 upon the loins by a girdle, which goes three or four 
 times round them : some draw up the vest above the 
 girdle, just as the Monks do when they travel on 
 foot ; but the general way is to tuck up the fore-part 
 of the vest, and fasten it into the girdle ; by this 
 means they walk more commodiously, having the leg 
 and knee unembarrassed. This, probably, was the 
 manner in which the Israelites ate the first passover, 
 on the eve of their leaving Egypt. 
 
 Their having shoes on their feet at this repast was 
 •rather singular, for, in common, when they eat they 
 ,put off their «hoes, for various reasons : one is, that 
 they do not use tables and chairs in the East, as in 
 Europe, but cover their floors with carpets, and they 
 put off their shoes that they might Qot soil those 
 i)eautiful pieces of furniture : another reason is, that 
 
EXODUS. 49 
 
 as they sit cross-le^g-ed on the floor, and have no 
 hinder quarters to their shoes, it would be trouble- 
 some to keep them upon their feet. 
 
 The Eastern people, very universally, make use of 
 a staff when they journey on foot. — Chardin. 
 
 Here we see the Israelites were prepared for starting- 
 
 at a moment's warning. — Harmer, 
 
 % 
 
 NO. 54. — ROUTE OF THE ISRAELITES TO CANAAN. 
 
 xiii. 18. God led the people about through the way of 
 
 the Wilderness of the Red Sea : and the children o/' 
 
 Israel went up harnessed out of tlie land of Egypt. 
 
 Dr. Shaw says, that there are two roads from 
 
 Egypt to Canaan ; one through the vallies of 
 
 jjendilly, Rumeleah, and Baideah, bounded on each 
 
 side by the mountaiiis of the lovver Thebais ; the 
 
 other, a higher road, having th6 northern range of 
 
 the mountains of Mocatee, running parallel with it on 
 
 the right hand, and the desart of Egyptian Arabia, 
 
 which lies open to the land of the Philistines, to the 
 
 left. 
 
 Thevenot informs us, that he has travelled in 
 t\velve days from Cairo to Gaza by the land of the 
 Philistines ; and it appears from various statements, 
 that it is but fourteen days' journey from Cairo to 
 Jerusalem. The way of the desart was not impracti- 
 cable ; for Joseph had tried it before them w ith a 
 great company. 
 
 Mr. Harmer supposes, that their being harnessed 
 must have an allusion to the beasts which carried 
 their provisions and other necessaries ; that they 
 were fastened to each other, and notthat the Israelites 
 
 were harnessed. 
 
 E 
 
60 EXODUS. 
 
 Dr. Clarke says, "our margin has it, hy ficc in a 
 rank ; but if tht'y marched only live abreast, supposing 
 only one yard for each rank to move in, it would 
 have required not less than sixty-eight miles, lor only 
 the six hundred thousand men. Six hundred thousand 
 divided by five, gives one hundred and twenty thou- 
 .<and ranks of five each ; and there being only one 
 thousand seven hundred and sixty yards in a mile, 
 the dividing one hundred and twenty thousand by 
 seventeen hundred and sixty, will give the number 
 of miles such a column of people would take up." 
 The Doctor supposes, that it refers to the orderly 
 manner in which the Israelites commenced their 
 journey. 
 
 'NO. 55. — THE ISRAELITES' PASSAGE THROUGH THE SEA.. 
 
 xiv. 29, The icaters were a wall unto them on tJwir right 
 hand and on their left, 
 Diodorus Siculus relates, that the Ichthyophagi, 
 who lived near the Red Sea, had a tradition handed 
 down to them through a long line of ancestors, that 
 the whole bay was once laid bare to the very bottom, 
 the waters retiring to the opposite shore ; and that 
 they afterwards returned to their accustomed channel 
 with the most tremendous revulsion. Shaw informs 
 us, that the inhabitants of the neighbourhood of 
 Corondel preserve the remembrance of a mighty army 
 having been once drowned in the bay, which Ptolemy 
 calls Clysma. Niebuhr informs us, that the country 
 where the event is said to have happened, in some 
 degree bears testimony to the accuracy of the Mosai- 
 cal narrative. The scriptural Etham is still called 
 Eiti ; the wilderness^ of Shur, the mouotain of Sinai, 
 
EXODUS. 51 
 
 and the country of Paran, are still known by the 
 same names. According to Bryant's information, 
 Marah, Elath, and Midian, are still familiar to the ears 
 of the Arabs. The grove of Elim, mentioned Exodus 
 XV. 27. yet remains, and i1;s twelve fountains have 
 neither increased nor diminished in number since the 
 days of Moses. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 56. — ANCIENT EASTERN DANCES. 
 
 XV . 20. And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, 
 
 took a timbrel in her hand. : and all the women went 
 
 out after her with timbrels and with dances. 
 
 Representations similar to this are frequently to be 
 
 met with in the ancient writers. Hesiod describes 
 
 the muses as dancing round the altar of Jupiter. 
 
 Lucian informs us, that the Indians adored the sun 
 
 when they rose in the morning ; not as the Greeks 
 
 did by kissing their hand, but by turning to the East 
 
 and dancing ; and thus appeased the Deity, morning 
 
 and evening. 
 
 It appears, that the dances of the Easterns, like 
 their songs, are extemporaneous. Lady W. Monta- 
 gue informs us, that one leads the dance, and is fol- 
 lowed by a troop of females, who imitate her steps, 
 and if she sings make up the chorus. Those times 
 are gay and lively, mixed with something soft and 
 soothing. The steps are varied according to the 
 pleasure of her that leads the dance, but always in 
 exact time, and infinitely more agreeable than any 
 of our dances. 
 
 Baron de Tott says, that on his passing a camp of 
 the Asiatics, several of the Turcomen advanced to 
 
 meet them, and the musicians of the different hordes 
 E2 
 
5S EXODUS. 
 
 playod and danced before them. Thus, when Saul 
 and David returned from the slaughter of Goliah, 
 the women came out of all the cities of Israel sin gin f^ 
 and danciniry to. meet King Saul, with iabrets, with 
 joy, atid with instrumdits of music, — 1 Sam. xviii. 6. 
 
 llarmer, 
 
 NO. 57.— THE ROCK OF MERIBAH. 
 
 svii. 6. Thou shall smite the rock, and there shall 
 come water out cf it. 
 Dr. Shaw says, "after we had descended, with no 
 small difficulty, the western side of Mount Sinai, we 
 cafae into the other plain that is formed by it, which 
 is called Rephidim. Here we still see that extra- 
 ordinary piece of antiquity, the rock of Meribah, 
 which hath continued down to this day -without the 
 least injury from time or accident. It is a block of 
 granite marble, about six yards square, tottering, as 
 it were, and loose, in the midst of the valley, and 
 seems to have formerly belonged to Mount Sinai, 
 which hangs in a variety of precipices all over this 
 plain. The waters, which gushed out of the stream 
 tchich flowed,^- have hollowed across one corner of 
 this rock a channel, about two inches deep and twenty 
 wide, appearing to be encrustated all over like the 
 inside of a tea kettle that had been long in use. We 
 see all over this channel a great number of holes ; 
 some of them four or five inches deep, and one or two 
 in diameter, — the lively and demonstrative tokens of 
 their having been formerly so many fountains. Art 
 or chance could by no means be concerned in the 
 contrivance, for every circumstance points out to us 
 a miracle j and^ in the same manner with the rent in 
 
 * P«il» hxviii. 20. 
 
EXODUS, 53 
 
 the rock of Mount Calvary, never fails to produce a 
 religious surprize in all who see it." 
 
 This remarkable interposition of God has been in- 
 corporated with heathen fables. Euripides manifestly 
 alludes to it where he makes one smite the rock at 
 Cithseron, and waters gush out of it. Huetius thinks 
 it probable, that the fable of Janus was forged from 
 hence, where the image is described as holding a rod 
 in his left hand, with which he smites a stone, and 
 causes water to flow from it. — Burder, 
 
 NO. 58. — PUNISHMENT OF DEATH BY STONING. 
 
 xix. 13. — He shall surely be stoned. 
 To be stoned to death was a grievous and terrible 
 infliction. W hen the offender came within four cubits 
 of the place of execution, he was stripped naked, only 
 leaving a covering before ; and his hands being bound, 
 he was led up to the fatal place, which was an emineiice 
 twice a man's height. The first executioners of the 
 sentence were the witnesses, who generally pulled ofl^ 
 their clothes for the purpose : one of them threw him 
 down with great violence upon his back; and if he 
 rolled upon his breast, he was turned upon his back 
 again. If the fall did not occasion immediate death, 
 the other witjiess took a great stone, atid dashed upon 
 his breast, as he lay upon his back ; and then, if not 
 dispatched, all the people that stood by threw stones 
 at him till he died. Sometimes they would throw the 
 culprit down upon a great stone ; and at other times 
 would let a stone fall upon him ; to which our Lord 
 alludes in Luke xx. 18. Whosoever shall fall upon this 
 stone shall be broken : but oji whomsoever it shall fall 
 it will grind him to powder. — Lewis. 
 
64 EXODUS. 
 
 NO. 59. — EASTERN VINEYARDS. 
 
 xxii. 5. If a man shall cause a field or a vineyard to be 
 
 eaten ; of the best of his own fields and of the best of 
 
 his oxen vineyard, shall he make restitution. 
 
 According to Dr. Richard Chandler's observations 
 
 in the Lesser Asia, it appears, that their tame cattle 
 
 iare fond of vine leaves, and are permitted to eat them 
 
 in the autumn ; that is, to brow ze after the vintage. 
 
 Horace supposes, that the flesh of goats fed upon vines 
 
 was the most delicious of any of that kind of food. 
 
 The'viiie-fed goats not always luscious fare. 
 
 Francis, 
 
 Since camels and goats are so fond of the leaves of 
 the vine, the turning them into a vineyard before the 
 fruit was gathered must have occasioned much mis^ 
 chief ; and their being turned in afterward would have 
 been eating another's food. Chardin speaks of vines in 
 Persia, so large, that he could hardly compass the 
 trunks with his arms. This pours light upon Gen, 
 xlix.'ll. and shews us, that the ass might be securely 
 Ibound to the vine, without danger of damaging the 
 tree by browsing oji it. — fJarmer, 
 
 NO. 60. —EASTERNS BURN THEIR DRY HERBAGE. 
 
 xxii. 6. If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that 
 
 the stacks of cor7i, or the standing corn, or the field 
 
 be consumed therewith; he that kindled the fire 
 
 shall surely make restitution. 
 
 Dr. Chandler informs us, that in the East they set 
 
 their dry herbage on fire before the descent of the 
 
 autumnal rains ; which fires, for want of care, often 
 
 do great damage. He says, that at^ a certain time 
 
 dining with his companions under a spreading tree, 
 
EXODUS. 55 
 
 a Turk going to them emptied the ashes from his 
 pipe, and a spark of fire fell, unobserved, in the grass, 
 which was long, parched, and inflammable like 
 tinder; a brisk wind kindled a blaze, which quickly- 
 withered the leaves of the bushes and trees, and de- 
 voured all before it with a prodigious crackling and 
 noise. The Turks with their sabres cut down boughs 
 and buffeted the flames, which were at length sub- 
 dued. The struggle lasted about an hour ; and a 
 considerable tract of ground was laid waste. 
 From these things we see the propriety of a law, 
 which made those liable to make all damages good 
 who, either maliciously or by great negligence, occa- 
 sioned those fires. Two instances are mentioned in 
 scripture in which the standing corn was set on fire 
 and destroyed. — Judges xv. 15. 2 Sam. xiv. 30. — 
 
 IIa?mer. 
 
 NO. 61. — HEATHEN SUPERSTITION. 
 
 xxiii. 19. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's 
 'milk. 
 
 Cudworth informs us, that it was a custom of the 
 ancient heathens, when they had gathered in all their 
 fruit, to take a kid, and boil it in the dam's milk ; and 
 then, in a magical way, to go about and besprinkle it 
 over all their trees, fields, gardens, and orchards ; 
 thinking by this means they should make them fructify, 
 and bring forth fruit more abundantly the following 
 year. He thinks the prohibition in the text was to 
 guard the Jews, at the time of their in-gathering, 
 against this senseless superstition. 
 
 The simple object of the passage seems to be, " Thou 
 shalt. do nothing that may have any tendency to blunt 
 
56 EXODUS. 
 
 thy moral feelings," Even human nature shudders at 
 the thought of causing the mother to lend her milk 
 to seethe the flesh of her young one ! We need go no 
 farther, for the delicate, tender, humane, and impres- 
 sive meaning of this precept. — Clarke, 
 
 NO. 62.— THE WAVE OFFERING. 
 
 xxix. 24. And shall wave them for a wave offering 
 before the Lord. 
 Waving the sacrifice before the Lord is a very an- 
 cient sacrificial rite. It was of two kinds : one was 
 performed by waving it perpendicularly, upward and 
 downward ; the other by waving it horizontally, to- 
 wards the four cardinal points, to denote the conse- 
 cration of what was thus waved to the Lord of tli^, 
 whole earth ; and the extent of that true and great 
 sacrifice, represented in these types, to all. — Jennings, 
 
 NO. 63. — EGYPTIAN IDOLATRY. 
 
 xxxii. 6. And they rose up early on the morrow, and 
 offeredbiirnt-offerings, and brought peace-offerings : 
 and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and 
 rose up to play. 
 
 Herodotus gives us an account of a solemn feast, 
 which the people of Egypt celebrated at Bubastis, in 
 honour of the goddess Diana. He says, they offer 
 many sacrifices to this idol, and while the victims are 
 burning they dance, and play a hundred tricks, and 
 drink more wine than in the whole year besides. 
 It appears, that on the^e occasions they generally 
 convene about seven hundred thousand men and 
 women, besides children. Aaron's feast of the golden 
 calf appears to have been in imitation of this ; and it 
 
EXODUS. 57 
 
 is probable that at this feast they sacrificed after the 
 manner of the Egyptians. — Burder. 
 
 Rollin thinks, that the golden calf was set up in 
 imitation of the God Apis. The Egyptians, not 
 contented with offering incense to animals, carried 
 their folly to such an excess as to ascribe a divinity 
 to the pulse and roots of their gardens. For this 
 they are ingeniously reproached by the satirist. — 
 
 Wlio has not heard where Egypt's realms are nam'd. 
 What monster gods her frantic sons have fram'd ? 
 Here Ibis gorg'd with well-grown serpents, tha"? 
 The crocodile commands religiovis fear : 
 A monkey -god, prodigious to be told ! 
 Strikes the beholder's eye with burnish'd gold : 
 Through towns Diana's power neglected li§s. 
 Where to her dogs aspiring temples rise ; 
 And should you leeks or onions eat, no time 
 Would expiate the sacrilegious crime. 
 Religious nations sure, and blest abodes. 
 Where every orchard is o'er-run with gods. 
 
 Rollin. 
 
 NO. 64. — ANCIENT LOOKING-GLASSES. 
 
 ;xxxviii. 8. He made the laver of brass, of the looking* 
 glasses of the women. 
 ' The Eastern mirrors were generally made of polished 
 steel, and for the most part convex. If they were thus 
 made in the country of Elihu, the image made use of by 
 him. Job xxxvii. 18. will appear very lively. Hast 
 thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and 
 as a molten looking-glass ? 8haw informs us, that ija 
 the Levant looki7ig-glasses are a part of female dress. 
 <« The Moorish women in Barbary are so fond of their 
 ornaments, and particularly of the looking-glasses, 
 which they h^ngupon their breast, that they will not 
 
68 EXODUS. 
 
 lay them aside even when, after the drudgery of the 
 day, they are obliged to go two or three miles, with 
 a pitcher or a goat's skin, to fetch water." It appears, 
 that the Israelitish women used to carry their mirrors 
 with them even to their most solemn places of wor- 
 ship ; which some have supposed they learned from th€ 
 Egyptian women, who used to goto the temple with a 
 looking-glass in one hand, and a timbrel in the other. 
 To speak pf looking-glasses made of steel, and glasses 
 molten, is palpably absurd; but the term mirroi 
 obviates every difficulty, and expresses the trut 
 meaning of the original. — Burder. 
 
 The first mirrors, known among men, were the 
 clear still fountain, and unruffled lake. The firsi 
 artificial ones were, apparently, made of brass ; after 
 ward of polished steel ; and when luxury increasec 
 they were made of silver : but, according to Pliny 
 the most esteemed were those made of tin.^ — Clarke. 
 
 LEVITICUS. 
 
 NO ^b. — THE MEAT OFFERING. 
 
 ii. 1. When any will offer a meat-offering unto tlu 
 Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour. 
 Flour, of the finest sort, formed a part of th< 
 sacrificial offerings, not only of the Jews, but of th( 
 Greeks likewise. Thus Homer represents Euma?u; 
 as acting — 
 
 Ihen on thjB board display '4 
 
 llie ready inc^l before Ulysses laid, 
 With tlour imbrowa'd 
 
 This flour, says Dacier, was made of parched corn 
 When the ancients olTered any thing that had noi 
 
LEVITICUS. 6^ 
 
 been offered in sacrifice they sprinkled it with flour, 
 which was used instead of the hallowed"barley with 
 which they consecrated their victims. Since some 
 honours were paid to the gods in 'all their feasts, this 
 sprinkling of the flour by Eumpeus was a religious 
 act. Flour was sometimes used by the Greeks as a 
 substitute for animals in their hecatombs: they in^ 
 vented a method of imposing upon the gods by dfl'ering 
 one animal only, and for the remainder substituting 
 little images of paste. — Burder* 
 
 NO. (!>^. — MANNER OF BAKING BREAD. 
 
 ii. 5. A meat-offering baken in a pan. 
 
 Shaw says, the Arabs knead the dough for their 
 unleavened cakes in the same small wooden bowls in 
 which they serve up their provisions. — Gen. xiii. 34. 
 
 Rauwolff* informs us, that travellers in the desart 
 of Arabia frequently bake their bread on the ground, 
 heated by the fire for that purpose, and cover their 
 cakes with ashes and coals; but that some of the 
 Arabians had stones or copper-plates in their tents, 
 made on purpose for baking. It appears that the 
 Jews had private ovens for their families. Hence 
 we read. Ten women^ shall bake your bread in one 
 oven,— Chap. xxvi. 20. 
 
 Darvienx says, that the Arabs about Mount Carmel 
 sometimes bake in an oven, as well as on the hearth ; 
 and that they have another method of baking, which 
 is, to make fire in a great stone pitcher, and apply a 
 paste of meal and water with the hollow of the hand 
 to the outside of the pitcher : the bread is thus baked 
 in an instant, and comes off as thin as a wafer. 
 
 *Many Families, 
 
60 LEVITICUS. 
 
 Dr. Shaw tells us, that in the cities and villages of 
 Barbary, there are public ovens ; but that among the 
 Bedouens and the Kabyles* their bread is baked upon 
 the coals, or in a ta-jen, a shallow earthen vessel like 
 a frying-pan. Mr. Harmer thinks, that the Arab 
 stone pitcher, the ta-jen, and the iron-hearth, appear 
 to answer the description Moses gives us of the 
 different ways of preparing the meat-offerings, 
 
 Pitts assures us that, at Algiers, where they have 
 public bake-houses, the women prepare the dough at 
 home, and the bakers send their boys about the streets 
 to give notice of their being ready, and to take the 
 bread to the bake-house. On the signal being given, 
 the women within knock at the door, and the boy ad- 
 vancing, the women open the door a little, and, hiding 
 their faces, deliver the bread ; which, when baked, is 
 returned after a similar manner. They give the boy 
 a piece of bread for the baking, which is the master's 
 recompence . — Harmer. 
 
 NO. CT. — SALT USED IN OFFERINGS. 
 
 ii. 13. With all thine offerings thou shall offer sarlC. 
 
 Among the ancients salt was the emblem of sin- 
 cerity, friendship, and fidelity ; and hence it was used 
 in all their sacrifices and covenants. Bruce mentions 
 a kind of salt so hard, that it is used as money, and 
 passes from hand to hand, no more injured than a 
 stone. A covenant of salt seems to refer to the making 
 of an agreement, wherein salt^was used as a token of 
 confirmation. 
 
 Baron de Tott, speaking of one who was desirous ' 
 of his acquaintance, says, that upon his departure he 
 
 ♦The Bedouens are soch as lire in tents. The Kabyles are those who liT#t 
 \D. miserable horels in the movotaiiis. . 
 
LEVITICUS. . 61 
 
 promised shortly to return ; and adds, " I had a] ready- 
 attended him half way down the stair-case, when stop- 
 pinj^, and turning briskly to one of my domestics, 
 * bring me directly,' said he, * some bread and salt.' 
 What he requested was brought ; when taking a little 
 salt between his fingers, and putting it with a mys- 
 terious air on a bit of bread, he ate it with a devout 
 gravity, assuring me that I might now rely on him." 
 Pliny says, that there was no sacrifice offered to 
 the gods without the salted cake ; which appears 
 plain also from the language of Homer : — 
 
 Tlien near the altar of the darting King, 
 Disposed in rank, their hecatomb they bring j 
 With water purify their hands, and take 
 The sacred off'ring of the salted cake. It. 
 
 D'Herbelot says that, among other exploits which 
 are recorded of Jacoub ben Laithy he is said (o have 
 broken into a palace, and having collected a very 
 large booty, which he was on the point of carrying 
 away, he stumbled over something, which he put to 
 his mouth, the better to distinguish it ; and finding 
 it to be a lump of salt, which was considered as a 
 symbol and pledge of hospitality, he was so touched 
 as to abandon his booty and desert the palace. 
 
 Burder. 
 
 Thus the Lord gave the kingdom of Israel to 
 David by a covenant of salt. — 2 Chron. xiii. 5. 
 
 NO. 68. — THE PERPETUAL FIRE. 
 
 vi. 13. The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar: 
 it shall never go out. 
 This rite was imitated by the Gentiles, who thought 
 it ominous to have their sacred fire go out ; and 
 
62 LEVITICU.S. 
 
 therefore appointed persons to watcli and keep it 
 perpetually burning^. The j^reat business of the 
 vestal i'irgins at Rome was to look after what was 
 called the eternal fire; imagining that its extinction 
 purported the destruction of the city. It appears, 
 that the Greeks also preserved a constant fire at 
 Delphi. The Persians also took great care to pre- 
 serve their fire alive. Q. Curtius, giving an account 
 of the march of Darius's army, says, the fire, which 
 they called eternal, was carried before them on 
 silver altars ; the Magi came after it, singing hymns 
 after the Persian manner; and three hundred and 
 sixty-five youths, clothed in scarlet, followed, ac- 
 cording to the number of the days in the year. 
 
 Sir W. Jones informs us, in his discourse on the 
 Persians, that the Sagnicas, when they enter on their 
 sacerdotal office, kindle, with two pieces of the hard 
 wood semi, a fire, which they keep lighted through 
 their lives, for their nuptial ceremony, the performance 
 of solemn sacrifices, the obsequies of departed ances- 
 tors, and their own funeral pile. —Burder, 
 
 NO. 69. — SKINS OF SACRIFICES THE PORTION OF THE 
 PRIESTS. 
 
 vii. 8. The Priest shall have to himself the skin of the 
 burnt offering which he hath offered. 
 Bishop Patrick says, it is probable that Adam 
 himself offered the first sacrifice, and had the skin 
 given him by God, to make garments for himself 
 and his wife. In conformity to which the Priests 
 ever after had the skin of the whole burnt offer- 
 ings for their portion. This was a custom among the 
 Gentiles as well as the Jews, who gave the skins of 
 
LEVITICUS. G3 
 
 tlieir sacrifices to their Priests ; by whom they were 
 employed to a superstitious use, by lying upon them in 
 their temples, hoping to have future things revealed to 
 them in their dreams. Of this we have a proof in 
 Yirgil :^ 
 
 First on the fleeces of tlie slaughtered sheep 
 By night the sacred Piiest dissolves in sleep : 
 ^Vhen, in a train, before his slumb'ring eye. 
 Thin, airy forms, and wondrous visions fly. 
 He calls the pow'rs who guard th' infernal floods^ 
 And talks inspired familiarly with gods, 
 
 Pitt. 
 The Highlanders of Scotland, like all rude people, 
 had various superstitious modes of enquiring into 
 futurity. One of the most noted was the togharm. 
 A person was wrapped up in the skin of a newly 
 slain bullock, and deposited beside a water-fall, or 
 at the bottom of a precipice, or in some other 
 strange, wild, and unusual situation, where the 
 scenery around him suggested nothing but objects of 
 horror. In this situation he revolved in his mind the 
 question proposed ; and whatever was impressed upon 
 him by his exalted imagination, passsed for the in- 
 spiration of the disembodied spirits who haunt these 
 desolate recesses. — Burder <^c. 
 
 NO. 70. — MANNER OF CASTING LOTS. 
 
 xvi. 8. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; 
 
 one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scajjC' 
 
 goat. 
 
 The manner in which these lots were cast does 
 not appear in scripture ; but if we may credit the 
 Rabbies, there was an urn brought to the High Priest, 
 into which he threw two wooden lots j on one of 
 
64 LEVITICUS. 
 
 which was written— /or the Lord; and on the other — 
 for the scape-goat. After he had shaken them, he 
 put both his hands into the urn and brought up the 
 lots, one in each hand ; and as the g-oats stood,' one 
 on each side of him, their fate was determined by the 
 lot that came up in the hand next to them : if the 
 right hand brought up the lot— /or the Lord, they 
 regarded it as a good omen; but if the left hand 
 brought it up, they accounted it as a bad omen, and 
 an indication that God was not satisfied. — Jennings. 
 
 NO. 71. — THE SCAPE GOAT. 
 
 xvi. 22. And the goat shall hear upon him all their 
 iniquities, unto a land not inhabited : and he shall 
 let go the goat in the wilderness. 
 Mr. Bruce relates the following narrative: — "We 
 found that, upon some dissention, the garrison and 
 townsmen had been fighting for several days, in which 
 disorders the greatest part of the ammunition in the 
 town had been expended; but it had sincd" been 
 agreed on, by the old men of both parties, that ri6- 
 body had been to blame on either side, but the 
 whole wrong was the work of a camel. A camel, 
 therefore, was seized and brought without the toWfl';. 
 and there, a number on both sides having met, they 
 upbraided the camel with every thing that had been 
 either said or done. The camel had killed men ; he 
 had threatened to set the town on fire ; the camel had 
 threatened to burn the Aga's house and the castle ; he 
 had cursed the Grand Seignior attd the Sheriff of 
 Mecca, the Sovereigns of the two parties, and threat- 
 ened to destroy the wheat that was going to Mecca. 
 After having spent a great part of the afternoon in 
 
LEVITICUS. e5 
 
 upbraiding the camel, whose measure of iniquity, if 
 seems, was nearly full, each man thrust him through 
 with a lance, and then retired, fully satisfied as to the 
 wrongs he had received from the camel." 
 
 The Asuamedha Jug is an ancient Indian custom, 
 in which an horse was brought and sacrificed, with 
 some rites similar to those prescribed in the Mosaic 
 law. The horse thus sacrificed was instead of the 
 sacrificer, and bore his sins with him into the wilder- 
 ness in which he was turned adrift ; and thus, without 
 shedding of blood, the animal became an expiatory 
 victim. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 72. -THE FEAST OF FIRE. 
 
 xviii. 21. Thou shall not let any of thy seed pass 
 through the fire to Moloch. 
 As fire was employed in the worship of Moloch, 
 this idol has bqen supposed to represent the sun. Ac- 
 cording to Rabbi Simeon, all the idolatrous temples 
 were in the city of Jerusalem, except that of Moloch, 
 \Vhich was out of the city, in a separate place. This 
 idol was a statue, having the head of an ox, with 
 hands stretched out, as if to receive something to its 
 embraces. There were seven chapels erected, in the 
 front of which stood this idol. He that offered a fowl, 
 or a young pigeon, went into the first chapel ; if he 
 offered a sheep, or a lamb, he went into the second ; 
 ifa ram, into the third; if a calf, into the fourth; 
 if a bullock, into the fifth ; if an ox, into the sixth; 
 but he only who offered his own son went into the 
 seventh chapel, and kissed the idol Moloch.* The 
 child was placed before the idol, which was hollow, 
 
 *Hos. xiii. 2. 
 F 
 
66 LKVItlCUS. 
 
 and a fire was made under it 'till it was red-hot ; thfen 
 the Priest took the child, and put him into the hajjds 
 of Moloch, wliilst drums were beatine- to drown the 
 cries of the sufferer. Some say, that the imaj>'e 
 received the child in its arms, and dropped it into the 
 fire beneath* z 
 
 Sonnerat gives us an astonishing instance of the 
 superstition of the ancient Indians, in respect to this 
 venecated fire. He says, that in the grand annual 
 festival held in honor of Darma-Rajah, and called the 
 feast of fire, the devotees, as in the ancient rites of 
 Moloch, walk barefoot over a glowing fire, extending 
 forty feet. 
 
 This feast lasts eighteen days, during which time 
 they fast, lie on the bare ground, and walk on a 
 brisk fire. On the eighteenth day, at the sound of 
 certain instruments, their heads are crowned with 
 fiow.ers, and their bodies bedaubed with saffron, and 
 they follow the figures of Darma-Rajah and of 
 Drbbede his.wife, who are carried there in procession. 
 When they come 1o the fire they stir it, to animate 
 its activity, and rub their foreheads with the ashes. 
 W-hen the gods have been three times round it, they 
 Walk either fast or slow, according to their zeal, over 
 this element of fire. Some carry their children in 
 their arms ; others carry lances, sabres, and standards. 
 The most fervent devotees will walk several times 
 over this fire. After the ceremony, the people press 
 to collect some of the ashes, to rub their foreheads, 
 and obtain some of the flowers with which the devo- 
 tees were adorned, and which they carefully preserve. 
 
 It appears, that this custom overspread all nations, 
 the Greeks themselves not excepted. Ahaz is said to 
 
LEVITICUS, 67 
 
 have burnt his children in the fire — 2 Chron. xxviii. 3 ; 
 but he could not have destroj^ed them all, because 
 Hezekiah was his successor. Some of his children' 
 passed safely over the fire, whilst others were burnt 
 to death in it. As this was done according to the 
 abomination of the heathen, it was, no doubt, in honor 
 of Moloch. — Burder, * 
 
 J^O. 73. — THE MANNER OF CUTTING HAIR. 
 
 xix. 27. Ye shall not round the corners of your heads* 
 It appears, that the Hebrew word translated corners 
 fsignifies also the extremities of any thing ; and the 
 meaning is, they were not to cut their hair equal 
 behind and before, as did the worshippers of tho 
 stars and the planets, particularly the Arabians. 
 
 According to Herodotus, they do it in honour of 
 Bacchus, who they say had his hair cut in this way : 
 and after this sort the Chinese cut their hair to the 
 present day ; which, no doubt, was a custom with the 
 Egyptians when the Israelites dwelt among them. 
 
 Some, however, are led to imagine, that it refers to 
 a superstitious custom among the Gentiles in their 
 mourning for the dead. They cut off their hair, and 
 that round about, and threw it into the sepulchre with 
 the bodies of tlieir relations and friends, and some- 
 times laid it upon the face or the breast of the dead, 
 as an offering to the infernal gods, whereby they 
 thought to appease them, and make them kind to 
 the deceased. Here we see the grand cause of th« 
 prohibition, 
 
 V9. 
 
^ NUMBERS, 
 
 no. 74.— PRIESTS EXEMPT FROM WAR. 
 
 i'. 49. Thou shall not number the tribe of Levi. 
 
 From this example the heathen learnpd to 
 ^^empt all those who ministered to their gods from all 
 other services, esrpecially from war. Strabo notes this 
 custom* to have been as old as Homer's time ; for in 
 all his catalogue there is no mention of any ship that 
 went against Troy from Alalcomenon, because that 
 city was sacred to Minerva. Caesar also observes, 
 that the ancient Druids were exempt from war and 
 from tribute. — Burder. 
 
 yo. 75.— THE SHAVING OF THE NAZARITE. 
 
 ti" IS. And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his 
 separation at the door of the tabernacle of the con- 
 gregation, Sfc. 
 
 The Egyptians used to let their hair grow, in honour 
 of their gods, particularly of Apollo, Bacchus, and Mi- 
 nerva. This superstitious practice grew to such a 
 height, that we find they consecrated it to rivers, m 
 which they thought there was some divinity. 
 
 Achilles, at the funeral of Patroclus, cut off his 
 golden locks, which his father had dedicated to the 
 river-god Sperchins, and threw them into the flood. 
 
 But great Acliilles stands apart in pray'r. 
 And ftt)m his head divides the yellow hair ; 
 Those curling leeks which from his youth he vow'd. 
 And sacred grew to Sperchins' honor'd flood. 
 Then sighing, to tlie deep his locks he cast, 
 And roird liis eyes around the watry waste. 
 
 HoMBR. . 
 
 In other instances they cut it off, and hung it upon 
 trees, or laid it up in their temples, there to be pre- 
 served. At Athens there was a certain day appointed 
 
NUMBERS. m 
 
 V 
 
 4iu one of their feasts, at which the hair of their chil- 
 dren was cut off, and sacrificed to Diana. Lucian 
 represents this as a very common custom, and it 
 appears that he himself complied with it. Suetonius 
 relates an instance of it in his life of Nero ; informing 
 us, that he cut off his beard, put it into a golden box 
 set with jewels, and consecrated it to Jupiter Capito- 
 linus. 
 
 Some writers have asserted, that the laws of the 
 Hebrew Naiarites were givei^ to prevent an idolatrous 
 adoption of Egyptian customs : but it is possible that 
 those usages may be posterior to the time of Moses, 
 ^nd that they are borrowed from his institutions. 
 
 Burder, 
 
 The hair of the Nazarite was permitted to gr,o>y, as 
 a token of his separation to God ; and at the close of 
 his Nazariteship it was publicly sacrificed unto the 
 Lord, that it might be known that his yp^ yi^as 
 ended. Acts xxi. 24. 
 
 ?I0. 76. — THE IMPORTANCE O^ A GUIDE IN THE EASTo 
 X. 31. Thou mayest he to iis instead of eyes. 
 Eastern guides are men of great consideration, 
 knowing perfectly the situation and properties of all 
 kinds of water to be met with on the route ; the ,dis^ 
 tances of wells ; whether occupied by enemies or not^ 
 and, if so, the way to ayoid them with the least incon? 
 venience. It is also necessary to theni 'to know the 
 places occupied by the simoom, and the seasons of 
 their blowing in those parts of the desart: likewise 
 those occupied by moving sands. The ^uide ge- 
 nerally belongs to some powerful tribe of Arabs 
 inhabiting those degartg, whoge aid he solicits, to pjo- 
 
70 NUMBERS. 
 
 tect his caravans in time of danger, and he has always 
 handsome rewards in his power to distribute dii such 
 occasions. — Bruce. 
 
 But what need had the Israelites of a guide, when 
 they had the pillar of fire continually to point out the 
 way? Answer. — The cloud directed their general 
 journies, but not their particular excursions. Parties 
 took several journies while the grand army lay still. 
 They therefore needed such a person as Hobab, who 
 was well acquainted with the desart, to point out 
 watering-places, and places where they might meet 
 with fuelj &c. — Clarke. 
 
 NO. 77. — DIFFERENT HERBS USED IN EGYPT. 
 
 xi. 5. We remember the cucicjnbers, and the melons, 
 and the leeks, and the oriions, and the garlick. 
 
 Cucumbers are well known to be of a very cooling 
 and refreshing property in hot weather. 
 
 Maillet assures us, that all the various species of 
 melons which grow in Europe and in the sea-ports of 
 the Mediterranean are to be found in Egypt ; besides 
 which there is one of a round figure, whose substance 
 is green and very delicious. Dr. Shaw says, that the 
 ' water melon affords a cool refreshing juice, which 
 assuages thirst and mitigates feverish disorders. It 
 is eaten in abundance by the Egyptians of every 
 rank ; and purchased as of the greatest use to tra- 
 vellers in thirsty desarts. 
 
 Mr. Harmer thinksj that the word translated leeks » 
 means succory, or endive, which are supposed to be 
 plants of a cooling nature. Maillet says, that the 
 onions of Egypt are sweeter than in any other place 
 in the world ; and there is such an abundance of 
 
NUMBERS. 71 
 
 / 
 them in Egypt that at Cairo an hundred pounds weight 
 may be purchased for eight or ten sols.* Hasselquist 
 says, that the Egyptians sometimes eat their onions 
 roasted, cut into four pieces, with some bits of roasted 
 meat, which the Turks in Egypt call Kabab ; and 
 with this dish, he says, they are so delighted, that they 
 wish they might enjoy it in Paradise. At other times 
 they cut the onions in small pieces and make a soup 
 of them. 
 
 As for garlick, it appears that the modern Arabs 
 useit as a preservative against the deadly quality of 
 their hot winds. Dr. Hasselquist says, that the gar- 
 lick which is used in Egypt, is imported from the 
 Islands of the Archipelago. When the Israelites 
 had in heart, forsaken the Lord, it is no wonder that 
 they murmured and pined for those things in the 
 burning desart, on their way to the promised land. — 
 
 Harmer, 
 
 :no, 78.— quails given to the Israelites. 
 xi. 31. 32. And there went forth a wind from the 
 
 Lord, and brought quails from the sea, and let them 
 
 fall by the camp, ^c. 
 
 Several learned Bishops have supposed, that they 
 were locusts, and not quails, which the children of 
 Israel ate in the wilderness : but Joseph as and Dr, 
 Shaw argue the contrary. Maillet says, that on a 
 little island, which covers one of the ports of Alex- 
 andria, the birds annually alight, which come hither 
 for refuge from the severity of European winters. 
 They take such quantities of quails and other birds on 
 this island, that, after stripping them of their feathers,, 
 * A sol is worth about aa half-penny. 
 
72 NUMBERS. 
 
 and burying tliem in the sand, they are worth but two 
 sols per pound. Thus the Israelites spread their 
 quails round al^out the camp, io dry them on the 
 sands, and preserve them for use. 
 
 Josephus says, that quails are in greater numbers 
 thereabout than any other kind of bird ; and tliat 
 having crpssed the sea, to the camp ojf Israel, they, 
 wliich in common fly nearer the ground than most 
 other birds, flew so low, through t|ie fatigue of their 
 passage, as to be within reach of the Israelites. This 
 explains what he thought was meant by the two 
 cubifs/rom iJie face of the earth — namely, their flying 
 within three or four feet of the ground. 
 
 It appears, that these quails fell about a day^s 
 journey round about the camp. A ccording to Bishop 
 Patrick, a day's journey is about sixteen or twenty 
 miles ; but Dr. Shaw makes a day's journey but ten 
 miles, which would make a circle of twenty miles 
 diameter. These things shew us the finger of God. 
 Their gathering so large a quantity as ten homers, 
 must be considered as relating only to those sportsmen 
 who pursued the game both day and mQhi.—Harmer, 
 
 NO. 79.~SPITTING, A MARK OF DETfeSTATION. 
 
 xii. 14. If her father had but spit in her /ace, shouI4 
 she not be ashamed seven days. 
 The association between spitting and shame is sq 
 great in the East, that we have but faint conception^ 
 of it. Monsieur d'Arvieux assures us, that the Arabs 
 never spit before their superiors. Chardin says, that 
 spitting on the ground, in speaking of any one's actions, 
 is through the East an expression of extreme detesta- 
 tion* Among the Jews it was prescribed Ijy law as a 
 
tttark of disgrace— Peut. xxv. 9 ; aii4 from pur text; 
 it appears, that a father's dishonourinjg a daughter 
 by s.pittmg in her face was thought so disgraceful, a^ 
 to lead to retirement from public yiew for at least a 
 jvhole week. 
 
 Niebuhr informs us, that, travelling in a caravan, 
 one of the company spitting sideways, happened to 
 defile the beard of a Mahomedau, who was highly 
 offended at it ; but the offender instantly asked pardon, 
 Aud kissed his beard, by which submission he was 
 j^peased. 
 
 Hanway says, than in 1744, when a rebel prisoner 
 was brought before Nadir Shah's General, the soldiers 
 were ordered to spit in his face, which is an indignity 
 of great antiquity in the East, This expression of 
 reproach was offered to our Lord in his humiliation. 
 —Matt. xxyi. 67. 
 
 NO. 80. — BALAK'S wish to CURS^ ISRAEL. 
 
 jixii. 6. Come now, therefore:, I pray thee, curse me this 
 people. 
 It appears that an opinion prevailed, both in those 
 day^ and in after ages, that some men had a power, 
 by the help of their gods, to devote not only particular 
 persons, but whole armies to destruction. This they 
 iare said to have done, sometimes, by words of impreca- 
 tion ; of which there was a set form among some 
 people, which iEschines calls the determinate curse, 
 Sometimes they also offered sacrifices, and used certain 
 rites and ceremonies with solemn charms. A famous 
 instance of this we find in the life of Crassus, where 
 flutarch tells us, that Attichus, tribune of the people, 
 made a fire at the gatej out at which Crassus was td 
 
T4 NUMBERS. 
 
 march to the war against the Parthians ; into which 
 he threw certain things to make a fume, and offered 
 *• sacrifices to the most angry gods, with horrid impreca- 
 tions upon him : these, he says, according to ancient 
 tradition, had such a power, that no man who was 
 loaded with them could avoid being undone. — Burder. 
 
 Macrobius says, that the ancient form of incantation 
 used by the Romans, to call over the protecting 
 deities from Carthage to Rome, was as follows : — 
 " Whether it be god or goddess, under whose protec- 
 tion the people and city of Carthage are placed ; and 
 thee, especially, who hast undertaken to defend this 
 city and people, I pray, beseech, and earnestly intreat, 
 that you would forsake the people and eity of Carthage, 
 and leave their places, temples, sacred things, and city, 
 and depart from them ; and that you would inspire this 
 people and city with fear, terror, and forgetfulness ; and 
 that, coming out from them, you would pass over to 
 Rome, to me and to mine, and that our places, temples 
 sacred things, and city, may be more agreeable and 
 more acceptable to you : and that you w ould preside 
 over me, the Roman people, and my soldiers, that we 
 may know and perceive it. If ye will do this,l promise 
 to consecrate to your honor both temples and games." 
 
 They had a second incantation, to devote the city to 
 destruction which the tutelary gods had abandoned, 
 and that their own armies and legions might be pre- 
 served in safety. In case of compliance, they engaged 
 to sacrifice three black sheep " to thee O mother Earth, 
 and to thee O Jupiter." When the execrator men- 
 tioned the Earth he stooped down, and placed both his 
 hands upon it : when he named Jupiter he lifted up both 
 his hands to Heaven : and when he mentioned his vow^ 
 he placed his hands upon his breast.— •C/ary?:e. 
 
NUMBERS. 75 
 
 NO. 81.— BALAAM'S ALTARS AND SACRIFICES. 
 
 xxiii. 1 , Build me here seven altars, and prepare me 
 here seven oxen, and seven rams. 
 The number seven was liighly regarded, and 
 thought of great efficacy in religious actions, not 
 only by the Jews, but by the heathens. Apuleius 
 says, " desirous of purifying myself, I wash in the sea, 
 and dip my head seven times in the waves, the divine 
 Pythagoras having taught that this number is, above 
 all others, most proper in the concerns of religion." 
 That the ancients were superstitious about certain 
 numbers, supposing that God delighted in odd nxxva* 
 bers, appears from Virgil : — 
 
 Aroimd his waxen image first I win'd 
 
 Three woolieu fillets, of three colors join'd j 
 
 Thrice bind about his thrice devoted head. 
 
 Which round the sacred altar thrice is led. 
 
 Unequal nmnbers please the gods. 
 
 Dryden. 
 
 Numerous were the altars which were used by the 
 heathen and by idolators. — According to the numJber 
 of the streets of Jerusalem, have ye set up altars to 
 that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto 
 Baal. — Jer. xi. 13. But the true worshippers of the 
 Lordcohfined themselves to one.- — Gen.viii,20. £xod. 
 xvii. 15. 
 
 DEUTERONOMY. 
 
 NO. 82. — DESCRIPTION OF THE WALLS OF EASTERN 
 CITIES. 
 
 i 28. The cities are great and walled up to heaven. 
 It appears, that the Easterns were in the habit 
 of raising their city walls to an amazing height, to pre- 
 vent tiieir being scaled by their enemies. - Thevenot 
 
^ DE^JTBHGNOMY. 
 
 • • 
 
 informs hs, that the great monastery at Mount Sinai 
 IS well built of good free-stone, with very high smooth 
 walls : on the east side there is a window, by which 
 those that are within draw up the pilgrims into the 
 monastery in a basket, which they let down by a 
 rope which runs in a pulley. These walls, he says, 
 are so high that they cannot be scaled ; and without 
 cannon the place cannot be taken. The gate of this 
 convent was kept walled up, and never opened ex- 
 cept at the reception of a new Archbishop. 
 
 One method which they had of building their 
 city walls was partly of. stone and partly of wood : 
 thus, the wall of Gaza was burnt with fire. — Amos, 
 Chap. i. 6. The walls of Tyre and Rabbah appear 
 to have been of a similar structure. — V» 10. 14. The 
 .walls of the old Russian cities were oftentimes wholly 
 formed of huge beams of timber, laid one upon ano- 
 ther, and firmly fastened together. Maillet gives us 
 a similar account of the monastery of St. Anthony, in 
 Egypt, the walls of which are so high as effectually 
 lo secure it from the insults of th^ Arabs. Thus it 
 was anciently, when the spies discouraged the hearts 
 of the people by telling them, in the strong Eastern 
 mode of expression, that the walls were so high that 
 they reached wp to Heaven: but had It been literally 
 so, yet the Israelites, in thinking them impregnable, 
 must have forgotten the omnipotence of their divine 
 leader. — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 83. — MANNER OF INCULCATING MOJIA^ MAXIM?. 
 
 yi. 9. Thou shall write them upon the posts of thy 
 /louse, and on thy gates. 
 Among the Chinese, moral maxims are inculcated 
 by the aged on the younger brancheg of the family : 
 
DEUTERONOMY. 'A: 
 
 and plain sentences of morality are hung tip in the 
 common hall, where the male branches of the family 
 assemble. This appears to be the same method as 
 was practised by the ancient Hebrews in the time of 
 Moses. 
 
 Leo, of Modena, says, that in his time the Jews con- 
 tinued this practise, writing certain passages of scrip- 
 ture upon parchment, which they rolled up, and 
 inscribed with the name of Shaddai. This they put 
 into a piece of cane, or other hollow wood, and fastened 
 to the doors of their houses and of every room in 
 them ; and, as often as they went in and out, they 
 made it a point of their devotion to touch this parch- 
 ment, and to kiss it. According to Huetius, other 
 nations used to write their laws upon their gates. 
 
 Burder. 
 
 NO. 84. — JUDEA INFESTED WITH WILD BEASTS. 
 
 rii. 22, Thou mayst not consume them at once, lest 
 the beasts of the field increase upon thee, 
 Mr. Haynes informs us, that, on his approaching 
 Cana of Galilee, at the close of the day, he found it to 
 be both terrifying and dangerous. The surrounding 
 country, he says, swarms with wild beasts ; such as 
 tygers, leopards, jackals, &c. whose cries and bowl- 
 ings are calculated to strike the traveller with the 
 deepest sense of horror. He says, that, on visiting 
 Mount Tabor, he crept into several holes and subter- 
 raneous caverns among the ruins, until his guide 
 advised him to be more cautious, assuring him that 
 tygers frequently resorted to those places in the day 
 time, to shelter themselves from the sun, and he might 
 pay dear for his curiosity. 
 
7§' DEUTERONOMY. 
 
 Oiir text supposes, that, shoalck Jndea be thinly 
 peopled, the wild beasts might so multiply, as to ren- 
 der it dangerous to its inhabitants. The Prophet 
 Ezekiel supposes the same, in a passage in which he 
 describes the mercy granted to the land of Israel, 
 after its being re-peopled, when the Lord should turn 
 again the captivity of Zion. / will make with them 
 a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to 
 cease out of the land, and they shall dwell safely in the 
 wilderness, and sleep in the woods. — Ezek. xxxiv. 25, 
 
 Harmer. 
 
 NO. 85. — THE FERTILITY OF JDDEA. 
 
 viii. 8. A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and 
 
 fig-trees, and pomegranaies ; a land of oil-olive, 
 
 and honey. 
 
 Dr. Shaw says, " it is impossible for pulse, wheats 
 or grain of any kind, to be richer or better tasted 
 than what is commonly used at Jerusalem." The 
 tt?2wes of Lebanon, Hermon, and Carmel are said, for 
 smell, taste, and usefulness, to exceed all others. 
 Hasselquist says, that the fig-trees in the neighbour- 
 hood of Joppa were as beautiful as any he had seen 
 in the Levant. 
 
 Russell informs us, that there are three sorts of 
 pomegranates at Aleppo ; the sour, the sweet, and 
 one between the both. They give a grateful acidity 
 to their sauces by pomegranate or lemon juice. The 
 pomegranate is more easily preserved through the 
 winter ; and in cookery is often preferred to lemon. 
 
 Hasselquist says, that he ate olives at Joppa, which, 
 professedly, grew on the Mount of Olives, near Jeru- 
 salem ; and that, independent of their oiliness^ they 
 
DEUTERONOMY/ 79 
 
 were the best he had tasted in the Levant. He says, 
 in prosecuting his journey he found several fine vales, 
 abounding with olive-trees. He saw olive-trees also 
 in Galilee ; but none farther than the mountain where 
 our Lord is supposed to have preached hi^ sermon. 
 
 Honey, it appears^ was plentiful in the land of 
 promise. Hasselquist says, that prosecuting his jour- 
 ney from Acra to Nazareth, he found great numbers 
 of bees bred there, to the great advantage of the 
 inhabitants. He says, that their bee-hives are made 
 of clay, four feet long, and half a foot in diameter, as 
 in Egypt : they lay ten or twelve of them one upon 
 another, on the bare ground, and then build over them 
 a little roof. By Israel's sucking honey out of the 
 rock, and oil out of the flinty rock,^ we may under- . 
 stand their enjoying great quantities of honey pro- 
 duced by bees, which collected it from flowers growing 
 among the rocks ; and that they had oil produced in 
 abundance by olive trees growing on flinty rocks. — 
 
 Harmer* 
 
 NO. 86. — WATER ENGINES WROUGHT BY THE FEET. 
 
 xi. 10. The land whither thou goest in to possess it^ 
 is not as the land of Egypt, fn^m whence ye came 
 out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and water edst it 
 with thy foot. 
 
 The custom of watering with the foot is thus ex- 
 plained by Dr. Shaw ; — It is common for the Egyptians 
 to plant their melons, sugar canes, &c. in riils ; and, 
 on their wanting refreshment, they strike the plugs 
 out of the cisterns in which they preserve the water 
 of the Nile ; and, on the waters gushing out, it is con- 
 
 • Deut. xxjdi, 13.- 
 
*r DEUTERONOMY. 
 
 dticted from one rill to another by the gardener, who 
 is always ready to stop and divert the torrent, by 
 turning the earth against it with his foot, and opening 
 at the same time, with his mattock, a new trench to 
 receive it. This method of conveying moisture and 
 nourishment to a land very rarely refreshed with rain, 
 is ©ften alluded to in the holy scriptures, and made the 
 distinguishing quality between Egypt and the land of 
 Canaan. 
 
 Mr. Parkhurst is of opinion, that watering with 
 ike foot is rather an allusion to drawing up water with 
 a machine which was worked by the foot. Such a 
 machine, according to Grotius, was described by 
 Philo, who lived in Egypt ; and said to be used, by 
 the peasants of the country in his time. 
 •<Mr. Harmer thinks, that Moses intended to repre- 
 sent the great labour of this way of watering by the 
 foot : in consequence of which it seems to have been 
 laid aside in Egypt since the time of Philo, and easier 
 methods of raising the water introduced- Strabo 
 speaks of an engine which, by wheels and pulleys, 
 threw up the water of the Nile to the top of a very 
 high hill ; but no less than one hundred and fifty slaves 
 were employed to turn the wheels. 
 
 NO. 87. — IDOLATROUS CUTTING IN RELIGIOUS WORSHIP. 
 
 xiv. 1 . Ye are the children of the Lord your God : ye 
 shall not cut yourselves , nor make any baldness be- 
 tween your eyes for the dead. 
 
 According to d'Arvieux, the Arabs oftentimes scar 
 their arms by the gashes of a knife, to convince their 
 mistresses of the violence and rigour of their love. 
 
DEUTERONOMY. 81 
 
 0, lovely charmer, pity me, 
 
 S^e how my blood does from me fiy I 
 Yet, were I sure to conquer thee. 
 
 Witness it, Hcav'a ! I'd gladly die. 
 
 In holy writ we often read of people cutting them- 
 selves when in great anguish ; but we are not com- 
 monly told what part they wounded. It appears in- 
 deed from Jeremiah, that the ancients wounded them- 
 selves somewhat similar to the modern Arabs. Every 
 head shall be bald and every beard dipt : upon all 
 hands shall be cuttings, and upon tJw loins sackcloth. — 
 Chap, xlviii. 37. 
 
 The cuttings of the Old Testament generally refer 
 to the greatest calamities. The lunatic of the New 
 Testament, who cut himself, might possibly do it from 
 the same principle with the modern Arabs. The Priests 
 of Baal adopted the same method to excite the pity of 
 the Sidonian idol, as the modern Arabs to move the 
 compassion of an unyielding female. 
 
 Plutarch says, that the Priests of Bellona, when 
 they sacrificed to that goddess, besmeared the victim 
 with their own blood. They who carried about the 
 Syrian goddess used to cut and slash themselves with 
 knives, 'till the blood gushed out upon them. 
 
 Dr. Clarke informs us, that the Hiiid6os often cut 
 themselves with large instruments, that they may 
 offer their blood to the goddess Cali ; and the larger 
 the instrument with which the incision is made, the 
 Uiore meritorious they deem the offering. They often 
 place a burning wick upon their flesh, in honor of 
 the same deity ; and endeavour to appease her wrath 
 by human sacrifices. 
 
 The ancient Druids of Britain, most of whose cere- 
 monies were obviously of Eastern origin, used, at one 
 G 
 
^ DEUTERONOMY- 
 
 of their annual festivals, to commemorate, in the fol- 
 lowing manner, ^^ g^rea^ rfeZw^^e. Round about cer- 
 tain lakes, in the midst of which they supposed the 
 god of the flood had his dwelling, they marched, in a 
 great and orderly multitude, clothed in garments of 
 peculiar colour, with chaplets of flowers on their 
 brows, singing and dancing, and piercing their thighs 
 until the blood gushed out. One design of this cere- 
 mony was, to invite the god of the flood to visit 
 the temples which had been dedicated to him. — 
 Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales, 
 The intention of Moses, in forbidding the Israelites 
 to make such cuttings in their flesh, was doubtless to 
 prevent such unworthy notions of the Deity he taught 
 them to serve. — Harmer, 
 
 NO. 88. — PROHIBITION OF STRANGE CLOTHING. 
 
 xxii. 5. The women shall not wear that which per- 
 iaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a 
 womarCs garment. 
 
 This prohibitory law appears to be directed against 
 an idolatrous usage as old as Moses ; and which, 
 later writers inform us, was to be found among se- 
 veral nations in after times, and attended with the 
 most abominable practices. Plutarch informs us, 
 that the Egyptians called the moon the mother of the 
 world, and assigned to her a nature both male and 
 female : and Boyse says of Diana or the moon, that 
 the Egyptians worshipped this deity both as male and 
 emale, — the men sacrificing to it as Luna— the 
 women as Lunus ; and each sex on these occasions 
 assumed the dress of the other. — Burder, 
 
DEUTERONOMY. 83 
 
 NO. 89.— ANCIENT METHOD OF GATHERING OLIVES. 
 
 xxiv^ 20. When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt 
 
 not go over the boughs again : it shall be for the 
 
 stranger f for the fatherless, arid for the widow. 
 
 The sacred writing's somelimes represent olives as 
 
 beaten off the trees; and at other times as shaken. 
 
 This may be considered as the difference between 
 
 gathering the main crop by the owner:^, and the way 
 
 ijj which the pppr collected, the few olive-berries that 
 
 were left, and which j by the law of Moses, they were 
 
 permitted to take. \ • 
 
 The Abbot Fortis, in his account of Dalihatia, 
 praises the inhabitants of a certain island for the 
 management of their olives, in not suffering them to 
 ferment before they express the oil. It appears, that 
 in Naples, and in several other parts of Italy, tliey 
 beat the branches with long poles to make the fruit 
 fall. This custom, according to the Abbot', is very 
 injurious to the plant. 
 
 However injurious the custom may be, of beating- 
 down the olives with long poles, it appears to be tho 
 ancient way of the owners gathering them, who pro- 
 bably left as few as possible on their trees, as they 
 were forbidden by their law to brush them over a 
 second time. Shaking them was sufficient when they 
 had hung so mu^ch longer as to be fully ripe ; s^nd 
 hence it was the method, used by the poor, or stran- 
 gers,\ to come at the olive-berries which w^ere left. 
 As the shaking of an olive-treei two or three berries in 
 the top of the uppermost bought four or five in the out- 
 most fruitful branches thereof. — Isa. xvii. 6. 
 
 Chandler says, that when the olive blackens, vast 
 flights of doves, pigeons, thrushes, and other^ birds, re- 
 pair to the olive groves for food.— Gen.viii,! 1 ^-^Harnier 
 
84 DEUTERONOMt. 
 
 NO. 90. — BASKETS MADE OF THE LEAVES OF THE PALM 
 TREE. 
 
 xxviii. 5. Blessed, shall be thy basket and thy store. 
 
 Hasselquist informs us, that the Eastern people use 
 baskets in travelling ; for, speaking of the species of 
 the palm-tree which produces dates, and its great use- 
 fulness to the people of those countries, he tells us, 
 that of the leaves of this tree they make baskets, or 
 rather a kind of short bags, which are used in Turkey. 
 As the basket was used to collect their fruits, the 
 blessing of the basket may allude to the olive-gather- 
 mg and vintage. The store signifies their leather 
 bags, in which they used to carry things in travelling. 
 Understood after this manner, the passage promises 
 Israel success in their commerce, as the next verse 
 promises them personal safety in their going out and 
 in their return. — Harmer and Clarke. 
 
 NO. 91.— RAIN OF POWDER AND DUST. 
 
 xxviii. 24. 7%e Lord shall make the rain of thy land 
 powder aiid dust. 
 
 Sir T. Roe informs us, that in India the wind blows 
 sometimes very high in hot and dry seasons, raising 
 up clouds of dust and sand a very great height into 
 the air. These dry showers, he says, most grievously 
 annoy all those among whom they fall ; smiting them 
 with blindness ; filling their eyes, ears, nostrils, and 
 mouths too, if not well guarded ; searching every 
 place, as well within doors as without, so that there 
 is not a little key -hole of any trunk or cabinet, if it be 
 not covered, but receives some of the dust into it. 
 
 Tournefort says, " at Ghetsci there arose a tempest 
 of sand, in the same manner as it happens sometimes 
 
DEUTERONOMY. 85 
 
 in Arabia and in Egypt ; especially in the spring. It 
 was raised by a very hot south wind, which drove so 
 much sand, that one of the gates of the Kervansery 
 was half stopped up with it, and the way could not be 
 found, being covered over about a foot deep, the sand 
 lying in heaps on all hands." Herbert speaks to the 
 same purpose : " and now the danger is past, let me 
 tell you, most part of the last night we were crossing 
 over an inhospitable sandy desart. The ground was 
 covered with a loose flying sand, which, by the fury 
 of the winter weather, is accumulated into such 
 heaps, that upon any great wind the track is lost, and 
 passengers, with their beasts, overwhelmed and stifled. 
 Ipdeed in this place I thought that curse fulfilled, 
 Pent, xxviii. 24. where the Lord by Moses threatens, 
 iustead of rain to give them showers of dust." 
 
 NO. 92.— DIVINE JUDGMENTS UPON A WICKED LAND. 
 
 xxix-. 23. The whole land thereof is brimstone, and 
 salt, and burning. 
 In those countries where salt abounds, its effect on 
 vegetation is described by burning. Thus Volney, 
 sspeaking of the borders of the Asphaltic Lake, or 
 Dead Sea, says, " the true cause of the absence of 
 vegetables and animals is the acrid saltness of its 
 waters, which is infinitely greater than that of the sea. 
 The land surrounding the lake being equally impreg-* 
 nated with that saltness, refuses to produce plants ; 
 the air itself, which is by evaporation loaded with it, 
 and which moreover receives vapours of sulphur and 
 bitumen, cannot suit vegetation ; whence the dead 
 appearance which reigns around the lake." Hence 
 tbe ancient custom of sowing an enemy*s city with 
 
86 DEUTERONOMY. 
 
 salt, in token of perpetual desolation. — Judges ix. 47. 
 Arid thus in after times the city of Milaii was burnt, 
 razed, sown with salt, and ploughed, by the exasperated 
 Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 9^. — THE ISRAEl*ITES WEEPING FOR MOSES. 
 
 xxxiv. 8. And the children of Israel wept for Moses in 
 the plains of Afoah thirty days, ^ '*'^'^7 •^'- 
 It appears, that these were not' the domestic lamen- 
 tations which immediately succeeded the death of a 
 friend, nor the mournihg' of a funeral at carrying the 
 body to the grave, nor tfeei mtjurnihg' over the' sepul- 
 chre of the dead; but a processional solemnity of 
 mourning through the camp of Israel. ' ^^i 
 
 It was usual in the East to mourn for s«ch person^* 
 as were absent from home when they died, and weirisr 
 buried at a distance from their ' relations. Irwin 
 relates, that one of the inhabitant? of Ghinnah being 
 murdered in the de^^rt, gave'' tirth to a mournful 
 procession of females, which passed through the dif^ 
 ferent streets, and uttered dismal cries for his death. 
 Josephiis says, that it was a Jewish custom ; and it 
 appears that, upon taking Jotapata, and its being* re- 
 ported that Josephus was slain, the n^ws occasioned 
 great mourning at Jerusalem. 
 
 -It was after this manner that the Israelites lament- 
 ed, the death of Moses. He was absent from them 
 when he died, neither did they carry him to the 
 grave ; but they wept for him in the plains of MoaB?'^ 
 The mourning for Aaron, who died in Mount Hor, 
 might probably be of the same kind.— Num. xx. 25,29, 
 
 Harmer, 
 
JOSHUA. 87 
 
 NO 94.— -CUSTOM OF LOOSING THE SHOE. 
 
 V. 15. Loose thy shoe from off thy foot ; for the place 
 whereon thou standest is holy. 
 The custom which is here referred to not only 
 constantly prevailed oyer all the Easti from the ear- 
 liest ages, but continues to this day. To pull off the 
 sandals or slippers is used as a mark of respect, on 
 entering a mosque, or temple, or the room of any 
 person of distinction ; in which case they are either 
 laid aside or given to a servant to bear. Ives says, 
 that ?is many slippers and sandals may be seen at the 
 doors of an Indian Pagoda as there ar.e hats hanging 
 up in our churches. Maundrell, in describing the 
 ceremonials of a Turkish visit, informs us, that, 
 notwithstanding he was an European and a stranger, 
 he was obliged to comply with this custom. — Burder, 
 
 NO. 95. — DUST UPON THE HEAD AN EXPRESSION OF 
 GRIEF. 
 
 vii. 6. And put dust upon their heads. 
 Putting dust upon the head appears to have been 
 an expression of great grief ; and, with this view, it 
 was a very usual practice with the Jews. The Ben- 
 jamite who bore the heart-rending intelligence of the 
 discomfiture of the Israelites had earth upon his head. 
 —I Sam. iv. \2. This was imitated by the Gentiles, 
 as in the case of the Ninevites. — Jonah, iii. 6. Homer 
 describes Achilles lamenting the death of Patroclus 
 by throwing dust upon his head, and lying down in it ; 
 and speaking of Laertes he says. 
 
 Deep from his soul he sigli'd, and sorrowing spread 
 
 A cloud of ashes oa his hoary head. 
 
 Pupi, 
 
hS JOSHUA. 
 
 Ropes have been carried upon the head, as a token 
 of submission — 1 Kings, xx. 31 ; and according 
 to Bruce, vanquished rebels have carried a stone upon 
 their head, confessing themselves guilty of a capital 
 crime. — Burder* 
 
 J!?p. 95. — DESCRIPTION OF ANCIENT WINE- BOTTLES. 
 
 ix. 4.. Winerhottlesy old, and rent, and bound up, 
 Chardin informs us, that the Arabs, and all 
 those that, lead a wandering life, keep their water, 
 mill(, and other liquors, in leathern bottles. These 
 bottles jare made of goat-skins. When the animal is 
 killed, they cut off its feet and head, and draw it out 
 of the skjn without opeping its belly. They after^ 
 ward« sew up the places where the legs and tail were 
 cut off; and when filled they tie it about the neck. 
 He says, the Arabians and country-people of Persia 
 never go a journey without a small leathern bottle of 
 water hanging by their, side. The great leathern 
 bottles are made of the skin of an he-goat; and the 
 small ones, that serve instead of a bottle of water op 
 the road, are made pf a kjd's skin. Chardin says, that 
 they infuse rose-water into those bottles, when they 
 are new, that the water may not taste of the leather. 
 These bottles, when old, are frequently rent, but are 
 capable pf being repaired, by being bound up. This, 
 according to Chardin,if done various w ays ; by settixig 
 in apiece, gathering up the wounded place in manner > 
 of a purse, or by putting in a rjound flat piece of wood 
 to stop the hole. 
 
 Mr. Bruce gives us a description of the girba, which 
 seems to be a vessel of a similar kind, but of much 
 larger dimensions. A girba is an ox's skin, squared, 
 
I JOSHUA. 80 
 
 and the edges sewed together by a double seam, much 
 resembling" that of the best English cricket-balls, 
 which effectually secures the water. An opening is 
 left at the top of the girba, in the same manner as the 
 bung-hole of a cask : around this they gather up a 
 large handful of the skin, which, when the girba is 
 full of water, is tied round with whip-cord. Thesp 
 girbas generally contain about sixty gallons each, and 
 two of them are a load for a camel. They are be- 
 smeared on the outside with grease, to hinder thj? 
 water from oozing through, and to prevent its being 
 evaporated by the heat of the sun. Bottles of skin 
 are still used in Spain, and called borrachas.. — 
 
 Harmer, 
 
 NO. 97. — THE CURSE OF THE GIBEONITES. 
 
 }X. 23. Ye are cursed, and there shall none of you be 
 freed from being bond-men, and hewers of wood, 
 and drawers of water for the house of my God. 
 The author of the Piratical States of Barbary as- 
 sures us, that in the kingdom of Algiers women and 
 children cut fuel and fetch the water. Pitts informs 
 us, that the Algerine slaves do the work of maid 
 servants; which, it appears, was the condition to 
 which the Gibeonites were redu9ed. 
 
 The bitterness of the doom of the Gibeonites does 
 not seem to have consisted in the iaboriousness of the 
 service enjoined them, since it wa^ usual for women 
 and children to perform the task, but its degrading 
 them from the characteristic employment of men — 
 that of bearing arms; and condemning them and 
 their posterity for ever to the employment of females. 
 The not receiving them as allies, was bitter ; the dig- 
 arming them, who had been warriors, and condemning: 
 
m JOSHUA. 
 
 them to the employment of females, was worse ; hut 
 the extending the degradation to their posterity, was 
 the bitterest of ail. It is no wOhder that in such 
 circumstances they are said to have been cursed. 
 
 This appears to throw li^ht upon the prophetic 
 language of Noah. Cursed be Canaan ; a servant of 
 servants shall he be unto his brethren. — Gen. ix. 25. 
 
 Harmer. 
 
 NO. 97. — DESCRIPTION OF ANCIENT CHARIOTS. 
 
 xvii. 16. All the Canaanites that duell in the land Qf 
 the valley have chariots of iron, ^ 
 
 ThiSj perhaps, dges not intimate that the chariots 
 were made of iron ; but that they were armed with 
 it. They had a kind-of scythe, about two cubits long, 
 fastened to long axle-trees oji both wheels: these 
 being driven swiftly through a body of men, made a 
 great slaughter, mowing them down like grass or 
 corn. In addition to the horizontal scythes, Cyrus 
 caused other scythes to be fixed under the same axle;* 
 tree, with thejr edges turned to the ground, that they 
 might cut in pieces men or horses, or whatever the 
 impetuous violence of the chariots should overturn. 
 In after times they added two long iron spikes at the 
 end of the pole, in order to pierce whatever came in 
 the way ; and armed the hinder part of the chariot 
 with several rows of sharp knives, to hinder any op^ 
 from mounting behind. — Burder and Rollin. 
 
 NO. 98. — THE INTERMENT OF JOSHUA. . 
 
 xxiv. 30- And they buried him in the border of his 
 inheritance in Timnath-serah. 
 This signifies "the image of the sun," which, ac- 
 cowimj to some Jewish author*, was engraven on his 
 
JOSHUA. 91 
 
 sepulchre in memory of that famous day when the 
 gun stood still 'till he had completed his victory. 
 Memorials, alludjng to particular transactions in the 
 lives of great men, were frequently used to adorn 
 their tombs. TuUy has recorded concerning Archi- 
 medes, that a sphere and a cylinder were put upon 
 his monument. 
 
 Maillet informs us^ that in an Egyptian vault lyas 
 found the coffin of an embalmed female, before which 
 was placed a figure of wood, representing a youth on 
 his knees laying a finger on his mouth, and holdipg 
 with his other hand a sort of chafing-dish, which 
 was placed on his head, and in which had, probably, 
 been some perfumes. This youth had divers hierogly- 
 phical characters on his stomach. There was found 
 in the mummy a small vessel, about a foot long, filled 
 with balsam, commonly used to preserve bodies from 
 corruption. This, probably, was a distinguishing 
 mark for such as had been employed in embalming 
 the dead. He speaks of another mummy, whose right 
 hand was placed upon his stomach, and under it were 
 fouad the strings of a musical instrument, perfectly 
 preserved. From hence he concludes, that this was 
 the body of a person who had a great taste for music. 
 This, he thinks, was the general Egyptian custom, to 
 give some sign by which the character of the party 
 should be known. — Harmer, 
 
 JUDGES. 
 
 NO. 100.- 
 
 i. 14. And she lighted f rem off her ass. 
 The alighting of those that ride, is considered 
 in the East as an expression of great respect. Dr. 
 
92 JUDGES, 
 
 Pococke tejls us, that in Egypt they descend from 
 their asses on their approaching- cer^in tombs ; and 
 that Christians and Jews are alike obliged to submit 
 to this custom. According to Hasselquist, the Chris- 
 tians in Egypt are obliged to alight from their asses 
 when they meet with any military commanders, which 
 he complains of as ^ bitter indignity. If Naamaq's 
 alighting from his chariot, when Gehazi rar» after him, 
 arose from the same principle, the cure must have 
 produced a veiy great change in the haughty Syrian. 
 Rebecca's alighting from the camel on which she rode, 
 when Isaac came to meet her, may convince us that 
 this is not a modern expression of reverence. 
 
 Niebuhr tells us, that in Grand Cairo there are more 
 than thirty Mahommedans, to whom this respeqt must 
 be paid. VViien they appear ip public they send a 
 domestic before them, to give notice to the Jews, 
 Greeks, and Europeans, that they may meet with, 
 to get off their asses as soon as possible, and are quali- 
 fied to force the refractory with a great club, which 
 they always carry in their han^s.—Harme? » 
 
 NO. 101. — POMPOUS MANNER OF OFFERING PRESENT3. 
 
 iii. 18. ^nd when he had made an end to offer t/ie 
 present, he sent away the people that bare the present. 
 There is often in the East a great deal of pomp and 
 parade in presenting their gifts. Maillet says, they 
 never fail to load upon foUr or five horses what might 
 easily be carried by one. So with regard t^ jewels, 
 trinkets, and other things of value ; they place jn 
 fifteen dishes what a single plate would very well hold. 
 Something of this pomp seems to be referred to, in this 
 passage, where we read oi making ajiend of off^rin^ 
 
Judges. 9S 
 
 the present and of a number of people that bare it ; 
 all which may point out the introducing, with great 
 distinctness, as well as ceremony, every part of the 
 present sent to this ancient Prince. 
 
 This might illustrate the account given us of 
 Benhadad's present to the Prophet Elisha, which 
 consisted oi forty camels hurtKen of the good things of 
 Damascus, This Syrian Prince, witlioiit doubt, sent 
 Elisha a present answerable to his magnificence ; but 
 we cannot suppose it to be the full loading of forty 
 camels, but that the present was carried in state, and 
 no fewer than forty camels were employed in the 
 cavalcade. — 2 Kings, viii. 9. 
 
 Maillet says, that their frequent visits are preceded 
 by presents of fowls, sheep, rice, coffee, and other 
 fowls of different kinds. The visits which relations 
 and frieAd make regularly to each other were in use 
 among the ancient Egyptians ; and though they are 
 often made without going out of the same city, yet 
 they never fail of lasting three or four days, and 
 sometimes eight. They carry all their family with 
 them ; and their presents are proportionate to their 
 rank and the number of their attendants. — Harmer, 
 
 NO. 102. — DESCRIPTION OF AN EASTERN OX-GOAD. 
 
 iii. 31. Aiid after him was Shamgar the sonof Anath, 
 which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with 
 an ox'goad. 
 
 An extract from Maundrell may, in some measure, 
 explain this transaction. He says, "the country 
 people were now at plough in the fields, in order to 
 sow cotton. It w^as observable that in ploughing they 
 used goads of an extraordinary size ; upon measuring^ 
 
d4 JUDGES. 
 
 of several I found them about eight feet long, and, at 
 the bigger end, six inches in circumference. They 
 were armed at the lesser end with a sharp prickle, 
 for driving the oxen, and at the other end with a small 
 spade or paddle of iron, strong and massy, for cleansing 
 the plow from the clay which incumbers it in working. 
 May we not from hence conjecture, that it was with 
 such a goad as one of these that Shamgar made that 
 prodigious slaughter related of him. 1 am confident, 
 tbat whoever should see one of these instruments 
 would judge it to be a weapon not less fitted than a 
 sword for such an execution. Goads of this sort are 
 always used hereabout, and also in Syria ; and the 
 reason is, because the same person both drives the 
 oxen and holds and manages the plough, which makes 
 it necessary to use such a goad, to avoid the incum- 
 l?rance of two instruments." — Burder. 
 
 NO. 103. — jael's conduct to sisera. 
 
 iv. 19. Givemey I pray thee, a little water to drink, 
 for I am thirsty ; and she opened a bottle of milk 
 and gave him drink, S(c. 
 
 The bottle which she opened was probably a skin, 
 a leather bottle, with which, agreeably to the Arab 
 mode, she had been churning ; and pouring its con- 
 tents into a bowl fit to be presented to a man of Sisera's 
 quality, and doubtless the best she had in the tent, she 
 offered him butter-milk to drink ; which was probably 
 the occasion of Deborah's speaking of milk and butter^ 
 Jael certainly shewed her regard to Israel by destroy- 
 ing Sisera ; but it is certain that she did not do it in 
 the most honourable manner : there was treachery in 
 it— perhaps, in the estimation of those people, the 
 
JUDGES. 95 
 
 greatest treachery. Among the later Arabs, giving a 
 person drink has been thought to be the strongest 
 assurance of their receiving him under their protec- 
 tion. D'Herbelot informs ,us, that when Guy de 
 Lusignan, King of Jerusalem, was taken prisoner, and 
 was conducted before Saladin, he demanded drink, 
 and they gave hun fresh water, which he drank in 
 Saladin's presence ; but when one of his Lords would 
 have done the same, Saladin would not suffer it, 
 because he did not intend to spare his life ; on the 
 contrary, advancing to him, after some expostulations, 
 he cut off his head. 
 
 Shaw, describing the tents of the Bedouen Arabs, 
 says, that they are kept firm by bracing down their 
 eves with cords tied down to hooked woocien pins, 
 well pointed, which they drive into the ground with a 
 mallet : one of these pins, he thinks, answers to the 
 nail, and the mallet to the hammer, which Jael used 
 in fastening Sisera to the ground.— Ilarmer. 
 
 i 
 
 NO. 104.— WHITE ASSES RODE BY PERSONS OF DIS- 
 TINCTION. 
 
 V. 10. Speak ye that ride on white asses j ye that sit 
 in judgment y and walk by the way. 
 In this song Deborah expressly addresses herself to 
 those who sit in judgment^ whom she describes as 
 riding upon white asses. Officers of justice appear to 
 form Sl£ part of the procession, and are going up to the 
 high place, for the purpose of holding their annual 
 judgment. They ride on asses, which appear white 
 from the garments which have been spread over them 
 for the accommodation of their riders ; none but 
 white garments being worn by the Hebrews during 
 their public festivals and days of rejoicing. 
 
96 Judges. 
 
 Josephus informs ns, that when Alexander the Great 
 came to Jerusalem, he was met by the people in white 
 raiment, the priests going before them. It was cus- 
 tomary to throw the white garments thus worn over 
 the animals which carried persons of distinction. Dr. 
 Gill seems to think that they really were white asses ; 
 for Cartwright tells us, that on the banks of the Eu- 
 phrates, he had frequently ^een large droves of wild 
 beasts, as vi^ild asses, &c. all white. — Burder, 
 
 Let such as sit in judgment be thankful that the 
 sword of justice is not struck out of their hand by the 
 sword of war ; and those who " walk by the way,'* 
 express their gratitude to God, for clearing the roads 
 of the banditti which had so long infested them. 
 
 Henry. 
 
 NO. 105. — EASTERN WARRIORS MAGNIFICENTLY 
 CLOTHED. 
 
 V. 30. Have they not sped ? have they not divided the 
 prey ? to Sisera a prey of divers colours, of divers 
 colours of needle-work, of divers colours of needle- 
 work on both sides ? 
 
 Rough as the Eastern warriors are in their manners, 
 they frequently wear very pompous vestments. Lady 
 Montague speaks of the Aga of the Janizaries ;* that 
 she saw him clothed in a robe of purple velvet, lined 
 with silver tissue, and his horse led by two slaves 
 richly dressed. She says, that in the East the ladies 
 pass their time at their looms, embroidering veils and 
 robes, surrounded by their maids. 
 
 These were the richest part of the spoil, being highly 
 esteemed by all people. Homer, speaks of painted 
 
 ♦The General of the most honourable body of Tmkish troops: 
 
JUDGES. 97 
 
 j^arments, which shone with flowers and trees, in 
 beautiful colors. The Phrygians afterwards wrought 
 tliese with needles ; and Attains invented the inter- 
 weaving of gold into them. Babylon v/as famous for 
 these garments, from whence they had the name of 
 Babylonish garments, and were much valued. — Josh, 
 vii. 21. It appears from the language of Sisera's 
 mother, that they were worked at times both on the 
 inside and the outside ^ meet for the necks' of them 
 that take the spoiV—Biirder. 
 
 NO. 106.— CHAINS ON THE NECKS OF CAMELS A MARK 
 OF DISTINCTION. 
 
 viii. 26. Thechains that were about their camels' necks. 
 
 Bishop Pococke, speaking of the A^as of the seven 
 military bodies of Egypt, says, that he saw chains 
 hanging from their bridles to the breast-plates of the 
 animals on which they rode, in the grand procession of 
 the caravan that was setting out for Mecca. He sayp, 
 that the chains of the Agas were made of silver ; but 
 those of the IMidianitish Kings were of gold. They 
 were undoubtedly marks of distinction and grandeur. 
 
 The Arabs'not only used to ride camels, but to feast 
 upon them. We have an account of a royal Arab 
 camel-feast, in which the dinner was served up in large 
 wooden bowls, about fifty or sixty in number. In the 
 middle was one of a larger size than all the rest, in 
 which were the camel's bones, and a thin broth in 
 which they were boiled. It was mixed with rice, 
 currants, and s^ices.j- Philosophical Transactions, 
 
 NO. 1 07.— JEPHTHAH's vow TO THE LORD. 
 
 1 1 . 30. And Jephthah vowed- a vow unto the Lord. 
 
 It appears that Jephthah believed that he should be 
 H 
 
98 JUDGES. 
 
 more certain of the victory if he made a religious vow 
 of being grateful to God for it. In this he acted 
 conformably to the general practice of great warriors 
 in all ages. Livy frequently mentions it as the cus- 
 tom of the Roman Generals ; and says, they used to 
 vow to Jupiter or Apollo part of the spoil they should 
 take in war, or to build temples to their honor. Thus 
 the Israelites, when Arad the Canaanite came against 
 them, made a vow respectiiig his country, that if 
 God would deliver it into their hand they would 
 utterly destroy all their cities. — Num. xxi. 2.-'Burder. 
 
 NO. 108. — VARIETY OF PRONUNCIATION IN THE EAST. 
 
 xii. 6. Then said they unto him, say now Shibboleth : 
 
 and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to 
 
 pronounce it right. 
 
 In Arabia the difference of pronunciation, by persons 
 of various districts, is much greater than in most other 
 places, and such as easily accounts for the circum- 
 stance mentioned in this passage. Niebuhr tells us, 
 that the King of the Hamjares, at Dhafar, said to an 
 Arab, a stranger, theb — meaning to say sit down; but 
 as the same word ia the dialect of the stranger signi- 
 fied leap, he leaped from an high place, and hurt him- 
 self: when this mistake was explained to the King-, 
 he said, " Let the Arab who comes to Dhafar first 
 learn the Hamjare dialect." 
 
 He says, that they not only speak quite differently 
 in the mountains of the small district, which is govera- 
 ed by the Iman of Yemen, from what they do in the 
 flat country ; but persons of superior rank have a dif- 
 ferent pronunciation, and names for things different 
 from those of the peasants.. He adds, that the pronun- 
 
JUDGES. 99 
 
 r-iation of certain letters is so different, that what the 
 Arabs of the North and West pronounce as h or q, as 
 Maskat, is pronounced tsch ; so that bukkra kiah is by- 
 some called butscher tschiab. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 109, — EASTERN CUSTOM OE PROPOSING RIDDLES, 
 xiv. \t. And Sampsoii said unto them, I will now put 
 forth a riddle unto you : if you can certainly declare 
 it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it 
 out, then I will give you thirty sheets, and thirty 
 change of garments. 
 
 This shews us how ancient the Grecian custom was 
 of proposing questions, to be resolved in their leasts 
 and compotations, that they might not be spent mere- 
 ly in eating and drinking, but that there might be 
 something to exercise their wit and ingenuity. 
 
 Among the Greeks it was usual for the bride to give 
 changes of dress to the fri&nds of the bridegroom, at 
 the celebration of the marriage. Homer represents 
 Pallas as appearing to Nausicaa in a dream, and com- 
 manding her to descend to the river, and wash the 
 robes of state, preparatory to her nuptials. 
 
 Oh, indolent, to waste thy hours away ! 
 And sleep'bt thou, careless of the bridal day ? 
 Thy spousal uruament neglected lies : 
 Aiise, prepare the bridal train, arise. 
 
 Pope. 
 
 Dacier is of opinion, that the custom here alluded to 
 prevailed among the Israelites, and that the proposition 
 made by Sampson is grounded upon it. From this 
 sentiment Mr. Pope dissents, thinking that it has rela- 
 tion to the custom amongst the ancients of proposing 
 an enigma at festivals, and adjudging a reward to him 
 
 that solved it. — Burder, 
 
 H2 
 
100 JUDGES. 
 
 Mr. Harmer is of opinion tbf^t the tkirtij sheets her^ 
 spoken of were, according' to the marg:iTi of our bibles, 
 thirty skirts. He justly says, that Sampson might 
 have sl^in thirty PhlHstines, and not have met with one 
 sheet ; or if he slew such as were carrying their bed- 
 ding with them in their travels, the destroying fifteen 
 might have been sufficient, since the people in the East 
 use an upper and an under sheet, like unto Europeans. 
 Supposing it to be shirts, the Philistines whom he slew 
 could not have been common people, but person* of 
 figure ajrtd consequence; for the poorer sort of the 
 people of Palestine wear nothing but a kind of mantle. 
 The thirty change of garments appear to have been 
 suits of apparel. — V. 19. 
 
 NO. 1 10.— CUSTOM OF PUTTING BRANDS TO FOXES* TAIES; 
 
 XV. 5. And when he had set the brands on fire, he let 
 them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, 
 Perhaps there was nothing new or uncommon in 
 this operation ; as it was the most obvious, for the end 
 proposed, that the wit of man could devise. It is 
 alluded to proverbially more than once by Lycophron, 
 who makes Cassandra represent Ulysses as a man 
 both of cunning and mischief, and stiles him a fox with 
 a fire-brand at his tail ; for wherever he went mis- 
 chief followed. 
 
 Ovid alludes to this practice, and mentions, that 
 foxe^ and. fire-brands were every year exhibited at 
 Home, and killed in the circus. It was the custom in 
 many places to sacrifice, by way of retaliation, every 
 animal, whether gT»at oT swine, which did particular 
 injury to the fruits of the earth ,—Burder. 
 
JUDGES. 101 
 
 NO. 111. — ROCKS AND CAVES, PLACES OF DEFENCE. 
 
 xy. 8. And he went down and dwelt in the top of the 
 rock Etam. 
 
 It appears, that rocks are still resorted to as places 
 of security ; and are even capable of sustaining a siege. 
 De la Roque says, that the Grand Seignor, wishing 
 to seize the person of the Emir, gave orders to the 
 Paclia to take him prisoner. He went, with an army, 
 in softrch of him in the district of Chouf, which is a 
 part of Mount Lebanon, wherein is the village of 
 Gesen, and close to it a rock, which served for a 
 retreat to the Emir. The Pacha pressed the Emir 
 so closely, that the unfortunate Prince was obliged 
 to shut himself up in a cleft of the rock vtfith a small 
 number of his officei-s. Here the Pacha besieged hind' 
 for several months, and was on the point of blowing 
 up the rock, when the Emir capitulated. 
 
 Plaoes of this description were considered as very 
 strong, and frequently resorted to in that country ia 
 the time of the Croisades, by those Christians who 
 went from the West,^ and were perfectly well ac- 
 quainted with the manner of fortifying places in 
 Europe, O le of those places, which the history of. 
 the Croisades uientions, was in the territory of Sidon. 
 
 The Archbishop of Tyre tells us, that Baldwlu I.- 
 ordered fires to be kindled at the mouths of the caves 
 in the neighbourhood of Askelon, that the enemy 
 might be forced by the smoke to surrender himself, 
 or be suffocated. Tl^is had the wished-£or effect ; 
 for they surrendered unto Baldwin, who ordered one 
 hundred of them to be beheaded, and seized on their 
 provisions and cattle. In the days of tlie Prophets,, 
 the Edomites were distinguished for dwelling in ike 
 clejts of the rock.—3ei\ xiix. IQ.—Harmer. 
 
102 JUDGES. 
 
 NO. 112. — THE WATER OF LEHI. 
 
 XV. 19. God clave an hollow place that was i/i the jaw, 
 and there came water thereoid. 
 
 Harmer appears to be fully of opinion, that the 
 place from whence the water flowed, which quenched 
 the thirst of Sampson, was not an hollow place in the 
 jaw-bone of the ass, with which he slew a thousand of 
 the Philistines, but the place of the exploit, which 
 was called Lehi, or i\\e jaw-bone^ He thinks that God 
 cleft an hollow place in theearth, containing an hidden 
 reservoir of water, from which a fountain flowed, 
 which relieved him when ready to perish, and which 
 continued to yield a considerable supply of water at 
 the time this book was written, and perhaps to this 
 day. 
 
 Doubden speaks of his meeting with a cave or 
 grotto in Lehi, in which the God of Nature had 
 divided the rock for the passage of the water of a 
 beautiful spring, which ran in a stream into the ad- 
 joining country, where the exhausted warrior stood. 
 This, according to Harmer, is an explanation of the 
 words, Wherefore he called the 7iame thereof En- 
 hakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day ; that is to 
 say, the spring continued to flow to the day in which 
 the history was written, though some had been stopped 
 by earthquakes, and other operations of Providence, 
 This, according to Addison, has happened in Italy. 
 
 SoraeUraes, misguided by the tuneful throng, 
 
 I look for streams, h-nraortalis'd in song. 
 
 That lost in silence and oblivion lie, 
 
 (Dumb are their fountains, and their channels dry) 
 
 Yet ran for ever by the muses* skill. 
 
 And in the smooth description murmur sii^I, 
 
JUDGES. 103 
 
 NO. 113. — DESCRIPTION OF THE HOUSE OF DAGON. 
 
 svi. 27. Now the house i^asfull of men and women; 
 
 and all ike Lords of the Philistines were there : and 
 
 there were upon the roof about three thousand men 
 
 and women, that beheld while Sampson made sport. 
 
 Some have asserted, that no building sufficiently 
 
 capacious to hold such a multitude of people could be 
 
 constructed so as to rest chiefly upon two pillars: 
 
 but this is a mistake ; for Pliny mentions two 
 
 theatres, built by C. Curio, of amazing dimensions, 
 
 and made of wood. They were so contrived that 
 
 each of them depended upon one hinge. This led 
 
 Pliny to censure the madness of the people, who 
 
 would venture into a place for their pleasure, where 
 
 they sat on such an uncertain and unstable seat ; 
 
 for if that hinge had given w^ay, the slaughter had 
 
 been greater than at the battle of Cannge, 
 
 Shaw supposes the temple of Dagon to be of the 
 Sfime kind with the ancient sacred inclosures, sur- 
 rounded in part, or altogether, with some plain or 
 cloistered buildings. He says, thet palaces and courts 
 of justice in those countries are built in this fashion : 
 and upon their festivals and rejoicings a great quan- 
 tity of sand is strewed upon the area for the wrestlers 
 to fall upon, whilst the roof of the cloisters round 
 about is croivded with spectators. He tells us, he 
 has often, seen several hundreds of people diverted in 
 this manner upon the roof of the Dey's palace, at 
 Algiers, which hath an advanced cloister over against 
 the gate of the palace, made in the fashion of a large 
 pent^house, supported only by one or two contiguous 
 pillars in the front, or else in the centre. Sampson 
 must hare beeii in a court or area below ; aiid^ upon a 
 
]01 JUDGES. 
 
 supposition tliat in the house of Dagon was a cloistered 
 structure of this kind, tlie pulling down the front, or 
 centre pillars which supported it, must have occasioned 
 the catastrophe which happened to the Philistines. — 
 
 Burder» 
 
 NO. 114. — CONDUCT OF THE LEVITE TOWARDS HIS 
 CONCUBINE. 
 
 xix. 29. And when he was come into his house, he 
 took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and 
 divided her, together with her bones, into twelve 
 pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel. 
 This conduct of the Levite was, doubtless, intended 
 to excite a general indignation against the authors of 
 the injury which he had sustained : he intended to 
 invite the whole nation in vengeance against a crime 
 full of detestation and cruelty : but as they might be 
 checked in the extent of the punishment by the 
 number, the credit, and power of the offenders, — by 
 the natural coramisseration for those of the same 
 blood, — or by an aversion to involve a city in destruc- 
 tion, he adopted a method which necessitated them to 
 espouse his cause ; for he cut his wife in pieces, and 
 sent a part to each of the tribes. In consequence of 
 this, every tribe entered into an indissoluble engage- 
 ment, to see justice done him for the injury he had 
 received. 
 
 The Ancients had various ways of uniting them- 
 selves by strict ties; which lasted for a stipulated 
 time. One method was that of cutting in pieces a 
 bullock which had been devoted in sacrifice, and dis- 
 tributing it. All who partook of this bullock were 
 to concur in carrying on the affair which had occa- 
 
JUDGES. 105 
 
 siooed the sacrifice . Such as were inpower would 
 send a piece of the victim to all their ^abjects, and 
 thus oblige them to enter into their views-v : butif the 
 sacrifice were offered by a private person, those only 
 who voluntarily took a piece of the sacrifice entered 
 into a strict engagement to espouse his interest. 
 Connections of this kind derived their force fc6m the 
 deities in honor of which the sacrifice was offered. 
 The Pagans used to place upon an altar of green turf 
 the deities which presided over their covenant. 
 
 Lucian informs us, that among the Scythians and 
 Molossians, when any one had received an injury, and 
 had not the means of avenging himself, he sacrificed 
 an ox and cut it into pieces, which he caused to be 
 dressed and publicly exposed ; then he spread out the 
 skin of the victim, and sat upon it, with his hands tied 
 behind him. All who chose to take part in the in- 
 jury took up a piece of the ox, and swore to support 
 him according to their ability, — Burder. 
 
 NO. 115.— DANCING OF THE DAUGHTERS OF SHILOH. 
 
 xxi. 21. If the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance 
 in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and 
 catch you every man his imfe. 
 The dancing of the daughters of Shiloh was of a 
 different kind from the public rejoicings of the vin- 
 tage, and appears to be a particular religious solem* 
 nity, observed by the virgins of that town exclusively. 
 The vineyards might have been chosen for their soli- 
 tude ; and it appears that they were altogether unat- 
 tended by men. It was manifestly a religious solemni- 
 ty, for it is expressly calledafeastofihe Lord, — V.19, 
 
 * 1 Sain. xi. 7, 
 
106 JUDGES. 
 
 Had this been a feast common to all Israel, no 
 reason could be assigned for mentioning Shiloh only ; 
 but it seems to have been particular to the inhabitants 
 of that town. There were voluntary annual solemni- 
 ties observed by Israel : some of these were of the 
 mournful kind, as that for the daughter of Jeplithah, 
 Jud. xi. 40 : others were of the joyous sort, as the 
 days of Purim, Est. ix. 20. 28. So the dancing solem- 
 nity seems to have been one of those voluntary joyous 
 appointments, but peculiar to Shiloh. 
 
 It is doubtful whether this solemnity was perfectly 
 innocent, founded in some remarkable mercy that 
 had been granted to Shiloh, such as might have 
 been established by the men of Jabesh-Gilead, in 
 commemoration of their narrow escape from Nahash 
 the Ammonite, I Sam. xi ; or a more faulty solemnity, 
 which arose from an old heathenish custom, that had 
 long been established in Shiloh^ in honor of some of 
 their idols, or in consequence of some vain opinio^ 
 prevalent in that place. — Harmer. 
 
 Dr. Chandler informs us, that the Greek Christians 
 retained many of the old practices of their idolatrous 
 ancestors. As Athens was anciently enlivened by 
 chorusses, singing, and dancing in the open air, in the 
 front of the temples of the gods, and round their altars, 
 at the festivals of Bacchus, and other holy days ; so 
 the Greeks are frequently engaged in the same 
 exercises on the anniversary of their saints, and pfte|\ 
 in the ^reas before their churches. 
 
RUTH. 107 
 
 IfO. 116.— VINEGAR AND OIL EATEN WITH BREAD. 
 
 ii. 14. Dip thy morsel in the vinegar. 
 When Boaz is represented as providing 
 vinegar for his reapers, into which they might dip 
 their bread, and kindly inviting Ruth to share with 
 them in the repast, we are not to understand it as 
 simple vinegary but vinegar mingled with a portion 
 of oil; if modern customs in the Levant may be 
 allowed to be a comment on those of antiquity. 
 
 According to Pitts, tlie Algerines indulge their 
 miserable captives with a small portion of oil to the 
 vinegar they allow them with their bread. He 
 says, that when he was in slavery, his allowance was 
 about five or six spoonfuls of vinegar, half a spoonful 
 *of oil, a small quantity of blacli biscuit, and a pint of 
 water per day, together with a few olives. — Harmer. 
 
 HO. 117,— SINGULAR MANNER OF CONFIRMATION. 
 
 iv. 7. Now this was the manner in former times in 
 
 Israel, concerning redeeming, and concerning 
 
 changing, for to confirm all things : a man piuc/ced 
 
 off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour. 
 
 It is not easy to give an account of the origin of 
 
 this custom ; but the reason of it appears to be plain, 
 
 it being a natural signification that he resigned his 
 
 interest in the land, by giving him his shoe wherewith 
 
 he used to walk in it, that he mi^ht enter into, and 
 
 take possession of it himself. 
 
 Castell mentions, that the Emperor of the Abyssin- 
 ians used the casting of a shoe, as a sign of dominion. 
 Thus in Psalm Ix. 8. we read, over Edom will I cast 
 out my shoe. 
 
 \n later times the Jews delivered a handkerchief 
 
108 RUTH. 
 
 for the same purpose. R. Solomon Jarchi says, we 
 acquire, or buy now, by a handkerchief or veil, in- 
 stead of a shoe. It appears, that the giving of a 
 ^ove was, in the middle ages, a ceremony of investi- 
 ture in bestowing lands and dignities. In A. D, 1002, 
 two Bishops were put in possession of their sees, each 
 by receiving a glove. So in l^^ngland, in the re!gn of 
 Edward the Second, the deprivation of gloves was a 
 ceremony of degradation. — Burder. 
 
 I. SAMCEL. 
 
 NO. 118. — HIGH-RAISED SEATS, PLACES OF HONOR. 
 
 iv. 18. He fell from off the seat backward by the side 
 of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died. 
 Though the sitting cross-legged on mats and 
 carpets on the ground is now the common usage of 
 the East, yet it is certain that anciently seals were 
 raised to a considerable height from the ground, so as 
 to make it necessary to have a foot-stool. 
 
 Chardin says, that tlie Persian carvings at Persepolis 
 frequently exhibit a venerable personage sitting on a 
 sort of high- raised chair with a footstool ; but the later 
 Sovereigns of that country have sat, with their legs 
 under them, on a carpet or cushion laid on the floor, 
 like their subjects. According to Norden, sitting 
 low is practised by all sorts of people, from the highest 
 to the lowest, in Egypt ; but two very ancient colos- 
 sal statues there are .placed on cubical stones in our 
 general attitude of sitting. In the ancient Syrian 
 coin, the figures are represented as sittitJ^ on seats 
 like unto Europeans ; from which we may conclnde 
 
I. SAMUEL lOa 
 
 that persons in high life, in those countries, sat after 
 a similar manner to ourselves; but the people in^ 
 general sat upon the ground or floor. 
 
 It appears that Eli, the Judge and High-Priest of 
 Israel, sat on an high seat, when the fatal news of the 
 defeat of his people was brought to him, and that, 
 falling from it, he brake his neck mid died. These 
 seats were used in other parts of the East besides 
 Judea ; for St. James writing to the Jews, in their 
 dispersion, speaks of them as using seats that required 
 a footstool. — James ii. 3. — Ilarmer. 
 
 NO. 119.— gob's judgment upon dagon. 
 
 V. 4. The head of Dagon, and both the palms of his 
 hands were cut off upon the threshold. 
 
 Lady Montague, speaking of the Turkish Minister 
 of State, tells us, that if a Minister displeases the 
 people, he is soon dragged from his master's arms, 
 and cutting off his hands, head, and feet, they throw 
 them before the palace-gate; while the Sultan,. to 
 whom they profess unlimited adoration, sits trembling 
 in his apartment. The hands and feet of the sons of 
 Rimmon, who slew Ishbosheth, were cut off, and, 
 hanged up over the pool of Hebron, as a place of great 
 resort. — 2 Sam. iv. 12. 
 
 This destruction of Dagon before the ark of the 
 Lord clearly discovered the Vanity of idols, an d the 
 .irresistible power of God. Dagon was not merely 
 thrown down, but was also broken in pieces, and some 
 of its fragments were found on the threshold. In 
 this circumstance we discover a conformity to the 
 manner in which different nations treated their hostile 
 deities. Maurice informs us, when speaking of the 
 
110 I.SAMUEL* 
 
 destruction of the idol temple at Sumnaut, that the 
 ' fragments of the demolished idol were distributed to 
 the several mosques of Mecca, Medina, and Gazna, to 
 be thrown at the threshold of their gates, and tram- 
 pled upon by the devout and zealous Musselmen, 
 
 The threshold of the palace of a living or dead 
 Prince, was the place where such as would do them 
 honor prostrated themselves, touching it with their 
 foreheads in token of solemn reverence. 
 
 Tibullus informs us, that to beat the head against 
 the sacred threshold was, with many, an expiatory 
 ceremony. It probably originated with the Egyptians 
 in the worship of Isis. 
 
 For crimes lik« these I'd abject crawl the ground. 
 Kiss her dread threshold, and my forehead wound. 
 
 Grainger. 
 
 NO. 120. — TRESPASS-OFFERING OF THE PHILISTINES. 
 
 vi. 4. Then said they, it'hat shall be the trespass offer' 
 ing which we shall return to him ? They answered y 
 
 five golden emerods, and five golden mice. 
 It appears that niice have beon extremely trouble- 
 some, and indeed destructive, to Palesitine. William, 
 Archbishop of Tyre, informs us, that a penitential 
 council was held at Naplouse in the year 1120, where 
 five and twenty canons were framed for tlie correction 
 of the manners of the inhabitants of the Christian 
 kingdom of Jerusalem, who, they apprehended, had 
 provoked God to bring upon them the calamities of 
 earthquakes, war, and famine. This last the Arch- 
 bishop ascribes to locusts and devouring mice, which 
 had, for four years together, destroyed the fruits of 
 the earth. 
 
I.SAMUEL. Ill 
 
 The ancient Heathen used to consecrate to their 
 gods such monuments of their deliverances as repre- 
 sented the evils from which they were rescued. Thus 
 slaves and captives, on regaining their liberty, used 
 to offer their chains; and the Philistines, hoping 
 shortly to be delivered from the emerods and the mice^ 
 with which they were afflicted, sent the images of 
 them to that God from whom they expected deliver- 
 ance. This is still practised among the Indians. — 
 Tavernier relates, that when any pilgrim goes to a 
 pagod for the cure of any disease, he takes the figure 
 of the member affected, made either of gold, silver, 
 or copper, according to his quality, which he offers 
 to his god. Tablets were usually hung up in the 
 temple of Isis, describing the manner of their deliver- 
 ance or cure. 
 
 That you can every mortal ill remove 
 The xium'rous tablets m your temple prove. 
 
 Tibullus* 
 
 NO. 121.— PRESENTS ESSENTIAL TO EASTERN INTER- 
 COURSE. 
 
 ix. 7. There is not a present to bring to the man of Ood. 
 
 Such as are prejudiced against the sacred history, 
 and unacquainted with Eastern customs, may be 
 ready, from the donations to the Prophets, to imagine 
 that they were a mercenary set of people, and to rank 
 them with fortune-tellers, who will not from principles 
 of benevolence reveal their knowledge of future 
 events, but demand of the anxious enquirer a large 
 reward. The truth is, that presenting gifts is an 
 universal custom among the Orientals, — Harmer. 
 
 D'Herbelot tells us, that Bokhteri, a poet of Cufah, 
 had so many presents made him, that at his death he 
 
iJlS - . I. SAMUEL. 
 
 teas found possessed of an hundred suits of clothes, 
 two hundred shirts, and five hundred turbans. 
 
 Maundrell says, it is counted uncivil to visit in the 
 East without an offering in hand: all great men 
 expect it as a kind of tribute due to their character 
 and authority, and look upon themselves as affronted, 
 and, indeed, defrauded, when this compliment is 
 omitted. Even in familiar visits, among the inferior 
 of society, it is common to present a flower, an orange, 
 or some such token of respect to the person visited. 
 Thus the language of Saul must be understood as 
 relating to a token of respect, and not a price of 
 divination. 
 
 Mr. Bruce says, that presents are essentially fie- 
 eessary to civil intercourse in the East, whether they 
 be dates or diamonds ; and that without them an in- 
 ferior will never be at peace in his own mind, or think 
 that he has hold of his superiors for protection. 
 
 NO. 122.— SLEEPING ON THE TOPS OF HOUSES. 
 
 » 
 ix. 26. And iliey rose early, and it came to pass 
 
 about the spring of the day, that Samuel called Saul 
 
 to the top of the house, saying. Up, that I may s&nd 
 
 thee away. 
 
 At Aleppo, and in Judea, they sleep in the summer 
 season on the tops of their houses, which are always 
 flat, covered with plaster of terrace, divided from each 
 other by walls, and guarded on every side by a low 
 parapet wall> Egmont and Hayman inform us, that 
 at Carpha, at the foot of Mount Garmel, the houses 
 are small, with a flat roof ; and, during the summer 
 , feeason, the people sleep upon them in arbours made of 
 
 * Dout. xxii. 8. 
 
I. SAMUEL. 113 
 
 the boughs of trees. They mention also tents of 
 rushes, on the flat-roof:^ of the houses at Tiberias. 
 Dr. Pococke tells us, that when he was at Tiberias, in 
 Galilean the month of May, he was entertained by 
 the Sheik's steward, and supped upon the top of the 
 hou$e, for coolness, according to their custom, and 
 lodged there in a sort of closet about eight feet square, 
 of wicker work, plastered round towards the bottom, 
 but without any door, each person having his proper 
 cell. 
 
 Thus it appears, that Samuel conversed with Saul, 
 for coolness, on the house-top, in the evening; and in 
 the morning called Saul, who had lodged there all 
 uight, and was riot gotten up, saying, up that I may 
 send thee away. As their sleeping on the terraces of 
 their houses was only in summer time, the inaugura- 
 tion of Saul was, doubtless, in that part of the year, — 
 
 Harmer, 
 
 This custom, of sleeping on the house-top, appears 
 to have been equally conducive to health and pleasure. 
 Wood says, " we found it to be extremely agreeable,' 
 as we thereby enjoyed the cool air, above the reach 
 of gnats and vapours, without any other covering 
 than the canopy of heaven." 
 
 NO. 123. — PROCESSION OF THE PROPHETS. 
 
 X. 6. Thou shall meet a company of Prophets coming 
 
 down from the high-place ^with a psaltery ^ a tabret. 
 
 We are told in a book wliich gives an account of 
 
 the gufferhigs of the crew of an English privateer 
 
 wrecked on the coast of Africa, in 1745, that when 
 
 the African children have gotten the Koran by heart, 
 
 their relations borrow a fine horse and furniture, and 
 I 
 
IH I. SAMUEL. 
 
 carry them about the town in procession, with the 
 book in thoir hands: all sorts of music of the country 
 is pluyed before tliem, and their companions follow 
 after them. 
 
 Mr. Harmer considers this^as a lively comment 
 upon the Jewish procession before us. He siiys, ii 
 has often been remarked, that the word Prophett 
 sometimes signifies «o;25, or scholars, of the Prophets; 
 and that ;p7*op^es^>/^ signifies 6'wigt>7^,; and think^!^ 
 that if we oonskler them as a co7??/7fl!w?/ of the sons of 
 the Prophets goin^ in procession, with song^s of praise, 
 and aiQsic playing before them, according to the 
 custom of South Barbary, the wholp mystery will be 
 unravelled. Siuirs- being turned mio anoiher man 
 might signify avcoinmunication of aii extensive know- 
 ledge in tlie law. of God, sucii as the youth possessed, 
 to whom they were doing these honors; which 
 knowledge was necessary for one that was to judge 
 amoug his brethren as. their King. — Deut. xvii. 18. 
 
 . NO. 124.— TIME OF THUNDER-SHOWERS IN JUDEA. 
 
 xii. 17. Is it not wheat^harvest to-day ? / will c(tU 
 
 unto the Lord, and he shall send Uiunder and, vain. 
 
 Dr. Russell tells us, that at Aleppo, in the night of 
 
 the first of July, 1743, some severe thunder-showers 
 
 :fell ; and adds, ^' it was very extraordinary et that 
 
 season." Perhaps it was more uncommon still -at 
 
 Jerusalem ; for St. Jerome, who liv^ed long in the 
 
 Holy Land, says, in his commentary on Amos, that he 
 
 had never seen rain in those provinces, and especially 
 
 in Judea, in the end of June or in the month of July. 
 
 The fact recorded in the eighteenth verse is an autlnni- 
 
 tdc proof of what Samuel had affirmed, that their 
 
 wickedness was great, Whcjn a very rare and un« 
 
I. SAMUEL. 115 
 
 u$iml event happens without any preceding appear- 
 ance of such a thing, immediately upon the prediction 
 of a person professing himself to be a Prophet, and 
 giving this as an attestation of his being a messenger 
 of God, it is a sufficient proof of a divine mission. 
 
 The thunder and rain here spoken of appear to 
 have been in the day-time, while Samuel and the 
 Israelites continued together, solemnizing the inau- 
 guration of Saul. This circumstance must have added 
 considerably to the energy of this event ; for Russell 
 informs us, that the rains in those countries usually fall 
 in the night. — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 125.— THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF MUSIC. 
 
 xvi. 23. And it came to pass, when the evil spirit 
 from God was upon Saul, that David took nn harp^ 
 and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshedy 
 and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him. 
 It appears that Saul was desirous of obtaining such 
 a person as David, whose skill in .music might con- 
 tribute both to hi;5 gratification and state: and it, 
 doubtless, formed a part of royal Eastern magni- 
 ficence to have men of this description about the 
 courts. 
 
 According to Richardson, there are professed story- 
 tellers in the East ; and men of rank have generally 
 one or more, male or female, amongst their attendants, 
 who amuse them and their women when they are 
 melancholy, vexed, or indisposed ; and are generally 
 *% employed to lull them to sleep. Many of their tales 
 appear to be amusing, especiaHy tbo*« cf Persian 
 origin. Mahommed thought those persons to be so 
 dangerous, that he has expre^ssly prohibited them in 
 the Koran. i 2 
 
116 I.I^AMUEL. 
 
 The power of music upon the affections is, doubt- 
 less, very great. It is stated of Timotheus, the 
 musician, that he could excite Alexander the Great 
 to arms with the Phrygian sound, and again allay his 
 fury and excite him to merriment. So Eric, King of 
 Denmark, by a certain musician, could be driven to 
 such a fury as to kill some of his best and most trusty 
 servants. — Burder, 
 
 NO. 126.— THE PHILISTINE CURSING DAVID. 
 
 xvii. 43. ^nd the Philistine cursed David by his Gods. 
 Burder says, it is highly probable that this was a 
 general practice among the Idolaters, who supposing 
 themselves secure of the favor and protection of their 
 deities, concluded tha^t their enemies must, necessarily, 
 be the objects of their dii?pleasure and vengeance. 
 Hence, anticipating the certainty of divine wrath 
 upon them, they cursed anddevoted them to destruc- 
 tion. Thus the Philistine acted towards David; 
 and after this manner the Romans used to act. The 
 mode of his speaking and challenging was very com- 
 mon among the Orientals. Homer gives the same 
 haughty air to his heroes; and it was, doubtless, 'a 
 copy of the manners and hyperbolical speechps of 
 the times. — 
 
 Bold as^liou art, too prodigal of breath, 
 Approach, and enter the dark gates of death< 
 
 NO. 127. — DAVID'S CONDUCT TOWARDS GOLIATH. 
 
 xvii.45. I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts ^ 
 the God of the armies of Israel. 
 The decision of national contests by the duels of the 
 chiefs, was frequent in ancient times. That between 
 the Horatii and Curiatii is well known : and before 
 that, Romulus, and Aruns King of the Ceninenses, 
 
L SAMUEL. 117 
 
 ended thoir national quarrel by the like method; 
 Romulus killing his adversary, taking his capital, pnd 
 dedicating the spoils to Jupiter Feretrius. — Burder. 
 
 According to Polybius, the dexterity with- which 
 the sling may be used, as an offensive weapon, is sur- 
 prising. The arms which the Achians chiefly used 
 were slings. They were trained to the art from their 
 infancy, by slinging from a great distance at a circular 
 mark of a moderate circumference. By long practice 
 they took so nice an aim, that they were sure to hit : 
 their enemies* 
 
 Niebuhr says, that the cutting off the head of a 
 sl&in enemy, and carrying it in triumph, is an ancient 
 custom. He has given us a scene of this description ; 
 where the son of an Arab Chief kills his father's enemy 
 and rival, and, according to the custom of the Arabs, 
 cuts off his head, and carries it in triumph to his 
 father. Xenophon remarks, that it was practised by 
 the Chalybes. Herodotus attributes it to the Scy- 
 thians. 
 
 Morgan tells us, in his History of Algiers, that 
 Barbarossa having slain the King of Cucco, and con* 
 quered his army of African Highlanders, returned 
 in triumph, with the King's head carried before him on 
 a lance. Mr. Harmer thinks, that this was the way 
 in which David carried the head of the Philistine, 
 which he presented with Eastern ceremony to his 
 Prince ; and that such was probably the way in which 
 Saul's head was carried before the Philistine General 
 of the victorious army. 
 
 Ev'ry day the Lord of hosts his mighty pow'r displays. 
 Stills the proud Philistine's boast, the threat'aing Gittife slays: 
 Israel's God let all below conqu'ror over sin proclaim : 
 O that all the earth might kno>y the pow'r of Jesus' name. 
 
 Bpa<:kknbvhv. 
 
]18 I. SAMUEL. 
 
 VO. 128.— COVENANTS MADE BY BLOOD. 
 
 xviii. 3. Then Jonaihan and David made a covenant 
 Various ceretnonies have been used on those occa- 
 sions. When treaties were made, either of a private 
 or public nature, such usages were observed as were 
 of established atithority, or significantly important. 
 The Scythians had a peculiar method of forming their 
 treaties. Herodotus relates, that they first poured 
 wine into a large earthen vessel, and then the con- 
 tracting parties, cutting their arms with a knife. Jet 
 some of their blood run into the wine, and stained their 
 armour with it. After this, themselves, and all that 
 were present, drank of the liquor, making the strongest 
 imprecations against the person who should violate 
 the treaty. — Burder, 
 
 Xenophon tells us, that the Easterns covenanted 
 by dipping their weapons in blood ; and by pricking 
 the fie.«.h, and sucking each other's blood. Tacitus 
 «ays, that when Kings made a league they took each 
 other by the hand, and their thumbs being tied hard 
 together, and the blood forced to the extreme parts,, 
 they pricked theii>, and each party licked the blood. 
 Thii was accounted a mysterious covenant, being 
 ]iia4<e sacred by their mutual blood. 
 
 NO, IJS.-^JONATHAN'S esteem EOR DAVID. 
 
 sviii. 4.. And Jonathan stript himself of the robe that 
 was upon him, and gave it to David, and his gar- 
 ^nenisy even ta his sword, arid to his how, and to 
 his girdle. 
 
 D'Herbelot tells u^, that wlien Sultan Selimj the 
 SOB of Bajazet, had defeated Causon Gouri, Sultan o€ 
 the ^Mamelukes of Egypt, he assisted at prayers iu a^ 
 
I.SAMUEL. II? 
 
 mosque at Aleppo, upon his trinmphant return to 
 Constantinople; and that the I man of the mosque 
 having added at the close of the prayer these words— 
 "rtiay God preserve Selim Kharfj the servant and 
 minister of the two sacred cities of Mecca- and Medi- 
 nah," the title was so very agreeable to the^Sultaa 
 that he gav^ the robe he had on him to the: Iniau ; 
 and that from that time forward the Ottoman Em-- 
 p.erors have always used it in their letters patent^ a$.> 
 Kin^s of Egypt. — IIarme7\ 
 
 Accprding to Homer, it was arr ancient custom,: io^^ 
 make military presents to bold adventurers.— - 
 
 Next hiiu Ulysses took a slii-ning f\Tford, 
 
 A bow and quiver, with bng'at aiTows slor'd: 
 
 A well prov'd casque, with leathei* braces bovmd;^' 
 
 (Thj gift, Meriuues) his teinplcs crotoli'il.. . 
 
 ... Itl&D. . 
 
 NO. .130. — CONDUCT OF VICTORS TOWARDS AN ENEMYo 
 
 xviii. 25. And Saul said, thus shall ye say.to:Damd,. 
 
 The King desireth not any dowry ; but anhund.red- 
 
 foreskins- of the FMlisiiines, to be avenged of the ■ 
 
 King's enemies. 
 
 This custom has prevailed in later times, in some 
 countries, to give their daughters, in marriage to the 
 most valiant men, or those who shoiiM^br.iug- them, 
 so many heads of their enemies. It is reported of fit. 
 people in.* Carminia, . that if any were desirous to 
 marry, it was necessary he should first bring the head : 
 of an enemy to the King.^^Burder. 
 
 The Indians in. North America are. not' contents 
 with killing their enemicvs,. but produce t.heir. scalps 
 as proofs of the number they have destroyed. These.' 
 ocular proofs of success in war. were agreeable > 
 
m 1. SAMUEIi. 
 
 enough for unpolished times, but it is astonishing to 
 find something of the sort lately practised in so polite 
 
 . a country as Persia, Chardin informs us, that in the 
 war of the Persians against the Yuzbecs, the Persians 
 took the beards of their enemies and carrkd them to 
 
 . the King.—HarTfier. 
 
 TiO: 131.— -DESCRIPTION OF GATES AND THEIR FASTEN- 
 INGS. 
 
 xxiii. 7. He is shut in, by entering into a town th^t 
 hath gates and bars. 
 
 Vain would have been the precaution of raising 
 their walls to a great height, if their gates had not 
 been well secured. Pitts informs us, that Algiers has 
 live gates, and some of these have two or three other 
 gates within them, some of which are plated all over 
 with thick iron ; being made strong and convenient 
 A)r what it is~a nest of piratej?.! , 
 
 The place where St. Peter was imprisoned appears 
 to have been secured after a similar manner. IVhen 
 they iicere past the first and the second ward, they 
 came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city, which 
 opened to them of its oien accord. — Actsxii. 10. 
 
 Dr. Pococke, speaking of a bridge not far from 
 Antioch, called the iron-bridge, says, there are two 
 towers belonging to it, the gates of which are covered 
 with iron plates ; which he supposes is the reason why 
 it is called the iron-bridge. Maundrell informs us, 
 that some of their gates are, in like manner, plated 
 over with brass. Such are the large gates of the 
 church of St. John Baptist at Damascus, now con- 
 verted into a mosque. 
 
I. SAMUEL. ]21 
 
 The curious have renfiarked, that if their gates are 
 sometimes of iron and brass, their locks and keys are 
 often of wood, and that not only of their houses, but 
 sometimes of their cities too. Thevenot says, that 
 all the locks and keys of Grand Cairo are made of 
 wood. Probably it was so anciently, and that in 
 contradiction to them we read of cities with walls 
 and brazen bars — 1 Kings, iv. 18. ; and of breaking 
 in pieces gates of brass and bars of iron. — Isa. xlv. 2. 
 
 Dr. Russell says, that the gates, beside these locks, 
 have large wooden bars, wiiich draw out from the 
 wall on each side, which are intended for defence. — 
 
 Harmer, 
 
 NO. 132. — WATER, THE PRINCIPAL BEVERAGE. 
 
 XXV. 11. Shall I take my bread, and my water, and 
 my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and 
 give it unto men whom I know not ? 
 It appears, that they not only drink water very 
 commonly in the East, but it is considered as aa im- 
 portant part of the provisions made for a repast, and 
 is sent as such to shearers and reapers in particular. 
 The words of Nabal to David's messengers have 
 perhaps surprised many readers ; but a passage from 
 Mr. Drummond's Travels may diminish the surprise. 
 He says, " the men and women were employed in 
 reaping ; and this operation they performed by cutting 
 off the ears and pulling up the stubble ; which method 
 has always been followed in the East : other females 
 were bujy in carrying water to the reapers ; so that 
 none but infants were unemployed. Here we see it no 
 longer a wonder that Nabal had provided water to 
 be carried to his shearers. The value of water in the 
 
122 r. SAMUEL. 
 
 East is much ^c.ifcr than is commonly nnderstoocf. 
 
 ^Its scarcity in nmny instances renders a well an im- 
 portant possession : hence It rs not to be wondered at, 
 that contention slrould arise on the probability of 
 loosing it. — Gen. xxvi; 20. When Moses was desirous 
 
 '©f passing" through the country-of the Edomites, he 
 promised them satisfaction for the benefit of their 
 water. If I and my catlle drink of iky water, tke?i^ 
 
 -rltciU pay for it 
 
 NO. 136.— METHOD OF PHESERVI^G FIGS. 
 
 XXV. IS. Jnd two hundred calces of Jigs. 
 
 Dr. Chandler tells us, that he purchased some 
 dried j^g-6" in Lesser Asia, which were strung like- 
 beads ; and he found them extiemely good and cheap. 
 Hence Mr.- Harmer thinks, that the collections of figs 
 mentioned in the scriptures were strings of this dried 
 fruit, rather i\\^n cakes^ of lujnpsyX\fi itis translated in. 
 the words before us, and- in Isaiah xxxviii. 21, 
 
 Dried- figs when closely packed, will certainly ad- 
 here together, as is manifest iii: English shops, and 
 may be called cakes or lumps; and- from thence our 
 translators seem to have derived the>r» ideas : but it 
 does not follow from thence, that they appear in the 
 like form in the countries wher« they are actually 
 dried, and laid up among other stores, for their own 
 consumption. What notion cana reader form of the 
 quantity of figs, if tlte accidental lumps of adhering 
 figs were meant ? Same lumps are ten times larger 
 than others when they aretakea.outof the ^'^ssel iii^ 
 which they have been packed^ and strongly squeezed 
 together: a more determinala notion seems to haTO 
 lieea. intended by that term.. 
 
I. SAMUEL. ^ 123 
 
 The Doctor has said nothing of the nomber of fig-s 
 usually put on one string, or of the weight of one of 
 these strings. It would seem they were but small, 
 since Abigail carried David twice as many strings of 
 figs as dried bunches of grapes. — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 134. — NATURE OF EASTERN ENCAMPMENTS; 
 
 xjcvi. 5. And Saul lay. in the trench, and the people 
 pitched round about him. 
 
 In the CroiiJade wars their encampments seem often 
 t<) have been much less strong than in modern times ; 
 and we may believe that of Saul^ when he pursued, 
 after David, was still less guarded; 
 
 Mr. Harmer says, it can hardly be imagined that 
 the Hebrew^ word, translated trenck, signifies a ditch 
 and bank thrown up, as one would suppose our trans- 
 lators had apprehended; for it appears from the 
 history, that they took no pr^ecc^utjons against David. 
 Nor doesit appear to mean a ring of carriages, as it 
 is supposed. in the; margin; for, most, probably, the 
 passage of, carriages was impracticable in that moun- 
 lainous country. It seems simply to mean, the circle 
 which was. formed by the troops; in the midst of 
 which, as in the place of honor, Saul slept. 
 
 Tlie view D'Arvjeux gives, us of a modern Arab 
 camp agrees^withthis account of Saul, only supposing, 
 that, for the sake of expedition, they carried no tents- 
 with them. He tells us, that an Arab camp is always, 
 round when the dispojsition of the ground will permit. 
 There were eighteen Emirs, or Princes, who governed 
 the Arabs of, Mount Carmel., The Grand Emir, or 
 chief of these Princes, encamped in ^the middle, and 
 Uifi Arabs round about him.; but so as to, leave a ra^ 
 
124 I. SAMUEL. 
 
 gpectful distance between them, tlieir lances bein^ 
 fixed near them in the ground, ready for action. 
 Thus Homer speaks of Dioraed sleeping ia his arms, 
 with his soldiers about him, and the spears sticking 
 upright in the earth r — 
 
 Without his tent bold Diomed they found. 
 
 All sheath'd in arms, his brave companions round ; 
 
 Each sunk in sleep, extended on the field. 
 
 His head recluiing on his bossy shield : 
 
 A uood of spears stood by, that, fix'd upright. 
 
 Shot from theiri^ashlng points a quiv'ring light. 
 
 Pope; 
 
 NO. 135»— TENTS PITCHED NEAR FOUNTAINS. 
 
 xxix. 1 . And the Israelites pitched by a fountain whieh 
 is vn Jezreel. 
 
 The Archbishop of Tyre tells us, that the Christian 
 Kings of Jerusalem used to assemble their forces at a 
 fountain between Nazareth and Sepphoris. This 
 fountain being near the center of the kingdom, they 
 could march most commodiously to any place where 
 their presence was wanted. He mentions another 
 fountain near a town called Little Gerinum, which he 
 says was the ancient Jezreel : near this Saladin 
 pitched his camp for the benefit of its waters. 
 
 This appears to be explanatory of Psalm Ixviii. 26. 
 Bless ye God in the co7igregations. even the Lord from 
 ilte fountain of Israel: this might have been addressed 
 to the assembly of Israel gathered together for war. It 
 is natural to suppose they used to assemble near some 
 plentiful fountain, which place mu^t have been well 
 known in those days ; and might, in the language of 
 poetry, be called thefozmtain of Israel. Bless God in 
 your warlike assemblies, even the Lord from thefoun- 
 
I. SAMUEL. 125 
 
 iain of Israel, the place of your rendezvous ; for the 
 Lord shall bless you in your consultations there, and 
 you may march from thence with songs of praise and 
 confident hopes of success. 
 
 Scarcity of water makes the Easterns careful to take 
 up their lodgings near some river, fountain, or well. 
 Thus the men of David waited for him by the brook 
 Besor, 1 Samuel, xxx. 21. According to Dr. Pococke, it 
 is usual for them to halt wherever they find a spring. — 
 
 Ilarmer, 
 
 NOi 136.— SPOILS DEDICATED TO THE GODS. 
 
 xxxi. 10. They put his armour in the house of Ash- 
 iaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of 
 Beth-shan. 
 
 The custom of dedicating to the gods the spoils of 
 a conquered enemy, and placing them in their tem- 
 ples, as trophies of Victory, is very ancient. Homer 
 represents Hector promising, that, if he should con- 
 quer Ajax in single combat, he would dedicate his 
 spoils to Apollo. — 
 
 And if Apollo, in whose aid I trust, 
 
 Sliall stretch your daring champion in the dust, 
 
 -If mine tlie glory to despoil the foe. 
 
 On Phoebus' temple I'll his arms bestow. 
 
 Pope. 
 
 After the death of Saul we find, that they fastened 
 his body to the iwall of Beth-shan. Capital offences 
 were sometimes punished by throwing the criminal 
 upon hooks that were fix-ed in the wall below, where, 
 frequently, they hung, in the most exquisite agonies, 
 thirty or forty hours before they expired. The ex- 
 posure, of the body of Saul might be nothing more 
 than the fixing of it to such hooks as were placed 
 there for the execution of their criminals. — Burder, 
 
120 II. SAMUEL. 
 
 NO. ]S7.---BBAC'ELETS, AN ENSIGN OF ROYALTY. 
 i. 10. / took the crown thcut wa9 upon his heady and 
 
 the bracelet that itas on his arm, and have brought 
 
 them hi/her unto my lord. 
 Saul's wearing a bracelet at the time of bis death 
 was an ensiga X)f royalty. It might not have been a 
 part of the regalia of the kingdom of Israel, but 
 merely a thing of value which Said had about him, 
 and which the stranger thought fit to present, with 
 his crowUy to David ; but it seems rather to be men- 
 tioned as a royal ornament ; and it is certain that it 
 has been used in the East as a badge of power. 
 
 ^D'Herbelot informs us, that when the Khalif Cayem 
 Bemrillah granted the investiture of certain dorninions 
 to an Eastern Prince, which his predecessors had 
 possessed, and among the rest the city of Baglidat, 
 this ceremony of iii\a>stiture was performed by the 
 Khalif s sending him letters patent, a crown, a chain, 
 and bracelets, It appears, that the children of Israel 
 found' one, or more, of these bracelets among the 
 spoils of Midian; but they had killed, at the same 
 time, five' of their Kings. — Numb, xxxi, S.^-IIar?ner, 
 
 NO. 138. — THE BASTINADO IN THE EAST. 
 
 iii. 33. 34. Died Abner as a fool dieth? Thy hands 
 were nut bounds nor tliyfeet put into fetters. 
 
 It appears, that in the East the hands and feet of 
 criminals wefre secured when they were brought forth 
 to be punislied. 
 
 Irwiii informs ns, that when he was among the 
 Arabs" of l-pper Egypt, be was treated' very ill hi tin* 
 iirbsence of the great Sheikh, who, it appears, Was a 
 man of probi^ andVktire. lOn the Sheikh^* return 
 
11. SAMUEL. im 
 
 he held a court of justice about Irwin's affairs, and 
 those of his companions, when one who h^d injured 
 them was punished with the bastinado. He says, 
 " the prisoner is placed upright on the ground, with 
 his hands and his feet bouAid together, while tlie exe- 
 cutioner stands before hhn and, with a short stick, 
 strikes him, with a smart motion, on the outside, of. 
 his kn«es. The pain whic^i arises from these strokes^ 
 is exquisitely ^ev€n:e ; aiid such as no constitution can 
 support for any coiitinuance." As the Arabs are 
 extremely remarkable for retaining old customs, we 
 have jnst grounds of believing, that when malefactors 
 in the East were punished by beating, and, perhaps, 
 -with death by the sword, their hands were hound 
 together, and also their feet. 
 
 What is meant about his death is simply this — Died 
 Ahneras a fool ? that is, as a bad man 1 as that word 
 frequently signifies in the scriptures. Died he q^ one 
 found in judgment to be a criminal ? No ! iky hands, 
 O Abner! were rot bound as a guilty man,neitiher 
 were thy feet cooiined : on the contrary thou wast 
 treated-with^enor by him whose t>us3ness it avas to 
 judge thee. As the best of men may fall, so feilest 
 thou, by the sword of treachery, not of justice I — 
 
 Hurmer. 
 
 VO. 139.~D^NCI!«J OF THE WISE MEN OF ISRiiEL. 
 
 'Vi. 14. — And Damd danced before the Lord with all 
 
 his might. 
 
 Upon this circumstance Wxe Jews grounded a 
 
 Titliculous custom. In the evening of the day on 
 
 which they drew water out of the pool of Siloam, 
 
 -those who were esteemed 4he wise men of feae)> the 
 
W^ ,11; SAMUElil 
 
 elders of the sanhedrim, the rulers of the synagogues, 
 and the doctors of the schools, met in the court of 
 the temple. All the temple music played, and the old 
 men dantedy while the women in the balconies round 
 the court, and the men on the ground, were specta- 
 tors. All their sport was to see these venerable fathers 
 of the nation skip and dance, clap their hands and sing. 
 In this manner they spent the greater part of the 
 night, Hill at length two Priests sounded a retreat with 
 ti'umpets. — Jennings^ Jewish Antiquities. 
 
 WJiolc burj'd towns support the dancer's heel. 
 
 Young. 
 
 NO. 140.— iMEASURING WITH A IJNE. 
 
 viii. '2. Arid he smote Moab, and measured them with 
 a line, casting them down to the ground : even with 
 two lines measured he, to put to death; and with one 
 full line to keep alive. 
 
 This appears to have been the manner of the Eastern 
 Kings towards those they conquered, especially those 
 who had incurred their displeasure, to make all the 
 captives come together into one place, and prostrate 
 themselves upon the ground, that being divided hito 
 two parts by a line, the conqueror might appoint 
 which part he pleased, either for life or death, which 
 was sometimes determined by casting lots. — Burder. 
 In David's judgment upon the Moabites we see 
 an accomplishment of Balaam's prophecy, a sceptre 
 ahall arise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners 
 of Moab," Numbers xxiv. 17. 
 
 NO. 141. — 5fANNER OF EATING AT COURTS^ 
 
 ik. 10. — Mephihosheth, thy master's son, shall eat br^ad 
 alway at my table. 
 The eating at courts is of two kinds ; the one pri- 
 
II. SAMUEL. 129 
 
 \^ale, and the other public. The intention of those 
 l^assa^es which speak of a right to 6ftt at a royal table, 
 might be to point out a right to a seat there, wheri the 
 repast was public and solemn. 
 
 Sir J. Chard in understood it after this manner. — 
 Thus when David directed his son Solomon to shew 
 kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and to 
 let them be of those that should eat at his table, h0 
 says Ihi^ niust be understood of the tnajilis •'^ not of 
 the daily and ordinary repast there. At these ma- 
 jilis many persons have a legal right to a seat, whilst 
 others can claim it only from special grade. 
 
 He understands 2 Kings, Xxv. 28. 29. after the sam^ 
 manner, as signifying, that Evil-Merodach placed 
 Jehoiakim at the majilis before other princes. Thus, 
 in his coronation of Solyman III. he describes £t 
 young captive Tartar Prince as admitted by the King 
 of Persia to his majilis. This notion seems to be con- 
 firnied by David's not being expected at the table of 
 Saul till the day of the 7iew moon, and his being 
 looked for then. — 1 Sam. xx. 24. &c. 
 
 Thus Mephiboshethy though he was to eat at all 
 public times at the* King's table, yet he wanted the 
 produce of his lands for food at other times. It 
 was proper also for David to mention to Ziba th^ 
 circumstance of his being td e£tt at all public times as 
 one of his own sons, at the royal table, that Ziba 
 might provide for him in a manner answerable to the 
 dignity conferred upon him. — Harmer, 
 \ 
 
 NO. 142.-~SHAVING OFF THE BEARD A MARK OF INFAMY. 
 
 X. 4. Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off 
 the one half of their beards, 
 D'Arrieux says, that among the Arabs it is accounted 
 
 * A pubKc Fea*t. 
 K 
 
130 II. SAMUEL. 
 
 a mark of great infamy to cut off the beard, because 
 Mahommed never cut off his. Many would prefer 
 death to this kind of treatment. As they think it a 
 grievous punishment to loose the beards they carry 
 things so far as to beg for the sake of it : — " By your 
 heard : by the life of your beard, do." So, in like 
 manner, their benedictions are : — " God preserve your 
 blessed beard : God pour his blessings on your beard ;" 
 and when they would express the value of a thing, 
 they say, " It is worth more than his beard.'^ These 
 things show the energy of that thought of Ezek. v. 1 . 
 6. where the inhabitants of Jerusalem are compared 
 to the " hair of his head and beard." It intimates, 
 that though they had been as dear to God as the 
 beard was to the Jews, yet they should be consumed 
 and destroyed. — Harmer, 
 
 When Peter the Great attempted to civilize the 
 Russians, and introduce the manners and fashions 
 of the more refined parts of Europe, nothing 
 met with more opposition than the cutting off their 
 beards; and many of those who were obliged to 
 comply with this command testified such ^reat vene- 
 ration for their beards as to order that they should be 
 buried with them. Irwin, in his voyage up the Red 
 Sea, says, that at signing a treaty of peace with the 
 Vizier of Yambo, they swore by their beards ; the 
 most solemn oath they could take. D'Arvieux gives 
 a remarkable instance of an Arab, who having re- 
 ceived a wound in his jaw, chose to hazard his life, 
 rather than suffer the surgeon to take off his beard. 
 Frorti all these things we see the magnitude of the 
 insult offered by Hanun to David's servants, — 
 
 Burder, 
 
II. SAMUEL. J^l 
 
 NO. 148.— PROVISIONS SENT FROM THE TABLES OF 
 PRINCES. 
 
 xi. 8. Uriah departed out of the King's house, and 
 
 there followed him a mess of meat from the King. 
 
 It appears, that Eastern Princes, and the Eastern 
 people in general, not only invite their friends to 
 feasts, but that it is their custom to send a portion of 
 the banquet to their relatives, and to such as cannot 
 conveniently attend. 
 
 Nehemiah speaks of sending portions to those for 
 whom nothing was prepared. — Neh. viii. 10. This 
 has been thought to mean the poor ; but as the his- 
 torian speaks of a national festival, and not of a private 
 feast, it probably means, such as were in a state of 
 mourning; mourning for private calamities being 
 here supposed to take place of rejoicing for public 
 good. 
 
 Such as cannot conveniently attend the royal table 
 have provisions sent them. Thus when the Grand 
 Emir found it was inconvenient to Monsieur D'Ar- 
 vieux to eat with him, he desired him to take his own 
 time for eating, and sent him what he liked from his 
 kitchen, and at the time he chose. Thus when 
 David supposed it would be inconvenient for Uriah to 
 continue at the royal palace, having dismissed him to 
 his own house, inhere followed, him a mess of meat 
 from the King. — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 144. — CUSTOM OF MOURNING FOR THE DEAD 
 
 xii. 20. Then David arose from the earth, and washed, 
 and anointed^himself, and changed^ his apparel. 
 It appears, that during the time that David con- 
 tinued to mourn, he was negligent of his apparel ; and 
 K 2 
 
132 IL SAMUEL. 
 
 that it was not changed. This, according to Gold- 
 smith, was the custom of the Persians, who used to 
 mourn forty days for a relative or a friend, during 
 which time there was a total negligence of dress, and 
 a refusal to shave, or to change their clothes. 
 
 Chardin informs us, that it is usual for the Easterns 
 to leave a relation of the person deceased, to weep 
 upon the ground, and mourn 'till the third or fourth- 
 day : they then visit him, induce him to eat, lead him 
 to a bath, and cause him to put on new vestments. 
 David's servants, who had seen his bitter anguish 
 while the child was yet alive, were surprised, at his 
 death, to find that the King did not observe the com- 
 mon forms of grief. — Harmer, 
 
 Maimonides says, that the Jews did not lament 
 infants who died before they were thirty days old ; but 
 carried them in their arms to the grave, with one 
 woman and two men to attend them, without saying 
 the usual prayers over them, or the consolations for 
 mourners : but if an infant were above this age when 
 it died, they then carried it on a bier, stood over it in 
 order, and said both the prayers and consolations. If 
 a year old, it was carried out upon a bed. 
 
 Josephus tells us, that Herod was carried forth 
 upon a bed, all gilded, set with precious stones, and 
 with a purple covering, curiously wrought. 
 
 NO. 145. — PARTY-COLORED GARMENTS, A MARK OP 
 
 HONOR, 
 xiii. 18. She had a garment of divers colors upon 
 
 her : for with such robes were the King's daughters, 
 
 that were virgins, apparelled* 
 
 It appears, that those garments were oC divers 
 colors, not by being made of striped materials, or by 
 
11. SAMUEL. 1S3 
 
 being embroidered, but by having many pieces of 
 different colors sewed together : of which our trans- 
 lators have given an intimation in the margin of Gen. 
 xxxvii. 3. explanatory of Joseph's dress ; wiiich seems 
 to have been the same with Tamar's. 
 
 Dr. Shaw informs us, that this way of ornamenting 
 their dress still continues in the East. He says, they 
 wear shirts of linen, cotton, or gauze, under their 
 tunics. That the sleeves of these shirts are wide and 
 open, and that "those, particularly of the women, are 
 sometimes of the richest gauze, adorned with different 
 colored ribbands, interchangeably sewed to each 
 other," a garment of this kind would of course be a 
 garment of divers colors. — Hariner. 
 
 NO. 146.— EASTERN CUSTOM OF MOURNING. 
 
 XV. 30. And had his head cover ed^ and he went barefoot* 
 It appears, that covering the head was used by 
 persons in great distress, or when they were loaded 
 with disgrace and infamy. — Est. vi. 12. — 2 Sam. xix,4. 
 — Ezek. xii. 6. Thus Darius, when he was informed 
 by Tyriotes the eunuch that his Queen was dead, 
 covered his head, and wept a long while. So also 
 when this Prince was in the power of Bessus, who 
 soon after murdered him, he took his leave of Arta- 
 bazus with^isAeafl? covered. It was common also to 
 put earth or strew dust upon the head, in token of 
 mourning. — % Samuel, i. 2. — Job ii, 12. 
 
 In ancient times the shoes of great and wealthy 
 persons were made of very rich materials, and orna- 
 mented with jewels, gold, and silver. When any 
 great calamity befel them, either public or private 
 they not only stripped themselves of these ornxraeiis. 
 
134 II. SAMUEL. 
 
 but of tbeir very shoes, and walked barefoot. In this 
 manner prisoners taken in war \yere forced to walk, 
 both for punishment and disgrace. — Burder, 
 
 NO. 147.— CASTING DUST, AN EASTERN IMPRECATION. 
 
 xvi. 13. And threw stones at him, and cast dusL 
 When the Consul, whom Dr. Pococke attended, en- 
 tared Cairo, according to an ancient custom of state, 
 a man went before and sprinkledTwatcr on the ground 
 to lay the dust. In hot and dry countries this practice 
 must have been very convenient and gratifying. If it 
 were used in Judea before the time of David, it will ex- 
 plain Shimei's behaviour, and give it great energy. He 
 threxo stones and dust at him who had been 
 honored by having the ground moistened, that the 
 dust might not rise when he walked out. Thus when 
 the Jews clamoured against St. Paul in the temple 
 we read, that tliey threw dust into the air. — Acts, 
 xxii. 23. Chardin has made an observation, which 
 places this matter in a different point of view. He 
 says, "in almost all the East, those who accuse a 
 •criminal, or demand justice against him, throw dust 
 upon him ; which is as much as to say, he deserves to 
 be put under ground: and it is a common imprecation 
 of the Turks and Persians — be covered with earth. 
 The Jews certainly thought that Paul deserved to 
 die ; and Shiraei might design to declare by what he 
 did, that David was unworthy to live.^ — Harmer, 
 
 NO. 148. — PECUNIARY REWARDS, TOKENS OF HONOR. 
 
 xviii. 11./ would have given thee ten shekels of silver^ 
 and a girdle. 
 In Europe, the distinction is so great between 
 
> II. SAMUEL. 135 
 
 honorary and pecuniary rewards, that we can hardly 
 think of blending* them together ; but in the East it 
 is not so. Du Tott did many great services to the 
 Turkish empire in the time of their late war with 
 Russia ; and the Turks, he tells us, were disposed to 
 acknowledge them with marks of honor. The First 
 Minister, speaking of the Grand Seignor, said, "his 
 Highness has ordered me to bestow on you this pub- 
 lic mark of his esteem," and at the same time he made 
 a sign to the master of the ceremonies to invpst him 
 with the pelisse, while the Hasnadar, or Treasurer, 
 presented him with a purse of two hundred sequins.^ 
 ThusJoab would have rewarded an Israelitish soldier 
 with ten shekels of silver and a girdle : the girdle 
 would have been an honorary reward ; and the ten 
 shekels, or half-crowns, would have been a pecuniary 
 recompence. 
 
 De la Roque informs us, that the common Arabs 
 use a girdle, adorned with leather ; and the women 
 make use of a cord, or strip of cloth, but that some of 
 the Arab girdles are very rich. The girdle which 
 Joab would have given would doubtless have been 
 one suitable to the importance of the service, and of 
 his own dignity. Symon Simeonis says, that the 
 Saracens of Egypt generally girded themselves with a 
 towel, on which they kneeled to say their prayers ; 
 but that the people of figure wore broad silken girdles, 
 like those of the ladies, superbly adorned with gold 
 ^nd silver, in which they extremely pride themselves. 
 
 Harmer, 
 
 * A sequin is a gold cobi, worth about 5s. and lOd. of our nioaev. 
 
1S6 II. SAMUEL. 
 
 NOJ49.— <HEAPS OF STONES PERPETUATE REMARKABLE 
 TRANSACTIONS. 
 
 xvjii, 17, And they took Absalom, aud cast him into cf, 
 
 great pit in the wood, and laid a very great heap 
 
 of stones upon him, 
 
 Adricomius, in his description of the Holy Land, 
 gays, that this monument existed in his days; and that 
 all travellers, as they went by it, threw an additional 
 stone to the heap, in detestation of his rebellion 
 against his father. According to Egmont and Hayi- 
 man, these heaps are considered by the Easterns 
 merely as monuments of certain events, good as well 
 as bad ; and the adding a stone to them by passengers 
 is only intended to prevent the dissipation of these uur 
 cemented materials. They gay, that all Mahora- 
 medans, who go on pilgrimage to Mount Sinai, never 
 fail to visit the place where there is the print of a 
 camel's foot on the rock, supposed to be tnat of Ma- 
 hommed ; on which account, out of respect, they take 
 with them a stone, which has occasioned a great 
 heap of stones near that spot. 
 
 Wortly Montague informs us, that the stone which 
 Moses struck twice is thus distinguished by the Arab?, 
 and engaged his notice as he was travelling in the 
 desarts of Arabia. Thus the heap of stones raised 
 upon or about Jacob's stone in Mount Gilead, informed 
 every passenger that it was set up in memory of some- 
 thing of consequence ; and was thus recommended to 
 the attention of the public at large, — Harmer^ 
 
 NO. J60. — KISSING THE BEARD, A TOKEN OF RESPECT. 
 
 XX. 9. And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the 
 right hand to kiss him* 
 Taking a man by the beard, in any other case, 
 
11, SAMUEL. 137 
 
 would be deemed a great affront. D'Arvieux, de- 
 scribkifj the assembling of some petty Arab Princes 
 at an entertainment, tells us, that when the Emirs 
 came together, accompanied by their friends and 
 attendants, " after the usu^l civilities, caresses, kissr 
 ings of the beard and of the hand, which every one 
 gave and received according to his dignity, they sat 
 down upon mats." IJe speaks of women's kissing 
 their husband's beards, and children those of their 
 fathers ; and friends reciprocally saluting one another 
 in this manner, If Joab acted agreeably to the cusr 
 toms of those who now live in that country, his kissing 
 him might mean his kissing his beard ; and in this 
 stooping posture he could have directed the blow 
 with much greater certainty than if he had held the 
 beard and raised himself to kiss his face. 
 
 Dr. Shaw says, that such as are more intimately ac- 
 quainted, or of equal age and dignity, mutually kiss 
 the hand, the head, or shoulder of each other. Those 
 passages of scripture which sipesi^ of falling 071 tlie 
 neck, and kissing a person, may h£i,ve a reference to 
 this Eastern way of kissirig the shoulder in an embrace. 
 
 Harmer^ 
 
 I. KINGS. 
 
 NO. 151. — HORNS USED AS DRINKING VESSEI^S. 
 
 i. 39. And Zadok the Priest took an horn of oil out 9f 
 the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon* 
 Sir J. Chardin informs us, that it is customary 
 in Iberia, Colchis, and the adjacent country, where the 
 arts are little practised, to keep liquors in hornSy and 
 to drink out of them. 
 
138 I. KINGS. 
 
 They were doubtless originally the hollow horns of 
 animals that were used ; and art was afterwards em- 
 ployed to hollow them more perfectly. In the days 
 of David, those vessels might have been shaped like 
 Jiorns, though made of silver and gold ; especially the 
 vessels kept in the sanctuary. Chardin says, that the 
 using horns for drinking-cups has long been a custom 
 among the Eastern people. Some have the horns of 
 the rhinoceros, and some of the deer ; but the com- 
 mon sort of horns were those of oxen and of sheep. 
 Those horns were sometimes tipt with gold, and 
 ^embellished with precious stones. 
 
 The horn of Ulphus, kept at York, has a chain 
 fastened to it in two places, by which it might be 
 hung up. It is reasonable to believe that the Eastern 
 horns had the same convenience, which may account 
 for the Prophets supposing that drinking vessels were 
 hung up. Isa. xxii. 24. These horns were of 
 different sizes. A commop horn, according to Char- 
 din, is about eight inches high, and two inches broad 
 at the top. That at York appears to be twenty- 
 seven inchefe high, and about five inches broad at the 
 top. — Harmer, 
 
 NO. 152. — EXECUTIONS, PROMPT iND ARBITRARY. 
 
 ii. 25. And King Solomo/i sent by the hand of Ber 
 naiah the son of Jehoiada, and fw fell upon him 
 that he died. 
 
 Those who are used to slowness of procedure with 
 regard to supposed criminals, who expect that a 
 number of independent persons should determine 
 their fate, and that their execution should be of the 
 most public nature, are much surprized, and pained, 
 
I. KINGS. 139 
 
 in reading^ the very different conduct of the Orientals. 
 — Thevenot gives us to understand, that among the 
 Turks, when the enemies of a great man have gained 
 sufficient influence over the Prince to procure a war- 
 rant for his death, a Capidgi* is sent to him, who 
 shews him the order he has to carry back his head ; 
 the other takes the Grand Seignor's order, kisses it, 
 puts it on his head in sign of respect, and then, having 
 performed his ablution, and said his prayers, freely 
 gives up his head : the Capidgi, having strangled 
 him, cuts off his head, and brings it to Constantinople. 
 Chardin gives a similar account of the silent, hasty, 
 and unobstructed manner of putting the great men 
 of Persia to death. Much the same method, it seems, 
 was used by the ancient Jewish Princes. Benaiah 
 was the Capidgi, to use the Turkish term, who was 
 sent by Solomon to put Adonijah, a Prince of the 
 blood, to death. Thus John the Baptist wa§ beJwaded 
 in prison, and his head was carried to the court of 
 Herod the Tetrarch. — Harmer, 
 
 NO. 153. — ALTARS A PLACE OF SECURITY. 
 
 ii. 28. And Joah fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord, 
 and caught hold of the horns of the altar* 
 Figures of Egyptian altars haye been dug out of the 
 ruins of Herculaneum, which were probably used in 
 honour of Isis. Some of the ancient altars have a 
 rising at each of the four corners, which appears to 
 1>e the horns of the altar so often alluded to in scrip- 
 ture. Those horns were built perpendicularly, a cubit 
 high, in the form of a pyramid, and then pointed out- 
 ward^ like the top of a horn. To these the Psalmist 
 
 ♦The name of the officer who executes these orders, 
 
140 I. KINGS. 
 
 alludes, Psalm cxviii. 27. Bind the sacrijice with 
 cords unto the horns of the altar. — Calmet. 
 
 From a variety of scripture passages it aj)pears that 
 it was customary to fly to the altar as a place of 
 safety. This was practised by the Jews and other 
 nations. It prevailed also among the Greeks. Of the 
 altar of Jupiter Hercaeus, it is said, 
 
 fty 
 
 To Jove's inviolable altar nigh. 
 
 PopK. 
 
 The altar mentioned by Virgil was of the same nature 
 to which Priam fled at the taking of Troy. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 154. — TAXES PAID IN KIND. 
 
 iv. 7. And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, 
 
 who provided victuals for the King and his 
 
 household. 
 
 Chardin says, " the revenues of Princes in the East 
 are paid in the fruits and productions of the earth ; 
 and there are no other taxes upon the peasants." 
 From this information we may suppose Solomon's 
 twelve officers to be his general receivers, who fur- 
 nished food for all that belonged to the King. Silver, 
 gold, horses, armour, precious vestments, and other 
 things of value, came to him as a kind of tribute from 
 surrounding Princes. The horses and armour appear 
 \Q have been distributed among the most populoiis 
 towns, which were to find horsemen, and people to 
 drive chariots, to such a number, when called for ; 
 and out of th6 silver, and other precious things, he 
 made presents to those who distinguished themselves 
 in his service. — 1 Kings, x. 15. 27. 
 
 Chardin supposes the telling the flocks— Jer. xxxiii. 
 13. was for the purpose of paying tribute, "it being 
 
I. KINGS. 141 
 
 the custom in the East to count the flocks, in order 
 to take a third of the increase of the young ones for 
 the King-." — Harmer. 
 
 NOi 155. — EASTERN PLANTATIONS. 
 
 iv. 25. And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every 
 man under his vine, and under his fig-tree. 
 
 Plantations of trees about houses are very useful in 
 hot countries, and give an agreeable coolness. Sir 
 Thomas Row's chaplain, when speaking of the country 
 of the Great Mogul, says, " it is their manner, in 
 many places, to plant, about and amongst their build- 
 ings, trees which grow high and broad, the shadow 
 whereof keeps their houses far more cool : this I ob- 
 served in a special manner when we were ready to 
 enter Amadavar ; for it appeared to us as if we had 
 been entering a wood, rather than a city." It appears 
 that this method anciently prevailed in Judea, and that 
 vines and fig-trees were commonly used in that 
 country, under which they ' might sit in the open air, 
 and yet in the cool. These trees furnished two great 
 articles of food for their consumption ; and the cuttings 
 of their vines were useful to them for fuel. 
 
 Baron De Tott says, that the Egyptian villages 
 are shaded after a similar manner. " Wherever the 
 inundation can reach, the habitations are erected on 
 little hills, raised for that purpose, which serve for 
 the common foundation of all th6 houses which stand 
 together; and which are contrived to take up as 
 little room as possible, that they may save all the 
 ground they can for cultivation. Every village has 
 a small wood of palm-trees near it, the property of 
 which is common : these supply the inhabitants with 
 
142 I. klSGS. 
 
 dates for their consumption, and leaves for fabrication 
 of baskets, mats, and other things of that kind. Little 
 causeways, raised in like manner above the inundation, 
 preserve a communication during the time it lasts." 
 Norden speaks of vine arbors as common in the 
 Egyptian gardens. — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 156. — DESCRIPTION OF THE TARGET, OR SHIELD. 
 
 jc. 16. Kin^ Solomon made two hundred targets of 
 beaten gold. 
 The middle part of the target projected in a sharpish 
 point, as did some of the shields afterwards used by 
 the Greeks and Romans: and we are informed by wri- 
 ters on their military aJBTairs, that this pointed protuber- 
 ance was of great service tb them, not only in repelling 
 or glancing off missive weapons, but in bearing down 
 their enemies ; whence Martial has this allusion — 
 
 In crowds his |)ointed boss will all repel. 
 
 Burder. 
 
 NO. 157. — MAGNIFICENCE OF EASTERN THRONES. 
 
 X. 18. The King made a great throne of ivory, and 
 overlaid it with the best gold. 
 
 In subsequent ages we read of very majestic thrones. 
 Atheneus says, that the throne of the Parthian Kings 
 was of gold, encompassed with four golden pillars, 
 beset with precious stones. The Persian Kings sat in 
 judgnient under a golden vine, the clusters of whose 
 grapes were composed of several sorts of precious 
 stones. 
 
 Tavernier informs us, that the Great Mogul has 
 seven thrones, some set all over with diamonds ; others 
 with rubies, emeralds, and pearls. The largest throne 
 
I. KINGS. 143 
 
 is erected in the hall of the first court of the palace : 
 it is in form like one of our field-beds, six feet long* 
 and four broad. He adds, " I counted about a 
 hundred and eight pale rubies in collets about that 
 throne, the least whereof weighed a hundred carats : 
 but there are some that weigh two hundred. Emeralds 
 I counted about a nundred and forty, that weighed, 
 some three score, some thirty carats." 
 
 The under part of the canopy is embroidered with 
 pearls and diamonds, with a fringe of pearls round the 
 edge. Upon the top of the canopy, which is made like 
 an arch, with four panes, stands a peacock with his 
 tail spread, consisting entirely of sapphires and other 
 proper-coloured stones : the body is of beaten gold, 
 enchased with numerous jewels, and a great ruby 
 adorns his breast, to which hangs a pearl that weighs 
 fifty carats. On each side of the peacock stand two 
 nosegays, as high as the bird, consisting of various 
 sorts of flowers, all of beaten gold enamelled. The 
 twelve pillars that uphold the canopy are set round 
 with rows of pearl, that weigh from six to ten carats 
 apiece. At the distance of four feet, on each side of 
 the throne, are placed two umbrellas, the handles of 
 which are about eight feet high, covered with dia- 
 monds; the umbrellas themselves being of crimson 
 velvet, embroidered and fringed with pearl. This is 
 the famous throne which Timur began, and Shah 
 Johan finished ; and it is reported to have cost a 
 hundred and sixty millions, and five hundred thousand 
 livres of our money. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 158.— PROPHETS SECLUDED FROM A SECULAR LIFE. 
 
 xviii. 19. The Prophets of Baal four hundred and 
 
144 i KINGS. 
 
 fifty, and the Prophets of the groves four Kundredy 
 
 ivhich eat at JezcbeVs table, 
 
 ii appears, that the Prophets of the ?!rfoZ.9, as well 
 as those of Jehovahy lived a life of abstraction from 
 civil employments, and w^holly spent their time in 
 the service of the idol. The Prophets Of God lived 
 in society — 1 Sam. xix. 20. 24. and were trained up 
 from early life in that way which was supposed to in- 
 vite the influences of the prophetic spirit — retirement 
 from the world, reading-, meditation, prayer, and 
 singing the divine praises, which last, as well as the 
 foretelling of future events, was itself honored with 
 the name of prophesying;. — 1 Chiron, xxv. 1. 
 
 Zechariah supposes, that the false Prophet, to clear 
 himself from the charge of having been the Prophet 
 of an idol, would urge, / am no Prophet ; I am a hus- 
 bandman, for man taught me to keep cattle from my 
 youth. — Zach. xiii. 5. Now had not the Idol-prophets 
 lived in a manner somewhat resembling the Prophets 
 of the Lord, this allegation would have been altoge- 
 ther impertinent. 
 
 As it respects their eating at JezeheVs table, we are 
 not to understand that they ate at the royal table, 
 where Jezebel herself took her refreshment, though 
 it is not unusual in the East for several hundred to 
 eat in the palaces of the Princes ; yet it could never 
 be thought necessary by Jezebel to have /o«r hundred 
 chaplaine in waiting at once at court. They, pro- 
 bably, lived in a kind of collegiate way ; ate at a com- 
 mon table in or near the temple of the idol which they 
 served ; and were supported at Jezebel's expence. 
 
 Their business was, probably, to sing the praises 
 of the idols they worshipped ; to watch from time to 
 
I. KINGS. 145 
 
 time in their temples, under the pretence of receiving 
 oracular answers to the enquiries of those who came 
 to consult them. — 2 Kings, i» 2. ; and to teach the 
 worshippers in what form of words to address their 
 deity. — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 159. — THE WORSHIP OF BAAL. 
 
 xviii. 26. And they leaped upon the altar which was 
 made. 
 
 Baal, whose idolatrous worship is here referred to, 
 was the same as Apollo, or the sun. Callimachus has 
 given us a remarkable instance of the universal vene* 
 ration which was paid by the ancient Pagans at his 
 altar in the temple of Delos. Amongst other cere- 
 monies in the worship of this idol, it was customary 
 to run round his altar, to strike it with a whip, and, 
 with their hands or arms bound behind them, to bite 
 the olive. Their running round the altar signified an 
 annual rotation of the sun. Striking the altar with 
 a whip, cutting themselves with knives and lancets, 
 and crying aloud to their deity, were symbolical 
 actions, denoting their desire that he would shew forth 
 his power, especially upon the sacrifice before him. 
 By bending their arms behind them, and taking the 
 sacred olive into their mouths, they signified, that not 
 from their own arm or pow er, which was bound, but 
 from his, whose altar they surrounded, they expected 
 to receive that peace, whereof the olive was always a 
 symbol. — Gen. viii. 11. 
 
 There are some evident allusions to these idolatrous 
 practices, in the Old Testament ; and the Jews are 
 severely reprimanded by the Proptiets for followiug 
 such absurd and wicked ceremonies. Thus saiih ths 
 
 h 
 
148 1. KINGS. 
 
 LoTti concerning the Prophets that make my people err, 
 that bite with their teeth, and cry peace. — Micah iii. 5. 
 Respecting Ashdod, 4he Prophet says, / wiil take 
 away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations 
 from between his teeth. — Zech. ix. 7. — Burdev. 
 
 NO. 1:60. — POSTURE OF DEVOTION IN TliE EAST. 
 
 acviii. 42. Elijah went np to the top of Carmel ; and Jie 
 cast himself down upon the earthy and put his face 
 between his knees. 
 
 Sir J. Chardin informs xks, that the devout posture 
 of some of the people of the Levant resembles the 
 posture 'of Elijah just before the descent of the rain. 
 He says, Ihat the dervises, especially those of the 
 Indies, put themselves into this posture, in order to 
 meditate and to repose themselves. They tie their 
 knees against their belly with their gird-hi, and lay 
 their heads on the top of them ; which, they say, is 
 the best posture for recollection. — IJarmer. 
 
 NO. 161.— ^CONDUCT OF EASTERN FOOTxMEN. 
 
 XV iii. 4C. The hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he 
 girded up Ms loins, nmd ran before Ahah. 
 Hanway tells us, that Nadir Shah,* when he re- 
 moved his camp, was precededT^y his running foot- 
 men, and those by his clmnters, who were nhie 
 hundred in number, and frequently -chanted moral 
 sentences, and encomiums on tJie Shah ; occasionally 
 proclaiming his victories also. A similar. practice 
 existed among the inhabitants of Mount Libanus in 
 the time of Pope Clement VIII. Dandini, the Pope's 
 Nuncio to the Maronites, says, ''* we were always 
 accompanied with the better sort of people, who 
 
 * Kuuli Khar". :,•; ili-y cotnnionlv called \v.\\\. 
 
I. KINGS. 147 
 
 walked on foot, before' our mules, and, out of the 
 respect they bore to the Pope, and in honor to us, 
 they would sing certain songs and spiritual airs as 
 they marched before the Patriarch and other persons 
 of quality." According to this account persons of 
 figure went before them in procession, with songs. 
 
 We are willing to suppose, that Elijah's running 
 before Jhab's chariot to^the gates of Jezreel was not 
 unworthy his prophetic character. If Ahab had 
 chanters, we should suppose the Prophet to be at their 
 head, to direct them in sioglng praise to him that was 
 giving them rain ; and to intermingle due enconliums 
 on the Prince that had permitted the extermination 
 of the Priests of Baal.— 2 Chron, xx. 21. 22. The 
 expression — ihe hand of the Lord was on Elijah may 
 be understood, of God's stirring him up to the com- 
 posing and singing of some proper hymns on this 
 occasion, more than the enabling him to run with 
 greater swiftness than his age would otherwise have 
 permitted. — Harmer, 
 
 NO. 162. — REVERENCE IN DIVINE WORSHIP. 
 
 xix. 13. And it i0as so, when Elijah heard it, that he 
 wrapped his face in his mantle. 
 The Jews accounted it a token of reverence to 
 have their feet bare in public worship, and to have 
 their heads covered. This was, accordingly, the 
 practice not of the priests only, but of the people also ; 
 and the-latter practice remains to this day. Thus, 
 on the Divine appearance to Moses in the bush, it is 
 said, he hid his face; for he was cf raid to look upon 
 God. — Ex. iii. G. : and on the extraordinary mani- 
 festation of the divine prps(Mir;e to Elijah, ^e wrapprd 
 
148 I. KI>^GS. 
 
 ki8 face in his mantle. On the same account, per- 
 haps, tho angeJs were represented in vision to Isaiah 
 9LS cover in ir f heir faces with their wings in the pre- 
 sence of Jehovah. — Isa. vi. 2: 
 
 The ancient Romans performed their sacred rites 
 with a covering on their heads. — 
 
 -Oar way we bend 
 
 To Pallas, and the sacred hill ascend : 
 lliere prostrate to the fierce virago pray, 
 Whose temple was the land-mark of our way. 
 Each with a Thrygian mantle veil'd his head. 
 
 Virgil. 
 
 The Grecians, on the contrary, performed their 
 sacred rites bare headed. St. Paul, therefore, wriling 
 to the Corinthians, who were Greeks, says, every man 
 praying or prophesying with his head covered, dis- 
 honorefh his head. — 1 Cor. xi. 4. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 163.— ^KtSSING AN IDOL, AN ACT OF WORSHIP. 
 
 iix. 18. All the 'knees which have not bowed unto 
 Baal, a?id every mouth which hath not kissed hiw. 
 Bowing the knee was an act of worship, and so 
 was kissing the idol. 'Tl\is wds done two ways; 
 either by applying their mouth immediately to the 
 image, or kissing their hand before the image, and 
 then stretching it out, and, as it were, throwing the 
 kiss to it. — Burder. 
 
 Pitt says, that the Mahommedans, when they can- 
 not kiss the hand of a superior, kiss their own, and 
 put it to their foreheads ; and they venerate an 
 unseen Being, whom they cannot touch, in much the 
 same manner. After this sort, it appears, the ancient 
 idolaters worshipped beings which they couid not 
 touch. Job alludes to this— chap. xxx. v. 26. 27. — 
 
I. KINGS. Hd 
 
 If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking 
 in brightness : and my heart hath been secretly en- 
 ticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand : this, with- 
 out doubt, would have been an idolatrous actions- 
 farmer. 
 
 Idolater, more gross than ever kisj'd 
 The lifted hand to Luna, or pour'd out 
 
 The blood to Jove I ■ 
 
 Young. 
 
 NO. 164. — A DESCRIPTION OF HUMILIATION. 
 
 XX. 32. They girded sackcloth on their loi7is, and 
 
 put ropes on their heads, and came to the King of 
 
 Israel, 
 
 The approaching persons with a sword hanging to 
 the neck is, in the East, thought to be an act of 
 great humility and submission. William of Tyre, 
 describing the great solemnity and humiliation with 
 which the Governor of Egypt, under the Khaliph of 
 that country, appeared before his master, tells us, he 
 prostrated himself on the ground thrice, with his 
 sword hanging to his neck, which at the third pros- 
 tration he took off and laid down. 
 
 Thevenot, in his account of the taking of Bagdat 
 by the Turks, informs us, through the medium of an 
 officer, that when the besieged party solicited quarter, 
 the principal officer of the Governor of Bagdat went 
 to the Grand Visier with a scarf about his neck, and 
 his sword wreathed in it, begging both in his own 
 and in his master's name, aman, that is to say, pardon 
 and mercy ; and having obtained it, the GoveriJor 
 came and was introduced to the Grand Seignior. 
 
 The ropes about the necks of Benhadad's servants 
 probably suspended their swords, if ihe custom of- 
 
J 50 1. KINGS. 
 
 later times may be thought to be explanatory of those 
 of earlier date, which in the East is frequently the 
 case. — Harmer. 
 
 They girded sackcloth on their loins, as mourners; 
 and put ropes on their heads, as condemned criminals 
 going to executiori, acknowledging that they ought 
 to be hanged for their conduct. — Heriry. 
 
 NO, 165.— EASTERN METHOD OF SEALING. 
 
 xxi. 8. She wrote letters in Ahah's name, and sealed 
 them with his seal. 
 Seals are of very ancient invention : thus Judah had 
 his seal, and left it as a pledge with Tamar. The 
 ancient Hebrews wore their seals or signets in rings on 
 their fingers, or in bracelets on their arms. Sealing- 
 rings are said to have been invented by the Lacedemo- 
 nians; who, not content to shut their chests, ar- 
 mouries, &c. with keys, added a seal also. Jitters 
 and contracts were first tied up with a string ; then the 
 wax was applied to the knot, and the seal impressed 
 upon it. 
 
 • Pbcocke says, that in Egypt they make the imr 
 pression of theii* name with their seal, generally of 
 cornelian, which they wear on their finger, and which 
 is blacked when they have occasion to seal with it. 
 Hanway says, that the Persian ink serves, not only 
 for writing, but for subscribing with their seal ; and 
 adds, that many of the Persians in high office cannot 
 write. In their rhigs they wear agates, which serve 
 for a seal, on which their name is frequently engraved, 
 and some verse from the Koran. 
 ' Pliny says, that seals were scarcely used at the time 
 df the Trojan war : the method of shutting up letters 
 
I. KINGS. 151 
 
 was by curious knots ; which invention was particu- 
 larly honored, as in the instance of the Gordian knot. 
 He says, that in his time no seals were used, but in 
 the Roman Empire ; but at Rome testaments were* 
 null without the testator's seal, and the seals of seven 
 witnesses. — Burder. 
 
 NO. \QQ. — THE RAPACITY OF DOGS IN THE EAST. 
 
 xxi. 23. The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of 
 Jezreel. 
 
 Though dogs are not suffered in the houses in the 
 East, and people are very careful to avoid them, lest 
 they should be polluted by touching them, yet there 
 are great numbers of them in their streets. Le Bruin 
 says, they do not belong to particular persons, nor are 
 they regularly fed, but get their food as they can. 
 It is considered right, however, to take some care of 
 them ; and charitable people frequently give money 
 to butchers and bakers, to feed them ; and some leave 
 legacies for the same purpose. Dogs seem to have 
 been looked upon by the Jews in a disagreeable 
 light ;* yet they had them in considerable numbers in. 
 their cities. They were not shut up in their houses 
 or courts, but seem to have been forced to seek their 
 food where they could find it. — Psalm iix. 6. &c. — 
 
 Harmer, 
 
 Mr. Bruce says, that at Gondar the bodies of those 
 killed by the sword were hewn to pieces and scattered 
 about the streets, being denied burial. " I was miser- 
 able, and almost driven to despair, at seeing my hunt- 
 ing-dogs twice let-loose, by the carelessness of my, ser- 
 vants bringing into the court-yard the heads and arms 
 
 * 1 Sam, xvU, 43. — g.Kings, viii. 13. 
 
U2 I. KINGS. 
 
 of slaughtered men, which I couid no way prevent, but 
 by the destruction of the dogs themselves." He also 
 adds, that upon the King's asking the reason of his 
 dejected and sickly appearance, he informed him that 
 it was occasioned by the execution of three men which 
 he had lately seen ; because the hyaenas, allured into 
 the streets by the quantity of carrion, would not let 
 him pass by night in safety from the palace ; and be- 
 cause the dogs ffed into his house, to eat pieces of 
 human carcases at their leisure. 
 
 This illustrates the readiness of the dogs to lick 
 the blood of Ahab — 1 Kings, xxii. 38. ; and to eat the 
 flesh of JezebeJ — 2 Kings, ix. 36. / will appoint over 
 ihem the sword io slay, and the dogs to tear. — Jer. 
 XV. 3. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 167.— HIGH PLACES CHOSEN FOR DEVOTION, 
 
 xxii. 43. The people offered and burnt incense yet in 
 the high places. 
 
 It appears, that in days of old men frequently 
 worshipped upon hills and upon the tops of high 
 inountai7is ; imagining that they thereby obtained a 
 nearer communication with Heaven, the seat of the 
 gods. Strabo informs us, that the Persians always 
 performed their worship upon hills. Some nations, 
 instead of an image, worshipped the hill as the deity. 
 In Japan most of their temples are at this day upon 
 eminences ; and often upon the ascent of high moun- 
 tains, commanding fine views, with groves and rivulets 
 5jf clear water ; for they say, that the gods are ex- 
 tremely delighted with such high and pleasant spots. 
 
 Holwell says, that this practice in early time was 
 almost universal; and every mountain wfts esteemed 
 
I. KINGS. 158 
 
 holy. The people who prosecuted this method of 
 worship enjoyed a soothing infatuation, which flattered 
 the gloom of superstition. Tl>e eminences to which 
 they retired were lonely and silent ; and seemed to be 
 happily circumstanced for contemplation and prayer. 
 They who frequented them were raised above the 
 lower world ; and fancied that they were brought 
 into the vicinity of the powers of the air, and of the 
 deity, who resided in the higher regions. But the 
 chief excellence for which they were frequented 
 was, that they were looked upon as the peculiar 
 places where God delivered his oracles. 
 
 Both at Athens and Rome the most sacred temples 
 stood in the most eminent part of the city. Jupiter, 
 in Homer, commends Hector, for the many sacrifices 
 which he had offered upon the top of Ida : and Balak, 
 King of Moab, carried Balaam to the top of a moun- 
 tain, to sacrifice to the gods, and curse Israel from 
 thence. — Numb. xxii. 41. — Burder. 
 
 II. KINGS. 
 
 NO. 168. — FLIES VERY TROUBLESOME IN JUDEA. 
 
 i. 2. Enquire of Baalzebuh the god of E'krqn, whether 
 
 I shall recover of this disease. 
 
 We may be surprised to find that the driving 
 
 away of flies should be thought, by the inhabitants 
 
 of the country about Ekron, to be so important, that 
 
 they should give a name to the idol they worshipped 
 
 expressive of that property*; and more especially 
 
 when this was not the only quality ascribed to him ; 
 
 *Baalzebub (Jord of the %). j 
 
154 II. KINGS. 
 
 but it was supposed that the powers of prediction 
 also belonged to him : but pos.^ibly a passage in Vini- 
 sauf may lessen this astonishment. 
 
 Speaking of the army under our Richard I. a little 
 before he left the Holy Land, and describing them as 
 marching not far from the sea-coast, and near to 
 Hebron, Viuisauf says, " the army stopping awhile 
 here, rejoicing in the hope of speedily setting out for 
 Jerusalem, were assailed by a most minute kind of 
 fiy, flying about like sparks, which they called cin- 
 cinellae. With these the whole neighbouring region 
 was filled. These most wretchedly infested the pii- 
 jgrims ; piercings with great smartness, their hands, 
 necks, and faces : a most violent burning tumour 
 followed the punctures made by them, so that all 
 that were stung looked like lepers." 
 
 From these things we can no longer wonder that 
 the poor Heathen, who lived in and about Ekroriy 
 should derive much consolation from the supposed 
 powers of the idol they worshipped, to drive away the 
 cincinellae of their country. — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 169. — WATER POURED UPON THE HANDS. 
 
 iii. 11. i^ere is Elisha, the son of Shaphat, which 
 poured water on the hands of Elijah. 
 This service, which Elisha performed for Elijah, is 
 not a solitary service. Pitts says, that the table being 
 removed, before they rise from the ground whereon 
 they sit, a servant, who waits on them with a cup of 
 water to give them drink, steps into the middle with 
 a basin, or copper pot, of water, somewhat like a 
 cofTee-pot, and a little soap, and lets the water run 
 upon their handsy one after another, in order, as they 
 sit. 
 
II. KINGS. 165 
 
 Hanwayj speaking of a Persian supper, says, " Sup- 
 per, being now brought in, a servant presented a basin 
 of water, and a napkin hung over his shoulders, he 
 went to every one in the company, and poured water 
 on their hands to wash." — Burder, 
 
 NO. 170. — WIND oVten precedes rain in the east. 
 
 iii. 17. Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see 
 ratji; yet that valley shall be filled with toater. 
 Rain in the East is often preceded by a squall of 
 wind. The Editor of the Ruins of Palmyra tells us, 
 that they seldom have rain, except at the equinoxes ; 
 and that nothing could be more serene than the sky 
 all the time he was there, except one afternoon, when 
 there was a small shower, preceded by a whirlwind, 
 which took up such quantities of sand from the desart 
 as quite darkened the sky. 
 
 The circumstance of the wind taking up such a 
 quantity of sand as to darken the sky may serve to 
 explain 1 Kings, xviii. 45 — tJie Heaven was black 
 with clouds and wind. The winds prognosticating 
 rain is also referred to Prov. xxv. 14. — whoso boasteth 
 himself of a false gift, pretending to give something 
 valuable, and disappointing the expectation, is like 
 clouds and wind without rain. — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 171. — TREES DESTROYED BY ENEMIES. 
 
 iii. 19. And. shall fell every good tree. 
 As the people t)f these countries endeavoured to 
 distress those that came to besiege them by concealing 
 their waters, so those, on the other hand, frequently 
 cut down the most valuable trees of their enemies. 
 This Moses forbad to be done in Canaan j but it 
 
156 II. KINGS. 
 
 appears that the Moabites were to be punished after 
 this sort. 
 
 Hasselqnist informs us, that the Arabs of the Holy 
 Land still make war after this manner on each 
 other; burniugthe corn, cutting down the olive-trees, 
 carrying oflf the sheep, and doing one another all 
 possible damage : excepting that these Arabian vil- 
 lagers never touch one another's lives. 
 
 The Turk&, in like manner, when they would dis- 
 tress the poor Maronite Christians, cut down their 
 mulberry trees, which are of great importance to 
 them for feeding their silk-worms, silk being one of 
 the greatest articles their country affords. Dr. Po- 
 cocke tells us, that when he visited Mount Lebanon, 
 he saw a great number of young mulberry-trees, 
 which had been cut down by a Pasha, who had some 
 demands upon them, which they could not answer. — 
 
 Manner. 
 
 NO. 172. — MANNER OF RIDING UPON ASSES. 
 
 iv. 24. Then she saddled an ass, and said to her 
 servant, drive, and go forward. 
 
 The method of travelling in the East is widely 
 different from that of travelling among us. To see a 
 person momited, and attended by a servant on foot, 
 would appear odd to us; and it would be still much 
 more so to see that servant driving the beast before 
 him, or goading it along : yet these are Eastern modes. 
 
 Dr. Pococke, in his account of Egypt, tells us, that 
 there a man always leads the lady's ass : and if she 
 has a servant he goes on one side ; but the ass-driver 
 follows the man, goads on the beast, and when he is 
 to turn directs his head with a pole* 
 
II. KINGS. 157 
 
 The Shunamite, when she went to the Prophet, did 
 not desire so much attendance, only requested her 
 husband to send her an ass and its driver ; to whom 
 she said, drive and go forward. This account of Dr. 
 Pococke will also explain why she did not desire two 
 asses, one for herself, and the other for the servant 
 that attended her. Solomon might refer to the same 
 when he says, / have seeji servants upon horses, and 
 Princes walking as servaids upon the earth.— Ecc. 
 X. 7. — Harmer. 
 
 The most ancient saddles were, probably, nothing" 
 more than a rug girded to the beast; and as for 
 stirrups, they had none. 
 
 NO. 173. — PLOTS OF WARRIORS. 
 
 vii. 12. They know that we are hungry^ therefore are 
 they gone out of the cainps to hide themselves in the 
 field, sayings when they come out of the city we shall 
 catch them alive, and get into the city. 
 In the history of the revolt of Ali Bey, we have an 
 account of a transaction very similar to the stratagem 
 supposed to have been practised by the Syrians. The 
 Pasha of Sham* having marched near to the sea of 
 Tiberias, found Sheik Daher encamped there : but the 
 Sheik deferring the engagement 'till the next morning, 
 during the night divided his army into three parts, 
 and left the camp with great fires, all sorts of provi- 
 sions, and a large quantity of spirituous liquors, giving 
 strict orders not to hinder the enemy from taking 
 possession of the camp, but to come down and attack 
 them just before dawn of day. > In the middle of 
 the night the Pa.^ha of Sham thought to surprise Sheik 
 Daher, and marched in silence to the camp, which to 
 
 * Dam;iscu«. 
 
158 II. KINGS. 
 
 his g^reat astonishment he found entirely abandoned, 
 and thought the Sheik had fled with so much precipita- 
 tion that he could not carry off the baggage and stores. 
 The. Pasha thought proper to stop in the camp to re- 
 fresh his soldiers: they soon fell to plunder; and 
 drank so freely of the liquors, that, overcome with 
 the fatigues of the day's march, and the fumes of the 
 spirits, it was not long ere they were in a sound 
 sleep. At that time Sheik Sleby and Sheik Crime, 
 who were watching the enemy, came silently to the 
 camp ; and Sheik Daher, having repassed the sea of 
 Tiberias, meeting them, they all rushed into the camp 
 and fell on the confused and sleeping enemy, eight 
 thousand of whom they slew on the spot ; and the 
 Pasha, with the remainder of his troops, fled with 
 much difficulty to Sham, leaving all their baggage 
 behind them. — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 174. — METHOD OF DISHONORING RELIGIOUS HOUSES. 
 
 X. 27. And they brake down the image of Baal, and 
 
 brake down the house of Baal, and made it a 
 
 draught-house unto this day. 
 
 The dishonoring places which had been treated with 
 veneration, by making use of them for the most dis- 
 graceful discharges of animal nature, was an ancient 
 oriental way of expressing dislike, and still continues 
 to be u^ed. After this manner it was that Jehu treat- 
 ed the temple of BaaL Every one will suppose what 
 a draught-house means, especially if he recollect 
 the language of our Lord ; Do not ye yet understand, 
 that whatsoever entereih in at the mouth, goetk into 
 the belly, and is cast out into the draught? — Mat.xv. 17. 
 
 Sir J. Chardin observes, somewhere in his M. S, 
 
11, KINGS. 159 
 
 that the Eastern people are more exquisite in taking- 
 vengeance than those in the West. We strike off the 
 heads of those images which have been superstitiously 
 abused ; and pull down or deface buildings which we 
 detest: the stone coffin of aPrince,w^hose memory was 
 execrated, has been used as a watering-trough for 
 horses ; but I do not remember that any sacred place 
 among us has ever been designedly made a draught- 
 house. . Chardin says, that Abbas the Great, King of 
 Persia, having conquered Bagdad, treated the tomb of 
 Hanifah, one of the fathers of the church among the 
 Turks, after a similar manner.^ — Harmer, 
 
 NO. 175. — JOY EXPRESSED BY CLAPPING OF HANDS. 
 
 xi. 12. And they clapped tlwir hands, and said, God 
 save tfie King. 
 The way by whi^h females in the East express 
 their joy is by gently applying one of their hands to 
 their mouth. Tiiis custom appears to be very ancient, 
 and seems to be referred to in several places of 
 scripture. Pitts, describing the joy with which the 
 leaders of the sacred caravans are received in the 
 several towns of Barbary through which they pass, 
 j5ays, " this Emir Haggi, into whatever town he comes, 
 is received with a great deal of joy ; becanse he is 
 going about so religious a work. He is attended with 
 flags and kettle-drums, whilst loud acclamations rend 
 the skies. The women get upon the tops of the 
 houses to view the parade, where they keep striking" 
 their four fingers on their lips as faj^t as they can, 
 making a joyful noise all the while." 
 
 * Both Persians and Turks are Mahomnie lans, but of different sects ; and 
 there are us a.urta! feuds betwixt theiu.un thdt account, «s tlieie were ancient- 
 ly be^\^een the Jews .and the Samaritans. 
 
160 11. KINGS. 
 
 The sacred writers suppose two different methods 
 of expressing joy, by a qiiicvk motion of !he han<i, 
 which is lost in our translation ; and it appears that 
 clapping the hands, in the plural, is a very distinct 
 thing from clapping the hand, in the singular. The 
 former of these methods obtained anciently, as an 
 expression of malignant joy. — All that pass by clap 
 their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head 
 at the daughter of Jerusalem. — Lam. ii. 15. So Job, 
 describing the destruction of the wicked, says, Men 
 shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out 
 of his place-^-Joh. xxvii. 23; but other words, trans- 
 lated clapping the hands, signify the applying of only 
 one hand somewhere with softness, in testimony of a 
 joy of a more agreeable kind. Thus in 2 Kings, xi. 
 12. and Psalm xlvii. 1. it should be rendered in the 
 singular — clap your hand ; and may allude to such 
 an application of the hand to the moiith as has been 
 recited. — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 17G. — MONEY SEALED UP IN BAGS. 
 
 xii. 10. They put up in hags, and. told the money that 
 was found in the house of the Lord. 
 
 The mojiey that is collected in the treasuries of 
 Eastern Princes is told, up in certain equal sums, 
 put into bags, and sealed. - Chardin says, that it is 
 the custom of Persia always to seal up bags of money ; 
 and the money of the King's treasure is not told, but 
 is received in bags, sealed up. 
 
 These bags, I presume, are what are called purses 
 in other parts of the Levant. Maillet says, that each 
 of these purses contains money to the value of fifteen 
 hundred livres, or five hundred crowns. Li the Eai«t, 
 
II. KINGS. 161 
 
 at the present time, a bag of money passes currently 
 from hand to hand, under the authority of a banker's 
 seal, without any examination of its content.^. Job 
 seems to allude to this custom, when he says, my 
 transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest 
 up mine iniquity — chap. xiv. ver. 17. He probably 
 considered his oflFences to be numerous before the 
 Lord, and that none of them were suffered to be lo^jt 
 through inattention. — i/an??er. 
 
 NO. 177. — DESCRIPTION OF THE SIMOOM. 
 
 xix. 7. Behold I will send a blast upon him. 
 The destruction of Sennacherib and his army ap- 
 pears to have been effected by that pestilential wind 
 called the simoom. Mr. Bruce thus speaks of it : 
 ** we had no sooner got into the plains than we felt 
 great symptoms of the simoom ; and about a quarter 
 before twelve, our prisoner, and then Idris, called out, 
 *- the simoom! the simoom!^ My curiosity would not 
 suffer me to fall down without looking behind me : about 
 due south I saw the colored haze as before : it seemed 
 now to be rather less compressed, and to have with it 
 a shade of blue ; the edges of it were not defined as 
 those of the former, but like a very thin smoke, with 
 about a yard in the middle tinged with those colors. 
 We all fell upon our faces, and the simoom passed, 
 with a gentle ruffling wind. It continued to blow in 
 this manner 'till near three o'clock. We were all 
 taken ill that night, aiid had scarcely strength left ug 
 to load the camels and to arrange the baggage." In 
 another place Mr. Bruce describes it as producing 
 a desperate kind of indifference about life — that it 
 
 brought upon him a degree of cowardice and languor, 
 
 M 
 
nt II. KINGS. 
 
 which he struggled with m vain — and that it com- 
 pletely exhausted his strength. From the account of 
 rarious travellers it appears to have heen almost 
 instantaneonsly fatal and putrifying. It was conse- 
 quently a fit agent to be employed in desolating the 
 army of Sennacherib. The destroying angel which 
 we read of in Isaiah xxxvii. 36. is, at the seventh verse 
 expressly called a blast or wind. 
 
 It appears, that these hot pestilential winds ama- 
 zingly dry up the water of their girbahs. The camels 
 give notfce of its approach by making a noise, and 
 burying their mouths and nostrils in the sand. To 
 imitate the camels is the best way to escape suffocation. 
 
 Calmei. 
 
 I. CHRONICLES. 
 
 NO. 178. — THE ANCIENT MANNER OF SAYING AME». 
 
 xvi. 36. And all the people said, Amen. 
 This practice is of very great antiquity, and 
 was in general use with the Jews in early times, and 
 retaiiied by them after the captivity. — Neb. viii. 6-. 
 •The Jewish Doctors give three rules for pronouncing 
 the word amen. I, That it be not pronounced with 
 too much haste and rapidity, but with a grave and 
 distinct voice. 2. That it be not louder than the tone 
 of him that blessed. 3. It was to be expressed in 
 faith, with a certain persuasion that God would hear 
 their prayer and bless them. 
 
 It appears that this custom prevailed also in the 
 Christian church. Hence St. Paul urges the neces- 
 sity of praying in a language easy to be understood, 
 
I. CHRONICLES. IGS 
 
 that he that occupieth the room of the unlearned may 
 .say Amen. — 1 Cor. xiv. 16. Gill informs «s, that the 
 primitive Christians used, at the close of the Lord's 
 supper, to say Amen; and thinks it probable that 
 this custom prevailed in the Corinthian church.— 
 
 BiLrder^ 
 
 Devotion, when lukewarm is undevout ; 
 But when it glows, its heat is struck to Ileav'n ; 
 To human hearts her golden harps are strung, 
 High Heav'n's orchestra chants amen to man. 
 
 YOUNC 
 
 NO. 179.— DISQUALIFICATIONS OF BLOOD-SHEDDING. 
 
 xxii. 3, Thou shalt not, build an house unto my name^ 
 because thou hast shed, much blood upon the earth. 
 The custom which prohibits persons polluted with 
 blood, to perform any offices of divine worship, before 
 they were purified, is so ancient and universal that it 
 may almost be esteemed a precept of natural religion, 
 tending to inspire an uncommon dread and horror of 
 bloodshed. In the case of David it amounted to a 
 disqualification, as it respected the building of the: 
 temple : and with regard to some of the Israelites it^ 
 was the cause of the rejection of their prayers. — Isa. 
 i. 15. The Greeks were influenced by the same prin- 
 ciple. Euripides represents Iphigenia as arguing, 
 that it was impossible for human sacrifices to be 
 acceptable to the gods, since they do not permit any 
 defiled with blood, or even polluted with the touch of 
 a dead body, to come near their altars. Hornet makes 
 Hector say, 
 
 ' 111 fits it me, with human gore distained. 
 To the pure skies these horrid hands to raise, 
 Oi; oiler lleav'u's great sire polluted praise. 
 
 M 2 BurdcT^ 
 
164 I. CHRONICLES. 
 
 NO. 180.— MANNER OF DISPOSING OF SPOILS. 
 
 xxvi. 27. Out of the spoils won in haiile did thty 
 dedicate to maintain the house of the Lord. 
 According to the law of Moses, the booty was to 
 be divided equally, between those who were in the 
 battle, and those who were in the camp, whatever 
 disparity there might be in the mimber of each party. 
 The law farther requires, that out of "that part of the 
 fipoils which was assigned to the fighting men the 
 Lord's share should be taken ; and for every five 
 hundred men, oxen, sheep, 6^c. they were to take 
 one for the High Priest, as being the Lord's firs/ 
 fruits ; and out of the other moiety belonging to the 
 children of Israel, they were to give for every fifty 
 men, oxen, sheep, Ac. one to the Levites. Amongst 
 the Greeks and Romans the plunder was brouglit 
 together into one common stock, and divided after- 
 wards amongst the officers and soldiers, paying some 
 respect to their rank in the distribution. Sometimes 
 the soldiers made a reserve of the chief part of the 
 booty, to present, by way of compliment, to their 
 respective Generals. The gods were always remem- 
 bered : and the Priests had sufficient influence to 
 procure them an handsome offering, and other ac- 
 ceptable presents. — Wilson, 
 
 II. CHRONICLES. 
 
 NO. 181. — BURNING PERFUMES IN HONOR OFTHE DEAD. 
 
 xvi. 14. And tliey made a very great burning for him- 
 
 The Greeks and Romans burnt their dead, 
 
 throwing frankincense, myrrh, cassia, and other fra- 
 
4 . 
 
 11. CHRONICLES. 165 
 
 grant things, into the fire ; and these yv^ere used in such 
 vast quantities, that Pliny represents it as a piece ot* 
 profaneness to bestovv such heaps of frankincense on 
 a dead body, when they offered it to their gods by 
 crumbs. Patrick says, that the Israelites liad no such 
 custom ; but probably from the ancient Egyptians they 
 had adopted the practice of burjiing many spices at 
 their funerals. — 2 Chron. xxi. 19. — Jer, xxxiv. 5.' — 
 Kimchi says, that they burnt the bed on which they 
 lay, and other household stulf, that none might have 
 the honor to use them when they were gone. — Burder,. 
 When De laValle visited the Holy Land, his curi- 
 osity led him to Hebron, a noted place for Mahom- 
 medan pilgrimages. He informs us, that the cave of 
 Machpelah, in which Abraham and the other Patri- 
 archs, with their wives, are deposited, is covered with 
 a considerable building, wliich was once a Christian 
 church, but ift now turned into a mosque. Neither 
 Jews nor Christians are permitted to enter either into 
 the cave or into the mosque built over it ; the nearest 
 access with which they are indulged is certain holes 
 made in the wall leading to a sacred repository. — 
 " There we Christians," he says, " said our prayers^ 
 «^pd the Jews poured out their divers odoriferous 
 things : there they burnt perfumes, sweet-scented 
 wood, and wax-candles." — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 182. — PUNISHMENT O^F DEATH BY CASTING FROM A 
 ROCK. 
 
 XXV. 12. And cast them down from the top of the 
 rock, that they all were broken in pieces. 
 This mode of punishment was practised by the 
 Greeks and Pomans, as well as tlie Jews. In Greece 
 
]6Q II. CHRONICLES. 
 
 according to the Delphian Jaw, such as wore gnilty 
 of sacrilege were led to a rock, and cast headlong 
 down, Liv^y says, that the Romans inflicted it on 
 various malefactors, by casting them down from the 
 Tarpein rock Mr. Pitts, in his account of the Ma- 
 homraedans, informs us, that in Turkey, at a plac^ 
 called Constantino, a town situated at the top of a 
 great rock, the usual way of executing great crimi- 
 nals is by pushing iliemojflhe cliff. — Burder^ 
 
 ^O. 183. — INTERMENT ACCORDING TO CHARACTER. 
 
 xxviii. 21, And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they 
 buried him in the city, even in Jerusalem ; but thsy 
 brought him not into the sepulchres of the Kings 
 of Israel. 
 
 The Israelites were accustomed' to honor, in a pecu- 
 iiar manner, the memory of those Kings who had 
 reigned over them uprightly. On the contrary, some 
 marks of disgrace followed those Monarchs who left 
 the world under the disapprobation of their people. 
 The proper place of interment was In Jerusalem ; 
 hence, when a Ruler was buried in this honorable 
 receptacle, it was said that he was gathered to his 
 fathers. Several instances occur, in which they were 
 not interred with their predecessors, but in some other 
 place in Jerusalem. Thus it was with Ahaz ; who, 
 though brought into the city, was not buried in the 
 sepulchre of the Kings of IsraeL In some other cases, 
 perhaps to mark out a greater degree of censure, they 
 Tvere taken to a small distance from Jerusalem — 2 
 Chron. xxvi. 23. It was, doubtless, with a design to 
 make a suitable impression on the minds of their 
 Kings while living, that such distinctions were made 
 
11. CHRONICLES. J 67 
 
 after their decease. They might thus restrain them 
 from evil, or excite them to good, according a« they 
 were fearful of being execrated, or desirous of being 
 honored when they were dead. 
 
 Franklin informs us, that among the Egyptians, as 
 soon as a man was dead he was brought to his trial : 
 if it were proved that the deceased had led a bad 
 life, his memory was condemned, and his body denied 
 the honors of sepulture. The Sovereign himself 
 was not exempted from this inquest upon his death, 
 but suffered an impartial scrutiny, by a public trial, 
 as well as the most common subject. Some of them 
 were not ranked among the honored dead, and, con- 
 sequently, were deprived of public burial. Thus the 
 Israelites would not suffer the bodies of some of their 
 flagitious Princes to be carried into the sepulchres 
 appropriated to their virtuous Sovereigns. — Burder, 
 
 Reduc'd to his own stature, low or high. 
 As vice, or virtue, sinks Iiiin, or sublimes. 
 
 Young. 
 
 NO, 184. — ANNIVERSARY MOURNING FOR THE DEAD. 
 
 XXXV. 25. And all the singing men and the singing 
 
 women spake of Josiah^ in their lamentations y to 
 
 this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel. 
 
 The Orientals not only repair the graves of their 
 
 dead, cover their tombs with ever-green, and plant 
 
 flowers in their burial places, but they lament the 
 
 death of the virtuous public character in anniversary 
 
 solemnities. Their lamentations are attended with 
 
 mournful music, and oftentimes performed in such a 
 
 manner as may best represent tlie circumstances of 
 
 the affliction or death of their late friends. The 
 
 Persians annually mourn for Houssain, second son of 
 
168 II. CHRONICLES. 
 
 A)i, and grandson to Mahommed, whom they believe 
 to be the rightful Khalif ; but who was killed by the 
 trooj»5! of his rival. They annually visit his sepulchre 
 atKerbela, near the ancient Babylon, with great de- 
 votion. Their moifrning for liim continues ten days, 
 during which time all pleasures are suspended: 
 they dress as mourners, and deliver discourses con- 
 cerning his death to numerous assemblies ; to which 
 are added mournful cries and melancholy music. 
 
 The mourning for the death of Jo.^iah, and that 
 for the daughter of Jephtha, were probably of thi« 
 kind. The latter was, without controversy, an an- 
 nual solemnity.— Judges, xi. 39.40; and the sacred 
 writer seems to mean, that the anniversary mourning 
 for Josiah continued to the time of his writing this 
 h istory . — Harmer. 
 
 Heav'n gives us friends, to bless the present scene j 
 , Resumes theiu, to prepare us for the next. 
 
 Young. 
 
 EZ^A. 
 
 KO. 185. — FACTITIOUS METALS OF GREAT VALUE. 
 
 viii. 27. Vessels of fine copper, precious as gold. 
 The Corinthian brass is said to have been more 
 esteemed than silver, among the Romans. This was 
 a composition formed accidentally by the burning of 
 Corinth, and supposed to consist of a mixture of gold, 
 silver, and brass. 
 
 Sir J. Chardm (M. S. note) has mentioned a mixed 
 metal used in the East, and highly esteemed there? 
 which might probably be as ancient as the time of 
 Ezra. He says, " I have heard some Dutch gentle- 
 
EZRA. 169 
 
 men speak of a metal in the island of Sumatra, and 
 amon^ the Macassars, much more esteemed than 
 gold ; which royal personages alone might wear. It 
 is a mixture, if I remember right, of gold and steel, 
 or of copper and steel." He afterwards added to 
 this note, " Calmbac is this metal ; composed of gold 
 and copper. In color it nearly resembles the pale 
 carnation-rose ; has a very fine grain ; and the polish 
 extremely lively. Gold is not of so lively and bril- 
 liant a color. I believe there is steel mixed with the 
 gold and the copper." — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 186. — EXTERNAL MARKS OF LAMENTATION. 
 
 ix. 3. A7id plucked off the hair of my head, and of 
 my heard. 
 
 In ordinary sorrows they only neglected their hair, 
 and let it hang down scattered in a careless manner : 
 but the practice mentioned by Ezra was used in 
 bitter lamentations ; and that also among the Heathen. 
 Thus Homer, speaking of Ulysses and his companions 
 bewailing the death of Elpenor, says, " they sitting 
 down there, howled, and plucked off their hairs." — 
 
 Burder, 
 
 Job, in his distress, rent his mantle, and shaved 
 his head. — Job, i. 20. : and in Jer. xli., 5. we read of 
 fourscore men, who were going to lament the desola- 
 tions of Jerusalem, having their beards shaven, and 
 their clothes rent. The Persians cut off their hair at 
 the death of Alexander the Great : and the Egyptians 
 lamented the funeral of their Jpi9 after a similar 
 manner. 
 
170 NEHEMTAH. 
 
 NO. 187.— LrXURY OF EASTERN TABLES. 
 
 y. 18. Now that which was prepared for me daily ^ 
 was an ox, and six choice sheep ; also foists wefe 
 prepared for me. 
 
 DR- Pococke, speaking of the Bey of Tunis 
 says, that his provisions were twelve sheep every day, 
 in addition to fish ;.nd fowl. He usfed to dine at eleven 
 o'clock ; and the grandees sat near him. When they 
 had eaten, others sat down ; and, finally, the poor 
 took away all that was left. Beef is not now much 
 relished by the Easterns; they think it a coarse food. 
 Mutton is their favorite meat. 
 
 Maillet says, that a sJieep, with a proper proportion 
 of rice, will suffice threescore people ; and of course 
 twelve sheep will serve seven hundred and twenty. 
 It appears that the splendor of Nehemiah was equal 
 to the Bey of Tunis ; hence we find that he enter- 
 tained at his table an hundred and fifty of the Jews 
 and. Rulers, besides those that came unto him from 
 among the Heathen, Some of these great men, 
 doubtless, had their attendants ; and, in addition to 
 these, his own servants must have been numerous. 
 Maillet says, that the great Lords of Egypt, who are 
 only private persons, generally keep in attendance a 
 thousand or twelve hundred persons. The retinue of 
 Solomon greatly exceeded that of the Egyptian 
 nobles. — I Kings, xi. 3. ; and his daily provision was 
 much more abundant. — 1 Kings, iv. 22. 23. — ffarmer, 
 
 NO. 188. — STYLE OF LETTERS SENT TO SUPERIORS. 
 
 vi. 5. Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me, in like 
 manner, the fifth time, with an open tetter in his hand, 
 Norden says, that when he was at Esswaen, an 
 
NEHEMIAH. 171 
 
 express arrived there, dispatched by an Arab Prince, 
 who broui^ht a letter directed to the Keys, or Master 
 tof the barque, which, according to the usage of the 
 Turks, was open ; and tlie Keys not being on board, 
 the Pilot carried it to one of the fathers to read. 
 
 Dr.' Pococke informs us, that however, customary 
 it was to send ope7i letters to common people, it was 
 not so in respect to people of distinction. He has 
 given us a figure of a Turkish letter, put into a satin 
 bag, with a paper tied to it, directed and sealed, and 
 an ivory button tied on the wax. Lady Montague 
 says, that the answer of the Basha of Belgrade to the 
 English Ambassador, going to Constantinople, was 
 brouo:ht to him in a purse of scarlet satin. 
 
 Niebuhr tells us, that the modern Arabs roll up 
 - their letters, and th«n flatten them to the breadth of 
 an inch, and paste up the end of them instead of sealing 
 them. Hanway says, that the Persians make up their 
 letters in a roll, about six inches long, round which a 
 bit of paper is fastened with gum, and sealed with an 
 impression of ink. From these things it appears, that 
 Sanballat meant to insult Nehemiah, and to say, that 
 notwithstanding he was preparing to assume the royal 
 dignity, he should be «o far from acknowledging him 
 in that character, that he would not even pay him the 
 compliment due to every person of distinction. — 
 
 Harmer. 
 
 NO. 189. — DESCRIPTION OF THE WOOD-OFFERING. 
 
 X. 34. And we cast the lots among the Priests, the 
 Levites, and the people^ for the wood-offering, to 
 bring it into th-e house of our God. 
 Maimonides says, that there was a time fixed for 
 
 femilies to go out into the forests and bring in wood, 
 
in NEHEMIAH. 
 
 to be laid in order upon the altar. The day when i| 
 came to the turn of a family to bring wood, they 
 offered up a freewill offering; which they called t^ 
 wood-offering ; and it was to them a good day, or 
 festival. They were forbidden to mourn, fast, or do 
 any work on that day. Josephus speaks of a feast 
 when it was customary for all to bring wood to the 
 altar, that the sacred fire might not go out. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 190.— WINE- PRESSES IN TOWNS. 
 
 ;iiii. ib In those days, saw I ifi Judah some treading 
 
 wine-presses on the sabbath^ and, bringing in 
 
 sheaves i and lading asses. 
 
 Though in vine countries they have conveniences 
 for pressing grapes in their vineyards, yet in times of 
 danger they often press them in their towns or cities. 
 Greece is frequently alarmed from its enemies; m 
 consequence of which, though the plantations of 
 olive-trees belonging to Athens are three miles from 
 the city, and six miles in length, yet the mills for 
 grinding and pressing the olives are in the town. The 
 Jews also, it appears, had wine-presses within the 
 walls of Jerusalem. 
 
 Our translators seem to have been guilty of an over- 
 sight in supposing that sheaves of corn were brought 
 into Jerusalem at the very time that men were tread- 
 ijig the wine-presses. The corn was fit to present to 
 the Lord about the end of May or the beginning of 
 June ; but the wine and oil, or raisins and ripe olives^ 
 not 'till the end of September. The Easterns tread 
 out their corn immediately on its being cut or plucked 
 up, and put in proper repositories, so that there is no 
 such thing to he seen as sheaves of CQm several 
 
NEHEMIAH. 17.^ 
 
 months after harvest. The word translated sheaves 
 is the very word that is translated abundance in 2 
 Chron. xxxi. 5. and may signify heaps of raisins, figs^ 
 Or pomegranates. 
 
 The squeezing the grapes for wine, and drying 
 ithem for raisins, were frequently attended to at the 
 same time. Dr. Chandler informs ns, that he set out 
 from Smyrna, to visit Greece, in the end of August ; 
 that the vintage was just then beg^un ; the black 
 l^rapes were spread on the ground in beds, exposed to 
 the sun to dry, for raisins ; while in another part the 
 juice was expressed for wine; a man, with feet and 
 legs bare, was treading the fruljt in a kind of cistern, 
 with a hole or vent near the bottom, and a vessel 
 beneath it to receive the liquor. Chardin says, that 
 in Persia the presses are formed by making hollow 
 places in the ground, and lining them with mason's 
 work. This corresponds with the parable of our 
 Lord — Matt. xxi. 33. — llarmer. 
 
 NO. 191. — PLUCKING OFF THE HAIR, A CIVIL PUNISll- 
 3IENT. 
 
 xiii. 25. Jnd plucked off {heir hair. 
 To C7it off the hair of guilty persons seems to be a 
 punishment rather shameful than painful ; yet it is 
 thought that pain was added to disgrace, and that 
 they /ore off the hair with violence, as if they were 
 plucking a bird alive. Sometimes, after they liad 
 torn off the hair, they put hot ashes upon the skin, 
 to make the pain more exquisite. After this manner 
 they served adulterers at Athens. This kind of 
 punishment was common in Persia. Plutarch says, 
 that King Artaxerxes, instead of plucking off' the 
 
 / 
 
 4 
 
174 ESTHER. 
 
 hair of such of his Generals as had been guilty of a 
 fault, he obliged them to lay aside the tiara. The 
 Emperor Domitian caused the hair and beard of the 
 philosopher Apollonius to be shaved. — Burder. 
 
 ESTHER. 
 
 NO. 192. — MEN AND WOMEN DO NOT EAT TOGETHER 
 IN THE EAST. 
 
 i. 9. jilso Vashii the Queen made a feast for the women 
 
 m the royal house which belonged to King Ahasue- 
 
 rus, ^ 
 
 Although the women do not cat withthemen 
 in Eastern feasts, yet it is usual for them Xo feast bij 
 themselves at the same time. Thus, while Ahasuerus 
 feasted the men, Vashti the Queen feasted the women. 
 Chardin says, that this is the custom of Persia and of 
 all the East, and at those times they have always 
 music and dancing. 
 
 Mail let, after having given a pOmpous account of 
 the extraordinary feasting at the castle of Grand 
 Cairo, upon the circumcision of the sons of the 
 Bashaw of Egypt, tells us, that the expence incurred^ 
 at the same time, in the apartments of the women of 
 the Bashaw was nearly equal to that of the public 
 feasts of the men. 
 
 It is, doubtless, for the same reason that the voice 
 of tlie bridegroom and the voice of the bride are dis- 
 tinctly mentioned — Jer. xxv. 10. and in other places : 
 that is, the noise of mirth was heard in different apart- 
 ?jients; and not the voice of the bridegroom, and tbe- 
 voice of th: bride, pcrscLally coDsidercd. 
 
ESTHER. 175 
 
 Chardin says, it is common in the East for god- 
 fathers, at a marriage festival, to hold two large 
 wax tapers, as high as a man, in the chamber of the 
 bridegroom, where the feast is kept ; and adds, " there 
 is another of the like kind in the bride's apartment." — 
 
 Harmer. 
 
 NO. 193. — MANNER OF CASTING LOTS IN THE EAST. 
 
 iii. 7. In the first month (that is the month Nisan) 
 in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus^ they cast 
 pur, that is, the lot, before Hainan, from day to day, 
 and from month to month, to the twelfth month, tliat 
 is, the month Adar. 
 
 It was customary in the East, by casting lots into 
 an urn, to enquire what days would be fortunate, 
 and what not, to undertake business. According to 
 this superstitious practice, Haman endeavoured to lind 
 what time in the year was most favorable Xa the 
 Jews, and what the most unlucky. First he enquired 
 what month was most unfortunate, and found the 
 month Adar ; which was the last month in the year, 
 and answerable to our February. There was no fes^ 
 tival during this month, nor was it sanctified by any 
 peculiar rites. Then he enquired the day, and found 
 that the thirteenth day was not auspicious to them. — 
 Ver. 13. Some think there were as many lots as 
 there are days in the year, and for every day he 
 drew a lot, but found none to his mind 'till he came 
 to the last month of all, and to the middle of it. 
 Now this whole business was governed by Providence, 
 by which these lots were directed, and not by the 
 Persia u gods, to fall in the last month of the year ; 
 whereby almost a whole year intervened between 
 
176 ESTHER 
 
 the design and execution, and gave time for Mbr- 
 decai to acquaint Esther with it, and for her to inter- 
 cede with the King for the revoking or suspending hi« 
 decree, and disappointing the conspiracy. — Patrick, 
 
 so. 194. — EASTERN RECORDS. 
 
 vi. 1. On that night could not the King sleep, and he 
 commanded to bring the book of records of the 
 chrojiicles ; and they were read before the King, 
 In these diaries, wherein was set down what passed 
 every day, the manner of the Persians was io record 
 the names of those who had done the King any sig- 
 nal service. Accordingly Josephus informs us, " that 
 upon the Secretary's reading of these journals, he 
 took notice of such a person, who had great honors 
 and possessions given him, as a reward for a glo- 
 rious and remarkable action ; and of such another, 
 who made his fortune by the bounties of his Prince, 
 for his fidelity : but that when he came to the par- 
 ticular story of the conspiracy of the two eunuchs 
 against the person of the King, and of the discovery 
 of tliis treason by Mordecai, the Secretary read it 
 over, and was passing forward to the next, when the 
 King stopped him, and asked, " if that person had any 
 reward given him for his service?" This shews a 
 singular providence of God, that the Secretary should 
 read in that very part of the book, wherein the ser- 
 vice of Mordecai was recorded. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 195. — MANNER OF CONFERRING HONOR. 
 
 ix. 9. Thus shall it be done io the man whom the 
 King delighieth to honor, 
 Pitts gives an account of a cavalcade at Algiers, 
 
ESTHER. 177 
 
 npon a person's turning Mahommedan ; which is de- 
 signed to do honor to the convert, as well as to their 
 law. The apostate being richly habited, and having 
 a turban on his head, mounts a stately horse, with 
 a rich saddle and fine trappings, and is led all round 
 the city on horseback ; which takes several hours in 
 doing. The apostate is attended with drums, and 
 other music; twenty or thirty Serjeants march in 
 order on each side of the horse, with naked swords 
 in their hands; and the crier goes before, giving 
 thanks to God, with a loud voice, for the gift of the 
 new proselyte. 
 
 The riding on horseback was an honorable thing in 
 the East. Maillet informs us, that the Consuls of 
 France are the only Frenchmen in Egypt ivho are 
 ]f>ermitted to do so ; the rest being obliged to ride on 
 asses or on mules. Dr. Pococke describes the English 
 Consul as making his entry into Cairo on horseback, 
 whilst his friends and attendants were on asses ; no 
 Christian, but Consuls, being permitted to ride on 
 horseback in the city. Maundrell complains of his 
 being obliged to submit to this affront at Damascus. 
 
 Aben-Ezra and others give us to understand, that 
 ^le crown royal was not to be set on the head of the 
 in? , but on the head of the horse. It was usual for 
 the Persians thus to adorn the horse that was led iiL 
 state; and it appears that the Ethiopians and the 
 Romans do so still.^ — Harmer,. 
 
 NO. 196. — CRIMINALS NOT SUFFERED TO LOOK UPON 
 THE KING. 
 
 vii. 8. Haman icasfalkn upon the bed whereon Esfher 
 
lis ESTHER. 
 
 was. As the word went out of the Kings mouth, 
 
 then covered Haman's face. 
 
 They sat, or rather lay, upon beds, as they ate and 
 drank ; and Haman fell down as a supplicant at the 
 feet of Esther, laying his hand upon her knees, and 
 beseeching her to take pity upon him. It was the 
 custom, among the Greeks and Romans, to embrace 
 the knees of those whom they petitioned to be favora- 
 ble to them. It was, indeed, usual, in their religious 
 assemblies, to touch the knees of their gods. Snlpi- 
 tious Severus apprehends this to have been done by 
 Haman in the present instance. — Patrick, 
 
 As the dignity of a Prince made the being arrayed 
 in his clothes a mighty honor, so it did not allow of a 
 malefactor's setting his eyes upon him. 
 
 Dr. Pococke speaks of an artifice by which an 
 Egyptian Bey was murdered. A Yiian was brought 
 before him, as a malefactor just taken, with his hands 
 behind him, as if tied, and a napkin over his head, as 
 malefactors commonly have; but when placed be- 
 fore the Bey, h^ suddenly shot him dead. 
 
 Harbonah, in covering Hainan's face, placed him 
 before the King as a malefactor, to hear his doom. — 
 
 Harmer. 
 
 How mean that snuff of glory fortune Hghts, 
 Aiid<ieat)j puts out! 
 
 YouxG. 
 
 NO. 197.-— THE FEAST OF PURIM. 
 
 ix. 26. Wherefore they called these days Purim. 
 ThisJ feast was to be kept two days, successively ; 
 the foprteenth and fifteenth of the month Adar.— 
 Ver. 21, On l?oth days of the feast the modern Jews 
 
ESTHER. 179 
 
 read over the Megillah, or book of Esther, in their 
 f^ynagogues. The copy there read must not be 
 ■printed, but written on vellum, in the form of a roll ; 
 and the names of the ten sons of Haman are written 
 on it in a peculiar manner ; being ranged, they say, 
 like so many bodies hanged on a gibbet. The reader 
 must pronounce all these names in one breath. 
 Whenever Haman's name is pronounced, they make a 
 terrible noise in the synagogue: some drum with 
 their feet on the floor ; and the boys have mallets, 
 with which to knock and make a noise. They prepare 
 themselves for their carnival, by a previous fast, 
 which should continue three days, in imitation of 
 Esther's. — Est. iv. 16. ; but they have mostly reduced 
 it to one day. — Jennings. 
 
 JOB. 
 
 NO. 198. — SHE-ASSES COMMON AMONG THE EASTERNS. 
 
 i, 3. His substance also was seven thousand sheep, 
 and three thousand camels, and Jive hundred yoke 
 of oxen, and Jive hundred she-asses. 
 
 Job might well be termed the greatest man 
 in the land of Uz, when he was possessed of half as 
 many camels as a modern King of Persia. Char- 
 din says, that the Tartars, in 1 676, invaded the camels 
 of the King of Persia, and took three thousand of 
 them; which was a great loss to him, because he has 
 no more than seven thousand in all, when their num- 
 ber is complete. These beasts carry all the baggage ; 
 for which reason they are called the ships of Persia. 
 
 Harmer. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 JOB. 
 
 Bryant says^ it is remarkable that in this passage 
 female asses only are enumerated : the reason is, be- 
 cause the males are few, and not held in equal estima- 
 tion. She-asses were chosen for riding by the natives 
 of those parts ; and Balaam's ass is distinguished as a 
 female. They were, probably, led to this choice from 
 convenience ; for where the country was so barren, 
 no other animal could subsist so easily as this: and 
 another advantage in the female was, that whoever 
 traversed these wilds upon her, if he could but find 
 sufficient browse and water, was sure to be rewarded 
 with a nutritious beverage. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 199.— CUSTOM OF EXCHANGING SKINS. 
 
 ii. 4, Skin for skin-, yea, all that a man hath will he 
 
 give for his life. 
 ^ Before the invention of money, trade used to be 
 carried on by barter ; that is, by exchanging one 
 commodity for another. The men who had been 
 hunting in the woods for wild-beasts would carry 
 their skins to market, and exchauge them with the 
 armourer for so many bows and arrows. A& these 
 traffickers were liable to be robbed, they sometimes 
 agreed to give a party of men a share for defending 
 them, and skins were a very ancient tribute : with 
 them they redeemed their own shares of property, and 
 their lives. It is to one or both of these customs 
 that these words allude as a proverb. — Burder. 
 
 This proverb might be taken from sacrifices, ia 
 which there was skiji for skin ; the skin of a beast 
 for, or instead of, the skin or body of the man, which 
 deserved to be used as the beast was, but was saved 
 or preserved by \\\e sacrifice which was accepted by 
 
JOB. I8| 
 
 God instead of the man. Or it might have been in 
 allusion to hostages, wherein one man is given for, or 
 instead of, another. The sense of the passage may be 
 this : any man will give skin for skin ; the skin, or body, 
 or life of another, whether man or beast, to save his 
 own. Job is not much hurt nor concerned, so long as 
 his own skin is whole and safe. — Poole. 
 
 NO. 200.— CONDUCT OF THE HEATHEN TOWARDS THEIR 
 GODS. 
 
 ii. 10. Thou sjjeakest as one of the foolish women 
 speaketh. 
 Sanctius thinks, that Job refers to the Idumean 
 women; who, like other Heathens, when their gods 
 did not please them, or they could not obtain of them 
 what they desired, would reproach and cast them 
 away, and throw them into the fire or the water, as 
 the Persians are said to do. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 201. — POISONED ARROWS USED BY THE ANCIENTS. 
 
 vi. 4. The arrows of the Almighty are within me, 
 the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit. 
 It appears, that the art of poisoning arrows was 
 very ancient in Arabia. Horace speaks of the 
 poisoned arrows of the ancient Mauri, or Moors, in 
 Africa. We are informed, that the Africains were 
 obliged to poison their arrows, in order to defend 
 themselves from the wild beasts with which their 
 country was infested. Pliny says, that this poison 
 was incurable. Perhaps no passage, in any heathen 
 author, so clearly shews the antiquity and make of 
 poisoned arrows, as what we read in Homer con- 
 cerning Ulysses,— that he went to Ephyra, a city of 
 
183 JOB. 
 
 Thessaly, in order to procure from Ilus, the son of 
 Mermenis, some deadly poison for smearing his brazen 
 pointed arrows* — Burder. 
 
 NO, 202.— METHOD OF CATCHING THE CROCODILE IN 
 EGYPT. 
 
 vii. 12. j4m la sea, or a whale, that thou settest a 
 watch over me ? 
 
 By the term whale we are, probably, to understand 
 the crocodile. This amphibous creature is very com- 
 mon in E^ypl, and very terrible to its inhabitants, 
 because tliey sometimes carry off men and other 
 animals. When they appear, they watch them with 
 great attention ; and take all proper precautions to 
 secure them. 
 
 Maillet says, they have different methods of catching 
 the crocodile. The most common is to dig' deep 
 ditches along the Nile, which they cover with strtrw, 
 in order that the crocodile may tumble into them. 
 Sometimes they take them with hooks, which are 
 baited with a quarter of a pig, or with bacon, of 
 which they are very fond. As soon as he is tak«n, 
 the hvinter runs, with loud cries, and pierces him in 
 the hollow part under the shoulder with a bearded 
 dart, and kills him. Some, indeed, are so bold as to 
 attack the crocodile when it is asleep, without any 
 assistance from the ordinary toils. 
 
 Brooks says, " the manner of taking the crocodile 
 in Siam, is by throwing three or four nets across a 
 river, at proper distances from each other; that so if 
 he break through the first, he may be caught by one 
 of the others." 
 
 Am I a sea appears difQcult to illustrate. Yet 
 
JOB. 183 
 
 there were cases in which the overflowing of the 
 Nile was watched with dread. Herodotus, speaking 
 of Memphis/that celebrated Egyptian city, says, that 
 there was a mound, which was thrown up one hundred 
 stadia above Memphis, and repaired every year ; for 
 if the river should break down that mound, there 
 would be a danger of its drowning all Memphis. If 
 so important a city was in continual danger, and its 
 defending mound watched with so much anxiety, 
 something of a similar nature might have existed in 
 earlier times; in consequence of which, the crocodile 
 and its parent stream are mentioned together. — 'Am I 
 a sea, or a whale, that thou seitest a watch over me? 
 
 Harmer. 
 
 NO. 203. — TO SWALLOW SPITTLE, A PROVERB. 
 
 vii. 19. Let me alone ^till I swalloxD doicn my spittle. 
 This is a proverb among the Arabians to the pre- 
 sent day; by which they understand, give me leave 
 to rest after my fatigue. Tliis is the favor which Job 
 complains is not granted him. There are two in- 
 stances, quoted by Schultens, which illustrate the 
 passage. One is of a person, who, when eagerly 
 pressed to give an account of his travels, answered 
 with impatience, " Let me swallow down my spittle ; 
 for my journey hath fatigued me." The other in- 
 stance is of a quick return made to one who used that 
 proverb: " Suflcr me," said the person importuned, 
 " to sivallow down my spittle :'' to which his friend 
 replied " You may, if you please, swallow down even 
 Tigris and Euphrates:" that is, take what time you 
 please. — Biblical Researches. 
 
184 JOB, 
 
 NO. 204.-~THE SWIFTNESS OF EASTERN POSTS, 
 ix. 25. My days are swifter than a post. 
 
 The common pace of travelling in tlie Ivast is very 
 slow. Camels g-o little more than two miles an hour. 
 Those who carry messages in haste move very dif- 
 ferently. Dromedaries, a sort 'of camel which is 
 exceedingly swift, are used for this purjyose ; and 
 Lady Montague asserts, that they far out-run the 
 .swiftest horses. There are also messengers who run 
 on foot; and who sometimes go an hundred and 
 fd'ty miles in less than twenty-four liours. With 
 what energy then might Job say, my days are swifter 
 than a post. Instead of passing away with a slowness 
 of motioB like that of a caravan, my days of prosperity 
 have disappeared with a swiftness exceeding that of 
 a messenger carrying dispatches upon a swift drome- 
 dary, — liarmer* 
 
 Sandys says, that a thousand Arabs and Moors 
 have informed him, that the dromedary will hold on 
 a^violent hard trot for four and twenty hours upon a 
 stretch, without shewing the least sign of weariness, 
 or inclination to tait; and that having swallowed a 
 ball or two of barley-meal, with a bowl of water or 
 camel's milk, the animal seems as fresh as at first 
 petting out, and ready to continue running at the same 
 rate for as many hours longer. They pass a thong 
 through the gristle of the creature's nose, whicfe 
 serves for a bridle. — Calmet. 
 
 But grant man happy ; grant him happy long j 
 Add to life's highest prize her latest hour j 
 That hour, so late, is nimble in approach. 
 That, liJtea post, comes on in full career. 
 
 Yousc. 
 
JOB. 185 
 
 XO. 205; — MANNER OF MAKING CHEESE IN THE EAST. 
 
 X. 10. Hast thou not poured me out as^milk, and cur- 
 dled me like cheese. 
 Dr. Shaw says, that the sheep and the goats contri- 
 bute to the Eastern dairies, particularly in the making 
 of cheese. Instead of rennet, especially in the sum- 
 mer season, they turn the .7rti7/5: with the Ifdwers of 
 the great-headed thistle, or wild artichoke ; and 
 putting the curds afterwards into small baskets, made 
 with rushes, or with the dwarf palm, they bind them 
 up close and press them. The Barbary cheeses are 
 small, rarely weighing above two or three pounds, 
 and in the shape of our penny loaves. The Eastern 
 cheeses are so very soft, that Sandys imagined they 
 were not pressed at all. " A beastly kind of unpressed 
 cheese, that lies in a lump," is his description of this 
 part of the Eastern diet. ~IIar;mer. 
 
 NO.' 206. — SIGNS Of INDIGNATION. 
 
 xvi. 9. He gnasheih upon m6 with his teeth. 
 Homer, describing Achilles an.iing to revenge the 
 death of Patroclus, among other signs of indignation, 
 jnoentions the grinding of his teeth : — 
 
 Grief and revenge his furious lieart inspire. 
 His glowing eye-balls roll with living fire : 
 He grinds his teeth, and, furious with delay, 
 O'erlooks th' embattled host, and hopes the bloody day. 
 
 Pope. 
 
 Herculus also, in Virgil^ is described as raging in 
 mind and gnashing his teeth. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 207.— SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS USED IN THE EAST. 
 
 2iix. 2Sy24-. Oh that my words were now written ! oh 
 
186, JOK. 
 
 that ihey were printed in a book! Ihat the]} were 
 
 graven ivif/i an iroji pen and leady in the rock for 
 
 ever ! 
 
 There is a method of writing, in the East, intended 
 to fix words on the memory ; but the writing is not 
 designed to continue. Dr. Shaw says, that in Bar- 
 bary the Moorish and Turkish boys are taught to 
 write upon a smooth thin board, slightly daubed over 
 with whiting, which may be wiped off and renewed 
 at pleasure. No doubt things were often wiped out 
 of the memory of the Arabs in the days of Job, as 
 well as out of their writing-tables. Job therefore says, 
 Oh that ihey were printed in a ()ook, from whence they 
 should not be blotted out! But books were liable 
 to injuries: hence he wishes that his words might be 
 graven in a rock, the most lasting way of all. 
 
 The Prefetto of Eg:ypt, speaking of Arabia, where it 
 is supposed Job lived, says, tlint they came to a large 
 plain, surrounded with high hills, which were called 
 Gebel el Mokatab, that is, the written mountains. 
 He says, that they passed by several others, for an 
 hoiir together, engraved with ancient unknown cha- 
 racters, which were cut in the hard marble rock, 
 twelve or fourteen feet above the surface of the 
 ground ; and though they had in their company per- 
 sons who were acquainted with the Arabic, Greek, 
 Hebrew, Syriac, Coptic, Latin, Armenian, and Turk- 
 ish languages, yet none of them had any knowledge 
 of those characters. He conceived that they were 
 probably engraved b}^ the Chaldeans ; but the Bishop 
 of Clogher thought that they Were ancient Hebrew 
 characters, engraven by the Israelites, during their 
 abode in the wilderness. Public records were anciently 
 
JOB. 187 
 
 written on rolls of lead; and the Septnagint seem io 
 suppose, that Job meant the recording things after a 
 similar way. "Who will cause my words to be 
 written, to be put in a book, that shall last for ever ; 
 with an iron pen and lead," (i, e. upon lead) " or to be 
 engraven on the rocks?" Grey supposes, that the 
 letters were hollowed in the rock with the iron pen or 
 chissel, and then filled up with melted lead, in order 
 to be more legible ; but it doth not appear that any 
 of these inscriptions were so filled up. — Harmer, 
 
 NO. 208. — LIGHTS USED IN THE EAST. 
 
 xxi. 17. How of t is the candle of the wicked put out! 
 
 and, how oft cometh their dtstructio7i upon them ! 
 
 Maiilet informs us, that the houses of Kgypt are 
 never without lights ; that they not only burn lamps 
 all the night long, but in all the inhabited apartments 
 of the house ; and that the poorest people would ra- 
 ther retrench part of their food, than have their lights 
 extinguished. If such were the ancient custom, not 
 only of Egypt, but of the neighbouring countries of 
 Judea and Arabia, it will serve strongly to illustrate 
 several passages of scripture. 
 
 Jeremiah makes the taking away of the light of 
 the candle, and a total desolation, the same thing. — 
 Jer. XXV. 10. 11. Job describes the destruction of a 
 family amongst the Arabs after the same manner: 
 and Bildad, using the same thought, says, the light of 
 the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire 
 shall not shine. — Chap, xviii. 5. On the other hand, 
 when God would bless the house of David, he pro-, 
 mises to give him a light always in Jerusalem. — 
 1 Kings, II. 3G. .^ 
 
# 
 
 tm JOB. 
 
 The tertts of Princes used to be frequently illumi- 
 Tjatetl, as a mark of honor and dignity. Norden says, 
 that the tent of the Bey of Girge was distinguished 
 from the other tents by forty hinterns, suspended 
 before it in form of chequer work: and possibly 
 something of this sort existed in the days of Job, 
 w/i^n his candle shined upon my Jwad, and when by 
 his light I walked through darhiess. — Chap. xxix. 3. 
 
 Harmer. 
 
 It was common also to illuminate houses, on occa- 
 sions of joy. Mr. Scott seems to think it an allusion 
 to the lamps, which hung from the ceiling, in the 
 banqueting rooms of the wealthy Arabs: not unlike 
 what Virgil mentions in the palace of Dido : — 
 
 }Voin gildod roofs depending lamps display 
 Nocturnal beams, that imitate the diU'. 
 
 Urydex. 
 
 NO. 209. — ROCKS, PLACES OF ABODE. 
 
 iixiv. 8. They are wet with the showers of the moun 
 iains^ and embrace the rock for iiDantof a shelter. 
 This exactly a^^rees with what Niebuhr says of the 
 modern wandering Arabs near Mount Sinai: — "those 
 who cannot aiVord a tent, spread out a cloth upon 
 four or six stakes; and others spread their cloth near 
 a tree, «r endeavour to sJielter themselves from the 
 heat and tlie rain in the cavities of the rocks." — 
 
 Burder. 
 They are glad when they can fmd a cavern or 
 clc|^t of a rock in which they may have some pro- 
 tection against the injuries of the weather, and an 
 hiding place from the fury of tlieir o])i)ressors. — Poole. 
 
JOB. }SQ 
 
 Na.2 10.— MATERIALS USED FOR BmLpI!;G IN THE EAST. 
 
 xxir. 16. In the dark they dig through houses y which 
 they had marked for themselves in the day-time. 
 
 Egmont and Hayman inform us, that the walls of 
 the Eastern houses are very thick, in ordorto shelter 
 the inhabitants froin the heat. They are semetimes 
 built of mud, sometimes of bricks formed of mud, and 
 sometimes they are built of stone.— Rev. xiv. 40. Mud 
 houses make the streets dusty when there is wind, and 
 dirty when there is rain. Maundreli says, that at 
 Damascus, upon a violent rain, the whole city be- 
 comes a quagmire, by the washing of the houses* 
 Thus the Prophet supposes the quantity of dust and 
 mire of the streets of Eastern cities to be very great. 
 Tyrus heaped up silver as the dust^ and fine gold a^ 
 the mire of the streets. — Zech. ix. 3. 
 
 Chardin says, that the Eastern bricks are in shape 
 like those of Europe, and commonly dried in the sun ; 
 that they are made of clay moistened with water, and 
 mixed with straw. 
 
 Houses built of such frail materials rendered them 
 liable to the assault spoken of by Job ; whilst the 
 thickness of the walls makes the term digging pecu- 
 liarly expressive. 
 
 If the Eastern bricks are no^ very durable, yet 
 their mortar, especially one sort of it, is extremely so. 
 Dr. Shaw says, it is composed of one part of sand, two 
 of wood ashes, and three of lime,, well mixed together, 
 and beaten for three days and nights incessantly, with 
 wooden mallets. With this mortar they used, in 
 general, to plaster their houses. Sir J. Chardin sup- 
 poses, that the Prophet alludes to this custom of 
 making mortar, when he says, ye shall tread down the 
 
190 JOB. 
 
 wicked, for iliey shall be ashes under the eoles of your 
 feet, — Mai. iv. 3 — Harmer. 
 
 'N0.21 1. — SITTING ON A CUSHION, A TOKEN OF RESPECT. 
 
 xxix. 7. When I prepared my seat in the street. 
 
 Sitting upon a cushion is an expression of honor ; 
 and preparing a seat for a person of distinction, seems 
 to mean laying things of this kind on a place where 
 such an one is to sit. Chardin says, that in Asia, it is 
 not common for the people to go into the shops, 
 which are mostly small, but they are accommodated 
 with wooden seats on the outside ; and the people of 
 quality cause carpets and cushions to be carried be- 
 fore them, in order that they may repose themselves 
 more agreeably. 
 
 It is natural to suppose that Job sent his serv^ants to 
 furnish orie of the public seats for their master. Thus 
 Eli's seat by the way-side, 1 Sam. iv. 13. was probably 
 adorned after a similar manner, and in a way becdming 
 so dignified a personage. Perhaps Job speaks of him- 
 self as a civil Magistrate, as a Judge upon the bench, 
 who had a seat erected for him to sit upon, to hear 
 and to try causes. This seat was set up in the street, 
 in the open air, before the gate of the city, where 
 great numbers might be convened to hear and see 
 justice done. Norden informs us, that the Arabs, to 
 this day, hold their courts of justice in an open place 
 under the Heavens, as in a field or a market-place. 
 
 Harmer. 
 
 NO. 212. — PILLARS OF SAND CARRIED ABOUT BY THE 
 WIND. 
 
 XXX. 22. Thou Uf test me up to tJie wind: ihou causest 
 me to ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance. 
 
JOB. i^Ji 
 
 Mr. Bruce says, "on the 14th, at seven in the 
 morning, we left Assa Hagj^a, our course being' due 
 north. At one o'clock, we alighted among some 
 accacia trees, at Waadi el Halboub, having gone 
 twenty-one miles. .We were here at once surprized 
 and terrified by a sight, surely one of the most mag- 
 nificent in the world. In that vast expanse of desart, 
 from W. and to N. W. of us, we saw a number of 
 prodigious pillars of sand at different distances, at 
 times moving with great celerity, at others stalking 
 on with a majestic slowness: at intervals we thought 
 they were coming in a very few minutes to overwhelm 
 us ; and small quantities of sand did actually, more 
 than once, reach us. Again they would retreat, so. 
 as to be almost out of sight, their tops reaching to 
 the very clouds. The tops were often separated 
 from the bodies ; and these, once disjoined, dispersed 
 in the air, and did not appear any more. Sometimes 
 they were broken near the middle, as if struck with 
 a large cannon shot. About noon they began to 
 advance with considerable swiftness upon us, the 
 wind being very strong at North. Eleven of them 
 ranged alongside of us, about the distance of three 
 miles. The greatest diameter of the largest, appeared 
 as if it would measure ten feet. They retired from 
 us with a wind at S. E. leaving an impression upon 
 my mind to which I can give no name, though surely 
 one Ingredient in it was fear, with a considerable 
 share of wonder and astonishment." 
 
 If this quotation be allowed to explain tlie imagery 
 of Job, we see how his dignity might be exalted to 
 grandeur, and even to terror, in the sight of beholders, 
 and again be dispersed, and sink into the undistin- 
 
}92 son. 
 
 guished level of a desart. This comparison seems to 
 be adapted to the mind of an Arab, who must have 
 seen, or have been informed of, similar phenomena m. 
 the countries- around him. — Caiinet.. 
 
 Rousid by Almighty force, a furious storm- 
 I^pcaught nie, whirl'd me on its eddying gust, 
 Than dash'd medown, and sliattcr'd me to dust. 
 
 NO. 213. — RESPECT DUE TO SUPERIORS. 
 
 xxxi. 35, 36. That Qnine adversary had ivri/fen cc 
 
 book. Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, 
 
 and bind it as a crown to me. 
 
 Chardih, speaking of tlie manner in which a letter 
 was delivered to a new Monarch, says, that it was put 
 in a purse of gold cloth, drawn together with strings 
 of twisted gold and silk, with tassels of the same ; and 
 the chief Minister put his own seal upon it. The 
 General who delivered it threw himself at his Majes- 
 ty's feet, bowing to the very ground; then, rising upon 
 his knees, he drew out of the bosom of his garment 
 the bag wherein was the letter, which the Assembly 
 had sent to the new Monarch. Presently he opened 
 the bagj took out the letter, kissed it, laid it to his 
 forehead, presented it to his Majesty, and then rose 
 up. The Editor of " The Fuins of Balbac" observed^ 
 that the Arab Governor of that city' respectfully 
 applied the firman of the Grand Seignior to his fore- 
 liead, when he and his fellow travellers first waited 
 on him, and then kissed it, declaring himself the 
 Sultan's slave's slave* 
 
 Sir T. Roe informs us, that when the Mogul sends 
 his commands, by letters, to any of his Governors, 
 tkose papers axe entertained with as^ much respect 
 
JOB. 193 
 
 as if himself were present. The Governor having 
 intelligence that such letters are coming near him, 
 himself, with other inferior officers, rides forth to meet 
 the patamar, or messenger that brings them ; and as 
 soon as he sees thoSe letters he alights from his horse, 
 falls down on the earth, takes them from the messen- 
 ger, and lays them on his head, whereon he bindis 
 them fast : then retiring to his place of public meet- 
 ing, he reads and auvswers them. To such a custom 
 as is here described Job seems to allude in this passage, 
 
 Burder, &c. 
 
 PSALMS. 
 
 NO. 214.— SWIFTNESS ESTE'EMED IN WARRIORS. 
 
 xviii. 33. He maketh my feet like hinds' feet. 
 
 This was reckoned a very honorable qualifi- 
 cation amongst the ancient warriors ; who, as they 
 generally fought on foot, were enabled, by their agility 
 and swiftness, speedily to run from place to place, to 
 give orders, attack their enemies, protect their friends, 
 or for any other purposes the service might require 
 of them. — Burder. 
 
 God, who had given him wisdom to contrive, fa- 
 vours him with speed to execute. 
 
 NO, 216.— ANCIENT BOWS. 
 
 xviii. 34. He teaeheth my hands to war, so that a how 
 
 of steel is broken by mine arms. 
 
 This argues great muscular strength. Thus in 
 
 the story of the bow of Ulysses, which none of the 
 
 suitors were able to draw, it is said, 
 
 O 
 
194 ^ PSALMS. 
 
 So the great master drew the mighty bow. 
 And drew with ease ; one hand aloft display 'd 
 The bending horns, and one the string essay'd. 
 
 Odyrs. 
 
 When Ulysses had thus bent his bow, and shot 
 the arrows through the rings, he glories, and says tg 
 his son Telemachus, 
 
 Nor have I wrought thee shame ; 
 I>lor err'd this hand unfaithful to its aim ; 
 Nor prov'd the toil too hard ; nor have I lost 
 That ancient vigour, once my pride and boast. 
 
 Pope. 
 
 Herodotus tells us, that when Cambysses sent his 
 npies into the country of Ethiopia, the King of that 
 country, well understanding the intention of their 
 commg, said to them, " When the Persians pan easily 
 draw bows of this largeness, then let them invade the 
 Ethiopians." He then unstrung the bow, and gave it 
 them to carry to their master. — Burder, 
 
 NO, 216.— ANCIENT PRIESTLY CUSTOM. 
 
 sxvi. 6. I will wash my hands in innocency: so icill 
 I coinpass thine altar, O Lord. 
 When the Priests had laid the sacrifice upon the 
 altar, bound it to the horns thereof at the four cor- 
 ners, and poured out the blood, it was customary for 
 them to wash their hands, as preparatory to their 
 walking round the altar. In the worship of th« 
 heathen, this ceremony appears to have been per- 
 formed prior to the offering up of the gacrifice.-^- 
 
 Burder. 
 
 Bjit come ye pwe, in spotless garbs array *d. 
 For you the solemn festival is made. 
 Coiiie follow thrice tl'e victim round the ]ands» 
 In running wat«r purify your hands. 
 
 QRAlVGtH. 
 
PSALMS. 1^5 
 
 Eustdthiiis says, that it was the ancient custom, 
 because they thought that none but those who wer« 
 clean and pure should meddle with sacred things. 
 
 NO. 217,— HANDS LIFTED UP IN PRAYER. 
 
 xxviii. 2. Hear the voice of my supplications when I 
 
 cry unto thee, when 1 lift up my hands toward thy 
 
 holy oracle. 
 
 The lifting up of the hands towards an object of 
 devotion, or an holy place, was an ancient homage 
 both among the Jews and the Heathen ; which con- 
 tinues to the present time. 
 
 Pitts, in his account of the religion and manners 
 of the Mahommedans, speaking of the Algerines 
 throwing wax-candles and pots of oil overboard, as a 
 present to some Marrabbot,* says, "when this is done, 
 they all together hold up their hands, begging the 
 Marrabbot's blessing, and a prosperous voyage ; and 
 if at any time they should happen to be chased, or to 
 be in ^ storm, they will gather money and do like- 
 wise." The Marrabbots have generally a little neat 
 room built over their graves, resembling, in figure, 
 their mosques or churches; which is very neatly 
 cleaned, and well looked after. The people, in pass- 
 ing those places, will often lift up their hands, and 
 say some short prayer. 
 
 In like manner, Pitts tells us, that at quitting the 
 beet, or holy house at Mecca, to which they make 
 devout pilgrimages, " they hold up their hands to- 
 wards the beet, making earnest petitions, and then 
 keep going backward, 'till they come to the farewell 
 gate. All the way as they retreat, they continue 
 
 * Mahomraedan saiat. 
 
 2 ^' 
 
15^ PSALMS. 
 
 *etiti<ming, holding up their hands, with their eyes 
 fixed on the beet, until they are out of sight of it; 
 and so go to their lodgings weeping." , // we have for- 
 rrotten the name of our God, or stretched out our 
 hands to a strange god: shall. not God search this 
 cui^-^Ps. xliv. 20, 21,— Bdrmer, 
 
 NO. 218.— -DEDICATION OF HOUSES. 
 
 XXX. (Title) A psalm and song, at fe dedication of 
 the house of David. 
 It was common, when any person had fiftished a 
 house, and entered into it, to celebrate it with great 
 rejoicing, and to perform some religious ceremonies, 
 to secure the protection of Heaven. Thus when the 
 second temple was finished, the Priests and Levite?, 
 and the rest of the captivity, kept the dedication of 
 the house of God with joy, and offered numerous 
 sacrifices.-Ezra vi. 16. We read in the New Te^ta- 
 ment of the feast of the dedication, appointed by 
 Judas Maccabeus, in memory of the purification of 
 the temple of Jerusalem, after it had been defiled, 
 and laid in ruins, by Antiochus Epiphanes. This 
 feast was celebrated, annually, by solemn sacrifices, 
 music, songs, and hymns to the praise of God, for 
 eight-days successively, down to the time of its de- 
 struction by Titus. This custom was common 
 amongst private persons.-Deut. xx. 6. The Romans 
 also dedicated their temples, their theatres, their 
 statues, and their houses.— Chandler. 
 
 NO. 219.— DROUGHT OF EASTERN SUMMERS. 
 
 xxxii.4. My moisture is turned into the drought off 
 summer. 
 In England, and the neighbouring conntrieg, it ia^ 
 
PSALMS. Ul 
 
 - common for rain to fall in all months of the year : but 
 it is not so in the Levant. Egypt has scarce any 
 rain at all : and Dr. Shaw affirms, that it is as uncom- 
 mon in what at Algiers they call the Desart, which is 
 the most southern part of that country. Rain, indis- 
 criminately, in the winter months, and none at all in 
 the summer, is what is common in the East. Jacobus 
 de Vitriaco says, that " thunder and lightning, which 
 are so common in western countries in the summer, 
 happen in the Holy Land in winter. In the summer 
 it seldom or never rains there : but in winter, though 
 the returns of rain are not so frequent, yet, after they 
 begin to fall, they pour down for three or four days 
 and nights together, as vehemently as if they would 
 drown the country." The withered appearance of 
 an Eastern summer^ which is very dry, is doubtless 
 what the Psalmist refers to, when J^ says, my mois- 
 ture is turned irdothe drought of summer, — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 220,— WATER-SP0UT5 IN XJHE EAST, 
 
 xlii. 7. Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy 
 
 waterspouts : all thy waves and thy billows are 
 
 gone over me. 
 
 Natural Philosophers often make mention of water- 
 spouts, which are most surprising appearances. In 
 our text, the Psalmist seems to be describing those 
 phenomena, and painting a storm at sea. 
 
 Dr. Shaw tells us, that water-spouts are more fre- 
 quent near the Capes of Latikea, Greego, and Carmel, 
 than in any other part of the Mediterranean. These 
 are all places on the coast of Syria ; and the last of them 
 every body knows to be in Judea ; it being a place 
 rendered famous by the prayers of the Prophet Elijah. 
 
IdS fS ALMS'. * 
 
 The Jews could not be ignorant of what happened 
 frequently on their coasts ; and David must have 
 known of those danglers of the sea, if he had not 
 actually seen them, as Dr. Shaw did. Strange as it 
 might appear, some Commentators speak of those 
 water-spouts, as only meaning vehement rains ; and 
 think, that David compares his affliction to the pouring 
 of water through the spouts of a house ; which can 
 have nothing to do with a storm at sea, which the 
 Jewish poet is evidently describing. The frequency 
 of water-spouts on the Jewish coasts, made it very 
 natural for a Jewish poet to mention them, in the 
 description of a violent and dangerous storm. — 
 
 Harmer 
 The Psalmist, doubtless, alludes to complicated and 
 overwhelming afflictions. — 
 
 Huge troubles, with tumultuous noise, 
 Swell like a sea, and round me spread j 
 Thy water spouts drown all my joys. 
 And rising waves roll o'er my heS^. 
 
 Watts. 
 
 NO. 221.— IVORY PALACES. 
 
 xlv. 8. All thy garments smell of myrhk, and aloes, 
 and cassia ; out of the ivory palaces, w/iereby they 
 have made thee glad. 
 
 Sir J. Chardin tells us, that the late King of Persia 
 caused a tent to be made, which cost two millions.* 
 They called it the house of gold, because gold glit- 
 tered every where about it. This account casts light 
 upon several passages of scripture. Here we see how 
 natural it is for the Easterns to use the words house 
 and tent as equivalent terms : this tent, it seems, wa» 
 
 * French livres we are to suppose. 
 
r 
 
 PSALMS. 159 
 
 called " the house of gold." Thus the goodly raiment 
 of Esau, which was left in the custody of Rebekah, is 
 said to be with her in the house— Gen. xxvii. 15 ; which 
 it is certain was kept in a tent. On the other hand, 
 when Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite, wanted 
 to cause the people to abandon David, he blew a 
 trumpet, crying, Every man to his tents, O Israel — 2 
 Sam. XX. 1. ; though Israel did not dwell in moveable 
 habitations at that time, but in cities. 
 
 Ill the next place his tent was called " the house of 
 gold," not that it was wholly made of gold, but be- 
 cause it was highly ornamented with it. This teaches 
 us what we are to understand by ivory palaces and 
 the golden city, of which we read in the scriptures. 
 The ivory palaces, appear to mean houses richly 
 adorned with that precious substance : and the golden 
 city — Isa. xiv. 4. means the city remarkable for it» 
 being richly gilded in many parts of it. — Harmer, 
 
 The Lord of all things, in his humble birth. 
 Makes mean the proud magnificence of earth y 
 The straw, the manger, and the mould'ring wall. 
 Eclipse iti lustre ; and I scorn it all. 
 
 GuiON. 
 
 NO. 222. — TEARS PRESERVfiD IN URNS. 
 
 Ivi. 8. Put thou my tears into thy bottle. 
 Doth not this seem to intimate, that the custom of 
 of putting tears into urns, so well known amongst 
 the Romans, was more anciently in use amongst the 
 Eastern nations ; and particularly amongst the He- 
 brews? These urns were of different materials; 
 some of glass, and some of earth. It was common, 
 to place the urns upon the sepulchres of the deceased, 
 as a memorial of the distress and' affliction of their 
 
200 ^ PSALMS. 
 
 forvividg relatives and friends. It will be difficult 
 to Account for this expression of the Psalmist, but 
 upon this supposition. If this be allowed, the meaning 
 will be, " let my distress, and the tears I shed in 
 consequence of it, be ever before thee, excite thy 
 kind remembrance of me, and plead with thee to 
 ^rant me the relief 1 stand in need of." — Chandler, 
 
 NO. 223.— iCHARMING OF SERPENTS. 
 
 Iviii. 4. 5. They are like the deaf adder that stoppetk 
 k6rx:ar; which -will not hearken to t/ie voice of 
 Hhe charmers, charining never so wisely. 
 "Whether any man ever possessed the power tc/ 
 enchant or charm adders and serpents ; or whether 
 those who pretended to doso.profited only by popular 
 tjredulity, it is ^rtain, that -a ^fevorable opinion of 
 magical power once existed. NumGroi:^ rtestimonies 
 to this purpose may^be collected from ancient writers. 
 Modern travellers also afford their evidence. Mr. 
 Browne, in his travels in Africa, says, "the serpent 
 most common at Kahira, is of the viper class; and, 
 undoubtedly,' 'poisonous. If one of them enter a 
 . Iiouse, the charmer is sent for, who uses a certain 
 form of words. I have seen three serpents enticed 
 out of the cabin of a ship, lying near the shore : the 
 operator handled theln ; and then put them into a 
 bag. At other times, I have seen the serpents twist 
 round the bodies of these Psylli in all directions, with- 
 out having had their fangs extracted or broken, and 
 without doing them any injury." 
 
 There appears to have been a method of charming 
 serpents by sounds, so as to render them tractable and 
 harmless. The ancients expressly ascribe the incain-. 
 
PSALMS. 201 
 
 tatioii of serpents to the human voice. Thus Virgil 
 attributes the like effect on serpents to the song, as 
 well as to the touch of the enchanter. 
 
 His wand arid holy words the viper's rage, 
 Andvenom'd wound of serpents, could assuage. 
 
 Drydek. 
 
 Music has a wonderful influence upon serpents. 
 Adders \y\\\ swell at the sound of a flute, raising them- 
 selves up on the one half of their body, turning them- 
 selves about, and beating proper time. Chardin says, 
 that the way made use of to tame serpents is to break 
 their teeth ; and to this custom David is supposed to 
 allude when he says, break their teeth^ O God, in their 
 mouth — ver. 6. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 224.— A BANNER, A SIGN OF PROTECTION. 
 
 lx.4. ThjouhciLst given a banner to them that feared 
 thee, that it may be displayed because of- the truth. 
 The satisfaction which Benhadad received about 
 the safety of his life, appears to have been by words : 
 but the modern Eastern people have looked upon the 
 giving them a banner as a more sure pledge of protec- 
 tion. Albertus Aquensis tells us, that when Jerusalem 
 wa« taken, in 1099, about three hundred Saracens gat 
 ■upon the roof of a very lofty building, and earnestly 
 begged for quarter, but could not be induced, by any 
 promises df safety, to come down, until they had re- 
 ceived the banner of Tancred* as a pledge of life. 
 The Saracens surrendering themselves upon the 
 delivery of a standard, proves in how strong a light 
 ihey looked upon their giving them a banner, since 
 
 * One of the chiefs of the croisade armj. 
 
202 PSALMS. 
 
 they could confide in that, when they could not tfust 
 in verbal promises. 
 
 Perhaps the delivery of a banner was anciently 
 esteemed, in like manner, as an obligation to protect ; 
 and that the Psalmist considered it in this light when, 
 upon a victory gained over the Syrians and Edomites, 
 he said, ifwu hast given a banner to them that feared 
 thee, that it may be displayed, or lifted up, to inspire 
 with confidence in the protection of God, because of 
 the truth : thy word of promise, which is an assurance 
 of protection, like the giving me and my people a 
 banner, the surest of all pledges. — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 225, — MANNER OF SENDING LETTERS BY ARROWS. 
 
 Ixiv. 3. And bend their bows to shoot their arrows^ 
 even bitter words. 
 
 This appears to be an allusion to the practise of fix- 
 ing letters in arrows, and shooting or directing them 
 where it was desired they should fall and be taken up. 
 Timoxenus and Artabazus sent letters to one another 
 in this way at the siege of Potidea. Thus, the Jew« 
 say, Shebna and Joab sent letters to Sennacherib, 
 acquainting him that all Israel were willing to make 
 peace with him ; but Hezekiah would not suflFer them. 
 
 Gill. 
 
 Philip, King of Macedon, lost one of his eyes, be- 
 fore the city of Methone, by a very singular accident. 
 Having insultingly refused the services of Aster, a 
 cross-bowman. Aster threw himself into the city, and 
 shot an arrow, on which was written " To Philip's 
 right eye," and gave him the strongest proof of his 
 being a good marksman ; for he hit him in his right 
 eye. Philip sent back the sanYe arrow, with this in- 
 
PSALMS. gOS 
 
 s<!nption, " If Philip take the city, he will hang up 
 Aster ;" aud accordingly he was as good as his word. 
 
 liollin. 
 
 There is a circumstance mentioned by Mr. Mungo 
 Park, which might possibly have had its parallel in 
 the conduct of the ancients ; and if it had, clearly 
 accounts for certain figures referred to in the sacred 
 scriptures. " Each of the negroes took from his 
 quiver a handful of arrows ; and putting two between 
 his teeth, and one in his bow, waved to us with his 
 hand to keep at a distance." — Burder. 
 
 In like manner the Psalmist says, the words of his 
 enemies are drawn swords — Iv. 21. A passage of 
 Thevenot says, " the galliot met with a Turkish 
 galliot ; and having laid her athwart hauze, they met 
 with a stout resistance : the Turks who were on board 
 of her having a naked sword between their teeth, and 
 
 a musket in their hands, beat oiF their adversaries." 
 
 Calmet, 
 
 The metaphor of the arrow and the sword, applied 
 to powerful speech, is bold, but just. It is said of 
 Pericles, by Aristophanes, — 
 
 His pow'rful speech 
 Pierced the hearer's soul, and left behind. 
 Peep in his bosoin, its keen point infix'd. 
 
 NO. 226. — CONSECRATED DOVES AND FISHES. 
 
 Ixviii. 13. Though ye have lien among the pots, yet 
 
 shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with 
 
 silver, and her feathers with yellow gold. 
 
 Dr. Richard Chandler, in his travels in Asia Minor, 
 
 says, that the shepherds and fishermen make use of 
 
 rocks and caverns for a retreat ; and kiudle fires ia 
 
204 PSALMS. 
 
 them for culinary purposes. Doves frequently re- 
 sorted to those places; which must have very much 
 smutted and dirtied their feathers. . 
 
 Great indeed had been the aflBictions of Israel in 
 the land of Egypt, where they had been obliged to 
 work, without remission, in the brick-kilns: never*- 
 theless, the spirit of prophecy portends the most 
 flattering change of circumstance — ye shall be as the 
 wings of a dove covered with silver^ and her feathers 
 with yellow gold* 
 
 The color of their common pigeons seems to be 
 like that of the pigeons of our country — blue or ash 
 color. Pitts fiays, that at Mecca, they come in great 
 flocks to the temple, where they are usually fed by 
 the hagges,* The poor people of Mecca also beg 
 the hagges to bestow something on ** hammamet 
 metta nabee ;" i. e. the pigeons of the prophet. Some 
 of the doves of Palestine were white, and were treated 
 with great respect, like the blue pigeons of Mecca ; 
 and considered as devoted to some deity. 
 
 The intermingled gold doth not appear to be the 
 description of an animal adorned by the hand of 
 nature, but by that of superstition. The ancient 
 Heathen are known to have ornamented their sacred 
 animals with trinkets of gold; and thus the Syrians, 
 most probably, adorned their doves. 
 
 Sir J. Chardin tells us, that at a town called Cor- 
 nicha, he found, in the court-yard of a mosque, two 
 reservoirs, full of fishes ; some of which had rings of 
 brass, some of silver, and others of gold, in token of 
 their being consecrated. Dr. R. Chandler gives us a 
 note from Elian, who speaks of tame fishes that wore 
 
 •• .The .pilgrims. 
 
PSALMS. 205 
 
 golden neck-laces and ear-rings, in a fountain belong- 
 ing to the temple of the military Jupiter. The sense 
 of our text appears to be, that notwithstanding Israel 
 had been greatly degraded, yet should he be beau- 
 tiful and glorious as a consecrated dove. — Harmer. 
 
 Why should' I say- 
 How thro' the crowded towns the milk-white dove, 
 \ In Syria sacred, may with safety rove. 
 
 '"TlBULLUS. 
 
 NO. 227. — SINGING IN SOLEMN PROCESSION. 
 
 Ixviii. 25. The singers went before, the players on 
 iristruments followed after : amo7ig tJiem were the 
 damsels playing with timbrels. 
 This custom prevailed also among the Gentiles in 
 their solemn processions. Both before and after, as 
 well as during the time of their libations and sacrifices, 
 they sang hymns in praise of their respective deities ; 
 and when they celebrated the supposed advent of 
 their gods at particular times, it was with the greatest 
 demonstrations of joy, with dancing, music, and songs. 
 On this account they employed persons to compose 
 approprfate hymns ; and that the singing of them 
 might be performed with greater harmony and dignity, 
 they chose persons trained up to, and well skilled in 
 vocal music. For this employment they brought up 
 children of both sexes, who marched in procession at 
 their great festivals. — Chandler, 
 
 NO. 228. — PROSTRATIONS COMMON IN THE EAST. 
 
 Ixxii. 8. 9. He shall have dominion also from sea to 
 sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. 
 They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before 
 kimy and his enemies shall liok the dusL 
 
206 PSALMS. 
 
 The 6r«rt King of Persia instituted the ceremony of 
 kissing the feet, as a mark of reverence to be paid by 
 subjects to their Sovereigns ; and as the manner of 
 taking the oath of fidelity by vassal or feudatory 
 Princes. This ceremony was afterwards changed into 
 kissing the ground, in the presence of their Princes> or 
 touching it with their foreheads, whilst that of kissing 
 the feet was reserved for strangers, and subjects of the 
 highest quality. 
 
 When the Psalmist says, he shall have dominion 
 from sea to sea, he marks out extent of empire : when 
 he adds, they that dwell in the wilderness shall bow 
 before him, it is equivalent to saying, " the wild 
 Arabs, which the greatest conqueror could never 
 tame, shall bow before him or become his vassals ;" 
 nay, his enemies, and, consequently, these Arabs 
 among the rest, shall lick tJie dust ; shall court him 
 with the most abject submissions. This is beautifully 
 emblematic of the triumph of Christ over those na- 
 tions and individuals, whom it appeared impossible 
 for the gospel to subdue. The Kings of Tarshish 
 and qf the isles shall bring presents • the Kings of 
 Sheba and JSeba ^shall offer gifts. Yea, all Kings 
 shall fall down before him : all nations shall serve 
 him. — Harnier, 
 
 SO. 229.— THE RAPID GROWTH OF GRASS. 
 
 Ixxii. 16. They of the city shall flourish like grass of 
 the earth. 
 The rapidity with which grass grows in the East, 
 is t]|e idea referred to in these words. Sir T. Roe 
 says, " when the ground hath been destitute of rain 
 nine months together, and looks like the barren sand 
 
PSALMS. 207 
 
 in the desarts of Arabia, where there is not one spire 
 of green grass to be found, within a few days after 
 those fat enriching showers begin to fall, the face of 
 the earth is so revived, that it is presently covered all 
 over with a pure green mantle." — Burder» 
 
 NO. 230. — HORNS WORN IN THE EAST, 
 
 ixxv. 5. Lift not up your horn on high: speak not 
 with a stiff neck. 
 This passage will receive some illustration from 
 Bruce's remarks, in his travels to discover the source 
 of the Nile, where, speaking of the head-dress of the 
 Governors of the provinces of Abyssinia, he repre- 
 sents it as consisting of a large broad fillet, bound 
 upon their forehead, and tied behind their head. In 
 the middle of this is a horn^ or a conical piece of 
 silver, gilt, about four inches long, much in the shape 
 of our common candle extinguishers. This is called 
 kiin, or horn ; and is only worn in reviews, parades 
 after victory, or at times of rejoicing, when they 
 are anointed with new, sweet, or fresh oil. The 
 crooked manner in which they hold the neck, 
 when this ornament is on the forehead, for fear it 
 should fall forward, seems to agree with what the 
 Psalmist calls speaking with a stiff neck. This, situa- 
 tion of the horn is happily alluded to in different parts 
 of the sacred writings. — My horn shalt thou exalt 
 like the horn of an unicorn. — Vs. xcij. 10. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 231. — DIFFERENT SORTS OF WINES. 
 
 Ixxv. 8. In thehandof the Lord there is a cup, and the 
 wine is rod : it is full of mixture, and he pouretJi 
 
208 PSALMS. 
 
 out of the same ; hut the dregs thereof all the wicked 
 
 of the earth shall wring them out and drink them. 
 
 The wines that are produced in different places, 
 differ considerably in their qualities. The wine of 
 Lebanon, and that of Helbon, near Damascus, are 
 mentioned with distinction by the Prophets Hosea 
 and Ezekiel. Red wine, in particular, is more esteemed 
 in the East than white. Olearius informs us, that ia 
 Persia they put Brazil wood or saffron into their wine, 
 A.0 give it a higher color'; which coloring is to make 
 it more tempting to the eye: hence the necessary 
 warning, Look not on the wine when it makethitself 
 red, 
 
 Theocritus tells ns, that at entertainments where 
 they drank healths, it was usual to drain th« vessel 
 they drank out of, as far as the sediment. 
 
 I'll drink. 
 Till to tBe lees tBe rosy bowl I sink. 
 
 Their wines were sometimes mingled with a variety 
 of ingredients ; such as honey, spices, wine inspissated, 
 by boiling it down to two thirds or one half of the 
 quantity, myrrh, opiates, and other strong dtitgs. 
 Nott tells us, that the Romans lined their vessels with 
 odorous gums, to give the wine a flavor ; and it i« 
 said that the Poles and Spaniards follow a similar 
 method at present. 
 
 The drunkard is described as one that seeketh mfxcc? 
 wine — Prov. xxiii. 30. and is mighty to mingle 
 strong drink — Isaiah v. 22. ; and hence the Psalmist 
 takes the sublime image of the cup of God's wrath, 
 called by Isaiah— M. 17. ihe cup of trembling. The 
 
PSALMS. 209 
 
 cup of trembling. The dregs^ thereof, that is, tlie 
 thickest sediment of the strong ingredients mingled 
 with it, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them 
 out, and drink tk&in, — Harmer, 
 
 NO. 232.— THE VINES AND SYCAMORE-TREES OF* EGYPT. 
 
 Ixxviii. 47. He destroyed their vines with hail, and 
 their sycamore-trees with frost. 
 
 The vineyards of Egypt were in the country of 
 Fioum. Maillet informs us, that notwithstanding 
 Egypt has many vines, the wine of Egypt is by no 
 means equal to the wants of the inhabitants : yet it 
 was so delicious that it found its way to Rome, and 
 was well known in that seat of luxury, 
 
 Norden says, that the fruit of the Egyptian vine is 
 of an excellent flavor ; and it appears, that it forms 
 a considerable part of the entertainment they give, 
 their friends. The Egyptian grape was small, com- 
 pared with the grapes of Palestine. Dandini, though 
 an Italian, was surprised at the extraordinary size of 
 the grapes ^ of Mount Libanus. He says, that h« 
 comprehended, at seeing them, why the Hebrews 
 puslied forwards with so much passion the conquest 
 of the Land of Promise, after they had seen the grapes 
 which the spies of Joshua brought back from the 
 neighbouring countries. Doubdan says, he was in- 
 formed by the monks about Bethlehem, that they 
 have bunches of grapes there weighing ten or twelve 
 pounds a-piece. Maillet says, that the Egyptians use 
 the young and tender leaf of the vine, as well as its 
 fruit : they wrap it up in little parcels, and so seasou 
 and cook it as to make a most exquisite sort of food. 
 
 Their sycamores were very important to them ; for 
 P 
 
«10 PSALMS. 
 
 they made their coffins, and probably their barques, 
 of sycamore wood ; vast numbers of which were used 
 upon the Nile. The sycamore produces a fi^, which 
 is in general use in Egypt ; and the Egyptians think 
 themselves well regaled when they have a piece of 
 bread, a couple of sycamore figs, and a pitcher of 
 water from the Nile. Hasselquist, the Swedish tra- 
 veller, was so gratified with this fruit, that he says, 
 he could scarce reft-ain from eating it. David placed 
 an officer over those trees, in common with the -olive 
 trees. — I Chrou. xxvii. 28. — Harmer, 
 
 ^O. 233.--^ATCHMEN EMPLOYED IN THE NIGHT. 
 
 :xc. 4i A thousand years in thy sight are^ut as yes- 
 terday, when it is past, and as a wat^ch in the night. 
 Sir J. Chardin says, that the people of the East 
 liave no clocks ; but that the several parts of the day 
 and of the night, which are eight in all, are publicly 
 taken notice of. In the Indies, the parts of the night 
 are made known, in large cities, as well by instru- 
 ments as by the rounds of the watchmen, who, with 
 -cries and small drums, give them notice that a fourth 
 part of the night is passed . Now as these cries awaked 
 those who had slept in that quarter of the night, it 
 iippeared to them but as a moment. There are sixty 
 «f these people who perform this task by day, and as 
 «iany by night ; that is, fifteen for each division. 
 
 It is plain, that the ancient Jews knew how the 
 night passed away, which was probably by some pub- 
 Kc notice given them ; but whether it was by simply 
 publishing, at the close of each watch, what watch 
 -was then ended ; or whether they made use of any 
 iistruments of music in this business, is not ea&ily.t© 
 
PSALMS. 211 
 
 be determined ; and still less what measures of time 
 were used by the watchmen. Dr. Russel says, " the 
 watchmen at Aleppo do not call the hour; but the 
 CTiers from the mosques sing at evening', midnight, 
 and day-break." The watchmen in the camp of the 
 caravans go their rounds crying, one after another, 
 ^* God is one — he is merciful ;" and often add, " take 
 heed to yourselves." — ZTanner. 
 
 A thousand ages in tliy sight. 
 
 Are like an ev'ning gone ; 
 
 Short as tlie watch that ends the night, 
 
 Before the rising sun 
 
 Watts. 
 
 NO, 234.— FREQUENT CHANGE OF VESTURE. 
 
 cii. 26. As a vesture shall thou change them. 
 A frequent change of garments is very common in 
 the East, and that both to shew respect and to display 
 magnificence. Thevenot tells us, that when he saw 
 "the Grand Seignior go to the new mosque he was 
 clad in a satin dolimar, of a flesh color, and a vest 
 nearly similar ; but when he had said his prayers, 
 then he changed his vest, and put on one of a par- 
 ticular kind of green. To this frequent change of 
 vestments amongst the great the Psalmist might allude 
 in those words. — Harmer. - 
 
 NO. 235.— USEFULNESS OF STORKS IN THE HCLY LAND. 
 
 civ. 17. As for the stork, the fir -trees are her house. 
 Doubdan informs us, that returning from Cana to 
 Nazareth, on the 8th of May, he saw the fields so 
 filled with flocks of storks, that they appeared quite 
 white with them, there being above a thousand in 
 each flock j and when tbey rose, and hovered iu the 
 
 P2 
 
2]h PSALM?. 
 
 air^ they seemed like clouds. He says, that they rest 
 on trees in the evening ; but doth not tell us whether 
 they build their nfests there or not : but if the storks 
 of Palestine roost in trees, there where iliey rest, 
 when the wanderings of the day are over, may be 
 said to be their house. 
 
 Chardin, in describing the magnificent pillars thai 
 he found at Persepolis, tells us, that the storks make 
 their nests on the top of these columns with great 
 bojdness, and are in no danger of beii>g dispossessed. 
 "The inhabitants do them no hurt, on account of their 
 ^levouring serpents, adders, &c. and clearing the 
 country of all kinds of venomous animals. 
 
 Baron de Tott says, that the stork is revered by the 
 Orientals, as a species of household god. — Jlarmer. 
 
 Who bid the stork, Coliirahus like, explore 
 Htdv'ns not his owu, and worlds unknown before ? 
 
 PorK. 
 
 XO. 236. — WEAKNESS OCCASIONED BY FASTING. 
 
 cix. 24. My knees are weak through fasti n.g ; and rny 
 flesh faileUt of fa tness. 
 Either with vc^luntary faf;ts, to which the frequency 
 and long continuance of his calamities obliged him ; 
 or with forced fasts, sometimes through ,want of 
 necessary provisions, but mo^t commonly from the 
 loathing of meat,which was occasioned by his excessive 
 sorrows and terrors. — Psalm evii. 18. — Poole, 
 
 JjiiX faint and wearied ere the task was done,* 
 Stretched through the length of one revolving stin. 
 Their knees niiglit fail, by hunger's force subdued. 
 And sink, unable to support tiieir load. 
 
 Merhiciu 
 
PSALMS. Sir 
 
 NO. S37. — LIBATIONS OF WINE. 
 
 cxvi. 1 3. / ipill take the cup of salvation^ and call 
 
 upon the name of the Lord. 
 
 Chardin says, that it is the custom in Mingrelia aod 
 Georgia, and some other Eastern countries, for people,, 
 before they begin a feast, to go out abroad, and, with 
 eyes turned to Heaven, to pour out a cup of wine upon 
 the grouad ; and he imagined that the lilie custom- 
 prevailed in Ethiopia. 
 
 This may be considered as a picture of what the 
 idolatrous Israelites did, when they poured out drink- 
 offerings to the Queen of Heaven — Jer, xliv. 17. : but 
 it doth not follow that any thing of this sort was done 
 in their common feasts, or that it was ever done by 
 David. It is certain that the modern Jews, when 
 they annually celebrate the deliverance of their fore- 
 fathers in Egypt, take a cup of salvation^ and call 
 upon the name of the Lord, singing a portion of the 
 book of Psalms ; but they drink the wine, and do 
 not pour it upon the ground ; nor do they practise 
 this effusion of wine in their more common feasts.^ — 
 
 Harmer, 
 It has been observed, that the expression — the cup 
 of salvation, was, at least, imitated by the Greeks 
 in their phrase — "the bowl of liberty." This was 
 the bowl in which, after the recovery of their liberty, 
 they made libations to Jupiter. — Burder, 
 
 These ills shall ceaie, whene'er by Jove's decre© 
 ' We crown the bowl to heav'n and liberty. 
 
 Pops. 
 
 NO. 238.— SxMOKINESS OF ARABIAN TENTS. 
 
 «xix. 83. I am become like a bottle in the smoke, yet- 
 d<x I not forget thy statutes^ 
 
214 PSALMS. 
 
 Cups and drinking vessels of g'old aijiiteilvGr were, 
 doubtless, used in the courts of Princes^ if'greeably fo 
 what we learn 1 Kings x. 21 : but in the Arab tents 
 they used bottles made of goat skin. As the Arabs 
 made fire in their tents, the smoke of course must 
 greatly incommode them, and blacken all their uten- 
 f^iis. Le Brnyn tells us, that in going from Aleppo 
 to Scanderoon, he was obliged to pass a whole night 
 in a hut of reeds, in the middle of which there was a 
 fire, to boil a kettle .of meat that hung over it, and to 
 bake some bread upon the ashes. He says, the smoke 
 was intolerable, the door being the only place by 
 which it could ^ei out of the hut. David must have 
 felt acutely when he was driven from vessels of 
 silver and gold, in the palace of Saul, to live like an 
 Arab, and drink out of a smoky leathern bottle. His 
 language is as if he had said, " My present appearance 
 is as diiTerent from what it was when I dwelt at 
 court, as the furniture of a palace differs from that 
 o: a poor Arab's tent." — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 239,-rTIxMBRELLAS, MARKS OF DISTINCTION. 
 
 cxxi. 5. The Lord is thy keeper ;. the Lord is thy shade 
 upon thy right hctnd. 
 
 An umbrella appears to be a very ancient, as well as 
 verj^ honorable defence against the "p&rnicio.us effects 
 of the scorching beams of the sun ; and is supposed to 
 be that kind- of shade to which the Psalmist refers in 
 our text. 
 
 Niebuhr, who visited the southern part of Arabia, 
 gives us an account of a solemn procession of the 
 Iman that resides at Sana, who is a great Prince in that 
 part of Arubia, and descended from Mahommed their 
 
PS ALMS. - 2f5^ 
 
 g^reat Prophet. The Iman visits the mosque, every 
 Friday, with vast pomp. He says he is preceded by 
 hundreds of soldiers. The Iman, and each of the 
 Princes of his numerous family, had a large umbrella 
 carried by his side; which is a privilege appropriated 
 to Princes of the blood. The I^nan had in his train 
 at least six hundred Lords, as well as ecclesiastics, 
 seculars, and military persons, many of them mounted 
 on superb horses, and a great number of people 
 attended him on foot. On each side of the Iman was 
 carried a flag, with a little silver vessel like a censer,, 
 which, it was said, held some charms^ which made the 
 Iman invincible^ 
 
 Some have thought that this Psalm refers to those 
 umbrellas where the response, made probably by 
 the ministers of the sanctuary to the declaration of 
 the King, in the two first verses, reminded him, that 
 Jehovah would be to him all that Heathen Princes 
 hoped for, as to defence and honor, from their royal 
 umbrellas and sacred charms. The Lord is thy 
 keeper : the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand,— 
 
 Hanne7'. 
 
 No sun shall smite thy head by day,, . 
 Nor the pale- moon with sickly ray 
 Shall blast thy couch ! no baleful star 
 Part his malignant fire so far. 
 
 Watt9. "^ 
 
 NO. 240.— ORDERS GIVEN BY SIGNS. 
 
 cxxiii. 2. As the eyes of servants look unto the hand 
 of their masters. 
 Pococke says, that at a visit in Egypt, every thing* 
 i« done with the greatest decency, and the mo^t pro- 
 found silejice- ; the slaves or servants standing at \h.^ 
 
216 PSALMS. 
 
 bottom of the room, with th^ir hands joined before 
 them, watching, with the utmost attention, every 
 motion of their master, who commands them by signs. 
 De la Motraye says, that the Eastern ladies are waited 
 on even at the least wiiik of the eye, or motion of the 
 fingers, and that in a manner pot perceptible to stran- 
 gers. Baron De Tott relates a remarkable instance 
 cif the authority attending this mode of commanding, 
 and of the use of signiGcant motions. *' The custo- 
 mary ceremonies on these occasions were over, and 
 Kacub (the new Vizier) continued to discourse fa- 
 miliarly with the Ambassador, when the Inuzur-aga 
 (or High-Provost) coming iato*the hall, and approach- 
 ing the Pacha, whispered something in his ear, and 
 we observed that the answer he received from him 
 was a slight horizontal motion with his hand ; after 
 which the Vizier, instantly resuming an agreeable 
 smile, continued the conversation for sometime longer. 
 We then left the hall of audience, and came to the 
 foot of the great stair-case, where we remounted oar 
 horses : here nine heads, cut off, and placed in a row, 
 jOH the outside of the first gate, completely explained 
 the sign which the Vizier had made use of in our 
 presence." Henca we discover the propriety of the 
 actions performed by the Pirophets, and perceive that 
 such conduct was perfectly understood, and very sig- 
 nificant. —Burder. 
 
 NO. 241. — GRASS UPON THE HODSE-TOP. 
 
 cxxix. 6. Let them be as the grass upon the house- 
 tops, which wither eth afore it groweth up. ^ 
 Shaw says, that the tops of the houses in Judeaarc 
 flat, and covered with plaster of terrace. The §rras9 
 
PSALMS. ■ 2\7 
 
 which grows upon them is small and weak ; and 
 being exposed to the scorching rays of the sun, it 
 soon withers. Menochius says, that he saw roofs in 
 the island of Corsica flat, with earth upon them, on 
 which grass grew ; but in summer it soon withered, 
 i»nd was burnt up by the sun. 
 
 Olaus Magnus says, that in the Northern Gothic 
 countries they feed their cattle on the tops of houses, 
 especially in a time of siege. Their houses are built 
 of stone, high and large, and covered with rafters of 
 fir and bark of birch, upon which grass-earth is laid, 
 cut out of the fields four-square; sa that their roofs 
 look like green meadows. These spots they sow at 
 times with barley or oats, which is diligently watered, 
 that it may not wither before it arrives at a state of 
 maturity. — Burder, 
 
 NO 242.— DESCRIPTION OF ANCIENT CROWNS. 
 
 cxxxii. 18. His enemies will I clothe with shame; but 
 upon himself shall his crown jiourish. 
 This idea seems to be taken from the nature of the 
 ancient crowns bestowed upon conquerors. From 
 the earliest periods of history, the laurel, olive, and 
 ivy, furnished crowns to adorn the heads of heroes, 
 who had conquered in the field of battle, gained the 
 prize in the race^ or performed some important service 
 to the public. These were the dear-bought rewards 
 of the most heroic exploits of antiquity. This sets 
 the propriety of the phrase in full view. The idea of 
 a crown of gold and jewels flourishing is, at least, un- 
 natural : whereas flourishing is natural to the laurel, 
 the olive, and the ivy. Those crowns were put upon 
 the heads of the victors in full verdure.- -Pirie. 
 
218 PSALMS, 
 
 NO. 2i3.— THE CRUELTY OF SiiCKING TOWNS. 
 cxxxvii. 9. Happy shall he be that taketh and daahetk 
 thy little ones against the stones, 
 This was an instance of cruelty frequently exercised 
 in the sacking of towns. Thus Isaiah foretells to 
 Babylon, that her children &hall be dashed in pieces 
 before her eyes by the Medes — chap. xiii. 16. : and 
 Hosea, speaking of Samaria, says, she hath rebellecC 
 against her God : they shall fall by the sword; their 
 infants shall be dashed in pieces. — chap. xiii. 16. — 
 
 Burder^ 
 
 My city burnt, 
 My bleeding infants dasli'd against the floor ; 
 These I have yet to see, perhaps 3'et more. 
 
 Pope. 
 
 NO. 244. — BONES SCATTERED UPON THE EARTH. 
 
 Gxli. 7. Our hones are scattered at the grave's mouthy 
 
 as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the 
 
 earth. ^ 
 
 Whether this expression was designed to be under- 
 stood literally or figuratively, Mr. Bruce relates a 
 circumstance w^ich shews that it might be literally 
 verified. "At five o'clock we left Garigana, our 
 journey being still to the eastward of north, and at a 
 quarter past six in the evening arrived at the vil- 
 lage of that name, whose inhabitants had all perished 
 with hunger the year before, their wretched bones 
 being all unburied, and scattered upon the surface of 
 the ground where the village formerly stood. We en- 
 camped among the bones of the dead : no space could 
 be found free from them." 
 
 To the Jews a spectacle of this description must 
 have been very dreadful ; as the want of burial was 
 
PSALMS. 219 
 
 esteemed one of the greatest calamities which could 
 befal them. The Romans were of opinion, that the 
 soul had no rest, unless the body were properly 
 interred. — Burder. 
 
 Tlie ghosts rejected are th' unhappy crew, 
 Depriv'd of sepulchres and fun'ral due ; 
 The boatman Charon : those, the buried host. 
 He ferx-Jes over to the farther coabt. i 
 
 Dryden. 
 
 NO. 245. — FROST AND SNOW IN THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 cxlvii. 16, Ilegiveth snow like wool; he scaitereil} the 
 hoar-frost like ashes. 
 
 Jacobus de Vitriaco informs us, that on the 24th of 
 December, being engaged in an expedition against 
 Mount Tabor, the cold was so severe, that many of 
 the poor people, and of the beasts of burden, actually 
 died. Albertus Aquensis says, that the same thing 
 happened to thirty of the people that attended King 
 Baldwin I. in the mountainous districts of Arabia, by 
 the Dead Sea, where they had to conflict with horrible 
 hail, with ice, and unheard-of s7iow and rain. Sir J. 
 Chardin says, that towards the Black Sea, in Iberia 
 and Armenia, the snow falls in fiakes as large as 
 walnuts. If the snow in Judea be like unto this, there 
 is a greater energy in the text than is generally disco- 
 vered. A flake of snow as big as a walnut would, to a 
 British eye, at a distance, appear like a small lock of 
 wool, rather than what it really was. 
 
 Egmont and Hayman complain of the severity of 
 the coid on the top of Mount Sinai, in July or the 
 beginning of August, the hottest time of the year. 
 Sandys assures us, that when he was at Sidon, a Moor, 
 
t20 PSALMS. 
 
 who was returning with an English merchant front 
 Damascus', perished with cold on the top of Antiliba- 
 nus, while the heat was excessive in the valleys oa 
 jCach side. 
 
 Dr. Russell tells us, that the severity of the cold 
 begins at Alep{>o about the middle of December ; 
 and it seems to do the same in the Holy Land ; for 
 Albertus Aquensis says, that Godfrey, of Jerusalem,, 
 after having besieged the city of Assur some time, 
 upon the beginning of the severity of the winter* 
 despaired of taking it ; and returned to Jerusalem Iq 
 the middle of December. — Harmer. 
 
 — ^ gives the winter's sno«v lier airy birtb. 
 And bids the virgin fleeces clothe the earth, 
 
 Sandys. 
 
 NO. 246.— COUCHES, WHY CALLED BEDS. 
 
 cxlix. 5. Let them sing aloud upoji their beds. 
 Among some of the most celebrated of the Ancient^*, 
 war was proclaimed by the ministers of religion ; and 
 military expeditions were opened by devout proces- 
 sions and public sacrifices. When David's army was 
 marching out to war against the remnant of the de- 
 voted nations, they first went up in.solemn procession 
 to the house of God, thereto consecrate their arms; 
 at which time they sang the 149th Psalm, which 
 appears to have been composed for such an occasion. 
 The beds referred to, on which they were ta sing 
 aloud ^ were probably the couches on which they lay 
 at the banquet, attending their sacrifices: which give:^ 
 a noble sense to a passage on any other interpretatioa 
 hfirdly intelligible. — Doddridge, 
 
PROVERBS. 221 
 
 KO. 247.— PROVERBS, A MODE OF INSTRUCTION, 
 i. 1. The proverbs of Solomon. 
 In those periods of remote antiquity, which 
 may, with the utmost propriety, be styled, the in- 
 fancies of societies and nations, the usual, if not the 
 only mode of instruction, was by detached aphorisms, 
 or proverbs. Human Vvisdom was then, indeed, in a 
 rude and unfinished state: it was not digested, me- 
 thodized, or reduced to order and connection. Those 
 who, by g-eniusand reflection, exercised in the school 
 of experience, had accumulated a stock of knowledge, 
 were desirous of reducing it into the most compen- 
 dious form, and comprized in a few ' maxims those 
 observations which they apprehended most essential 
 to human happiness. This mode of instruction was, 
 in truth, more likely than any other to prove effica- 
 cious with men in a rude ^tage of society ; for it 
 profes^s^d not to dispute, but to command ; not to 
 persuade, but to compel : it conducted them, not by 
 a circuit of arguuient, but led immediately to the 
 approbation and practice of integrity and virtue. 
 That it might not, however, be altogether destitute 
 of allurement, and lest it should disgust by an appear- 
 ance of roughness and severity, some degree of orna- 
 ment became necessary ; and the instructors of 
 mankind added to their precepts the graces of har- 
 mony, and illuminated them with metaphors, com- 
 parisons, allusions, and the other embelli^ments 
 of style. This manner, which with other nations 
 prevailed only during the first periods of civilization, 
 with the Hebrews continued to be a favorite style to 
 the latest ages of their literature. — Lowth. 
 
222 PROVERBS. 
 
 NO. 248. — MEDICINES USED EXTERNALLY. 
 
 iii. 8. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to 
 thy bones. 
 Medicines in the East are chiefly applied external- 
 ly, and in particular to the stomach and belly. Sir 
 J. Chardin applies it to the illustration of the passage 
 before us; and says, it is a comparison drawn from 
 the plaisters, ointments, oils, and frictions, which are 
 made use of in the East upon the belly and stomach 
 in most maladies : they being ignorant, in the villages, 
 of the art of making decoctions and potions, and the 
 proper doses of such things, generally make use of 
 external medicines. It is possibly that Solomon might 
 allude to a similar custom in his time, when he says, 
 concerning the fear of the Lord, it shall be health to 
 thy naveli and marrow to thy bones. — Hariner. 
 
 NO. 249. — WOMEN INVITE PEOPLE TO BANQUETS. 
 
 ix. 3. She hath sent forth her maidens. 
 Hasselquist observed ,a custom in Egypt, which he 
 imagines 'to be very ancient. He saw a number of 
 women, who went about inviting people io a banquet. 
 They were about ten or twelve in number, covered 
 with black veils, as is usual in that country. They 
 were preceded by four eunuchs ; after them, and on 
 the side, were Moors, with their usual walking-staves. 
 As they were walking, they all joined in making a 
 noise, which he was told signified their joy, but which 
 he thought did not resemble a pleasing song. This 
 passage of Solomon seems to allude to this practice ; 
 for Wisdom is said to have sent forth her maidens, 
 and to cry upon the high phces of the city. — Harmer, 
 
PROVERBS. 223 
 
 To purest joys she all invite^, 
 Chaste, holy, spiritual delights : 
 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, 
 And all her flow'ry paths are peace. 
 
 NO. 250. — THORN-HEDGES COMMON IN THE /EAST. 
 
 sv. 19. The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of 
 thorns. 
 
 Our living fences of white-thorn have been much 
 admired. Some of those in the Holy Land, in later 
 times, have been equally beautiful ; and perfectly 
 answer those passages of the Jewish Prophets which 
 speali o^ hedges made of thorny plants, and of the 
 sharpness of their thorns. Doubdan speaks of a fruit- 
 ful vineyard, full of olive and fig-trees, as well as 
 vines, about eight miles from Bethlehem, which was 
 inclosed with a hedge strongly formed of thorns and 
 rose-buslies, intermingled with pomegranate-trees, 
 the most pleasant in the world. The wild pome- 
 granate-tree is said to be much more prickly than 
 the other species. 
 
 De Tott, speaking of the low lands of Judea, says, 
 that the iig-tree of India supplies it with hedges, and 
 furnishes with impenetrable barriers, which secure 
 the iields of the different proprietors. This plant is, by 
 Dr. Shaw, in his travels, called the prickly pear, upon 
 which, the Doctor tells us, whole families live during 
 the months of August and September. — Harmer. 
 
 liasselqulst says, that he saw the plantain-tree, the 
 tine, the peach, and the mulberry-tree, all four made 
 use of in Egypt to hedge about a garden : now these 
 are all unarmed plants. This throws an energy into 
 the words of Solomon. The way of the slothful 7nan 
 j&aiS> difficult to him, not only as breaking through a 
 
224 PROVERBS, 
 
 hedfre, but even through a thorn-ience ; and also into 
 that threatening of God to Israel, Behold I will 
 hedge up thy way with thorns. — Hosea ii. C>,—Burder^ 
 
 My drowsy powers, why sleep ye so? 
 
 Awake my sluggish soul ! ' 
 Kothing hath half thy work to do. 
 
 Yet nothing's half so dull; 
 
 NO. 251. — EXACTNESS IN WEIGHTS AND JfEASURES. 
 
 XV i. 11. A fust weight and balance are the Lord's: 
 all the weights of the bag are his work. 
 
 The Jews were required to be exact in all their 
 'weights and measures, that the poor might not be 
 defrauded, Hesychius remarks, upon ^his point, as a 
 reason for such great care, that what the possession 
 of a field or house is to a wealthy man, that the mea- 
 sure of corn or wine, or the weight of bread is to the 
 poor, who have daily need of such things for the 
 support of life. The Jew ish Doctors assert, that it 
 \vas a constitution of their wise men, for the preventing 
 of all frauds iu these matters, that no weights, 
 balances, or measures, should be made of any metal, 
 as of iron, lead, or tin, which were liable to rust, or 
 might be bent, or easily impaired ; but of marble, 
 stone, or glass, which were less subject to be abused. 
 
 * Lewis, 
 
 A just weight is the Lord's, made by his direction 
 and appointment, so that no man can corrupt or alter 
 them without violating God's rights and authority, 
 and incurring his displeasure:' and the balance of 
 public justice in the hands of the Magistrates should 
 be, like the judgments of the Lord, perfectly correct. 
 All the zoeights of the bag are his work. 
 
PROVERBS. 225 
 
 NO. 262. — METHOD OF EATING AMONG THE ARABS, 
 xix. 24. A slothful man hideth his hand in his boso/n^, 
 
 and will not «o much as bring it to his mouth 
 
 again. 
 
 Le Bruyn informs us, that the Arabs, in eating their 
 milk, use no spoons. They dip their hands into the 
 milk, which is placed in a wooden bowl before them, 
 and sup it out of the palms of their hands. He says, 
 that he saw five or six Arabs eating milk together 
 after this manner, on the side of the Nile, as he 
 was going up that river to Cairo; and D'Arvieux 
 informs us, that they eat their pottage in the same 
 manner. 
 
 It is reasonable to suppose, that the same usage 
 obtained anciently among the Jews, and that Solomon 
 refers to it in the words of our text. Notwithstanding 
 the translators have rendered the original word ike 
 bosom, yet it is confessed that the word every where 
 else signifies a pot or dish, or something like it, and 
 can only by metaphor be applied to the bosom. The 
 learned were induced to depart from the well-known 
 meaning of the word, because they were unacquainted 
 with Eastern manners ; but now the testimony of 
 travellers makes that perfectly clear which had ap- 
 peared so very obscure. The slothful man, though 
 he has dipped his hai|d into the milk or pottage, will 
 not submit to the fatigue of lifting it to his mouth. 
 Strong painting this, indeed, but perfectly in the 
 Oriental taste. Solomon repeats this maxim, with 
 some variation of expression — chap. xxv|. ver. 15—* 
 The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom, it grievet\ 
 fiim to bring it again to his mouth, — Harmer, 
 
 9 
 
mt PROVERBS. 
 
 NO. 253. — THE BURTHEN OF GUILT. 
 
 xxi. 8. The way of man isfroward and strange, 
 . This passage, according to the common interpreta- 
 tion, is very obscure. The original Hebrew words are 
 used to signify a man laden with guilt and crimes, 
 and that his way is not froward and strange, but 
 unsteady or continually varying ; in which expression 
 there is a most beautiful allusion to a beast which 
 is so over-burthened that he cannot keep in the strait 
 road, but is continually tottering and staggering, first 
 to the right hand, and then to the left. — Parkhurst, 
 
 NO. 264.~ARBOURS UPON THE HOUSE-TOP. 
 
 xxi. 9. It is better to dtsfell in a corrier of the house* 
 top, than with a brawling woma7i in a wide house. 
 During the summer season it was usual to sleep on 
 the tops of the houses, which were flat, and properly 
 guarded by a parapet wall ; for this purpose they 
 were accommodated with little arbours and wicker- 
 work closets ; which, however agreeable in the dry 
 part of the year, wowld prove much otherwise when 
 it rained. To be limited to such a place, and have 
 no other apartment to live in, must be very incon- 
 venient ; but to such circumstances Solomon probably 
 alludes.—" It is better to have no other habitation 
 than an arbour on the house-top, and be there exposed 
 to the wet of winter, than to dwell in a commodious 
 house with a brawling woman ; for Ijer contentions 
 are a continual dropping, and, wide as the house 
 may be, you'll not be able to ayoid them '^'^Harmer, 
 
PROVERBS. 227 
 
 NO. 255.— DANGEROUS CHASMS IN THE EAST, 
 ixii. 14. TJie mouth of strange is^omen is a deep pit, 
 Maundrell, describing the jpassage out of the juris- 
 diction of the Bassa of Aleppo into that of Tripoli, 
 tells us, that the road was rOcky and uneven, but 
 attended with variety. He says, " we descended 
 into a low valley, at the bottom of which is a fissure 
 into the earth, of a great depth ; but withal so narrow, 
 that it is not discernible to the eye 'till you arrive 
 just upon it ; though to the ear a notice is given of it, 
 at a great distance, by reason of the noise of a stream 
 running down into it from the hills. We could not 
 guess it to be less than thirty yards deep ; but it is so 
 narrow, 4hat a small arch, not four yards over, lands 
 you on its other side. They call it the Sheik's Wife ; 
 a name given it from a woman of that quality, who 
 fell into it and perished." Probably Solomon might 
 allude to some such dangerous place, in comparing a 
 whore to a deep piL^-'Harmer. 
 
 NO. 2b'o. — ANCIENT LAND-MARKS. 
 
 xxii. 28. Remove not the ancient land-mark. 
 Before the use of fences^ landed property was 
 marked out by stones or posts, set up so as to ascer- 
 tain the divisions of family estates. It was easy to 
 remove one of these land-marks, and set it in a 
 different place ; and thus the dishonest man enlarged 
 his own estate by contracting that of his neighbour. 
 The land-marks among the Romans were held very 
 sa€red, and at last were deified. Numa Pompilius 
 commanded offerings of broth, cakes, and first-fruits, 
 to be made to those land-marks ; and Ovid informs us, 
 
 that it was cnstomary to sacrifice a lamb to them. 
 
 Q2 
 
«e8 PROVERBS. 
 
 and sprinkle them with its blood. From Tibullus it 
 appears, that they sometimes adorned them with 
 flowers and garlands. — 
 
 Revere each antique stone bejJeck'd with flowers, 
 Xbat bounds the field, or points the doubtful way. 
 
 Grainger. 
 
 It appears from Juvenal, that annual oblations 
 were made to them : — 
 
 If any rogue vexatious suits advance 
 
 Against me for my known inheritance, 
 
 Enter by violence ray fruitful grounds, 
 
 Or take the sacred land-mark from my bounds, 
 
 Those bounds, which with possession and with prayer, 
 
 And offered cakes, have been my annual care. 
 
 DrydEn'. 
 
 ' The Romans had no determined punishment for 
 those who removed the ancient land-marks : some- 
 times they were sentenced to pecuniary fines, or 
 corporeal punishment : persons of quality were some- 
 times exiled when found guilty ; and if slaves were 
 known to have done it with an evil design, they 
 were put to death. — Clarke. 
 
 NO. 257. — CANDIOTS, GREAT DRINKERS OF WINE. 
 
 xxiii. 30. They that tarry long at the wine. 
 Dandini informs us, that it was the practice of tip- 
 plers, not merely to tarry long over the bottle, but 
 over the wine-cask. " The goodness of the wine of 
 Candia renders the Candiots great drinkers ; and it 
 often happens, that two or three great drinkers will 
 sit down together at the foot of a cask, from whence 
 they will not depart 'till they have emptied it." Wo 
 unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they 
 
PROVERBS* 229 
 
 may follow strong drink, that continue until night, 
 ^ till wine inflame them. — Isa. v. 11. — Burder* 
 
 NO. 258.— COMPASSION SHEWN TO CRIMINALS. 
 
 xxiv. 11. If thou forbear to deliver them that are 
 drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be 
 slain. 
 
 It was allowed among" the Jews that if any person 
 could offer any thing in favor of a prisoner, after 
 sentence was passed, he might be heard prior to the 
 execution : and therefore it was usual, as the Mishni 
 shews, that when a man was led to execution, a crier 
 went before and proclaimed, " This man is now going 
 to be executed far such a crime, and such and such 
 are witnesses against him ; whoever knows him to be 
 innocent, let him come forth and make it appear."— 
 
 Doddridge, 
 
 That mercy I to others show 
 That mercy show to me. 
 
 PopB. 
 
 »0. 259.— SNOW USED IN WINE TO COOL IT* 
 
 Xxv. 13. As the cold of snow in the time of harvest^ 
 so is a faithful messenger to them that send him. 
 Dr. Pococke says, that the people of Damascus put 
 snow into their wine ; which, he supposes, is not so 
 wholesome a way as that of the Europeans, who only 
 cool their liquors with it. Gejerus doubts whether 
 the custom was so ancient as the days of Solomon ; 
 but the language before us puts the matter out of 
 question. The royal preacher could not speak of a 
 fall of snow in the time of harvest ; that must have 
 .been incommoding, instead of pleasurable, which it 
 
t$& PROVERBS. 
 
 is supposed to be : he must be understood to speak 
 of liquids cooled by snow. 
 
 Jacobus de Vitriaco says, that the snow of Lebanon 
 was celebrated for this purpose. He says, that snow 
 !s rarely found in the Holy Land, except in very high 
 mountains, such as Libanus ; but that through the 
 summer, and even in the dog-days, snow, of an extreme 
 cold nature, is carried from Mount Libanus, two or 
 three days' journey, that being mixed with wine it 
 may make it cold as ice. He says, the snow is kept 
 from melting by being covered up with straw. It ap- 
 pears, that the snow of this mountain was in high esti- 
 mation in the time of the Prophet Jeremiah ; and pro- 
 bably for the same purpose. — ^Jer. xviii. 14. — Harmer. 
 
 The mixing of snow with wine in the sultry time of 
 harvest is pleasing and refreshing : so a successful 
 messenger revives the spirit of his master who sent 
 him, and who was ready to faint from an apprehension 
 of his failure. — Burder, 
 
 NO. 260. — PEHFUMES USED ^T FRIENDLY VISITS. 
 
 xxvii. 9. Giniment and perfume rejoice the heart* 
 At the close of a visit in the East, it ii? common to 
 sprinkle rose or some other sweet-scented water on 
 the guests, and to perfume them with aloes-wood, 
 which is brought last, and serves for a sign that it is 
 time for a stranger to take leave. M. Savary says, 
 that in Egypt, towards the conclusion of a visit, a 
 slave, holding in his hand a silver plate, on which pre- 
 cious essences are burning, approaches the visitors, 
 each of whom, in turn, perfumes his beard. They 
 then pour rose-water on the head and hands, after 
 which it is usual to withdraw. 
 
PROVERBS. £31 
 
 Maundrell says, that the method of using the aloes 
 wood is, they have a small silver chafing-dish, eovered 
 with a lid, full of holes, and fixed upon a handsome 
 platen in this they put some fresh coals, and upon 
 them a piece of lignum aloes ; and then, shutting it 
 up, the smoke immediately ascends, with a grateful 
 odour, through the cover. Maillet says, that they 
 covered him with rich cloth, that he might the better 
 receive the perfume. — Btirder. 
 
 Sir J. Chardin says, that it is the common custom of 
 the East to have censers at their feasts ; and perfumes 
 are much more common there than in Europe. Per- 
 haps the word perfume comprehends the waters dis- 
 tilled from roses and odoriferous flowers, as welj as 
 the smoke arising from the burning of fragrant things. 
 
 Hasselquist says, that the Egyptians lay flowers 
 of jessamine, narcissus, &c, in oil, and so make au 
 odoriferous ointment, which those who love perfumes 
 apply to the head, nose, and befird. This appears to 
 be the most ancient way of using perfum^es in a^ liquid 
 fornqi, ar|d is as old as the days of Moses, To some of 
 i hese customs,^o calculated to refresh and exhilarate, 
 the words of Solomon may haye an allusion .—j^<2r7«er. 
 
 ?^0. 261. — PQUXDING MPN IN MQRTARS. 
 
 xxvii. 22. Thqugh thou shpuldat bray a fool in a 
 mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his 
 foolishfiess depart froin him. 
 
 Fanaticism has enacted in Turjcey, in favor of the 
 Dlemats,'* that their goods shall never be confiscated,, 
 nor themselves put to death but by being bruised in a 
 9riortar., The honor of being treated in so distiu- 
 
 *Lavryer«. 
 
f$t PROVERBS. 
 
 guisihed a manner may not, perhaps, be sensibly felt by 
 every one. Baron de Tott informs us, that tlie Mufti 
 irritated Sultan Osman to such a degree, that he 
 ordered the mortars to be replaced,* which had been 
 thrown down. This order produced its wished-for 
 influence upon the Ulemats, who were terrified, and 
 submitted. 
 
 KnoUes, in his Turkish History, says, that some of 
 the guards of the town, who suffered Prince Cereskie 
 to escape, were pounded in great mortars of iron, in 
 which they usually pound their rice, to reduce it to 
 meal.— CaZmeL 
 
 be wise with speed : 
 
 A fool at forty is a fool iiideed. 
 
 YotJNC. 
 
 NO. 262.— MILK, A GENERAL DIET IN THE EAST* 
 ixyii. 27. Thou shalt have goats^ milk enough for thy 
 food, for the food of thy household, and for main- 
 tenance for thy maidens. 
 
 Russell tells us, that milk is a great part of the diet 
 of the Eastern people ; and that their goats are chiefly- 
 kept for this purpose ; that they yield it in no incon- 
 siderable quantity; and that it is sweet and well 
 tasted. 
 
 At Aleppo they are chiefly supplied with goats* 
 milk from the beginning of April to September , and 
 the other part of the year they are supplied with 
 cows' milk. As their cows are kept at the gardens, 
 and fed with the refuse, the milk generally tastes s6 
 strong of garlick or cabbage-leaves, as to be very 
 disagreeable. If we suppose the same difference to 
 have ©iisted in Judea in the time of Solomon— thea 
 
PROVERBS. 233 
 
 the language before us may be designed to express 
 the superior quality of goats' milk to that of any other 
 kind in that country. — Harmer, 
 
 NO. 263.— METHOD OF CHURNING IN THE EAST. 
 
 Xxx. 33. The churning of milk hringeth forth butter* 
 The ancient way of making butter, in Arabia and 
 Palestine, was probably nearly the same as is still 
 practised by the Bedouen Arabs, and Moors in Bar- 
 bary, which is thus described by Dr. Shaw : — " Their 
 method of making butter is, by putting the milk or 
 cream into a goat's skin, turned inside out, which they 
 suspend from one side of the tent to the other ; and 
 then pressing it to and fro, in one uniform direction, 
 they quickly occasion the separation of the unctuous 
 and wheyey parts." There is another way of churning 
 in the Levant, which is by a man's treading upon the 
 skin. — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 264: — INDUSTRY OF EASTERN FEMALES. 
 
 xxxi. 18. Her candle goeth not out by night. 
 There is a passage in Virgil, which may serve as an 
 illustration of this text, and which bears so ^reat a 
 resemblance to it, that it might almost pass for a 
 poetical imitation : — 
 
 Night was now sliding in her middle course : 
 The first repose was finish'd : when the Dame, 
 Who by her distaff's slender art subsists. 
 Wakes the spread embers of the sleeping fire, 
 Night adding to her work ; and calls her maids 
 To their long tasks, by lighted tapers urg'd. 
 
 Trapp. 
 
 Dr. Guy^ says, " Embroidery is the constant em- 
 ployment of the Greek women, Those who follow it 
 
234 PROVERBS. 
 
 for a living are employed in if from morning 'till 
 "tol^ht ; as are also their daughters and their slaves.— 
 
 Burder, 
 
 PCCLESIASTES. 
 
 ISO. 265. — MANNER OF MARRING FIELDS. 
 
 iii. 5. ^ time to cast away stones ^ and a time Iq gather 
 stones together. 
 When the Israelites were ordered to marr 
 eyery good piece of land with stones — 2 Kings iii. 19. 
 it is not easy to conceive how this was to be done, 
 to any purpose, witliout giving more trouble to Israel 
 to gather stones and carry them on their lands, than 
 to the Moabites to gather them up and carry them 
 off again. It is probable, that the Israelites did that, 
 nationally and as victors, which was frequently done 
 by private persons in those countries, in ancient 
 times, by way of revenge. It was common among 
 the Arabians, to place stones in the grounds of those 
 with whom they were at variance, as a warning, that 
 if any person dared to till that field, he should infalli- 
 bly be slain by the contrivance of those who placed 
 the stones there. This malicious practice is thought 
 to have had its origin in Arabia Petrea. 
 
 If the Israelites, as victors who could prescribe 
 what laws they thought proper to those whom they 
 had conquered, placed such stones in the Moabitish 
 grounds, as interdicting them from tillage, on pain of 
 their owners being destroyed, then, without much 
 trouble, they could effectually marr the fields^ ag 
 Jong as their power over Moab lasted. 
 
ECCLESIASTES. 236 
 
 Perhaps, the time to cast away stones, and the 
 ii?ne to gather stones together^ mentioned by the 
 royal preacher, is to be understood in like manner ; — 
 that they should give to nations with whicii there had 
 been contests, the mark of perfect reconciliation, or 
 continue upon them some token of displeasure and 
 resentment. — Hqrmer. 
 
 NO. 2^^, — DIFFERENT ARTICLES OF FUEL. 
 
 vii. 6. As the crackling of thorns under a pot, so i$ 
 the laughter of the fool. 
 
 Dr. Russell says, that at Aleppo they use wood 
 and charcoal in their rooms, but heat their baths 
 with cow-dung, the parings of fruit, &c. Pitts says, 
 that there is such a scarcity of wood at Grand 
 Cairo, that they commonly heat their ovens with 
 horse or cow-dung; and that the little wood they 
 have is brought from parts bordering upon the Black 
 Sea, and sold by weight. D'Arvieux says, tliat the 
 children are employed to gather up the dung^nd put 
 it against a wall to dry, from whence they take it, 
 either to bake with or to warm themselves. — The 
 bread thus baked has a disagreeable taste. 
 
 Dr. Russell says, that the Arabs carefully / collect 
 the dung of the sheep and camel, as well as that of 
 the cow; and that the dung made use of in the 
 bagnios they generally carry out of the city, and lay 
 it in great heaps to dry. When it is dried in the 
 town adjoining to the bagnios it is very offensive, 
 especially when it rains, though it is stacked, pressed 
 hard together, and thatched at the top. It is pro- 
 bable, that this stock of firing is laid up in some, out- 
 house, as by the poor of this country who make use 
 of it. . ^ 
 
238 ECCLESIASTES. 
 
 When Jeremiah complains, they that wdre brought 
 tip in scarlet, embrace dung-hills — Lam. iv. 5. ft 
 appears to mean, that such as had been covered with 
 robes of magnificence, were forced, by the destruc- 
 tion of their palaces, to take Up their abode in places 
 designed for the reception of this sort of turf, and to 
 sit upon those heaps of dried dung. If cow-dung 
 were much used in Palestine for fuel, its extreme 
 slowness in burning must make the quickness of the 
 fire of thorns very observable, and give a liveliness 
 to the passage before us. — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 267. — DEAD FLIES INJURE OINTMENT. 
 
 X. 1. Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary 
 to send forth a stinking savour. 
 Scheuchzer says, that apothecaries take care to 
 prevent ^^e5 from coming to their syrups and other 
 fermentable preparations. For in all insects there is 
 an acrid volatile salt, which, mixed with sweet or 
 even alkaline substances, excites them to a brisk 
 intestine motion, disposes them to fermentation, and to 
 putrescence itself ; by which the more volatile prin- 
 ciples fly ofiT, leaving the grosser behind : at the same 
 time the taste and odour are changed, the agreeable 
 to fetid, and the sweet to insipid. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 268. — DISCOURSES DELIVERED IN PUBLIC ASSEM- 
 BLIES. 
 
 # 
 
 xii. 11. The words of the wise are as goads, and as 
 nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which 
 are given fro}?i one shepherd. 
 
 It is most probable, that the assemblies here re- 
 ferred to, were for the purpose of pronouncing dis- 
 
 I 
 
ECCLESIASTES. 237 
 
 courses of an eloquent and philosophical nature. 
 Such assemblies have been common in those coun* 
 tries since the days of Solomon, and even in his time 
 might not be unknowu. This way of reciting com- 
 positions in prose and verse, has been as frequent 
 among the Orientals, as it was anciently among the 
 Romans, and as it is now in our academies. The 
 Arabians have many books containing discourses of 
 this kind ; which are looked upon by them as master- 
 pieces of eloquence. The most learned of the Ara- 
 bian grammarians said, that the discourses of Hariri 
 ought not to be written but on silk. The masters 
 were the persons who distinguished themselves by 
 the superiority of their composition, and conveyed 
 exquisite instruction and pleasure to the mind. 
 Their words are compared to goads and nails. The 
 shepherd here spoken of, means God, the father of 
 lights, from whom every good and perfect gift 
 descends. — James i. 17. — Harmer, 
 
 CANTICLES. 
 
 NO. 269. — TENTS BLACK AND COMELY. 
 
 I. 6. / am black but comely, O ye daughters of Jeru^ 
 salem^ as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of 
 /Solomon, 
 
 As the brown among Laban's sheep were to 
 
 be Jacob's hire, because they were much lesscommon ; 
 
 so for the same reason were the spotted and speckled 
 
 among the goats, because they were generally black. 
 D'Arvieux says, that the tents of the Turcomans 
 
 fire white; and those of the Turks green; but that 
 
^M CANTICLES. 
 
 the tents 6f the -^rabs are universally SlacL To 
 these tents the spouse compares herself — / am black 
 as the tents of Kedar. Curtains of goats' hair were 
 directed for the tabernacle ; and the Israel itish women 
 appear to have been well acquainted with the manner 
 of spinning it ; from whence it has been conjectured, 
 that the tents of Israel in the wilderness were of the 
 ittaib fabric. 
 
 It appears, that the spouse represents herself black, 
 fls tb her outward aspect, but possessed of internal 
 qualificatioft^; beautiful as the curtains of Solomon. 
 Egmont and Hayman tell us, that the Turkish tents 
 are bbth convenient and magnificent. Those belong- 
 ihg to the Grand Seignior were exceedingly splendid, 
 ahd Ihied with a rich silk sttijQF. One of his tents is 
 8'aid to have cost twenty-five thousand piastres : it 
 was made in Persia, and intended as a present to the 
 errand Seiglmor. The outside of this tent was not 
 remarkable ; but it was lined with a shigle piece, 
 made of camels' hair, and beautifully decorated with 
 festoons, and sentences in the Turkish language. 
 
 Nadir Shah had a very superb tent, covered on the 
 outside with scarlet broad-cloth, and lined within 
 with violet-colored satin, ornaHienfed with a great 
 rariety of animals, flowers, dfec. fbrmed entirely of 
 feafte and precious stones. If Solomon used tents at 
 all, we may be sure that they were extremely niag* 
 nificent. — Harmer, 
 
 NO. 270.— SHADE, AN ARTICLE IN EASTERN LUXURY. 
 
 ii. 3, / sut down under his shadow with great delight y 
 and his fruit was street to my taste. 
 Mf. Wood informs tis> that shadfe is an essential 
 
CANTICLES. 2S9 
 
 article in Oriental luxury. Dr. Pococke found the 
 Patriarch of the Maromtes and a Bishop sitting un- 
 der a tree. Any tree that is thick and spreading^ 
 serves the purpose; but it must certainly be an 
 addition to their enjoying of themselves, when the 
 tree is of a fragrant nature, as well as shady, such as 
 the citron. Travellers have made use of plane-trees, 
 walnut-trees, <fec. Egmont and Hayman were enter- 
 tained with coffee at Mount Sinai, under the orange- 
 trees of the garden. 
 
 The people of those countries not only frequently 
 sit under shady trees, and take collations under them, 
 but sometimes the /rMi7 of those trees under which 
 they sit i» shaken down upon them. Dr. Pococke 
 says, when he was at Sidon, he was entertained in a 
 garden, in the shade of some apricot-trees, and the 
 fruit of them was shaken upon him ; which appears 
 to have been designed as an agreeable addition to the 
 entertainment. — Harmer* 
 
 Beneath his cooling shade I sit 
 To shield me from the burning heat ; 
 Of heav'nly fruit he spreads a feast 
 To feed my eyes and please my taste. 
 
 Watts. 
 
 NO. 271. —FOXES DESTRUCTIVE TO VINJEYARDS. 
 
 ii. 15. Take U8 the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil 
 ike vines; for our vines have tender grapes. 
 Foxes are observed by many authors to be fond of 
 grapes, and to make great havoc in vineyards.—*- 
 Aristophanes compares soldiers to foxes : soldiers spoil 
 countries as foxes do the vineyards. Galen tells us, 
 tbuit hunters did not scruple to eat the flesh of foxes in 
 
240 CANTICLES. 
 
 autumn, when they were grown fat with feeding on 
 ^apes. — Burder, 
 
 NO. 272.-^PERFUMES USED AT EASTERN MARRIAGES. 
 
 iii. 6. Who is this that cmieth out of the wilderness^ 
 like pillars of smoke, perfumed, with myrrh and 
 frankincense, with all powders of the merchant ? 
 The use of perfumes at Eastern marriages is com- 
 mon, and, upon great occasions, very profuse. Not 
 only are the garments scented 'till, in the Psalmist's 
 language, they smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, 
 but it is customary for virgins to meet, and lead the 
 procession with silver-gilt pots of perfumes ; and 
 the air around is rendered fragrant by the burning of 
 aromatics in the windows of all the houses before 
 which the procession is to pass. So liberally were 
 these perfumes burnt, that there arose from them 
 pillars of sinoke. ^ 
 
 Lady Montague, in speaking of the reception of a 
 beautiful young Turkish bride at the bagnio, says, 
 ** two virgins met her at the door ; two others filled 
 silver-gilt pots with perfumes, and began the proces" 
 sion ; the rest following in pairs to the number of 
 thirty. In this order they marched round the three 
 large rooms of the bagnio." 
 
 Maillet, describing the entrance of the Ambassadors 
 of an Eastern Monarch, sent to propose marriage to 
 an Egyptian Queen, says, "the streets through which 
 they passed were strewed with flowers ; and precious 
 pdours, burning in the windows, embalmed the air.'* 
 
 ffqrmert 
 
fJO. 273. — CROWNS USED AT MARRIAGES. 
 
 iii. 11. The crown wherewith his mother crowned him 
 in the day of his espousals. 
 Such a oeremony as this was customary among 
 the Jews at their marriages. Maillet informs us, 
 that the crowns were made of different materials. 
 Describing the custom, as practised by the members 
 of the Greek church who now live in Egypt, he says, 
 that the parties to be married are placed opposite to 
 a reading desk, upon which the book of the gospels 
 is placed, and upon the book two crowns, which are 
 made of such materials as people choose ; of flowers, 
 of cloth, or of tinsel. The Priest introduces all the 
 Patriarchs of the Old Testament into his benediction^ 
 and prayers : after this, he places the crowns — the 
 one on the head of the bridegroom, and the other oil 
 that of the bride, and covers them both with a veil. 
 After some other ceremouies, the Priest concludes 
 the whole by taking off their crowns, and dismissing 
 them with prayer.— jBwrc^eT*. 
 
 NO^ 274. — UNVEILING AN EYE IN CONVERSATION. 
 
 iv. 9. Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine 
 
 eyes. 
 
 Mr. Williams says, " there is a singularity iri this 
 
 imagery which has much perplexed the critics ; and 
 
 perhaps it is not possible to ascertain the meaning of the 
 
 poet beyond a doubt. Supposing the royal bridegroom 
 
 to have had a profile or side view of his bride, only one 
 
 eye, or one side of her neck-lace, would have been 
 
 observable ; yet this charms and overpowers him. 
 
 Tertullian mentions a custom in the East, of women 
 
 uxjveiling only one eye in conversation, while they 
 
 R 
 
242 CANTICLES. 
 
 keep the other Covered : and Niebuhr mentions a 
 like custom in some parts of Arabia. This brings us 
 nearly to the same interpretation as the above." — 
 
 JBurder^ 
 
 O disdose thy lovely fiice ! 
 Quicken all my drooping powers ! 
 Gasps my fainting soul for grace. 
 As a thirsty land for showers : 
 Haste, my Lord, no more delay ? 
 Come, ray Saviour, come away ! 
 
 KO. ^75. — HEAPS OF HERBS USED FOR A BED. 
 
 V. 13. His cheeks are as a bed of spices. 
 Mr. Burder says, that the Ancients, by way of 
 indulgence, used to repose themselves on large heaps 
 of fragrant herbs, leaves, and flowers. Among others, 
 yve may take an instance from Anacreon : — 
 
 Reclin'd at ease on this soft bed, 
 "With fragrant leaves of myrtle spread 
 And flow'ry lote, I'll now resign 
 Jiiy cards, and quaifif the rosy wine. 
 
 Fawkes, 
 
 DO. 276. — bBacty compared to the moon. 
 
 vi. 10. Fair as the moon. 
 This manner of describing beauty still prevails in 
 the East, D'Herbelot informs- us, tliat the later 
 writers of those countries have given to the Patriarch 
 Joseph the title of the moon of Canaan; thai; is, in 
 their style, the most perfect beauty that ever appeared 
 above the horizon of Judea. Many Eastern writers 
 have applied the comparison particularly to the fe- 
 males of those countries. — Burder, 
 
ISAIAH. m 
 
 NO. 277.— DESCRIPTION OF AN EASTERN COTTAGE. 
 
 L 8. The daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a 
 vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers. 
 
 It appears, that these lodges were little tem- 
 porary huts, covered'with boughs, straw*, and sods; 
 which were to be a shelter from the heat by day, and 
 the cold and dews by night. These were occupied by 
 the watchman who kept the garden, or vineyard, 
 during the season that the fruit was ripening. — Job 
 xxvii. 18.; and under these, Chardin informs us, they 
 used to sell the produce of their gardens, such a^ 
 cucumbers, melons, grapes, &c. It is probable^ that 
 the Eastern people were obliged to have a constant 
 watch in their gardens, not only to guard them from 
 the incursions of men, but also from the destruction 
 of beasts. 
 
 Hasselquist says, that the jackal is very common in 
 Palestine, especially during the vintage, and is often 
 known to destroy jvhole vineyards and gardens of 
 cucumbers. Chardin says, that the Persians and 
 Jturks display a great fondness for their fruits as soon 
 as they approach to ripen6ss, the great dryness and 
 temperature of the air preventing flatulencies. 
 
 The Holy Mountain appears to be deserted as a 
 cottage at the close of the vintage, in which nobody 
 dwells, and of which no one takes any care; and 
 appears despicable as a lodge in a garden of cucum^ 
 hers. — Burder, S^c. 
 
 NO. 278.— SIN COMPARED TO SCARLET* 
 
 i. 18. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall h§ 
 white as snow ; though they be red like crimson^ 
 they shall be as wooL 
 
244 ISAIAH- 
 
 The Jews had a custom of tying one shred of scarlet 
 cloth to the horns of tlie scape-goat, and another to 
 the gate of the temple, or to the top of the rock where 
 the goat was lost; and ttiey concluded, that if tdey 
 turned white, as they say \i usually did, the sins of 
 Israel were forgiven ; as it is written, though yoiii' 
 sins have been as scarlet ihey shall he as wool. They 
 add, that for fcJrty years before the destruction of 
 Jerusalem by the Romans, the scarlet cloth never 
 changed color ai all ; which is a fair confession, that, 
 having rejected the substance, the shadow stood theiii 
 iu no stead. — Henry, 
 
 The color of scarlet waS produced from a worm or 
 insect, which grew in a coccus or excrescence of a 
 shrub of the ilex kind, like the cochineal worm in the 
 opuntia of America. There is a slirub of this kind 
 that grows in Provence and Languedoc, and produces 
 the like insect, called the kermes oak, from kermes, 
 the Arabic word for this color, whence our word! 
 crimson is derived. To discharge these strong cblors 
 is impossible to human art or power ; but to the grace 
 and power of God all things, even such as are much 
 inore difficult, are possible and easy. — Lowih. 
 
 NO. 270.— RUINS FREQUENTED BY VERMIN. 
 
 ii. 20, !^1. In that day a man shall cast his idols of 
 silver, and his idols of gold, which ihey have made, 
 each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to 
 the bats ; logo into the clefts of the i-ocks, and into 
 the tops of the ragged rocks. 
 
 Thevenot, describing the open pyramid, says, that 
 it is so much infested with batSjihatihey sometimes 
 Extinguish the candles which are used in examining 
 
ISAIAH. U5 
 
 that ancient building. In one particular hole they 
 swarmed so amazingly, that a Scotch gentleman, who 
 alone had courage to descend into it, declared, he was 
 afraid that he should have been eaten up by them. 
 
 jEgmont and Hayman inform us, that in addition to 
 bats, they found owls, snakes, and other reptiles, in 
 the pyramids, for which reason they thought it neces- 
 sary to fire off some pistols before they ventured into 
 them, that these creatures might be frightened away 
 tp their lurking-places. Rauwolf, in his account 
 of Babylon, tells us, that some of its ruins are so full 
 of vermin, that they have bored holes through them, 
 so as to render it dangerous to approach withia 
 half a mile, except in two months in tl>e winter, 
 when they come not out of their holes. Mr. Harmer 
 thinks the Prophet speaks of this sort of animals, 
 father than of moles, which ^ single Hel^rew term is 
 supposed to express — Lev. xi. 30. but which have no 
 connection with ruins. The thought of the Prophet 
 appears to be, that idolators in their flight shall cast 
 the objects of their worship into old ruinated places, 
 to secrete them from their enemies, where they should 
 be the companions of bats aiid of those which are 
 wont to bore holes in ruins. 
 
 The country of Judea, being mountainous and 
 rocky, appears to be full of caverns. At Engedi 
 there was a cave so large that David with six hundred 
 men hid themselves in the sides of it, and Saul entered 
 the mouth of the cave without perceiving that any 
 one was there. — 1 Sam. xxiv. Some of these are 
 natural, and some are artificial. — Judges vi. 2. 
 Strabo speaks of a cavern that would hold four 
 thousand men. To go into the clefts of the rocks, and 
 
246 ISAIAH. 
 
 intQ the tops of the ragged rocks, was a familiar 
 image to express terror and consternation. They 
 6hall say to the mountains, cover us ; and to the hills'^ 
 fall on us, — Hosea x. 8.^ — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 280.— FEMALE ORNAMENTS WORN IN THE EAST. 
 
 iii. 16. Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, 
 and walk with stretched-forth necks, and wanton 
 eyes, walkings and mincing as they go, and making 
 a tinkling with f heir feet : therefore the Lord will 
 smite with a scai the crqwn of the head of iJ^ 
 daughters of Zion » 
 
 Rauwolf informs us, that the Aral? women wear 
 rings about their legs, which, in their stepping, slip 
 up and down and make a great noise. 
 
 Chardin says, that in Persia, in Arabia, and in the 
 Indies, they wear silver or golden rings about their 
 ancles, which ar^ full pf little bells. Children and 
 ^irls take particular pleasure in giving them motion ; 
 in order to which, they walk with quickness. Pitts 
 says, that the women of pleasure at Cairo wear their 
 hair in tresses behind, reaching down to their heels^ 
 with little bells, or something like it, at the end, 
 which swinging against their heels make a tinkling 
 sound as they travel : hence he was led to think, that 
 the Prophet might allude to a fashion of this descrip- 
 tion. Lady Montague says, that the Eastern females 
 nourish their hair witl^ great fondness ; that it hangs 
 in full length behind, divided into tresses, braided 
 with pearl or ribband. She says, she has counted 
 a hundred and ten tresses worn by one lady. It 
 appears from 1 Cor. xi. 14. that it was common for 
 women to wear their hair long, bu^t the men short \ 
 
ISAIAH. 247 
 
 and that the Apostle thought this a natural distinc- 
 tion : but this was not always the custom, because 
 long hair was esteemed a beauty in Absalom. The 
 Jewish females were threatened — v. 24. that instead 
 of well-set hair, there should be baldness ; so that 
 they should resemble women in the deep mourning 
 of captivity;* and instead of having their heads 
 adorned with a rich embroidered handkerchief, they 
 should be smitten with a scab. — Harmer, 
 
 NO. 281. —SITTING ON THE GROUND, A POSTURE OP 
 DEEP DISTRESS. 
 
 yi.26. And shebeing desolate shall sit upon the ground. 
 
 Sitting on the ground was a posture that denoted 
 mourning and deep distress. — Lam. ii. 8. A remark- 
 able instance of this we have ia the medal struck by 
 Vespasian, on the subjugation of the Jews. On the 
 reverse is seen a palm-tree, and a woman sitting on. 
 the ground at the foot of it, with her head leaning on 
 her arm, weeping, and at her feet different pieces of 
 armour ; with this legend, — " Judea capta." Thus 
 was exactly fulfilled the saying of the Prophet, and 
 she being desolate shall sit upon the ground. 
 
 The Psalmist describes the Jews lamenting their 
 captivity in the same pensive posture. By the waters 
 of Babylon we sat down, and wept when we remembered 
 thee, O Zion. — Burder^ ^c. 
 
 Like Salem's harps. 
 Once fraught with richest harmony of pr^se. 
 Hung in sad silence by Euphrates' stream. 
 Upon the mournful wUows ! there they wept. 
 Thy captive people wept— O God ! when thought 
 To bitter memoiy recall'd the songs — 
 The dulcet songs of Sion, Doddj 
 
 ♦ Deut. xxi. 12, 13. 
 
349 ISAIAH. 
 
 NO. 282.--BEES LED BY A HISS OR VfHISTLE. 
 
 V. 26. He will lift up an ensign to the nations from 
 , faVi and will hi^s unto thenl from the end of the 
 
 earth. 
 
 Bp. Lowth informs us, that this metaphor is taken 
 from the practice of those that keep bees, who draw 
 them out of their hives into the fields, and lead them 
 back ajg;ain, by a hiss or a whistle. 
 
 Maillet says, that Egypt abounds with bees ; ancj 
 great is the attention which is paid to them. The 
 waters which flow into Egypt during the months of 
 June, July, and August, retire towards the end o( 
 October; and when the Nile upon its decrease 
 gives the peasants an opportunity of sowing the lands, 
 sainfoin is one of the first things sown, and one of 
 the most profitable. As the Upper Egypt is hotter 
 than the Lower, and the inundation goes sooner off 
 Ihe lands, the sainfoin appears there first ; hence they 
 send their bee-hives from all parts of Egypt, that 
 the bees may enjoy, as soon as possible, the richness 
 of the flowers. The hives, upon their arrival at the 
 farther end of Egypt, are placed one upon another, 
 in the form of pyramids, in boats prepared for their 
 reception. The bees feed in the fields until they 
 have collected all the honey and wax for two or 
 three leagues round; then they fall down the 
 Stream for two or three leagues, and leave them there 
 a sufficient time to gather the riches of that canton. 
 At length, about the beginning of February, after 
 having gone the whole length of Egypt, they arrive 
 at the sea, from whence tliey are conducted to their 
 usual place of abode. There is a difference of si:^ 
 weeks in the vegetation ^f Upper and Lower Egypt^ 
 
ISAIAH. 249 
 
 Their general time of sowing is in October and No- 
 vember, and their harvest is in March and April. — 
 
 Harmer, 
 
 The bee 
 
 Sits on the bloom extracting liquid sweet 
 Deliciously, and builds her waxen cells 
 With honey stored. 
 
 MlJLTON. 
 
 All creatures are subject to divine influence. The 
 Lord hath no need to sound the trumpet or beat the 
 drum ; a hiss or whistle is sufficient to rouse the 
 universe. Who would not fear thee, O King of 
 Nations ? 
 
 NO. 283. — THE EXCELLENCE OF ANCIENT CAVALRY. 
 
 V. 28. Their horses^ hoofs shall he counted like flints 
 
 The shoeing of horses, with iron plates nailed to the 
 
 hoof, is quite a modern practice, and was unknown to 
 
 the Ancients, as appears from the silence of the 
 
 Greek and Roman writers, especialJy those that treat 
 
 of horse-medicine, who could not have passed over a 
 
 matter so obvious, and of such importance, that now 
 
 the whole science takes it name from it, being called 
 
 by us farriery. The horse-shoes of leather and of 
 
 iron, which are mentioned, — the silver and the gold 
 
 shoes, with which Nero and Poppea shod their mules, 
 
 used occasionally to preserve the hoofs of delicate 
 
 cattle, or for vanity, were of a very different kind : 
 
 they inclosed the whole hoof, as in a case, or as a shoe 
 
 does a man's foot, and were bound or tied on. For 
 
 this reason the strength, firmness, and solidity of a 
 
 horse's hoof was of much greater importance with 
 
 them than with us, and was esteemed one of the firs^ 
 
 praises of a fi^e horse. For want of tjiis ^rtificisiJ 
 
260 ISAIAH- 
 
 defence to the foot, which our horges have, Amos* 
 speaks of it as a thing as much impracticable to make 
 horses run upon a hard rock, as to plough up the same 
 rock with oxen. These circumstances must be taken 
 into consideration, in order to give us a full notion of 
 the propriety and force of the image by which the 
 Prophet sets forth the strength and excellence of the 
 Bai)ylonish cavalry, which made a great part of the 
 strength of the Assyrian army. — Lowth* 
 
 NO. 284.-— CUSTOM OF SEALING UP THE EYES. 
 
 vi. 10. Make the heart of this people fat^ and make 
 their ears heavy, and shut their eyes. 
 Dr. Russell informs us, that sealing up the eijes is 
 one of the solemnities at a Jewi^ weddmg at Aleppo. 
 He says, they fasten the eye-lids together with gum, 
 and the bridegroom, if he remembers right, is the 
 person that opens the bride's eyes at the appointed 
 
 Sir T. Roe's Chaplain says, that it is at times used 
 85 a punishment. He tells us of a son of the Great 
 Mogul, whom he had seen, that had been cast into 
 prison by his father, where his eyes were sealed up, 
 by something being put before them which might no^ 
 be taken off. After the expiration of three years the 
 seal was taken away, that he might enjoy the light, 
 though, from principles of jealousy, he would not 
 grant him his liberty. 
 
 Calmet thinks, that by the sealing or sewing up of 
 the eyes of the young Prince, we are to understand 
 a hood or veil, which probably covered both his head 
 a94 face. 
 
ISAIAH. 251 
 
 Olearius tells us, that Shah Abas, the celebrated 
 Persia^n Monarch, ordered a quantity of opiurxi to bo 
 given everyday to his grandson, who was to be his 
 successor, in order to render him stupid, that he might 
 not have any reason to apprehend danger from 
 him. Mr. Harmer says, " I do not imagine there is 
 an allusion to three different operations here. Two 
 things possibly might be intended ; and shutting the 
 eyes mean sealing them: but perhaps one only i^ 
 meant — the stupifying them." See the language of St. 
 Paul, in the eleventh to the Romans. 
 
 He from tjiick fUms shall purge the vbual rajf 
 
 And oil the sightless eve-ball pour the day. 
 
 Pope. 
 
 NO. 285. — WATERS EMBLEMATICAL OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 viii. 6. 7. Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters 
 of Shiloahi that go softly ; now therefore, behold thQ 
 Lord bringeth upon them the waters of the river 
 strong and many. 
 
 Shiloah was a small fountain and brook, just with- 
 out Jerusalem, which supplied a pool within the city, 
 .for the use of the inhabitants, and was an apt emblem 
 of the kingdom of David, much reduced in its appa- 
 rent strength, yet supported by the blessing of God. It 
 is finely contrasted with the waters of the Euphrates, 
 great, rapid, and impetuous — the image of the Baby- 
 lonian empire, which God threatens to bring down like 
 a mighty flood upon all those apostates, as a punish- 
 ment for their manifold iniquities. Juvenal, inveigh- 
 ing against the corruption of Rome, by the importation 
 of Asiatic manners, says, that the Orontes has long- 
 been discharging itself in the Tiber. Virgil, to express 
 the submission of some of the Eastern countries to 
 
252 ISATAH. 
 
 the Roman arms, says, that the waters of Euphrates 
 now flowed more humbly and gently. — Lowth. 
 
 NO. 286. — ARMOUR BURNT IN HONOR TO THE GODS. 
 
 ix. 5. Every battle of the warrior is with confused 
 noisef and garments rolled in blood ; but this shall 
 be with burning and fuel of fire. 
 The burning of heaps of armour gathered from the 
 field of battle, as an offering to the god supposed to be 
 the giver of victory, was a custom which prevailed 
 among some heathen nations ; and the Romans used it 
 as an emblem of peace. A medal struck by Vespasian, 
 on finishing his wars, both at home and abroad, repre- 
 sents the goddess Peace, holding an olive-branch ^n 
 one hand, and with a lighted torch in the other setting 
 fire to a heap of armour. Virgil mentions the 
 custom :— 
 
 Would heav'n, said he, my strength and youth recall, 
 Such as I was beneath Preuestc's wall — , 
 
 Then, when 1 made the foremost foes retire. 
 And set whole heaps of conquer'il shields on fire. 
 
 • • Lowth* 
 
 Paulus Emilius, after his various conquests, caused 
 «11 the spoils, which he did not think fit to c^rry to^ 
 Rome, to be piled up in one great heap ; bows, quivers, 
 ^rrows, javelins ; in a word, arms of all sorts ; and 
 with a torch in his hand, he first set fire to them him- 
 self, and then his principal officers followed his exam-, 
 pie. — Rollin. 
 
 Thus the reign of the Prince of Peace will lead to 
 the destruction of war, with all its instruments of 
 9ruelty. come hither^ an{l behold the works of ihQ 
 
ISAIAH. 253 
 
 Lord; what destruction he hath brought upon the 
 earth. He maketh wars to cease in all the world :■ he 
 breaketh the bow, and knappeth the spear in sunder ^ 
 and burneth the chariots inthefire.—^Vsaiim xlvi. 9. 10. 
 
 NO. ^87.— DIVERSITY OF HOUSES IN THE EAsf . 
 
 ix. 10. The bricks are fallen down, but we will build 
 
 with hewn stones : the sycamores are cut down, but 
 
 we will change them into cedars. 
 
 *rhe author of the history of Aly Bey informs us, 
 that the houses of the better sort of people in" Cairoi 
 are built of stone, and generally two or three stories 
 high ; but those of the lower class are built of un- 
 burnt bricks, and only one story high. 
 
 Unburnt bricks are poor materials for building 
 when compared with hewn stone, and stone perhaps 
 approaching to marble ; which is the difference be- 
 tween the houses of the poorer Egyptians and the 
 palaces of that country. The opposing unburnt bricks 
 to a material so much more beautiful and durable as 
 stone, if not marble, is placing the vaunting of Israel 
 in a strong point of light: — the bricks are fallen 
 down, but we will build with hewn stones. 
 
 The image appears to vary when the Prophet 
 speaks of sycamores and cedars. From the demoli- 
 tion of houses, he seems to turn his thoughts to the 
 destruction of their woods. The Prophet appears to 
 refer to the Eastern way of making war, by cutting 
 down the trees of a country. The sycamores, which 
 grew in abundance in the low lands of Judea,^ were 
 not much esteemed ; but the cedar was reckoned a 
 magnificent material :t therefore, say they, the syca^ 
 mores are cut down, but we will change them into 
 
 * 1 Kings X, 27. 1 2 Sam. vii. 2, 
 
i54 ISAIAH. 
 
 cedars : we will plant the precious cedar, in the room 
 of despicable sycamones. — Harmer. 
 ' How applicable the language— WJiy should ye he 
 stricken any iJwfeP ye iibill revolt more and more ! — 
 Isa. i, 5. 
 
 ^. 288. — MODE OP DiiAwr??a tjp decrees. 
 
 ^. 1. Wo unto them that decree unrighteous decrees^ 
 and that write grievousness which they have 
 prescribed. 
 
 D'Arvieux ioforms us, that when an Arab wants S 
 favor he applies to the I$e6retary, who draws up a 
 (/ecree according to the request of the party. If the 
 Emir grants th6 favor, he prints his seal upbii it ; if 
 not, he returns it torn to the petitioner, and dismisses 
 him. Hence we learn wherein the wickedness of 
 those men consisted, who wrote those decrees to be 
 thus authenticated Or annulled by great nieh. The 
 latter only confirmed or rejected ; whereas all the 
 injustice and iniquity contained in those decrees ^ori» 
 ginated with the petitioner and the scribe, who inigli{ 
 so concert matters as to deceive their superiors. 
 The Emir's Secretary never drew up any order 
 without a present, which was expected to be propor- 
 tionate to the requested favor; and he appears 1to 
 have been very oppressive in his demaiids. — Harmer, 
 
 NO. 289.— WELLS OF SALVATION. 
 
 xij. 3. With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of 
 
 salvation. 
 
 Josephus says, that at Massada ther6 were som4 
 
 hundreds of the partizans of Herod closely besieged, 
 
 who, for want of water, were about to quit their posts, 
 
ISAIAH. 265 
 
 but the rain which fell in one night was so abundant, 
 as to fill their cisterns, by which means they were 
 enabled to continue their defensive operations. With 
 what Joy must those Herodians have drawn water out 
 of their wells and cisterns ! with propriety they might 
 be called the wells of salvation, because they were the 
 means, through the interposition of Providence, of 
 saving them out of the hands of their enemies. Thus 
 Jonathan is said to have wrought a great salvation 
 for Israel, because he was the instrument made use of 
 by God, to effect that salvation. — 1 Sam. xiv. 45. 
 
 It is certain, that the Prophet in our text alludes to 
 the times of the Messiah, and the copious out-pouring 
 of the influences of the Spirit of God, after a long sus- 
 pension of that mercy; when many were ready to 
 faint and to desert the best of causes ; and when the 
 tongue of slander reproached the slowness of the foot- 
 steps of God's anointed,* -The describing those 
 Influences, so often compared to water and rain, by 
 the rejoicing of such as were delivered from a distres- 
 sing situation by sudden showers, which filled their 
 reservoirs, is an image natural and lively. — Harmer. 
 
 O thou divine Fountain, help the reader to say, with 
 thy servant David, All my springs are in thee! — 
 Psalm Ixxxvii. 7. 
 
 Salvation ! O the joyful sound, 
 
 "What pleasure to our ears ! 
 A sov'reig'i balm for ev'ry wound, 
 
 A cor'dial for our fgars, 
 
 NO. 290.— SOLDIERS REGARDLESS OF BRIBES. 
 
 xiir. n. Behold I will ^tir up the Medes against 
 
 * Psalm Uxxix. 50, 51. 
 
26B ISAIAH. 
 
 themi who shall not regard silver; and as fo^ 
 
 goldi they shall not delight in it. 
 
 The meaning is, that the Medes were not to be 
 induced, by large oflFers of gold and silver for ransom, 
 to spare the lives of those whom they had subdued in 
 battle ; their rage and cruelty should get the better 
 of all such motives. We have many examples in the 
 Iliad and Eneid of the addresses of the vanquished 
 to the pity and avarice of the vanquishers, to induce 
 ihem to spare their lives. — Burder. 
 
 High in my dome are silver talents roH'd, 
 With piles of labour'd and unlabour'd gold ; 
 These, to procure my ransom; 1 resign ; 
 The war depends not on a life like mine. 
 One, one poor life can no such difF'rence yield. 
 Nor turn the mighty balance of the field. 
 Thy talents, (cried the Prince) thy treasur'd store. 
 Keep for thy sons. 
 
 Pitt. 
 
 NO. 291. — DESCRIPTION OF ANCIENT BOWS. 
 
 xiii. 18. Their bows also shall dash the young men to 
 pieces. 
 Both Herodotus and Xenophon mention, that the 
 Persians used large bows ; and the latter particularly 
 says, that their bows were three cubits long. They 
 were celebrated for their archers ; and it is probable, 
 that their neighbours and allies, the Medes, dealt 
 much in the same sort of arms. In Psalm xviii. 34. 
 and Job xx. 24. mention is made of a bow of brass. 
 If the Persian bows were of metal, we may easily 
 conceive, that with a metalline bow of three cubits 
 length, and proportionably strong, the soldiers might 
 dash and slay the young men, the weaker and unre- 
 
ISAIAH. 257 
 
 sisting part of the inhabitants, in the general carnage 
 on taking the city. — Lowth. 
 
 NO. 292. — USE OF ANCIENT RUINS IN THE EAST. 
 
 xiii. 20. Neither shall the Arabian pitch t^nt. there, 
 neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. 
 In the East it is common for shepherds to make use 
 of remaining nuns, to shelter their Hocks from the 
 heat of noon, and the dangers of the night : hence 
 the scriptures, in describing the ruined state into 
 which some celebrated cities were to be reduced, 
 represent them as so desolated, that no shepherds, 
 with their flocks, should haunt them. 
 
 Dr. Chandler, after mentioning the exquisite remains 
 of a temple of Apollo, in Asia Minor, which were 
 such that it was impossible, perhaps, to conceive 
 greater beauty and majesty of ruin, says,^* at evening 
 a large flock of goats, returning to the fold, their 
 bells tinkling, overspread the heap, climbing to browse 
 on the shrubs and trees growing between the stones.'* 
 In another pajsage, speaking of Aiasaluck, generally 
 understood to be the ancient Ephesus, he says " a 
 herd of goats was driven to it for shelter from the sun 
 at noon ; and a noisy flight of crows from the quar- 
 ries seemed to insult its silence. We heard the par- 
 tridge call in the area of the tlieatre and of the 
 stadium. The glorious pomp of its heathen worship 
 is no longer remembered ; and'christianity, which 
 was there nursed by Apostlei^, and fostered by general 
 councils, until it increased to fulness of stature, lin- 
 gers on in an existence hardly visible." In speaking of 
 Ephesus he says, " our horses were disposed among 
 the walls and rubbish, with their saddles on, and «. 
 
558 ISAIAH. 
 
 mat was spread for us on the ground. We sat here, 
 in the open air, while supper was preparing ; when 
 suddenly fires began to blaze up among the bushes, 
 and we saw the villagers collected about them in 
 savage groups, or passing to and fro with lighted 
 brands for torches. The flames, with the stars and a 
 pale moon, afforded us a dim prospect of ruin and 
 desolation. A shrill owl, called cucuvia, from its 
 note,, with a night-hawk, flitted near us ; and a jackall 
 <;ried moumfullj% as if forsaken by ^his companions oi* 
 the mountain.'* What a lesson of moderation and 
 humility to the conquerors of kingdoms, and the 
 troublers of the world I 7%e wild beasts of the islands 
 shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in 
 their pleasant palaces. — Ver. 22. — Manner, <Sfc. 
 
 5(0. 293. — THE IDOLS OF HERMOPOLIS FALLING BEFORE 
 THE SAVIOUR. 
 
 xix. 1 . Behold the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and 
 shall come into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt 
 ' shall he moved at his presence. 
 
 Eusebius and Albanasius have recorded the foliov' 
 Ing fact: that when Joseph and Mary arrived in Egypt, 
 they took up their abode in Herraopolis, a city of the 
 Thebais, in which was a superb temple of Serapis. 
 Conducted by Providence, or induced by curiosity, to 
 visit this temple, with the infant Saviour, what was 
 their wonder ati4* consternation, on their very en- 
 trance, to find, not only flie great idol itself, but all 
 the dii minores of the temple, fall prostrate before 
 them! The Priests fled away with horror, and the 
 whole city wa^ in the -utmost alarm. 
 
ISAIAH. 271 
 
 / will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy 
 lips, arid I tuill turn thee back by the way by which 
 thou earnest.— ^haw. 
 
 NO. o06. — HARBINGERS SENT BEFORE EASTERN WO- 
 NARCHS. 
 
 xl. 3. 4. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, 
 prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in 
 the desert, a high-way for our God, Every valleij 
 'shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall 
 be made low : and the crooked shall be made 
 straight, and the rough places plain. 
 This idea is taken from the practice of Eastern 
 Monarchs, who upon an expedition, or taking; a 
 journey through a desart country, would send har- 
 bingers before them to prepare' all things for their 
 reception, and pioneers to open the passes, to level 
 the ways, and to remove all impediments. 
 
 The account given by Diodorus Siculus of the 
 march of Semiramis into Media and Persia, will give 
 us a clear notion of the preparations of the way for 
 a royal expedition. — "From thence she marched 
 towards Ecbatane and came to the mountain called 
 Zarkeum, which, extending many furlongs, and being 
 full of craggy precipices and deep hollows, could not 
 be passed without making a long circuitous rout. 
 Being desirous therefore of leaving an immortal 
 monument of herself, as well as to make a shorter 
 way, she ordered the precipices to be cut down, and 
 the hollow places to be filled up with earth ; and, at 
 a great expence, made a plain open road, which to 
 this day is called, the road of Semiramis. Afterwards 
 ;ghe made a progress through Persia and all her other 
 
272 ISAIAH. 
 
 dominions in Asia, and wherever she came she 
 ordered the mountains and cra^g^y rocks to be cut 
 down, and, at a vast expence, made the ways level 
 and plain. On the other hand, in low or cliampain 
 places, she raised monnds, on which she built monu- 
 ments for her deceased Generals; and sometimes 
 whole cities. Many of these still remain, and are 
 called, the works of Semiramis." This account 
 throws a beauty into the prophetic declaration, which 
 must be lost to all readers who are not acquainted 
 with Wie diWwsion,— Harmer. 
 
 Hark ! a glad voice the lonely desart cheers, 
 Prepare the way ! a God — a God appears-; 
 A God — a God ! the vocal hills reph-, 
 The rocks proclaim th' approaching Deity. 
 Ix), Earth receives him from the bending skies ! 
 Sink down, ye mountains ! and ye vallies, rise 1 
 
 Pope. 
 
 KO. 307. — MARKS SIGNIFICANT OF CONDITION. 
 
 iliv. 5. And another shall subscribe with his hand 
 
 unto the Lord, and surjiame himself with the name 
 
 of Israel. 
 
 This is an allusion to the marks which were made 
 by 'punctures, rendered indelible by fire, or by staining 
 the hand or some other part of the body, signifying tlie 
 f?tate and character of the person, and to whom ho 
 belonged. The slave was marked with the name of 
 his master; the soldier of his commander; and the 
 idolater with the riame or ensign of h.is god. Proco- 
 pins says, that some xjf the Christians imitated thi.s 
 practice, and "marked their wrists or arms with the 
 sign of the cross, or with the name of Christ," — Lowth, 
 
 X)r- Doddridge says, that some celebrated tran^sla- 
 
ISAIAH. 27S 
 
 tors tiiiderstand the words a little different fronl our 
 translation, and would render them another shall 
 write upon his hand, I am the Lord^s : they suppose 
 it refers to a custom, which formerly prevailed in the 
 East, of stamping the name of the General on the 
 soldier, or that of the master on the slave. This 
 name was sometimes borne on the forehead, and at 
 other times on the hand.=^ But if we retain our own 
 version, it will amount to nearly the same, and evi- 
 dently refers to a practice sometimes resorted to 
 among the Jews, of obliging themselves to the service 
 of God by setting their hand to some written articles, 
 emphatically expressing such a resolution. We make 
 a sure covenant, and write it : and our Princes, 
 Levites, and Priests, seal unto it^ — Nehem, ix. 38. — 
 
 Burder, 
 
 NO. 308. — MANNER OF FORMING IDOLS. 
 
 xliv. 13. The carpenter stretcheth out his rule: h6 
 
 marketh it out with a line, he fitteth it with planes^ T^:^ 
 
 and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh 
 it after the figure vfa man. 
 
 The Prophet in these words describes the process 
 of forming an idolatrous figure. It appears to have 
 been done by filling a line with red chalk ; stretching 
 it over a surface ; striking it, and thereby forming 
 lines; crossing these lines, and thereby forming 
 squares ; delineating the contour of the figure in these 
 squares; and forming it with dignified proportion and 
 majesty. 
 
 Denton, in his travels in Egypt, gives us a figure 
 which he found on one of the columns of the portico 
 
 * liev. xiii. 16,17. — vii. 2,3.— iii. 1 2. 
 T 
 
274 ISAIAH. 
 
 of Jentyra ; " it was covered with stucco, and painted. 
 The stucco being* partly scaled off, gave me the 
 t)pportunity of discovering line?, traced as if with red 
 chalk. Curiosity prompted me to take away the 
 whole of the stucco, and I found the form of the 
 figure sketched, with corrections of the outlines : it 
 was divided into twenty-two parts ; the separation of 
 the thighs being in the middle of the whole height 
 of the figure, and the head comprising rather less 
 than a seventh part." — Burder; 
 
 G^d greatly honored man, when he gave him a 
 •goul after the image of God : but man greatly dis- 
 honours God, when he gives him a body after the 
 image of man. 
 
 KO. 309.— IDOLS CARRIED INTO CAPTIVITY. 
 
 xlvi. 2. Themselves are gone into captivity. 
 It was a custom among the Heathens, to carry in 
 triumph the images of the gods of such nations as they 
 had vanquished. Isaiah prophecies of Cyrus, that in 
 this manner he would treat the gods of Babylon. Bel 
 boweth dot0n, Nebo stoopeth ; their idols are laid upon 
 the beasts, upon the cattle, and themselves are gone 
 into captivity. Daniel foretells of Ptolemy Euergetes, 
 that he would carry captive into Egypt the gods of the 
 Syrians, with their Princes, — chap. xi. vei^ 8. ; and 
 the like predictions are to be met with in Jer. xlviii. 7. 
 and in Amos i. 15. Plutarch, in the life of Marcellus, 
 tells us, that he took away, out of the temple of Syra- 
 cuse, the most beautiful pictures and statues of their 
 gods ; and that afterwards it became a reproach to 
 Marcellus, and raised the indignation of other nations 
 
ISAIAH. M 
 
 against Rome, that he carried along with him, not men 
 only, but the very gods, captive, and in triumph. — 
 
 Saurin. 
 According to Varro, the Heathen had upwards of 
 three thousand deities ! 
 
 NO. 310. — JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY. 
 
 xlvii. 13. Let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the 
 
 monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee 
 
 from these things that shall come upon thee. 
 
 The study of the heavenly bodies was so far from 
 
 leading the Eastern philosophers to the knowledge of 
 
 God, that it often" carried them into impious practices, 
 
 and all the extravagances of judicial astrology. 
 
 This presumptuous science, which teaches to judge of 
 
 things to come by the knowledge pf the stars, and to 
 
 foretel events by the situation of the planets and by 
 
 their different aspects, was considered as madness and 
 
 folly by the most sensible writers among the Pagans 
 
 themselves. 
 
 Those astrologers, frequently called Chaldeans, 
 affirm, that in consequence of the observations made 
 by their ancestors, for the space of four hundred and 
 seventy thousand years, they know by the aspect 
 and combination of the stars and planets, at the instant 
 of a child's birth, what will be his genius, temper, the 
 constitution of his body, his actions, all the events of 
 his life, and the period of his death. Cicero, in re- 
 futing this extravagant opinion, asks the reason why 
 of all the vast number of children that are born in the 
 same moment, and under the same aspect of the samg 
 stars, there are not two of them whose lives asd for- 
 tunes resemble each other? He further enquires, 
 
 T 2 
 
t76 ISAIAH. 
 
 whether that c:feat number of men that perished at 
 the battle of Cannop, and died of one and the same 
 death, were all born under the same constellations? 
 
 Two of Our greatest philosophers, Gassendns and 
 Rohault, have inveif» hed with energy against this pre- 
 tended science ; and have demonstrated it to be void 
 both of principles and experience. According to the 
 system of astrologers, the heaven is divided into twelve 
 equal parts ; which parts are taken, not according to 
 the poles of the world, but according to those of the 
 zodiac, and have each of them its attribute, ag riches, 
 knowledge, parentage, &c. The most important and 
 decisive portion is that which is next under the hori- 
 zon, and is called the ascendant, because it is ready- 
 to ascend, and appear above the horizon, when the 
 child comes into the world. The planets are divided 
 into the propitious, the malignant, and the mixed: 
 the aspects of those planets which are only certain 
 distances from one another, are likewise considered 
 either happy or unhappy. The critical moment, and 
 that on which all their predictions depend, is that of 
 thebirthi And why not as well the moment of con- 
 ception? why have the stars no influence during the 
 period of child-bearing ? or, considering the rapidity 
 of the heavenly bodies, who can be sure of hitting the 
 precise determinate moment, without which the whole 
 scheme is overthrown ? 
 
 As for experience, they have still less reason to 
 flatter themselves on that side. Experience must con- 
 sist in observations founded upon events that have 
 always come to pass in the same manner, whenever 
 the planets were found in the same situation. Now it 
 is unanimously agreed, by all astronomers, that several 
 
ISAIAH. 277 
 
 thousands of years must pass before any such situation 
 of the stars, as they would imagine, can twice happen ; 
 and it is very certain, that the state in which the 
 heavens will be to-moriow has never yet been since 
 the creation of the world. — RoUin. 
 
 Let all the baleful planets shed 
 Their mingled curses round my head. 
 Their mingled curses I despise, 
 Let but the great th' eternal King 
 Look through the clouds and bless me with his eyes, 
 
 Mrs. Row E. 
 
 NO.'SIl. — ENSIGNS GRAVEN ON THE HAND^, 
 
 xlix. 16. I have graven thee upon the palms of my 
 hands; thy walls are continually before me. 
 This is an allusion to the Eastern custom of tracing 
 £>wi on their hands, not the names, but the sketches of 
 certaiji eminent cities or places, and then rubbing 
 them with the powder of the hennah or cypress, and 
 thereby making the marks perpetual. Maundrell 
 describes the custom after this sort : — " the next 
 morning nothing extraordinary passed, which gave 
 many of the pilgrims leisure to have their arms j!A 
 marked with the usual ensigns of Jerusalem. The 
 artists, who undertake the operation, do it in this 
 manner: they have stamps in wood of any figure 
 that you desire, which they first print off upon your 
 arm with powder of charcoal ; then taking two very 
 fine needles tied close together, and dipping thenj 
 often, like a pen, in certain ink, compounded, as I 
 was informed, of gunpowder and ox-gall, they make 
 with them small punctures all along the lines of the 
 figure which they have printed, and then, washing 
 the part in wine, conclude the work. These punc- 
 
278 ISAIAH. 
 
 tures they make with great quickness and dexterity, 
 and with scarce any smart, seldom piercing so deep as 
 to draw blood. — Burder^ 
 
 NO. 312. — PRIDE OF EASTERN CONQUERORS, 
 
 li. 23. Who have said to thy soul, bow down that we 
 may go over. 
 This is a strong and expressive description of the 
 insolent pride of Eastern conquerors. The following 
 is one out of many instances of it : — The Emperor 
 Valerian being, through treachery, taken prisoner by 
 Sapor, King of Persia, was treated by him as the 
 basest and most abject slave. The Persian Monarch 
 commanded the unhappy Roman to bow himself down 
 and offer him his back, on which he sat his foot, in 
 order to mount his chariot or his horse, whenever hQ 
 had occasion. — Lowth, 
 
 NO. 313. — EASTERN SPRINKLING. 
 
 lii. 15. So shall he sprinkle many nations. 
 
 Niebuhr says, that the first time himself and com- 
 panions were received with all the Eastern ceremo- 
 nies, it was at the house of a Greek merchant, at 
 Rosetto. One of the company was excessively sur- 
 prised when a domestic placed himself before him, 
 and threw water in his face, and over his clothes : but 
 an European, acquainted with the customs of the 
 country, explained the matter to thein in few words, 
 and kept them from being the laughing-stock of all 
 the Easterns present. 
 
 Mr. Bruce informs us, that, in the East, being 
 about to take his leave, they wetted him to the skin 
 
ISAIAH. S7«^ 
 
 with orange-flower water, which is the customary 
 mode of honoring a guest throughout the East.— 
 
 Burder* 
 
 My dying Saviour and my Gcd, 
 
 Fountain for guilt and sin, 
 Sprinkle me ever with thy blood. 
 
 And cleanse and keep me clean. 
 
 NO. 314. — DOVES EMPLOYED AS POSTS. 
 
 Jx. 8. Who are these that fly as a cloudy and as the 
 doves to their windows ? 
 
 M. Savery, speaking of a victory, says, " on the 
 morning of that memorable day, a pigeon was sent 
 off from Manseura, to carry to Grand Cairo the news 
 of the death of Faer Eddin, and of the flight of the 
 Egyptians." It is possible, that this practice of using 
 these swift birds, for purposes of the utmost dispatch, 
 may be alluded to by Isaiah ; who, when describing the 
 eagerness with which the flocks of Gentiles should 
 crowd into the church of Christ, says, they shall fly as 
 a cloudy and as the doves to their imndows. 
 
 When pigeons were employed as posts, they placed 
 the paper containing the news under the wing, to 
 prevent its being destroyed by wet ; and bathed their 
 {eei in vinegar, to keep them cool, that thffy might 
 not settle to drink or wash themselves, which would 
 have destroyed the paper. — Dr. Russell. 
 
 De Tott informs us, that the Turkish government 
 allows a certain sum per cent, in favor of turtle-doves ; 
 and adds, " a cloud of these birds constantly alight 
 on the vessels which cross the port of Constantinople, 
 and carry their commodity uncovered either to the 
 magazines or the mills. The boatmen never oppose 
 their greediness. This permission to feast pa the 
 
380 ISAIAH. 
 
 ffrain brings them in great numbers, and familiarizes 
 them to such a degree, that I have seen them standing 
 on the shoulders of the rowers, watching for a vacant 
 place where they might fill their crops in their turn, 
 
 Murder, 
 
 KO. 315.— VISITING GRAVES TO RECEIVE DREAMS, 
 
 Ixv. 4. Who remain among the graves. 
 ivThe old Hebrews had an idolatrous custom among 
 them of going among the tombs to receive dreams ; 
 by which they judged of events, and how to manage 
 their affairs. They are charged by the Prophet Isaiah 
 with remaining among the graves, and lodging in 
 the monuments; which is rendered by the LXX. 
 sleeping in the tombs. It is reasonable to believe, 
 that the sepulchre of Moses was concealed, lest 
 future generations should make a god of him, because 
 of the fame Qf his miracles. Some of the Israelites 
 erred on account of the brazen serpent which he had 
 made, and which was broken in pieces by Hezekiah ; 
 for unto those days the children of Israel did hum 
 incmse tp it.-^2 Kings xviii. 4. — Lewis, 
 
 NO. 31 6.— GROVES USED FOR TEMPLES. 
 
 Ixvi. 17. They that sanctify themselves, and purify 
 themselves in th^ gardens, behind one tree in the 
 midst. 
 
 Abbe Banier informs us, that sacred groves in 
 general, and the centres of those groves in particular, 
 were made use of for temples, by the most ancient 
 Heathens. Some tree in the centre of the grove wa^ 
 generally held in more eminent veneration than the 
 rest, anii was dppbtless intended to be the symbol of 
 
ISAIAH. S81 
 
 iiie tree of life, and of the knowledge of good and 
 evil, in the midst of the garden of Eden. To this 
 strange abuse the prophetic censure appears to ailude. 
 They sarictijied a7id purified themselves with the 
 waters of the sacred fountains and rivers in their 
 gardens or groves, behind one tree in the, midst, — 
 When they built their temples, they called them 
 groves, as they did all their places of sacred worship. 
 Their altars were commonly raised in the middle of a 
 court with one of the trees consecrated to the idol of 
 the place planted near it, overshadowing both it and 
 the idol. — Holloway. 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 NO, 317. — THE EASTERN SEETHING-POT. 
 
 i. 13. / see a seething-pot, and the face thereof is 
 
 toward the north. 
 
 The Eastern pots for boiling are not placed 
 
 over an open fire, as with us, but over a hole, with an 
 
 aperture into it on one side, so as pretty much to 
 
 resemble our coppers ; which, according to Rauwolf, 
 
 is done to save fuel. The opening into the small 
 
 hollow underneath, into which the fuel is put under 
 
 the seething-pot, appears to be what is called its 
 
 face. Our translation supposes, that the face of this 
 
 pot was turned northward, intimating that the fuel to 
 
 be put under it was to be brought from the north. 
 
 As the people that were to destroy the Jews of that 
 age were to come from the north — ver. 15 ; and as 
 that destruction is represented by the consuming of 
 meat boiled in a pot— Ezek. xxiv. 3. 14; the repre- 
 senting that circumstance of the destruction of Jeru- 
 
282 JEREMIAH. 
 
 salem was naturally expressed by exhibiting the 
 opening tnto the furnace as turned northward.— 
 
 Harmer, 
 
 NO. 318.— STATE OF THE DESART THROUGH WHICH THE 
 ISRAELITES TRAVELLED. 
 
 ii. 6. That led us through the wilderness, through a 
 land of desarts and of pits, through a land of 
 drought and of the shadow of death, through a land 
 that 710 man passed through, and where no man 
 dwelt. 
 
 A land, of desarts and of jnts. Irwin speaks of 
 his travelling in this desart, and meeting with pits, 
 or chasms, some hundred fathoms deep ; and adds, 
 we may well cry out with the poet, " chaos is come 
 again ;" and then proceeds to say, " Omnipotent 
 Father, in thee we trust for our deliverance from the 
 perils which surround us : it was through this wilder- 
 ness thou didst lead thy chosen people ; it was here 
 thou didst manifest thy signal protection in snatching 
 them from the jaws of destruction, which opened upon 
 every side." 
 
 A land of drought, Irwin travelled seventy-nine 
 miles in the western part of this desart before he met 
 with any spring, and again one hundred and seventy- 
 four miles before he met with another. He says, it 
 was a sight bewitching to their eyes, which had of 
 late been strangers to bubbling founts and limpid 
 streams. In the space of three hundred and fifteen 
 miles, they found but four springs of water. 
 
 The land of the shadow of death. This might be 
 an allusion to its sterility, or exposure to the hostile 
 tribes of Arabs; the overshadowing clouds pf dust, 
 which have proved destructive to thousands \ or its 
 
JEREMIAH. g8| 
 
 being the habitation of venomous serpents, and 
 ravenous beasts. — Deut. viii. 15. 
 
 A land that no man passed through, Irwin says, 
 that the desart of Thebais is unknown to the inhabi- 
 tants of the country ; and only two or three compa- 
 nies have travelled in it for the space of one hundred 
 years. A great part of the wilderness through which 
 Israel passed was probably as little frequented in the 
 days of Moses. Where no man dwelt. Irwin trav^elled 
 in this desart from Ghinnah to the towns on the Nile, 
 three hundred miles, without meeting with a single 
 town, village, or house. It was a land where no man 
 dwelt. — Harmer. 
 
 Is this, dear Lord, that thorny road 
 Which leads us to the mount of God ? 
 Are these the toils thy people know. 
 While ill the wilderness below ? 
 
 Brackenbury, 
 
 NO. 319. — ARABS LIE IN WAIT FOR ROBBERY. 
 
 jii. 2. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Ara^ 
 hian in the wilderness. 
 Chardin has given a very strong and lively de- 
 scription of the eagerness with which the Arabians 
 look out for prey. — " The Arabs wait for caravans 
 with the most violent avidity, looking about them on 
 all sides, raising themselves up on their horses, running 
 here and there to see if they caji perceive any smoke, 
 or dust, or tracks on the ground, or any other marks 
 of people passing along." — Burder, 
 
 NO. 320. — THE PAINTING OF EASTERN FEMALES. 
 
 iv. 30. Thou rendest thy face with paifiting, 
 Jt is a custom which has obtained from time imme*^ 
 
284 JEREMIAH. 
 
 morial among the Eastern women, of tinging the 
 eyes with a powder, which, at a distance or by candle* 
 light, adds very much to the blackness of them. The 
 ancients call the mineral substance with which this 
 is done, stibium ; that is, antimony: but Dr. Shaw 
 tells us, it is a rich lead ore, not much unlike the 
 black-lead of which pencils are made. 
 
 Pietro Delia Valle, giving a description of his wife, 
 an Assyrian lady, born in Mesopotamia, says, her 
 eye-lashes, which are long, and, according to the 
 custom of the East, dressed with stibium, give a 
 dark and, at the same time, a majestic shade to the 
 eyes. Sandys, speaking of the Turkish women, says, 
 that great ey^s are held in repute ; and the blacker 
 they are, the more amiable they ai-e considered. 
 They put between the eye-lids and the eye a black 
 powder, with a fine long pencil, which sets forth the 
 whiteness of the eye ; and though it is troublesome 
 for a time, yet it comforteth the sight^ and repelleth 
 ill humours. 
 
 Dr. Shaw says, "none of these ladies take them- 
 selves to be completely dressed, 'till they have tinged 
 the hair and edges of tfteir eye-lids with the powder 
 of lead-ore. The sooty color which is in this manner 
 communicated to the eyes, is thought to add a won- 
 derful gracefulness to persons of all complexions. 
 This practice is doubtless of great antiquity ; for we 
 find that when Jezebel is said to have painted her 
 face^ the original words are, she adjusted her eye^t 
 with the powder of lead-ore." 
 
 Together lie her prayer book and her paint. 
 At cnce t' improve the sinner and the saint. 
 
 •? Kings ix. 3a 
 
JEREMIAH. 285 
 
 NO. 321. — FIRE USED AS A SIGN. 
 
 Vi. 1. Set up a sign of fire in Beth-haccarem* 
 111 this place there might possibly be a very high 
 tower. Kimchi observes, that the word signifies a 
 high tower, for the keepers of the vineyards to watch 
 in. If it were so^ it was a very proper place in which 
 to set up the sign of fire, to give notice to all the 
 surrounding country. 
 
 It was usual with the Persians, Grecians, and Romans, 
 to signify, in the night, by signs of fire and by burning 
 torches, eith:3r the approach of an enemy, or succour 
 from friends. The former was done by shaking and 
 moving the torches ; the latter by holding them still. 
 
 Burder^ 
 
 NO. 322. — SINGING IN FUNERAL PROCESSIONS. 
 
 ix, 17, 18» Call for the mourning women, that they 
 may come, and send for cunning women, that they 
 may come : and let them make haste, and take up a 
 wailing for us. 
 
 It appears, that in the East there are professional 
 weepers of both sexes, who sing doleful tunes around 
 the dead. Dr. Russell says, that among the Mahom- 
 medans it is common for a number of Sheikhs to walk 
 before the corpse, with their tattered banners ; next 
 come the male friends ; then the corpse, which is 
 carried, with the head foremost, upon men's shoul- 
 ders : the nearest male relations immediately follow ; 
 and the women close the procession with dreadful 
 shrieks, while the men all the way are singing prayers 
 out of the Koran. 
 
 Dean Addison says, that among the Jews in Bar- 
 bary, it is comnjon for the corpse to be borne by four 
 
fS^ JEREMIAH. 
 
 to the place of burial : in this procession the Cba- 
 chams, or Priests, march in the first rank ; next to 
 them the kindred of the deceased; and afterward 
 such as are invited to the funeral : these all unite in 
 singing the 49th Psalm ; and if it last net Hill they 
 come to the grave, they begin it again. These 
 hymns were probably sung only by the male part of 
 the company, whilst the female relations, with their 
 hired companions, the sifiging-tDomen, made use of 
 very violent lamentations. 
 
 In Egypt it is common for the relations and female 
 friends to surround the corpse, with the most bitter 
 cries, scratching, and beating their faces with the 
 greatest violence. The lower class of people employ 
 women, who play on tabors, and whose business it is 
 to sing mournful airs to the sound of this instrument. 
 Those women attend the corpse to the grave, inter- 
 mixed with the female relartions and friends of the 
 deceased, who commonly have their hair in the utmost 
 disorder, their heads covered with dust, their faces 
 daubed with indigo or rubbed with mud, aud howling 
 like mad people. — Maillet. 
 
 Shaw says, that in the Moorish funerals there are 
 several hired women, who, like the mourning women 
 of old are skilful in lamentation. — Anios tr. 16. They 
 cry loo, loo, loo, in a deep and hollow tone, accom- 
 panied with sighs, and perform their part with such 
 sounds, gestures, and commotions, that they rarely 
 fail to work up the assembly into some extraordinary 
 pitch of thoughtfulness and sorrow. — Harmer. 
 
 Let sickness blast, let death devour, 
 
 If heav'n must recompence our pains, 
 Perish the grass, and fade the flowV, 
 
 If firm the word of God reniaius. 
 
JEREMIAH. 287 
 
 NO. 323.--METHOD OF LEARNING TO WRITE. 
 
 xvii. 13. They that depart from me shall be written in 
 the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord. 
 
 Dr. Shaw says, that the children of Barbary that 
 are sent to school make no use of paper, but wjite on a 
 smooth thin board, slightly daubed over with whiting, 
 which may be wiped off or renewed at pleasure. 
 
 Dr. Pococke represents the Coptis, who are used by 
 the great men of Egypt for keeping their accounts, as 
 making use of a sort of paste-board for that purpose, 
 from which the writing is wiped off from time to time, 
 with a wet sponge ; the pieces of paste-board beings 
 used as slates. 
 
 Peter della Valle observed a method of writing 
 short-lived memorandums in India, which he thus 
 describes : — " I beheld children writing their lessons 
 with their fingers on the ground ; the pavement 
 being for that purpose strewed all over with very fine 
 sand. When the pavement was full, they put the 
 writing out ; and, if need were, strewed new sand 
 from a little heap they had before them, wherewith 
 to write farther." The Prophet Jer«miah appears to 
 have had a similar method of writing in view, when he 
 says of them that depart from God, they shall be writ- 
 ten in the earth ; and certainly it means, that their 
 memory shall soon be blotted out and forgotten. — 
 
 Harmer. 
 
 NO. 324.— TIME AND MANNER OF GRINDING CORN. 
 
 XXV. 10. I will take from' them the sound of the mill- 
 stones, and the light of the candle. 
 Shaw says, that most Eastern families have two 
 portable grind-stones, and the uppermost is turned 
 round by a handle of wood or iron placed in the edge 
 
888 JEREMIAH. 
 
 of it : when this stone is large, or expedition required 
 it, then a second person is called in to assist, and the 
 women sit down over against each other, with the 
 mill-stone between them, — Matt. xxiv. 41. 
 
 According to Tournefat, those mills consist of two 
 flat round stones, about two feet diameter. The 
 corn falls down on the undermost stone, through a 
 hole which is in the middle Of the uppermost, which 
 by its cnrcular motion spreads it on the undermost, 
 where it is reduced to flour, which works out at the 
 rim of the mill-stones, and lights on a board set on 
 purpose to receive it. 
 
 It is common for the Easterns to bake their bread 
 every day, and usual for them to grind their corn as 
 they want it, in their hand-mills.* Chardin says, that 
 this "is done in the early part of the day, and gene- 
 rally by the female slaves, who sing at their employ- 
 ment. When one goes out in a morning, he hear« 
 every where the noise of the mill-stone ; that is to 
 say, the voice and song of those that grind," 
 
 Mr. Park observed this custom in the interior of 
 Afri(4a, when he was invited into a hut, in order to 
 shelter him from the inclemency of a very rainy 
 night. While thus employed, one of the females 
 sung a song, and the rest joined in a sort of chorus. 
 
 As the lighting of candles begins the evening, 
 there is an agreeable contrast observable in the words 
 of the Prophet, which is as if he had said, gloomy 
 shall be the silence of the morning ; melancholy the 
 shadow of the evening : no cheerful voice shall ani- 
 mate the one ; no enlivening ray soften the gloom of 
 the other: desolation shall every where reign. — 
 
 Harmer* 
 
 * The Easterns had nulls worked by water> by oxen, &c.— ^C/wrrfin. 
 
JEREMIAH. 289 
 
 NO. 325.— STUPIFYING POTIONS GI VE^ TO MALEFACTORS. 
 
 XXV. 16. T/iey shall drinky and be tnovedy and be mad. 
 This is an allusion to those intoxicating draughts 
 which used to be given to malefactors just before 
 their execution, to take away their senses. The 
 Talmud says, that immediately before the execution 
 began; they gave the condemned a quantity of 
 frankincense in a cup of wine, to stupify him and 
 render him insensible of his pain. The compassionate 
 ladies of Jerusalem generally provided this draught 
 at their own cost. The foundation of this custom 
 was the command of Solomon. — Give strong drink 
 to him that is ready to perish, and wine to thoiC 
 that be of heavy hearts. — Prov. xxxi. 6. — Lewis. 
 
 NO. 326. — SMITING UPON THE THIGH, A TOKEN OF 
 SORROW. 
 
 xxxi. 19, After that I was instructed, I smote upon 
 my thigh. 
 In deep mourning it appears to have been one 
 method by which the Jews expressed their sorrow, 
 to smite upon the thigh. This is mentioned as an 
 accoi^panying circumstance of the repentance of 
 Ephraim. In this manner also was Ezekiel com- 
 manded to act, to express that sorrow which should 
 be produced by the divine threatenings against Is- 
 rael. — 'Ezek. xxi. 12. This practice was adopted and 
 retained by the Greeks. Homer describes his heroes 
 as using this circumstance of grief. So in Xenophon 
 the brave Cyrus smites his thigh upon receiving the 
 news of the death of his generous friend Abradatas. — 
 
 Burder. 
 
290 JEREMIAH. 
 
 NO. 327.— METHOt) OF PRESERVING THEIR WRITINflS. 
 
 xxxii. 14. Take these evidences ^ this evidence of the 
 ^purchaset both tchich is sealed, and this evidence 
 ic'kich is open, and put IMm in an earthen vessel, 
 thai they may continue maiiy days* 
 Since both the writing's were in the hands of Jere- 
 miah, and at his disposal, it appears difficult to say for 
 what the duplicate was made. Sir J. Chardinsays, 
 *' after a contract is made, it is kept by the party him- 
 self — not the notary ; and they cause a copy to be 
 made, signed by the notary alone, which is shewn 
 upon all proper occasions, and never exhibit the 
 other." According to this account, the two books 
 were the same ; the one sealed, so as to be valid, and 
 probably sealed up, not to be used on common occa- 
 sions ; the other open, and to be used at pleasure. 
 But possibly the open book was a prophecy revealing- 
 the fulure return of Israel which was ordered to be 
 buried ^'ith the purchase deed. Whatever materials 
 the Jews v/rote upon, they were liable to be destroyed 
 by dampness when hidden in the earth ; it was there- 
 fore requisite to inclose those writings, to keep them 
 from decay. 
 
 The ancient Egyptians made use of earthen urns or 
 pots for receiving wliat they wanted to inter in the 
 earth, and which, without such care, would have been 
 soon destroyed. If they buried in earthen pots the 
 things the/ wanted to preserve in Egypt, whose 
 subterraneous caverns were so dry, and covered with 
 several feet of burning sand, the Prophet JeremiAh 
 might well suppose it proper to inclose those writings 
 in an earthen vessel, which were lobe buried in Judea, 
 
JEREMIAH. 291 
 
 income place where they might be found without diffi- 
 culty on their return from captivity. — Harmer^ 
 
 NO. 328. — MANNER OF COVENANTING BY SACRIFICE. 
 
 xxxir. 18.. They cut the calf in twain, and passed 
 between the parts thereof. 
 
 From the account which is given us of Abraham — 
 Gen. XV. 10. it appears that this is a very ancient 
 rite. It was customary to cut the victim offered 
 upon the occasion into two parts, and so, placing* 
 each half upon two different altars, t^ cause those 
 who contracted the covenant to pass between 
 both. This rite was practised both by believers and 
 heathens at their solemn leai^ues. At first it \ras 
 doubtless with a view to the great sacrifice, who was 
 to purge our sins in his own blood ; and the offering 
 of these sacrifices, and the passing between the parts 
 of the divided victim, was symbolically staking their 
 hopes of purification and salvation in their perform- 
 ance of the conditions on which it was offered ; or 
 intimating, at least, that so should they be cut asunder 
 who broke the covenant. 
 
 Pitts, speaking of the Algerine corsairs, says, that 
 if they happen to be chased at sea, or to be in a storm, 
 they will gather money, light up candles in remem- 
 brance of some marrabot, calling upon him with 
 heavy sighs and groans. If they find no succour from 
 these rites and superstitions, then they sacrifice a 
 sheep or two, after the following manner : — having 
 cut off the head with a knife, they immediately take 
 out the entrails, and throw them and the head over- 
 board; then they cut the body in two parts by the* 
 middle, and throw one part over the right side of the 
 
 V2 
 
292 JEREMIAH. 
 
 ship, and the other over the left, into the sea, as a 
 kind of propitiation ; and the ship passes between the 
 parts thus thrown on each side of it. — Burder, 
 
 The cov'nant we this moment make. 
 
 Be ever kept in mind : 
 We will no more our God forsake. 
 
 Not cast his words behind. 
 
 NO. 329.— AN ACCOUNT OF EASTERN PRISONS. 
 
 ixxvii. 15. The Princes were wroth with Jeremiahy 
 
 and smote him, and put him in prisout in the house 
 
 of Jonathan the sc7'ibe. 
 
 Chardin tells us, that the Eastern prisons are not 
 public buildings erected for that purpose ; but a part 
 of the house in which their criminal Judges dwell. 
 The Governor and Provost of a town, or the Captain 
 of the watch, imprisoned such as were accused in 
 their own houses. They set apart a canton of it for 
 that purpose when they are put into these offices, and 
 take one of their domestics for the Jailor. 
 
 The making the house of Jonathan the prison would, 
 in the East, mark out the placing him in an office of 
 importance. It is probable that it was so anciently, 
 and that his house became a prison when Jonathan 
 was made the royal Scribe, and became like the 
 chamber of Elishama, one of the prisons of the people. 
 
 Chardin says, that a discretionary power is given 
 to the keeper, to treat his prisoner just as he pleases; 
 and all that is required is to produce them when 
 called for. He gives us an account of the treatment 
 which a great Armenian merchant met with. "At 
 first, upon the Jailor's receiving a considerable pre- 
 sent from him, he was caressed ; but upon the oppo- 
 
JEREMIAH. 293 
 
 site party's presenting something considerable to the 
 Judge and to the Jailor, the prisoner was closely 
 confined, and treated with the greatest inhumanity, 
 and at length thrown into a dungeon, where, in a 
 short time, he was brought to the point to which 
 this severe usage was intended to force him." This 
 appears to give energy to those passages of scripture 
 which speak of the sighing of the prisoners, and its 
 coming before God !* Jeremiah supplicated, that he 
 might not be remanded to the dungeon, lest he should 
 die there. — Jer. xxxvii. 16, 20. — Harmer. 
 
 NO.330.— -BLACK EUNUCHS NOT COMMON IN THE LEVANT; 
 
 xxxviii. 7, Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, one of the 
 King's eunuchs who was in the King's House.- 
 The possession of black eunuchs is not very com- 
 mon in the Levant ; they are hardly any where to be 
 found, except in the palaces of the Sovereign, or of 
 the branches of the royal family. When the Baron 
 De Tott's wife and mother-in-law were permitted to 
 visit Asma Sultana, daughter of the Emperor Achmet, 
 and sister of the then reigning Prince, he tells us, 
 that 5' at the opening of the third gate of her palace, 
 several black eunuchs presented themselves, who, 
 having each a white staiF in his hand, preceded the 
 visitors, leading them to a spacious apartment, called 
 the chamber of strangers." He adds, that to have 
 such attendants is a piece of great state, as the richest 
 people have not more than one or two of them. — 
 
 Harmer, 
 
 Fleecy locks and black complexion 
 
 Cannot forfeit nature's claim ; 
 Skins may diiFer, but affection 
 
 Dwells in white and black the same. 
 
 Cowpeh, 
 ♦ Psalm Ixxix. 11. 
 
294 JEREMIAH. 
 
 NO. 331. — EA.STERN REPOSITORIES FOR CORN. 
 
 xli. 8. Te7i men were found ampng Ihem that said 
 unto Ishmaely slay us not ; for we have treasures 
 in the field, of wlieat, and of barley, and of oil, and 
 of honey. 
 
 Dr. Shaw informs us, that in Barbary, when the 
 grain is winnowed, they lodge it in mattamores, or 
 subterraneous repositories, two or three hundred of 
 which are sometimes together, the smallest holding 
 four hundred bushels. These are very common in 
 other parts of the East ; and, accorduig to Dr. RusseU^ 
 jy-e very numerous about the villages near Aleppo. 
 Those repositories, when empty, are left open, which 
 makes travelling in the night very dangerous. Le 
 Bruyu informs us, that this is the way of keeping 
 corn in the Holy Land. He says, they have deep 
 pits at Rama, which he understood was designed for 
 corn. ' Rauwolff' speaks of three large vaults at Joppa 
 used for laying up grain when he was there ; and it 
 was probably in repositories of this description, that 
 the men who conversed with Ishmael had laid up 
 their treasure. 
 
 The author of the history of the Piratical States of 
 Barbary says, that it is, usual with the Arabs, when 
 Ihey expect the armies of Algiers, to secure the corn 
 and other effects, which are not portable, in subterra- 
 neovis repositories, wanderitig about with the flocks 
 'till the troops are returned to their quarters. 
 
 Pitts tells us that they put straw at the bottom and 
 sides of these places ; but notwithstanding this, in con- 
 .sequence of the damp, the corn is much injured. But 
 the danger of being robbed by the roving troops that 
 scoured the country, and the evil to which the corn of 
 
JEREMIAH* 295 
 
 those countries is subject, from the worms, if kept in 
 the open air, may be theught a sufficient balance 
 against the injury it received by being- buried.— ^Tarme?-. 
 
 NO. 332. — ANCIENT DRINK-OFFERINGS. 
 
 xlir. 17. To pour out drink-offer ingfi. 
 When the ancient idolaters made their libations, they 
 usually filled the cup entirely full, and crowned it 
 with flowers. Servius, on the first book of the Eneid, 
 says, that the ancients crowned their cups with 
 flowers, and then made libations. Thus Virgil, speak- 
 ing of A nchises, says, that he adorned the great cup 
 with a crown of flowers, and filled it with wine. 
 
 Yes ; in the flowers which wreath the sparkling bowl, 
 Fell adders hiss, and pois'nous serpents roll* 
 
 Hervey. 
 
 NO, 333. — WILD BEASTS HARBOUR NEAR JORDAN. 
 
 xlix. 1 9. Hg shall come up like a lion from the swelling 
 of Jordan. 
 The comparison used by the Prophet in these words 
 will be perfectly understood by the account which 
 Mr, Maundrell gives of the river Jordan. He says, 
 after having descended the outermost bank of Jordan, 
 you go about a furlong upon a level strand, before yoii^ 
 come to the immediate bank of the river. This second 
 bank is so beset with bushes and trees, such as tama- 
 risks, willows, oleanders, &c. that you can see no 
 water 'till you have made your way through them. 
 In this thicket, anciently (and the same is reported of 
 it at this day), several sorts of wild beasts were wont 
 to harbour themselves ; whose being washed out of 
 the covert, by the overflowings of the river, gave 
 
296 JERExMIAH. 
 
 occasion to that allusion, he shall come up like a lion 
 from the swelling of Jordan. Correspondent with 
 this account, Ammianus Marcellinus tells us, that 
 lions without number range through the reeds and 
 shrubs of the rivers of Mesopotamia. 
 
 Jordan does not, like the Nile, overflow annually ; 
 but like the Euphrates, in some particular years only. 
 Dr. Pococke represents Jordan as almost hid by 
 sha^y trees between the lake Samochonites and the 
 sea of Tiberius. Sandys says, it is shaded with 
 poplars, alders, tamarisks, and reeds of sundry kinds. 
 
 Burder. 
 
 The Prophet appears to have an eye to the rage of 
 the Edomites. — He shall come with all the fierceness 
 and fury of a lion forced out of his covert by the 
 swelling of Jordan. 
 
 NO. 334. — THE FOUNDATIONS OF BABYLON. 
 
 I. 15. Her foundations are fallen, her walls are 
 thrown down. 
 Though this could not be the case with foundations 
 in general, yet it might be with those of Babylon ; 
 for Herodotus, who had himself been there, informs 
 us, that it was surrounded first by a deep and wide 
 ditch, full of water, and then by its stupendous walls, 
 fifty royal cubits broad, and two hundred high ; 
 that the earth thrown out of the ditch was made 
 into bricks, with which they first lined both sides of 
 the ditch, and then built the wall in the same manner. 
 ^Supposing then that the scarp, or inner wall of the 
 ditch, served for a foundation to the wall of the city, 
 it is very easy to conceive how such foundations, 
 being built in a marshy soil, and cox)tinually exposed 
 
JEREMIAH. 297 
 
 to the undermining power of the water in the ditch, 
 and pressed by such a prodigious weight, might give 
 way and fall. — Parkhurst, 
 
 NO. 335.— Bi\BYLON,WHy CALLED SHESHACH, 
 
 11. 41. How is Sheshach taken ! 
 It is conceived, that Babylon is called Sheshach 
 from one of her idols, and that the term is used by 
 way of opprobrium. The idol Shach was worshipped 
 there, and had a festival kept for five days together. 
 It is said, that during this festiv^al Cyrus took Babylon. 
 Atheneus speaks of this feast, saying, " Berosus, ii\ 
 the first book of the Babylonish history, relates, that 
 on the sixteenth of the calends of September, the 
 feast Saicea was celebrated at Babylon for five days ; 
 during which time it was customary for masters to 
 obey their servants ; one of them, being master of the 
 house, was clothed in a royal garment, and called 
 Zoganez.'* — Burder, 
 
 LAMENTATIONS. 
 
 NO. 336. — A FOOTSTOOL AN APPENDAGE TO A THRONE. 
 
 ii. 1. And remembered 7iot his footstool in the day of 
 his anger. 
 Tl HE fooistool was not only a great conven- 
 ience as an appendage to the throne, but was a peculiar 
 mark of regal honour. On this account the earth is 
 called the footstooiof the throne of God. In this 
 manner it is mentioned by Homer : — 
 
 A splendid footstool, and a throne, that shine 
 With gold unfading, Somnus, shall be thine. 
 
 Burder, 
 
298 LAMENTATIONS^. 
 
 By the footstool we are probably to understand, 
 the temple.* God had suffered the Chaldeans to 
 burn the temple with fire — Jer. lii. 13. and had ob- 
 scured all the beauty and glory of the church and 
 stale of the Jews.^ — Poole. 
 
 NO. 337. — EASTERN PORTABLE OVENS. 
 
 V. 10. Our skin was black like an oven, because of the 
 terrible famine. 
 
 Portable ovens were frequently used in the East, 
 and were part of the furniture of Eastern travellers. 
 These ovens appear to have been formed of different 
 materials, according to the rank of the several 
 owners. Those alluded to by the Prophet Jeremiah, 
 when describing the distresses of the inhabitants of 
 Jerusalem, seem to be of an inferior kmd, belonging 
 to the ordinary class of travellers : there were others 
 of a far superior nature, made of very valuable 
 metals. We are informed, from nn Arabian tale 
 translated in 1786, that partof the food of the Caliph 
 Vattiek, on his travels, was delicate cakes, which had 
 been baked in silver ovens. St. Jerome describes an 
 Eastern oven as a round vessel of brass, blackened on 
 the outside by the surrounding fire which heats it 
 within. 
 
 Thevenot says, that in Persia they bake a whole 
 pheep in their ovens which have the mouth in the 
 top ; and when the fuel by which it is heated is pretty 
 much burnt out, and sunk at the bottom of the vessel, 
 it is covered by an earthen dripping-pan, and the 
 meat is hung up in the ov^ where it roasts alike on 
 all sides. — Burdtr, 
 
 ♦ 1 Chron. xxviii. 2. 
 
EZEKIEL. 299 
 
 NO. 338. — BEATING THE ARMS, AN EXPRESSION OF 
 GRIEF. 
 
 iv. 7. Thou shall set thy face toward the siege of Je- 
 rusalem, and thine arm shall he uncovered. 
 Among other rites of mourning made use 
 of by the Jews in the time of St. Jerome, was the 
 beating of their arms with such vehemence as to 
 render them black and blue. Hence it is natural to 
 suppose, that Ezekiel's uncoiyering his arm, when 
 personating the Jewish people at the siege of Jerusa- 
 lem, was in order to expose his bruises of lamentation. 
 St. Jerome informs us, that on the anniversary of 
 the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, the 
 Jews assembled in great numbers, bearing the marks 
 of God's displeasure both in their persons and dress. 
 These miserable people mourned over the ruins of their 
 temple ; and though their cheeks were covered with 
 tears, their arms black and blue, and their hair all in 
 disorder, the soldiers demanded money of them for the 
 liberty of protracting their lamentations a little longer. 
 He adds, that it was a custom continued in Judea to 
 his time, for the mourning women to beat their arms 
 with their hands, and, with a particular tone of voice 
 and dishevelled hair, to excite tears in all that were 
 present. It appears, that Ezekielr was to represent, 
 not the state of the besieging army, but of the dis- 
 tressed Jews in the city, who would be forced to eat 
 polluted bread,^ and would want even a sufficiency 
 of that. They shall eat bread, by weight, and with 
 care, and they shall drink water by measure and witk 
 astonishment. — Ver. 16. — Harmer. 
 
 *Yer. 12, 13. 
 
300 EZEKIEL. 
 
 NO. 339.—CAVERN-TEMPLES SACRED TO THE SUN. 
 viii. 7. He brought me to the door of the court; and 
 when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. 
 Caves, and other similar subterraneous recesses, 
 consecrated to the worship of the sun, were very 
 generally, if not universally in request among nations 
 where that superstition was practised. The moun- 
 tains of Chusistan abound with stupendous excavations 
 of this sort. Allusive to this kind of c?ivern-temple, 
 and this species of devotion, are those words of 
 Ezekiel. The Prophet in a vision beholds, and in the 
 most sublime manner stigmatizes, the horrible idola- 
 trous abominations which the Israelites had borrowed 
 from their Asiatic neighbours of Chaldea, Egypt, and 
 Persia. He brought me, says the Prophet, to the door 
 of the court : a7id when 1 looked, behold^ a hole in the 
 wall. Then said he unto we, son of man, dig now in 
 the wall : and when I had digged in the wall, behold 
 a door: and he said U7i to me y go in Qhai is, into this 
 cavern-temple), a?id behold the wicked abominations 
 that they do there. So I went in, and saw, and behold, 
 every form of creeping things and abominable beasts, 
 and all the idols of the house of Israel were four Ir ay ed 
 upon the wall round about. In this subterraneous 
 temple were seventy men of the ancients of the house 
 of Israel ; and their employment was of a nature very 
 nearly similar to that of the Priests in Salsette. They 
 stood every man with his censer in his hand, and a 
 thick cloud of incense went up. Then said he unto 
 me, son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the 
 house of Israel do in the dark, every man inthe^cham- 
 bers of his imagery ? In Egypt, to the particular 
 idolatry of which country, it is plain, from his men- 
 tioning every form of creeping things and abominable 
 
EZEKIEL. 301 
 
 beasts, the Prophet, in this place, alludes, these dark 
 secluded recesses were called mystic cells ; and in 
 them were celebrated the secret mysteries of Isis and 
 Osiris, represented by the quadrupeds sacred to those 
 deities. — Maurice, 
 
 NO. 340.— PUTTING THE BRANCH TO THE NOSE, 
 viii. 17. TTiey have filled the land with violence, a7id 
 
 have returned to provoke me to anger ; and lo, they 
 
 put the branch to their nose. 
 
 This expression undoubtedly alludes to some par- 
 ticular ceremony belonging to their idolatrous wor- 
 ship. Mr. Lowth says, the words may refer to a 
 custom among the idolaters of dedicating a branch of 
 laurel, or some other tree, to the honor of the sun, and 
 carrying it in their hands at the time of their worship. 
 Lewis says, that the most reasonable exposition is, 
 that the worshipper, with a wand in his hand, would 
 touch the idol, and then apply the stick to his nose and 
 mouth, in token of worship and adoration. — Burder. 
 
 Perhaps they took some branches out of the garlands 
 with which they had decked the idol, the altar, the vic- 
 tim, or themselves,* and smelled to them as a nosegay. 
 Thus the worshippers of Bacchus waved their thy rsus,t 
 carrying it in their hands whilst they danced, bowed 
 their bodies, and often kissed the branches. — Poole. 
 
 NO. 341.— CUSTOM OF MARKING IN THE FOREHEAD. 
 
 ix. 4. Go through the midst of the city, through the 
 midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the fore- 
 heads of the men that sigh, and that cry for all the 
 abominations that be done in the midst thereof. 
 Mr. Maurice, speaking of the religious rites of the 
 
 * Acts liv. 13. t A stalk wreathed with ivy. 
 
'Stte EZEKIEL. 
 
 Hindoos, says, before they can enter the g^reat pagoda, 
 an indisipensable ceremony takes place, which can 
 only be performed by the hand of a Brahmin ; and 
 that is, the impressing of their foreheads with the tiluk, 
 or mark of diJBferent colors, as they may belong either 
 to the sect of Veeshnu or Seeva. If the temple be 
 that of Veeshnu, their foreheads are marked with a 
 longitudinal line, and the color used is vermillion : if 
 it be the temple of Seeva, they are marked with a 
 parallel line, and the color used is turmeric, or saffron : 
 but these two grand sects being again sub-divided into 
 numerous classes, both the siie and shape of the tiluk 
 are varied, in proportion to their superior or inferior 
 rank. In regard to the tiluk it was a custom of very 
 ancient date in Asia, to mark their servants in the 
 forehead. This custom is alluded to by Ezeziel ; and 
 Ihelfeame idea occurs also Rev. vii. 3. — Eurder. 
 
 The men, who dail^? sigh and grieve. 
 The Lois, that in our Sodom live, 
 A diiPrencc in llteir favour make. 
 Into thy kind protection take. 
 And claim the sorrowing souls for thine. 
 And mark them with the crimson sign. 
 
 Bkackenbury. 
 
 NO. 342.— THE DISPOSING OF BAGGAGE ON A JOURNEY. 
 
 xii. 3. 7. Thou son of man, prepare the stuff for re* 
 moving, and remove by day in their sight, i(c. 
 Chardin says, this is what they do in the caravans : 
 they carry out their baggage in the day time, and 
 the caravan loads in the evening. This management 
 marks out the distance of the way they were going : 
 going into captivity in a very far country. The 
 going into captivity had no privacy attending it j 
 
EZEKIEL. 303 
 
 hence they send their goods to a common rendezvous 
 before hand, and start for their journey in the evening. 
 
 It appears, that Ezekiel was to do two things — to 
 imitate the going of the people into captivity, and the 
 hurrying flight of the King. The mournful, but com- 
 posed collecting together all they had, for a transmi- 
 gration, is vastly remote from .the hurrying and 
 secret management of one making a private breach 
 in a wall, and going off precipitately, with a few of 
 his most valuable effects on his shoulder. 
 
 I am not sure that the Prophet's covering his face 
 was designed for concealment : it might be to express 
 Zedekiah's distress. David had his head covered 
 when he fled from Absalom, at a time when he in- 
 tended no concealment : and when Zedekiah fled, it 
 was not in the night, and consequently such a con- 
 cealment was not wanted ; not to say it would have 
 been embarassing to him in his flight, not to be able to 
 see the ground. The Prophet mentions the digging 
 through the wall, after mentioning his preparation 
 for removing as into captivity ; but it is necessary 
 for us to suppose, that the emblematical actions are 
 ranged just as he performed them.— //armer. 
 
 NO. 343. — DIVINATION BY ARROWS. 
 
 xxi. 2\. He made his arrows bright. 
 This was for the purpose of divination. Jerome on 
 this passage says, "the manner of divining by arrows 
 was thus : they wrote on several arrows the names 
 of the cities they intended to make war against ; and 
 then putting them promiscuously all together into a 
 quiver, they caused them to be drawn Out in the 
 fKanner of lots ; and that city whose name was on the 
 
S04 EZEKIEL. - 
 
 arrow first drawn out was the first they assaulted." 
 The arrows used by the idolatrous Arabs for this 
 purpose were without heads or feathers, and were 
 kept in the temple of some idol, in whose presence 
 they were consulted. Seven such arrows were kept 
 at the temple of Mecca : but generally in divination 
 they make use of three only, on one of which was 
 written," My Lord hath commanded me ;" on another, 
 " The Lord hath forbidden me ;" and the third was 
 blank. If the first was drawn, they looked on it as 
 an approbation of the enterprize in question : if the 
 second, they made a contrary conclusion ; but if the 
 third happened to be drawn, they mixed them, and 
 drew over again 'till a decisive answer was given by 
 one of the others. These divining arrows were 
 generally consulted before any thing of moment was 
 undertaken, — as when a man was about to marry, 
 or about to go a journey, or the like.— Bur der. 
 
 The King appears to have been puzzled which 
 way he should take, whether the road which led to 
 Ratbath, the head city of the Ammonites, or that 
 which led to Jerusalem. At last he uses divination, 
 and makes his arrows bright in honor of the solemnity. 
 Perhaps Jerusalem was written on one arrow, and 
 Rabbath on the other, and that which was first 
 drawn out of the quiver he determined to attack first. 
 
 Henry, 
 
 NO. 344.— FUNERAL RITES OF THE JEWS IN BARBARY. 
 
 xxiv. 17. Put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover 
 not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men. 
 Dean Addison, in his account of the modern mourn- 
 ing of the Jews in Barbary, says, « the relations of the 
 
EZEKIEL. 305 
 
 deceased, for seven days after the interment, stir not 
 abroad ; or if by some extraordinary occasion, they 
 are forced to go out, it is without shoes ; which is a 
 token with them that they have lost a dear friend. 
 They return from the grave to the house of tha 
 deceased, where one, as chief mourner, receives them, 
 with his jaws tied up with a linen cloth, after the 
 same manner that they bind up the dead : and by this 
 the mourner is said to testify, that he was ready to 
 die with his friend : and thus muffled the mourner 
 goes for seven days; during which time the rest of 
 his friends come twice every twenty-four hours to 
 pray with him." This certainly explains what is 
 meant by covering the lijjs, or the mouth, from which 
 Ezekiel was commanded to abstain. — Burder. 
 
 By the bread of men, we are to understand, the 
 bread of others; the bread which the neighbours, 
 relations, and friends, were wont at this season to 
 send to the mourners ; this Ezekiel was not to eat. — • 
 
 Harmer. 
 
 N0.315. — FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY CONCERNING TYKE, 
 
 xxvi, 14. / will make thee like the top of a rock: 
 thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon. 
 This city standing in the sea, upon a peninsula, 
 ^promises at a distance something very magnificent; 
 but when you come to it, you find no similitude of 
 that glory, for which it was so renowned in ancient 
 times, and which the Prophet Ezekiel describes— 
 chap. xxvi. 27. 28. On the north side it has an old 
 Turkish ungarrisoned castle ; beside which you see 
 nothing but a mere Babel of broken walls^ pillars, 
 
 W 
 
506 EZEKIEL. 
 
 vaults, <fec. there being not so much as one entire 
 bouse left. Its present inhabitants are only a few 
 wretches,^ha^bouring themselves in vaults, and sub- 
 sisting chiefly upon fishing: they appear to be pre- 
 served in this place by Divine Providence, as a visible 
 argument* how God has fulfilled his word concerning 
 Tyre. — MaundrelL 
 
 Thy word, like silver sev'n times tried, 
 
 Tliro' ages shall endure; 
 Tlie men that in thy trath confide 
 
 Shall find thy promise sure. 
 
 Watts. 
 
 NO. 346. — EASTERN PRINCES COMrARED TO LIONS AND 
 CROCODILES. 
 
 xxxii. 2. Take up a lamentation for Pharaoh, King 
 of Egypt, and say unto him, thou art like a young 
 lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the 
 seas ; and thou earnest forth with thy rivers, and 
 troubledst the waters with thy feet. 
 Nothing is more common in the East, than the com- 
 paring Princes to lions, or better known to those that 
 are acquainted with their writings ; but the comparing 
 crocodiles, if possessed of naval power, or strong by « 
 watery situation, has hardly ever been mentioned. 
 
 D'Herbelot, however, cites an Eastern poet, who, 
 celebrating the prowess of Gelaleddin, a valiant 
 Persian Prince, said, " he was dreadful as a lion ia 
 the field, and not less terrible in the water than a 
 crocodile." The power of the ancient Kings of 
 Egypt seems to be represented after the same manner 
 by the prophet Ezekiel in our text, where he makes 
 o*e of both the similes of the panegyrist of Gelaleddin. 
 
EZEKIEL. SOT 
 
 Tt is strange that our translators should introduce 
 the word whale in our text, and at the same time to 
 talk of feet : nor indeed are rivers the abode of the 
 whale; for its bulk is too great to admit of it. The 
 term dragon, which is thrown into the margin, is 
 the preferable version ; which word in our language, 
 OS the Hebrew word in the original, is, I think, generic, 
 and includes the several species of oviparous quadru- 
 [)edes, if not those of the serpentine kind. A crocodile >- 
 is, without doubt, the creature the Prophet means ; 
 and the comparison seems to point out the power of 
 the Egyptian Kings of antiquity : they were formida-?- 
 ble by land, and mighty by sea. — Harmer» 
 
 NO. 347.— WARRIORS BURIED WITH THEIR ARMOUR. 
 
 xxxii. 27. They have lard their swords under their- 
 heads f but their iniquities shall be upon their bones. 
 Chardin informs us, that in Mingrelia they all 
 ^leep with their swords under their heads, and 
 their other arms by their sides ; and they bury 
 them in the same manner, their arms being placed in 
 the same position. Bochart supposes, that Mesh ech 
 and Tubal, of whom Ezekiel is speaking, means Min- 
 grelia, and the country thereabouts. The burying 
 warriors with their weapons of war seems to have 
 been an ancient method of honoring the dead. The 
 meaning of the Prophet is, that those cruel Scythians 
 should not only be without the usual martial solemni- 
 ties, with which the people of that country honored 
 their dead ; but that an exemplary punishment of their 
 iniquity should rest upon their bones, which should be 
 scattered upon the earth by the just judgment of God* 
 
 Harmer, ^c^ . 
 W 2. 
 
SOS EZEKIEL. 
 
 NO. 318. — SWORDS USED IN INCANTATION, 
 xxxiii. 26. Ye stand upon your sword- 
 You make your strength the law of justice, accord- 
 ing to the character given of ungodly men — Wisdom 
 ii. II. Spenser thinks, that the expression alludes to 
 a custorii of the Heathens, who put the blood of their ''. 
 sacrifices into a vessel or pit, in order to call up or ■ 
 consult evil spirits, and then stood with their swords 
 drawn, to keep the demons off from doing them any 
 harm. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 349.— CUSTOM OF LODGING IN THE WOODS. 
 
 xxxiv. 2b. They shall dwell safely irtihe wilderness, 
 and sleep in the woods. 
 The Eastern shepherds frequently lie abroad in the 
 fields with their flocks, during the night, without a 
 tent to shelter them. Chandler thus describes an 
 occurrence in his first excursion from Smyrna : — 
 "about two in the morning our whole attention wa« 
 fixed by the barking of dogs, which, as we advanced, 
 became exceedingly furious. Deceived by the light 
 of the moon, we now fancied we could see a village, 
 and were much mortified to find only a station of 
 poor goatherds, without even a shed, and nothing for 
 our horses to eat : they were lying, wrapt in their 
 thick, capots, or loose coats, by some glimmering em- 
 bers among the bushes in a dale, under a spreading 
 tree, by the fold. The tree was hung with rustic 
 utensils : the she-goats, in a pen, sneezed, and bleated, 
 and, rustled to and fro. The shrubs by which our 
 horses stood were leafless, and the earth bare." This 
 account is extremely amusing to the imagination, and 
 is, I doubt not, a faithful representation of the state of 
 
EZEKIEL. 309 
 
 many of the ancient Israelitish shepherds ; but this 
 management must have exposed them to many dan- 
 j^ers, if their country at any time should be over-run 
 with beasts of prey. The Propliet declares, on the 
 part of God, that those destructive beasts should be 
 taken away, at the time to which he refers. — / will 
 cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land, and they 
 rJiall dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the 
 ;^oods. — Harmer. 
 
 When all the mercies of mj' God 
 
 Mj rising soul surveys ; 
 Why, my cold heart, art thou not lost 
 
 In wonder, love, and praise ? 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 NO. 350.— STATELINESS OF THE BODY VENERATED. 
 
 '. 4. Children in whom was no blemish, but well 
 favored. 
 In all barbarous or uncivilized cbuntries, the 
 stateliness of the body is held in great veneration: 
 nor do they think any capable of great services or 
 actions, to whom Nature has not vouchsafed to give 
 a beautiful form and aspect. It has always been the 
 custom of the Eastern nations, to choose such for 
 their principal officers, or to wait on Princes and 
 great personages. — 'Curtius, 
 
 "The youths which are designed for the great 
 officers of the Turkish empire, must be of admirable 
 features and pleasing looks, well-shaped in their 
 bodies, and without any defects of nature; for it is 
 conceived, that a corrupt and sordid soul can scarce 
 inhabit a serene and ingenuous aspect j and I have 
 
310 DANIEL. 
 
 observed, not only in the seraglio, but also in the 
 courts of great men, their personal attendants have 
 been of comely lusty youths, well habited, deporting 
 themselves with singular modesty and respect in the 
 presence of ttieir masters ; so that when a Pacha 
 Spahi travels, he is always attended with a comely 
 equipage, followed by flourishing youths, well-clothed 
 and mounted, in great numbers." — Ricaut. 
 
 NO. S51.— -OBLATIONS TO THE EASTERN GODS. 
 
 i. 8. Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not 
 defile himself "with the portion of tJie King's meat. 
 It was the custom of most nations, before their 
 meals, to make an oblation of some part of what they 
 ate and drank, to their gods, as a thankful acknow- 
 ledgment that everything which they enjoyed was 
 their gift ; so that every entertainment had something 
 in it of the nature -of a sacrifice. This practice 
 generally prevailing, made Daniel and his friends look 
 upon the provisions coming from the King's table as 
 no better than meats offered to idols, and, by being so 
 offered, to be accounted unclean or polluted. — Hos. 
 ix. 3.— rActs XV. 20, — Burder, 
 
 NO, 352.— HOUSES REDUCED TO DUNGHILLS. 
 
 ii. 6. Your houses shall be made a durighill. 
 This was a common practice among the Romans. 
 When any person was found plotting against the 
 government, or guilty of treason, they were not only 
 capitally punished, but their houses were pulled down, 
 dit the names of them changed. Thus the house of 
 Caius Cassius wag pulled down, for his affectation of 
 goyernment, and for, treason ; and that of M. Manlius 
 
DANIEL. SJl 
 
 Capitolinus, who was suspected of seizing the g:overn- 
 ment, after he was thrown down from the rock, was 
 converted into a mint. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 353. — OFFERING ODOURS, A CIVIL ACT. 
 
 ii. 46. And commanded that they should offer an obla- 
 tion, and sweet odours unto him* 
 It is common, at the close of Eastern visits, to per- 
 fume the guests by burning frankincense, wood of 
 aloes, and various fragrant essences, upon a silver 
 chafing dish. As these perfumes were used for civil 
 as well as sacred purposes, it is possible that all that 
 Nebuchadnezzar did and commanded, in relation t of 
 Daniel, was of a civil nature, and by no means idol- 
 atrous or improper to be bestowed upon the Prophet. 
 Had it been otherwise, a person so zealous as Daniel, 
 who had run the risque of his life in the worship of 
 his God, would undoubtedly, like Paul and Barnabas, 
 have rejected them. — Harmer^ 
 
 NO. 354. — PHYSICIANS AND ASTROLOGERS DRIVEN 
 FROM COURT. 
 
 v. II. Master of tlie w.agicians, astrologers, Chat- 
 deans, and soothsayers. 
 Sir J. Chardin gives us an account of a very whim- 
 sical honour paid the Persian princes ^fter their death, 
 such as driving their physicians and astrologers from 
 court — the physicians for not having driven away 
 death, and the astrologers for not having predicted it. 
 This he supposes to be of great antiquity, and to have 
 been the cause of Daniel's absence, when Belshaz2Jar , 
 saw the hand, writing his doom upon the wall, which 
 writing no body that was then with him could explain. 
 
S12 DANIEL. 
 
 It is certain that Daniel was not personally known 
 to,Belshazzar — v. 13. But if Chardin's supposition 
 be just, that the Persian court required his dismissal 
 from the management of the affairs of state, it must 
 have commenced at the death of Nebuchadnezzar, 
 which, according to Dr. frideaux, includes the sum 
 of twenty-three years. 
 
 Curious etiquette ! Upon this principle Daniel de- 
 served to be reinstated in his office, because he pre- 
 dicted the death of Belshazzar : and indeed whatever 
 was the ground of their procedure, Belshazzar made 
 liim the third ruler in his kingdom ; and under Darius 
 the Prophet made a distinguished figure at court. — 
 Dan. vi. 1, 3. — Harmer, 
 
 NO. %bb. — CUSTOM OF WEIGHING KINGS IN A BALANCE. 
 
 V. 27. Thou art weighed in the balances arid art found 
 wanting. 
 It appears, from Sir Thomas Roe's voyage to India, 
 that these words will admit of a literal interpretation. 
 He says, '* the first of September, which was the late 
 Mogul's birth-<iay, he, retaining an ancient yearly 
 custom, was, in the presence of his chief grandees, 
 weighed in a balance. The ceremony was performed 
 within his house, or tent, in a fair, spacious room, into 
 which none were admitted but by special leave. The 
 scales in which he was thus weighed were plated 
 with gold ; and so was the beam on which they 
 hung by great chains, made likewise of that most 
 precious metal. The King sitting in one of them, was 
 weighed first against silver coin, which immediately 
 afterward was distributed among the poor ; then was 
 he weighed against gold ; after that against jewels (as 
 
DANIEL. 313 
 
 they say) ; but I observed, being; there present with 
 my Lord Ambassador, that he was weighed against 
 three several things, laid in silken bags on the contrary 
 scale. When I saw him in the balance, I thought on 
 Belshazzar, who was found too light. By his weight, 
 of which his Physicians keep an exact account, they 
 presume to guess of the present state of his body, of 
 which they speak flatteringly, however they think it 
 to be." — Burder. 
 
 Thou art reprobate silver, felse coin ; thou art of no 
 value. 
 
 One onl^ hope may yet prevail ; 
 Christ hath a weight to turn the scale ; 
 Still doth the gospel publish peace. 
 And shew the Lord our righteousiiess. 
 
 Brackenburv. 
 
 NO. ^5Q. — CHANGING THE DRESS, A TOKEN OF HONOR, 
 
 V. 29. Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed 
 Daniel with scarlet. 
 
 This was designed to honor Daniel ; and according 
 to the custom of the East, it was a ceremony highly 
 expressive of dignity. To come out from the pre- 
 sence of a superior in a garment difTerent from that 
 in which the person went in, was significant of 
 approbation and promotion. Whether it was the 
 precise intention of this clothing, to declare DaniePs 
 investiture with the dignity of the third ruler of the 
 kingdom, or whether it was an honorary distinction, 
 unconnected with his advancement, cannot be abso- 
 lutely decided, because caffetans, or robes, are at 
 this day put on people with both views. 
 
 Chardin informs us, that in Persia and the Indies 
 they not only give a vestment, but a complete suit of 
 
314 DANIEL. 
 
 clothes, when tbey would do a person more honor 
 than fcoramon, contrary to what \» practised in Tnrkey 
 and China. Kin^s constantly gire them to Ambassa- 
 dors, Residents, and Envoys; and send them to 
 Princes who are their tributaries, and pay them 
 homage. They pay great attention to the quality 
 or merit of those to whom these vestments are given, 
 and they are always answerable to their rank. The 
 Kings of Persia have great wardrobes, where there 
 are always many hundreds of habits ready, designed 
 for presents, and sorted. The Intendant of the 
 wardrobes sends one of them to the person the Great 
 Master orders, and of that kind which the order 
 directs. This difference of vestments is not observed 
 in Turkey: there they are pretty much alike in 
 point of richness ; but they give more or fewer, 
 according to the dignity of the persons to whom they 
 are presented, or the degree in which they would 
 caress them. Some Ambassadors have received 
 twenty or thirty of them, for themselves and at- 
 tendants.-v^arwer. 
 
 NO. 367.— LAW OF THE WEDES AND PERSIANS. 
 
 ^i. 8. According to the law of the Medes and Persians 
 which altereth not. 
 
 In Persia, when the King has condemned a person, 
 it is no longer lawful to mention his name, or to inter- 
 cede in his favor. Though the King were drunk or 
 beside himself, yet the decree must be executed ; 
 otherwise he would contradict himself; and the law 
 admits of no contradiction. — Chardin. 
 
 The Chaldeans magnified the will of their King, by 
 giving him a power to make and unmake laws at his 
 
DANIEL. 316 
 
 pleasure, to slay and keep alive whom he would. The 
 Persians maguified the wisdom of their King by sup- 
 posiug, that whatever law he solemnly ratified, it was 
 so well made, that there could be no occasion to alter 
 it or dispense with it; as if any human foresight couid, 
 in framing a law, guard against all inconviencies : but 
 this maxim, while it honors the King's legislative 
 power, hampers his executive power, and incapacitates 
 him to shew that mercy which upholds the throne, 
 and to pass acts of indemnity, which are the glories 
 of a reign. — Henry, 
 
 NO* 358.— PRAYER MADE TOWARDS ESTEEMED PLACES. 
 
 vi. 10. He went into his house ; and his windows being 
 open in hii chamber towards Jerusalem, he kneeled 
 upon his knees three times a day, and prayed. 
 It was enjoined upon the Jews, that if any of them 
 were led away captive, they should pray io Godi to- 
 ward the city which he had chosen, and the house which 
 Solomon had built — 1 Kings viii. 48. The conduct of 
 Daniel, in the instance now referred to, was in oi>edi- 
 ence to that command. A similar custom of express- 
 ing an affection for any highly esteemed place, by 
 turning the face towards it, prevails at this present 
 time among the people in Africa. Park says, " when 
 we departed from Kamalia, near the Niger, a town in 
 Manding, we were followed for about half a mile by 
 most of the inhabitants of the town, some of them 
 crying, and others shaking hands with their relations, 
 who were now about to leave them; and when we 
 had gained a piece of rising ground, from which we 
 had a view of Kamalia, all the people belonging to the 
 coffle (a number of slaves who w^ere going down the 
 
SI 6 DANIEL. 
 
 coast) were ordered to sit down in another place, with 
 their faces towards Kamalia ; when a schoolmaster 
 that accompanied them pronounced a long and 
 Bolemn prayer." — Bwrder. 
 
 We mnst not omit duty for fear of suffering ; no, 
 nor so much as seem to come short of it. In trying 
 times, great stress is laid upon our confessing Christ 
 before men; and we must take heed, lest, under 
 pretence of discretion, we be found guilty of cowardice 
 in the cause of God. If we do not think that this 
 example of Daniel obliges us to do likewise, yet I am 
 sure that it forbids us to censure those who do ; for 
 God owned him in it. By his constancy to his duty 
 it appears, that he had never been used to admit any 
 excuse for the omission of it ; for if ever any excuse 
 would have served to put it by, it might have served 
 in the present instance. — Henry. 
 
 Thus Lord, throughout my life would I 
 
 At stated times thy grace implore. 
 
 At morning, nogn, and night draw njgh 
 
 Thy throne, to worship and adore. 
 
 Brackenbury, 
 
 NO. 359. — DIFFERENT MODES OF SUPPLICATION. 
 
 vi. 11. These men assembled^ and found Daniel 
 praying, and making supplication before his God. 
 There are various ways of making supplication 
 peculiar to different nations. Themistocles, when 
 pursued by the Athenians and Lacedemonians, and 
 forced to cast himself on the protection of Admetus, 
 King of the Molossians, held the young Prince, who 
 was then a child, in his arms, and in that posture 
 prostrated himself before the King's household gods; 
 
DANIEL. 317 
 
 this being the most sacred manner of supplication 
 amongst that people. — Plutarch. 
 
 The Grecians used to supplicate with green boughs 
 in their hands, and crowns upon their heads, made 
 chiefly of olive or of laurel. — Burder, 
 
 NO. 360. — AN HE-GOAT, A TYPE OF THE MACEDONIAN 
 EMPIRE. 
 
 viii. 6. An he-goat came from the west on the face of 
 the whole earthy and touched not the ground : and 
 the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. 
 About two hundred years before Daniel, the Mace- 
 donians were denominated the goats' people. It is 
 reported that the occasion of this title was as follows : 
 Caranus, the first King, going with a great multitude 
 of Greeks to seek new habitations in Macedonia, was 
 commanded by the oracle, to take the goats for his 
 guide to empire ; and afterwards seeing a herd of 
 goats flying from a violent storm, he followed them 
 to Edessa, and there fixed the seat of his empire, 
 made the goats his ensigns or standards, and called 
 the city the Goats' Town, and the people the Goats' 
 People. 
 
 It is well known, that in former times Macedon 
 and the adjacent countries abounded with goats, 
 insomuch that they were made symbols, and are to 
 be found on many of the coins struck by diiferent 
 towns in those parts of Greece. Macedon itself, 
 which is the oldest kingdom in Europe of which we 
 have any regular history, was represented by a goat 
 with this particularity, that it had but one hx)rn. 
 
 Ammianus Marcellinus says, that the King of Persia, 
 when at the head of his army, wo;e a ram's head, 
 
318 DANIEL. 
 
 made of goW and set with precious stones, instead of 
 a diadem.. The relation of these emblems to Mace- 
 don and Persia is strongly confirmed by the vision of 
 Daniel, recorded in this chapter, and which from 
 these accounts receives no inconsiderable share of 
 illustration. An ancient bronze figure of a goat, with 
 one horn, dug up in Asia Minor, was lately inspected 
 by the Society of Antiquaries in London. The origi- 
 nal use of it probably was, to be affixed to the top of a 
 military standard, iu the same manner as the Roman 
 eagle. — Burder, 
 
 ROSEA. 
 
 NO. 361. — CUSTOM OF CONTRACTING FOR WIVES. 
 
 iii. 2. So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver ^ 
 and for an homer of barley, and an half -homer 
 of barley. 
 
 Chardin observed in the East, that, in their 
 contracts for their temporary wives, there is always 
 the formality of a measure of corn mentioned, over 
 and above the sum of money which is stipulated. This 
 will perhaps account for Hosea's purchasing a woman 
 of this sort for fifteen pieces of silver, ^n^ a certain 
 quantity of barley, — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 362. — IDOLATROUS USE OF THE TERAPHIM. 
 
 iii. 4. The children of Israel shall abide many days 
 without a King, and without a Prince, and without 
 a sacrifice, and without an image,.and without an 
 ephod, and without teraphim. 
 Jnirieu says, ** the Eastern nations preserved in one 
 
 of the remote parts of their house the relics of their 
 
HOSEA. 319 
 
 ancestors ; bat if they had none of these, their pos- 
 terity erected empty tombs of stone, wood, or earth, 
 and upon these they set the ieraphim., at the two 
 extremities. Micah having obtained a sight of some 
 of these oracles among the Heathen, and being igno- 
 rant of the abominations they practised by them, 
 thought they might be sanctified by dedicating them 
 to God, though by idolaters they were designed for 
 enquiring of the dead." —Burder. 
 
 The meaning is, that in their captivity they should 
 not only have no face of a nation upon them, but no 
 face of a church ; they should not have liberty of 
 any public profession, or exercise of religion, accor- 
 ding to their choice : they shall have no legal priest- 
 hood, no means of knowing God's mind, no oracle to 
 consult in doubtful cases; but shall be all in the 
 dark. — Henry. 
 
 NO. 363. — ART OF DIVINING BY THE STAFF. 
 
 iv. 12. My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their 
 staff declareth unto them. 
 The method of divination alluded to by the Prophet 
 in these words, is supposed to have been thus per- 
 formed : the person consulting measured hi's staff' by 
 spans, or by the length of his finger, saying as he 
 measured, " I will go," or, " I will not go ;" " I will do 
 such a thing," or, " I will not do it ;" and as the last 
 span fell out, so he determined. Cyril and Theo- 
 phylact, however, give a different account of the 
 matter : they say, that it was performed by erecting 
 two sticks, after which they murmured forth u certain 
 charm, and then, according as the sticks fell, back- 
 wards or forwards, towards the right or left, they 
 gave advice in any affair. — Burder* 
 
320 HOSEA. 
 
 The stocks were probably wooden statues or idols, 
 which were consulted by their Priests, who would 
 make them answer in opposition to the Prophets of 
 the Lord, and agreeably to the wishes of this infatu- 
 ated people. Those who forsake the oracles of God, 
 to contrive for the present life, are but consulting 
 with their stocks and their staves. 
 
 NO. 364. — NUMEROUS ALTARS USED BY IDOLATERS. 
 
 viii. 11. Ephraim hath made many altars to sin. 
 
 The ancient idolaters were not satisfied with wor- 
 shipping one deity, or with sacrificing upon a single 
 altar, ^ut greatly multiplied both. They embraced 
 every opportunity of adding to the number already 
 received and established. The Romans were remark- 
 able for the erection of altars upon any sudden benefit 
 received, Tacitus mentions one consecrated to Adop. 
 tion, and another to Revenge. When they felt an 
 earthquake, they betook themselves by public com- 
 mand to religious observances ; though they did not, 
 as on other occasions, name the god to whom they 
 dedicated such solemnities, lest, by mistaking one for 
 another, they might oblige the people to a false 
 worship.' — A. GelL 
 
 On all the earth tliy spirit show'r. 
 The earth m righteousness renew ; 
 Thy kingdom come, and hell's o'erpow'r. 
 And to thy sceptre all subdue. 
 
 NO. 365. — THE GRAVEN AND MOLTEN IMAGE. 
 
 xi. 2. They sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned in- 
 \ cense to graven images. 
 The graven image was not a thing wrought in 
 metal by the tool of the workman we should now 
 
HOSEA. S21 
 
 call an engraver ; nor was the molten image an image 
 made of metal, or any other substance, melted and 
 shaped in a mould. In fact, the graven image and the 
 molten image are the same thing, under different 
 names. The images of the ancient idolaters were 
 first cut out of wood by the carpenter, as is very evi- 
 dent from the Prophet Isaiah. This figure of wood was 
 overlaid with plates, either of gold or silver, or some 
 times perhaps of an inferior metal ; and in this finished 
 jstate it was called a graven image (i. e. a carved 
 Image), in reference to the inner solid figure of wood, 
 and a molten (i. e. an overlaid or covered) image, in 
 reference to the outer metalline case or covering. 
 Sometimes both epithets are applied to it at once. — / 
 will cut off the graven and molten image. — Nahuni 
 i. 14. The English word molten conveys a notion 
 of melting, or fusion ; but the Hebrew signifies, 
 generally, to overspread, or cover all over, in what- 
 ever manner, according to the different subject, the 
 overspreading or covering be effected ; whether by 
 pouring forth a substance in fusion, or by spreading 
 a cloth over or before, or by hammering on metalline 
 plates. It is on account of this metalline case, that 
 we find a founder employed to make a graven image 
 — Judges xvii. 3. and that we read in Isaiah xl. 19. 
 of a workman that melteth a graven image. In these 
 two passages the words should be, overlayeth and 
 overlaid. — Bp. Horsley, 
 
 NO. ^^Q. — AN ACCOUNT OF EGYPTIAN OLIVES. 
 
 xii. 1. And oil is carried into Egypt, 
 Maillet says, that the olive thrives much in Egypt,, 
 and produces fruit as large as walnuts: but Bishop 
 
 X 
 
bc^$s:jl 
 

 X2^ 
 
324 HOSEA. 
 
 their backslidin^s, and would again restore them to a 
 flourishing state. — Harmery ^c. 
 
 Aurora sheds 
 Ou Indas' smiling banks, the rosjr shower. 
 
 Thompsok. 
 
 NO. 368.— THE FRAGRANCY OF LEBANON. 
 
 xiv. 6, And his smell as Lebanon. 
 
 Not only both the great and small cedars of Leba- 
 non have a fragrant smell, but Maundrell found the 
 great rupture in that mountain, which " runs at least 
 seven hours travel directly up into it, and is on both 
 sides exceeding steep and high, clothed with fragrant 
 greens from top to bottom, and every where refreshed 
 with fountains, falling down from the rocks in plea- 
 sant cascades, — ^the ingenious work of nature. These 
 streams, all uniting at the bottom, make a full and 
 rapid torrent, whose agreeable murmuring is heard all 
 over the place, and adds no small pleasure to it. — 
 
 Burder. 
 
 Lebanon was not only famous for cedars, but also 
 for the trees which afford the frankincense, that ex- 
 cellent aromatic, and for many of the sweetest flowers 
 which perfume the air. Such shall be the spiritual 
 fragrance of the church, both to God and man : and 
 if such be the fragrance of the church, what must be 
 that of its living head ? O Jesus, my Saviour, how 
 transporting is thy name ! celestial joy, immortal lif^ 
 is in the sound. 
 
 Sweet name ! in thy each syllable 
 A thousand bless'd Arabias dwell ; 
 Mountains of myrrh and beds of spices. 
 And ten thousand paradises, 
 
 Mrs. Rows. 
 
HOSEA. 325 
 
 N0.369. — THE EXCELLENCY OF THE WINE OF LEBANON. 
 
 xiv. 7. The scent thereof shall be as the wine of 
 Lebanon. 
 
 The wine of Lebanon is superior to all the wines of 
 that part of the world. David Kimchi cites a Physi- 
 cian, who affirmed, that the wine of Lebanon, Hermon, 
 and Carmel excelled all others, for smell, taste, and 
 medical purposes. Rauwolf, speaking: of his visiting 
 Mount Libanus, says, " the Patriarch was very merry 
 with us, and presented us with some Venice bottle* 
 of his wine, which was so pleasant, that I must confes* 
 1 never in all my life drank any like U." 
 
 Le Bruyn says, " Canobin* is preferable to all other 
 places, on account of their having better and more 
 delicate wines than are to be found any where else ia 
 the world. They are red, of a beautiful color, and 
 so oily that they adhere to the glass." Rauwolf says, 
 " the wines of Mount Lebanon are of two sorts : the 
 most common is red ; and the most exquisite is tha 
 color of our Muscadine wine — -they call it golden win» 
 on account of its color. " — Harmer. 
 
 JOEL. 
 
 NO. 370.--TIME OF THE EARLY AND LATTER RAINS- 
 li. 23. He will cause to comedown for you the rain, 
 the former rain, and the latter rain, in the Jirst 
 month. 
 
 Where the rain falls indiscriminately through 
 the whole year, as it does with us, there is no notion 
 of former and latter rains ; but nothing is more 
 natural than this distinction, in such a country as 
 
 Palestine. 
 
 * A celebrated monastery on Mount Lebanon. 
 
S26 JOEL. 
 
 Dr. Russell says, that the summer's drought at 
 Aleppo, usually terminates in September, by heavy 
 showers of rain, which continue sometimes for se- 
 veral days together, after which there is a short 
 interval of fine weather, and then showers again 
 succeed. Indeed all the winter is more or less 
 marked with rain. The autumnal rain is most pro- 
 bably that which is called the former rain, it being 
 the first that comes after a long suspension of show^ers. 
 The word month is not in the original. 
 
 Mr. Lowth supposes, that the /onner rain came 
 just after sowing-time, to make the seed take root, 
 and the latter rain just before harvest, to fill the ears. 
 It was principally from the latter rains that they 
 derived their hopes of a fruitful year. — Harmer. 
 
 The early rain fell in the month of September* 
 which was called the first season, by reason of tilling 
 and sowing of the ground : the latter rain about, 
 March, which month began what was called the 
 latter season, because of their gathering in the fruits 
 of the earth. — Diodaii, 
 
 NO. 371.— SLAVES SOLD AT A LOW PRICE. 
 
 iii. 3. They have cast lots for my people, and have 
 given a boy for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, 
 that they might drink. 
 
 Not only has this been done in Asia, where exam- 
 ples of it are frequent, but Europe also has witnessed 
 similar desolations. Chardin says, that the Tartars, 
 Turks, and Cosaques, will sometimes sell their little 
 captives equally cheap. " When the Tartars came 
 ^pto Poland, they carried off all that they were able. 
 
' JOEL. 327 
 
 went thither some years after, when many of th® 
 ■oiirt assured me, that the Tartars, perceiving that 
 they would no more redeem those whom they had 
 carried off, sold them for so small a sum as a crown. 
 I n Mingrelia they sell them for provisions and for 
 wine." 
 
 Morgan, in his history of Algiers, gives us an ac- 
 count of the unfortunate expedition of the Emperor 
 Charles the fifth against that city, which greatly 
 resembles the passage before us. He says, that be- 
 sides vast multitudes that were butchered by the 
 Moors and the Arabs, a great number were made 
 captives, mostly by the Turks and citizens of Algiers ; 
 and some of them, in order to turn this misfortune 
 into a most bitter taunting and contemptuous jest, 
 parted with their new-made slaves for an onion apiece. 
 ** Often have I heard," says he, " Turks and African* 
 upbraiding Europeans with this disaster, saying, ' 
 scornfully, to such as hav-e seemed to hold their . 
 heads somewhat loftily, ' What! have you forgot tii© 
 time, when a Christian at Algiers was scarce worth 
 an onion ?' " 
 
 They that know the large sums that are wont to 
 be paid, in the East, for young slaves of either sex, 
 must be sensible, that the Prophet designs, in thes«> 
 words, to point out the extreme contempt in which 
 those Heathen nations held the Jewish people. — 
 
 Harin&r, 
 
 Ye slaves of sin and hell. 
 
 Your liberty receive ; 
 
 And sale in Jesus dwell, 
 
 And blest in Jesus live : 
 
 The year of Jubilee is come j 
 
 Return, ye ransom'd sinners, home. 
 
328 AMOS. 
 
 NO. 372»— BONES BURNT INTO LIME, FOR PLASTER. 
 
 ilzl* He burned the bones of the Kijig of Edom into 
 
 lime. 
 
 There was war between the Edomites and 
 
 ; the Moabites, in which the King of Moab, in distress 
 
 and rage, ofifered his own son for a burnt-oiTering, to 
 
 appease his deity.— ^2 Kings iii. 26, 27. After this, 
 
 himself, or one of his successors, having the advantage 
 
 against the King of Edom, either seized him alive and 
 
 burnt him to ashes, or digged up the hones of the 
 
 dead King, who had so distressed the Moabites, and 
 
 burnt them to lime. This perhaps was used for the 
 
 white-washing of the walls and ceiling of his palace, 
 
 that he might please himself with the sight of that 
 
 monument of his revenge.— Henry, 
 
 A piece of barbarity resembling ti^is is told by Sir 
 Paul Rycaut — that the wall of the city of Philadelphia 
 was made of the bones of the besieged by the Prince 
 \vho took it by storm. — Burder, 
 
 NO.' 373.— SITTING IN THE CORNER, A TOKEN OF 
 SUPERIORITY. 
 
 iii, 12. As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the 
 , lion two legs, or a piece of an ear ; so shall the chil- 
 dren of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria, 
 'in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus iji a couch, 
 Rauwolf says, that the goats about Jerusalem have 
 hanging €ars, almost two feet long. Russell says, 
 they are often a foot long, and are kept chiefly for 
 their milk, of which they yield no inconsiderable 
 quantity. 
 
 The same author says, that the Eastern beds consist 
 of a mattress laid on the floor, two sheets, and a quilt. 
 
AMOS. 329 
 
 A divan cushion often serves for a pillow and a bolster. 
 They do not keep their beds ready made ; but the 
 mattresses &c. are rolled up, carried away, and placed 
 in cupboards 'till they are wanted at night. But the 
 Hebrew word here translated 6edZ may be understood 
 of a duan or divan, with which, he informs us, the 
 Eastern rooms are all furnished. On these they sit, 
 on these they take their repast, and on these they 
 sleep. — 1 Sam. xxviii.23. — Amosvi. 4. — Est. vii. 8. 
 
 Sitting in the corner is a stately attitude, and ex- 
 pressive of superiority. Dr. Pococke tells us, that, at 
 a visit which the English Consul made to the Pasha 
 of Tripoli, the Pasha, having on the garments of 
 ceremony, gave the welcome as he passed, and sat 
 down cross-legged in the corner, Tn like manner he 
 tells us, that when he was introduced to the Sheikh 
 of Furshout, he found him sitting in the corner of 
 his room, by a pan of coals. 
 
 Lord Whitworth informs us, that among the 
 Russians, who lately had many Eastern customs 
 among them, they were wont to place the picture of 
 their guardian saint, in the corner of their rooms. 
 These circumstances may explain the subject before 
 us thus :— " Just as a shepherd is sometimes able to 
 save, from the jaws of the devouring lion, no more 
 than some small piece of the sheep that beast had 
 carried off; so an adversary should spoil the land of 
 Israel, and scarcely any part of it should be recovered 
 out of his hand, more than the city that sits among 
 the cities of Israel, as in the corner of a bed, in the most 
 honorable place ; that is, as Samaria undoubtedly 
 did, being looked upon as the royal city." — Ilarmer. 
 
330 AMOS. 
 
 NO. 374,— EASTERN WINTER AND SDMMER-HOUSES. 
 
 Hi. 15. / will smite the winter-house with the summer- 
 house, and the houses of ivory shall perish^ and the 
 great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord, 
 Shaw's €M3Count of the country seats about Algiers, 
 may cast light on the subject before us. — " The hills 
 and valleys round about Algiers are all over 
 beautified with gardens and country seats, whither 
 the inhabitants of better fashion retire during the 
 heats of the summer. They are little white-houses, 
 shaded with a variety of fruit-trees and ever-greens. 
 The gardens are well stocked with melons, fruit, and 
 pot-herbs of all kinds; and enjoy a great command 
 of water-" 
 
 These sunnner-houses SiVe built in the open country, 
 and are small, though belonging to people of fashion, 
 vand as such explain in the most ample manner the 
 •words of Amos — I will smite the winter-house, the 
 palaces of the gre^t in the fortified towns, with the 
 summer-house, the small, houses of pleasure used in 
 the summer, to which any enemy can have access ; 
 and the houses of ivory shall perish, those remarkable 
 for their magnificence; and the great houses shall 
 have an end, those which are distinguished by their 
 amplitude as well as richness, built as they are in the 
 strongest places, yet shall all perish like their country 
 seats. — Jer. xxxvi. 22. 
 
 Maillet says, that in Egypt their halls are large 
 and lofty, with a dome at the top, having several 
 open windows towards the North, These are so 
 constructed as to render the coolness of the apart- 
 ments so great, as not to be borne without being 
 wrapped in fur. — Harmer^ 
 
AMOS. 331 
 
 NO. S75.--PESTILENCE SENT UPON THE ISRAELITES. 
 
 iv. 10. I have sent amoiigyou the pestilence^ after the 
 manlier of Egypt. 
 
 Abp. Newcome says, that this means the unwhole- 
 some efliuvia on the subsiding- of the Nile, which 
 t?auses some peculiarly malignant diseases in this 
 country. Maillet says, that the air is bad in those 
 parts where, when the inundations of the Nile have 
 been very great, this river, in retiring to its channel^ 
 leaves marshy places, which infect the country round 
 about. 
 
 You have died of the plague, but I commissioned 
 the disease ; I sent it, and it swept you away in such 
 manner, that any observant eye might have seen the 
 hand of God in it, and might have read the com- 
 misslon. — Pool. 
 
 The famine all thy fulness brings, 
 The plague presents thy healing wings, 
 And Nature's final hour. 
 
 NO. 376, — SERPENTS HIDE THEMSELVES IN WALLS. 
 
 V. 19. As if he leaned his hand on the wall, and a 
 serpent bit him. 
 Serpents sometimes concealed themselves in the 
 holes and chinks of the wails of Eastern houses. This 
 is confirmed by a remarkable story related by D'Her- 
 belot : — :Amadeddulat, who reigned in Persia in the 
 tenth century, found himself reduced to great difficul- 
 ties, arising from want of attention to his treasury,. 
 Walking one day in one of the rooms of his palace, 
 which had been before that time the residence of 
 Jacout, his antagonist, he perceived a serpent, which 
 put its head out of a chink of a wall ; he immediately 
 
3S2 AMOS. 
 
 ordered (hat th^ place should be searched and the 
 serpent killed. In opening the wall they met with a 
 secret place, in which they could not discover the 
 serpent, but found a treasure which was lodged there 
 in several cofiFers, in which Jacout had deposited his 
 most precious effects — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 377. — CUSTOM OF CARRYING IDOLS. 
 
 T. 26. Ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch 
 and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which 
 ye made to yourselves. 
 
 It is thought, with great probability, that Moloch, 
 and those other Pagan deities, which the Israelites 
 carried with them in the desart, were borne in niches 
 upon men's shoulders, or drawn about in covered 
 carriages, as we know the heathens carried their idols 
 in procession, or in public marches. The custom of 
 carrying the images of the gods under tents, and in 
 covered litters, came originally from the Egyptians. 
 Herodotus speaks of a feast of Isis, wherein her statue 
 was carried upon a chariot with four wheels, drawn 
 by her Priests. The same author, speaking of one of 
 their deities, says, they carried it from one temple to 
 another, inclosed in a little chapel made of gilt wood. 
 Clemens of Alexandria speaks of an Egyptian pro- 
 cession, wherein they carried two dogs of gold, a 
 hawk, and an ibis. Macrobius says, that the Egyptian 
 Priests carried the statue of Jupiter of Heliopolis upon 
 their shoulders, as the gods of the Romans were car- 
 ried in the pomp of the games of the circus. Philo, 
 of Biblos, relates, that they used to carry Agrotes, a 
 Phoenician deity, in a covered niche, upon a car drawn 
 by beasts. 
 
AMOS. 833 
 
 The Egyptian Priests placed Jupiter Ammon upon 
 a little boat, from whence hung plates of silver, by 
 the motion of which they formed a judgment of the 
 will of the deity, and from whence they made their 
 responses to such as consulted them. 
 
 The Gauls, as we are told by Sulpicius Severus, 
 carried their gods abroad into the fields, covered 
 with a white veil. — Calmet. 
 
 N0.378. — MANNER OF TREATING THE SYCAMORE FRUIT. 
 
 vii. 14. ^ gatherer of sycamore fruit; 
 Or, more properly, a dresser of sycamore fruit. 
 Pococke, in speaking of the sycamore of the ancients, 
 says, " it is a wild small fig, at the end of which there 
 is a collection of water : the fig must be cut, and the 
 water let out, or the fruit will not ripen. The 
 sycamore is a large spreading tree, with a round leaf, 
 and has this particular quality, — that short branches, 
 without leaves, come out of the great limbs all about 
 the wood, and these bear fruit. It was of the timber 
 of these trees that the ancient Egyptians made their 
 coffins for their embalmed bodies^ and the wood re- 
 mains sound to this day." Hasselquist, describing the 
 scripture sycamore, says, " it buds in the latter end of 
 March, and the fruit ripens in the beginning of June ; 
 it is wounded or cut, by the inhabitants of Lower 
 Egypt, at the time it buds ; for without this pre- 
 caution, they say, it will not bear fruit." — Burder, 
 
 NO. 379. — ECLIPSES CONSIDERED AS OMINOUS. 
 
 Yiii. 9. / will cause the sun to go down at nooji, and 
 J will darken the earth in the clear day. 
 One of the Asiatic poets, describing , a calamitous 
 and miserable day, says, it was a time in which the 
 
334 AMOS. 
 
 sun rose in the West. Amos threatened that God 
 would make the sun go down at noon, and would 
 darken the earth in a clear day. Mr. Harmer ob- 
 serves, that though these exprCvSsions are different, 
 they are of the same import, and serve to illustrate 
 one another. They both signify how extremely short 
 this time of prosperity would be, and how unexpect- 
 edly it would terminate. Mr. Lowth thinks, that^the 
 Prophet alluded to eclipses of the sun ; for he says, 
 that Archbishop Usher hath observed in his annals, 
 that about eleven years after the time that Amos 
 prophesied, there were two great eclipses of the sun ; 
 and it is well known in what an ominous light the 
 ancients regarded them. — Burder, 
 
 Mr. Pool says, by the sun, we may understand their 
 King and court, which Jeroboam at his death left, 
 like the sun at noon, in the height of their glory. 
 This sun did, as at noon, set under the dark cloud of 
 home-bred conspiracies, and civil wars by Shallum, 
 Menahem, Pekah, and Hosea, 'till the midnight dark- 
 ness dre^ oMby Pul, Tiglath Pilneser, and Salmane- 
 ser. The suW means royalty aqd nobility; and the 
 earth means the common sort of people ; all of whom 
 are threatened by the Lord. How terrible are the 
 judgments of God -to those who sleep in carnal se- 
 curity ! they are to them as the sun's going down at 
 noon, — the less they are expected, the more con- 
 foundlW^hey are ; wlien they shall ^ay, peace and 
 safety, Ihjg^' sudden destruction cometh upon them. — 
 1 Thes. V. ^.—^'ool, ^c. 
 
 NO. 380. — ARABS, PLUNDERERS OF THE HARVEST. 
 
 ix. 13. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the 
 plough-?nan shall overtake the reaper, and the 
 
AMOS. ^ ssa 
 
 treader of grapes him that soweth seed: and the 
 
 vnountains shall drop down sweet wine, and all the 
 
 hills shall melt. 
 
 The Arabs commit depredations of every descrip- 
 tion : they not only seize the seed and corn of the 
 husbandman, but strip the trees of their fruit, even in 
 its unripe state. Maillet ascribes the alteration for 
 the worse, that is found in the wine of a certain 
 Egyptian province to the precipitation with which 
 they gather their grapes. This is done to save them 
 from the Arabs, who freq\iently make excursions into' 
 the country, especially in the season in which the 
 fruits begin to ripen. This circumstance appears to 
 explain the passage of the Prophet before us \ which 
 is as if he had said, the days shall come, when no 
 fear of approaching enemies shall induce the plough- 
 man to discontinue his employment ; but he shall 
 proceed to cultivate the ground, in pleasurable hope 
 of enjoying all the productions of the field, until the 
 commencement of the harvest. In those days the 
 grapes shall not be gathered in a state of immaturity, 
 for fear of the Arabs, or other destroying nations ; bat 
 they shall be suffered to remain until the seed-time. 
 Egmont and Hay man inform us, that this is common 
 at Aleppo. The vintage lasts, they say, to the middle 
 of November, and the sowing season begins towards 
 the close of October. Wiien the fruit hangs long on 
 the trees, it makes the wine much richer, more gene- 
 rous, and sweet ; hence the delaying the treading 
 of the grapes to the time of sowing, causes the 
 mountams to drop sweet wine.^ 
 
 According to Pool, the promise is, that the reaper 
 shall have a harvest so large, that before he can 
 
 * Isaiah v. 1, 
 
336 AMOS. 
 
 gather in the whole it shall be time to plough the 
 ground for the next year's crop. 
 
 OBADIAH. 
 
 NO. 381. — THE ANCIENTS GREATLY INFLUENCED BY 
 OMENS. 
 
 Ver.l5. Thy reward shall returnupon thine own head* 
 ' It appears, that some of the ancients were 
 much given to observe omens, and were greatly 
 influenced by them. They endeavoured, if possible, 
 to avoid what they conceived to be thus portended. 
 Potter says, " the way to avert an omen, was, either to 
 throw a stone at the King, or if it were an ominous 
 animal, to kill it at once, so that the evil portended 
 by it might fall upon its own head. If it were an 
 unlucky speech, they retorted it upon the speaker 
 with " Let it fall upon thine own head.'^ Thus when 
 they espied any thing in a victim that seemed to por- 
 tend any misfortune to themselves or their country, 
 they used to pray that it might be turned upon the 
 victim's head. The like expressions are sometimes 
 made use of in holy scripture, as in Obad. 16, and 
 several other places. Herodotus reports, that it was 
 an Egyptian custom from which it is probable the 
 Grecians derived theirs. They curse, says he, the 
 head of the victim in this manner, that if any misfor- 
 tune impended over themselves or the country of 
 Egypt, it might be turned upon that head." — JBurder. 
 A remarkable instance of superstition is found in 
 Virgil. " He introduces -^neas catching Ascanius's 
 words from his mouth ; for the harpies of Anchises 
 
OBADIAH. S37 
 
 also having foretold that the Trojans should be forced 
 to gnaw their very tables for want of other provisions^ 
 when they landed in Italy, — happening to dine upori 
 the grass, instead of tables or trenchefs, which their 
 present circumstances did not afford, they laid their 
 meat upon pieces of bread, which afterwards they 
 ate up. jEneas caught the omen. 
 
 The luckj' sound no sooner reach'd their ears. 
 But straiglit they quite dismiss'd their former cares. . 
 His good old sire, with admiration struck, . 
 llie boding sentence, when yet falling, took, , 
 And often roll'd it in his silent breast." 
 
 NO. 382. — TORCH-BEARERS, SACRED PERSONS. 
 
 Ver. 18. There shall not any be remaining ofthehous9 
 of Esau : 
 They shall all be cut off by, or swallowed up 
 among the Jews; not so much as a torch-bearer left, 
 —one who carries the lights before an army. It was- 
 usual with the Greeks, when armies were about to 
 engage, for a Prophet or Priest to stand before the 
 first ensigns, bearing branches of laurels and garlands, 
 who was called Pyrophorus, or the torch-bearer, 
 because he held a lamp or torch ; and it was accounted, 
 u most criminal thing to do him any hurt, because he 
 performed the oflice of an A mbassador. The men thus 
 -employed were Priests of Mars, and sacred to him ; so 
 that those who were conquerors always spared them,. 
 Hence when a total destruction of an army, place, or 
 people was hyperbolically expressed, it used to be 
 said, not so much as a torch-bearer, or fire-carrier, 
 escaped. So Philo the Jew, speaking of the destruc- 
 tion of Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, says, 
 there was not so much as a torch-bearer left to declare 
 
 Y 
 
S38 OBADIAH. 
 
 the calamity to the Egyptians. And thus here, so 
 general should be the destruction of the Edomites, 
 that not one should be left in such an office as just 
 described. — Burder. 
 
 MICAH. 
 
 NO. 383.^THE LION, A DESTRUCTIVE ANIMAL, 
 
 T. 8. As a young lion among the flocks of sheep : who • 
 if he go through^ both treadeih down, and teareth in 
 pieces, and none can deliver. 
 
 . That the lion is remarkable for tearing hi« 
 prey to. pieces, is particularly noted both by sacred 
 and profane writers. — Gen. xlix. 9. — Deut. xxxiii. 22. 
 
 Psalm xxii. 13. — Hosea xiii. 8. Virgil §ays, 
 
 * ■ \ ' • - .- . 
 
 The famish'd Hon, thus with hunger bold, 
 
 O'cr-leaps the fences of the niighty fold. 
 
 And tears the peaceful flocks. 
 
 Drydbn. 
 
 Buffon says, when the lion leaps on his prey, h» 
 gives a spring of ten or fifteen feet, falls on, seizes it 
 with his fore paws, tears it with his claws, and after- 
 wards devours it with his teeth. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 384. — AN ACCOUNT OF HUMAN SACRIFICES, 
 
 Ti. 7. Shall I give my first-born for my transgres- 
 sion, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 
 This appears to have been the practice of the inha- 
 bitants of Florida. The ceremony was always per- 
 formed in the presence of one of those Princes or Ca- 
 ciques whom they call Paraoustis. The victim must 
 always be a male infant. The mother of it covers her 
 face^ and weeps and groans over the Ketone against 
 
MICAH. SS§ 
 
 which the child is to be dashed in pieces. The 
 women who accompany her sing and dance in a circle ; 
 while another woman stands up in the middle of the 
 ring, holding the child in her arms, and shewing it at 
 ii distance to the Paraousti, who probably is esteemed 
 a representative of the sun, or deity to which the 
 victim is offered ; after which the sacrifice is made. 
 
 More says, that the Peruvians will sacrifice their 
 .. st-born to redeem their own life, if the Priest should 
 |)ronounce them mortally sick. Thus the King of. 
 
 oab, whenjn distress, took his Crit-born son, that 
 Miould have reigned in his «tead, a»^ offered him 
 for a burnt offering-r-ii Kings iii. 27. PJaillet says, 
 '' Haron, King of Norway, offered his son in sacrifice, 
 to obtain of Odin the victory over his enemy Harald : 
 and Aune, King of Sweden, devoted to Odin the 
 blood of his nine sons, to prevail on that god to pro-^ 
 long his life." — Burder, 
 
 Whoe'er to thee themselves approve, 
 Must take the path thy word hath show'd ; . 
 Justice pursue, and mercy lave, 
 And humbly walk by faith with God, 
 
 NO. 385,— CUSTOM OF SHAKING CLOTHES OVER THE: 
 WATER. 
 
 vii. 19. Thou wilt cast all their sin9 into the depths 
 
 of the sea. 
 ' It is a custom with the Jews in Germany, on new 
 year's day, to send their children to the Grand Rabbi, 
 to receive his benediction ; and when they sit down 
 to table, the master of the house takes a bit of bread, 
 and dips it in honey, saying, " May this year be sweet 
 and fruitful ;" and all the guests do the same. They 
 seldom omit Serving up a sheep's head at this enter- 
 
 ¥2 
 
540 MICAH. 
 
 tainment ; which, they say, is a mystical representa- 
 tion of the ram sacrificed instead of Isaac. The 
 ancient Jews, upon the day of atonement, discharged 
 their sins upon a he-goat, which afterwards was sent 
 into the desart : but the modern Jews, of Germany in 
 particular, instead of a goat, do it upon the fish. They 
 go after dinner to the brink of a pond, and there shake 
 their clothes over it with all their might. They derive 
 this custom from the passage of the Prophet Micah 
 now cited. — Burder, 
 
 NAHUM. 
 
 NO.S86.— METHOD OF HONORING AN ARABIAN PRINCESS. 
 
 ii. 7. Huzzab shall be led away captive, she shall be 
 brought wp, and her maids shall lead her as with 
 the voice of doves, tabring upon their breasts. 
 
 When D'Arvieux was in the camp of the Great 
 Emir, his Princess was visited by other Arab Princesses. 
 The last that came, whose visit alone he describes, 
 was mounted, he says, on a camel, covered with a 
 carfiet, and decked with flowers ; a dozen women 
 marched in a row before her, holding the camel's* 
 halter with one hand; they sung the praises of their 
 mistress, and the happiness of being in the service of 
 Buch a- beautiful and amiable l^dy. Those who went 
 first, came in their turn to the head of the camel, and 
 took hold of the halter, which place, as being the 
 post of honor, they quitted toothers when the Princess 
 had gone a few paces. The Emir's wife sent her 
 women to meet her, to whom the halter was entirel/ 
 quitted, out of respect, her, own wpmen putting them* 
 
NAHUM. • S4I 
 
 elves behind the cameL Ini this order they marched 
 o the tent, where they alighted. They then all sung 
 ogether the beauty, birth, and good qualities of thi!f 
 ^rincess. 
 
 This account illustrates these words of the Prophet, 
 vlierein bespeaks of the presenting of the Queen of 
 Vineveh, or Nineveh itself under the figure of a 
 c^ueen, to her conqueror. He describes her as led hij 
 he maids, with the voice of doves; that is, with th« 
 y oice of mourning ; their usual songs of joy, with 
 ?vhich they used to lead her along, as the Arab 
 ^vomen did their Princess, being turned into lanieuta- 
 tions. As the Jewish timbrel, or tabret, is beaten 
 with the fingers, and those fingers are applied to a 
 skin stretched ovdr a hollow hoop, the description 
 ^ives great life to the words of the Prophet Nahum, 
 who compares women's beating on their breasts, ia 
 deep anguish, to their playing on a tabret. — Harmer,. 
 
 NO. 387. — BLACKNESS OF FACE. 
 
 ii. 10. The faces of them all gatMr blacJcness. 
 
 Ockley, in his History of the Saracens, say?, 
 •* Kumiel, the son of Ziyad, was a man of fine wit. 
 One day Hejage made him come before him, and 
 reproached him, because, in such a garden, and before 
 such and such persons, whom he named to him, ha 
 had made a great many imprecations against him, 
 saying, " The Lord blacken his face ;" that is, fill him 
 with shame and confusion ; and wished that his neck 
 was cut off^, and his blood shed." 
 
 Mr. Antes complains of the manner in which h« 
 was used during his residence in Egypt by Osmau 
 bey. He says, ^< at that time Ibrahim and lilurat 
 \ 
 
34S NAHUM. 
 
 Bey were the most powerful among the Beys. Had 
 I complained to them, and accompanied my complaint 
 with a present of from twenty to fifty dollars, they 
 might perhaps have gone so far as to have banished 
 Osman Bey from Cairo; bitt they would probably 
 have recalled him, especially had they found it neces- 
 sary to strengthen theif party against others. Had 
 this Bey afterward* met me in the street, my head 
 might not have been safe. Both Ibrahim and Murat 
 Bey knew something of me ; but when they heard the 
 whole affair, they only said of Osman Bey, 'God,.j 
 blacken his face.' " This explanation of the phrase 
 perfectly agrees with the sense Of the passage referred 
 to in this article ; as also with Joel ii. 6. To gather ^^ 
 blackness signifies, in these extracts, as well as in the 
 scriptures, to suffer extreme confusion or terror. — 
 
 Burder. 
 
 NO. 388.— LOTS CAST FOR CAPTIVES. 
 
 iii. 10. They cast lots for her honorable men, and all 
 her great men leere bound in chains. 
 Mr. Burder say», th© custom of casting lots for 
 tl^e captives taken in war, appears to have pre- 
 vailed both with the Jews and Greeks. It is mentioned 
 by another of the Prophets, besides the one now re- 
 ferred to, — 'Strangers carried away captive his forces^ 
 and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots 
 •itponJerusalem.-^Oh&d.yeT. 11. With respect to 
 the Greeks, we have an instance in Tryphiodorus :'— ♦ 
 
 Shar'd out by lot, the female captives stand : 
 Thei Spoils divided with an equal hand : 
 Each to his ship conveys his rightful share, 
 Price of their toil, and trophies of the war. 
 
 MERMCKi 
 
NAHUM. 34B 
 
 The strength and grandeur of that great city conld 
 not be its protection from military execution ; not eveii 
 from that which was the most inglorious and disgrace* 
 ful : ihey cast lots for her honorable men, that were 
 made prisoners of war, who should have them for 
 their slaves. So many had they of them, that thejr 
 sported for them with dice. Alt her great men^ wlu^ 
 used to be adorned on state days with chains of gold,, 
 were now bound in chains of iron ; they were pinioned 
 or handcuffed, not only as slaves, but as condemned 
 malefactors. What a mortification was this to popu- 
 lous No^ to have those who were her pride and con- 
 fidence thus abused \— Henry, 
 
 HABAKKUK, 
 
 NO. 389.— HORSEMEN SPREADING THEMSELVES. 
 
 1. 8. Their horsemen shall spread themselves. 
 
 The account which the Baron De Tott lias 
 given of the manner in which an army of modern 
 Tartars conducted themselves, greatly iilus-trates 
 this passage. " These particulars," says hCj*' inform- \ 
 ed the Cham^ and the Generals what their real posi- 
 tion was ; and it was decided, that a third of the army, 
 composed of volunteers, commanded by a Sultan and , 
 several Mirzas, should pass the river at midnight, . 
 divide into several columns, sub-divide successively, 
 and thus overspread New Servia, burn the villages, 
 corn, and fodder, and carry off the inhabitants of the 
 country. The rest of the army, in order to follow 
 tiie plan concerted, marched 'till it came to t|i« 
 
 ■ ,-. 'Prince. ^khi^^l.:-■ 
 
S4>f • HABAKKUK. 
 
 beaten track made by the detachment in the snow. 
 This we followed 'till we arrived at the place where it 
 divided into seven branches, to the left of which we 
 constantly kept, observing never to mingle or confuse 
 ♦ourselves with any of the subdivisions, which we suc- 
 cessively found, and some of which were only small 
 paths, traced by one or two horsemen, &c. Flocks 
 were found frozen to death on the plain ; and twenty 
 columns of smoke, already rising in the horizon, com- 
 pleted the horrors of the scene, and announced the 
 Ifires which had laid waste New Servia." The difficul- 
 ties which have attended the explanation of these 
 words are thus happily removed, and the propriety of 
 the expression established. — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 390. — DESCRIPTION OF WRITING-TABLES. 
 
 ij. 2. Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, 
 that he may run that readeth it. 
 Pliny says, that the most ancient way of writing 
 irras upon the leaves of the palm-tree. After this 
 they had recourse to the inside af the bark of trees ; 
 which method of writing is still in use among the 
 Chinese. Among the Greeks and Romans they used 
 to write on tables of wood covered with wax. The 
 instrument with which they used to write was called 
 stylus ; it was sharp pointed at one end, to write 
 with, and flat at the other, to efface what had been 
 written. — 
 
 Oft turn your style, if you desire to write 
 Things that will bear a second reading. 
 
 HOHACI. 
 
 Hence the different ways of men*s writing are 
 called different styles. W hen the tables were written, 
 
HABAKKUK. 345 
 
 they tied them together with a string, setting their 
 seal upon the knot, and so sent them to the party- 
 directed, who, cutting the string, opened and read 
 them. The Romans used annually to publish their 
 public affairs upon tables, that all might be acquainted 
 with them. Some of their laws were recorded on 
 tables of brass, and hung up in their market places 
 and in their temples, that they might be seen and read 
 of all men. Thus the Jewish Prophets used to writ© 
 and expose their prophecies publicly on tables, that 
 every one that passed by might read them. On the 
 mvention of the Egyptian papyrus, all other ways of 
 writing were soon superseded ; and after this parch- 
 ment was introduced. — PrideauXi Rollin, i^c. 
 
 NO. 391.— CUP DELIVERED TOWARDS THE RIGHT HAND. 
 
 ii. 16. The cup of the Lord's right hand shall he turned 
 unto thee,. 
 In the entertainments of the ancients, the cup was 
 delivered towards the rio-A^ ^anc/. Express mention 
 is made of this practice by Homer : — 
 
 From where the goblet first begins to flow. 
 From right to left, in order take the bow. 
 
 This custom seems to be referred to in the words of 
 the Prophet. — Burder, 
 
 That cup whic^h had gone round among the nations 
 to make them a desolation, an astonishment, and a 
 hissing, which had made them stumble and fall, so 
 that they could rise no more, shall at length be put 
 into the hand of the Kingof Babylon, as was foretold. 
 Jer. XXV. 15. 27. — ilenry. 
 
M6 HABAKKUK. 
 
 NO. 392.~OF THE ORIENTAL BOW-CASES, 
 iii. 9. Thy bow was made quite naked. 
 The Oriental bows, according to Chardin, were 
 usually carried in a case, hung to their girdles: this 
 case was sometimes made of cloth, but more corhmonly 
 of leather. The expression in these words of the 
 Prbphet plainly supposes this management ; and must, 
 consequently, be understood of the bow when out of 
 the case. — Thy bow was made quite naked. It was 
 taken out of the case to be employed for Israel. We 
 should say, his sword was quite unsheathed, not 
 drawn out a little way, to frighten the enemy, and 
 then put up again, but quite drawn out, not to be 
 returned 'till they are all cut off.—^H'armer, 4*c. 
 
 NO. 893.— DIVINE JODGMENTS TERMED THE ARROWS 
 OF, GOD. 
 
 iii. 11..^^ the light of thine arrows they went, and at 
 the shining of thy glittering . spear. 
 The judgments of God in general, are termed the 
 arrows of God.* It was customary among the 
 Heathens, to represent any judgment from their 
 gods under the notion of arrows, especially a pesti- 
 lence ; a.nd one of their greatest deities (Apollo) is ever 
 represented as bearing a bow, and quiver full of 
 deadly arrows : so Homer where he represents him, 
 in answer to the prayer of his Priest Chrysis, coming 
 to smite the Greeks with the pestilence : — 
 
 Thus Chrysis pray'd : the favouring pow'f attends, 
 And from Olympus' lofty tops descends. 
 Bent was his' bow, the Grecian hearts to wound ; 
 ilerce as he mov'd, his silver sLafts resound ; — 
 * The fleet in view, he twang'd his deadly bow. 
 And hissing fly tlie feathcr'd fates below. 
 
 •Job vi. 4. Psalm joxviii. 2. 3. Ezek. v. lij. 
 
HABAKKUK. 847 
 
 On mules and dogs th' infection first began ; 
 And last, the vengeful arrows fix'd in man. 
 
 Clarke. 
 
 ZEPHANIAH. 
 
 NO. 394.— THE RUIN OF BABYLON AND NINEVEH. 
 
 ii. 14. Their voice shall sing in the windows ; desola- 
 tion shall be in the thresholds. 
 Babylon and Nineveh were both to be made 
 desolate; bat the degrees of then- desolation were 
 to vary. Babylon was never to be inhabited ; no Ara- 
 bian was to pitch his tent there, no shepherds make 
 their foldHhere—Isa. xiii. 20, 21 : but flocks were to 
 lie down in Nineveh, and the voice of singing was to 
 be heard from the windows of its ruinated palaces. 
 These are different descriptions : Eastern flocks sup- 
 pose, that songs and instruments of music woald be 
 heard in Nineveh; while no sl^epherd should ever 
 appear in the ruins of Babylon. In like manner, in- 
 stead of the howling of the doleful creatures of Baby- 
 lon, the sweet warbling of birds might be heard in 
 Nineveh. The imagination finds a fine contrast be- 
 tween the inartificial songs and music of shepherds, 
 mingled with the wild notes of singing-birds^ and the 
 luxurious concerts of Nineveh ; as well as between 
 the awful silence, interrupted by the bowlings of 
 doleful and savage creatures of ruinated Babylon, 
 and the melody of former times. This is the rejoicing 
 city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her hearty I am^ 
 and there is none beside me ; hoiv is she become a de- 
 solation, a place for beasts to lie down in ! — Ver. 15. 
 
 Harmer, 
 
S4S ZECHAklAH. 
 
 NO. 395. — CUSTOM OF PAINTING ANIMALS. 
 
 l» 8. / saw by night, and behold a man riding upon 
 a red horse. 
 The word here translated red, signifies blood- 
 red, not any kind of bright bay, or other color usual 
 amongst horses. But the custom of painting or 
 dying animals for riding, whether asses or horses, ex- 
 plains the nature of this description. Tavernier, 
 speaking of a city which he visited, says, "five 
 hundred paces from the gate of the city, we met a 
 young man of a good family; for he was attended by 
 two^ervants, and rode upon an ass, the hinder part 
 of which was painted red." And Mungo Park in- 
 forms us, that the Moorish Sovereign Ali always 
 rode upon a milk-white horse, with its tail died red. 
 See also Zech. vi. 2 — Rev. vi. 4. — Calmet. 
 
 God communicates his mind to the Prophet in a 
 vision by night, and beholtj one in a human shape, 
 namely Christ Jesus, who had appeared in this form 
 to Ezekiel and to Daniel.* The son of man presents 
 himself in a posture of readiness, speed, and resolu- 
 tion to help his people, and to appear for them in 
 some tokens of greatness and majesty. — Psalm xlv. 4. 
 The color is a symbol of his coming to avenge his 
 own just quarrel, and the unjust dealings of his, and 
 his people's enemies. — Pool. 
 
 NO. 396. — FILTHY GARMENTS WORN BY ACCUSED 
 PERSONS. 
 
 m, 3. Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments. 
 
 It was usual, especially among the Romans, when a 
 
 man was charged with a capital crime; and during his 
 
 • Ezek. L 26 and 40. Dan. vii. 13. 
 
ZECHARIAH. 849 
 
 arraignment, to let down his hair, suffer his beard to 
 grow long, to wear filthy, ragged garments, and ap- 
 pear in a very dirty and sordid habit. When the 
 accused person was brought into court to be tried, 
 his near relations, friends, and acquaintance appeared 
 with dishevelled hair, clothed with garments foul and 
 out of fashion, weeping, and deprecating punishment. 
 The guilty person sometimes appeared before the 
 Judges, clothed in black, and his head covered with 
 dust. — Burder, 
 
 At the time Zechariah saw this vision, he saw also 
 in what a mean, dirty, and tattered garb he was, who 
 represented the High-Priest. It was the hieroglyphic 
 of Joshua, and not Joshua himself. This intimates, 
 not only that the priesthood was poor and despised* 
 and loaded with contempt, but that there was a great 
 dpal of iniquity cleaving to the holy things. — Pool, 
 
 ^O. 397,— THE MISTLETOE, AN OBJECT OF IDOLATROUS 
 
 WORSHIP. 
 
 iii. 8. Behold I will bring forth my servant the branch. 
 The oak was very early made an object of idolatrous 
 worship — Isa. i. 29. In Greece we meet with the 
 famous oracle of Jupiter at the oaks of Dodona. In 
 Gaul. and Britain we find the highest religious regard 
 paid to this tree and its misletoe, under the direction 
 of the Druids. The mistletoe is an extraordinary 
 plant, not to be cultivated in the earth, but always 
 growing upon some other tree, as upon the oak or 
 apple. Pliny says, that the Druids held nothing more 
 sacred than the mistletoe, and the tree on which it 
 is produced, provided it be the oak. They make 
 
350 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 choice of groves of oaks ; and never perform any of 
 their pacred rites without the leaves of those trees. 
 Whatever mistletoe grows on the oak, they think it ig 
 sent from Heaven, and is a sign that God himself hath 
 chosen that Xre^. When the mistletoe is discovered, 
 tt is treated with great ceremony. They call it by a 
 name which, in their language, signifies, "the curer 
 of all ills :" and having prepared their feasts and sacri- 
 fices under the tree, they bring to it two white bulls, 
 v'hose horns are then for the first time tied. The 
 Priest, dressed in a white robe, ascends the tree, and, 
 with a golden pruning-hook, cuts off the mistletoe, 
 which is received in a white sheet : then they sacrifice 
 the victims, praying that God would bless his own 
 gift to those on whom he has bestowed it. 
 
 Is it possible, says Mr. Parkhurst, for a Christian 
 to read this account without thinking of him who was 
 the desire of all nations, of the man whose name was 
 the branch, who came down from Heaven, was given 
 to heal our ills, and, after being cut off, was wrapped 
 in fine linen, and laid in the sepulchre for our sakes? 
 The mistletoe was a sacred emblem to pther nations, 
 especially to the ancient inhabitants of Italy. The 
 golden branch of Virgil, without which no one could 
 return from the infernal regions, seems to be an allu- 
 sion to the mistletoe. — Eurder. 
 
 Tlie sacred oaks 
 Whose awful shades among the' Druids strav'd. 
 To cut the hallo-w'd mistletoe, and hold 
 High converse with their gods, 
 
 Daty, 
 
ZECHARIAH. S5I 
 
 NO. 398. — THE BURDENSOME STONE. 
 
 xii. 3. In that day will I make Jerusalem a burden- 
 some stone. 
 
 Jerome thinks, that a burdensome stone is an ex- 
 pression taken from an exercise well known in Jiidea, 
 in which young men used to make trial of their 
 strength, by lifting great stones as high as they 
 could. In this exercise, when men undertook to lift 
 a stone too heavy for their strength, they were in 
 danger of its falling upon them, and bruising or 
 crushing them to pieces. 
 
 Though all the people in the world should oppose 
 the people of God, yet could they not stand under 
 the weight of his displeasure who is provoked by 
 such attempts ; he would grind them to powder.— 
 
 Pool. 
 
 NO. 399.-— BELLS HUNG ABOUT HORSES AND CAMELS. 
 
 xiv. 20. In that day shall there be upon the bells of 
 the horses, holiness unto the Lord. 
 
 Major Rooke, speaking of the Turkish cavalry, 
 «ays, "the horses were sumptuously caparisoned, 
 being adorned with gold and silver trappings, bells 
 hung round their necks, and rich housings." Dr. A. 
 Clarke speaks of an Eastern painting, which repre- 
 sents a caravan going through the valley of serpents 
 in the island of Ceylon, in which the camels, horses, 
 &c. have bells, not only about their necks, but on their 
 legs also. These bells, he thinks, were used rather for 
 the expulsion of the serpents, than for ornaments to 
 their cattle. 
 
 Chardin, after mentioning the Arabic translation, 
 which signifieg, that which was upor> the bridle of a 
 
S62 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 horse should be holiness to the Lord, informs us, 
 -4hat something like this is seen in Several places of 
 the East : in Persia, and in Turkey, the !«ins are of 
 silk, of the thickness of a finger, on which are wrought 
 the name of God, or some other inscription. 
 
 Dr. Clarke says, it is common with the Mahom- 
 medans to put the name of God upon almost every 
 thing ; upon their bows, and other military weapons, 
 to every literary j^jrork, or even tales and romances-, 
 they affix this sentence — " In the name of the most 
 merciful and most compassionate God." So that no 
 people in the world conform more literally than the 
 Mahommedans, to these words of an inspired writer — < 
 Whatsoever ye do, do it in the name of the Lord, 
 
 When the Gentiles are converted to Christ, and 
 'wade Priests unto God, then ordinary things shall 
 bear the dedicating inscription of — Holiuess unto the 
 Lord. — PooL 
 
 MALACHI. 
 
 NO. 400 PRESENTS SOMETIMES REJECTED. 
 
 i. 8. Offer it now unto thy Governor, will he he 
 pleased with thee, or accept thy person ? 
 
 Though things of small value are occasion- 
 ally offered as presents, yet are they sometimes re- 
 jected , and the wished-for favor refused. Dr. Pococke 
 says, " the Cashef of Esna made us come ashore. I 
 waited on him immediately with some small presents ; 
 he received me civilly, but refused what I offered 
 him as a present, saying, that in the places from: 
 whence we were come, we had given things ofi 
 
MALACHI. 353 
 
 greater value, and that we ought not to shew less 
 respect to him." If a present was not somewhat 
 proportionate to the quality of the person applied to, 
 the circumstances of him that offered it, and the 
 value of the favor asked, it was rejected. 
 
 Lambs and sheep were often given as present*. 
 Thus the Cashaf, mentioned above, made Norden and 
 his company a present of two fat sheep and a great 
 basket of bread. The reys, or boat-men, who had 
 carried them up the Nile, Cjame to see them three 
 days before, and made them a present of aii excellent 
 sheep, and a basket of Easter bread. D'Arvleux 
 mentions lambs, among other things offered to him 
 as presents, when he officiated as Secretary to the 
 Great Emir of the Arabs. 
 
 If we assemble these circumstances together, how 
 energetic is the expostulation of the Prophet ! If ye 
 offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil ? and if ye 
 offer the lame and the sick, is it not evil ? Offer it 
 noi0 unto thy Governor, will he be pleased with thee, 
 or accept thy person 1 — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 401. — A WIND CALLED THE DOCTOR, 
 
 iv. 2. Unto you that fear my name, shall the sun of 
 righteousness arise, with healing in his wings. 
 The late Mr. Robinson of Cambridge called upon a 
 Mend just as he had received a letter from his son, 
 who was a surgeon on board a vessel, then lying off 
 Smyrna; the son mentioned to his father that every 
 morning about sun-rise, a fresh gale of air blew from 
 the sea across the land, and from its wholesomeness 
 and utility in clearing the infected air, this wind is 
 always called the Doctor. "Now," says Mr. Robin 
 
 Z 
 
354 MALACHI. 
 
 son, " it strikes me that the proiphei Malachi, who lived 
 in that quarter of the world, might allude to this cir- 
 cumstance, when he says, the sun of' righteousness 
 sJiali arise with healing in his wings. The Psalmist 
 mentions the wings of the wind, and it appears to me 
 that this salubrious breeze which attends the rising 
 of the sun, may be properly enough considered as the 
 wings of the sun, which contains such healing influ- 
 ences, rather than the beams of the sun, as the pas- 
 sage has been commonly understood. — Burder. 
 
 Thomson, speaking of the torrid zone, remarks, 
 that the sun 
 
 Kind before him sends 
 The genial breeze, to mitigate his fue, 
 And breathe refreshment on a fainting world. 
 
 WISDOM OF SOLOMON. 
 
 "NO. 402. — WINE AND FLOWERS USED IN EASTERN 
 ENTERTAINMENTS. 
 
 ii.7. 8. Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and 
 ointment : and let no finwer of the spring pass by 
 us. Let us crown ourselves with rose-buds before 
 they be withei^d. 
 
 It was common to unite the fragrancy of 
 flowers and sweet-scented leaves with the pleasures 
 of wine. D'Herbelot says, " Kessai one day pre- 
 sented hiii*iself at the door of the apartment of Al Ma- 
 mon, the son of the reigning Khaliff,to read one of his 
 lectures. The Prince, who was then at table with his 
 companions, wrote him a distich upon a leaf of myrtle, 
 the sense of which was, there is a time for study, and 
 « time for diversion : this is a time 1 have destined for 
 
WISDOM OF SOLOMON. 355 
 
 the enjoyment of friends, wine, roses, and myrtle." 
 Here we see the rose and the myrtle made use of in a 
 princely drinking bout. The Arabian Night Enter- 
 tainments mention myrtle, lilies, jessamine, and other 
 pleasant flowers^ as purchased for a grand entertain- 
 ment in the days of the same Khaliff, with various 
 kinds of fruits and confectionary. 
 
 Among the vegetable ornaments worn by the 
 Aleppine ladies on their heads, we find much earlier 
 flowers made use of ; narcissusses, violets, and hya- 
 cinths, which, Dr Russell tells us, blossom in the 
 East very early in the spring : and are used by the 
 women to decorate their head-dress, along with many 
 other flowers which he mentions. — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 403. — HEx\THEN RED IDOLS. 
 
 xiii. 13. 14. Hath carved it diligently, when he had 
 nothing else to do, and formed it by the skill of his 
 understanding, and fashioned it to the image of a 
 man: or made it like some vile beast, laying it 
 over with vermillion, and with paint, coloring it red. 
 The ancient Heathen, though they gave their 
 idols a human form, were inclined to paint them red, 
 in preference to the natural color of the human body^ 
 Perhaps this might originate in their being set up in 
 memory of warriors remarkable for shedding blood. ^ 
 It appears, that they clothed them with purple rai- 
 ment, as the dress of royalty. — Baruch vi. 12. and 
 besmeared them with red paint, as the images of 
 warriors who had often been besmeared with blood. 
 Niebuhr speaks of an Indian festival, in which the 
 guests rub their clothes, their faces, and their hands, 
 with red, in commemoration of the hero whom they 
 -celebrate. He says, they run about the streets witii 
 
 Z2 
 
356 WISDOM OF SOLOMONT, 
 
 syringes full of compound liquid of yellow and red, 
 which they apply to those of their religion ; and no- 
 body pretends to wipe off these spots. Froni deified 
 warriors, the color might come to be applied to idols 
 of every kind, and to be considered as having some- 
 thing god-like in it. Thus, Niebuhr says, the Indians 
 on the coast bf Malabar, who daub themselves and 
 their countrymen in a solemnity that commemorates 
 a great victory of , one of their heroes, daub their deities 
 also with the same color. He says, that on visiting a 
 chapel in the great pagoda, or Indian temple, he found 
 there two figures of human shape, with an elephant's 
 head, lately rubbed with red coloring, and heaps of 
 rough unshapen stones, which probably represented 
 some subaltern divinity, or some hero or saint ; for 
 such are often found at Bombay upon the high road, 
 and under certain trees, which the Indians look upon 
 to be sacred. 
 
 It appears, that the Heathen had sacred images of 
 beasts, which they painted after a similar manner. 
 Arnobius speaks of the sacred heads of lions whose 
 consecrated busts were thus colored ; but the learned 
 :are puzzled to explain what these heads were de- 
 signed to represent. — Harmer. 
 
 !ECCLESIASTICUS. 
 
 NO. 404. — ILLUMINATION 0¥ THE NILE. 
 
 x^iW. 27. He maketh the doctrine of knowledge apjjear 
 as the light, and as Geon in the time of vintage. 
 As the author of this book was an Egyptian 
 Jew, many have supposed, that by Gttm we are to un- 
 derstand the Kile. But he ctjnld not intend to com- 
 
ECCLESIASTIGUS. 357 
 
 pare knowledge to the clearness of the stream ; for the 
 time of vintage fell ont within the period of the innn- 
 dation of the Nile, when its waters are mixed with 
 large quantities of mod ; but mast be understood to 
 speak of the illuminations upon it, which were wont 
 to be so brilliant at that season. Meriochius affirms, 
 that in his time the Abyssinians called the Nile, 
 Guyon : and Josephus supposed, that the Gihoa of 
 Paradise was the Nile. 
 
 When the Nile is risen to such a height as to secure 
 future plenty, they open Khalis, which terminates in 
 a large lake not far from Cairo. Upon the opening of 
 this canal great rejoicings are made both by day and 
 night. Theveuot says, " as soon as we came near 
 Old Cairo, we saw on all hands, ashore and upon the 
 water, a vast number of large figures made of lamps, 
 placed in the order of crosses, mosques, stars, trees, 
 iic. There were two statues of fire, representing a 
 man and a woman. These figures were iwo square 
 machines of wood, two pikes length high, each in a 
 boat. These machines are filled with lamps from top 
 to bottom. In each of these figures there are abore 
 2000 lamps ; which are so placed, that on all sides you 
 see a man and a woman of fire. All the barks of the 
 Pasha and Beys are also full of lamps ; and their music 
 of trumpets, flutes, and drums, mingled wiih squibs, 
 crackers, and fire-lances, make an agreeable confusion, 
 calculated to cheer the most dejected. This solem- 
 nity continues for three nights." The Arabian writers 
 speak of twenty thousand boats being assembled at 
 this period, all illuminated, for four or five leagues 
 around the floating palaces. Water-illuminations 
 must be the most brilliant, the water reflecting the 
 splendor, and greatly augmenting the light. — Harmtr. 
 
C^68) 
 
 MATTHEW. 
 
 NO. 405.— SUPPOSED SIGNIFICATION OF NEWLY DIS- 
 COVERED STARS. 
 
 **. 2. Where is he that is born King of the Jews ? for 
 
 we have seen his star in the East, and are come to 
 
 worship him. 
 
 Origen informs us, that the Heathen thought 
 the rise of a new star^ or the appearance of a comet, 
 portended the birth of a great person. According to 
 Virgil, it was commonly imagined that the gods sent 
 stars to point out the way to their favorites in diffi- 
 cult and perplexed cases; and the ancients called 
 the globes of fire appearhig in the air, stars. 
 
 Shnckford says, the ancients had an opinion that 
 their great men and heroes, at their death, migrated 
 into some star ; and in consequence of that, they 
 deified them. Thus Julius Caesar was canonized, 
 because of a star that appeared at his death, into 
 which they supposed he was gone. — Burder. 
 
 It being generally understood that the King of the 
 world should be born in Judea, they concluded, that 
 this star was the sign of his birth ; peradventure, by- 
 Balaam's prophecy. — Numb. xxiv. 17. But the firm 
 persuasion of its being so, could not proceed but from 
 an especial revelation, or the inspiration of God. — 
 
 Diodaiu 
 
 Soon as the womb of time brings forth. 
 
 And the blest babe appears, 
 
 Lo ! a new star through Hcav'n's expanse 
 
 His woiidroui motion steers, 
 
 Bn/.cKEKBvny. 
 
MATTHEW. 359 
 
 NO. 406.— camel's-hair garments. 
 
 iii. 4. And the same John had his raiment of caineVs 
 
 hair. 
 
 The vestments of the great in the time of John the 
 Baptist were furple and fine linen — Luke xvi, 19. 
 But with regard to camel's hair, it would appear that 
 they had not learned to manufacture it as it is now 
 done in the East, and which renders what is made of 
 it so valuable. Campbell says, the Baptist's raiment 
 was not made of the fine hair of that animal, whereof 
 an elegant kind of cloth is made, which is called cam- 
 let, but of the long and shaggy hair of camels, which 
 in the East is manufactured into a coarse stuff, ancient- 
 ly worn by monks and anchorites. 
 
 As our shepherds pick up the coarse wool which is 
 lost by the sheep, and spin it into yarn, which they 
 knit into stockings for their own wear ^ so the inhabi- 
 tants of the Jewish desarts made a coarse stuff of the 
 woolly hair which nature annually threw off their 
 camels; which dress John adopted when he lived 
 among those poor people. Thus the Tartars of our 
 time manufacture their cameVs hair into a kind of 
 felt, for the covering of their wooden habitations. 
 The raiment of the Baptist is represented as mean, if 
 not mortifying. What went ye out for to see? a man 
 clothed in soft raiment ? Behold, they that icear soft 
 clothing are in King's houses. — Matthew xi. 8. — 
 
 Harmery and Burder. 
 
 NO. 407. — ACCOUNT OF THE LOCUSTS AND WILD HONEY* 
 
 iii. 4. His meat was locusts and wild honey. 
 Dampier informs us, that the Indians of the Bashes 
 islands eat the Jocusts ; and that he himeelf once 
 
^'SCq ^>ji .^ MATTHEW 
 
 id 
 
 /lasted of thiS-disb, and liked it very well. He also ™ 
 «ays, that th^ Toiiqnineze feed on locusts ; that they 
 feat them fresh, broiled on coals, or pickle them to 
 keep : they are plump and fat, apd are much esteemed, 
 both by rich and poor j^, as good wholesome food. 
 IShaw says, that when they are sprinkled with salt, 
 their taste is not unlike fresh-water cray-fish. Ives 
 says, that the inhabitants of Madagascar eat locusts, 
 of which tlfey have an immense quantity ; and they 
 prefer them to the finest fish.*^ Russell tells us, that 
 the Arabs salt tliom and eat them as a delicacy. 
 
 Wild honey is probably obtained from wild, bees, 
 which are frequent in Palestine, and found in hollow 
 triMiks or branches of trees, and the clefts of rocks. 
 Some have supposed this to be the honey-dew, or 
 liquid kind of manna exuding from the leaves of trees, 
 as of the palm or fig-tree ; and Pliny speaks of honey 
 as Howing from the olive-tree in Syria ; but surely 
 nothing is so probable as the genuine honey. That 
 into which«Jonathan dipped the end of his rod was 
 ■probably in some hollow tree, and not otherwise to 
 be obtained. — 1 Sam. xiv. 27. — Harmer, and Burder. 
 
 NO. 408.~SHOES CARRIED BY SERVANTS. 
 
 iii. 1 1. Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. 
 The custom of loosing the sandals from off the feet 
 of an Eastern worshipper, was ancient and indispensi- 
 ble. It is also commonly observed in visits to great 
 men. Th^ sandals or slippers are pulled off at the 
 jdoor ; and either left there, or given to a servant to 
 hear. The person to bear them means an inferior 
 domestic, or attendant upon a man of high rank, 
 to take care of, and return them to him again.-- 
 
 Asiatic Researches, 
 
MATTHEW. 361 
 
 » 
 
 It was ctjstomary among the Romans, to lay aside 
 their shoes when they went to a banquet. The ser- 
 vants took them off their masters' feet when they en- 
 tered the house ; and returned them when they de- 
 parted to their owii habitations. 
 
 This was the w ork of servants among the Jews ; 
 and it was reckoned so servile, that it was thought too 
 mean for a scholar or a disciple to do. The Jews say, 
 " all services which a servant does for his master, a 
 disciple does for his, except unloosing his shoes." 
 John thought it was too great an honor for him to do 
 that for Christ, which was thought too mean for a 
 disciple to do for a wise man. — GilL 
 
 Le, one among you' stands unknown, 
 
 A greater far than I, 
 Who am not worthy to stoop down, 
 
 His sandals to untie. 
 
 Brackenbvuy. 
 
 NO. 409.^CHAFF BURNT AFTER WINNOWING. 
 
 iii. 12. He will burn up the chaff' with unquenchable 
 fire. 
 Here is an evident allusion to the custom of 
 burning the choffafier winnowing, that it might not 
 be blown back again, and so be mingled with the 
 wheat. There was danger, lest, after they had been 
 separated, the chaff should be blown again amongst 
 the wheat by the changing of the wind. To prevent 
 this they put fire to it at the windward side, which 
 crept on, and never gave over till it had consumed all 
 the chaff. In this sense it was an unquenchable fire, 
 
 Burder, 
 
562 MATTHEW. 
 
 NO. 410.— WASHING, A^ ACT OF CONSECRATIOV. 
 
 iii. 15. tSiiffer it tabe so now ; for thus it beconnethus 
 to fulfil all righteousjiess. 
 
 As Christ had submitted to circumcision, which 
 was the initiatory ordinance of the Mosaic dispensa- 
 tion, it was necessary that he should submit to bap- 
 tism, which was instituted by no less an authority,, 
 and was the introduction to his own dispensation of 
 eternal mercy and truth : but it was necessary also, 
 ou another account, because our Lord represented the 
 Ilij^h Priest, and was to be High Priest over the house 
 of God. 
 
 Previous both to anointing and clothing, at the con- 
 secration of the Jewish High Priest, there was another 
 ceremony, — that of washing with water. This was 
 common both to the High Priests and the other 
 Priests. — Exodus xxix. 4. From hence some have 
 explained these words of our Lord, when he desired 
 to be baptised by John ; that being about to enter 
 upon his priestly office, it became him to be baptised, 
 or washed, according to the law to which he was 
 subject. Thus he fulfilled the righteous ordinance of 
 his initiation into the office of High Priest,^ and thus 
 was prepared to make an atonement for the sins of 
 mankind. — Jennings, ^c. 
 
 NO. 411.— CHRIST TEACHING IN THE SYNAGOGUE. 
 
 iv. 23. And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in 
 
 tlmir synagogues. 
 \i The Scribes ordinarily taught in the synagogues, : 
 but it was not confined to them ; as it appears that 
 Ciirist did the same. It has been questioned by 
 what right Christ and his Apostles, who had no public 
 
MATTHEW. 363 
 
 character among the Jews, taught in their synagogues. 
 In answer to this, Dr. Lightfoot observes, that though 
 this liberty was not allowed to any illiterate person 
 or mechanic, but to the learned only, they granted it 
 to Prophets and workers of miracles, and such as set 
 up for heads and leaders of new sects, in order that 
 they might inform themselves of their dogmata, and 
 not condemn them unheard and unknown. Under 
 these characters Christ and his apostles were admitted 
 to this privilege. — Jennings. 
 
 The Jews were all obliged to worship God in pub- 
 lic, either in the synagogue or in the temple : hence 
 Jerusalem is said to have contained four hundred and 
 eighty synagogues. These were governed by a 
 council, or assembly, over whom was a President, 
 called in the gospel, the Ruler of the synagogue : 
 these were the chiefs of the JewSy the Governors, the 
 Overseers, and the Fathers of the synagogue. — Clarke. 
 
 N0.4I2.— SITTING, THE POSTURE OF EASTERN MASTERS. 
 
 V. 1. And when he was set, his disciples came unto 
 him. 
 Sitting was the proper posture of masters, or 
 teachers. The form in which the master and his 
 disciples sat is thus described by Maimonidcs : — " The 
 master sits at the head, or in the chief place, and the 
 disciples before him in a circuit, like a crown; so that 
 they all see the master, and hear his words. The mas- 
 ter may not sit upon a seat, and the scholars upon the 
 ground ; but either all upon the earth, or upon seats. 
 Indeed from the beginning, or formerly, the master 
 used to sit, and the disciples .^to stand ; but before 
 
364 MATTHEW, 
 
 the destruction of the second temple, all used to teach 
 their disciples sitting." 
 
 Our Lord vvent to the mountain, that he might 
 have the greater advantage of speaking, so as to be 
 heard by that great concourse of people which fol- 
 lowed him. He thought it as lawful to preach upon 
 a mountain as in a synagogue, nor did his disciples 
 doubt the legality of hearing him. 
 
 NO. 413. — SALT MAY LOSE ITS SAVOUR. 
 
 V. 13. If the salt have lost its savour, whehwiih 
 shall it be salted? 
 
 Maundrell says, that in the valley of salt near 
 Gebul, about four hours journey from Aleppo, there 
 is a small precipice, occasioned by the continual 
 taking away of the salt. " In this," he says, " you 
 may see how the veins of it lie. I broke a piece of 
 it, of which the part that was exposed to the rain, 
 sun, and air, though it had the sparks and particles 
 of salt, yet had perfectly lost its taste; but the in- 
 nermost, which had been connected to the rock, still 
 retained its savour." This greatly illustrates our 
 Lord's supposition. — Burder. 
 
 A Preacher or private Christian, who has lost the 
 life of Christ, and the witness of his spirit out of his 
 soul, may be likened to this salt. He may have the 
 sparks and glittering particles of true wisdom, but 
 without its unction or comfort. Only that which is 
 connected with the rock, the soul which is in union 
 with Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit, c*n preserve its 
 savour, and be instrumental of good to others.— C^ar/^e. 
 
MATTHEW. 365 
 
 NO. 414. — GIFT LEFT BEFORE THE ALTAR. 
 
 24. Leave there thy gift before the altar ^ and goMiy 
 
 way; first he reconciled to thy brother; and then 
 
 come and offer thy gift. 
 
 This delay was unusual in gifts offered at the altar 
 in such a cause. The oblation of a sacrifice, presented 
 even at the altar, has indeed been delayed, and the 
 sacrifice rejected : for at that time it might be disco- 
 vered, that the beast had a blemish, or was pn some 
 account an improper sacrifice; or the person himself, 
 who came to make the offering, might, through un- 
 cleanness or some other cause, be disqualified for the 
 present. But among all these -things, we do not 
 meet with this, concerning which Christ speaks in the 
 passage before us ; so that he seems to enjoin a new 
 matter: and as the offended brother might perhaps be, 
 absent in the furthest parts of the land of Israel, and 
 could not be spoken to for some time, it may appear 
 an impossible thing which is commanded. What is to 
 become of the beast, in the mean time, which is left at 
 the altar? To obviate this difficulty, it is answered, 
 that it was a custom and a law among the Jews, that 
 the sacrifices of particular men should not immediately, 
 as soon as they were due, be brought to the altar ; but 
 that they should be reserved to the feast next follow- 
 ing, whatsoever that were, vvhether the passover, or 
 pentBcost, or the feast of tabernacles, and be then 
 offered. At those times all the Israelites were pre- 
 sent ; and any brother, against whom one had sinned, 
 was not far off from the altar. To this time and . 
 custom of . the nation it is probable that Christ might 
 allude. — Lighffoijt. 
 
S66 MATTHEW. 
 
 The g^ifts were their free-will offerings. Bring 
 unto God the best and most acceptable sacrifices that 
 you can ; yet, if there be found malice or anger in 
 your hearts, God will not accept them; and if you 
 remember that your brother hath just reason to be 
 offended with you, leave there your gift before the 
 altar, and do all in your power to promote a concilia- 
 tion, and then come and offer thy gift. 
 
 NO. 415.— DIVORCING OF THE WIFE. 
 
 T. 31. It hath been said, whosoever shall put away his 
 wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement. 
 The Jewish Doctors gave great licence in the matter 
 of divorce. Among them, a man might divorce his 
 wife, if she displeased him, even in the dressing of his 
 victuals ! 
 
 Rabbi Akiba said, " If any man saw a woman hand- 
 somer than his own wife, he might put his wife away ; 
 because it is said in the law, if she find not favor in 
 his eyes.'' — Deut. xxiv. 1. Josephus, the celebrated 
 Jewish historian, in his life, tells us, with the utmost 
 coolness and indifference, "about this time I put away 
 my wife, who had bof ne me three children, not being 
 pleased with her manners." 
 
 These two cases are sufficient to shew, to what a 
 scandalous and criminal excess this matter was carried 
 among the Jews. However, it was allowed by the 
 school of Shammai, that no man was to put away his 
 wife unless for adultery ; but the school of Hillel gave 
 much greater licence. 
 
 The following is the common form of a writing of 
 divorcement : — 
 
 "On the day of the week A. in the month B. in the 
 
MATTHEW. 36T 
 
 year C. from the bec:inning' of the world, according to 
 the common computation, in the province of D. ; I. N. 
 Ihe son of N. by whatever name I am called, of the 
 city of E. with entire consent of mind, and without 
 any compulsion, have divorced, dismissed, and expelled 
 thee, — thee, I say,M. the daughter of M. by whatever 
 name thou art called, of the city E. who wast hereto- 
 fore my wife ; but now I have dismissed thee, — thee, 
 I say, M. the daughter of M. by whatsoever name 
 thou art called, of the city E. ; so as to be free, 
 and at thine own disposal, to marry whomsoever thou 
 pleasest, without hindrance from any one, from this 
 day for ever. Thou art therefore free for any man. 
 Let this be thy bill of divorce from me, a writing of 
 separation and expulsion, according to the law of 
 Moses and Israel. 
 
 " Reuben, son of Jacob, witness. 
 
 " Eliezar, son of Gilead, witness." 
 
 Clarke, 
 
 NO. 416.— SWEARING BY HEAVEN AND EARTH. 
 
 T. 34. Swear not at all ; neither by heaven, for it is 
 Go(Vs throne; nor by the earth, for it i& his foot- 
 stool. 
 
 It was common to appeal both to God and man, to 
 bear testimony to the truth of what was spoken, that 
 if there were any flaw or insincerity, it might be de- 
 tected ; and if any crime, it might not go unpunished. 
 
 Clarke. 
 
 Then the great Trojan Prince unsheath'd his sword, 
 And thus with lifted hands the gods ador'd : 
 Thou land, for which I wage this war, and thou 
 Oreat source of day, be witness to my vow \ ^ 
 
S68 MATTHEW. 
 
 Almighty King of IJeaven and Queen of air, 
 Propitious now, and reconcil'd by pray'r ; 
 Ye springs, ye floods, ye various pow'rs who lie 
 Beneath the deep, or tread the golden sky, 
 Hear and attest. Pitt. 
 
 NO. 417. — CUSTOM OF SWEARING BY THE HEAD. 
 
 V. 36. Neither shall thou swear by thy head, because 
 thou canst not make one hair white or black. 
 It was common among the -ancients to swear by 
 the head. Thus Virgil, " I swear by this head of 
 mine, by which my father before me was wont to 
 swear." Homer mentions the adjuring of another by 
 his head : — 
 
 O thou, that dost tliy happy course prepare 
 With pure libations and with solemn pray'r; 
 By that dread pow'r to whom thy vows are paid, 
 By all the lives of these ; thy own dear bead ; 
 Peclare sincerely, to no foe's demand, 
 Tijy name, thy lineage, and paternal l^nd. 
 
 This also was a common form of swearing among the 
 Jews ; and the wise men say, that such as vowed by 
 the life of the head could not retract their oath. — 
 
 Burder. 
 
 NO. 418.— EASTERN COMPULSION. 
 
 V. 41. Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go 
 with him twain. 
 Our Lord in this passage refers to the Angari, or 
 Persian messengers, who had the royal, authority for 
 pressing horses, ships, and men, to assist them in the 
 business on which they were employed. In the mo- 
 dern government of Persia, there are officers, not un- 
 like the ancient Angari, called Chappars, who serve to 
 carry dispatches between the court and the provinces. 
 
r 
 
 MATTHEW. 369 
 
 When a Chapper sets out, the master of the horse ftir^ 
 nishes him with one horse only ; and when that is 
 weary, he dismounts the first man he meets, and takes 
 his horse. There is no pardon for a traveller that 
 should refuse to let a Chapper have his horse, nor for 
 any other who should deny him the best horse in 
 his stable. — Hanway. 
 
 The Jews, and inhabitants of other provinces, 
 were compelled by the Roman Governors, or the Te- 
 trarchs, to furnish horses, and themselves to accom- 
 pany their public messengers, as those on public 
 business might compel the horses of those on the 
 road to attend them. The Persian couriers, wore a 
 dagger, as a mark of authority, called hanger ; frqiii 
 which the name of angari is supposed by some to be 
 derived. — Char din. 
 
 " As I became familiarized to my Tartar guide, I 
 found his character disclose much better traits than 
 his first appearance bespoke. Perceiving that I was 
 very low-spirited and thoughtful, he exhibited mani- 
 fest tokens of compassion ; and taking it into his 
 head that I was actually removed for ever from my 
 friends and my family, he spoke in a style of regret 
 and feeling which did honor to his heart, while he 
 did every thing in his power to alleviate my feelings. 
 The first object he seemed to have in view on our 
 journey, was to impress me with a notion of his con- 
 sequence and authority, as a messenger belonging to 
 the Sultan. As these men are employed by the first 
 Magistrates in the county, and are the links of com- 
 munication between them, they think themselves 
 of great importance to the state ; while the great 
 men, in whose business they are employed, mak» 
 
 A A 
 
S70 MATTHEW. 
 
 Ihem feel the weight of their authority, and treat 
 them with the greatest contempt. They are servile 
 to their superiors, and insolent to their inferiors, or 
 such as are in their power. 
 
 "As carriers of dispatches, their power and authority, 
 wherever they go, are in some points undisputed; 
 and they can compel a supply of provisions, horses, 
 and attendants, whenever it suits their occasion ; nor 
 dare any man resist their right to take the horse from 
 under him, be the owner's occasion ever so pressing. 
 As soon as he stopped at a caravanserai, he imme- 
 diately lifted up his voice in the name of the Sultan, 
 and demanded, in a menacing tone, fresh horses, 
 victuals, &c. on the instant. The terror of this great 
 man operated like magic ; nothing could exceed the 
 activity of the men, the briskness of the women, and 
 the terror of the children." — Campbell. 
 
 The scope of our Lord's language appears to be 
 this, — be 7tot overcome of evil, but overcome evil with 
 good. — Rom. xii. 21. 
 
 NO. 419.- EASTERN METHOD OF SALUTATION. 
 
 V. 47. If ye salute your brethren only, what do ye 
 more than others. 
 Niebuhr says, that when the Arabs salute one 
 another, it is generally in these terms : — ** Peace be 
 witlryou;" in speaking which they lay the right 
 band on the heart. The answer is, " With you 
 be peace." A^e^ people are inclined to ^dd to these 
 words, " and the mercy and blessing of God." The 
 Mahommedans of Egypt never salute a Christian in 
 this manner :- they content themselves with saying, 
 <* Good day to you ;" or, " Friend, how do you do.T' 
 
MATTHEW. 371 
 
 The Arabs of Yemen, who seldom see any Christian, 
 are not so zealous but that they will sometimes give 
 them the " Peace be with you." 
 
 The more rig:id Jews would not address the usual 
 compliment of " Peace be to you" either to Heathens 
 or publicans ; and the publicans of the Jewish nation 
 who used it to their countrymen, that were publicans, 
 w^ould not use it to the Heathens: but in theiangriage 
 of our Lord, he required his disciples to lay aside the 
 morosenessof Jews, and express more exteasii^e bene- 
 volence in their salutations. There doth not appear 
 to be any thing* of embracing in the cmTipliment be^ 
 fore us, though that doubtless was practised anciently 
 amongst relations and intimate friends, as it is at 
 present among m'odern Asiatics. — Hdrmer. 
 
 NO. 420.— TRUMPET BLOWN BEFORE HYPOCRITES. 
 
 vi. 2. Do not sound a trumpet before ihecy as the 
 hypocrites do^ %c. 
 The word hypocrites leads us to the ancient players? 
 in the theatre, who represented persons and charac- 
 ters which they themselves were not. Their general 
 manner was to put a mask over tiie whole head ; by 
 which means a person whose ciwn visage was dis- 
 figured, might. wear a beautiful mask; while he 
 himself frowned, his mask might smile ; that might 
 be complacent and serene, though his own temper 
 was morose and peevish ; or that might exhibit the 
 character of a hero or a deity, of Alexander or 
 Jupiter, while the wearer was far enough from re- 
 sembling either, in form, in manners, or in attributes. 
 
 Calmet, 
 Aa2 
 
S72 MATTHEW. 
 
 From ^^schylus the chorus learnt new grace: 
 He veil'd with decent masks the actor's face, 
 Taught him in buskins first to tread the stage. 
 And rais'd a theatre to please the age. 
 
 BoiLEAU. 
 
 The Pharisees, it is possible, might carry matters 
 to such an excess of pride and vain glory as, literally, 
 tliiis to proclaim their liberality; but probably we 
 are to understand it of the pompous and public manner 
 in which they spoke of, and dispensed, their bene- 
 volence. Chardhi relates, that in the East the der- 
 vises use rams' horns, which there are remarkably 
 long, for trumpets, and that they blow them in honor 
 of the donor wlre«. any thing is given them. It is not 
 rrapossiblebut that some of the poor Jews that begged 
 alms might l>e furnished like the Persian dervises, 
 who are a sort of religious beggars; and that these 
 hypocrites might be disjjosed to confine their alms- 
 g:iving very much to such as they knew would pay 
 them this honor. — Harjner. 
 
 HO. 42L— TliAYING IN THE STREETS. 
 
 vi. 5. They lave to pray standing in the synagogues, 
 t and in the corner of the streets. 
 This practice was probably common with those who 
 were fond of ostentationr la their devotions, and who 
 wished to^^^ngage the attei^tion of others. This 
 practice mi^hi be traced in different nations. Aaron 
 Hill says "such Turks as at the common hours of 
 prayer are on the road, or iso employed as not to 
 find convenience to attend the mosques, are still 
 obliged to execute that duty ; nor are they ever known' 
 to fail, whatever business they are then about, but 
 pray immediately vylien-Uiehour alarms them, in that 
 
MATTHEW. S73 
 
 very place where they chance to stand, insomuch, that 
 when a janissary, whom you have to guard you up 
 and down the city, hears the notice which is given 
 him from the steeples, he will turn about, stand still, 
 and beckon with his hand, to tell his charge he must 
 have patience for a little while, when taking out his 
 handkerchief, he spreads it on the ground, sits cross- 
 legged thereupon, and says his prayers, though in tlm 
 open market ; which having ended, he leaps briskly 
 up, salutes the person whom he undertook to convey* 
 and renews his journey, with the mild expression of 
 " Come dear, follow me." This practice appears i^ 
 be general throughout the East. — Burder. 
 
 His virtues were his pride : and that one vice 
 Made ail his virtues gewgaws of no price ; 
 Jrle wore tliem as line trappings for a show, 
 A prating, syuagogue-frequeating beau. 
 
 CoWPER. 
 
 NO. 422. — VAIN REPETITIONS. 
 
 vi. 7. When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the 
 Heathen do. 
 The Jews had very much lost the spirit of this 
 devout exercise, and had suffered themselves, in some 
 instances, to be influenced by Heathen practices: one 
 of these our Lord in particular prohibits, — that of 
 using vain repetitions. The practice of the Heathen 
 may be understood frofii their writings. iEschylus has 
 near an hundred verses at a time made, up of nothing 
 but tautologies. The idolatrous worshippers of 
 Baal called on the name of Baal from morning even 
 unto noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. — 1 Kings xviii. 
 26. Thus also the devotees of Diana all with one 
 voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great ^« 
 Diana of the Ephesians.--^Acis xix. S4:.'-Burder. 
 
374 MATTHEW. 
 
 Suidas, in speaking: of vain repetitions, says, '* the 
 original word came from one Bathus, a very indifferent 
 poet, wFio made very prolix hymns, in which the 
 •name idea frequently occurred." The Mahommedans 
 afe peculiarly remarkable for vain' repetitions in their 
 devotions. The following is the commencement of 
 one of their prayers:— "O God! O God ! O God ! 
 OGod! OLord! OLord! OLord! O Lord I Othcu 
 living! O thou immortal! O thou living! O thou 
 immortal! O thou living! O thou immortal ! O thou 
 living! O thou immortal ! O creator of the heavens 
 and earth, &c." Such praying, or battologizing, can 
 ndtlier comport with the seriousness of devotion, nor 
 wlt!i the dignity of the t)ivine Nature. — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 423. — FASTING COMMON AMONG THE JEWS. 
 
 YJ. \ti. When ye fast, he not as the hypocrites, of a 
 sad countenance. 
 
 Fasting has in all ages, and among all nations, been 
 used in time of mourning, sorrow, or affliction. The 
 King of Nineveh, terrified by Jonah's preaching, 
 ordered that not only men, but beasts also shoujd con- 
 tinue without eating or drinking, should be covered 
 with sackcloth, and each after their manner should 
 cry to the Lord.^ — Jonah iii. 5, 6. 
 
 The Jews, in their fasts, begin the observance of 
 them in the evening, after sun-set/and remain wilhout 
 eating 'till the same hour the next day. Children, 
 from the age of Feven years, fast in proportion to 
 their strength. During the fast, they abstain from 
 food, bathing, perfumes, and anointing. This is the 
 i(fea which the Eastern people generally have of 
 fasting ; it is a total abstinence from pleasure of every 
 
MATTHEW. 375 
 
 kind. The Pharisees used to fast twice in a meek ; i. e. 
 on Thursday, in memory of Moses' going up to 
 Mount Sinai on that day ; and on Monday, in memory 
 of his coming down from thence. — Calmet. 
 
 . NO. 424. — ROBES OF ROYALTY AMONG THE JEWS. 
 
 vi. 28, 29. Consider the lilies of tJie field how they 
 grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet 
 I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory y 
 teas not arrayed' like one of these. 
 The royal robes which were put on the King of 
 Judah at his coronation were very rich and splendid. 
 This may certainly be gathered from the declaration 
 of Christ in tiiese words. This allusion is the more 
 apposite, if, as Josephus saith, Solomon was usually 
 clothed in white. On this supposition, it is probable 
 that this was the color of the royal robes of his suc- 
 cessors: but it being likewise the color of the Priests' 
 garments, the difference between them must be sup- 
 posed to lie in the richness of the stuff with which 
 they were \i^?kAQ.— Jennings, 
 
 Art n>ust not contend with nature. The beauty 
 and glory of apparel, is ro more than is to be found 
 In creatures much inferior to our order; which m.ade 
 Solon, though an Heathen, prefer the sight of a 
 peacock to that of Crwsus. Clothing is an article 
 not worthy our anxious thought. God, who clothes 
 the lilies, will not forget his offspring. 
 
 Intrust thy fortune to the pow'rs above, 
 Leave them to manage for thee, and to grant 
 What their unerring wisdom sees thee want : 
 In goodness, as in greatness, they excel ; 
 Ob, thai we lov'd ourselves but half so well! 
 
 JVVENAL, 
 
376 MATTHEW. 
 
 NO. 425.— MANNER OF HEATING OVENS IN THE EAST, 
 ▼i. 30. The grass of the Jield, which to day isy and 
 to morrow is cast into the oven, 
 Shaw says, that myrtle, rosemary, and other plants, 
 are made use of in Barbary to heat their ovens and 
 their bagnios. This appears to be a comment upor> 
 the words of onr Lord ; which plainly mean, that 
 lily-stalks are used for fuel ; used no doubt, in com- 
 mon with the dried stalks of other plants, in heatinj^ 
 their ovens. Dr. Russell fays, that herbag'e, when 
 cut down, is dry in twenty-four hours. 
 
 ^ The rose is fragrant, but it fades in time. 
 
 The violet sweet, but quickly past its prime : 
 While liiJes hang their heads and soon decay, 
 And whiter snow in minutes melts away : 
 Such and so withering is our blooming _youth. 
 
 Drydex. 
 
 NO. 426. — A JEWISH PROVERB. 
 
 Tii. 4. Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye. 
 
 Lightfoot has shewn that this expression wa« a 
 proverb among the Jews. The word which we ren- 
 der wo^e, signifies a little splinter; and thus it is 
 opposed to a large beam with great propriety. But 
 as it is impossible that such a thing as a beam of 
 wood should be lodged in the eye, possibly these 
 words might signify different kinds of distempers to 
 which that tender part is subject ; the former of which 
 might be no more, in comparison of the latter, than a 
 splinter to a beam. — Doddridge. 
 
 Some quarrel with their brother about small faults, 
 while they allow themselves in great ones: they are 
 quicksighted to spy a mote in a brother's eye, but 
 are not sensible of a beam in their own, — Henry, 
 
MATTHEW. 377 
 
 NO. 427. — THE STRAIT GATE. 
 
 vii. 13. Enter ye in at the strait gate. 
 
 At the banquet of the ancients, the guests entered 
 by a gate designed to receive them : hence Christj by 
 whom we enter into the marriage feast, compares 
 himself to a gate. — John x. 1, 9. This gate, on the 
 coming of the guests, was made narrow, the wicket 
 only being left open, and the porter standing to pre- 
 vent the unbidden from rushiiig in. When ihe guests 
 were arrived, the door was shut, and not to be opened 
 to those who stood and knocked without. So the 
 parable of the ten virgins. — Wliithy. 
 
 The gate is strait, but, blessed be God, it is not 
 shut up, nor locked against us, nor kept with a 
 flaming sword, as it will be shortly. — Chap. xxv. 10. 
 
 Henry. 
 
 NO. 428. — MANNER OF DELIVERING SPEECHES AMONG 
 THE SCRIBES. 
 
 vii. 29. He taught them as one having authority, arid 
 not as the Scribes. 
 When the Scribes delivered any thing to the people, 
 they used to say, " Our Rabbins," or, '' Our wise mei), 
 say so." Such as were on the side of Hillel, made 
 use of his name ; and those who were on tlie side of 
 Shammai, made use of his. Scarcely ever would 
 they venture to say any thing as of themselves. But 
 Christ spake boldly of himself, and did not go about 
 to support his doctrine by the testimony of the Elders. 
 
 Gill. 
 
 NO. 429.— CITIZENSHIP AMONG THE JEWS. 
 
 ix. 1. And came into his own city. 
 The city here spoken of was Capernaum, wheje 
 
378 MATTHEW. 
 
 Christ chiefly dwelt, and paid tribute as an iiihabitanf. 
 Accoiding" to the Jewish canuns, he was entitled to 
 citizenship by dwelling there twelve months, or by 
 purchasing a dwellingr-honse. One or other of these 
 things it is probable Christ had done, and on which 
 account the city is denominated his. — Gill. 
 
 When the Gadarenes desired Christ to depart, they 
 of Capernaum received him. If Christ be insulted by 
 some, yet is he honored by others. 
 
 NO. 420. —CHILDREN OF THE BRIDE-CHiiMBER. 
 
 ix. l5. Can the children of the hridc-chamber mourn, 
 as long as the bridegroofn is with them? 
 Great mirth and cheerfulness accompanied the 
 celebration of nuptials amongst the Jews. The 
 children of the bride-chamber were the friends and 
 acquaintances of the parties, and assisted in those 
 rejoicings. But to set some bounds- to their exulta- 
 tions, a singular ceremony was introduced, according 
 to the Rabbins: — a glass vessel was brought into the 
 company and broken to pieces, in order that they 
 might restrain their joy, and not run to excess. Mar, 
 the son of Rabbena, made wedding feasts for his son, 
 and invited the Rabbins ; and when Tie saw that their 
 mirth exceeded its bounds, he brought forth a glass 
 cup, worth four hundred zuzees, and broke it before 
 them; whereupon they became sad. The reason 
 which they assign for this action is, because it is 
 forbidden a man to fill his mouth with laughter. — 
 
 Light/oot, 
 
 NO. 431. — THE HEM OF THE GARMENT. 
 
 ix, 20, Behold a woman which was diseased with an 
 
MATTHEW. 379 
 
 issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and 
 
 touched' the hem of his garment. 
 
 This woman having probably been a witness of the 
 wonderful miracles wrought by Jesus Christ, was 
 convinced that he was a divine person, and that every 
 thing belonging to him was sacred ; and therefore, 
 as, according to the custom of the Eastern nations, 
 to kiss the fringe of any consecrated robe was an act 
 of the most profound reverence, so by touching the 
 hem of our Saviour's garment, she was persuaded 
 that slie should not only pay him the greatest respect, 
 but dispose him to pity her, and heal her disease ; 
 which w^s instantly done. 
 
 In consequence of the humble appearance of Christ 
 upon earth, the garment which he wore was not 
 ornamented with that striking appendage which 
 usually adorned the borders of the Eastern garments.* 
 Had his garment been in the prevaih'ng fashion of the 
 East, the woman probably would have been repre- 
 sented as touching the fringe of his garment, instead 
 of its hem. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 432.— MINSTRELS JOINED WITH MOURNING. 
 
 ix. 23. And saw the minstrels, and iJie people making 
 a noise. 
 Biddulph, a Chaplain to the English factory at 
 Aleppo in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, was sur- 
 prised at observing that the women in the Holy 
 Land used instruments of music in their lamentations, 
 and that before the melancholy event happened to 
 which their wailing referred. He says, " while I was 
 at Saphetta, many Turks departed from thence to- 
 
 Nunib, XV. 37.-— Deut. xxU. 12. 
 
380 MATTHEW. 
 
 wards Mecca, in Arabia. The same morning they 
 went, we saw many women playing with timbrels as 
 they went along the streets, who made a shrieking as 
 if they cried. This was mourning the departure of 
 their husbands who were gone on pilgrimage to 
 Mecca, and whom they feared that they should never 
 see again. 
 
 Irwin, speaking of a merchant that was murdered 
 in the desart between Ghinnah and Cosaire, tells us, 
 *' the tragedy which was lately acted near Cosaire, 
 gave birth to a mournful procession of females, which 
 passed through the different streets of Ghinnah this 
 morning, and uttered dismal cries for the deatli of 
 Mahommed. In the centre was a female of his fami- 
 ly, who carried a naked sword in her hand, to 
 intimate the weapon by which the deceased fell. 
 — At sundry places the procession stopped, a^id 
 danced around the sword, to the music of timbrels and 
 tabors. It would be dangerons to face the frantic 
 company ; whose constant clamour and extravagant 
 gestures give them all the appearance of the female 
 Bacchanals of Thrace, recorded of old. The female 
 relations of the deceased make a tour through the 
 town, morning and night, for a week, beating their 
 breasts, throwing ashes on their heads, and displaying 
 eveiy artificial token of sorrow. — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 433. — DESCRIPTION OF EASTERN PURSES. 
 
 X. 9. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in 
 
 your purses, nor scrip for your journey. 
 
 Clothed as the Eastern people were, with long robes, 
 
 girdles were indispensably necessary to bind together 
 
 their flowing vestments. They were worn about the 
 
MATTHEW. 381 
 
 waist, and properly confined tlieir loose garments. 
 These girdles were so contrived as to be used for 
 purses ; and they are still so worn in the East. Dr. 
 Shaw, speaking of the dress of the Arabs of Barbafy, 
 says, " the girdles of these people are usually of 
 worsted, very artfully woven into a variety of figures, 
 and made to wrap several times about their bodies ; 
 one end of them being doubled, and sewed along the 
 edges, serves them for a purse." The Roman soldiers 
 used, in like manner, to carry their money in their 
 girdles. In Aulus Gellius, C. Gracchus is introduced, 
 saying, those girdles which I carried out full of money, 
 when I went from Rome, I have, at my return from 
 the province, brought home empty. Olearius informs 
 us, that the Persians carry a dagger, a knife, a hand- 
 kerchief, and their money wrapped up in their girdle; 
 and such as follow the profession of writing out books, 
 carry their ink-horn, their pen-knife, and their whet- 
 stone. The scrip was a leathern, pouch, hung about 
 their necks, in which they carry their victuals. That 
 this is but a temporary precept is manifest from Luke 
 xxii. 36. Now he that hath a purse let him take it, 
 and likewise his scrip. — Burder, S^c. 
 
 NO. 434. — HEATHEN-DDST SHAKEN OFF BY THE JEWS, 
 
 X. 14. Shake off the dust of your feet. 
 Gill says, in these words there seems to be an allu- 
 sion to some maxims and customs of the Jews, with 
 respect to the dust of Heathen countries. With 
 them, all dust- which comes from the land of the Gen- 
 tiles is reckoned defiling: hence they would not 
 ^suffer herbs to be brought out of an Heathen country 
 
382 MATTHEW. 
 
 iato the land of Israel, lest Heathen-dust should be 
 brought along; with them. 
 
 To shake off the dust, signified a renunciation of 
 connexion with them, and placing them on a level 
 with the Heathen. — Burder, ^c. 
 
 NO. 435.— ^MANNER OF SCOURGING AMONG THE JEWS. 
 
 X. 17. They will scourge you in their synagogues. 
 This punishment was very common amongst the 
 .Tews, and was inflicted with thongs made of an ox's 
 hide. The Rabbins reckoned up one hundred and 
 sixty-eight faults liable to this penalty. The oifender 
 was stripped from his shoulders to his middle, and 
 tied by his arms to a pretty low pillar, that he might 
 lean forward, and that the executioner might more 
 easily come at his back. It is said that they never 
 gave more or less than thirty-nine strokes, but that in 
 greater faults, they struck with proportionable vio- 
 lence. 
 
 After (he stripping of the criminal, the executioner 
 mounted upon a stone, to have more power over him, 
 and then scourged him, both on the back and breasts, 
 jn open court before the Judges. During this process, 
 the principal Judge proclaimed with a loud voice, 
 Jf thou observe not to do all the words of this law, 6(c, 
 Dent, xxviii. 58. ; adding, keep therefore the words of 
 iliis covenant. — Deut. xxix. 9,^ and concluding at 
 last with the words of the Psalmist — but he being 
 full of compassion, forgave their iniquity. — Psalm 
 Ixxviii. 38. 
 
 Lightfoot says, " by synagogues, we may under- 
 stand here, not the place of public worship, but 
 
MATTHEW. 363 
 
 assemblies, where three Magistrates, chosen out of 
 the principal members of the synagogue, presided to 
 adjust differences among the people: these had 
 power to condemn to the scourge, but not to death." 
 
 Burder^ ^c. 
 
 NO 436— MIMICRY OF CHILDREN IN THE MARKETS. 
 
 xi. 17. We have piped unto you, and ye have not 
 
 danced : we have mourned unto you, and ye hai'e 
 
 not lamented. 
 
 It was the custom of children among the Jews, to 
 imitate in their sports what they had seen done l^y 
 others. When the musician began a tune on his in- 
 strument, it was usual for the company to dance to 
 his pipe. So also in funerals, when the women began 
 the mournful song, the rest followed lamenting and 
 beating their breasts. These things i\\e children 
 acted and personated in tlfe streets in play, and the 
 rest not following the leader, as usual, gave occasion 
 to this speech, — We have piped, unto you, and ye 
 have not danced : we have mourned unto you, and ye 
 liAive not lamented. — Burder. 
 
 Tiius the Pharisees and Lawyers rejected the 
 counsel of God against tJiemselves. — Luke vii. oO. 
 
 ^O. 437.— METHOD OF EXPRESSING AFFECTION. 
 
 xii. 50. Whosoever shall do the will of my father who 
 is in heave?!, the same is my brother, and sister, and 
 mother. 
 
 We meet with many instances of language remark- 
 ably similar to these words of our Lord. In the Iliad, 
 Andromache says to Hector, thou art my father, my 
 
S84 , MATTHEW. 
 
 mother, and my brother. When Martial would de- 
 scribe the love of Gellia for her jewels, he says, these 
 she calls her brothers and sisters. Epictetus observes, 
 that a man's own welfare and advantage is to 
 him brother, father, kindred, conatry, and God. — 
 
 Burder, 
 Those are the best acknowledged relatives to Christ, 
 who are united to him by spiritual ties, and who are 
 become one with him by the indwelling of his spirit. 
 We generally suppose, that Christ's relatives must 
 have shared much of his affectionate attention ; and 
 doubtless they did : but here we find, that whosoever 
 does the will of God is equally esteemed by him. 
 What an encouragement for fervent attachment td 
 God \— Clarke. 
 
 NO. 438.— BIRDS, GREAT DESTROYERS OF CORN. 
 
 xiii. 4. And vchen he sowed, some seeds fell by the 
 way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up. 
 
 This circumstance has no difficulty in our con- 
 ception of it, but it would strike an Eastern imagina- 
 tion more forcibly than ours. Thevenot says, "I 
 saw several peasants running about the corn-fields, 
 who raised loud shouts, and clacked their whips, to 
 drive away the birds, which devour all their corn. 
 When they see flocks of them coming from a neigh- 
 bouring ground, that they may not light on theirs, 
 they redouble their cries to make them go farther. 
 The truth is, that there are so many sparrows in 
 Persia, that they destroy all things: and scare-crows 
 are so far from frightening them, that they even 
 perch upon them." — Burder, 
 
MATTHEW. m5 
 
 NO. 439. — INSTANCES OF UNFEELING BARBARITY. 
 
 xiv. 11. His head was brought in a charger, and 
 given to the damsel. 
 
 Similar instances of unfeeling barbarity are to be 
 met with in history. Mark Antony caused the. heads 
 of those he had proscribed to be brought to him while 
 he was at table, and entertained his eyes a long time 
 with that sad spectacle. Cicero's head, being one of 
 those that were brought to him, he ordered it be put 
 on the very pulpit where Cieero had made speeches 
 against him. 
 
 Jerome informs us, that when the head of the 
 Baptist was presented to Herodias, she indulged her- 
 self in the barbarous diversion of pricking his tongue 
 with a needle, as Fulvia did Tully's. — Burder, &;c. 
 
 The haughty Herod s soon shall bow ' 
 
 Beneatli thy iron rod ; 
 And all tlie base Herodias' know 
 
 'Twas vain to fight with God, 
 
 Brackenbury.' 
 
 NO. 440.— -JEWS CALLED BASKET-BEARERS. 
 
 xiv. 20, They took up of the fragments that remained, 
 twelve baskets full. 
 The reason why they were so easily supplied with 
 such a number of baskets in a desart place, might 
 have originated in ^ custom which the Jews had of car- 
 rying baskets with hay and straw, in commemoration 
 of what they did in Egypt, when they were obliged to 
 go about to pick up straw to make bricks, and carried 
 those bricks about in baskets; which baskets, it 
 appears, were hung about their necks : hence Martial 
 calls a Jew a basket-bearer. — JBurder. 
 Bb 
 
38« MATTHEW. 
 
 The poorer Jews who had riot houses of their own, 
 capacious enough for their entertainments upon the 
 feast days, in the city of Rome, used to hire the grove 
 which was anciently dedicated to Egeria, and meet 
 there. They carried their provisions in baskets of 
 hay : for this the Romans derided them, and called 
 the basket and hay, the Jews' household stuff. 
 
 —now the sacred shades and founts are hh-'^d 
 By banish'd Jews, who their whole wealth can lay 
 In a small basket on a wlilsp of hay. • 
 
 Drtden. 
 
 NO. 441.— GIFTS CONSECRATED TO GOD. 
 
 XV. 5. It is a gifti by whatsoever thou mightest he 
 profited by me. 
 The Jews frequently used to bind themselves by 
 TOW or execration to do nothing beneficial to a neigh- 
 bour, &c. This was called corban. This was used 
 by them even against their own parents; and though 
 contrary to the precept of honoring and relieving 
 them, was nevertheless considered as obligatory. 
 Many cases are to be found, in Maimonides and the 
 Rabbins of this kind ; and this is probably the crime 
 which was charged upon the Pharisees by Christ* 
 But that which is more ordinarily received by the 
 ancients, and which Origen had from an Hebrew, 
 is, that corban is a gift consecrated to God : and so 
 saith Theophylact. The Pharisees persuading children 
 to give nothing to their parents, but to consecrate 
 all to the treasury of the temple, taught them to say, 
 •* G Father, that whereby thou mightest be profited 
 (relieved) by me, is a gift." Thus the children divided 
 with them all they had, leaving the poor parents 
 without any relief in their old age.— jfiTawwoT/f/. 
 
MATTHEW. ' 387 
 
 NO. 442.— SIGNS OF THE WEATHER. 
 
 XV i. 3. Ye can discern the face of the sky ; but can 
 ye 7iot discern the signs of the times ? 
 
 There are certain signs of fair and fonl weather, 
 which ye are in the constant habit of observing*, and 
 wiiich do not fail — thesigris ofthetivies. The doctrine 
 which I preach, and the miracles which I work among 
 you, are as sure signs that the day-spring from on 
 high has visited you for your salvation ; but if ye 
 refuse to hear, and continue in darkness, the red and 
 gloomycloudof vindictive justice shall pour out such 
 a storm of wrath upon you, as shall sweep you froui 
 the face of the earth. 
 
 The signs of fair and foul weather were observed in 
 a similar manner among the Romans, and indeetl 
 among most other people. — Clarke. 
 
 ' If fi'ry red, his glowing globe descends. 
 
 High winds and furious K mpesls he portend* : 
 But if his cheeks are swoln with livid blue. 
 He bodes wet weather, by his watery h-^; 
 If dusky spots are varied on his brow, 
 And streak'd with red, a troubled color show ; 
 That sullen mixture shall at once declare, 
 Wind, rain, and storms, and elemental war. 
 
 Dryjdkx. 
 
 NO. 443.~.TRIBUTE, A TAX FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 xvii. 9A. They that received tribute-money came to 
 Peter, and said, Dstth not your master pay tribute ? 
 This was not a tax to be paid to the Roman govern- 
 ment, but a tax for the support of the temple. The 
 law — Exod. XXX. 13. obliged every male among the 
 Jews to pay half a shekel yearly for the support of 
 the temple ; and this was continued by them, where- 
 ever dispersed, Hill after the time of Vespasian, who 
 3b2 
 
388 MATTHEW. 
 
 ordered it to be paid into the Roman treasury. The 
 word in the text, which is generally translated tribute, 
 signifies the didrachraa, or two drachms. This piece 
 of money was about the value of two Attic drachms, 
 each equal to fifteen pence of our money.—- C/ar^e. 
 
 The demand was very modest : the Collectors 
 stood in such awe of Christ, because of his mighty 
 works, that they durst not speak to him about it, but 
 applied themselves to Peter, whose house was in 
 Capernaum; and probably in his house Christ lodged ; 
 he therefore was fittest to be sppkerr to as the house- 
 keeper, and they presumed he knew his master's 
 mind. Their question is, Doth not your master pay 
 tribute ? l^ome think, that they sought an occasion 
 against him ; designing, if j^e refused, to represent 
 him as disaffected to the temple service, and his fol- 
 lowers as a lawless people, that would pay neither 
 toll, tribute, nor custom. — Ezra iv. IZ.-^Henry. 
 
 NO. 444. — PUNISHMENT BY DROWNING. 
 
 iviii. 6. It were better for him that a mill-stone were 
 hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in 
 the depth of the sea. 
 
 Grotius observes, that the kind of punishment here 
 alluded to was not used among the Jews, but that it 
 was practised by the ancient Syrians. Casaubon re- 
 lates, that the tutor and ministers of Caius Cgesar, for 
 taking the opportunity oi* his sickness and death, to 
 infest and ruin the province by their pride and cove- 
 tousness, were, with a heavy weight put about their 
 necks, thrown headlong into a river. It may be ob- 
 served also, that when the punishment of drowning 
 was inflicted, the persons condemned were rolled up iu 
 sheets of lead and so cast into the water, — Burder. 
 
MATTHEW. 389 
 
 N0.445. — CHILDREN SOLD TO PAY THE PxlKENTS' DEBTS. 
 
 xviii. 25. His Lord commanded him to be sold., and hi» 
 
 wife and children, and all that he had, and payment 
 
 to be made. 
 
 It was not only the custom of the Jews, to come 
 upon children for the debts of their parents, but 
 of other nations also. With the Athenians, if a father 
 could not pay his debts, the son was obliged to do it, 
 and to be kept in bonds 'till he did. Grotius proves, 
 from Plutarch and Dionysius Halicarnassensis, that 
 children were sold by the creditors of their parents in 
 Asia, at Athens, and at Rome. — Burder. 
 
 It is indispensibly necessary to pardon and peace, 
 that we not only do justly, hui love mercy. It is an 
 essential part of that religion which is pure and wide- 
 filed before God and the Father, of that wisdom from 
 above, which \s gentle and easy to be intreated^ They 
 shall have judgment without mercy, that have shewed 
 no mercy. — Jam. ii. 13. — Henry. 
 
 NO. 446. — PARTICULAR KINDS OF SALUTATION. 
 
 xviii. 26. The servant there/ore fell down and zs^or* 
 shipped him. 
 Sandys informs us, that the common salutation is 
 performed by laying the right hand on the bosom, and 
 a little declining the body ; but when they salute a 
 person of great rank, they bow almost to the ground, 
 and kiss the hem of his garment. Shaw says, that the 
 inferior Arabs, out of respect, kiss the garments, the 
 knees, and even, the feet of their superiors. Thus our 
 Lord rejfresents a servant as falling down at his 
 master's feet when he had a favour to beg ; and an 
 inferior servant as paying the same compliment to the 
 
390 MATTHEW. 
 
 first, who was, it seems, a servant of a higher class. 
 In like manner the Evangelist Luke tells us, that 
 Jairiis fell down at our Lord's feet, when he begged 
 he would go and heal his daughter, — Chap. viii. 41. 
 He represents the woman troubled with the issue of 
 blood as touching the hem of his garment ; which, 
 perhaps, means kissing it. 
 
 Ciirtius tells us, that Alexander, after the conquest 
 of Asia, expected to be treated according to the modes 
 of Persia, where Kings were reverenced after the 
 manner of the gods : he therefore suffered the people 
 in token of their respect, to lie upon the gj-ound before 
 him. These expressions of reverence were too great 
 for mortals : hence, when Cornelius fell down before 
 Peter, the Apostle said, stand up ; I myself also am a 
 man, — Acts x. 26. — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 447.-— CRUELTY OF EASTERN TORMENTORS. 
 
 xviii. 34. And his Lord was wroth, and delivered him 
 to the tormentors. 
 Campbell says, that the word translated tormentor 
 denotes one who has it in charge to examine by torture. 
 These men were not only allowed, but even cora- 
 naanded, to treat the wretches in their custody with 
 every kind of cruelty, in order to extort payment 
 from them, in case they had concealed any of their 
 effects ; or, if they had nothing, to wrest the sum they 
 owed from the compassion of their relations and friends, 
 who, to release an unhappy person from such extreme 
 misery, might be induced to pay the debt : the person 
 of the insolvent debtor was absolutely in the power of 
 the creditor, and at his disposal. Doddridge says, that 
 state criminals especially, are not only forced to 
 
MATTHEW. 391 
 
 .-'ubmit to a very mean and scanty allowance, but are 
 frequently loaded with clogs, or yokes of heavy wood, 
 in which they cannot either lie or sit at ease ; and by- 
 frequent scourging?, and sometimes by racking, are 
 quickly brought to an untimely end. — Burder^ 
 
 NO. ^148. — MANNER OF SITTING IN THE SANHEDRIM. 
 
 XX. 21 . Grant that these my two sons maTj sit, the one 
 
 on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy 
 
 kingdom. 
 
 In the preceding chapter our Lord had promised hi» 
 disciples, that they should sit on twelve thrones, 
 judging the twelve tribes. Salome, probably hearing 
 of this, and understanding it literally, came to re- 
 quest the chief dignities in this new church for her 
 sons : and it appears it was at their instigation that 
 she made this request ; for Mark, chap. x. 35. informs 
 us, that these brethren themselves made the request ; 
 i. e. they made it through the medium of their 
 mother. 
 
 That the sons of Zebedee wished for ecclesiastical, 
 rather than secular honors, may be thought probable, 
 from the allusion that is made here to the supreme 
 dignities in the great Sanhedrim. The Prince of the 
 Sanhedrim (Hanasi) sat in the midst of two rows of 
 Senators, or Elders; on his right hand sat the person 
 termed Ab, the father of the Sanhedrim, and on his 
 left the Chacham, or sage. These persons transacted 
 all business in the absence of the President. The 
 authority of this counsel was at some periods very 
 great, and extended to a multitude of matters both 
 ecclesiastical and civil. These appear to have been 
 
892 MATTHEW. 
 
 # 
 
 the honors which James and John sought. They 
 
 seem to have strangely forgot the lesson they had 
 
 learnt from the transfiguration. — Clarke. 
 
 NO. 449. — A man's cup, called his portion. 
 
 XX. 23. Ye shall drink indeed of my cup. 
 It was antiently the custom, at great entertainments, 
 for the governor of the feast to appoint to his guests 
 the kind and proportion of wine which they were to 
 drink, and what he thus apj/ointed them it was thought 
 a breach of good manners, either to refuse or not drink 
 up ; hence a man's cup, both in sac/ed and profane 
 authors, came to signify the portion, whether of good 
 or evil, which befals him in this world. Thus Homer 
 introduces Achilles comforting Priam for the loss 
 of his son: — 
 
 Two urns by Jove's high throne have ever stood, 
 ■J'he source of evil one, and one of good : 
 IVom thence the cup of mortal man he fills. 
 Blessings to those, to these distributes ills ; 
 To most he mingles both ; the wretch decreed 
 To taste the bad unmix'd is curs'd indeed : 
 . Pursued by wrongs, by meagre famine driv'n, 
 ^ He wanders, oxitcast both of earth and heav'n. 
 
 Ilie happiest taste not happiness sincere. 
 But find the cordial draught is dash'd witli care. 
 
 Iliad. 
 
 Similar to this is what we meet with in Psalm Ixxv. 8, 
 In the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is 
 red; it is full of mixture, and he pour eih out of the 
 sdme ; but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth 
 shall wring them out and drink them. What Christ 
 means by the expression, we cannot be at a loss to 
 
MATTHEW. 383 
 
 understand ; since^ in two remarkable passages, Luke 
 xxii. 42, and John xviii. 11, he has been his own 
 interpreter. To taste death, was a common phrase 
 among the Jews, and ffom, them we have reason to 
 believe that our Lord borrowed it. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 450.— BRANCHES STREWED IN THE WAY OF P£\INCES. 
 
 xxi..8. 9. others cut down branches from the trees, 
 and sir awed them in the way, Sfc. 
 It was usual in the East to strew flowers and 
 branches of trees in the way of conquerors and great 
 Princes. Herodotus says, that when Xerxes crossed 
 •the Hellespont, the people burnt all manner of 
 perfumes on the bridges, and strewed the way with 
 myrtles. Doubdan says, that when he was in the 
 Holy Land, the Eastern Christians made one of their 
 processions to the church of the Holy Sepulchre at 
 Jerusalem, some of whom carried sacks of rose leav^es, 
 which were scattered among the people and strewed 
 upon the pavement about the sepulchre of our Lord. 
 If rose-bushes grew upon Mount Olivet, the people 
 might very naturally have cut off branches full of roses, 
 and shaking them, strew the path of our Lord with 
 the beautiful but untenacious leaves of those flowers- 
 The word the^n, in our version, which seems to refer 
 to the branches themselves, it is to be remembered, is 
 not in the original, but a supplement of our translators. 
 Maillet says, " When the only son of that magnificent 
 person who was the Bashaw of Egypt in 169(3,^was 
 passing along in a grand procession, in order to be 
 circumcised, the way was all strewed with flowers, 
 and the air rang with acclamations and cries of joy." 
 
394 MATTHEW. 
 
 The use of boughs and hymns was common amongst 
 the Greeks in any time of sacred festivity. Thus 
 when our Lord entered Jerusalem with something of 
 state, those who acknowledged him to be the Messiah, 
 not only strewed branches in the way, but cried 
 Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed ?*? he that 
 Cometh in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the 
 highest! 
 
 Let mortals ne'er refuse to take 
 Th' hosanna on their tongues, 
 ' Lest rocks and stones should rise and break 
 
 llieir silence into songs. 
 
 Watts. 
 
 NO. 451. — PROVERBIAL SPEECH AMONG THE JEWS. 
 
 xxi. 21. If ye have faith and doubt not, ye shall not 
 only do this which is done to the fig-tree, but also 
 if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, 
 and he thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. . 
 Removing mountains, and rooting up mountains, 
 are phrases very generally used to signify the re- 
 moving or conquering great difficulties, — getting 
 through perplexities. So many of the Rabbins are 
 termed, roOters up of mountains, because they were 
 dextrous in removing difficulties, solving cases of 
 conscience, &c. In this sense our Lord's words are 
 to be understood. He that hns /ait h will get through 
 every difficulty and perplexity ; aiountains shall be- 
 come mole-hills or plains before him. The saying is 
 neither to be taken in its literal s^ense, nor is it hyper- 
 bolical : it is a proverbial form of speech, which no 
 Jew could misunderstand, and with which no Chris- 
 tian ought to be puzzled.— C/ar^'C. 
 
MATTHEW. 395' 
 
 NO. 452. — TIME OF FRUIT AMONG THE JEWS. 
 xxi. 54. And when the time of the fruit drew near, 
 he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they 
 might receive the fruits of it. 
 
 The fruit of all manner of trees for the first three 
 years was not to be eaten, nor any profit made' of it : 
 in the fourth year it was to be holy, to praise the Lord ; 
 being either given to the Priests, or eaten by the 
 owners before the Lord at Jerusalem : in the fifth 
 year it might be eaten and made use of for profit, 
 and thenceforward every year. To this time of 
 fruit, and the custom of bringing it up to Jerusalem, 
 there seems to be an allusion in the words before us. 
 
 Gill. 
 This is an allusion to the ancient custom of paying 
 the rent of a farm in kind ; that is, by a part of the 
 produce of the farm. This custom anciently pre- 
 vailed in most nations ; and still prevails in the high- 
 lands of Scotland, and in some other places. The 
 Boldon book, a survey made of the bishopric of 
 Durham in 1 183, shews how much of the rents was 
 paid in cows, sheep, pigs, fowls, eggs, &c. the re- 
 maining part being made up, chiefly by manual 
 labour. 
 
 The servants were the Prophets which from time 
 to time were sent to the Jewish nation, to call back 
 both Priests and peoj5le to the purity of God's holy 
 religion.— CZa?-/te. 
 
 NO. 458. — CONDESCENSION OF EASTERN NOBLES. 
 
 xxii. 9, Go ije therefore into the highways and as 
 many as ye shall find bid to the marriage. 
 Notwithstanding there is so much distance kepi 
 «p between superiors and inferiors in those countries? 
 
396 MATTHEW. 
 
 yet we find them, in some cases, more condescending 
 than the great among us. Dr. Pococke, speaking of an 
 entertainment made by the Governor of an Egyptian 
 village for the Cashif * with whom he travelled, says, 
 " the custom was for every one, when he had done 
 eating, to get up, wash his hands and take a draught of 
 water, and so in a continual succession, 'till the poor 
 came in and ate up all. The Arabs never set by any 
 thing that is brought to table ; so that when they kill a 
 sheep they dress it all, call in their neighbours and the 
 poor, and finish every thing." In giving an account of 
 the diet of the Eastern people^ he says, that an Arab 
 Prince will often dine in the street before his door, 
 and call to all that pass, even beggars, in the usual ex- 
 pression of "Bismillah" that is, " in the name of God." 
 Such as accept of the invitation, sit down ; and when 
 they have done eating, they retire with the usual form 
 of returning thanks. Here we see that the picture 
 which our Lord exhibits of a King making a great 
 feast, and when the guests refused to come, sending 
 for the poor, the maimed, the halt and the blind, is not 
 so much unlike life, as perhaps we have been ready to 
 imagine. — Harmer, 
 
 NO. 454. — WEDDING GARMENTS PROVIDED FOR THE 
 GUESTS. 
 
 xxii. 1 1 . And when the King came in to see the guests, 
 he saw there a man which had not on a wedding- 
 garment. 
 
 Sbme writers tell us, that it was usual for persons 
 to appear at marriage-feasts in a sumptuous dress, 
 generally adorned with florid embroidery ; but as it 
 could not be expected that travellers, thus pressed in, 
 
 * Governor of a district in tliat country. 
 
MATTHEW. 397 
 
 should themselves be provided with It, we must con- 
 clude, both from the magnificence of princely ward- 
 robes, and the resentment against this guest, that a 
 robe was offered, but refused by him. The following 
 extract will shew the necessity of having a suitable 
 garment: — •" The next day the King sent to invite the 
 Ambassadors to dine with him. The Mehemander 
 told them, it was the custom that they should wear 
 over their own clothes the best of those garments 
 which the King had sent them. The Ambassadors 
 at first made some scruple of that compliance ; but 
 when they were told that it was a custom observed 
 by all Ambassadors, and that no doubt the King 
 would takQ it very ill, if they presented themselves 
 before him w»ithout the marks of his liberality, they at 
 last consented to do it ; and after their example, all 
 the rest of the retinue.'*— (Ambassadors* Travels.) — 
 
 Burder, 
 
 NO. 465. — NO MARRIAGES IN HEAVEN. 
 
 xxii. 30. In the resurrection they neither marry, nor 
 are given in marriage. 
 
 This declaration of Christ, is directly contrary to 
 the opinion and practice of some of the ancient idola- 
 ters, and particularly the Persians. From a notion, 
 that married people were peculiarly happy, in a 
 future state, they used often to hire persons to be es- 
 poused to such of their relations as had died in celi- 
 bacy. — Richardson. 
 
 One great reason of marriage was to supply the 
 gaps occasioned in the world by death ; but when 
 men are no longer subject to death, there will be no 
 need of conjugal relations among them, any more than 
 among tlte angels. — PooL 
 
S98 MATTHEW. 
 
 NO 456.— LAWS HUNG UP FOR PUBLIC INSPECTlOy. 
 
 xxu. 40. On i/iese two commandments hang all the 
 law and the Froph^s. 
 These words allude to a custom, mentioned by 
 Tertullian^ of writing the laws and hfrnging^ them up 
 in a public place, that they might be seen by all , the 
 people. It imports, that in these two commandments 
 is contained all that the law and the Prophets require, 
 in reference to our duty to God and man ; for though 
 there are some precepts of temperance which we 
 owe to ourselves, yet they are such as we may be 
 inclined to perform from the true love of God and of 
 our neighboui:. The love of God will preserve us 
 from impatience, discontent, and evil dealings,^ — it 
 will make us watchful over ourselves to keep a good 
 conscience, as being solicitous for our eternal welfare ; 
 and the love of our neighbour will restrain us from 
 all angry passions, such as envy and malice, which 
 arise against him ; so that these tuo commandments^ - 
 may be very justly called, an abridgment or com* 
 pendium of the whole scriptures. — Whitby:, 
 
 Pure love to God thy members find. 
 Pure love to every soul of man ; 
 And in tliy sober, spotless mind. 
 Saviour, our heaven on earth we gain. 
 
 NO. 457.— THE BUSINESS OF THE SCRIBES. 
 xxiii. 2. The Scribes. 
 Most authors reduce the Scribes to two general 
 classes — civil and ecclesiastical Scribes. Of the 
 civil Scribes there\ were various ranks and degrees, 
 from the common Scrivener to the principal Secretary 
 of State. The next Scribe in office was probably the 
 Secretary of War ; called, the principal Scribe of tbe 
 
MATTHEW. S99 
 
 host. — 2 Kings xxv. 19. It is reasonably supposed, 
 this is the officer referred to in Isaiah xxxiii. 13. We 
 read of the Scribes, as well as the Officers and Porters, 
 that were of the tribe of Levi. — 2 Chron. xxxiv. 13. 
 It is probable that some of these were Under-Secre- 
 taries and Clerks to the principal Scribes ; others of 
 them might be Scriveners employed in drawing deeds 
 and contracts, and in writing letters, and any other 
 business of penmanship. Such Scribes are referred 
 to in Psalm xlv. 1 . — My tongue is as the pen of a 
 ready writer. Others of these inferior Scribes might 
 be Schoolmasters, who, as the Jewish Doctors tell us, 
 were chiefly of the tribe of Simeon ; and thpy add, that 
 Jacob's prophetic curse upon this tribe, that they 
 should be divided in Jacob, and scattered in Israel — 
 Gen. xlix. 7, was hereby accomplished. 
 
 The ecclesiastical Scribes, who are frequently men- 
 tioned in the New Testament, were the learned of the 
 nation, who expounded the law, and taught it to the 
 people, and are therefore sometimes called Doctor if of 
 the laie. The Lawyers mentioned in the New Testa- 
 ment were the Scribes. Compare Matt. xxii. 35. with 
 Mark xii. 28. Scribe was a general name or title of 
 all who studied, and were teachers of the law and of 
 religion. — Isai. ix. 15. They were th^ preaching 
 Clergy among the Jews ; while the Priests attended 
 the sacrifice, the Scribes instructed the people. It 
 appears, however, that what they taught chiefly re- 
 lated to the traditions 6f the Fathers ; that it was 
 about external, carnal, and trivial rites; and that it 
 was very litigious and disputatious.-— «/ew;ii/ig*. 
 
400 MATTHEW. 
 
 NO. 458. — DESCRIPTIOSr OF THE PHYLACTfiRtES. 
 
 xxiii. 6. They make broad their phylacteries^ and en- 
 large the borders of their garments. 
 
 The phylacteries were four sections of the law, 
 written on parchments, folded up in the skin of a clean 
 beast, and tied to the head and hand. The four sec- 
 tions were the following : — Exod. xiii. 2. 1 1 ; Exod. 
 xiii. 11. 17; Deut. vi. 4. 10 ; Dent. xi. 13. 22. Those 
 that were for the head yrere Written and rolled up 
 separately, and put in four distinct places in one 
 skin, which was fastened with strings to the crown 
 of the head, towards the face. " Those that were 
 for the hands were written in four columns on 
 one parchment ; which, being rolled up, was fast^ 
 ened to the inside o,f the left arm, between the 
 shoulder and the elbow, that it might be over against 
 the heart. — Gill. * 
 
 In order to a right understanding of this passage, 
 we must have recourse to Num. xv.37. 38. The Pha- 
 risees, to shew their zeal fortthe law of God, made 
 their phylacteries and ribbands broader, and their 
 fringes much longer, than those of other men.— 
 
 j4^ Burder, S^c, 
 
 NO. 459.— GNATS STRAINED OUT OF WINE. 
 
 xxiii. 24. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and 
 swallow a camel. 
 This is an allusion to a custom the Jews had of filter- 
 ing their wine, for fear of swallowing any insect for- 
 bidden by the law as unclearf. Maimonides affords a 
 remarkable illustration of our Saviour's proverbial 
 expression. He who strains wine, or vinegar, or 
 
MATTHEW. 401 
 
 strong drink, arid eats the gnats, or flies, or worms, 
 which he hath strained off, is whipped." 
 
 Serrarius says, that in those hot countries, gnats 
 were apt to fall into wine, if it were not carefully 
 covered: hence they passed the liquor through a 
 strainer, that no gnat, or any part of one, might 
 remain ; which finally grew into a proverb for exact- 
 ness about little matters. — Burder. 
 
 Thus the Pharisees were scrupulous in indifferent 
 things, and licentious in affairs of moment. 
 
 NO. 460.— DESCRIPTION OF EASTERN TOMBS. 
 
 :acxiii. 27. Ye are like unto wUited sepulchres, which 
 indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within 
 full of dead men's bones and all unc leanness. 
 Windus says, that the tombs among the Mahomme- 
 dansare generally cupolas, with an entrance as wide 
 as the building. They are of different forms, and the 
 body is put in the middle. The tomb of Alcayde Ali 
 Ben Abdallah is a great square, of thirty feet at 
 least. He speaks of a saint, who has a monument at 
 Sidi Cassem, to which the Moors resort to say their 
 prayers ; and adds, that many more saints are buried 
 in the road to Mequinez, having little monuments 
 over them. Travellers are shewn a handsome struc- 
 ture near Jerusalem, vv^hich is supposed to be the 
 tomb of Zecharias, slaiji between the temple and the ■ 
 altar. He says, that after their death perhaps some 
 great man hears of their fame, and makes it an act of 
 devotion to beautify their tombs, or, if they had none, 
 to build one over their grave, wherein they are laid. 
 Hence it is not to be wondered at, that it was some 
 time before the persecuted and murdered Jewish Pro- 
 
402 MATTHEW. 
 
 phets had tombs raised over them ; and some of them 
 might not have been erected 'till the time, or very 
 near the time of our Lord. 
 
 By garnishing may be understood, the whitening" 
 of these tombs; which is commonly done in Barbary. 
 Among the Jews this custom was probably universal, 
 1o warn the people not to approach too nigh, lest 
 they should be defiled. Among the Mahommedans, 
 the tombs of their saints are adorned with lamps. 
 Pitts says, that the tomb of Mahommed has nearly 
 an hundred lamps. Manndrell, speaking of a mosque 
 on the coast of Syria, in which Sultan Ibrahim is 
 deposited, says, "we found it a great wooden chest 
 erected over the grave, and covered with a carpet of 
 painted .calico, extending on all sides down to the 
 ground, adorned with wooden beads: this is the 
 usual way of adorning among the Turks." Chardin, 
 describing 1 he tomb of a Persian female saint, speaks 
 of several vessels of silver which hang over it, of 
 considerable weight. The tomb is inclosed with a 
 grate of silver, ten feet high, and crowned, at the 
 corners with four large balls of solid gold. 
 
 Tlje formalists confound, convert. 
 
 And to thy people join; 
 And. break and fill tlie broken lieart 
 
 With confidence divine ! 
 
 NO. 461.— ItfANNER OF REPRESENTING GREAT COMMO- 
 TIONS. 
 
 XX iv. 29. Immediately after the tribulation of those 
 
 days, shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall 
 
 . ?wt give her light, and the stars shall fall from 
 
 Ileaveny and the .powers of the Heavens shall be 
 
 shaken, ^ 
 
MATTHEW. 40;i 
 
 Commentators generally understand this, and what 
 follows, of the end of the world, and Christ's comings 
 to judgment : but the word immediately ^ shews that 
 our Lord is not speaking of any distant event, but of 
 something immediately consequent on calamities? 
 already predicted ; and that must be the destruction 
 of Jerusalem. " Tlie Jewish heaven shall perish, and 
 the sun and moon of its glory and happiness shall be 
 darkened — .brought to nothing. The sun is the re- 
 ligion of Ihe church: the moon is the government of 
 the state ; and the stars are the judges and doctors of 
 hoth."^^—LigkffooL 
 
 In the prophetic language, great commotions upon 
 earth are often represented under the notion of 
 commotions and changes in the Heavens. The fall of 
 Babylon is represented, by the stars and constellations 
 of Heaven withdrawing their light, and the sun and 
 moon being darkened — Isa. xiii. 9, 10 : the destruction 
 of Egypt, by the Heaven being covered, the sun en- 
 veloped with a cloud, and the moon withholding her 
 light — Ezek. xxxii. 7, 8: the destruction of the Jews 
 by Antiochus Epiphanes, is represented by casting^ 
 down some of the host of Heaven, and the stars, to 
 the ground — Dan. viil. 10; and this very destruction 
 of Jerusalem, is represented by the Prophet Joel, 
 chap. ii. 30, 31, by shewing wonders in Heaven and in 
 Earth — darkening the sun, and turning the moon into 
 blood. This general mode of describing these judg- 
 ments, leaves no room to doubt the propriety of its 
 application in the present case. 
 
 The falling of stars, i. e. those meteors which 
 
 * Isai. xiii. 10.— Ezek. xxxii. 7, 8. 
 
 Cc2 
 
401 MATTHEW. 
 
 aire c&]\ed falling stars by the common people, waf 
 deemed an omen of evil times. — Clarke. 
 
 And oft, before tempestuous winds arise, 
 I'lie seeming stars fall headlong from tiie skies. 
 And, shooting through the darkness, gild the night 
 With sweeping glories, and long trails of light. 
 
 Dp.vdek. 
 
 Ag;aiu the poet sings: — 
 
 The sun reveals the secrets of the sky, 
 And Avho dares give the source of light the lie ? 
 The change of empires often he declares, 
 Fierce tumults, hidden treasons, open wars. 
 He first tiie fate of Ca;sar did forctel. 
 And pitied Roiue, when Rome in Ca>sar fell ; 
 In iron clouds conceal'd the public light, 
 And impious mortals found eternal night. 
 
 DnVDEK. 
 
 NO. 462.— PUNISHMENT OF SAWING ASUNDER. 
 
 xxiv, 51. And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him 
 his portion with the hypocrites. 
 If this expression be understood in its literal sense, 
 it must be an allusion to the terrible punishment of 
 inflicting death witli the saw ; which, according to 
 tradition, the Prophet Isaiah suffered. Dr. Shaw says, ' 
 this method of executing criminals is practised by the 
 western Moors in Barbary. Calmet says, that this 
 punishment was not unknown among the Hebrews. 
 It came originally from the Persians, or the Chaldeans. 
 It is still in use among the Switzers ; and they prac- 
 tised it. not many years ago on one of their country- 
 men guilty of a ^reat crime, in the plain of Grenelles, 
 near Paris. They put him into a kind of coffni, arwi 
 sfiwed him at length, beginning at the head, as a piece 
 ^of wood is sawn. Parisates, King of Persia, caused 
 Roxana to be sawn in two alive. Valerius Maximus 
 
MATTHEW: 405 
 
 says, that the Thracians sometimes made living men 
 midergo this torture. The laws of the twelve tablesj 
 which the Romans had borrowed from the Greeks, 
 condemned certain crimes to tlie pnnisliment of the 
 saw. Caius Caligula, tlie Emperor, often condemned 
 people of condition to be sawn in two through the 
 middle. — Burder. 
 
 Xerxes ordered one of the sons of Py thins to be cut 
 in two, and one half placed on each side of the way, 
 that his army might pass through between theiii 
 
 NO;463.— TREATMENT OF A NEW MARRIED COUPLE. 
 
 XXV; 6. And at midnight there was cry made. Behold 
 the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him. 
 It was the custom among the ancient Greeks, to 
 conduct the netv married Couple home with torches 
 or lamps. Thus Ifciaef describes a marriage pro- 
 cession :-— 
 
 The sacred pomp and genial feast deiigfit, 
 
 And solemn dance, and hymeneal right j 
 
 Ai6«g the street the new made brides .are led, , 
 
 With torches flaming, to the nuptial bed , 
 
 The youthful dancers in a circle bound . 
 
 To the soft flute and citheru's silver sound ;■' ; 
 
 Through the fair streets the matrons in a row 
 
 Stand in their porches, and enjoy the show. 
 
 Iliad. 
 
 A lile custom is still observed among the Pagan * 
 East Indians. — " On the day of their marriage, the 
 husband and wife, being both in the same palanquin, - 
 go out between seven and eight o'clock at night, 
 accompanied with all their kindred and friends : the 
 trumpets and drums go before them ; and they are 
 lighted by a multitude of massals, which are a kind 
 of flambeaux. The new married couple go abroad m -. 
 
406 MATTHEW. 
 
 this equipage for the space of some hours, after 
 which they return to their own house, where the 
 women and domestics wait for them. The whole 
 house is enlightened with little lamps ; and many of 
 those massals already mentioned are kept ready for 
 their arrival, besides those that accompany them and 
 go before the palanquin." The Roman ladies also 
 were led home to their husbands' houses in the evening 
 by the light of torches. — Burder. 
 
 The parable of the ten virgins is an allusion to 
 Jewish customs. It was usual for the bridegroom to 
 bring home the bride in the evening. At this season 
 the bridegroom used to invite ten of his young female 
 friends to come to his house, where they waited with 
 lamps 'till word was brought that the bridegroom 
 was at hand; then they went forth to welcome him 
 with the bride into the house; for which kindness 
 they were admitted as guests at the marriage feast. — 
 
 Dodd. 
 
 NO. 464. — MANNER OF PLACING PERSONS IN THE SAN- . 
 HEDRIM. 
 
 XXV. 33. He shall set the sheep on his right hand, but 
 the goats on the left. 
 
 This seems to allude to the custom in the Sanhe- 
 drim, where the Jews placed those to be acquitted on 
 the right hand^ and those to receive sentence of 
 condemnation on the le/L — Whitby. 
 
 The right hand, among the Rabbins, signifies, 
 approbation and eminence : the left hand, rejection 
 and disapprobation. Hence in Sohar Chadash it is 
 said, " the right hand is given, the left also is given. 
 To the Israelites and the Gentiles are given, Paradise 
 
I 
 
 MATTHEW. 40^ 
 
 and Hell — ^this world and the world to come." The 
 ri^ht and left were emblematical o/ endless beatitude 
 and endless misery, amongst the Romans; Hence 
 Virgil : — 
 
 Here in two ample roads die way divides, • 
 The riglit direct, our destin'd journey guides 
 By Pluto's palace, to the Elysian plains : 
 The left to Tartarus, where bound in chains 
 Loud howl the dauiri'd in everlasting pains. 
 
 Pitt, 
 
 Of the good and faithful servants he approves, and 
 therefore exalts them to his glory ; of the slothful and- 
 wicked he disapproves, and casts them into Hell. 
 
 Sheep, which have ever been considered as the 
 emblems of mildness, simplicity, patience, and use- 
 fulness, represent here the genuine disciples of Christ* 
 
 Goats, which are naturally quarrelsome, lascivious^ 
 and excessively ill-scented, were considered as the 
 symbols of riotous, profane, and impure men. They 
 here represent all who have lived and died in their, 
 sins. — Ezek. xxiv. 17. — Zech. x. 3. — Clarke^. 
 
 NO. 465. — ASKING A BLESSING UPON BREAD. 
 
 xxvi. 26. Jesus took bread, and blessed it, arid brake 
 it, and gave it to his disciples, and said, Take, eat; 
 this is my body^ 
 
 Though this supper is distinct from the passover^ 
 and different from any ordinary meal, yet there are 
 in it allusions to both, and to several Jewish customs^ 
 He that asked a blessing upon bread, used, to take its 
 into his hands and say, " Blessed art thou, O Lord 
 our God, the King of the world, who producest bread; 
 out of the earth." The blessing always preceded- 
 the breaking of the bread. After the master of the 
 
408 MATTHEW. 
 
 house had finished the l)lessing, and had broken the 
 bread, he put a pieoe before every one present. — Gill. 
 The pet-son of the greatest dignity amongst the 
 .Tews always pronounced the benediction on the 
 bread and wine ; for which reason our blessed Lord 
 performed it himself, being with his disciples as their 
 master. It is very probable that our Lord, after lie 
 had blessed and broken the bread, according to the 
 Jewish custom, imitated also the Jews in these 
 words — this is my body; for when they eat un- 
 leavened bread they say, " This is the bread of 
 affliction which our fathers did eat in the land of 
 Egypt." But Christ signified to his disciples, that 
 they were no longer required to eat that bread of 
 affliction which their fathers had eaten, when they 
 came out of Egypt ; but that being the author of a 
 new covenant, he gave them his own body and blood 
 instead thereof. — Ficarl. 
 
 NO. 466.— WASHING HANDS IN TOKEN OF INNOCENCE. 
 
 'Xxvii. 24. He tooTc water, and washed his hands be- 
 fore the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the 
 blood of this Just person. 
 
 It was a custom among the Hebrews, Greeks, and 
 latins, to wash their hands in token of innocence, 
 and to shew that they were pure from any imputed 
 guilt. In case^ of an undiscovered murder, the 
 Eiders of the city which was nearest to the place 
 where the dead body was found*, were required by 
 the law, Deut. xxi. 1, 10, to wash their hands over the 
 victim which was offered to expiate the crime, and 
 thus make public protestation of their own innocence. 
 As-Pilate knew that Chri+^t was innocent y he should 
 
MATTHEW. 409 
 
 have prevented liis death : he had the armed force at 
 his command, and should have dispersed this infamous 
 mob. Had he been charged with countenancing a 
 seditious person^he could have easily cleared himself, 
 had the matter been brought before the Emperor. 
 He therefore was inexcusable.^ — Clarke, 
 
 There are two ways in which Pilate is said to have 
 given testimony to the innocence of the life, and the 
 reality of the death of Jesus Christ. First, by an 
 express written io Tiberius,, and by him presented to 
 the senate ; and also by records, Avritten on tables, of 
 all things of moment which occurred during his 
 government. These proceedings were agreeable to 
 a general custom, whereby all the Governors of the 
 provinces gave an account to the Emperor of all the 
 most remarkable occurrences. To these memorials 
 the primitive Christians appealed, in thci^' disputes 
 with the Gentiles, as to a motet undoubted testimony. 
 
 Pearson. 
 
 NO. 4G7. — THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 xxvit. 2b. His blood be on us, and on our children. 
 
 This imprecation appears to have been remarkably 
 fulfilled in the circumstances connected with the 
 destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. A strong corres- 
 pondence may be traced between their sin and their 
 punishment. They put Jesus to death when the 
 nation was assembled to celebrate the passover : and 
 it was when the nation was assembled, to celebrate the 
 passover, that Titus shut them up within the vvails of 
 Jerusalem. The rejection of the true Messiah was 
 their crime ; and the following of false Messiahs, to 
 
410 MATTHEW. 
 
 their destruction, was their punishment. They sold 
 and bought Jesus as a slave ; and they themselves 
 were aftcrvi^ards sold and bought as slaves, at the 
 lowest prices. They preferred a robber and a mur- 
 derer to Jesus, whom they crucified between two 
 thieves ; and they themselves were afterwards infested 
 with bands of thieves and robbers. They put Jesus to 
 death, lest the Romans should come and take away 
 their place and nation ; and the Romans did come and 
 take away their place and nation. They crucified 
 Jesus before the wails of Jerusalem; and before the 
 walls of Jerusalem they themselves were crucified 
 in such numbers, that, it is said, room was wanting for 
 the crosses, and crosses for the bodies. — Newlori, 
 
 NO 468. — A CROWN OF THORNS. 
 
 xxvii. 29. ^nd when they had plailed a croimi of 
 thoT7is, they j}ut it on hia head. 
 Amongst other circumstances of suffering and igno- 
 miny, which accompanied the death of Christ, we 
 find that they plaited a crown of thorns, and j)ut it 
 upon his head, Hasselquist says, "the Naba or 
 Nabka, of the Arabians, is in all probability the tree 
 which afforded the crowaof thorns put on the head of 
 Christ : it grows very commonly in the East. This 
 plant was very fit for the purpose, for it has many 
 small and sharp spines, which are well adapted to give 
 p^in ; the crown might be easily made of those soft, 
 round, and pliant branches ; and what, in my opinion, 
 seems to be the greatest proof is, that the leaves much 
 resemble those of ivy, as they are of a very deep 
 green. Perhaps the enemies of Christ would have a 
 
MATTHEW. 411 
 
 plant somewhat resembling that with which Emperors ' 
 and Generals were used to be crowned, that there 
 might be calumny even in the punishment." 
 
 Let the crown of thorns make those Christians 
 blush who throw away so much time, pains, and 
 money, in adorning a sinful head. Let the world do 
 what it will to render the royalty and mysteries of 
 Christ contemptible: it is my glory to serve a King 
 thus debased ; my salvation to adore that which the 
 the world despises ; and my redemption to go unto 
 God through the merits of him who was crowned with 
 thorns. — Quesnel. 
 
 NO. 469. — VINEGAR GIVEN OUR LORD IN MOCKERY. 
 
 xxvii. 34. They gave him vinegar to driiik, mingled 
 with gall. 
 
 Medicated wine was given to Jewish criminals, 
 when about to be put to death, to deaden their sense of 
 pain ; but they gave vinegar to our Lord, in mockery, 
 as they did other things, of his claim to royalty. Eut 
 the force of this docs not appear, if we do not recollect 
 the quality of the wines anciently drank by Princes, 
 which, it seems, was of the sweet sort. — Burder, 
 
 That our Lord was intended to be mofcked with the 
 vinegar appears from what St. Luke tells us — chap, 
 xxiii. 36. The soldiers also mocked him, coming to 
 him^ and ofj'ering him vijiegar. The gall most pro- 
 bably was mixed with the vinegar by the same inhu- 
 man soldiers, and presented to our Lord from a prin- 
 ciple of insolence and scorn ! 
 
 NO. 470.— -PUNISHMENT OF CRUCIFIXION. 
 
 xxvii. 35, And they crucified him. 
 When a person was crucified, he was nailed to the 
 
412 MATTHEW. 
 
 cross as it lay upon the ground, through: each hand, 
 extended to its utmost stretch, and through both the 
 ieei together : the cross was then. erected, andthe foot 
 of it thrust with violence into a hole prepared hi the 
 ground to receive it. By this means the weight of the 
 whole body hung upon the nails, which went through 
 the hands and feet, and the sufferer, at last expired 
 by the force of pain.. This kind of death, which wos 
 the most cruel, shameful, and cursed death that could 
 be devised, was used only by the Romans for slaves, 
 and the basest of the people who were capital ofTcn- 
 ders. Sometimes a fire was kindled at the foot of 
 the cross, that the sufferer might perish by the smoke 
 and flame. ^ Sometimes they who were fastened to the 
 cross lived long in that condition. Andrew is believed 
 to have lived three days upon it^ and others nine days. 
 Eusebius speaks of martyrs in Egypt, who were kept 
 on the cross 'till they were starved to death. Some- 
 times they were devoured by birds and beasts of 
 prey ; and generally, after death by wolves, dogs, and 
 birds. Guards were appointed to see that none should 
 take them down and bury them. — Burder, 
 
 The su» beheld it c^-nO) the shocking scene . 
 
 Drove back bis chariot : midnight veil'd his face j 
 
 Not such as this ; not such as nature makes ; 
 
 A midnight nature shudder'd to behold ; 
 
 A midnight new ; a dread eclipse (without 
 
 Opposing sphei'cs) from her Creator's frown L. 
 
 Young. 
 
 MARK. 
 
 NO. 471. — COVERING THE AREA OF EASTERN HOUSES. 
 
 ii. 4. They uncovered the roof where he was ; and 
 
MARK. 413 
 
 when they had broken it up, they let down the bed 
 
 ithereon the sick of tJie palsy lay. 
 
 Dr. Shaw says, that the houses tTiroughout 
 the East are generally low, having- a ground Ifloor 
 T)nly, or but one upper story ; yet some of their houses, 
 we know, were loftier. — ^Acts xx. 9. Their roofs 
 were flat, arid covered with a strong coat of plaster 
 of terrace. They are built round a paved court, 
 into which the entrance from the street is through a 
 gateway, or passage-room, furnished with benches, 
 and sufficiently large to be used for receri'ing visits, 
 or transacting business.'"' The stairs which lead to the 
 roof are usually in the gateway or passage-room to the 
 court. II is customary to fix cords, from the parapet 
 walls of the flat roofs, across this court, and upon 
 them to expand a veil or covering, as a shelter from 
 the heat. It was probably in this area that our 
 Saviour taught. The paralytic was brought upon'the 
 roof by making a way through the crowd to the 
 stairs in the gateway, or by the terraces of the ad- 
 joining houses. They rolled back the veil, andlet the 
 sick man down over the parapet of the roof into the 
 area or court of the house, before Jesus. — Burder. 
 
 Isaiah seems to allude to some covering of this 
 kind in that beautiful expression, 7ie stretcheth out the 
 Heavens as a curtain^ and spreadeth them out as a 
 tent to dwell m.— Isa. xl. 22. 
 
 NO. 472.' — TUMULT OCCASIONED BY DEATH. 
 
 V. -38. He cometh to the house of the ruler of the syna- 
 gogue, and seeth the tumult, and them thaUtoept a7id 
 wailed greatly. 
 
 * The courts are often paved with tnai-ble, have a garden around them, 
 •^ and a fgiuitain in the middle. — Emsd. 
 
414 MARK. 
 
 The assembling of multitudes to the place where 
 personshavelately expired, and be wafli^i^ .them in a 
 noisy manner, is a custom still reta iced* ki the East. 
 Chardin tells us, that the concourse pf peofile at such 
 times is incredible : both the poor and the irich run 
 thither, and make a strange noise. This, he says, is the 
 genius of the people of Asia, especially of the women : 
 their sentiments of joy or of jE^rief are properly trans- 
 ports ; and their transports are ungov^erned, excessive, 
 and outrageous. When any one returns from a long 
 journey, or dies, his family burst into cries, that may 
 be heard twenty doors off: this is renewed at differ- 
 ent times, and continues many djiys, according to the 
 vigour of the passion. He says, "in the year 1676, 1 
 was lodged at Ispahan, near the royal square. The 
 mistress of the next house to mine died at that time : 
 the moment she expired, all the family, to the number 
 of twenty-five or thirty people, set up such a furious 
 cry, that T was quite startled, and it was above two 
 hours before I could recover myself : these cries con- 
 tinued a long time, then ceased all at once : they 
 began again as suddenly, at day-break, and in concert. 
 This enraged kind of mourning continued forty days. 
 The longest and most violent acts were, when they 
 washed the body, when they perfumed it, when they 
 carried it out to be interred, at making the inventory, 
 and when they divided the effects. The greatest part 
 of these mourners did not shed a single tear through 
 the whole of the tragedy. — Harmer, 
 
 An angel's arm can't snatch me from the grave ; 
 Legions of angels can't confine rat there, 
 
 Youxo, 
 
MARK. 415 
 
 NO. 473.— .THE THIRSTY TRAVELLER RELIEVED. 
 
 ix. 41.- Whosoepe7- shall give you a cup of water to 
 ■- drinky in ijiij name, shall not lose his reward. 
 To foinisTr' travellers vVith 2(sater is at this time 
 thought a matter of such ccnsideratior^j that many of 
 the Eastern people have been at a considerable ex- 
 pence to profcure passengers that refreshment. Dr. 
 Chandler, speaking of Asia Minor, says, the reader, 
 as we proceed, will find . frequent mention made of 
 fountains. Their number is owing to the nature of 
 the country and the climate. ' The soil, parched and 
 thirsty, demands moisture to aid vegetation : hence 
 they occur, not only in the towns and villages, but in 
 the fields and gardens, by the sides of the roads, and 
 the beaten tracks in the mountains. Many of them 
 are the donations of humane persons while living, or 
 have been bequeathed as legacies on their decease. 
 The Turks esteem the erecting of them as meritorious, 
 and seldom go away after performing their ablutions, 
 or drinking, without gratefully blessing the name 
 and memory of the founder. It is common to find 
 a cup of tin or iron hung up by a chain near those 
 cisterns, or a wooden scoop, with a handle placed in 
 a nich in the wall. — Burder. 
 
 A cup of water, \n the Eastern countries, was not 
 a matter of small worth. In India, the Hindoos go 
 sometimes a great way to fetch it, and then boil it, 
 that it might do the less hurt to travellers when they 
 are hot ; and after that they stand from morning to 
 night in some great road, where there is neither pit 
 nor rivulet, and offer it^ ija honor of their god, to be 
 drunk by all passengers. This necessary work of 
 charity, in those hot countries, seems to have been 
 
41G MARK. 
 
 practised by the more pious and humane Jews ; and 
 our Lord assures them, that if they do this in his name, 
 1 hey shall not lose their reward. — Clarke. 
 
 wo. 474.— DESCRIPTION OF THE VALLEY OF HINNOM, 
 
 ix. 43. It is better for thee to enter into life maimed, 
 
 tJian having two hands, to go into Hell, into the 
 
 fire that never shall be quenched. 
 
 This is a periphrasis of Hell, and is an allusion to 
 "the valley of Hinnom, from whence Hell has its name 
 here and elsewhere. This valley, Kimchi says, was 
 near to Jerusalem ; and was a contemptible place, 
 where they cast carcases, bones, and other unclean 
 and polluted matter ; to consume which a continual 
 fire was kept burning : therefore the condemnation 
 of tbe wicked, in a parabolical way, is called Gehin- 
 nom. — Burder* 
 
 In this valley of Hinnom, idolaters used to burn 
 their children to Moloch; and in consequence of the 
 cruelty of this idolatry, the same name was attributed 
 to Hell.— 2 Kings xxiii. 10.— Isaiah xxx. 33. It is 
 better to deny thyself some particular indulgence, 
 than to hazard eternal salvation by gratifying thy 
 appetite. — Diodati, 
 
 NO. 475. — DIFFERENT WAYS OF FUNERAL. 
 
 ix. 44. Wliere their worm dieth not, and the fire is not 
 quenched. 
 Dr. Rymer supposes, that both the worm and the 
 fire are allusions to the body, and refer to the two 
 different ways of funeral among the ancients — inter- 
 ment and burying ; so that our Lord may seem here 
 to prevent an objection against the permanent misery 
 
mark:. 4 it 
 
 of the wicked in Hell, arising from the frail constitu 
 tion of the body ; as if he should have said, the body 
 will not then be as it is at present ; but will be incapa- 
 ble of consumption or dissolution : in its natural state 
 the worms may devour the whole, and die for want of 
 nourishment: the fire may consume it, and be extin- 
 g:uished for want of fuel ; but there shall be perpetuai 
 food for the worm that corrodes it, and perpetual fuel 
 for the fire that torments it. The words of the apo- 
 cryphal writer, in Judith xvi. 17. greatly illustrate 
 this interpretation. The Lord Almighty will take- 
 vengeance on the wic feed in the day of judgment, put- 
 ting fire and worins into their flesh, and they^shallfeel 
 thejji and weep for ever, — Burder. 
 
 NO. 476. — PRACTICE OF DIVORCING THE HUSBAND, 
 
 X. 12.. If a- woman shall put away her husband, ancT 
 be married to another, she committeth adultery.^ 
 Josephus informs us, that this practice of divorcing^ 
 the husband, unwarranted by the law, had been intro- 
 duced by Salome, sister of Herod the Great, who 
 sent a bill of divorce to her husband Costobarus ; 
 which bad example was afterwards followed by Hero- 
 dias, and others. By law it was the husband's pre- 
 rogative to dissolve the marriage. The wife could 
 do nothing by herself. When he thought fit to dis- 
 solve it, her consent was not necessary. The bill of 
 divorce which she received was to serve as evidence 
 for her, that she had not deserted, her husband, but- 
 was dismissed by him, and consequently free. — 
 
 Campbeih. 
 
 0D 
 
4IS MARK. 
 
 NO. 477. — DESCRIPTION OF SACKED ANIMALS. 
 
 xi. 2. Ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man 
 sat; loose him and bring him. 
 No animal was allowed to be employed in sacred 
 uses, even among* the Heathen, that had previously 
 been used for any domestic or agricultural purpose ; 
 and those which had never been yoked, were con- 
 sidered as sacred. 
 
 Tlie Delphic oracles this answer give : 
 Behold among the fields a lonely cow, 
 Unworn with yokes, unbroken to the plough. Ovid. 
 
 The Romans had the same relit^ion with the 
 Greeks; and, consequently, the same kind of sacri- 
 fices. So Virgil : — 
 
 from Ws herd he culls 
 For slaughter, four the fairest of his bulls ; 
 Four heifers from his female stock he took, ' 
 
 All fair, and all unknowing of the yoke. Dhyden. 
 
 It is very likely that the Gentiles learnt their fir-st 
 sacrificial rites from the Patriarchs: and on tliis 
 account, we need not wonder to find so many coin- 
 cidences in the sacrificial system of the Patriarchs 
 and Jews, and all the neighbouring nations. — Clarke, 
 
 ■ • NO. 478.— BREAKING THE BOX OF ALABASTER. 
 
 xlv. 3. As he sat at meat, there came a woman, having 
 an alabaster-box of ointment of spikenard, verp^ 
 precious ; and she brake the boXy and poured it on 
 his head. 
 
 Sir J. Chardin informs us, that the Persians trans- 
 port their wine in bottles, whose mouths are stopped 
 with cotton, upon which melted wax is poured, so as 
 to exclude the air. Some of these bottles are made 
 
MARK. 41 9r 
 
 o^f buck or goat-skins, and some of thick glass ; and 
 wickered, to prevent their breaking. If they applied 
 wax to their wine bottles to exclude the air, no doubt 
 can be entertained but that all the vessels which held 
 their perfumes were treated after a similar manner. 
 
 Propertius calls the opening of a wine vessel by- 
 breaking the seal or cement that secured it, " breaking 
 the vessel ;" and this, no doubt, is the meaning of 
 the text before us. To break the box to shivers 
 would have been a piece of vain profusion ; but if we 
 understand it of breaking the cement with which it 
 was stopped, it will appear perfectly natural. Horace 
 supposes, that some of those alabaster boxes were 
 very large. That which we read of in the gospel of 
 St, John* is supposed to contain a pound weight. 
 It was not common to apply so great a quantity to 
 every guest ; for, according to the language of our 
 Lord, it was more suitable to a funeral unction than 
 that of an ordinary entertainment. — Harmer, and 
 Burder, 
 
 Calmet says, ihdii spikenard, or nard, is an Indian 
 plant, whose root is very small and slender: it puts 
 forth a long and small stalk, and has several ears or 
 spikes even with the ground, which has given it the 
 name of spikenard: the taste is bitter, acrid, and 
 aromatic ; and the smell agreeable. 
 
 *J0. 479. — FALLING UPON THE fiROUND, A MARK OF 
 DISTRESS. 
 
 xiv. 35. He went forward a little, and fell on the 
 ground. 
 Amongst other circumstances by which the ancieats 
 
 *ChBp. xii. 2, 
 
 1> bZ 
 
PQ MARK. 
 
 expressed the greatness i>f tjieir distress, they fre- 
 queutly threw themselves down upon the ground, and 
 rolled in the dust. Thus Homer introduces friam 
 lamenting the death of Hector :— 
 
 Permit me now, belov'd of Jove, to steep 
 M J careful temples in the dew of sleep ; 
 For since tlie day that uumbcr'd with the dead 
 My hapless son, tlie dust has been my bed. 
 
 Thiis also Ovid represents (Eneus behaving himself 
 upon the death of his son Meleager : — 
 
 His hoary head and furrowed cheeks besmears 
 With noisome dirt, and chides the tedious years. 
 
 Thus we find our Lord, when exceeding sorrowful, 
 leaving his disciples, and expressing his agony in a 
 way that was chiefly appropriated to scenes of peculiar 
 distress. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 480.— -DRESS OF THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT. 
 
 iiv. 51. y^rid there followed him a certain young maUt 
 having a linen cloth cast about his naked body. 
 Pococke, in describing the dresses of the people of 
 Egypt, says, " it is almost a general custom, among 
 the Arabs, and Mahommedan natives of the country, 
 in cold weather, to wear a large blanket, either whit© 
 or brown ; and in summer, a blue and white cotton 
 sheet, which the Christians in the country constantly 
 use. They put one corner before, over the left shoul- 
 der, and bring it behind, under the right arm, and so 
 over their bodies ; throwing it behind, over the left 
 shoulder, in order that the right arm may be left bare 
 for action. When it is hot, and they are on horse- 
 back, they let it fall down on the saddle round them ? 
 
MAKK 421 
 
 and about Faiurae I particularly observed, that young 
 people especially, and the poorer sort, had nothing on 
 whatever but this blanket ; and it is probable, that 
 the young man who followed our Saviour was clothed 
 after the same manner ; for he had a linen cloth cast 
 about his naked body ; and when the young men laid 
 hold on him, lie Itft the linen cioth^and fled from them 
 naked, 
 
 NO, 481. —AN ATTRIBUTE EXPRESSIVE OF GOD. 
 
 xiv. 61. The High' Priest asked him^ and said unta 
 him, Art thou the Christ, the son of the Blessed? 
 It is observable, that the peculiar attribute of Deity 
 is here used to express the divine nature. Supreme 
 happiness is properly considered as belonging to God : 
 and as all comfort flows from him, suitable ascriptions 
 of praise and glory are his due. But this form of speech 
 was conformable to the ancient custom of the Jews, 
 who, when the Priest in the sanctuary rehearsed the 
 name of God, used to answer, " Blessed be his name 
 for ever." The title of the Blessed One, in their lan- 
 guage, signified as much as the Holy One ; and both, 
 or either of them, the God of Israel. Hence such ex- 
 pressions are very frequent in the Rabbins. See also 
 Rom. i. 25. — 2 Cor. xi. SL^Burder, 
 
 NO. 482. — DESCRIPTION OF A MAN'S CRIME CARRIED 
 BEFORE HIM TO EXECUTION. 
 
 XV. 26. The Superscription of his accusation was 
 written over. The King of the Jews, 
 It was the custom of the Romans, to write the 
 crime for which any man suffered death on a tablet, 
 and carry it before him to his execution. Eusebius 
 eays, that Attains the martyr was led round the 
 
422 MARK. 
 
 V 
 
 amphitheatre with a tablet before him, inscribed, 
 *' This is Attalus, the Christian." So Domitian.— The 
 man was cast to the dogs in the arena, to be devoured, 
 with this inscription, " He spake impiuusly." The 
 game custom prevailed in crucifixions. Dio mentions 
 a servant, or slave, who was carried to the cross with 
 a writing declaring the cause of his death. — Burder. 
 
 XUKE. 
 
 NO. 483. — HAIR BAGS USED INSTEAD OF MANG?ERS. 
 
 i|i. •?. And wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and 
 laid him in a manger. 
 It appears, that the Eastern horses are ge- 
 nerally fed on barley, which they eat out of bags of 
 hair-cloth, hung about their heads for that purpose. 
 D'Arvieux informs us, that the Arab horses are fed 
 after this manner out of bags. Thevenot says, that 
 those bags are made of black goats'-hair ; and that 
 they use no manger for feeding their horses, either in 
 Persia or in Turkey. 
 
 Sir J. Chardin supposes, that the manger, which 
 we read of in our text, in which our Lord was laid io 
 Ills infancy, meant one of those holes of stone, or good 
 cement, which they have in the stables of their 
 caravanserais, and which are large enough to receive 
 a child. Dr. Russell says, " mangers, like those in 
 England, the Eastern people have not ; for they have 
 no hay: but in their stables they have stone troughs, 
 in which they lay the fodder. When they tie down 
 their horses in the court-yard, they use sacks." Dr. 
 CWke says, « the original word gignifieg, not only a 
 
LUKE. 423 
 
 manger, but a stable also ; and in this sense alone, I 
 am persuaded, it should be understood in the text. — 
 She brought forth her first born son, and rolled him 
 in swaddling clothes, and laid him in the stable," 
 
 NO. 484. — DESCRIPTION OF THE EASTERN CARAVAN- 
 SERAIS. 
 
 ii. 7. There was no room for tJiem in the inn. 
 
 Campbell says, that the caravanserais are generally 
 applied to the accommodation of travellers. They are 
 built at proper distances through the roads of the Tur- 
 kish dominions. They are generally built of the most 
 durable materials, have commonly one story above 
 the ground floor, the lower of which is arched, and 
 serves for warehouses to store goods, for lodgings, 
 and for stables, while the upper is used merely for 
 lodgings. In Aleppo, the caravanserais are almost 
 exclusively occupied by merchants, to whom they 
 are rented like other houses. 
 
 Antes informs us, that travellers in the Turkish 
 provinces not only carry all sorts of provisions along 
 with them, but even the utensils necessary to dress 
 them, and a tent for occasional shelter. The cara- 
 ranseraiSj he says, are nothing but bare rooms, and 
 those often very bad, and infested with all sorts of 
 termin. Volney says, that these houses are always 
 without the precincts of towns, and consist of four 
 wings, round a square court, which serves by way of 
 inclosure for the beasts of burthen. The keeper of 
 the kati gives the traveller the key and a mat ; and he 
 provides himself with the rest. The baggage of a 
 man who wishes to be completely provided, consists 
 in a carpet, a mattress, a blanket, two saucepans, two 
 
424 LUKE, 
 
 dishes;two plates, and a coffee-pot, all of copper, well 
 tinned ; a wooden box for salt and pepper ; a round 
 leathern table ; small leathern bottles or bags for oil, 
 biitter, water, and brandy ; a tinder-box ; a cup of 
 cocoa-nut ; some rice, dried raisins, dates, Cyprus 
 cheese, and coffee-berries, with a roaster and wooden 
 mortar to pound them. 
 
 Tavernier says, that in those caravanserais there 
 are lodgings for every man by himself. These lodg- 
 ings are raised all along the court, two or three steps 
 high, just behind which are the stables, where many 
 times it. is as good lying as in the chaaubers. Right 
 against the head of every horse iheje is a nich, with 9, 
 window into the lodging chamber, out of which everjt 
 wan may see that his horse is looked after. 
 
 , Whoe'er has travell'd life's diiU round, ' 
 
 AV'here'er his stages may have been. 
 
 May sigh to think he still has found 
 
 The wannest welcome at an inn. 
 
 Shenstouk. '' 
 
 »0. 485. — MESSIAH, CALLED THE CONSOLATION, 
 ii. 25. Waiting for the Consolation of Israel, 
 The Jews used often to style the expected Messiah, 
 the Consolation ; and, " May I never see the conso- 
 lation" was a <;ommon form of swearing among them. 
 It was much used by R, Simeon Ben Shetach, who 
 lived before the time of Chx\^i.—GitL 
 
 It is very observable, that the Prophets ordinarily 
 <5omforted the people of God ^tmongst the Jews, 
 against all the sad tidings they brought them, with 
 the prophecies of the coming,and kingdom, of Christ.* 
 Herein old Simeon shewed the truth of his piety and 
 ^4evotion, that he believed, and waited for, the coming 
 
 * Isaiah kvi. IS.— Jer. xxxu 13.— Ztch. i. 17, 
 
LUKE 425 
 
 of Christ : he had a true notion of the promised Mes- 
 siah : he believed that he would come ; and he waited 
 for his coming. — Pool. 
 
 NO. .486.— -THE PLACE OF OUR LORD'S TEMPTATION. 
 
 iv. 1, 2. And was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 
 being forty days tempted of the Devil, 
 Mr. Maundrell, in his travels in the Holy Land, 
 saw the place which was the scene of Christ's tempta- 
 tions; and thus describes it: — " From this place (the 
 fountain of the apostles) you proceed in an intricate 
 way amongst hills and valleys interchangeably, all 
 of a very barren aspect at present, but discovering 
 evident signs of the labor of the husbandman in 
 ancient times. After some hours' travel in this sort 
 of road, you arrive at the mountainous desert into 
 which our blessed Saviour was led by the Spirit to be 
 tempted of the Devil. A mast miserable, dry, barren 
 place it is ; consisting of high rocky mountains, so 
 torn and disordered as if the earth had suffered some 
 great convulsion, in which its very bowels had been 
 turned outward." — Burder. 
 
 NO. 487 — POSITION OF READING AND PREACHING 
 r AMONG THE JEWS. 
 
 w. 20. He closed the book, and he gave it again to the 
 Minister, and sat down. 
 The Jewish Doctors, to shew their reverence for 
 the scriptures, always stood when they read them ; 
 but when they taught the people they sat down. 
 Thus we find our Lord sitting down in the synagogue 
 to preach, after he had read the passage in the Pro- 
 |)het which he made the subject of his discourse. 
 
LUKE. 
 
 This was in the synagogue of Nazareth, of which he 
 was a member, having been brought op in that city. 
 When he was set down in the desk, or pulpit, it is 
 said, that the eyes of all that were present were fast- 
 ened upon him ; as they perceived by his posture, 
 that he was going to preach to them. 
 
 Macknight supposes, that the custom of preaching 
 from a text of scripture, which now prevails through- 
 out all the Christian churches, derived its origin from 
 the authority of our Lord's example. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 488. — THE TERM fiOSOM ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 vi. 38. Good measure^ pressed down, and shaken to- 
 gether, and running over^ shall men give into your 
 bosom. 
 
 Almost all ancient nations, and particularly those 
 of the East, wore long, wide, and loose garments ; 
 ^nd when about to carry ^ny thing away that their 
 hands could not contain, they used a fold in the bosom 
 of their robe, nearly in the sam« way that the women 
 in England use their aprons ; and to this custom our 
 Lord is supposed to allude; The following example 
 from Herodotus will illustrate the term, and shew the 
 lidiculous nature of covetousness: — • 
 
 ^ When Crossus had promised to Alcmeon as^much 
 as he could carry about his body at once, in order to 
 improve the King's liberality, he put on a very wide 
 tunic, leaving a great space in the bosom, and drew 
 •on the widest buskins he could prepare. Being con- 
 ducted into the treasury, he sat down upon a great 
 heap of ingots, and having first stuffed the buskins 
 round his legs with as much gold as they could con- 
 tain, he afterwards filled his whole bosom and leaded 
 
LUKE. ^ 427 
 
 his liair with ingots ; then he filled his mouth, and 
 waddled out of the treasury, having scarcely any 
 thing remaining in his appearance indicative of the 
 Jin man formr' — Hariner. 
 
 Tlie miser grinn'd whilst avarice was drawn. 
 Nor thought the faithful likeness was his own ; 
 His own dear seif no imag'd fool could find. 
 But saw a thousand other fops design'd. 
 
 BoiLEAU. 
 
 ^O. 489.— VIOLENT INUNDATIONS FREQUENT IN TtfE 
 EAST. 
 
 vi. 48. When the flood arose, the stream beat vehement' 
 ly upon that house. 
 
 Jacobus de Vitriacosays, '^the returns of rain in the 
 winter are not very frequent ; yet when it does rain, 
 the water pours down with great violence three or 
 four days and nights together, enough to drown the 
 whole country." Such violent rains, in so hilly a 
 country as Judea, must occasion inundations v^ry 
 dangerous to buildings within their reach, by washing 
 the soil from under them, and occasioning their fall. 
 
 Dr. Russell says, that these violent rains often wash 
 down stone walls at Aleppo : and a remarkable in- 
 stance happened in the Castravan mountains, of a 
 hamlet, with a fig-garden, &c. being removed suddenly 
 to a great distance. Maundrell says, he witnessed 
 the tracks of several torrents down the sides of the 
 hills of the Holy Land. He describes the country as 
 extremely rocky, covered with a thin coat of earth. 
 These circumstances illustrate the allusion of ouir 
 Lord ; and teach us how to understand building oa 
 the sand or loose soil ; and the wise man digging 
 
LUKE. 
 
 down to the rock, before he laid the foundation of 
 his building, — Harmer. 
 
 NO. 490. — HAIR OF THE HEAD USED FOR A CLOTH. 
 
 vii. 44, 45, 46. / entered into thine house, thou gavest 
 
 me no water for my feet ; but she hath washed my 
 
 feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her 
 
 head. Thou gavest me no kiss ; but this woman, 
 
 since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my 
 
 feet. Mine head with oil thou didst not anoint : but 
 
 this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. 
 
 It was an universal custom among the Eastern 
 
 people, to treat their guests, at their entrance into 
 
 their houses, with water to wash their feet ; which 
 
 compliment, it appears, the Pharisees neglected : but 
 
 this the female penitent supplied. Polybius tells us, 
 
 that when Hannibal drew near to Rome, the Roman 
 
 ladies went to the temples to supplicate the gods, 
 
 washing the floors of the temples with their hair : 
 
 which, he adds, was the common custom, on such 
 
 occasions, to do. 
 
 It appears from different writers, that kissing the 
 feet was no unusual practice among the Jews ; and 
 was used also by the Greeks and Romans among their 
 civilities and in their salutations. By the contrast 
 which our Lord draws between this woman's conduct 
 and that of the Pharisee, he did not look for his kissing 
 his feet, but for some other salutation, perhaps the 
 kissing of the hand, which was a mark of reverence. 
 It was a compliment also among the Easterns to 
 anoint the heads of their guests with sweet oil. Thus 
 also Homer represents Telemachus and Pisistratus as 
 
LUKE. 4?9 
 
 being entertained at the court of Menelaus. After 
 their introduction to the palace, he says, 
 
 From room to room their eager view they bend ; 
 Hence to the bath, a beauteous pik", descend : 
 Where a bright damsel-train attend the guests. 
 With liquid odours» and embroider'd vests. 
 
 Burder, 
 
 NO. 491. — TEDIOUSNESS. OF EASTERN SALUTATION. 
 
 X. 4, Salute no man by the way. 
 
 The mission upon which the disciples of Christ 
 were sent,- was so important, that they were required 
 to use the greatest dispatch, and, of course, to avoid 
 all such unnecessary and tedious ceremonies as were, 
 calculated most seriously to retard their progress* 
 Christ would not command his disciples needlessly to 
 violate any of those customs which were in general 
 use, and which were innocent in themselves ; but had 
 they been allowed to give and receive all the common 
 salutations of the day, their ministerial progress 
 might have been greatly interrupted. 
 
 Among the Egyptians, the ordinary way of saluta- 
 tion at a distance, is by bringing the hand down 
 to the knees andthen carrying it to the stomach ; they 
 then take each other by the hand ; and the coun- 
 try people reciprocally clap each others hand very 
 smartly, twenty or thirty times together, at meeting, 
 without saying any thing more than, "How do you 
 do? I wish you good health." After this first com- 
 pliment, many other friendly questions are asked about 
 the health of the family, &c. 
 
 florneman, in his his travels in Africa, speaks of a 
 young maa of Fezzan, who, accosting an Arab of 
 
m 
 
 LUKE. 
 
 Angela, he detained him a considerable time with his 
 civilities: when the Arab being* obliged to advance 
 with greater speed to come up again with his com- 
 panions, the youth of Fezzan thought he should appear 
 deficient in good manners if he quitted him so soon. 
 For near half a mile he kept running by his horse; 
 whilst all his conversation was, ** How dost thou fare ? 
 Well, how art thou thyself ? Praised be God, thou 
 art arrived in peace ! God grant thee peace ! How 
 dost thou do?" &c. This shews us the tediousness of 
 Eastern compliments : it casts light upon the lan- 
 guage of Elisha to Gehazi— ^ Kings, iv. 29 ; and 
 elucidates the orders of our Lord to the seventy in Ihe 
 text before us. It is as if he had said, " Do not loiter 
 and gossip with any whom you may accidentally meet 
 with on your journey ; but make all proper speed to 
 the towns whither I have sent you, and there deliver 
 your good tidings. — Calmet, S{c. 
 
 NO. 492. — SITTING IN SACKCLOTH AND ASHES. 
 
 X. 13. Sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 
 
 This expression of mourning and sorrow was fre- 
 quent in the East. Thus Tamar signified her dislress, 
 when dishonored by Amnon — 2 Sam. xiii. 19. Thus 
 when Mordecai 2^erceived all that was done, Mordecai 
 rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, — 
 Esther iv. \. Thus Job expressed his repentance. — 
 Job xlii. 6. Thus Daniel set his face unto the Lord 
 God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fastings 
 and sackcloth and ashes.— Deut. ix. 3. Other nations 
 adopted the practice ; and it became a very common 
 hiethod, whereby to exhibit great grief and misery. 
 That it prevailed among the Greeks is also certain. 
 
LUKE. m 
 
 Homer thas represents Achilles acting upon the news 
 of the death of Patroclus : — 
 
 A sudden horror shot through all the Chief, 
 
 And wrapt his senses in a cloud of grief ; 
 
 Cast on the ground, with furious hands he spreacj 
 
 The scorching ashes o'er his graceful head : 
 
 His purple garments, and his golden hairs, 
 
 Those he deforms with dust, and these he tears : 
 
 On the hard soil his groaning breast he threw. 
 
 And roll'd and grovell'd as to earth he grew. 
 
 Iliad. 
 
 Burder, 
 
 NO. 493. — MANNER OF GIRDING UP THE LOINS. • 
 
 xii. 35. Let your loins be girded about. 
 
 They who travel on foot, are obliged to fasten their 
 garments at a greater height from their feet than they 
 do at other times. This is what is understood by 
 girding up the loins. Chardin says, that such as tra- 
 vel on foot " always gather up their vest ; by which 
 they walk more commodiouslyj having the leg and 
 knee unburthened and disembarrassed by the vest, 
 which they are not when that hangs over them." 
 After this manner he supposes the Israelites were pre- 
 pared for their going out of Egypt, when they ate the 
 first passover.— Exod. xii. 11. — Harmer. 
 
 It appears that their long garments were tucked up 
 in their belts ; and hence the admonition of St. Peter 
 — gird wj? the loins of your mind ; be sober, and hope 
 to the end— 1 Peter, i. 13. 
 
 NO. 494. — SOUTH WIND THE FORE-RUNNER OF HEAT. 
 
 xii. 55. When ye see the south wind blow, ye say, 
 there will be heat ; and it cometh to pass. 
 This circumstance accords perfectly with the rela- 
 
LUKE. 
 
 tk)ns oftravellers into Syria, Eg-ypt, and several parts 
 of the East. When the hozith wind he^ms to blow, 
 the sky becomes dark and heavy, the air grey and 
 thick, and the whole atmosphere assumes a most 
 alarming aspect. The heat produced by these southern 
 winds has been compared to that of a Iarg;e oven at 
 the moment of drawing out the bread ; and to that of 
 a flame blown upon the face of a person standing near 
 the fire which excites it. — Burder. 
 ^ Egmont and Ilayman tell us, that the lieat proved 
 fatal to several people in the army of King Baldwin IV. 
 upon fighting a battle not far from Tiberias in Gatilee ; 
 and Gesta Dei says, that the heat at that time was so 
 unusually great, that as many died, in both armies, by 
 the heiit as by the sword. 
 
 When in the sultry glebe I fuint, 
 Or on the thirsty mountain pant ; 
 To fertile vales anc} dewy meads 
 My v,eary,wand'ring steps he leads ; 
 Where jieaceful rivers, soft and slow,. 
 Amid the verdant landscape flow. 
 
 NO. 495.— DESCRIPTION OF CHINESE CEREMONY. 
 
 xiv. 16, 17. j4 ceHain man made a great supper, and 
 bade many : and sent his servant at supper-time, 
 to say to them that were bidden, Come, for all 
 things are now ready. 
 
 There is a striking conformity between the circum- 
 stances intimated in the introductory part of this para- 
 ble, and the ceremonies attendant upon a Chinese 
 entertainment. Amongst this people, an invitation to 
 an entertainment is not supposed to be given with sin- 
 cerity, until it has been renewed three or four times 
 in writing. A card is sent in the evening before th^ 
 
LUKE. 433 
 
 entertainment ; another in the mornings of the ap- 
 pointed day ; and a third when every thing is pre- 
 pared.- — Goldsmith. 
 
 The invitation to this great supper is supposed to 
 have been given as soon as the person had resolved 
 upon making it : but it is again repeated at supper- 
 time when all things were ready. Now as it doth 
 not appear that the renewal of it arose from the re- 
 fusal of the persons invited, of which no hint is given, 
 we may suppose it was customary thus to send 
 repeated messages. The practice was very ancient 
 amongst the Chinese ; and if admitted to have pre- 
 vailed amongst the Jews, certainly gives a significancy 
 to the words, not usually perceived. — Burder, 
 
 NO. 496. — TOWERS, A PLACE OF REFUGE IN DANGER. 
 
 xiv. 28. Which of you, intending to build a tower ^ 
 sittethnot down first, and counteth the cost. 
 
 William of Tyre says, that in the reign of Baldwin 
 II. when the strength of the kingdom was col- 
 lected together at the siege of Tyre, the people of 
 A«calon suddenly invaded the country about Jerusa- 
 lem, and put to the sword the greatest part of the 
 inhabitants of a town called Mahomeria : but the old 
 men, the women, and the children, escaped by be- 
 taking themselves to a tower. 
 
 The Easterns have not only towers in their vine- 
 yards as they had of old,* but they have them ia 
 their gardens also. Marcus Sanutus tells us, that the 
 inhabitants of Ptolemais beat down the towers of 
 their gardens to the ground, upon the approach of 
 the Tartars iu one thousand two hundred and sixty j 
 
 •Isaiah v. 2.— Matt, xxi, 33. 
 
454 LUKE. 
 
 and Maundrell mentions these edifices, in his account 
 of the g-ardens of Damascus. 
 
 We can hardly think that our Lord is speaking* of 
 the unexpensiv'e buildings in a vineyard, which are 
 sometimes so slight as to consist only of four poles, 
 with a floor on the top of them, to which they ascend 
 by a ladder; but rather of those elegant turrets, 
 erected in gardens, where the Eastern people of 
 fortune spend a considerable part of their time. 
 These towers are not designed for strength, but 
 pomp, and perhaps convenience and pleasure. Nor 
 do those other towers, designed for safety in times of 
 danger, seem to have been very strong ; btit rather 
 intended for a short defence, in those unquiet times, 
 when enemies made sudden irruptions into the 
 country, and as suddenly retreated. Thus Gideon 
 appears, without much difficulty, to have demolished 
 the tower of Penuel. — Judges viii. 9, n.— IIarmer, 
 
 NO, 497. — HUSKS USED TOR FEEDING SWINE. 
 
 ■XV, 16. The husks that the swine did eat. 
 It is evident that the original word signifies a hus/f^ 
 or pod, wherein the seeds of some plants, especially 
 those of the leguminous tribe, are contained. Both 
 the Greek and Latin terms signify the fruit of the 
 carot-tree, a tree very common in the Levant, and in 
 the southern parts of Europe, as Spain and Italy. 
 This fruit still continues to be used for the same pur- 
 pose, the feeding of swine. It is also called St. John's 
 bread, from an opinion that the Baptist used it in the 
 wilderness. Miller says, it is mealy, and has a sweet- 
 ish taste, and that it is eaten by the poorer sort ; forit 
 grows in the common hedges, and is of little accounts 
 
 CampbelL 
 
LUKE. 435 
 
 To feedswine was the vilest of all employmeDts ; and 
 to a Jew peculiarly degrading. Shame, contemj t, 
 and disgrace are wedded to sin, and can never be di- 
 vorced. No character could be meaner in the sight 
 of a Jew than that of a swine-herd : and Herodotus 
 informs us, that in Egypt they were not permitted to 
 mingle with civil society, nor to appear in the worship 
 of the gods ; nor would the very dregs of the people 
 have any matrimonial connexion with them. — Clarke. 
 
 NO. 498. — MUSIC OSED IN EASTERN FEASTS. 
 
 XV. 25. As he came and dreio nigh to the house, he 
 heard music and dancing. 
 There can be no doubt that music frequently accom- 
 panied Eastern meals, especially those which were of 
 a superior kind. Homer thus represents Ulysses' 
 meal :■ — 
 
 Long as the bard 
 Chanted, he ate ; and when he ceas'd to eat, 
 Then also ceas'd the bard divine to sing. 
 
 Isaiah speaks of the tabret, or timbrel, as used in their 
 feasts along vi^ith wine. — Chap. v. 12. Chardin says, 
 that the Eastern women seldom make use of any other 
 instrument than the Aleppine diff, which appears to 
 correspond with the timbrel. Dr. Russell says, that 
 the diff is a hoop, sometimes with pieces of brass fixed 
 in it, to make a jingling, and covered with a piece of 
 parchment. It is beaten with the fingers, and is the 
 true tympanum of the ancients : as appears from its 
 figure in several relievos. Russell, speaking of the 
 music of Aleppo, says, that it consists of a sort of haut- 
 boy, trumpets, cymbals, and large drums. — Burder^ 
 and Harmer^ 
 
 Ee2 
 
436 LUKE. 
 
 NO. 4^9.— SERVANTS RECEIVE A 'fENTH OF THEIR 
 
 masters' profits. 
 
 xvi. 12. Jf ye have not been faithful in that which is 
 •nnother man's, who shall give you that which is 
 your own ? 
 
 Aaron Hill informs us, that among the Turks, it is a 
 common custom for the merchants, on hiring a confi- 
 dential servant, to agree that he shall claim no wages; 
 but to make amends for this, they have a privileged 
 advantage of ten per cent, upon the master's profits. 
 This kind of allowance, though extremely singular, is 
 bbth ancient and general in the East. It is mentioned 
 in the Gentoo laws. — " If a man hath hired any person 
 to conduct a trade for him, and no agreement be 
 ra^de with regard to wages, in that case, the person 
 ^hired shall receive one-tenth of the profit. If such a 
 person attends ten milch cows, he shall select for his 
 own use the milk of that cow which produces the most ; 
 if he attends more cows, he shall take milk after the 
 same rate, in lieu of wages. If a person attends 
 o^fe hundred cows for the space of one year, without 
 any appointment of wages, he shall take to himself 
 one heifer of three years old; and also, of all those 
 cows iv-hich produce milk, whatever the quantity 
 may be, after every eight days, he shall take to him- 
 self the milk, the entire product of one day." Ac- 
 cording to these extracts, the meaning of the text 
 must be, *' If you have not been found faithful in the 
 administration of your principal's property, how can 
 you expect to receive your share of that advantage 
 which should ha^e rewarded you for your labors? — 
 
 Calmetr ^c- 
 
LUKE. 4S7 
 
 NO. 500. — BEGGARS TAKE THEIR POST AT GATES. 
 
 xvi. 20. There was a certain beggar named Lazarus 
 
 which was laid at his gate, full of sores. 
 
 The gate was the place were beggars stood, or were 
 laid, and asked alms : hence that rule with the Jews, 
 " If a man die and leave sons and daughters,, if he 
 leave but a small substance, the daughters shall be 
 taken care of, and the sons shall beg at the gates."^ — ■ 
 
 Gill. 
 
 Lazarus signifies, the help or assistance of God ; — 
 a name properly given to a man, who was both poor 
 and afflicted, and had no help but that which came 
 from Heaven. — Clarke. 
 
 NO. 501. — POSTURE USED BY THE JEWS AT TABLE. 
 
 xvi. 22. It came to pass that the beggar died, and was 
 carried by the qngels info Abraham^ s bosom. 
 This expression alludes to the posture used by the 
 Jews at table; which was reclining on couches, after 
 the manner of the Romans ; the upper part of the body 
 resting upon the left elbow, and the lower lying at 
 length upon the couch. When two or three reclined 
 on the same couch, some say the worthiest or most 
 honourable person lay first : Lightfoot says, in the 
 middle, the next in dignity lay with his head reclining 
 on the breast or bosom of the first, as John is said to 
 have done on the bosom of Jesus at supper — John xiii. 
 23 ; and hence is borrowed the phrase of Abraham's 
 bosom, as denoting the state of celestial happiness. \ 
 Abraham being esteemed the most honorable person, 
 aiid the father of the Jewish nation, to be in his bosom 
 signifies, in allusion ta the order in which guests 
 
438 LUKE. 
 
 were placed at an entertainment, the highest stale 
 of felicity next to that of Abraham h\mse\(,—Burder. 
 The place for sitting is a sort of sofa called a duan. 
 It is about eighteen inches high — three or four feet 
 broad — covered with a carpet, having cushions or bols- 
 ters against the wall, upon which the person sitting 
 reclines. The back of the duan is about the height of 
 the arms ; and hence we read of sewing pillows to all 
 arm-holes— -Eze]^. xiii. 18: not that the cushions Were 
 confined to the arm-holes ; but they were made soft, 
 and nicely adapted to all leaning arms, so as to pro- 
 duce the most voluptuous effect. — JIarmer, 
 
 NO. 602. — TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM, WITH ITS DECORA- 
 TION. 
 
 xxi. 5. Some spake of the te?nple, how it was adorned 
 ivith goodly stones and gifts. , 
 
 Josef>hus says, that the stones of which the temple 
 was built were fifty feet long, twenty-four broad, and 
 sixteen in thickness. The marble was so white, that 
 at a distance it appeared like a mountain of snow. 
 
 Tacitus, speaking of the immense opulence of the 
 temple of Jerusalem, amongst other things, mentions 
 a golden table given by Pompey, and several golden 
 vines of exquisite workmanship, as well as of immense 
 size. Josephus tells us, that these vines had clusters, 
 as tall as a man, which some of them thought re- 
 ferred to God's representing the Jewish nation under 
 the emblem of a vine. — Isa. v. 1, 7. If these accounts 
 be true, well might the disciples be struck with 
 wonder at such a superb edifice, and such splendid 
 ornaments. — Doddridge, 4*c. 
 
LUKE. 439 
 
 NO. 503.— THE SPORT OF BLINDFOLDING. 
 
 ?xii 64. IV/ien they had blind/bided him, they struck 
 him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, 
 . who is it that smote thee ? 
 
 This usage of Christ refers to that sport so ordinary 
 among children, — in which it is the manner first to 
 blindfold, then to strike, then to ask who gave the 
 blow, and not to let him go until he had named the 
 right person who had struck him. It was used on 
 this occasion to reproach our blessed Lord, and expose 
 him to ridicule. — Hammond. 
 
 NO. 604, — FORM OF BLESSING THE PEOPLE. 
 
 xxiv. 50. And he led them out as far as to Bethany : 
 and he lifted up his hands, aitd blessed them. 
 The form of blessing the people used by Aaron 
 and his sons is recorded, Numb. vi. 23, 27. Though 
 our Lord might not use the same form in blessing his 
 disciples, yet in doing it, he lifted up his hajids as 
 they did. — See Lev. ix. 22. Maimonides says, " the 
 Priests go up into the desk, after they have finished 
 the morning daily service, and lift up their hands 
 above, over their heads, except the High-Priest, who 
 does not lift up his hands above the plate of gold 
 which is upon his forehead." — Gill. 
 
 See! he lifts his hands above T ' 
 See ! he shows the prints of love ! 
 Hark ! his gracious lips bestow 
 Blessings on Iiischuigh belowj 
 
 BjlACKENBVBy. 
 
440 JOHN. 
 
 NO. 505.— PESCRIPTION OF EASTERN ADOPTION. 
 
 i. 12. To them gave he power to become the sons of 
 God. 
 It appears, that adoption was very generally 
 practised in theEast. It is therefore frequently alJaded 
 to in the scriptures. If a person who was never 
 married adopted a son, that son being married, his 
 children would become the children of his adopter, 
 bear his name, and inherit his estate. Sh* W. Jones 
 says, that in Athens an adopted son could not himself 
 adopt another : he must either leave a legitimate son, 
 or the estate he received from his adopting father 
 must revert to his adopting father's natural heirs. 
 There cannot be two adopted sons at the same time. 
 The adopted son, and the after-born sons, to the per- 
 son who adopted him, were by law the coheirs of the 
 estate ; but no adoption by a man who had legitimate 
 sons then born, was considered to be valid. Reader, 
 art thou adopted into the family of God ? — Burder, ^c, 
 
 NO. 506. — NAMES FREQUENTLY CHANGED IN THE EAST. 
 
 i. 42. W/ien Jesus beheld him, he said, thou art Simon, 
 the son of Jona : thou shalt be called Cephas, 
 Chardin says, that the Easterns frequently change 
 their names, as they change in point of age, condition, 
 or religion. Thus the King of Babylon gave the name 
 of Zedeiciah to Mattaniah, King of Judah — 2 Kings 
 xxiv.17 ; and gave new names to Daniel and his com- 
 panions — Dan. i. 7. The example of the King of Per- 
 sia, in 1667, is yet more remarkable. The first year 
 of the reign of this Prince having been unhappy, on 
 account of wars and famine in many provinces, his 
 counsellors persuaded him that the name which he 
 
JOHN. 441 
 
 had borne was fatal, and that the fortune of the 
 empire would not be changed until he had changed 
 his name. This was done ; the Prince was crowned 
 again under the name of Soliman ; all the seals, all the 
 coins that had the name of Sefi, were broken, the 
 same as if the King had been dead, and another had 
 taken possession. The women more frequently 
 change their names than the men r their beauty, 
 gaiety, agility in dancing, or their fine voice, being 
 quickly lost, either by accident or by age, they 
 assume other names more correspondent with their 
 state. 
 
 It appears, that some of the persons whose names 
 were thus changed, were invariably called by their 
 new names. Thus Abraham was always so called 
 in the latter part of his life, and never Abram ; and 
 his wife, in like manner, Sarah, and not Sarai. Others 
 might be called, sometimes by the one, sometimes by 
 the other, and sometimes by both joined together. So 
 St. John tells us, that Jesus gave the new name of 
 Peter to the brother of Andrew ; yet he represents 
 Jesus afterwards calling him Simon ; and John him- 
 self sometimes called him Peter, and sometimes Simon 
 Peter. — Harmer, 
 
 NO. 507.— CORONATION OF EASTERN KINGS. 
 
 i. 49. Thou art the King of Israel. 
 
 Mr. Bruce has given us an account of a coronation, 
 
 which exhibits a conformity between the manners of 
 
 Abyssinia and Judea. Hesays, it was on the 1 8th of 
 
 March,=?^ that this festival began. The King's army 
 
 *l'his, accordirg to the Abyssinian account, was the day of our Saviour'is first 
 coming to Jerusalem. 
 
442 JOHN. 
 
 consisted of *%,000 men. All the great officers, all the 
 officers of state and the court, then present, were every 
 one dressed in the richest and gayest manner ; nor 
 was the other sex behind hand in the splendor of their 
 appearance. The King, dressed in crimson damask, 
 with a great chain of gold round his neck, his head 
 bare, mounted upon a horse, richly caparisoned, ad- 
 vanced at the head of his nobility, passed the outer 
 court, and came to the paved way before the churchy 
 here he was met by a number of young girls, daugh- 
 ters of the supreme Judges, together with many 
 noble virgins, standing on the right and left of the 
 conrt. 
 
 Two of the noblest of these, held in their hands a 
 crimson cord of silk, somewhat thicker than a common 
 whip-cord, stretched across from one company to 
 another, as if to shut up the road by which the King 
 was approaching the church. When this cord was 
 drawn about breast high by the girls, the King 
 entered, advancing at a moderate pace, curvetting 
 and shewing the management of his horse. He was 
 stopped by this string, whilst the damsels on each side 
 asking who he was, were answered, " T am your King, 
 the King of Ethiopia :" to which they replied with one 
 voice, " You shall not pass, you are not our King." 
 
 The King then retires some paces and presents him- 
 self afresh, when the cord is again drawn by the young 
 women, and the question repeated, " Who are you? '* 
 The King answered, " I am your King, the King of 
 Israel ; " the damsels resolved, even on this second 
 attack, not to surrender, but upon their own terms ; 
 they again answer, " You shall not pass, you are not 
 our King." 
 
JOHN. 443 
 
 The third time, after retiring, the King advances, 
 with a face and air more determined, and the virgins 
 again presenting the cord and asking who he is, he 
 answers, " I am your King, the King of Sion ;" and 
 drawing his sword, cuts the silk cord asunder: imme- 
 diately upon this, the young women say, " It is a truth, 
 you are our King, you are tlie King of Sion" ; upon 
 which they begin to sing Hallelujah, and in this they 
 are joined by the court and army upon the plain ; fire- 
 arms are discharged, drums and trumpets sound, and 
 the King, amidst these acclamations and rejoicings, 
 advances to the foot of the stairs of the church, where 
 he dismounts and sits down upon a stone, which by its 
 remains, was, apparently, an altar of Anubis, or the 
 dog-star. 
 
 The King is first annointed, then crowned, and is 
 accompanied half way up the steps by the Priests, 
 chaunting psalms and hymns : here he stops at an 
 hole, made for the purpose, in one of the steps, and 
 is fumigated with incense and myrrh, aloes and cassia. 
 Divine service is then celebrated, and after receiving 
 the sacrament, he returns to the camp, where many 
 days are spent in feasting and rejoicing, — See Psalm 
 xxiv, and xlv. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 508. — EASTERN FEASTS CONDUCTED BY A GOVERNOR. 
 
 ii. 8. Draw out now, and bear unto the Governor of 
 the feast. 
 The master or intendant of a marriage-feast was 
 the husband's friend, and charged with the order of 
 the feast. He gave directions to the servants, had 
 an eye over every thing, commanded the tables to 
 be covered, or to be cleared of the dishes, as he 
 
444 JOHN. 
 
 thought proper ; from whence he had his name as 
 regulator of the triclinium^ or festive board : he also 
 tasted the wine and distributed it to the guests. The 
 author of Ecclesiasticus thus describes the office of 
 Master of the feast : " If thou be made the Master 
 of a feast, lift not thyself up, but be among them as 
 one of the rest ; take diligent care of them, and so 
 sit down : and when thou hast done all thine office, 
 take thy place, that thou mayest be merry with them, 
 and receive a crown for the well ordering of the 
 feast." On this passage of St. John, Theophylact 
 remarks, in order that no one might suspect that their 
 taste was vitiated by having drank to excess, so as 
 not to know water from wine, our Saviour orders it 
 to be first carried to the Governor of the feast ; for 
 those who are intrusted with this office observe the 
 strictest sobriety, that they may be able properly to 
 regulate the whole. This Governor ordered how 
 much each guest should drink ; and all the company 
 were obliged to obey. Horace insinuates that the 
 Governor was chosen by throwing dice, upon the 
 sides of which were engraven or painted the images 
 of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Apollo, Venus, and Diana : 
 he who threw up Venus was made the King, or 
 Governor, of the feast. — Burder, 
 
 NO. 609.— WINE PRESERVED FOR MA KRI AGE-FEASTS. 
 
 ii. 10. Every man at the beginning doth set forth 
 good wine. 
 The Abbe Mariti, speaking of the age of the 
 wines of Cyprus^ says, "the oldest wines used in 
 commerce doth not exceed eight or ten years . It 
 is not true, as has been reported, that there is some of 
 
JOHN, 445 
 
 it an hundred years old : but it is certain that at the 
 birth of a son or of a daughter, the father causes a 
 jar filled with wine to be buried in the earth, having 
 first taken the precaution to seal it hermetically ; in 
 this manner it may be kept 'till these children marry. 
 It is then placed on the table before the bride and 
 bridegroom, and is distributed among their relations 
 and the other guests invited to the wedding." If 
 such a custom prevailed formerly, it throws great 
 significancy into the assertion of good wine being first 
 brought out upon such an occasion ; and if this suppo- 
 sition be admitted, it tends to increase the greatness 
 of the miracle, — that notwithstanding what had 
 been drank at first was peculiarly excellent, yet 
 that which Christ by his divine power produced as 
 an after supply, was found to be of a superior quality, 
 
 Burder^. 
 
 Now the former wonder show, 
 , Manifest thy pow'r below ; 
 Earthly souls exalt, refine, 
 Turn the water into wine. 
 
 Bhackenbury. 
 
 NO. 610. — WISE MEN COMPARED TO LIGHT. 
 
 V. 35. He was a burning and a shining light. 
 This character of John the Baptist is perfectly 
 conformable to the mode of expression adopted by 
 the Jews. It was usual with them to call any person 
 celebrated for knowledge, a candle : thus they say, 
 that Shuah, the father-in-law of Judah, mentioned 
 Gen, xxxviii. 2, was the candle or light of the place 
 where he lived ; because he was one of the ptiost 
 famous men in the city, enlightenij^g their eyes: 
 hence they call a Rabbin, the candle of the law, and 
 th« lamp of \\^\iU-^Lightfoot, 
 
446 JOHN. 
 
 A lighted candle is a very proper emblem of a 
 Minister of God. 
 
 *' In serving others, I myself destroy." 
 
 All the collective light of the moral world is derived 
 from Jesus Christ, who is the Sun of Righteousness. — 
 
 Clarke. 
 
 ^O. 611. — THANKSGIVING COMMON AT MEALS. 
 
 vi. 11. And Jesus took the loaves^ and when he had 
 given thanks^ he distributed to the disciples. 
 
 Gratitude to God for the common blessings of 
 providence is the duty of all who enjoy them, and is 
 very properly CN pressed by giving thanks on their 
 reception. Such a practice we find to have pre- 
 vailed both amongst Heathens, Jews, and Christians. 
 
 That it prevailed amongst the Heathens is certain 
 from the following testimonies ; — Ath^neus quotes 
 Hermeias, who mentions a people in Egypt whose 
 custom it was, on certain occasions, after they had 
 placed themselves in the usual posture of eating at 
 the table, to rise again and kneel ; the Priest then 
 chaunted a grace ; after which they partook of their 
 food in a solemn sacrificial manner. Livy speaks of 
 it as a settled custom amongst the old Romans, that 
 they offered sacrifice and prayer to the gods at their 
 meals. Quintilian says, ** we approached the table, 
 and then invoked the gods." 
 
 As to the behaviour of the Jews, Josephus, speaking 
 of the Essenes, says, that the Priest begs a blessing, 
 before they presume to take any nourishment ; and 
 when the meal is over, the Priest prays again ; and 
 the company with him bless and praise God, as their 
 
JOHN. 447 
 
 preserver, and the donor of their life and nourishment. 
 The Jews had their hymns and psahns of thanksgiving, 
 not only after eating their passover, but on a variety 
 of other occasions, — at and after meals ; as when the 
 best of their wine was brought upon the table, or 
 the fruit of the g{*.rden. Thus when Christ supped 
 with the two disciples at Emmaus, lie too/c bread arid 
 blessed tY.— Luke xxiv. 30. And after he had eaten 
 the passover himself, the disciples sung an hymn. — 
 Matt. xxvi. 30. 
 
 The primitive Christians appear universally to 
 have observed the custom of thanksgiving. We read 
 that St. Paul, when he had spoken, took breads and 
 gave thanks to God in the presence of them alt, and 
 when he had broken it, began to eat. — Acts xxvii. 35. 
 In the days immediately following the apostles, we 
 trace this practice in the writing of the fathers, 
 particularly in the Clementine constitutions, in Chry- 
 sostom, and Origen. — Burder. 
 
 Let us never be ashamed to look up to Heaven and 
 acknowledge God as the unbounded source of uni- 
 versal good. 
 
 NO. 512. — SEALING VICTIMS FOR SACRIFICE. 
 
 vi. 27. Him hath God the Father sealed. 
 
 Most Christians believe that our blessed Lord laid 
 down his life as an atonement for the sin of the world : 
 and to this he seems to allude, ver. 51 — the bread that 
 I will give, is my flesh, which I will give for the life 
 of the world ; -^nd to this circumstance the saying 
 above seems evidently to refer. It certainly wa« a 
 custom among nations contiguous to Judea, to set a 
 seal upon the victim that was deemed proper for 
 sacrifice. The following account of the methods of 
 
448 JOHN. 
 
 providini^ white bulls among the Egyptians, for 
 sacrifices to the god Apis, will cast some light on this 
 subject. Herodotus says, that if they find one black 
 hair on him, they deem him unclean. The Priest 
 examines the animal both standing up and lying down ; 
 afterwards he draws out his tongue, to see by certain 
 signs whether it be clean ; and if the animal be 
 found without blemish, he signifies it by binding 
 a label to his horns ; then applying wax, seals it with 
 his ring, and the beast is led away. To sacrifice an 
 tinsealed beast is punished with death. 
 
 The Jews could not be unacquainted with the rites 
 and ceremonies of the Egyptian worship ; and it is 
 possible, that such precautions as these were in use 
 among themselves ; as they were strictly enjoined to 
 have their sacrifices " without spot, and without ble- 
 mish." God, infinite in holiness and justice, found 
 Jesuj; Christ to be a lamb without spot or imperfection, 
 and therefore sealed him ; pointed out and accepted 
 him as a proper sacrifice for the sins of mankind. 
 Collate this passage with Heb. vij. 26, 27, 28,— Eph. 
 V. 27,-2 Peter iii. 14, and Heb. ix. 13, 14, If the 
 blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer, 
 sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth; how much more 
 shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal 
 JSpirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge 
 your conscience from dead works tp serpe the living 
 God ? — Harmer, 
 
 NO. 513. — THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 
 
 vii. 37. Jn the last day, that great day of the feast, 
 Jesus stood and cried, saying. If any man thirst, 
 let him come unto me and drink. 
 The last day grew into high esteem with the 
 
JOttN. 443 
 
 nation, because on the preceding seven days''«= they 
 held that sacrifices were offered, not 90 much foi* 
 themselves, as for the whole world. They offered, in 
 the course of them, seventy bullocks, for the seventy 
 nations of the world ; but the eij^hth was wholly on 
 their own behalf. At the passover, the Jews offered 
 an omer, to obtain from God his blessing on their 
 harvest: at pentecost, iheir first fruits, to request his 
 blessing on the fruits of the trees ; and in the feast of 
 tabernacles they offered water to God, partly refer- 
 ring to the water from the rock in the wilderness, 
 1 Cor. X. 4, but chiefly to solicit the blessing of rain 
 on the approaching seed-time* These waters they 
 drew out of Siloah, and brought them into the temple 
 at the sound of the trumpet and great rejoicing.— 
 
 Lightfooi. 
 Our Lord, according to his general custom, em- 
 braces the occasion of their offering water at this 
 feast, to summon them to himself as the living foun- 
 tain. — If any ma?i thirst, let him come unto me and 
 drink. 
 
 If any man thirst, and happy would be. 
 The vilest and worst may come unto me ; 
 May drink of my spirit, excepted is none, 
 Lay claim to my luefit, and take for his own. 
 
 NO. 614. — JEStJS CHRIST THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD* 
 
 viii. 12. I am the light of the world; 
 
 The fountain whence all intellectual light and 
 
 spiritual understanding proceed : without me all ia 
 
 darkness, misery, and death. The Divine Being was 
 
 by the Rabbins denominated, the light of the world, 
 
 * Lev. xxiii. 34i 
 
 Ff 
 
^ JOHN. 
 
 So in Bamidbar Rabba, — " the Israelites said to 
 God, * O Lord of the universe, thou commandest us 
 to light lamps to thee, yet thou art the light of the 
 world, Qud with thee the light dwelleth.' " Our Lord 
 therefore assumes here a well known character of the 
 Supreme Being ; and with this we find the Jews were 
 greatly offended. 
 
 Some suppose our Lord alludes to the custom of 
 lighting lamps, or torches, on the first day of the feast 
 of tabernacles : but as these words seem to have been 
 spoken the day after that last and great day of the 
 least, mentioned chap. vii. 37, they may rather \i^ 
 considered as referring to the following custom :—r 
 the Jews added a ninth day to this feast ; which d^y 
 they termed, the feast of joy for the law ; and on that 
 day they were accustomed to take all the sacred 
 books out of the chest where they had been deposited, 
 niid put a lighted candle in their place, in allusion tp 
 Prov. vi. 23. — For the commandment is a lamp (or 
 candle) : the law is light. Or to Psalm cxix. 1 1 ,^.— r 
 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unt<) 
 my path. If this custom existed in the time of our 
 Lord, it is most likely that it is to it he here alludes, 
 as it must have happened about the same time in 
 which these words were spoken. 
 
 The sun, the fountain of light, is also the fquntaia 
 of life; by his vivifying influences all things live; 
 neither animal nor vegetative life could exist, were it 
 not for his influence. Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness, 
 Mai. iy. 2, is the fountain of all spiritual and eternal 
 life : his light brings life with it, and they who walk 
 in his light, live in his life. This sentiment is beau- 
 tifully expressed and illustrated in the following 
 
JOHN. 454 
 
 fjiimitable verse of that second Spencer, Phineas 
 Fletcher : speaking of the conversion of a soul to 
 God, he says, 
 
 New light new love, new love new life hath bred ; 
 A life that lives by love, and loves by light : 
 A love to him, to whom all loves are wed j 
 A light, to whom the sun is darkest night : 
 Eye's light, heart's love, soul's only life he is : 
 Life, soul, love, heart, light, eye, and all are his. 
 
 Clarke, 
 
 NO. 515. — DESCRIPTION OF THE TREASURY. 
 
 viii. 20. These words spake Jesus in the treasury, 
 Lightfoot says, that the treasury was in what was 
 called the court of the women ; that there were thir- 
 teen chests in it : in the thirteenth only, the women 
 were permitted to put their offerings. Probably the 
 other twelve were placed there in reference to the 
 twelve tribes ; each, perhaps, inscribed with the name 
 of one of Jacob's twelve sons. 
 
 These chests were for receiving the voluntary 
 contributions of the people towards defraying the 
 charges of public worship ; such as providing the 
 public sacrifices, wood for the altar, salt, and other 
 necessaries. That part of the area where these chests 
 were placed was the treasury, — Mark xii. 41. Per- 
 haps the whole court, or at least the piazza on one 
 side, with the chambers over it, in which the sacred 
 stores were kept, was from hence called by the game 
 name. — Jennings. 
 
 NO. 516. — EASTERN MANNER OF LEADING SHEEP. 
 
 X. 4. IVhen he putieth forth his own sheep he goetk 
 FfC 
 
452 JOHN. 
 
 before them, and the sheep follow him; for they 
 know his voice, 
 
 Polybius, in his twelfth book, tells us, that the flocks 
 in the island of Cyrnoo, upon the landing of any 
 strangers, in order to lay hold of them, immediately 
 run away : but that when the shepherd, upon observ- 
 ing the attempt, stoutly blows the horn, they imme- 
 diately scamper towards it. Nor, says he, is it at all 
 wonderful that they should be thus compliant with, 
 the sound ; since, in Italy the keepers of swine do not 
 observe the custom of Greece in following their herd; 
 but going before them, to some distance, they sound 
 their horn, and the herd immediately follow them, 
 flocking to the sound ; and so accustomed are they to 
 their own horn, as to excite no little astonishment at 
 the first hearing of it. — BulkUy, 
 
 A true pastor not only preaches, but he lives, the 
 truth of the gospel : he enters into the depths of the 
 salvation of God ; and having thus explored the path, 
 he knows how to lead those who are entrusted to his 
 care into the fulness of the blessings of the gospel of 
 peace. He who does not endeavor to realize in his 
 own soul the truths which he preaches to others, will 
 soon be as salt without its savour. — Clarke, 
 
 NO. 517.--SHEPHKRDS KNOW THEIR SHEEP. 
 
 jt. 14. / am the good shepherd , and know my sheepl 
 and am known of mine. 
 I know them that are mine ; I know their hearts, 
 their wishes, their purposes, their circumstances, and 
 I approve of them ; for in this sense the word to know 
 is often taken in the scriptures. Homer represents the 
 
. JOHN. 458 
 
 goat-herds as being so well acquainted with their own, 
 though mixed with others, as easily to distinguish them. 
 
 As goat-herds separate their num'rous flocks 
 With ease, though fed promiscuous. 
 
 They know me as their father, protector, and 
 saviour : they acknowledge me and my truth before 
 the world ; and they approve of me. my word, my 
 ordinances, and my people ; and manifest this by their 
 attachment to me, and their zeal for my glory, — 
 
 Clarke. 
 
 NO. 518. — DIVISION OF THE DAY. 
 
 xi. 9. Are there not twelve hours in the day? 
 The division of time with the Jews was purely 
 arbitrary. Formerly, the Hebrews and Greeks divided 
 the day only according to the three sensible differ- 
 ences of the sun ; when it rises, — when it is at the 
 highest point of elevation above the horizon, — arid 
 when it sets ; that is, they divided the day only into 
 morning, noon, and night. These are the only parts 
 of a day which we find mentioned in the Old Testa- 
 ment ; the day not being yet divided into twenty-four 
 hours. Since that, the Jews and Romans divided the 
 day (that is, the space between the rising and the 
 setting of the sun) into four parts, consisting each of 
 three hours ; but those hours were different from ours ; 
 in this respect, — that ours are always equal, being 
 always the four and twentieth part of the day ; where- 
 as with them the hour was a twelfth part of the time 
 which the sun continued above the horizon. Asthi^ 
 time is longer in summer than in winter, their summer 
 hours must be longer than their winter ones. The 
 first hour began at sun-rising ; noon was the sixth ; 
 
454 JOHN. 
 
 and the twelfth ended at sun-set. The third hour 
 divided the space between sun-rising and noon ; and 
 the ninth divided that which was between noon and 
 sun-set. It is with relation to this division of the day 
 that Christ says, Are there not twelve hours in the day ? 
 
 Burder, 
 
 NO. 519. — MANNER OF COMFORTINp MOURNERS. 
 
 xi. 19. Many of the Jews came to MartJiaand Mary, 
 to comfort them concerning their brother. 
 This was a common practice of the Jews after a 
 funeral , but they did not allow of it before. The first 
 office of this kind was done when they returned from 
 the grave : the mourners stood in their place in a row, 
 and all the people passed by : every man, as he came 
 to the mourner, comforted him, and passed on. Be- 
 sides these consolations, there were others adminis- 
 tered at their own houses during the first week ; and 
 it was on the third day, more particularly, that these 
 consolatory visits were paid. It was reckoned an act 
 of great piety and mercy to comfort mourners. — Gill. 
 
 NO. 520. — CUSTOM OF VISITING THE GRAVES OF DE- 
 PARTED FRIENDS. 
 
 X\. 31. She goethunto the grave to weep there. 
 Dr. Pococke informs us, that the Jews sometimes 
 visited the graves of their friends, to pray, as well as 
 to weep ; and at other times their visits were purely 
 to lament their loss. This prevails among the Turks, 
 whose women, on Friday, their day of worship, go 
 before sun-rising to the grave of the deceased, where 
 they mourn, and sprinkle their monuments with water 
 and flowers.— &'t7/. 
 
JOHN. m 
 
 The East Indians, \ti mourning for the dead, appear 
 to express their sorrow much in the same manner. 
 Mr. Fountain says, " this morning, w^ien I awoke, I 
 beard a great noise niside by a number of people on 
 the bank of the tank, near my bungalou.=* I went t6 
 see what was the matter : and found a number of 
 women and girls assembled to lament over the grave 
 of a lad who had been killed by a wild buffalo ten days 
 before. The mother sat on the earth, at one end of 
 the grave, leaning herself upon it, and bitterly ex- 
 claiming, " Amor Banban ! Amor Banban !" Oh my 
 child ! my child ! On the other end of the grave sat 
 another female, who was expressing her grief in a 
 i^milar manner. This is one of the usual customs of 
 the Mahommedans, who make lamentations for their 
 friends ten days after their decease. — Burder. 
 
 Chardin says, that the Persians, particularly, visit 
 their burial-places in the morning or in the evening, 
 having all their children with them, both great and 
 small. There they sit themselves, to lament the dead 
 with cries and tears, beating their breasts, tearing 
 their faces and their hair, intermingled with long 
 recitals of their former conversations with the de-' 
 ceased. The constant burthen of these lamentations 
 is, *' Rough I Rough ! Soul ! Spirit ! Whither art 
 thou gone? Wherefore dost thou not continue to 
 animate this body ? " And then, " Body, wherefore 
 didst thou die ? pidst thou want gold or silver, gar- 
 ments, pleasures, the tender caresses of those near to 
 thee ? " — and such like impertinences. They sometimes 
 leave offerings of cakes, fruits, and sweetmeats ; which 
 are, they say, for the guardian angels of the sepulchre, 
 to render them favorable to the deceased. — ffarmer. 
 * An accommodation boat, used as an occasional residence. 
 
456 JOHN. 
 
 NO. 521.— DESCRIPTION OF ANCIENT SEPULCHRES. 
 xu 44. ^nd he that was dead cameforth^ bound hand 
 and foot with grave-clothes. 
 
 The Jewish sepulchres were generally caves or 
 rooms hewn out of rocks : and as the Jews did not 
 make use of coffins, they placed their dead separately, 
 in niches, or little cells, cut into the sides of those 
 caves or rooms. — MaundrelL 
 
 This form of the Jewish sepulchre suggests an 
 easy solution of a very important difficulty in the 
 history of Lazarus's resurrection. It is said, that 
 when Jesus called upon Lazarus to come forth, he 
 came forth bound hand and foot. But deists, talking 
 of this miracle, commonly ask, with a sneer, how he 
 could come out of a grave, who was bound in that 
 manner? The answer however is obvious. The 
 Evangelist does not mean that Lazarus walked out 
 of the sepulchre ; but that, lying on his back, he 
 raised himself into a sitting posture, then putting his 
 legs over the edge of his niche or cell, slid down 
 and stood upright upon the floor ; all which he 
 might easily do, notwithstanding his arms were 
 close bound to his body, and his legs were tied 
 strait together, by means of the shroud and 
 rollers with which he was swathed. Accordingly, 
 when he was come forth, it is said, that Jesus ordered 
 them to loose him and let him go ; a circumstance 
 plainly importing, that the historian knew that 
 Lazarus could not walk 'till he was unbound. — 
 
 Macknight, 
 
 How sha{l I leave my tomb ? 
 \\ ith triumph or regret ? 
 A fearful cr a joyful doom, 
 A curse, or blessin ' meet ? 
 
JOHN. 467 
 
 NO. 622.— -EXCOMMUNICATION AMONG THE JEWS. 
 
 xvi. 2. They shall put you out of the synagogues. 
 There were three degrees of excommunication 
 among the Jews ; the first is what is called in the New 
 Testament casting out of the synagogue, and signifies 
 a separation from all commerce or society ; it was of 
 force thirty days, but might be shortened by re- 
 pentance. If the person persisted in his obstinacy 
 after the thirty days were expired, they excommuni- 
 cated him again, with the addition of a solemn curse. 
 This is supposed by some, to be the same with de- 
 livering over to Satan. The offence was published 
 in the synagogue ; at which time candles were lighted, 
 and when the proclamation was ended, they were 
 extinguished, as a sign that the person excommu- 
 nicated was deprived of the light of Heaven. His 
 goods were confiscated ; his male children were not 
 admitted to circumcision, and if he died without 
 repentance, a stone was cast upon his coffin or bier, to 
 shew that he deserved to be stoned, and he was 
 not mourned for with any solemn lamentation. The 
 last degree of excommunication was anathametizing, 
 which was inflicted when the offender had often 
 refused to comply with the sentence of the court, and 
 was attended with corporal punishment, and some- 
 times with banishment and death. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 623.— EASTERN LAMPS AND LANTERNS. 
 
 xviii. 3. Judas having received a band of men, and 
 officers from the chief Priests and Pharisees, conieth 
 thither with lanterns^ 
 Norden, speaking of the lamps and lanterns com* 
 
 monly made use of at Cairo, says, " the lamp is of thq 
 
JOHN. 
 
 palm-tree wood, of the height of twenty-three inches, 
 and made in a very gross manner. The glass that 
 hangs in the middle is half filled with water, and has 
 oil on the top, about three fingers in depth. The 
 wick is preserved dry at the bottom of the glass, 
 where they have contrived a place for it, and it ascends 
 through a pipe. The lanterns have pretty nearly the 
 figure of a cage, and are made of reeds. It is a col- 
 lection of five or six glasses, like that of the lamp 
 just described. They suspend them by cords in the 
 middle of the streets, when th^re is any great festival 
 at Cairo, and put painted paper in place of the 
 reeds. 
 
 Were these the lanterns made use of by those who 
 came to take Jesus ? or were they such lamps as tlte^e 
 that Christ referred to in the parable of the virgins ? 
 or are we rather to suppose, that these lanterns are 
 appropriated to the Egyptian illuminations, and that 
 Pococke's account of the lanterns of this country, wHl 
 give us a better idea of those that were anciently used 
 at Jerusalem ? Speaking of the travelling of the peo- 
 ple of Egypt, he says, " by night they rarely make use 
 of tents, but lie in the open air, having large lanterns, 
 made like a pocket paper lantern, the bottom and top 
 being of copper tinned over, and instead of paper they 
 are made with linen, which is extended by hoops ol 
 wire ; so that when it is put together, it serves as a 
 candlestick, &c. ; and they have a contrivance to 
 bang it up abroad, by means of three staves. — Marmer, 
 
 NO. 524.— JUDGMENT AMONG THE JEWS. 
 
 xviiii 28, The kail of judgment. 
 The party accused, when he wa» upon his trial ^ 
 
;roHN. 459 
 
 ood in an eminent place in the court, that the 
 people might see him, and hear what was alledged 
 against him, and the defence made by the criminal. 
 There were two notaries in court ; one stood on the 
 right hand of the Judge to write the sentence of 
 absolution, the other stood on the left to write the 
 sentence of condemnation. These tribunals Were 
 strict in the examination of witnesses. They had a 
 rule, that whoever gave a false testimony was subject 
 to the same penalty that the person would have 
 sufl^red if he had been cast by his false accusation. 
 The sentence was pronounced in this manner :-▼- 
 *' Thou Simeon art just." " Thou Reuben art guilty." 
 When the sentence was delivered, the witnesses, if 
 the case was capital, put their hands upon the head 
 of the condemned person and said, " Thy blood be 
 upon thy own head." Then was the malefactor led 
 to execution, and no one was allowed openly to lament 
 his misfortune. As he was led to be executed, a 
 public crier went before, saying, with an audible 
 voice, " Such an one is going to be punished with such 
 a death, &c. if any one knows any thing that can be 
 offered to his advantage, let him come forth and give 
 his evidence." If any thing could be advanced on 
 his defence, he was indulged with the liberty of re- 
 turning four or five times. When the criminal came 
 within ten cubits of the place of execution, two of 
 the scholars of the wise men exhorted him to confess ; 
 and after giving him a stupifying draught, the exe- 
 cution took place. — Lewis, 
 
 NO. 525.— FISH FOUND IN THE SEA OF TIBERIAS. 
 
 xxi. 11. ^imon Peter went up, and drew the net to 
 
460 JOHN. 
 
 land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty, an 
 
 three. 
 
 Travellers inform us, that the sea of Tiberias, i 
 Galilee, abounds with fish, and some of them ver 
 large. Hasselquist says, that several sorts of the fis 
 in this great lake are the same with those found in th 
 Nile; a circumstance which he thinks remarkabl 
 Maillet assures us, that notwithstanding the prod 
 gious quantity of fish in the Nile, there are scarce an 
 which resemble those that are taken in the rivers ( 
 Europe, except the eel. Egmont and Hayman te 
 us, that the fish common to the sea of Galilee and th 
 Nile are the karmud and the bonni, which they sa 
 commonly weigh about thirty pounds apiece. On 
 hundred and fifty-three fishes of this size, or half thi 
 size, might well be supposed by St. John greatly t 
 endanger the net in which they were taken. - 
 
 Harmei 
 
 Once more the gospel net we cast, 
 
 J)p thou, O Lord, the effort own ; 
 
 We learn from disappointments past. 
 
 To rest our hope on thee alone. Brackenbury. 
 
 NO. 526.— STRETCHING FORTH THE HANDS, A TOKEI 
 OF SUBMISSION. 
 
 xxi. 18. When thou shall he old, thou shall streta 
 
 forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, ant 
 
 carry thee whither thou wouldest not. 
 
 It was customary in the ancient combats for th( 
 
 vanquished person to stretch out his hands to the 
 
 conqueror ; signifying, that he declined the battle, 
 
 acknowledging that he was conquered, and submitting 
 
 to the directions of the victor. Thus Theocritus ;— 
 
 And hands uprais'd, with death-presaging mind. 
 At once the fight and victory detlin'd. 
 
JOHN, 461 
 
 So also Turnus in Virgil : — 
 
 Thine is the conquest ; lo, the Latian bands, 
 Behold their Gen'ral stretch his suppliant hands. 
 
 In the instance now above cited, the stretching 
 out of the hands was to be a token of submission to 
 that power under which he would fall and perish.— 
 
 Burder. 
 
 ACTS, 
 
 NO. 527. — APOSTOLIC MANNER OF CASTING LOTS. 
 
 i. 26. And they gave forth their lots ; and the lot fell 
 upon Matthias^ 
 The account which Grotius gives of the 
 manner in which lots were cast, seems very probable 
 and satisfactory. He says, they put their lots into 
 two urns, one of which contained the names of Joseph 
 and Matthias, and the other a blank and the word 
 "Apostle." In drawing these out of the urns, the blank 
 came up with the name of Joseph, and the lot on 
 which was written the word "Apostle" came up with 
 the name of Matthias. This being in answer to 
 their prayers, they concluded, that Matthias was the 
 man whom the Lord had chosen to the apostleship. — 
 
 Burder, 
 
 NO. 528. — THE FOtLY OF OPPOSING GOD. 
 
 V. 39. If it he of God, ye cannot overthrow it ; lest 
 
 haply ye be found even to fight against God. 
 
 Ye cannot overthrow it, because the counsel of God 
 
 cannot faiJ ; and his work cannot be counteracted. 
 
 If he be determined that this doctrine shall prevail. 
 
46^ ACT?I. 
 
 it is rain for us to attempt to suppress it. Lest haphj^ 
 befound even to fight against God. Some have thought 
 that they saw a parallel to these words in the speech 
 of Diomede, when seeing Mars associated with Hec- 
 ior, oppose the Grecians, he judged farther opposition 
 vain, and desired his troops to retire from the battle. 
 
 Protected always by some pow'r divine ; 
 
 And Mars attends this moment at his side. 
 
 In form a man. Ye therefore still retire. 
 
 But facing still your foes : nor battle wage, 
 
 However fierce, yet fruitless, with the gods. Iliad. 
 
 Clarke, 
 
 No. 529. — DISTRIBUTION OF ALMS. 
 
 vi. 1. There arose a murmuring of the Grecians 
 
 against the Hebrews, because their widows were 
 
 neglected in the daily ministration. 
 
 A distribution of alms was made every day. This 
 practice obtained among the Jews in common ; for 
 they used to collect every day for the poor, and give 
 it daily to them. Maimonides speaks of it in this 
 i^^nner : — " They appoint collectors, who receive 
 every day, from every court, a piece of bread, or any 
 sort of foods fruit, or money, from whomsoever that 
 offers freely ; and they divide that which is collected, 
 in the evening, among the poor, giving to every one 
 his daily sustenance." From hence the apostles 
 might have adopted the custom of daily ministra- 
 tion to the poor. — Burder. 
 
 The Grecians here spoken of were not such as are 
 elsewhere called Greeks, either as being of that 
 nation, or more generally taken for Gentiles at large ; 
 but they were Jews, descended from such of them 
 v/ho, in national calamities, left their country, and fled 
 
ACTS. 463 
 
 to Alexandria, and other places, yet kept themselves 
 unmixed with other nations, and came to worship upon 
 the solemn feasts. In consequence of disusing the 
 Hebrew language, they were more acquainted with 
 the Greek tongue, w^hich was commonly spoken every 
 where, and used the scriptures translated into that 
 language, which made them the rather called Helle«« 
 nigt«, or Grecians. — Pool, 
 
 NO. 530. — DESCRIPTION OF THE LIBERTINES. 
 
 ri. 9. Then there arose certain of the synagogue^ 
 which is called the synagogue of the Libertines. 
 Great numbers of the Jews who were taken cap- 
 tive by Pompey, and carried iilto Italy, were there 
 set at liberty, and obtained their freedom from their 
 masters ; their children therefore would be Libertini 
 in the proper sense of that word ; and, agreeably to 
 this, the Jews banished from Rome by Tiberius are 
 spoken of by Tacitus as of the libertine race. These 
 might easily constitute one of the 480 synagogues 
 said to have been at Jerusalem. — Burder, 
 
 Suidas, in his lexicon, says, that it is the name of 
 a people. It appears, that there was in Lybia a 
 town or district called Libertina, whovse inhabitants 
 bore the name of Liheriines. They were Jews, and 
 came up as the Cyrenian and Alexandrian Jews did, 
 to bring their offerings to Jerusalem, and to worship 
 God in the Xem^lQ. -^Bishop Fearce, 
 
 NO. 5SI. — KICKING AGAINST THE GOADS. 
 
 ix. 5. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 
 
 Tl)is is a proverbial expression, which exists both 
 
 in the Greek and I^atia writers. The origin of the 
 
464 ACT^. 
 
 proverb seems to have been this : sometimes it hap- 
 pens that a restive or stubborn ox kicks back against 
 the goad, and thus wounds himself more deeply : 
 hence it has become a proverb, to signify the fruit- 
 lessness and absurdity of rebelling against lawful au- 
 thority ; and the getting into greater difficulties by en- 
 deavoring to avoid trifling sufferings. 
 
 I, who am a frail mortal, should rather sacrifice to 
 him who is a God, than, by giving place to anger, kick 
 against the goads. — Euripides, 
 
 It Is profitable to bear wUlingly the assumed yoke. 
 To kick against the goad, is pernicious condnrt. 
 
 Pindar. 
 
 Intelligent men, in all countries and in all ages of 
 the world, have seen and acknowledged the folly and 
 wickedness of fighting against God ; of murmuring 
 at the dispensations of his providence, and of opposing 
 the purposes of his justice and mercy. The fable of 
 the viper and the file is another illustration of this 
 proverb : the viper gnawed and licked the file, 'till 
 it had destroyed its teeth, and wasted away iti 
 ioii^xxe.— Clarke. 
 
 NO. 532.- SANDALS WORN IN THE EAST. 
 
 xii. 8. Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals, 
 Rauwolf informs us, that the Arabs of the Desart, 
 when they are not able to buy shoes, take, instead of 
 them, the necks of Undressed skins, and put them 
 about their feet with the hair outwards, and so tie 
 and lace them up. This is probably the most an- 
 cient, because it is the most simple way. 
 
 Thevenot says, that the rich people in those 
 countries wear socks and slippers of red or yellow 
 
ACTS. 466 
 
 Jmorocco. Red is considered as the most magnificent 
 covering for the feet : hence we find Bishop Pococke 
 making a present of a pair of red shoes, with some 
 other things, to the Sheikh of Cous. — Harmer, 
 
 NO. 533 THE GODS SUPPOSED TO BE EARTHLY VI- 
 SITORS. 
 
 xiv. It. The gods are come down to us in the likeness 
 of men. 
 
 It appears from numberless passages in the Heatlien 
 writers, that they supposed the gods often descended 
 in the likeness of men. Thus Homer represents one 
 of his personages, in the character of a suitor, re- 
 commending hospitality to strangers by saying, 
 
 if in this low disguise 
 Wander perhaps some inmate of the skies : 
 They (curious oft of mortal actions) deign 
 In forms like these to round the earth and main, 
 Just and unjust recording in their mind. 
 And with sure eyes inspecting all mankind. ^ 
 
 Burder. 
 Ovid had a similar notion where he represents 
 Jupiter coming down to visit the earth ; which 
 seems to be copied from Gen. xviii. 20, 21. — And the 
 Lord said. Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah 
 is great, and because their sin is very grievous, I 
 will go down now, and see whether they have done 
 altogether according to the cry of it, which is come 
 unto me; and if not, I will k?iow, 
 
 Tlie clamours of this vile degen'rate age. 
 The cries of orphans, and the oppressor's rage. 
 Had reach'd the stars : ' I will descend,' said I, * 
 In hope to prove this loud complaint a lie. 
 Disguised in human shape, I travelled round 
 The world, and more than what I heard, I found. 
 
 DUYDEN. 
 
466 ACTS. 
 
 It was a settled belief among the Egyptians, that 
 Iheir gods, sometimes in the likeness of men, and 
 -sometimes in the likeness of animals which they held 
 sacred, descended to the earth, and travelled through 
 -diflferent provinces, to punish, reward, and protect. 
 
 The Hindoo avatars, or incarnations of their gods, 
 prove how generally this opinion prevailed. We 
 need not wonder to find it in Lycaonia. — Clarke. 
 
 NO. 534. — OBLATION OF TONGUES. 
 
 itiv. 12. And Paul, Mercurius ; because he was the 
 chief speaker. 
 The Greeks had a custom of making an oblation 
 of tongues at the conclusion of their sacrifices, pouring 
 on them a libation of wine. This was to purge them- 
 selves from any evil words which they might have 
 uttered : or because the tongue was reckoned the best 
 partof the sacrifice, and so reserved for the comple- 
 tion of it : or they offered the tongues to the gods, 
 as witnesses of what they had spoken. They offered 
 the tongue to Mercury, because they believed him 
 the giver of eloquence. Upon this practice Dacier 
 remarks, that the people feared, lest, through wine 
 and the joy of the festival, they might have uttered 
 some words unbecoming the sanctity of the occasion; 
 By the sacrifice of tongues, they signified, that they 
 purged away whatever they had spoken amiss during 
 the festival ; and asked pardon of Mercury, Who pre- 
 sided over discourse, that they might not carry home 
 .any uiicleanness, which might prevent the communi- 
 cation of the blessings expected from the sacrifice.—i 
 
 Burden 
 
ACTS. 467 
 
 MO. 535.— SACRIFICES CROWNED WITH CHAPLETS. 
 xiv. 13. Then the Priest of Jupiter , who was hefor% 
 the city^ brought oxen and garlands unto the gatea^ 
 and would have done sacrifice with the people. 
 It was customary to build temples to their tutelar 
 deities in the suburbs of the cities, and to set up their 
 images before the city, at the gates. According to 
 this practice, the Priest of that Jupiter who was eg- 
 teemed the tutelar deity of the place, and whose 
 image was placed in a temple erected to him before 
 the city, brought oxen and garlands, to offer a sacri- 
 fice to Barnabas and Paul. They used to crown both 
 the images of their deities, and the victims they offered 
 to them, with chaplels and flowers. 
 
 The victim ox, that was for altars prest, 
 
 Iriram'd with white ribbons, and with garlands drest, 
 
 3unk of himself, without the god's command, 
 
 Preventing the slow sacrificer's hand. 
 
 Dryden. 
 
 The Heathens considered their several images, of 
 Jupiter for instance, as so many distinct Jupiters ; 
 that is, as having some spirit sent from the god, to 
 whom their worship was ultimately referred, to 
 reside in them. This circumstance. Bishop Warburton 
 observes, may account for the dispute between two 
 Jupiters, mentioned by Suetonius. — Doddridge^ 
 
 The garlands were for the most part made of 
 cypress ; sometimes of the pine-tree ; and of other 
 leaves and flowers, such as were peculiar to the gods. 
 jSomething similar to these practices obtained amongst 
 the Jews at the offering of their first-fruits. — Burder. 
 
 Gg2 
 
468 ACTS. 
 
 NO. 536. — UNCOVERED BUILDINGS, PLACES OF WORSHIP. 
 xv'u 13. On the sabbath we went out of the city by a 
 river side, where prayer was wont to be made. 
 The proseiicha was a place of prayer, or a place 
 used for worship, where there was no synagogue. It 
 -was a large building, uncovered, with seats, as in an 
 amphitheatre. Buildings of this sort the Jews had by 
 the sea side, and by the sides of rivers. It appears, 
 that the Apostles had heard from some of the Gentiles, 
 or from some of the Jews themselves, that there was 
 a place of prayer by the river side ; and they went 
 out in quest of it, knowing that as it was the sabbath, 
 they should find some Jews there. — Clarke. 
 
 NO. 537.— EFFECTS OF THE SPIRIT OF DIVINATION, 
 
 xvi. 16. A certain damsel, possessed with a spirit of 
 
 divination, met us ; 
 
 Having a spirit of Python, or of Apollo. Pytho 
 
 was, according to fable, a huge serpent, that had an 
 
 oracle at Mount Parnassus, famous for predicting 
 
 future events; that Apollo slew this serpent, and 
 
 hence he was called Py thius, and became celebrated as 
 
 the foreteller of future events ; and that all those 
 
 who either could, or pretended to predict future 
 
 •events, were influenced by the spirit of Apollo Py thius. 
 
 Clarke, 
 Virgil has described an inflated Prophetess of this 
 kind:— 
 
 The virgin cries, "The God, behold the God!" 
 And straight her visage and her color change. 
 Her hair's dishevell'd, and herMieaving breast 
 And lab'ring heart are swoll'n with sacred rage ', 
 Largertshe seeras, her voice no mortal sound. 
 As the inspiring god near and more near 
 Seizes her soul. 
 
ACTS. 469 
 
 Archbishop Potter says, that there were few that 
 pretended to inspiration but raged after this manner, 
 foaming and yelling, sometimes gnashing their teeth, 
 shivermg and trembling, with a thousand antic 
 motions. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 538.— DESCRIPTION OF EASTERN STOCKS. 
 
 xvi. 24. And faade their feet fast in the stocks. 
 
 Tt is generally supposed, that these were the cippi, 
 or large pieces of wood, used among the RomaUvS, 
 which not only loaded the legs of prisoners, but some- 
 times distended them in a very painful manner; so 
 that it is highly probable, the situation of Paul and 
 Silas here, might be made more painful than that of an 
 offender sitting in the stocks, as used among us ; 
 especially if, as is very possible, they lay with their 
 bare backs, so lately scourged, on the hard or dirty 
 ground; which renders their joyful frame, expressed 
 by songs of praise, so much the more remarkable. 
 Beza explains it of the numellu, in which both the 
 feet and the neck were fastened, in the most uneasy 
 posture that can well be imagined. — Doddridge. 
 
 N0.539. — STRANGE GODS ADMITTED WITH DIFFICULTY. 
 
 xvii. 18. He seemeth tq he a setter forth of strange 
 gods. 
 The Romans were averse to strange gods, and 
 admitted of their worship with great difficulty. Dion 
 €assius says, that one of the blackest crimes of Sarda- 
 napalus was introducing into Rome the worship of 
 Heliogabalus. By the law of Athens, no foreign god 
 was to be admitted, 'till approved and licensed by the 
 Areopagus, which had the sole power in religious 
 
 O 
 
47a ACTS- 
 
 matters. Thejseverest laws were enacted at Athens ; 
 and every citizen was commanded, upon pain of death, 
 to worship the gods and heroes, as the laws of the 
 city required. They who observed not the appointed 
 ceremonies were immediately dragged to the court 
 of Areopa2:us. The cutting a twig out of a sacred 
 grove was a capital offence : even a fool has been 
 condemned for killing one of Esculapius's sparrows ; 
 and a child, accidentally taking up a plate of gold, 
 fallen from Diana's crown, was put to death for 
 iacrilege.— ^wrcZer. 
 
 NO. 540.— THE COURT OF THE AREOPAGITES. 
 
 xvW. 22. Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars-hilL 
 The court of the Areopagites, before which St. 
 Pa!il was now brought, was so named from the 
 place in which it was held, being on a hill, not far 
 from the city, called Areopagus. This court was of 
 high antiquity : it was instituted before the time of 
 Solon; but when, it is uncertain. It is also equally 
 unknown of what number this assembly was com- 
 posed. It is however certain, that it was the most 
 «acred and venerable tribunal in Greece. They were 
 very particular in examining the characters of sucb 
 persons as were admitted members of it. Any evi- 
 dence of intemperance, excluded from the office ; 
 and though the dignity was usually held for life^^ yet. 
 if any of the senators were convicted of immorality,, 
 they were expelled. The utmost gravity was pre- 
 served in this assembly ; and to laugh in their 
 presence was an unpardonable act of levity. Demos- 
 thenes tells "us, that so impartial were they in their 
 j^roceedings, that to his time there never had been §o 
 
ACTS. 4T1 
 
 much^ as one of their determination? of which there 
 had been any just reason to complain. Foreign states 
 frequently referred to their decision. They- had three 
 meetings every month ; and always sat in the open 
 air, — a custom practised in all- the courts of justice 
 that had cognizance of murder. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 541. — THE ANONYMOUS -ALTAR. 
 
 x.vii.23» As I passed by. and beheld your devotio7iSy. 
 
 I found an altar with., this insGTiptiQn,_ To the 
 
 unknown god. 
 
 From the express testimony of Lucian, we learn^ 
 t^iat there was such an inscription at Athens. Whence 
 itarose, or to what it particularly referred, is difficult 
 to say. Witsius understands it of. Jehovah, whose 
 name not being pronounced by the Jews themselves 
 might give occasion to this appellation. Dr. Welwood 
 supposes, that Socrates reared this altar, to expres«'t 
 his devotion to the one living and true God, of whom . 
 the Athenians had dq notion, and whose incomprehen- 
 sible being he insinuated, by this inscription, to be far 
 beyond the reach ,^of their understanding, or his own. 
 Hammond gives another explanation of the circum- 
 stance, which has appeared satisfactory to the learned.. 
 Diogenes Laertius, in his life of Epimenides, assures^- 
 us, that in the time of that Philosopher (about 600* ; 
 years before Christ) there was a terrible pestilence at = 
 Athens ; in order to avert which, when none of the- 
 deities to whom they sacrificed appeared able or^ 
 willing tp help them, Epimenides advised them to 
 bring some sheep to the Areopagus, and letting them- 
 loose from thence, to follpw them 'till they lay down, 
 Aftdthien to sacrifice them to the god near whpg*. 
 
472 ' ACTS. 
 
 temple or altar they then were. Now it seems pro- 
 bable that, Athens not being then so full of these 
 monuments of superstition as afterwards, these sheep 
 lay down in places where none of them were near, 
 and so occasioned the rearing of what the historian 
 calls, anonymous altars ; or altars, each of which had 
 the inscription, " To the unlcnovvn god ;" meaning 
 thereby, the deity who had sent the plague, whoever 
 he were: one of which altars at least, however it 
 might have been repaired, remained 'till St, Paul's 
 time, and long after. — Burder. 
 
 Shut up in unbelief, I groan, 
 And blindly serve a God unknown, 
 
 Till thou the veil remove ; 
 The gift unspeakable impart, 
 And write thy name upon my heart, 
 
 And manifest thy love. 
 
 NO. 542.— EASTERNS GIVE THEIR CHILDREN A TRADE. 
 
 xviii. 3. Because he was of the same craft, he abode 
 with them, and wrought ; for by their occupation 
 they were tent-makers. 
 
 It was a received custom among the Jews, for 
 every man, of what rank or quality soever, to learn 
 some trade or handy-craft. One of their proverbial 
 expressions is, that " whoever teaches not his son a 
 trade, teaches him to be a thief." In those hot coun- 
 tries, where tents were used, not only by soldiers but 
 by travellers and others whose business required them 
 to be abroad, a tent-maker was no mean or unprofit- 
 able employment. This custom, so generally practised 
 by the Jews, was adopted also by other nations in the 
 East. Sir Paul Rycaut observes, that the Grand 
 Seignior, to whom be was Ambassador, was taught to 
 
ACTS. 473 
 
 make wooden spoons. The intention of this usage 
 was not merely amusement, but to furnish the persons 
 so instructed with some method of obtaining their 
 living, should they ever be reduced to want and 
 poverty. — Burder, 
 
 NO. 543, — DESCRIPTION OF JEWISH SCHOOLS. 
 
 xix. 9. Disputing daily in tliS school of one Tyr annus. 
 Among the Jews there were two kinds of schools 
 wherein the law was taught, private and public. 
 Their private schools were those wherein a Doctor of 
 the law entertained his scholars, and were usually 
 styled houses of learning. Their public schools were 
 those where their consistories sat to resolve all diffi- 
 culties and differences of the law. The method of 
 teaching adopted in the schools is observable in the 
 scripture. When Jesus Christ was twelve years of 
 age he was found in the temple, in the midst of the 
 Doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions. 
 Luke ii. 44. Philo says, that among the Essenes the 
 children sat at the feet of their masters, who inter- 
 preted the law, and explained the figurative' and 
 allegorical sense of it, after the manner of the ancient 
 Philosophers. Among the Hebrews the Rabbins sat 
 on chairs that were raised : those scholars who were 
 the greatest proficients, were placed on benches just 
 below their masters ; and the younger sort sat on the 
 ground, on hassocks. St: Paul says, that he was 
 brought up at the feet of Gamaliel. — Acts xxii. 3. — 
 
 Calmet, 
 
 NO. 544. — THEATRES USED FOR PUBLIC BUSINESS. 1 
 
 xix. 29. They rushed with one accord into the Theatre. 
 Among the Greeks the theatres served, not only for 
 
474 ACTS. 
 
 tbe exhibition of public shows and games, but often 
 for holding public assemblies on affairs of the greatest 
 importance. Josephus says, " when the Alexandrians 
 were assembled concerning the embassy which they 
 were sending to Nero, many of the Jews crowded into 
 the amphitheatre with the Greeks." And again he 
 speaks of the Antiochians holding an assembly upon 
 public business in the theatre. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 645. — ORIGIN OF EASTERN LOVEtFEASTS.^ 
 
 XX. 7. Upon the first day of the week, when the Did- 
 ciples came together to break bread. 
 In the Jewish way of speaking, to break bread is 
 the same as to make a meal : and the meal here meant 
 seems to have been one of those which was called 
 " love-feasts." Such of the lieathens as were con- 
 verted to Christianity, were obliged to abstain from 
 meats offered to idols, which were the main support, 
 of the poor in the heathen cities. The Christians, 
 therefore, who were rich, seem very early to have 
 begun the custom of those love-feasts, which they 
 made on every first day of the week, chiefly for the 
 benefit of the poorer christians, who, by being, such, 
 had lost Ihe benefit, which they used to have for their 
 support, of eating part of the heathen sacrifices. It 
 was toW;ards the latter end of those feasts, or imme- 
 diately after them, that the Christians used to take 
 bread and wine in remembrance of Jesys. Christ, 
 which, from what attended it, wjSiS called the eucharist> 
 or holy communion. — Bishop Pearce. 
 
 Come, and let us sweetly join, 
 Christ to praise in lijnms divine! 
 C ive we all, with one accord. 
 Glory to our comrojn Lord^ 
 
ACTS. 47a 
 
 Hands, and hearts, and voices rai^ : 
 Sing as in the ancient days ; 
 Antedate the joys above. 
 Celebrate the feast of love. 
 
 NO. 646. — ROxMAN PRISONERS BOUND WITH CHAINS. 
 
 3LXi. 33. And commanded him to be bound with two 
 chains. 
 
 Prisoners amongst the Romans were fettered and 
 confined in a singular manner : one end of a chain, 
 which was of a commodious length, was fixed about 
 the right arm of the prisoner, and the other about the 
 left arm of a soldier. Thus a soldier was coupled to 
 the prisoner, and every where attended him. In this 
 manner was St. Paul confined, when he made his 
 incomparable apology before Festus. Sometimes the 
 prisoner was fastened to two soldiers, one on each 
 side. — See Acts xii. 6. — Burder. 
 
 In this treatment of the Apostle, was exactly ful- 
 filled what Agabushad prophesied concerning him — 
 verse 11. So does God provide, that not one word of 
 his servants, which they speak from him, shall fail ; 
 and that St. Paul should be heard before he was con- 
 demned. — Pool. 
 
 NO. 647. — MANNER OF EXPRESSING COMPLAINTS. 
 
 xxii. 23. TJiey cried out^ and cast of their cloiheSy 
 and threw dust into the air, 
 A great similarity appears between the conduct of 
 the Jews, when the chief Captain of the Roman garri- 
 son at Jerusalem presented himself in the temple, and 
 the behaviour of the Persian peasants, when they go 
 to court to complain of the Governors under whom 
 -they live, upou their oppressioa becoming intolerable* 
 
476 ACTJ?. 
 
 Sir J. Chardin informs us respecting; them, that thejr 
 carry their complaints against tlieir Governors by- 
 companies consisting of several hundreds, and some- 
 times of a thousand : they repair to that gate of. the 
 palace near to which their Prince is most likely to be ; 
 where they set themselves to make the most horrid 
 cries, tearing their garments, and throwing dust into 
 the air, at the same time demanding justice. The 
 King, upon heariug these cries, sends to know the 
 occasion of. them. The people deliver their com- 
 plaint in writing ; upon which he lets them know that 
 he will commit the cognizance of the affair to such 
 an one. In consequence of this^ justice is usually 
 done them. This tallies with the account given us of 
 the Jews ; and leads us to consider their conduct 
 merely as a demand of justice from the Roman Com^- 
 mandant in Jerusalem, according to the usual Asiatic- 
 form, which continues to this day. — Ilarmer. 
 
 NO. 548.^CUSTOM OF SMITING UPON THE MOUTH. 
 
 xxiii. 2. And the High-Priest Anajiias commanded 
 them that stood hy him, to smite on the mouth, 
 A similar modern instance of the brutality with 
 which criminals are treated in the East, occurs in 
 Hanway's travels. When Sadoc Aga, one of the 
 Chiefs of the Persian rebels, at Astrabad, in the year 
 1744, was brought before Nadir Shah's General, and 
 examined by him, he answered the questions put to 
 him, but lamented his miserable change of circum^ 
 stances in very pathetic terms ; upon which the Gene- 
 ral ordered him to be struck across the mouth, to 
 silence him ; which was done with such violence 
 that the blood issued forth. — Burder* 
 
ACTS. 477 
 
 no, 549.—- MANNER OF APPEAL AMONG THE ROMANS. 
 
 XXV. 11. I appeal unto Cesar. 
 This way of appealing was frequent among the 
 Romans, introduced to defend and secure the lives and 
 fortunes of the populace from the unjust encroach- 
 ments and over-rigorous severities of the Magistrates. 
 In cases of oppression, it was lawful to appeal for 
 redress and rescue. This practice was more than 
 once sanctioned by the Valerian laws. These appeals 
 were generally made in writing, by appellatory libels 
 given into the court, and containing an account of the 
 appellant, the person again^gt whom and from whose 
 sentence he appealed ; but where it was done in open 
 court, it was enough for the criminal verbally to de- 
 clare, that he did appeal. In great and weighty cases, 
 the appeal was made to the Prince himself ; where- 
 upon, not only at Rome but in all the provinces of the 
 empire, every Proconsul and Governor was strictly 
 forbidden to execute, scourge, bind, or put any badge 
 of servility upon a citizen, or any that had the privi- 
 lege of a citizen, who had made his appeal, or in any 
 way to hinder him from going to Rome to obtain 
 justice at the hands of the Emperor. In the case of 
 St. Paul, the privilege of appealing seems to have been 
 so fully established by the Roman laws, that Festus 
 durst not deny his demand. — Stackhouse, 
 
 ^0. 550.— SHIPS CARRYING THE IMAGES OF TUTELAR 
 , DEITIES. 
 
 xxviii. 11. We departed in a ship of Alexandria, 
 which had icintered in the isle, whose sign was 
 Castor and Pollux. 
 It was the custom of the ancients to have images 
 
478 ACTS. 
 
 on their ships, both at the head and stern ; the first of 
 which was called the sign, from which the ship wa» 
 named ; and the other was that of the tutelar deity to 
 whose care the ship was committed. There is no 
 doubt that they had sometimes deities at the head ; 
 and then it is most likely, if they had any figure at 
 the stern, it was the same ; as it is hardly probable the, 
 ship should be called by the name of one deity, and 
 be committed to the care of another. — Doddridge, 
 
 Castor and Pollux were supposed to be the sons of 
 Jupiter and Leda, to have the ordering of tempests 
 and the care of mariners, and hence were chosen for 
 the patrons of the ship. These two fabulous semi- 
 deities were afterwards translated to the Heavens, and 
 made the constellation Gemini or the twins. — Pool^ ^c. 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 NO. 551. — DEAD BODIES FASTENED TO LIVING ONES* 
 
 Tii. 24. Who shall deliver me from the body of this 
 death ! 
 Wretched manthat I am! do I often cry out 
 in such a circumstance, with no better supports and 
 incitements than the law can give. Who shall rescue 
 me, miserable captive that I am, from the body of this 
 death ? from this burden which I carry about with 
 me ; and which is cumbersome and odious as a dead 
 carcase tied to a living body, to be dragged along with 
 it wherever it goes. Some ancient writers mention 
 this as a cruelty, practised by some tyrants, on miser- 
 able captives who fell into their hands ; and a more 
 
ROMANS, 479 
 
 forcible and expressive image of the case represented, 
 cannot, surely, enter into the mind of man. — 
 
 Doddridge, 
 Who shall deliver me from this body of death, from 
 this dead body, this mass of sin to which T am fasten^ 
 ed, which is as offensive to my soul, as a dead carcase 
 to my senses? I thank God throu'gk Jesus Christ bur 
 . Lord. 
 
 NO. 552.— ADOPTION AMONG THE ROMANS. 
 
 Tiii. 23. iVaitingfor the adoptioriy to wit, the redemp- 
 tion of our body. 
 Among the Romans, there was a two-fold adoption, 
 the one private, the other public : the former was 
 only the act of tha person who was desirous of 
 receiving a stranger into his family, with respect to 
 the object of his choice, and was a transaction between 
 the parties ; the latter was an acknowledgment of it 
 in the forum, when the adopted person was solemnly 
 declared and avowed to be the son of the adopter. To 
 this circumstance, Mr. Howe supposes the Apostle 
 ialludes in these words. — Burder. 
 
 We would no longer lie, 
 
 Like slaves beneath the throne; 
 
 My faith shall Abba Father 017, 
 
 And thou the kindred own. 
 
 Watt*. 
 
 NO. 653. -EASTERN HOSPITALITY. 
 
 xii. 13. Given to hospitality. 
 
 Hospitality has always been highly esteemed 
 
 by civilized nations. It has been exercised from the 
 
 earliest ages of the world. The Old Testament 
 
 kfFor^s numerous instances of its being practised 
 
480 I. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 in the most free and liberal manner. In the New 
 Testament it is also recommended and enforced. The 
 primitive Christians were so ready in the discharge of 
 this duty, that even the Heathens admired them for it. 
 Hospitable as they were to all strangers, they were 
 particularly so to those who were of their own faith 
 and communion. In Homer, and the ancient Greek 
 writers, we see what respect they had for their guests. 
 From these instances we turn with satisfaction to 
 view the kind and friendly disposition of less polished 
 people. Modern travellers often mention the pleasing 
 reception they met with from those among whom 
 they made a temporary residence. 
 
 Volney, speaking of the Druzes, says, *' whoever 
 presents himself at their door, in the quality of a 
 suppliant or passenger, is sure of being entertained 
 with lodging and food, in the most generous and 
 unaffected manner. I have often seen the lowest 
 peasants give the last morsel of bread they had in 
 their houses to the hungry traveller." 
 
 The Hindoos extend their hospitality, sometimes 
 to enemies, saying, " the tree does not withdraw its 
 shade, even from the wood-cutter." — Burder, 
 
 I.CORINTHIANS. 
 
 NO." 554. — TREATMENT OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 iv, 13. We are made as the filth of the world, and are 
 
 the offscouring of all things unto this day. 
 
 Doddridge thus paraphrases, and in his 
 
 note explains, these words. — " We are made and 
 
 treated like the very filth of the world; like the 
 
V I.CORINTHIANS. 4^1 
 
 wretches whb, beiQg taken from the dregs of the peo- 
 ple, are offered asiexpiatory sacrifices to the infernal 
 deities among the Gentiles, and loaded with curses, 
 affronts, and injuries in the way to the altars at which 
 they are to bleed, — or like the refuse of all things lb 
 this day, the very sweepings of the streets and stalh, a 
 nuisance to all around us, and fit for nothing but to be 
 trampled upon by the meanest and vilest of mankind." 
 It refers to the custom of purifying a city by the 
 expiatory death of some person. For this purpose 
 they clothed a man in foul and filthy garments, and 
 then put him to death. When the city was visited 
 with any great calamity, they chose one of the lowest 
 persons in it, and brought him to a certain place, with 
 cheese, dry figs, and a cake in his hand. After beat- 
 ing him with rods, they burnt him and the rods tog-e- 
 ther in a ditch, and cast the ashes into the sea, with 
 these words, " Be thou a lustration for us." 
 
 The people of Marseilles, originally a Grecian colo- 
 ny, had a similar custom ; for we learn, from Servins, 
 that as often as they were atillcted with the pesti- 
 lence, they took a poor person, who otfered him- 
 self willingly, and kept him a whole year on the 
 choicest food, at the public expence. This man was^ 
 afterwards dressed up with vervain, in the sacred 
 •vestments, and led through the city, where he xyni^ 
 loaded with execrations, that all the misfortunes of 
 the state might rest on him, and was then thrown into 
 the sea. The Mexicans had a similar custom of keep- 
 ing a man a year, and even worshipping him durhs^ 
 that time, and then sacrificing him. — Burder^ 
 
 Hh 
 
482 I. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 NO. 555.— DESCRIPTION OF THE OLYMPIC CROWN. 
 
 ix, 26, They do it io vbtain a <:orruptible crown ; 
 but we an incorruptible. 
 It is well known, that the crown in the Olympic 
 games, sacred to Jupiter, was of wild-olive ; in the 
 Pythian, skcred to Apollo, of laurel ; in the Isthmian, 
 or Corinthian, solemnized in honor of Palemon, of 
 pine-tree ; and in the Nemean, of smellage, or parsley. 
 Now most of these were evergreens ; yet they would 
 soon grow dry and break to pieces. Eisner produces 
 many passages in which the contenders in these 
 exercises are rallied by the Grecian wits for the 
 extraordinary pains they took for such trifling re- 
 wards: and Plato has a celebrated passage, which 
 greatly resembles this of St. Paul, but by no means 
 equals it in beauty and force. — Doddridge. 
 
 Who in til' Olympic race the prize would gain. 
 Has borne from early youth fatigue and pain. 
 Excess of heat and cold has often tried, 
 iLove's softness banish'd, and the glass denied. 
 
 Horace, 
 
 If these gamesters could make such sacrifices to 
 obtain a garland of leaves, it must be a shame to 
 Christians not to walk by the rule of temperance to 
 obtain an incorruptible crown of glory. 
 
 NO. 556 —BEATING THE AIR. 
 
 ix, 26, 27. So fight /, 7iot as one that heateth the 
 air : but I keep under my body, and bring it into 
 subjection ; lest that by any means^ when I have 
 preached io others ^ £ myself should be a cast-away. 
 In order to attain the greater agility and dexterity. 
 
I. CORINTHIANS. 483 
 
 it was usual for those who intended to box in the 
 games, to exercise their arms with the gauntlet, when 
 they had no antagonist near them. But Bos has 
 taken a great deal of pains in his note here, to shew 
 that it is a proverbial expression for a man's missing his 
 blow, and spending it, not on his enemy, but upon 
 empty air. Dr. Doddridge renders the latter part of 
 our text thus : — " lest, after having served as an 
 Herald, I should be disapproved ;" and adds," I thought 
 it of importance to retain the primitive sense of these 
 gymnastic expressions. It is well known to those 
 who are at all acquainted with the original, that 
 the word expresses the discharging^ the office of an 
 Herald, whose business it was to proclaim the 
 conditions of the games, and display the prizes^ to 
 awaken the emulation of those who were to contend 
 in them. But the Apostle intimates, that there was 
 this peculiar circumstance attending the Christian 
 contest — that the person who proclaimed its laws 
 and rewards to others was also to engage himself ; and 
 that there would be a peculiar infamy and misery in 
 misparrying. The word which we render ca.9^-a2£?a7/ 
 signifies one who is disapproved by the Judge of the 
 games, as not having fairly deserved the prize." — 
 
 Burder. 
 This single text may give us a just notion of the 
 scriptural doctrine of election and reprobation; and 
 clearly shews us, that particular persons are not in 
 holy writ represented as elected absolutely and un- 
 conditionally to eternal life, or predestinated abso- 
 lutely and unconditionally to eternal death. — Wesley, 
 
 Hh2 
 
484 I.CORINTHIANS. 
 
 NO. 567.— THE CUP OF BLESSING, 
 
 X. IG. The cup of blessings which we bless. 
 This cup is so called, iu allusion to the cup of 
 -wine used at (Common meals, or at the passover among 
 the Jews ; which they used to take and bless God 
 with, and give him thanks for his mercies. It was 
 commonly called the cup of blessing. — GilL 
 
 •■■' no; 658.— ^meat sold in the shambles. 
 
 X. 25. Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, 
 asking no question for conscience sake. 
 
 The word rendered shambles, is made use of by La- 
 lin writers in the same sense as it is here — for a place 
 where food is sold. The original Of the name is said 
 to be this :— One IVfacillus, a very wicked andl profane 
 man, being condemned to die, a place was built in his 
 house by Emilius and Fulvius for selling provisions; 
 and from his name it was called macellum. — 6^27/. 
 
 It is possible, that butchers, before they brought 
 their meat to market, might offer some part of it to 
 the idol ; or perhaps the Priests, who had a share in 
 the beasts offered to idols, or the people that offered 
 such beasts, who also had a share returned them, 
 might, but of covetousness, sell it in the market* 
 The Apostle directeth the Corinthians in such eases, 
 to make no scruple of it, liMweYQ^soldrin the 
 shambles; which arguedV that, thfe' thing itself was 
 not sinful ; but yet he would have them in that case 
 ask no questions whence it came. — Pool. 
 
 Herodotus says, that the Egyptians used to Cut off 
 the heads of their beasts that were sacrificed, and 
 Carry them into the market to sell to the Greeks; 
 a^ld if there were no buyers, they cast them into the 
 river. 
 
yi 
 
 1. CORINTHIANS. 4S8 
 
 yo. 659. — COVERING the head in religious wor- 
 ship. 
 xi. 4. Every man praying or prophesying, having 
 his head covered, dishonor eth his head. 
 This had become customary with some of them,^ 
 hi public worship ; and they did it in imitation of the 
 Heathens, who worshipped their deities with their 
 heads covered, except Saturn and Hercules, whoi?^ 
 solemnities were celebrated with heads unveiled ; or 
 of the Jews, who used to veil themselves in public 
 worship, through a spirit of bondage and ie&T.—GilL 
 
 no. 560.~the sounding brass of delos. 
 
 xiii. 1. Though I speak with the tongues of men, a7id 
 of angels, and have not charity, I am become as 
 sounding brass or a tin/cling cymbal. 
 Mr. Border says, one of the most ancient as well as 
 the most celebrated oracles of the Pagan world was 
 that at the island of Delos. In early ages, and at the 
 first commencement of these absurd and ridiculous 
 impositions on mankind, they were delivered by the 
 murmuring noise of a fountain, or at the foot of au 
 oak; and also from the oaks themselves : but in suc- 
 ceeding times they made use of the brazen kettle, 
 which utensil the ancient Greek poet Callimachus 
 calls the sounding brass. 
 
 These to the Deiian god 
 Begin the grand procession ; and in hand 
 The hoiy slieaves and mystic offering bear : 
 Which the Pelasgians, who the sounding bras* 
 On earth recumbent, at Dodona guard. 
 Joyous receive, and to the MeJians' care 
 Ihe Uallow'd gifts cousigu. 
 
 Hymw to DiloC 
 
486 1. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 . By charity we understand love both to God and 
 man ; without which I am no better before God than 
 the sounding instruments of brass used in the worghip 
 of some of the Heathen gods. — Wesley. 
 
 NO. 561.— ST. j»4ul's contest at ephesds. 
 
 XV. 32. If after the manner of men I have fought with 
 beasts at Ephesus. 
 
 There were two sorts of usages among the Romans 
 in their theatres. Sometimes they cast men naked to 
 the wild beasts to be devoured by them: sometimes 
 they put men armed into the theatre to fight with 
 beasts; and if they could conquer them and save 
 themselves, they had their liberty ; but if not, they 
 fell a prey to the beasts. 
 
 As this was the punishment of slaves and vile 
 persons, it can hardly be thought that St. Paul, who 
 was a free-man of Rome, was thus treated : but the 
 meaning of the Apostle appears to be this, — "If I 
 have fought with- beastly men at Ephesus after the 
 manner that men fight with beasts, exposing my body 
 to their rage and fury, what profit is it to me, if th% 
 dead rise not ?^^ — Pool. 
 
 NO. 5^2, — ANATHE3IA MARAN-ATHA. 
 
 Xvi. 22. If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 let him be anathema mar an-atha. 
 "When the Jews lost the power of life and death, 
 they used nevertheless to pronounce an anathema 
 on persons who, according to the Mosaic law, should 
 have been executed ; and such a person became an 
 anathema, or accursed ; for the expressions are equi- 
 yalent. They bad a full persuasion that the eurse 
 
I. CORINTHIANS. 487 
 
 would not be in vain ; and indeed it appears, they 
 expected some judgment, corresponding to that 
 which the law pronounced, would befall the offender ; 
 for instance, that a man to be stoned would be killed 
 by the falling of a stone or some other heavy body 
 upon him ; a man to be strangled would be choaked ; 
 or one whom the law sentenced to the flames would 
 be burnt in his house; and the like. Now to 
 express their faith that God would one way or 
 another, and probably in some remarkable manner, 
 interpose, to add that efficacy to his own sentence, 
 which they could not give it, it is very probable they 
 might use the words maraii-atha ; that is, in Syriac, 
 the Lord cometh, or he will surely and quickly come, 
 to put this sentence in execution, and to shew that 
 the person on whom it falls is indeed anathema — 
 accursed. In beautiful allusion to this, when the 
 Apostle was speaking of a secret alienation from 
 Christ, maintained under the forms of Christianity 
 (which might perhaps be the case among many of the 
 Corinthians), as this was not a crime capable of being 
 convicted and censured in the Christian church, he 
 reminds them that the Lord Jesus Christ will come at 
 length, and find it out, and punish it in a proper 
 manner. This weighty sentence the Apostle chose to 
 write with his own hand, and insert it between his 
 general salutation and benediction, that it might be 
 the more attentively regarded. — JDoddridge* 
 
^ II. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 »0. 563.— AMBASSADORS CONSIDERED AS SACRED. 
 
 V. 20, We are Ambassadors for Christ. 
 Ambassadors were generally persons of 
 great worth or eminent station ; that by their quality 
 and deportment they might command respect and 
 attention from their very enemies : and what injuries 
 or affronts soever had been committed, their persons 
 were held sacred by all sides. Gods and men were 
 thought to be concerned to prosecute with the utmost 
 vengeance all injuries done to them : (vhence we read, 
 that the Lacedemonians having inhumanly murdered 
 -Xerxes' Ambassadors, the gods would accept none of 
 their oblations and sacrifices, which were all found 
 polluted with direful omens, 'till two noblemen of 
 Sparta were sent as an expiatory sacrifice to Xerxes, 
 to atone for the death of his Ambassadors by their 
 own. Whence this holiness upon Ambassadors was 
 derived, has been a matter of dispute. Fabulous 
 authors deduce it from the honor paid by the ancients 
 tq the Heralds, who were either themselves Ambas- 
 sadors, or, when others were deputed to that service, 
 accompanied them, being held sacred on account of 
 their original, because descended from Ceryx, the 
 son of Mercury, who was honored with the same 
 employment in Heaven which these obtained on 
 Earth. The Lacedemonian Ambassadors carried in 
 their hand a staff of laurel or olive, round which two 
 gerpents (without their crests erected) were folded, 
 . as an emblem of peace and concord. The Athenian 
 Heralds frequently made use of an olive-branch cover- 
 ed with wool, and adorned with all sorts of fruits of 
 the^^arth, which was a token of peace and plenty. — 
 
 Potter. 
 
11. CORINTHIANS. 489 
 
 NO. 564. — EASTERN OPINION OF HEROES. 
 
 vi. 7. By the armour of righteousness on the right 
 hand and on the left. 
 
 It has been conjectured that the meaning of the 
 Apostle in these words is, that the spiritual warrior 
 should be like those who could use, with equal 
 alertness and vigour, the left hand and the right : 
 prepared to resist on each side the wiles of the 
 devil : they who could use both hands were oa 
 this account esteemed to be the greatest heroes. — 
 Such was Asteropeus, in Homer. — Such some suppose 
 were the left-handed men mentioned Judges xx. 16. — 
 
 Bulkley. 
 
 The left side, according to the superstition of the 
 Grecians, was accounted unlucky, and of evil omen. 
 The omens that appeared to the east were accounted 
 fortunate, because the great principle of all light and 
 heat, motion and life, diffuses his first influences from 
 that part of the world. On the contrary, the western 
 omens were unlucky, because the sun declines in that 
 quarter. The augurs, when they made observations, 
 kept their faces towards the north, and then the east 
 was upon their right hand, and the west upon their 
 left. Thus Homer brings in Hector telling Polydamus, 
 that he regarded not the birds : 
 
 Ye vagrants of the sky ! your wings extend 
 Or where the suns arise, or where descend. 
 To i-ight and left unheeded take your way. Pope. 
 
 Burder, 
 
 NO. b^b. — aFFICERS CHOSEN BY THE CHURCH, 
 viii. 19. Who was also chosen of the churches. 
 This choice wasv by the suffrage of the churches. 
 
490 II. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 performed by holding up hands. It was derived from 
 an ancient custom of the Athenians in the choice of 
 their Magistrates. The candidates being proposed to 
 the people, they shewed their choice by holding up 
 their hands. He who had the most, was declared 
 duly elected. Thus there was a brother appointed 
 by the suffrage of the churches to travel along with 
 Paul, and convey their alms to the poor saints in 
 Judea. See also Acts xiv. 23. — Burder. 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 NO. b^^. — WITCHCRAFT OF THE ANCIENTS, 
 iii. 1. O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you? 
 It is not to be imagined that the Apostle,, 
 by the use of this expression, gave any countenance 
 to the popular error which prevailed, not only among 
 the Heathens, but among some of the more ignorant 
 and superstitious Christians — that of fascination, or 
 bewitching with the eye. The language of the 
 Apostle is only a strong expression of surprize at the 
 departure of the Galatians from the purity of the 
 gospel. It however reminds us of those practices of 
 the Heathens which are spoken of by various writers. 
 They believe that great mischief might ensue from an 
 evil eye, or from being regarded with envious 
 and malicious looks. Pliny relates, from Isigonus, 
 that, among the Triballians and Illyrians, there were 
 certain enchanters, who with their looks could be- 
 witch and kill those whom they beheld for a consi- 
 derable time, especially if they did so with angry eyes. 
 A shepherd, in Virgil, says, 
 
 {Seme evil eyes bewitch my tender lamba. 
 
GALATIANS. 491 
 
 Shaw says, "no nation in the world is so much 
 girento superstition as the Arabs, or even Mahomed- 
 dans in general. They hang about their children's 
 necks the figure of an open hand, usually the right, 
 which the Turks and Moors paint likewise upon their 
 ships and houses, as a counter-charm to an evil eye ; 
 five is with them an unlucky number ; and five (mean- 
 ing their fingers) in your eyes is their proverb of 
 cursing and defiance. Those of riper years carry with 
 them some paragraph of their Koran, which they place 
 upon their breasts, or sew under their caps, to prevent 
 fascination and witchcraft, and to secure themselves 
 from sickness and misfortunes. The virtue of these 
 scrolls and charms is supposed to be so far universal, 
 that they suspend them even upon the necks of their 
 cattle, horses, and other beasts of burthen," — Burder, 
 
 NO. 567.— OBSERVANCE OF PARTICULAR DAYS. 
 
 iv. 10. Ye observe days, and months ^ and itjnesy and 
 years. 
 This practice was become very general in the days 
 of the Apostle, and greatly contributed to cherish 
 superstition. The Greeks, in particular, were addicted 
 to it: with them certain ti7nes were ominous, some 
 dai/s being accounted fortunate and successful, others 
 unfortunate and disastrous. Thus Hesiod obsenves : 
 
 Some days, like step-dames, adverse prove, 
 Th wait our intentions, cross whate'er we love * 
 Others more fortunate and lucky shine. 
 And, as a tender mother, bless what we design. 
 
 The observation of days was also very common at 
 Rome. Augustus Caesar never went abroad upon the 
 day following the nundinsR, nor began any serious 
 
495 GALATIANS. 
 
 undertaking on the nonae; and this he did upon no 
 other account, as he affirmed in one of his letters to 
 Tiberias, than to avoid the unlucky omen that attended 
 things begun on those days. The like observation of 
 days was practised by many Christians, when they had 
 lately been converted from Heathenism ; and for this 
 St. Paul reproves them. — Pottery Sfc, 
 
 EPHESIANS. 
 
 NO. 568.--JEWISH PROSELYTES, STYLED STRANGERS. 
 
 5i. 19. Ye are no more strangers and foreigners, hut 
 fellow citizens with the saints, aiid of the household 
 ofOod, 
 
 The proselytes who joined themselves to 
 the God of Israel were, by the Jews and by the 
 scriptures, styled strangers. He that only took upon 
 him to worship the true God, and observe the pre- 
 cepts of Noah, was " Ger Toshab," a stranger per- 
 mitted to dwell among them, and to worship in the 
 court of the Gentiles. He that was circumcised, and 
 became obedient to the law of Moses, was " Ger 
 Tzedek," a proselyte of righteousness ; but both were 
 called strangers, according to the maxim of the Jews- 
 All the nations of the world are called strangers be- 
 fore the God of Israel ; but the Jews are said to be 
 near to him. But now, according to the language of 
 the Apostle, there is no such difference ; the believing 
 Gentile being equally admitted with believing Jews, 
 to the privileges of the New Jerusalem, and equally 
 related to God, as part of his i&m\\Y*— Whitby, 
 
EPHESIANS. -|9t 
 
 ■» 
 
 NO, 569. — A PYTHAGOREAN MAXIM. 
 
 iv. 26. Let not the sun go doiisn upon your wrath. 
 
 Many persons have observed, tfiat this was agree- 
 able to the practice of the Pythagoreans; if the 
 members of their particular society had any difference 
 with each other, they used to give tokens of reconci- 
 liation, before the sun went down. This exhortation 
 is peculiarly important to prevent excessive and long 
 protracted anger, which might in time increase to 
 habitual malice ; a temper exceedingly unbecoming a 
 Christian. — Burder. 
 
 Anger may enter into the mind of a wise man, but 
 it will rest only in the bosom of a fool. 
 
 NO. 570. — DESCRIPTION OF THE BACCHANALIA. 
 
 V. 18. Be not drunk with imne^ wherein is excess. 
 , It is highly probable, that here may be a particular 
 reference to those dissolute ceremonies called the 
 bacchanalia, that were celebrated by the Heathens 
 in honor of him whom tbey call the god of wine. 
 While these rites continued, men and women made it 
 a point of their religion fo intoxicate themselves, and 
 run about the streets, fields, and vineyards, singing, 
 and shouting in a wild and tumultuous manner ; in 
 opposition to which extravagant vociferations, the use 
 of devout psalmody is with great propriety recom- 
 mended. Plato somewhere tells us, that there was 
 hardly a sober person to be found in the whole Attican 
 teriitories during the continuance of these detestable 
 solemnities; — Doddridge. 
 
 For fruitful vintages the dancing throng 
 
 Roar'd to the go. I of grapes a drunken song : 
 
 Wild mirth and wine sustain'd the frantic note. 
 
 And the best wnger had the pri«e, — a goat. Boilba* . 
 
494 PHILLIPIANS. , 
 
 NO. 571.— CONSTRUCTION OF LIGHT-HOUSES, 
 ii. 15. Among whom ye shine as lights in the world. 
 
 This metaphor has an allusion to the build- 
 ings which we call light-houses ; the most illustrious 
 of which was raised in the island of Pharos, when 
 Ptolemy Philadelphus built that celebrated tower on 
 which a bright flame was always kept burning in the 
 night, that mariners might perfectly see their way, and 
 be in no danger of suffering shipwreck. Some of these 
 light-houses were constructed in the form of human 
 figures : thus the Colossus at Rhodes held in one hand 
 a flame which enlightened the whole port. Public 
 lights were also sometimes moveable ; and being 
 fixedto the top of poles, they were used to direct the 
 marches of the caravans in the night. The meaning 
 of the passage, from these representations, is obvious. 
 Ye shine as elevated lights in this dark world, that ye 
 may direct those who sail on this dangerous sea, and 
 secure them from suffering shipwreck ; or guide those 
 who travel through this desart, in their way to the 
 city of rest. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 572.— DOGS CHAINED TO THE DOORS OF HOUSES. 
 
 iii. 2. beware of dogs. 
 
 The Jews used to call the Gentiles dogs ; and per- 
 haps St. Paul may use this language, when speaking 
 of their proud bigots, by way of retaliation.^ L'En- 
 fant tells us of a custom at Rome to chain their dogs 
 at the doors of tneir houses, and to put an inscription 
 over them, '* Beware of this dog;" to which he seems 
 to tliink these words may refer. — Doddridge. 
 
 Isaiah calls the false VTO^\\eis dumb dogs, Isa. Ivi. 10. 
 to which the Apostle here seems to refer. They were 
 
 * Rev. xxii. 15. 
 
PHILLIPIANS. \ 495 
 
 dogs for their malice against the faithful professors of 
 the gospel of Christ, barking at them, and biting; 
 them. — Henry. 
 
 mo. 673. — PRIZES in the Grecian games. 
 
 iii 14, I press toward the mark, for the prize of the 
 high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 
 
 Here is a beautiful allusion to the Olympic games, 
 and especially the foot-races, which made the most 
 celebrated part of them. The prize was placed in a 
 very conspicuous situation, so that the competitors 
 might be animated by having it always in their sight. 
 The word is considered, by some, as expressing the 
 principal prize, whilst some of the racers might 
 come to the goal and receive lower rewards. Dod- 
 dridge says, that notwithstanding such inferior prizes 
 were common in some games, secondary prizes were 
 not bestowed on the Olympic foot-race. 
 
 L'Enfant thinks, that the Apostle, in the words 
 before us, compares our Lord to those who stood at 
 the elevated place at the end of the course calling 
 the racers by their names, and encouraging them, by 
 holding out the crown, to exert themselves with 
 vigour. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 574, — REGISTERS OF CITIES. 
 
 iv. 3. Whose names are in the hook of life. 
 This expression refers to the custom of those cities 
 which had registers coiitaining the names of all the 
 citizens, from which the names of infamous persons 
 v/ere erased. Agreeably to this we read of names 
 being blotted out of God's book, — Rev. iii. 5. Those 
 citiz^ens who were orderly and obedient were continued 
 
496 PHILIPPIANS. 
 
 on the roll ; from whence they could easily obtain their 
 title to all the immunities and privileges common to 
 all the members of the city : and to be excluded from 
 these was both disgraceful and injurious.—Burder, 
 
 In thy bright book of life divine. 
 
 My God, inscribe my name : 
 Ihere Jet it fill some humble place, 
 
 Beneath the slaughter'd Larab. 
 
 Reader, is thy name in the hook of life? Then 
 wa^k circumspectly, lest the Lord blot thee out of his 
 book for ever. 
 
 COLOSSIANS. 
 
 NO. 575. CANCELLING OF BONDS. 
 
 ii. 14. Blotting out the hand-writing of ordinances^ 
 that was againat W5, which was contrary to us, and 
 took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. 
 
 The hand-writing signifies a bill or bond, 
 whereby a person binds himself to some payment or 
 duty, and which stands in force against him 'till the 
 obligation is discharged. In these words the Apostle 
 alludes to the ditierent methods by which bonds for«» 
 merly were cancelled : one was by blotting or crossing 
 them out with a pen, and another was by striking a 
 nail through them. In either of these cases the bond 
 was rendered useless, and ceased to be valid. These 
 circumstances the Apostle applies to the death of 
 Christ. — Burder. 
 
 By the hand-writing of ordinances is to be under- 
 stood the ceremonial institutions, or the law of com- 
 mandments contained in ordinances,^ which was a 
 
 * Eph. il 15. 
 
COLOSSIANS. 4J>7 
 
 yoke to the Jews, d^n^o. partition-wall to the Gentilfes. 
 The Lord Jesus took it out of the way, nailing it to 
 his cross ; disannulled the obligation of it, that all 
 might see, and be satisfied, that it was no more bind- 
 ing. When the substance was come, the shadows 
 flew away. — Henry. 
 
 NO, 576.— WARNING AGAINST THE ESSEXES. 
 
 ii. 21. Touch not, taste not, handle not. 
 
 The dogmata to which St. Paul refers in these 
 
 words, are such as the Essenes held. They wouJd 
 
 not taste any pleasant food, but lived upon coarse 
 
 bread, and drank nothing but water : some of them 
 
 would not taste any food at ail Hill after sun-set ; and 
 
 if they were touched by any that were not of their 
 
 own sect, they wOuld wash theiiiselves, as after some 
 
 great pollution. Perhaps there might be a sodality 
 
 of Essenes, at Colosse, as there were in many other 
 
 places out of Judea ; and that some of the Christians, 
 
 too much inclined to Judaism, might also alfect the 
 
 peculiarities of thi« sect ; which might be the reason 
 
 why the Apostle so particularly cautions agaidst 
 
 thfem. — Jennings. 
 
 II. THESSALONIANS. 
 
 NO. 577.— APPLAUSES IN THE GRECIAN GAMES. 
 
 iii. I.. That the worcl of the Lord inay have free course, 
 and be glorified. 
 Some think thai these words allude to the 
 applauses given to those who made a speedy progress 
 
 I i 
 
4# II. THESSALONIANS. 
 
 in the races, which constituted so important a part 
 of the Grecian gamcF.— i?wrrfer. 
 
 All the forces of Hell were then, and still are, 
 more or less, raised and mustered to oppose the word 
 of the Lord, to hinder its publication and success : 
 we should pray, therefore, that oppositions may be 
 removed, that so the gospel may have free course to the 
 earij!, the hearts, and the consciences of men ; that it 
 may be glorified in the conviction and the conversion 
 of sinners, the confutation of gainsayerSj.and the holy 
 conversation of the saints. — Henry, 
 
 l, TIMOTHY. 
 
 ^ NO. 578. — MEN-STEALING. 
 
 \.\0, For men-stealers. 
 There were persons who made it their 
 business to decoy servants and freemen, that they j 
 might steal, and sell them for slaves. Against this 
 practice there were particular laws enacted under 
 the Mosaic economy.* It was also condemned by 
 - the Flavian law among the Romans ; and was not 
 allowed among the Greeks. The death with which 
 such persons were punishied, according to the Jews, 
 was strangling. — Burder. 
 
 Those were the worst of all thieves ; in comparison 
 of whom highwaymen and house-breakers are inno- 
 cent. — Wesley. 
 
 * Exod. xxi. 1<7. Deuf!^ iv. T. 
 
1. TIMOTHY. 49^ 
 
 KO. 679.— COSTLINESS OF FEMALE DRESS. 
 
 ii. 9. That women adorn themselves in modest apparel^ 
 
 with shamefacedness and sobriety : not with broi- 
 
 dered hair^ S^c. 
 
 Maillett tells us, that the dress of the Egyptian 
 ladies is much more rich and magnificent than any 
 thing of that kind among us ; that it consists of a 
 quantity of pearls, precious stones, costly furs, and 
 other things of value: in fine, that three ladies of 
 France may be handsomely dressed for the game sum 
 that a common habit comes to in Egypt. 
 
 Gill says, that the Jewish females used to wear a 
 crown of gold on their heads, in the form of the city of 
 Jerusalem, called a golden city. They wore it ia 
 memory of Jerusalem, after its destruction. 
 
 The plaiting of the hair was anciently practised ia 
 the East, and continues to be the common usage of 
 those countries. Shaw speaks of its present use in 
 Barbary ; and says, that the Moorish ladies all affect 
 this way of disposing of their hair. The Editor of 
 the Ruins of Palmyra found that it anciently obtained 
 there ; for they discovered, with great surprise, mum- 
 mies in the Palrayrene sepulchres embalmed after the 
 ancient Egyptian manner ; by which means the 
 bodies were in such a state of preservation, th^t 
 among other fragments they carried ofP with them, 
 was the hair of a female, plaited exactly after the 
 manner commonly used by the Arabian women at 
 this time. — Harmer. 
 
 Good works are the best ornaments ; 
 
 , For death, ere long, will close the brightrtt eye»; 
 But virtue, heav'n-Bora vutue, never dies. W«iomt. 
 
 Ii5 
 
50O I. TIMOTHY. 
 
 NO. 580.— EASTERNS FREQUENTLY WASH THEIR FEET. 
 
 V. 1 0. If she have washed the saints* feet. 
 The necessity for washing Ihe feet, in the East, hai 
 been attributed to their wearing sandals : bat it aj 
 pears, whatever be the covering of the feet, that^ 
 washing them is very requisite. Chardin says, that 
 those who travel in the hot countries of the East; 
 when they arrive at the end of their journey, imme- 
 diately begin to pull bff the coverings of their ieeU 
 The sweat, and the dost which penetrates all sorti 
 of coverings for the feet, produce a filth, which ex- 
 cites a very troublesome itching: and though the 
 Eastern people are extremely careful to preserve the 
 body neat, it is more for refreshment than cleanliness 
 that they wash their feet at the close of their 
 journey. 
 
 According to D'Arvieux, the little yellow morocco 
 boots, worn by the Arabs, are so close, as not to be 
 penetrated by water ; but none of the Eastern 
 coverings for the foot can guard against the dust ; 
 consequently, this custom of washing the feet is not 
 to be merely ascribed to their use of sandals. — 
 
 Harmer. 
 
 II. TIMOTHY. 
 
 NO. 581.— DIVIDING THE SACRIFICE. 
 H. 15. Rightly dividing the word of truth. 
 
 It is possible that this is an allusion to what 
 the Jewish High Priest or Levite did in dissecting the 
 victim, and separating the parts in a proper manner; 
 as^5ome were to be laid on God's altar, and others to 
 
II. TIMOTHY. 5dl 
 
 be given to those who were to share in the sacrifice. 
 Others think it refers to guiding a plough aright, in 
 order to divide the clods in the most proper and 
 effectual manner, and make strait furrows. But 
 perhaps the metaphor may be taken from the distri- 
 bution made by a steward, in delivering out to each 
 person under his care, such things as his office and 
 their necessities required. — Doddridge, 
 
 NO. 582. — MODE OF SEALING IN THE EAST. 
 
 it. 19. The foundation of God standeth sure, having 
 this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are his : andy 
 Let every one that iiameth the name of Christ de- 
 part from iniquity. 
 
 It appears, that the Easterns seal their doors with 
 clay, and their writings with ink, instead of wax. 
 D'Arvieux informs us, that the Arab seals have no 
 figure engraven on them, but a simple inscription, 
 formed with some art into a kind of cypher : and the 
 modern inhabitants of Egypt make use of ink in their 
 sealing, as well as the Arabs of the Desart. From 
 these things we discover a closer connection between 
 the vision of St. John — Rev. vii. 2, and that of Ezekiel 
 ^chap. ix. 2, than some commentators have appre- 
 hended. St. John saw an angel, with the seal of the 
 living God, and therewith multitudes were sealed in 
 ihe'ir foreheads ; but to understand what sort of mark 
 was made there, we mtist have recourse to EzekieFs 
 ink-horn. Ezekiel, on the other hand, saw a person 
 equipped with an ink-horn, who was to mark the 
 servants of God in their foreheads : how this ink was 
 to be applied is not expressed j but perhaps by refer- 
 
502 II. TIMOTHY. 
 
 ring to St. John's seal, we may have a complete view 
 of the visions. 
 
 Olearius informs us, that the Persians thicken their 
 ink with a sort of paste, or with sticks of Indian ink,, 
 which is the best paste of all, and favorable to their 
 using it for sealing. It is probable, that the Jewish 
 seals much resembled the Arabic — that they had 
 nothing but an inscription on them : from hence it 
 will appear, that it was extremely natural for St. 
 Paul to make a seal and an inscription equivalent 
 terms. — The foundation of God stg^ndeth sure, having 
 if/^is sfa^ (this inscription), — The Lord knoweth them 
 that are his. — Harmer. 
 
 Mr, Burder considers it as an allusion to the custom 
 of engraving upon stones, laid in the foundation of 
 buildings, the name of the person by whom, and the 
 purposes for which, the structure was raised.; and 
 adds, nothing can have a greater tendency to en- 
 courage the hope, and at the same time to engage the 
 obedience of Christians, than this double inscription*. 
 
 Where the indubitable seal. 
 
 That ascertains the kingdom mine ? 
 
 Tlie pow'rfnl stamp I long to feel. 
 
 The signature of love divine L 
 
 O shed it iu ray heart abroad. 
 
 Fulness of love — of Hcav'n — of God ^ 
 
 NO. 583.— OIL POURED ON THE HEADS OF VICTIMS. 
 
 iv. 6. / am now ready to be offered, and tlie time of 
 my departure is at hand. 
 This is an allusion to that universal custom of the 
 world, of pouring wine or oil on the head of the victim 
 immediately before it was slain. The Apostle^* 
 eonphatical word sigpifieg, wine ie just now pouring 
 
II. TIMOTHY. 603 
 
 on my head, I am just goin^ to be sacrificed to Pag-an 
 rage and superstition. — Blackwall. 
 
 According to Maimonides, it was done to give the 
 oflFering a grateful relish : but Virgil supposes, that 
 the oil was poured upon the beast that was sacrificed, 
 to make it burn the better upon the altar Frankiu-« 
 cense was also put upon the victim to give it a sweet 
 odour, and that the burning of its flesh might not 
 be offensive. 
 
 TITUS. 
 
 NO. 584.— CUSTOM OF WASHING CHILDREN, 
 iii. 5. By the washing of regeneration, 
 
 A s washing is an act whereby defilement is 
 removed, and purification is effected, it is a very proper 
 word to express that divine change which is produced 
 by regeneration ; and when connected with the ancient 
 and universal practice of \tashing new-born infants, 
 gives peculiar energy to the conversation of Christ 
 with Nicodemus on the subject of the new birth ; as 
 also to the phrase used by the Apostle in this passage-^ 
 the washing of regeneration. 
 
 Much attention was bestowed on the washing of 
 infants. The Lacedemonians, says Plutarch in his 
 life of Lycurgus, washed the new-born infant in 
 wine ; meaning thereby to strengthen the infant. 
 Generally however they washed the children in water, 
 warm perhaps in Greece, and cold in Egypt. — Burder. 
 
 NO. 585.— SELF-CONDEMNED CRIMINALS. 
 
 iii. 11. He that is such is subverted^ and sinneih, 
 being condemned of himself 
 
604 TITUS. ^ 
 
 III order to induce the criminal to confess his crimes, 
 the Jews would say to him, " Give glory to God f 
 that is, confess the truth, and be your own Judge. 
 They were of opinion, that criminals who confessed 
 their crimes would partake in the happiness of a future 
 state : and therefore they exhorted and pressed crimi- 
 nals not to draw down the hatred of God upon them, 
 by obstinacy and stubbornness in concealing their 
 crimes. St. Paul alludes to this custom — Rom. xiv. 22, 
 Hafpy is he that condemneth ?iot himself in the thing 
 which he alloweth: that is, happy is he who, being 
 convinced of the truth of a thing, is not weak enough 
 to give testimony against himself, notwithstanding 
 his conviction. Thus an heretic is condemned of 
 himself. — Lamy. 
 
 PHILEMON. 
 
 NO. 586. — DEBTS i^MONG THE ROMANS. 
 Ver. 19. / Paul have written it with my own hand. 
 » These words are to be explained by thf 
 
 Roman laws, — by which it was enacted, that if anj 
 man write that he hath undertaken a debt, it is a 
 solemn obligation upon him. Whatsoever is written 
 as if it were done, is reported to have been done 
 From hence it appears, that a man is bound as mucli 
 by his own hand, or confession under it, as if any other 
 testimonies or proofs were against him of any fact oi 
 debt. — Hammond. 
 
HEBREWS. 505 
 
 NO. 587.— MANNER OF SWEARING AMONG THE JEWS. 
 
 vi. 16. An oath for confirmation is to them an end of 
 all strife. 
 
 The manner in which an oath was taken 
 among the Jews, and to which the Apostle, writing 
 to such, must be supposed to refer, was this, — " He 
 that swore took the book of the law in his hand, and 
 stood and swore by the name of God, or by his sur- 
 names : the Judges did not suffer any to swear but 
 in the holy tongue: and thus he said, "Behold 1 swear 
 by the God of Israel, by him whose name is Merciful 
 and Gracious, that 1 do not owe this man any thing." 
 Herodotus says, that the Arabians, when they swore 
 at making covenants, anointed the stones with biood. — 
 
 GitL 
 
 NO. 588.— PURE WATER USED FOR ABLUTIONS, 
 
 X. 22. And our bodies washed loith pure "water. 
 Washings and purifications were frequently per- 
 formed by the Jews, and the people of the East in 
 general. The water used on these occasions was 
 required to be very pure, and was therefore fetched 
 from fountains and rivers. The water of lakes, or 
 standing ponds was unCtfor this purpose ; so was also 
 that of the purest stream, if it had been a considerable 
 time separated from its source. The Jewish Essene^ 
 make use of the purer sorts of water for cleansing, as 
 we are informed by Porphyry. To this practice the 
 Apostle seems to allude in these words : and Ezekisl, 
 inlike manner, says, then will I sprinkle clean water 
 upon you, and. ye shall be clean — Ezek. xxxvl. 25. 
 Sea water, on account of its saltness, was preferred to 
 any other. Hence Aristeas reports, concerning some 
 of the Jews who lived near the sea, that every day 
 
506 HEBREWS. 
 
 before mating they used to wash their hands in the 
 pea. — Potter. 
 
 Having all our conversation spotless and holy ; 
 which is far more acceptable to God than all the 
 legal sprinklings and washings. — Wesley. 
 
 NO. 589. — DESCRIPTION OF ANCIENT TORTURE. 
 
 xi. ^5. And others were tortured. 
 It does not seem to be determined whether the 
 torture here spoken of was a mode of punishment 
 distinct from others, or whether the term is not to be 
 taken in a general sense for all kinds of capital 
 punishment and violent death. Doddridge says, the 
 original word signifies a peculiar sort of torture, 
 which was called that of the tympanum, or drum, — 
 when they were extended in the most violent manner, 
 and then beaten with clubs; which must give ex- 
 quisite pain, when all the parts were on such a 
 stretch. — Burder. 
 
 Into a world of ruffians sent, 
 
 I walk on hostile ground ; 
 Wild, human bears on slaughter bent. 
 
 And ravening wolves surrtvjnd. 
 
 NO. 590. — BOXERS OFTEN BESMEARED WITH BLOOD. 
 
 xii. 4. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving 
 against sin. 
 It has been justly observed, by several commenta- 
 tors, that there are many agonistical terms in this 
 context. In the phrase before us, there seems to be 
 an allusion to the pugiles, or box^rSj who fought erect, 
 with their hands stretched out, and were often be- 
 smeared with blood. Saurin observes, in his illustra- 
 tion of this text, that sometimes men were killed by 
 the blows of the csestus. — Burder. 
 
HEBREWS. 507 
 
 «fO. 6&1. — THE SACRIFICE OF THANKSGIVING. 
 
 siii. 15. By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of 
 praise to God. 
 Among the Jews there was a sort oi sacrifice called 
 peace-offerings. These were not intended to make 
 peace with God, but rather to preserve it. Burnt- 
 offerings, sin offerings, and trespass-offerings, were 
 all presented under the notion of some offence com- 
 mitted, and some guilt contracted, which they were- 
 t he means of removing: but in the peace-offerings, 
 the offerer was supposed to be at peace with God ; 
 and the offering was made rather in a way of thankful 
 acknowledgment for mercies received, or as accom- 
 panying vows for obtaining further blessings, or in a 
 way of free devotion, as a means of continuing and 
 preserving peace with God. Thus the peace-offerings 
 were distinguished into sacrifices of thanksgiving, 
 votive offerings, and voluntary or free-will offerings. — 
 Levit. vii. 11, 12. The sacrifice of thf^nksgiving is 
 evidently referred to by the Apostle in these words. — 
 
 Jennings, 
 
 Eternal Wisdom ! thee we praise ; 
 
 Thee tlie creation sings : 
 With thy lov'd name rocks, hills, and seas, 
 
 And Heav'n's high palace rings. 
 
 JAMES. 
 
 NO. 592.— ^FEASTING UPON BACRIFICES. 
 
 V. 5. Ye ha^e nourished your hearts as in a day of 
 slaughter. 
 The ordinary reader cannot see the relation 
 between a day of slaughter and such higlji indulgence 
 
508 JAMES^. 
 
 and merriment. The ideas seem to be oddly put 
 together: the pertinence of the passage may at least 
 be doubted, and the grace of the metaphor is entirely 
 lost. The text might be rendered,—^'* In a day of 
 time of public feasting upon sacrifice." It was the 
 custom of all nations, in times of joy or happy success, 
 first to offer some peculiar parts of the sacrifice, by 
 way of bcijit-offering, in gratitude and acknowledg- 
 ment to their gods, and then to entertain and feast 
 themselves upon all the rest, prepared and dressed 
 for them, with great freedom and gaiety of heart; 
 and upon these occasions the people often ran into 
 great disorders and indecencies, to which the Apostle 
 here alludes. — Blackwall. 
 
 I. PETER- 
 MO. i^93. — SACRED TRANSACTIONS OF THE HEATHEN. 
 
 iv'. 3. The time past of our life may svffice us to have 
 •wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in 
 lasciviousness, /i/.s/a, excess cf wine, revellingSy 
 hanquetings, and abominable idolatries. 
 
 Much of the distinguishing spirit of this 
 passage is lost when it is understood as descriptive of 
 the immoralities of common life, arid notas giving' an 
 account of the polluted nature of what the Heathens 
 called sacred transactions. The first word here used, 
 lasciviousness, TeieY6 to lewd practices : the second, 
 lusts, to irritation of voluptuous desire: the third, 
 translated excess of wine, seems to mean buffoonery, 
 through drinking too much wine : the other two 
 words, revellings and bafiquetingSi m«au riotous *nd 
 excessive eating and drinking. 
 
I. PETER. 509 
 
 An extract from Maillet will illustrate the buf- 
 foonery here alluded to. " You can hardly imagme 
 how^ many traces of this ancient religion are still met 
 with in Egypt, which have subsisted there for many 
 ages. The modern Egyptians have the same taste 
 for processions that was remarked in their ancestors. 
 The only difference that I find in the matter is, that 
 the ancieotj^ practised them in honor of their idols, 
 and that the Egyptians of our days perform them in 
 honor of their yantons, or saints, who are not much 
 better. There is no regularity in these ceremonies ; 
 neither in their way of walking, nor in their vest- 
 ments: every one dresses himself as he likes ; but 
 those who are in the most grotesque and ridiculous 
 habits are always most esteemed. Some dance ; others 
 caper ; some shout. In a word, the great point is, 
 who shall commit the most follies hi those extravagant 
 masquerades. The more they do, the more they 
 believe themselves possessed by the spirit of their 
 prophet." — Harrmr, 
 
 NO. '694. — THE CHIEF SHEPHERD. 
 
 V. 4. When the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall 
 receive a croiC'ii of glory. 
 In ancient times, when flocks and herds of cattle 
 were very numerous, the care of them required the 
 attention of many shepherds; and that every thing 
 might be conducted with regularity, it was necessary 
 that one should preside over the rest. This we find 
 was customary : hence we read, that Doeg was the 
 chief est of the herdsmen that belonged to Saul ;* and 
 in some curious remarks on the sheep-walks of Spain, 
 
 *1 Sam. xxi. 17. 
 
510 I. PETER. 
 
 published in the Gentleman's Magazine for May, 
 1764, we are informed, that in that country, where 
 some Eastern customs are perpetuated from the Moors, 
 they have to this day a chief shepherd over each 
 flock of sheep. " Ten thousand compose a flock, 
 which is divided into ten tribes. One man has the 
 <»onduct of all. He must be the owner of four or five 
 hundred sheep, strong, active, vigilant, intelligent in 
 pasture, in the weather, and in the diseases of sheep. 
 He has absolute dominion over fifty shepherds and 
 fifty dogs, five of each to a tribe. He chooses them, 
 he chastises them, or discharges them at will : he is 
 the chief shepherd of the flock." — Burder. 
 
 O tliat I at last may stand 
 With the sheep at thy right hand ; 
 Take the crown so freely given. 
 Enter in by thee to Heaven ! 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 NO. 595.— BANISHMENT AMONG THE ROMANI^. 
 
 i. 9. / John was in the isle that is called Faimos,for 
 the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 This banishment ,succeeded in the room of 
 that ancient punishment in which a man was obliged 
 in his owri defence to betake himself into banishment, 
 when it became unlawful for any to accommodate him 
 with lodghig, diet, or any other necessary of life. 
 But this banishing into islands was accounted the 
 worst kind of exile ; whereby the criminal forfeited 
 his estate, and being bound, and put on board a ship. 
 
REVELATION. 511 
 
 was by public officers transported to some certain 
 island, which none but the Emperor himself might 
 assign, there to be confined in perpetual banishment. 
 The place to which St. John was carried was Patmos, 
 a little island in the Archipelago, now called Palmosa, 
 mountainous, but moderately fruitful, especially in 
 wheat and pulse, though defective in other commodT- 
 ties. The whole circumference of the island is about 
 thirty miles. On one of the mountains stands a town 
 of the same name, having on the top of it a monastery 
 of Greek Monks ; and on the North side of the town, 
 the inhabitants, by tradition, shew an house in whi9h 
 the Apocalypse was written, and not far off, the cave 
 where it was revealed ; both places of great esteem 
 and veneration with the Greeks and Latins. — Wells* 
 
 mo. 596. -^AN OFFICER CALLED THE ANGEL OF THE 
 CHURCH. 
 
 ii. 1. The Angel of the church. 
 Next to the chief Ruler of the synagogue was aa 
 officer, whose province it was to offer up public 
 prayer to God for the whole congregation ; and who, 
 on that account, was called the Angel of the churchy 
 because, as their messenger, he spake to God for them. 
 Hence the Pastors of the seven churches of Asia are 
 called by a name borrowed from the synagogue. — 
 
 Jennings^ 
 
 NO. ^97. — CROWNS VARIOUSLY BESTOWED. 
 
 ii. 10. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give 
 ' thee a crown of life. 
 A crown of life is promised to those who ^\^ faith- 
 ful unto deaths as an everlasting reward for their 
 
512 REVELATION. 
 
 fidelity. Dr. Gill considers it to be an allusion to the 
 practice of some nations, who used to crown their 
 dead. — Burder. 
 
 The reward is sure. He hath said it, that is able 
 to do it: they shall have the reward from his own 
 hand, and none of their enemies shall be able to 
 wrest it out of his hand, or to pull it from their heads. 
 A life worn out in his service, or laid down in hfe 
 cause, shall be rewarded with another and^ a much 
 better life, that shall be eternal. — Henry. 
 
 NO. 598.— SMALL STONES USED IN JUDGMENT. 
 
 ii.l7. To him that over cometh will I give a white stone. 
 The stone here referred to is such an one as was 
 used in popular judicature, or in elections, it being 
 the custom to give the votes in either of these by such 
 stones. These were either white or black ; the white 
 was a token of absolution or approbation, the black 
 of condemnation or rejection. There were judges in 
 the agonistical games, who awarded the prizes to' the 
 conqueror by the use of these stones; a white one, 
 with the name of the person and the value of the 
 prize, being given to such as were victorious. Ovid 
 expressly mentions, that black and white stones were 
 used to absolve or condemn persons at Argos- — - 
 
 Burder. 
 
 Tlie custom was, by white and black small stones, 
 T' acquit the guiltless, and damn guilty ones. 
 
 NO. 599. — PRIESTS APPROVED OF CLOTHED IN WHITE. 
 
 iii. 5. He that overcometk, the same shall be clothed 
 in white raiment* 
 The allusion seems to be to the custom of the 
 Jewish Sanhedrim in judging of Priests fit for service 
 
REVELATION. 613 
 
 Maimonides says, ** they examiae the Priests con- 
 cerning their genealogies and blemishes : every Priest 
 in whom was found any thing faulty in his genealogy 
 was clothed in black, and veiled in black, and so 
 went out of the court ; but every one that was found 
 perfect and right was clothed in white, and went in 
 and ministered with his brethren the Priests." — GilL 
 
 NO. 600.— INSCRIPTIONS OF VlCfTORY AND PRIVILEGE. 
 
 iii. 12. / will write upon him the name of my Gody 
 and the name of the city of my God. 
 Great numbers of inscriptions are yet remaining, 
 brought from the Grecian cities o^ Europe and Asia, 
 and some from islands in the neighbourhood of Patmos, 
 in which the victories of eminent persons are com- 
 memorated. Some of these were placed near the 
 temples of their deities ; others were in the temples ; 
 to signify that they were put under their particular 
 direction : upon these were inscribed the names of the 
 deities, of the conquerors, and of the cities to which 
 they belonged, and the names of the Generals by 
 whose conduct the victory was gained. Inscriptions 
 also were sometimes placed upon pillars, to record the 
 privileges granted to cities, and also the names of 
 their benefactors. — Burder. 
 
 Appear with clouds on Sion's hill. 
 The word and myst 'ry to. fulfil. 
 
 Thy confessors t' approve : 
 Thy toembers on thy throne to place. 
 And stamp thy name on every face. 
 
 In glorious heav'nly love ! 
 
 NO. 601.— THE RAINBOW, A TOKEN OF DIVINE FAVOR 
 iy. 3. A rainbow. 
 The whole race of mankind being deeply interested 
 Kk 
 
514 REVELATION. 
 
 in this token of divine favor, it is not at all surprizing* 
 to find the signification of such an important emblem 
 preserved among various nations. Homer, virith re- 
 markable conformity to scripture, speaks of the rain- 
 bow which Jove hath set in the cloud, as a token to 
 men. Iris, or the rainbow, was worshipped not only 
 by the Greeks and Romans, but also by the Peruvians 
 in South America, when the Spaniards first visited 
 them, — Burder. 
 
 The rainbow was the seal and token of the covenant 
 of providence which God made with Noah, and his 
 * posterity with him ; and is a fit emblem of that cove- 
 nant, ordered in all things and sure : the most prevail- 
 ing color was a pleasant green, to show the reviving 
 and refreshing nature of the new covenant. — Henry, 
 
 NO. 602.— MANNER OF SITTING IN THE JEWISH CON- 
 SISTORY. 
 
 iv. 4. And round about the' throne were four and 
 twenty seats ; and upon the seats I saw four and 
 twenty Elders sitting. 
 
 The situation of the Elders is agreeable to the 
 ancient manner of sitting in council or consistory 
 among the Jews. There is a representation of this 
 Dan. vii. 9. — I beheld 'till the seats, or thrones, were 
 pitched (not thrown down, as in our translation), and 
 the Ancient of Days did sit in the midst of the other 
 thrones, as the father or head of the consistory, and 
 the judgment was set, — ver. 10, — that is, the whole 
 Sanhedrim ; the rest of the Elders were seated, on 
 those thrones that were round about, and the books 
 were opened, preparatory to the judicature. — 
 
 Hammond* 
 
REVELATION. 515 
 
 NO. 603.— -DESCRIPTION OF THE JEWISH VIALS. 
 
 V. 8. Golden vials full of odours. 
 Vials were of common use in the temple service : 
 they were not like those small bottles which we now 
 call by that name ; but were like cups on a plate, in 
 allusion to the censers of gold, in which the Priests 
 offered incense in the temple. Thes«B censers were 
 a sort of cups, which, because of the heat of the fire 
 burning the incense, were often put upon a plate or 
 saucer. The common custom of drinking tea and 
 other hot liquors out of a cup and saucer, will shew 
 the form of these censers. — Lowman, 
 
 NO. 604.— PALMS CARRIED BY CONQUERORS. 
 
 vii. 9. And palms ioi their hands. 
 Conquerors used to carry palm-tree branches in 
 their hands. Those who conquered in the Grecian 
 combats, not only had crowns of palm-tree given 
 them, but carried branches of it in their hands. 
 The Romans did the same in their triumphs ; and 
 they sometimes wore a garment with the figures of 
 palm-trees interwoven in it. — Gill, 
 
 Fjglit on, ye conq'ring souls, fight on ; 
 And when the conquest you have won. 
 Then palms of vict'ry you shall bear. 
 And in bis kingdom have a share. 
 And crowns of glory ever wear, 
 
 lu endless day. 
 
 NO. 605.— THE WORSHIP OF THE DEVIL IN THE EAST. 
 
 ix. 20. That they should not worship devils, 
 Mr. Ives, in his travels through Persia, speaking of 
 the Sanjacks,^' says, " these people once professed 
 
 * A nation inlaabiting the country about Mosul, the ancient Niiieveh. 
 K k 2 
 
516 REVELATION. 
 
 Christisnity, — then Mahommedanism, — and last of all, 
 Devilism. They say it is true that the Devil has, at 
 present, a quarrel with God ; but the time will come, 
 when the pride of his heart being subdued, he will 
 make his submission to the Almighty ; and as the 
 Deity cannot be implacable, the Devil will receive a 
 full pardon for all his transgressions ; and both he 
 and all those who paid him attention during his dis- 
 grace, wiil be admitled into the blessed mansions. 
 This is the foundation of their hope ; and this chance 
 for Heaven they esteem to be a better one than that 
 of trusting to their own merits, or the merits of the 
 leader of any other religion whatsoever. The person 
 of the Devil they look on as sacred ; and when they 
 affirm any thing solemnly, they do it by his name. 
 All disrespectful-expressions of him they would punish 
 with death, did not the Turkish power prevent them. 
 "AVhen they speak of him it is with the greatest re- 
 spect ; and they always put before his name a certain 
 title, corresponding to that of Highness or Lord. 
 
 Abbe de-Guyon says, that the Benjans, in the East 
 Indies, fill their temples, or pagodas, with the statues 
 of 4he Devil, designed in all the horrid extravagance 
 of the Indian taste. The iCing of Calicut has a 
 pagoda filled with the most frightful figures of the 
 Devil, which receives no other light than what 
 proceeds from the. gleam of a multitude of lamps. In 
 the midst of this kind of cavern is a copper throne, 
 whereon a devil, formed of the same matter, is seated, 
 with a tiara of several rows upon his head, three 
 Ifirge horns, and four others, which spring out of his 
 forehead. He has a large gaping mouth, out of 
 which come four teeth like the tusks of a boar. His 
 
REVELATION, 517 
 
 chin is furnished with- a long and hideous beard. He 
 has a crooked nose, large squinting eyes, a face 
 frightfully inflamed, fingers crooked like talons, and 
 paws rather than feet. His breasts hang down upon 
 his belly, where his hands are laid in a negligent 
 posture : from his belly arises another head, uglier if 
 possible than the first, with two horns, and a tongue 
 Tianging out, prodigiously large, and behind him a 
 tail like a cow's tail. On his tongue and in his hand 
 there are two figures, almost round, which the 
 Indians say are souls which he is preparing to devour. 
 
 Burder. 
 
 NO. 606. — POISON INFUSED IN WINE. 
 
 xiv, 10. The same shall drink of the wineof the wrath 
 
 of Godf which is poured out without mixture, into 
 
 the cup of his indignation. 
 
 The wine of the wrath of God, and the cup of his 
 indignation, are expressions taken from the language 
 of the Prophets. It was not only customary to treat 
 friends with a cup of wine as a mark of affection, but 
 to execute the sentence of death on offenders by 
 making them drink a cup of wine, in which some 
 strong poison had been infused. Such was the exe- 
 cution of Socrates by a cup of poison. Grotius seems 
 to give a just account of the expression, without 
 mixture; that it intimates, that the poisonous in- 
 gredients were infused in pure unmixed wine, to take 
 a stronger tincture, and become a more deadly poison. 
 ^ Lowniafl, 
 
 In all the scriptures there is not another such 
 terrible threatening as this. — The wrath of God — 
 without any mixture of mercy ! The smoke of their 
 
518 REVELATION. 
 
 torment ascendeth up for ever and ever! Reader, 
 God grant that thou and I may never try the strict 
 literal eternity of this torment ! — Wesley, 
 
 Tempests of^angi-y fire shall roll. 
 
 To blast the rebel-worm. 
 
 And beat upon his naked soul 
 
 In one eternal storm. 
 
 Watts. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 VVoolmer, Printer, Exeter. 
 
Errata. — Page 172, for put in proper, read pal it in proper ; p. 274, for 
 Jenljra, read Tentyra ; p. 393, for it was not in the night, real it was in the 
 night ; p. 306, ybr the comparing crocodiles, read the comparing them to cro- 
 codiles ; p. 336, for the King, read the thing ; p. 341, for they alighted, read 
 she alighted; p. 374, for Bathus, read Battus ; p. 428, /or Pharisees, read 
 Plwrisee j p. 434, /or carot-trce, read carob-tree.. 
 
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 ... Mr. Harvey, Oakhampton 
 Rev. W. Harward, Ceylon 
 Mr. Harwood, Newbury 
 Mr. Harwood, Tiverton 
 Rev. C. Hawthorn, Tavistock 
 ... W. Hay man, Oxford 
 Mr. Hayman, Buckfastleigk 
 ... Hclyer, Ashburton 
 ... Henham, Brent 
 Mrs. Henley, Frogwell 
 Mr. Henley, Buckfastleigh 
 ... Henley, Brixham 
 Rev. W. Henshaw, Ply. Dock 
 ... O. Hen wood, Brixham 
 Mr. Henwood, Frogwell 
 Rev. W. Hill, Chester 
 Mr. Hill, Halberton 
 ... Hill, Llantaglas 
 Rev. B. Hilly, Middlehom 
 Mr. Hire, Wattington 
 
 .. Hodgshon, Darlington 
 
 .. Honcychurch, Bovey 
 
 .. Hooper, Kingsbridgc 
 
 .. Horner, Woolverhamptdit 
 
 .. Hosser, Pool 
 
 .. Howartli, Clithero 
 
 .. H usher, Newbury 
 
 .. Hutton, Brit well 
 
 .. Johnsou, Portsea 
 Rev. J. Jonlan, Wrexhanv 3 
 
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 Miss Isaac, Cullumptort 
 Mr. fvry, Camclford 
 
SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 Rev. P. Jamtson, Manningtree 
 
 Mrs. Jeff, Gloucester 
 
 Rev. W. Jenkins, Launceston 
 
 Mr. De Jersey, Guernsey,? co. 
 
 ... Jervas, Horncastle 
 
 Rev. J. KeeliHt^, Taunton 
 
 Mr. Keet, Portsea 
 
 ... Keilard, Ivybridge 
 
 ... Kennard, Plvmouth-Dock 
 
 ... Kerkly, FuUelby 
 
 ... Kidd, Little Port 
 
 ... Kigby, Chester 
 
 ... King-, Kingston 
 
 ... Kock, Exeter 
 
 ... Lamble, Ashburton 
 
 ... Lamzed, Brixham 
 
 Rev. J. Lancaster,Kingsbridge 
 
 Mf. Lane, Brixham 
 
 ... Laurcy, Gerrans 
 
 ... Lawe, Chester 
 
 ... Lee, Middleham 
 
 ... Lewis, Brixham 
 
 ... Lewis, Godscroft 
 
 ... Limon, Wragby 
 
 Rev. J. Lisk, Guernsey 
 
 Mr. liOpez, Ashburton 
 
 ... Lovel, Bedford 
 
 Rev. J. Lunn, Horncasllfi 
 
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 ,.. Martin, Gerrans 
 
 ,.. Mason, Chester 
 
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 ••• Matthews, Bedford 
 
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 ... Miller, Willshampstead 
 
 R< V J. Moody, Tiverton 
 
 Mr. Morgan, Uedbrook 
 
 ... Morley, Mansfield 
 
 ... Morley, Horncastle 
 
 ,., Morrip, Newbury 
 
 3 A3 
 
 Rev. W. Moulton, Mansfield, 
 
 6 copies 
 Mr. Mngford, Oakhamptou 
 Rev. J. Nail, Bedford 
 ... K. Neesham, Lincoln 
 Mr. Newman, Pool 
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 Rev. J. Odgers, Hungerford, 
 
 2 copies 
 Mr. Odg:crs, St. Austle 
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 Rev. ... Olver, Exeter 
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 Mrs. Padley, Tetford 
 Mr, Le Page, Guernsey 
 .. Palk, Ipplepen 
 .. Pannell, CuUumpton 
 .. L. Pannell, ditto 
 .. Pannell, Horncastle 
 .. Parker, ditto 
 .. Parkhouse, Tiverton 
 Miss Paul, Guernsey 
 Mr. Pearce, Camelford 
 ... T. Pearce, ditto 
 ... Pearce, St. Blazey 
 Rev. W. Pearson, Guernsey 
 ... J. Phoenix, Bedford 
 T. Pickering, Esq.DarJingtoft 
 Mr. Ponieroy, Brixham 
 Miss Pomeroy, ditto 
 Mr. Pratt, Tiverton 
 ... Pring, Alconbury 
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 Miss Rawe, Cullompton 
 Mr. Reed, St. Ginnis 
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 ... Rosevear, Camelford 
 
SUBSGBJBEIIS* 
 
 Rev. J. Rovre, Market-street 
 
 "W. Rowe, Esq. Sampford 
 
 Mr. Rowe, Bedford 
 
 Rev. T. Rushforth, Brecon 
 
 ... G. Russell, Exeter 
 
 Mr. Ryan, Crediton 
 
 ... Reynolds, Exeter 
 
 Rev. J. Sanders, Darlaston 
 
 Mr. Scott, Woodendarly 
 
 ... Shapter, Brent 
 
 Rev. E. Shaw, Tavistock 
 
 Mr. Shaw, Newhury 
 
 •.. Shearing, Chester 
 
 ... Shearman, Godmanchester 
 
 • .. Sheriff, Kingsbridge 
 
 Rev. K. Sherwell, Ashburton 
 
 Mr. Sherwell, Ivybridge 
 
 ... Sport, Market-street 
 
 Rev. J. Simmons,Northampton 
 
 ... J. Simpson, Lincoln 
 
 Mr. Skelly, Topsham 
 
 ... Slee, Torrington 
 
 ... Slight, Wragby 
 
 Mrs. Smart, Brixham 
 
 Mr. Smart, ditto 
 
 ... Smear, Redgrove 
 
 ... Smetherst, Oldham 
 
 ... Smith, Buckdon 
 
 ... Smith, Tavistock 
 
 ... Smith, Downing 
 
 ... Sparrow, Kingston 
 
 ... Spence, Chester 
 
 Rev. J. Spink, Stratten 
 
 Mr. Stentiford, Ashburton 
 
 ... Stewart, Northampton 
 
 ... Stidson, Kingston 
 
 ... T. Stidson, ditto 
 
 ... Stiles, Tavistock 
 
 ... Stimson, Little Port 
 
 ... Stranger, Brook 
 
 ... Stranger, Coombe 
 
 ... Stranger, Ashburton 
 
 Rev. P. Le Sueur, Dock 
 
 ,.. J. Sumner, Taunton, 3 CO 
 
 pies 
 Mr. Swafing, Brixham 
 
 Rev% T. Squance, Ceylon 
 Miss Squa»ce, Exeter 
 Rev. J. Sykes, Darlington 
 J. Tanner, Esq. Newbury 
 Mr. Tasker, Horneastle 
 ... Taylor, CuUumpton 
 .... Taylor, Willand 
 ... Taylor, Towcester 
 ... Taylor, Portsea 
 ... Taylor, Diss 
 ... Thorn, Guernsey 
 Rev. J. Thomas, Barnstaple 
 Mr. Thomas, Leary 
 ... Thynne, Palgrave 
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 Rev. W. Towers, Huntington, 
 
 2 copies 
 Mr. Towgood, CuUompton 
 B. Townsend, Esq. Exeter 
 Mr. Tozer, Coombe 
 Rev. W. Trampleasure, Kings* 
 
 bridge 
 Mr. Trehane, Exeter 
 ... Tremeer, Brook 
 ... Trounce, Vcryan 
 Rev. U. Tuck, Oakhampton 
 A. Tucker, Esq. Ashburton 
 Mr. Tucker, Buckfastleigh 
 ... TuU, Portsea 
 Rev. J. Twiddy, Monmouth 
 Mr. Tyler, Wolverhampton 
 ... Underbill, St. Germans 
 ... Vass, Market-street 
 ... Verney, Exeter 
 ... Vorwell, Brixham 
 ... Vounder, St. Austle 
 ... Wall, Bedford 
 ... Walbridge, Axminster 
 Rev. J. Walker, Hungerforil 
 Mr. Ward, Towcester 
 ... Warmer, Sampford 
 ... Warn, Bedford 
 Rev. T. Warren, Dock 
 Mr. Wart, Hungerford 
 ... Webb, Portsea 
 ,,. Webb, Portsmouth 
 
SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 Mr. Webb, Landrake 
 
 ... T. Webb, ditto 
 
 Kgv. J. Weir, Axminster 
 
 ... F. AVest, Horncastle 
 
 Miss West, Bodeave 
 
 Mr, West, Bodmin 
 
 Rev. J. Weville, Barnstaple 
 
 Mr. White, Ipplepen 
 
 ... Whipe, Ciithero 
 
 ... Wibb, Newbury 
 
 Rev. R.Williams, Hungerford, 
 
 2 copies 
 Miss Williams, Brecon 
 
 Mr. Williams, Chester 
 
 . Williams, Ivybridgn 
 
 . Williams, Brecon 
 
 . R. Williams, ditto 
 
 . Wincey, Guernsey 
 
 . L. Wincey, ditto 
 
 . Winsor, Buckfastleigk 
 
 . Wiseman, Diss 
 Rev. T. Wood, Deptford, 7 co, 
 Mr. Wood, Bradford 
 ... J. Woodrow, St. Austle 
 ... Woodrow, Gosport 
 ... Wright, Horncastle. 
 
■'liun^^'^x^i 
 
FIRST INDEX. 
 
 Passages of Scripture illustrated in this 
 Volume. 
 
 N. B. The Figures refer to the Numbers of the Articles. 
 
 Genesis. 
 
 c. V. N 
 ..4 3 
 
 5 24 
 
 9 4 
 
 13 2 
 
 15 3 
 
 15 9 
 
 16 12 
 
 18 1 
 
 18 8 
 
 19 1 
 
 19 24 
 
 21 15 
 
 23 2 
 
 23 16 
 
 24 2.3 
 
 24 16 
 
 24 22 
 
 24 65 
 
 25 30 
 
 26 18 
 
 27 4 
 
 28 18 ...... 
 
 28 22 
 
 29 32 
 
 31 21 
 
 31 27 
 
 31 34 
 
 31 40 
 
 31 46 
 
 34 12 
 
 35 20 
 
 37 28 
 
 37 34 
 
 41 42 
 
 Exodus 
 
 o. 
 
 1 1 Genesis 
 2 
 3 
 4 
 5 
 6 
 7 
 8 
 9 
 10 
 11 
 12 
 13 
 14 
 15 
 16 
 17 
 18 
 19 
 20 
 21 
 22 
 23 
 24 
 25 
 26 
 27 
 28 
 29 
 30 
 31 
 32 
 33 
 34 
 
 Leviticus 
 
 c. Y. N«. 
 
 41 47 35 
 
 42 16 36 
 
 43 11 37 
 
 43 29 38 
 
 43 34 39 
 
 44 1 40 
 
 44 5 41 
 
 45 22 42 
 
 46 4 43 
 
 49 10 44 
 
 49 22 45 
 
 49 29 46 
 
 50 26 47 
 
 . 2 5 48 
 
 3 2 49 
 
 7 17 50 
 
 7 18 51 
 
 9 8 52 
 
 It 11 63 
 
 13 18 54 
 
 14 29 55 
 
 15 20 , 56 
 
 17 1 57 
 
 19 13 5S 
 
 22 5 59 
 
 22 6 6a 
 
 23 19 61 
 
 29 24 62 
 
 32 6 63 
 
 38 8 64 
 
 ...2 1 ...... 65 
 
 2 5 66 
 
 2 13 67 
 
 6 13 6t 
 

 FIRST 
 
 INDEX 
 
 
 
 C. V. 
 
 No. 
 
 
 C. V. 
 
 No. 
 
 leTJticus 7 8 . 
 
 .... 69 
 
 Judges 
 
 ....19 29 ... 
 
 ,..114 
 
 16 8 . 
 
 .... 70 
 
 
 21 21 ... 
 
 ...115 
 
 16 22 . 
 
 .... 71 
 
 Ruth 
 
 .... 2 14 ... 
 
 ...116 
 
 18 21 . 
 
 .... 72 
 
 
 4 7 ... 
 
 ...117 
 
 19 27 .. 
 
 .... 73 
 
 1 Samuel.. 
 
 .... 4 18 ... 
 
 ...118 
 
 Numbers 1 49 . 
 
 .... 74 
 
 
 5 4 ... 
 
 ...119 
 
 6 18 . 
 
 .... 75 
 
 
 6 4 ... 
 
 ...120 
 
 10 31 . 
 
 .... 76 
 
 
 9 7 ... 
 
 ...121 
 
 11 5 .. 
 
 .... 77 
 
 
 9 26 ... 
 
 ...122 
 
 11 31 . 
 
 .... 78 
 
 
 10 5 ... 
 
 ...123 
 
 12 14 .. 
 
 .... 79 
 
 
 12 17 ... 
 
 ...124 
 
 22 6 .. 
 
 .... 80 
 
 
 16 23 ... 
 
 ...125 
 
 23 1 .. 
 
 .... 81 
 
 
 17 43 ... 
 
 ...126 
 
 Deuteronomy 1 28 .. 
 
 .... 82 
 
 
 17 45 ... 
 
 ...127 
 
 6 9.. 
 
 .... 83 
 
 
 18 3 ... 
 
 ...128 
 
 7 22 .. 
 
 .... 84 
 
 
 18 4 ... 
 
 ...129 
 
 8 8.. 
 
 .... 85 
 
 
 18 25 ... 
 
 ...130 
 
 11 10 .. 
 
 .... 86 
 
 
 23 7 ... 
 
 ...131 
 
 14 1 .. 
 
 . .. 87 
 
 
 25 IJ ... 
 
 ...132 
 
 22 6 .. 
 
 .... 88 
 
 
 25 18 ... 
 
 ...133 
 
 24 20 .. 
 
 .... 89 
 
 
 26 25 ... 
 
 ...134 
 
 28 5 .. 
 
 .... 96 
 
 
 29 1 ... 
 
 ...135 
 
 28 24 .. 
 
 .... 91 
 
 
 31 10 ... 
 
 ...136 
 
 29 23 .. 
 
 .... 92 
 
 2 Samuel . 
 
 ....1 10 ... 
 
 ..137 
 
 34 S .. 
 
 .... 93 
 
 
 3 33, 34 
 
 ..138 
 
 »Tcia}iii& *«««•». *.d 15 •• 
 
 .... 94 
 .... 96 
 
 
 6 14 ... 
 
 8 2 ... 
 
 . 139 
 
 7 6.. 
 
 ..140 
 
 9 4.. 
 
 .... 96 
 
 
 9 10 .... 
 
 ..141 
 
 9 23 .. 
 
 ... 97 
 
 
 10 4 .... 
 
 ..142 
 
 17 16 .. 
 
 ... 98 
 
 
 11 8 .... 
 
 ..143 
 
 24 30 .. 
 
 ... 99 
 
 
 12 20 .... 
 
 ..144 
 
 Indies. 1 14 ... 
 
 ...100 
 ...101 
 
 
 13 18 .... 
 15 30 .... 
 
 ..145 
 
 3 18 .. 
 
 ..146 
 
 3 31 .. 
 
 ...102 
 
 
 16 13 .... 
 
 ..147 
 
 4 19 ... 
 
 ...103 
 
 
 18 11 .... 
 
 ..148 
 
 6 10 ... 
 
 ...104 
 
 
 18 17 .... 
 
 ..149 
 
 5 30 ... 
 
 ...105 
 
 
 20 9 .... 
 
 ..150 
 
 8 26 ... 
 
 ...106 
 
 1 Kings ... 
 
 ... 1 39 .... 
 
 ..151 
 
 11 30 ... 
 
 ...107 
 
 
 2 25 .... 
 
 ..152 
 
 12 6 ... 
 
 ..,108 
 
 
 2 28 .... 
 
 .153 
 
 14 12 ... 
 
 ...109 
 
 
 4 7 .... 
 
 .154 
 
 15 5 ... 
 
 ...110 
 
 
 4 25 
 
 .155 
 
 15 8 ... 
 
 ...111 
 
 
 10 16 
 
 .156 
 
 15 19 ... 
 
 ...112 
 
 
 10 18 
 
 .157 
 
 16 27 ... 
 
 ...iisJ 
 
 
 18 19 
 
 .158 
 

 
 VIUST INDEX . 
 
 
 
 C. V. 
 
 No. 
 
 C. T. 
 
 No. 
 
 I King^s 
 
 .18 26 
 
 159 
 
 Job « 25 ... 
 
 ...204 
 
 
 18 42 
 
 160 
 
 10 10 ... 
 
 ...205 
 
 
 18 46 
 
 161 
 
 16 9 ... 
 
 ...206 
 
 
 19 13 
 
 162 
 
 19 23 ... 
 
 ...207 
 
 
 19 18 
 
 161 
 
 21 17 .. 
 
 ...208 
 
 
 20 32 
 
 164 
 
 24 8 ... 
 
 ...209 
 
 
 21 8 
 
 165 
 
 24 16 ... 
 
 ...210 
 
 
 31 23 
 
 166 
 
 29 7 ... 
 
 ...211 
 
 
 22 43 
 
 167 
 
 30 22 ... 
 
 ...212 
 
 2 Kings 
 
 ... 1 2 
 
 168 
 
 31 35 ... 
 
 ...213 
 
 
 3 11 
 
 169 
 
 Psaln»« 18 33 ... 
 
 ...214 
 
 
 3 17 
 
 170 
 
 18 34 ... 
 
 ...215 
 
 
 3 19 
 
 171 
 
 26 6 ... 
 
 ...216 
 
 
 4 24 
 
 172 
 
 28 2 ... 
 
 ...217 
 
 
 7 12 
 
 173 
 
 30 title. . 
 
 ...218 
 
 
 10 27 
 
 174 
 
 32 4 ... 
 
 ...219 
 
 
 11 12 
 
 175 
 
 42 7 ... 
 
 ...220 
 
 
 12 10 
 
 176 
 
 45 8 ... 
 
 ...221 
 
 
 19 7 
 
 177 
 
 66 8 ... 
 
 ...222 
 
 1 Chronicles 
 
 ..16 36 
 
 178 
 
 58 $ ... 
 
 ...223 
 
 
 22 3 
 
 179 
 
 60 4 ... 
 
 ...224 
 
 
 2a 27 
 
 .......180 
 
 ..■:..i8i 
 
 64 3 ... 
 
 ...22i 
 
 2 CFironicles 
 
 ..16 14 
 
 68 13 ... 
 
 ...226 
 
 
 25 12 
 
 182 
 
 68 25 ... 
 
 ...227 
 
 
 28 27 
 
 183 
 
 72 8,9. 
 
 ...228 
 
 
 35 25 
 
 184 
 
 72 16 ... 
 
 ...229 
 
 Ezra 
 
 ...8 27 
 
 186 
 
 75 5 ... 
 
 ...230 
 
 
 9 3 
 
 ......186 
 
 75 8 ... 
 
 ...28J 
 
 Nehemiah... 
 
 ...5 18 
 
 187 
 
 78 47 ... 
 
 ...232 
 
 
 6 5 
 
 188 
 
 90 4 ... 
 
 ...233 
 
 
 10 34 
 
 189 
 
 102 26 ... 
 
 ...234 
 
 
 13 15 
 
 190 
 
 104 17 ... 
 
 ...235 
 
 
 13 25 
 
 191 
 
 109 24 ... 
 
 ...236 
 
 Esther 
 
 .. 1 9 
 
 192 
 
 116 13 ... 
 
 ...237 
 
 
 3 7 
 
 193 
 
 119 83 ... 
 
 ...238 
 
 
 6 1 
 
 194 
 
 121 5 ... 
 
 ...239 
 
 
 6 9 
 
 195 
 
 123 2 ... 
 
 ...240 
 
 
 7 8 
 
 196 
 
 129 6 ... 
 
 ...241 
 
 
 9 26 
 
 197 
 
 132 18 ... 
 
 ...242 
 
 Job 
 
 ...1 3 
 
 198 
 
 137 9 ... 
 
 ...243 
 
 
 2 4 
 
 199 
 
 141 7 ... 
 
 ...244 
 
 
 2 10 
 
 .200 
 
 147 16 ... 
 
 ...245 
 
 
 6 4 
 
 201 
 
 149 5 ... 
 
 ...246 
 
 
 7 12 
 
 202 
 
 Proverbs V I ... 
 
 ...247 
 
 
 7 19 
 
 203 
 
 3 8 ... 
 
 ...24d 
 
 3m 
 
FIRST INDEX, 
 
 C. V. 
 
 No. 
 
 C. T. 
 
 N*. 
 
 ProTcrbs 9 3 . 
 
 249 
 
 Isaiah. 21 5 .. 
 
 ...294 
 
 15 19 . 
 
 ....250 
 
 22 16 .. 
 
 ...295 
 
 16 II . 
 
 ....251 
 
 22 22 .. 
 
 ...296 
 
 19 24 . 
 
 ....252 
 
 22 23 .. 
 
 ...297 
 
 21 8 . 
 
 253 
 
 24 17 .. 
 
 ...298 
 
 21 9 . 
 
 ....254 
 
 28 28 .. 
 
 ...299 
 
 22 14 . 
 
 ....25* 
 
 29 4 .. 
 
 ...300 
 
 22 28 . 
 
 ....256 
 
 29 8 ... 
 
 ...301 
 
 23 30 . 
 
 ....i>57 
 
 30 29 ... 
 
 ...302 
 
 24 II .. 
 
 ....258 
 
 32 20 .. 
 
 ...303 
 
 25 13 .. 
 
 ....259 
 
 35 7 ... 
 
 ...304 
 
 27 9 .. 
 
 ....260 
 
 37 29 .. 
 
 ...305 
 
 27 22 .. 
 
 ....261 
 
 40 3, 4... 
 
 ...306 
 
 27 27 .. 
 
 ....262 
 
 44 5 ... 
 
 ...307 
 
 30 33 .. 
 
 ....263 
 
 44 13 ... 
 
 ...308 
 
 31 18 .. 
 
 ....264 
 
 46 2 ... 
 
 ...309 
 
 Ecclesiastes...3 6 .. 
 
 ....266 
 
 47 13 ... 
 
 ...310 
 
 7 6.. 
 
 ....266 
 
 49 16 ... 
 
 ...311 
 
 10 1 .. 
 
 ....267 
 
 51 23 ... 
 
 ...313 
 
 12 11 .. 
 
 ....268 
 
 52 15 ... 
 
 ...313 
 
 Solomon'sSongI o .. 
 
 ....269 
 
 60 8 ... 
 
 ...314 
 
 2 3.. 
 
 ..,.270 
 
 65 4 ... 
 
 ...315 
 
 2 15 .. 
 
 .,..271 
 
 66 17 ... 
 
 ...316 
 
 3 6.. 
 
 ....272 
 
 Jeiemicili I 13 ... 
 
 ...317 
 
 3 11 .. 
 
 ....273 
 
 2 6 ... 
 
 ...31g 
 
 4 9.. 
 
 ....274 
 
 3 2 ... 
 
 ...319 
 
 5 13 .. 
 
 ....275 
 
 4 30 ... 
 
 ..320 
 
 6 10 .. 
 
 ....276 
 
 6 I ... 
 
 ..321 
 
 Igaiah.... 18.. 
 
 ....277 
 
 9 17, 18 
 
 ...322 
 
 1 18 .. 
 
 ...278 
 
 17 13 ... 
 
 ..323 
 
 2 20 .. 
 
 ...279 
 
 25 10 ... 
 
 ..324 
 
 3 16 .. 
 
 ...280 
 
 2S16 .... 
 
 ..325 
 
 3 26 .. 
 
 ...281 
 
 31 19 .... 
 
 ..326 
 
 5 26 .. 
 
 ...282 
 
 32 14 .... 
 
 ..327 
 
 r> 28 .. 
 
 ...283 1 
 
 34 18 .... 
 
 ..328 
 
 6 10 ... 
 
 ...284 
 
 37 15 .... 
 
 ..329 
 
 8 6,7.. 
 
 ...285 
 
 38 7 .... 
 
 ..3-30 
 
 ^ 9 5... 
 
 ,..286 
 
 41 8 .... 
 
 ..331 
 
 9 10 ... 
 
 ...287 
 
 44 17 .... 
 
 ...332 
 
 10 1 ... 
 
 ...288 
 
 4i> 19 .... 
 
 ..333 
 
 12 3 ... 
 
 ...289 
 
 50 15 .... 
 
 ..334 
 
 13 17 ... 
 
 ...290 
 
 51 41 ... 
 
 .335 
 
 13 18 ... 
 
 ...291 
 
 Lameutalions.. 2 1 .... 
 
 .336 
 
 13 20 ... 
 
 ...292 
 
 5 10 
 
 .337 
 
 J9 1 ... 
 
 ,.,293 
 
 Ezeldel 4 7 ..>,. 
 
 .338 
 
F1TI»T INDEXa 
 
 Ei^kiel. 
 
 8 17 
 
 9 4 
 
 12 
 
 21 
 
 7 
 21 
 
 Baniel. 
 
 24 17 
 26 14 
 32 2 
 
 32 27 
 
 33 26 
 
 34 2-5 
 . 1 4 
 
 1 8 
 
 2 5 
 2 46 
 
 5 11 
 
 6 27 
 
 5 29 
 
 6 8 
 6 10 
 6 11 
 
 Hosca. 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 12 
 
 8 11 
 11 2 
 
 12 
 14 
 14 
 14 
 
 Joel... 
 Amos. 
 
 2 23 
 
 3 3 
 
 Obadiah. 
 
 1 . 
 
 12 . 
 
 15 . 
 
 10 . 
 
 19 . 
 
 26.. 
 
 14 . 
 9 . 
 9 13 . 
 .. 15 . 
 
 18 . 
 
 No. 
 ...339 
 ...340 
 ...341 
 ...342 
 ...343 
 ...344 
 ...345 
 ...346 
 ...347 
 ...348 
 ...349 
 ...350 
 ...351 
 ...352 
 ...353 
 ...354 
 ..355 
 ...356 
 ...357 
 ...358 
 ...359 
 ...360 
 ...361 
 ...362 
 ...363 
 ...364 
 ...365 
 ...366 
 ...367 
 ...368 
 ...369 
 ...370 
 ...371 
 ...372 
 ...373 
 ...374 
 ...375 
 ...376 
 ...377 
 ...378 
 ...379 
 ...380 
 ...381 
 ...382 
 ...383 
 3B 
 
 Micah. 
 
 c. 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 Nalium 2 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 Habakkuk... 1 
 
 Q 
 
 3 
 3 
 
 Zephaniah...^. 2 
 
 Zechariah 1 
 
 3 
 3 
 12 
 14 20 
 
 Malaclii 1 8 
 
 4 2 
 
 Wisdom 2 7 
 
 13 13, 
 Ecclesiasticus24 27 
 
 Matthew 2 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 4 
 11 
 12 
 15 
 23 
 1 
 13 
 ^ 24 
 3 31 
 5 34 
 
 5 36 
 
 6 41 
 
 5 47 
 
 6 2 
 6 5 
 6 7 
 6 16 
 6 28 
 
 6 30 
 
 7 4 
 7 13 
 7 29 
 
 Ntf. 
 
 384 
 
 385 
 
 386 
 
 387 
 
 388 
 
 389 
 
 390 
 
 391 
 
 392 
 
 393 
 
 394 
 
 395 
 
 396 
 
 397 
 
 398 
 
 399 
 
 400 
 
 401 
 
 402 
 
 14... 403 
 
 404 
 
 405 
 
 406 
 
 407 
 
 408 
 
 409 
 
 410 
 
 4U 
 
 412 
 
 413 
 
 414 
 
 415 
 
 416 
 
 417 
 
 418 
 
 419 
 
 420 
 
 421 
 
 422 
 
 423 
 
 424 
 
 425 
 
 426 
 
 427 
 
 428 
 
FIRST INDEX. 
 
 Mark 
 
 C. V. 
 
 No. 
 
 «. V. 
 
 No. 
 
 ew 9 1 ... 
 
 ...429 
 
 Mark 9 43 .... 
 
 ..474 
 
 9 15 .. 
 
 ...430 
 
 9 44 .... 
 
 ..475 
 
 9 20 .. 
 
 ...431 
 
 10 12 .... 
 
 ..476 
 
 9 23 .. 
 
 ....432 
 
 11 2 .... 
 
 ..477 
 
 10 9 .. 
 
 ....433 
 
 14 3 .... 
 
 ..478 
 
 10 14 .. 
 
 ....434 
 
 14 35 .... 
 
 ..479 
 
 10 17 .. 
 
 ....435 
 
 14 51 .... 
 
 ..480 
 
 11 17 .. 
 
 ....436 
 
 14 61 .... 
 
 ..481 
 
 12 50 .. 
 
 ....437 
 
 15 26 .... 
 
 ..482 
 
 m 4 
 
 ....438 
 ....439 
 
 Luke.......... 2 7 .... 
 
 ..483 
 
 14 11 .. 
 
 2 7 .... 
 
 ..484 
 
 14 20 .. 
 
 ....440 
 
 2 25 .... 
 
 ..485 
 
 15 5 .. 
 
 ....441 
 
 4 1 .... 
 
 ..486 
 
 16 3 .. 
 
 ....442 
 
 4 20 .... 
 
 ..487 
 
 17 24 .. 
 
 ....443 
 
 6 38 .... 
 
 ..488 
 
 18 6 .. 
 
 ....444 
 
 6 48 .... 
 
 ..489 
 
 18 25 .. 
 
 ....445 
 
 7 44 .... 
 
 ..490 
 
 18 26 .. 
 
 ....446 
 
 10 4 .... 
 
 ..491 
 
 18 34 .. 
 
 ....447 
 
 10 13 .... 
 
 ..492 
 
 20 21 .. 
 
 ....448 
 
 12 35 .... 
 
 ..493 
 
 20 23 .. 
 
 ....449 
 
 12 55 .... 
 
 ..494 
 
 21 8 .. 
 
 ....450 
 
 14 16, 17. 
 
 ..4P5 
 
 21 21 .. 
 
 ....451 
 
 14 28 .... 
 
 ..496 
 
 21 34 .. 
 
 ....452 
 
 15 16 .... 
 
 ..497 
 
 22 9 .. 
 
 ....453 
 
 15 25 .... 
 
 ..49» 
 
 22 11 .. 
 
 ....454 
 
 16 12 .... 
 
 ..499 
 
 22 30 .. 
 
 ....455 
 
 16 20 .... 
 
 ..500 
 
 22 40 .. 
 
 ....456 
 
 16 22 .... 
 
 ..501 
 
 23 2 .. 
 
 ....457 
 
 21 5 .... 
 
 ..502 
 
 23 5 .. 
 
 ....458 
 
 22 64 .... 
 
 ..503 
 
 23 24 .. 
 
 ....459 
 
 24 50 .... 
 
 ..504 
 
 23 27 .. 
 
 ....460 
 ....461 
 
 John « 1 12 .... 
 
 ..505 
 
 24 29 .. 
 
 1 42 .... 
 
 ..506 
 
 24 51 .. 
 
 ....462 
 
 1 49 .... 
 
 ..507 
 
 25 6 .. 
 
 ....463 
 
 2 8 .... 
 
 ..508 
 
 25 33 .. 
 
 ....464 
 
 2 10 .... 
 
 .509 
 
 26 26 .. 
 
 ....465 
 
 6 35 .... 
 
 ..510 
 
 27 24 .. 
 
 ....466 
 
 6 11 .... 
 
 ..511 
 
 27 25 .. 
 
 ....467 
 
 6 27 .... 
 
 ..512 
 
 27 29 .. 
 
 ....468 
 
 7 37 .... 
 
 ..513 
 
 27 34 .. 
 
 ....469 
 
 8 12 .... 
 
 ..514 
 
 27 35 .. 
 
 ....470 
 
 8 20 .... 
 
 ..5X5 
 
 ..>....... 2 4.. 
 
 ....471 
 
 10 4 .... 
 
 ..516 
 
 5 38 .. 
 
 ....47iJ 
 
 10 14 .... 
 
 ..517 
 
 9 41 .. 
 
 ....473 
 
 11 9 .... 
 
 ..518 
 
FIRST INDEX, 
 
 Joha. 
 
 Acts. 
 
 c. V. 
 II 19 
 II 31 
 II 44 521 
 
 No. 
 .519 
 .520 
 
 16 
 18 
 
 .522 
 .523 
 
 ]8 28 524 
 
 21 11 
 21 18 
 . 1 26 
 
 5 39 
 
 6 1 
 6 9 
 9 5 
 
 12 8 
 
 .525 
 .526 
 
 ..527 
 ..528 
 ..529 
 ..530 
 ..531 
 ..53i2 
 ..533 
 
 14 11 
 
 14 12 534 
 
 14 13 535 
 
 l6 
 16 
 
 13 
 16 
 
 .536 
 .537 
 
 16 24 538 
 
 .539 
 
 17 18 
 
 17 22 540 
 
 17 23 541 
 
 18 
 19 
 
 .542 
 .543 
 
 19 29 544 
 
 20 7 545 
 
 21 33 546 
 
 .547 
 ..548 
 
 22 33 
 
 23 2 
 
 25 11 549 
 
 28 11 550 
 
 C. 
 
 2 Corinthians 5 
 6 
 8 
 
 Galatians 3 
 
 4 
 
 Ephesians .... 2 
 4 
 5 
 2 
 3 
 3 
 4 
 2 
 2 
 
 Romans ....... 7 24 
 
 .551 
 
 8 23 ••..552 
 
 12 13 553 
 
 1 Corinthians 4 l3 .... 554 
 
 9 25 .•..555 
 9 26,27 ..556 
 
 10 16 ....557 
 
 10 25 .-.558 
 
 11 4 559 
 
 13 1 ....560 
 
 15 32 ....561 
 
 16 22 ••••562 
 
 V. 
 
 20 
 
 7 
 
 19 
 
 I 
 
 10 
 
 19 
 
 18 
 15 
 
 2 
 14 
 
 3 
 
 14 
 
 21 
 
 2Thessalonians3 1 
 
 10 
 
 9 
 10 
 
 Philippians 
 
 Colossians 
 
 1 Timothy 
 
 2 Timothy 
 
 Titus 
 
 Philemon 
 Hebrews 
 
 . 6 
 10 
 II 
 12 
 
 13 
 
 James 5 
 
 1 Peter, 4 
 
 5 
 
 Revelations 1 
 2 
 
 2 
 2 
 3 
 3 
 4 
 4 
 5 
 7 
 9 
 14 
 
 ID 
 
 19 
 6 
 6 
 
 11 
 
 29 
 
 16 
 
 22 
 
 35 
 4 
 
 15 
 5 
 3 
 4 
 9 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 17 
 5 
 
 12 
 3 
 4 
 8 
 
 9 
 20 
 10 
 
 No- 
 .563 
 ,564 
 .565 
 .566 
 .567 
 .568 
 .569 
 .570 
 .571 
 .572 
 .573 
 .574 
 .575 
 .576 
 ..577 
 ..578 
 ..579 
 ..580 
 ..581 
 ..582 
 ..583 
 ..584 
 ..585 
 ..586 
 ..587 
 ..588 
 ..589 
 ..590 
 ...591 
 ..592 
 ..593 
 ,..594 
 ,..595 
 ....596 
 ...597 
 ...598 
 ...599 
 ...600 
 ...601 
 ...602 
 ...603 
 ...604 
 ...605 
 ...606 
 
^v,^ 
 
SECOND INDEX. 
 
 Subjects elucidated in this Volume. 
 
 V. B. The Figures refer to the Numbers of the Articles^ 
 
 A. 
 
 No. 
 Ablutions, manner of, ...688 
 Abyssinian cruelty, ...... 3 
 
 Adoption, manner of, 505 
 
 two-fold, ......552 
 
 Affection, how expressed 437 
 
 Air, beating of 556 
 
 Alabaster, box of 478 
 
 Alms, daily distributed, 529 
 Altar to the unknown God,541 
 
 — — gift left before, 414 
 
 . encompassing ditto, 216 
 
 Altars, places of security, 153 
 
 . numerous, 364 
 
 Balaam^s 81 
 
 Ambassadors held sacred, 563 
 Amen, how used formerly, 178 
 Anathema, Maranatha, ...562 
 
 Ancient offerings, 1 
 
 Angel, an officer so called,596 
 Animals, sacred ditto, ...477 
 Anniversary mourning ...184 
 Annointing the shield, ...294 
 Apostles casting lots, ...527 
 
 . treatment of, ...554 
 
 Appeals, how made, 549 
 
 Applauses in games, 577 
 
 Arabian Princess, hew ho- 
 nored, 386 
 
 Arabs, manner of eating, 252 
 
 plunderers of fruit, 380 
 
 watch for travellers 3 1 9 
 
 Arbours on house-tops, ...254 
 Area of houses covered, 471 
 Areopagites, the court of, 540 
 Armour offered to the GodB2S6 
 
 N«. 
 Armour, warriors buried 
 
 with, 347 
 
 Arms beaten in mourning, 338 
 Arrows, divination by, ...343 
 
 letters fixed in, 225 
 
 poisoned ditto, ...201 
 
 — judgments so call- 
 ed, 393 
 
 Ashes sprinkled by Moses 52 
 
 Asiatic embalming, 46 
 
 Assemblies, description of, 268 
 Asses used for riding, ...172 
 
 white ditto, 104 
 
 ^ female why chosen, 198 
 
 Astrologers displaced, ...354 
 
 Astrology, 310 
 
 Authority, ensign of, 44 
 
 B. 
 
 Baal, worship of, 159 
 
 Babylon, its foundations, 334 
 
 called Sheshach,335 
 
 its ruin, ....<.... 394 
 
 Bacchanalia, nature of, ...570 
 Baggage, how disposed of, 342 
 Bags used for mangers, ...483 
 
 money sealed up in, 176 
 
 Baking, manner of, 66 
 
 Balaam's Altars, &c 81 
 
 Balak's wish to curse Israel 80 
 Balances used for kings, 355 
 Banishment, Roman ditto, 595 
 Banner a sign of protec- 
 tion, 224 
 
 Banquets, women invite to, 249 
 Barbarity, Baptist killed, 439 
 Baskets made of i^ves^ 90 
 
SECOND INDEX. 
 
 No. 
 
 Bastinado, nature of, 138 
 
 Bathing in the Nile, '48 
 
 Beard, kissing it, 160 
 
 shaving ditto, ...142 
 
 Beasts, hook fixed in, ...305 
 J udea infested with 84 
 
 fighting with, ...561 
 
 Beating the air, 556 
 
 -^ the arms, 338 
 
 Beauty compared to the 
 
 Moon, 276 
 
 Beds, herbs used for, 275 
 
 couches so called,... 246 
 
 Bees, leading them, 282 
 
 Beggars posted at gates, 500 
 Bells appended to beasts, 399 
 Birds destroyers of corn, 438 
 Birth, how portended, ...405 
 
 Blackness of face, 387 
 
 Blessed, a title given to 
 
 God, 481 
 
 Blessing, cup of, 557 
 
 of bread, 465 
 
 Blindfolding, a play, 503 
 
 Blood, covenant made with 128 
 
 Bloodshedding, 179 
 
 Bodies tied together, 551 
 
 Body variously marked, 307 
 
 venerated, 350 
 
 Bonds, how cancelled, ...575 
 Bones, how scattered, ...244 
 
 reduced to lime, ...372 
 
 Bosom, corn carried in, ...488 
 Bottles, description of, ... 96 
 Bough, Joseph afruitful do. 45 
 
 Bow, description of, 291 
 
 Bow cases, 392 
 
 Box, alabaster ditto, 478 
 
 Boxers marked with blood 590 
 
 Bracelets, ensigns, 137 
 
 Branch put to the nose, ...340 
 Branches strewed in the 
 
 way, 450 
 
 Brass, sounding ditto, ...560 
 'Bread, how eaten, ,,116 
 
 No 
 
 Bribes despised, g9( 
 
 Bride-chamber, children of 43( 
 Bride-groom, treatment of 46J 
 Building, materials for, .,.2l( 
 Buildings, religious ditto, 53< 
 Burning for the dead, ...18 
 
 dry herbage, 6( 
 
 of chaflf, 40 
 
 Burthensome stone, 39i 
 
 C. 
 
 Cain, offering of, 
 
 Camels, chains on ditto, ...10 
 
 hair garments, ...40 
 
 Cancelling bonds, 57 
 
 Candiots, great drinkers, 25 
 Captives, lots cast for, ...38 
 
 Captivity of Idols, 30 
 
 Caravans, 3 
 
 Caravansaries, ...» 48 
 
 Casting lots before HamanlO 
 
 for scape-goat p 
 
 Cavalry, their excellence, 28 
 Caves, places of defence, 1 1 
 Ceremony, Chinese ditto, 49 
 
 Chaff, how burnt, 40 
 
 Chaplets, how used, 53 
 
 Characters examined, ...18 
 Charge, Israel's ditto, ... 4 
 Chariots, description of, 9 
 Charmers of serpents, ...22 
 
 Chasms, dangerous, 25 
 
 Cheese, how made, 20 
 
 Chief Shepherd, 59 
 
 Children, washing them, 58 
 
 their mimickry, 43 
 
 ' taught a trade, 54 
 
 sold by creditors 44 
 
 of bridechamber,43 
 
 Churning, method of, ...26 
 
 Cities, walls of, 8 
 
 of gold, 22 
 
 registers of, 57 
 
 Citizenship among the 
 
 Jews, 42 
 
 Claj)ping of hands, ..,17 
 
SECOND ind:£:x* 
 
 No. 
 Closing the eyes of the dead, 43 
 Clotlies shaken over water,385 
 
 Uiothins:, strange ditto 88 
 
 Comforting of mourners ...519 
 
 Commotions .461 
 
 CompU\itits,how expressed547 
 
 Compliment, piety of, 38 
 
 Compliment, tedious, 491 
 
 Compulsion, 418 
 
 Condescension of nobles... 435 
 Confirmation, manner of, 117 
 Conquerors, their pride,...812 
 
 ' carry palms ...604 
 
 Consecration, by washing 410 
 Consistories, sitting in, ...602 
 
 Consolation, a title 485 
 
 Contracting for wives 361 
 
 Corn of Egypt 35 
 
 repositories for, 331 
 
 carried in the bosom 488 
 
 grinding ditto 324 
 
 destroyed by birds, 438 
 
 Corner, a place of honour 373 
 Coronation, manner of, ...507 
 
 Costliness of dress 579 
 
 Cottage, descriptioii of, ...277 
 Covenant, by sacrifice, ...328 
 
 made by blood, 128 
 
 Covering the head in wor- 
 ship 559 
 
 Couches, called beds 246 
 
 Court of the Areopagites 540 
 
 manner of eating at 141 
 
 Criminal self condemned 585 
 
 *s face covered... 196 
 
 crime exposed ...482 
 
 pity shewn, 258 
 
 Crocodile, catching ditto, 202 
 Crown, in the Olympic 
 
 »f laurel, olive, &C.242 
 
 used at marriages,273 
 
 made of thorns, ...468 
 
 — on whom bestowed 597 
 
 <^Aicifixion^ ,., 470 
 
 2 
 
 No. 
 
 Cruelty of tormentors 447 
 
 — in Abyssinia, 3 
 
 in sacking towns, 243 
 
 Cucumbers, &c. of Egypt, 77 
 
 Cup, divination by 41 
 
 "of blessing , 557 
 
 how delivered, 391 
 
 the portion of a man,449 
 
 Curse of the Gibeonites... 97 
 
 Cursing of enemies, 126 
 
 Cushion, sitting on, 211 
 
 Cutting hair, manner of,... 73 
 
 ' — religious ditto 87 
 
 D. 
 
 Dagori, house of, 113 
 
 Dances, ancient ditto, 56 
 
 Dancing in the vineyards 115 
 
 men of Israel, 139 
 
 Day, division of, 518 
 
 Days, observance of....... 567 
 
 Dead, mourning for, ...13, 144 
 
 ' memorials of, 31 
 
 bodies, how treated,551 
 
 Death attended withtumult472 
 
 by casting from a 
 
 rock, 82 
 
 by stoning, 58 
 
 Debts among the Romans,586 
 Decorations of the temple, 502 
 Decrees, mode of drawing,288 
 
 Dedication of houses, 218 
 
 Desart, description of, ...318 
 Destruction of Jerusalem, 467 
 of Sodom, &c. .11 
 
 Detestation, mark of, 79 
 
 Devil worship,..,.. 605 
 
 Devotion upon high places, 1 67 
 posture of, 160 
 
 Dew, a great blessing, ....367 
 
 Diet, milk used, 262 
 
 Discourses in assemblies, 268 
 
 Dishes, description of, 21 
 
 Dishonorino^ houses, 174 
 
 Dismounting, a respect,... 100 
 Diversity of houses,.. .287 
 
SECONB INDEX. 
 
 No. 
 
 Dividin*^ the sacrifice, 581 
 
 Divination by the cup, 41 
 
 by the staff, ....363 
 
 by arrows, 343 
 
 effects of, 5o7 
 
 Divine judgments, 92 
 
 worship, 162 
 
 presence, 49 
 
 Division of the Red Sea, 55 
 Divorcement ofthehusband476 
 
 of the wife,...415 
 
 Doctor, a wind so called, 401 
 
 Dogs, how kept, 166 
 
 chained to doors, ...077 
 
 Doves, consecrated birds, 226 
 
 — employed as posts, 314 
 
 Dreams, graves visited for,315 
 Dress, Ef?yptian ditto... 480 
 
 ■ female ditto, 579 
 
 a token of honour, 356 
 
 Drink offerings, 332 
 
 Drinking vessels, 151 
 
 Drowning, a punishment, 444 
 Dunghill, houses reduced 
 
 'to, 352 
 
 Dust on the head, 95 
 
 why shaken off, 434 
 
 casting off ditto, 147 
 
 E. 
 
 Early and latter rain, 370 
 
 Eating in separate parties, 192 
 
 at courts, '. 143 
 
 among the Arabs,... 252 
 
 Egypt, corn of, 35 
 
 fish of, 50 
 
 olives o\'t 366 
 
 linen (.f, 34 
 
 dress of, 480 
 
 . idohitryof, 63 
 
 Euibalmiug, Asiatic,-* 47 
 
 Empire, how typified, ....360 
 Encampment, nature of, 134 
 Enemies, cursing ditto,... 126 
 
 Engines, water ditto, 86 
 
 finech, his translation, ,,, 2 
 
 Ensigns, graven on the 
 hands, 31 
 
 Entertainment, nature of, 40; 
 of strangers 9" 
 
 Esau, his pottage, II 
 
 Essenes, their ddgma, ....57< 
 Eunuchs, rare in the Le- 
 vant, 30< 
 
 Exactness in weights, &c. 25 
 
 Excommunication, 52: 
 
 Executions, nature of, ...151 
 
 Eye, how unveiled, 27 
 
 Eyes, how sealed up, 28 
 
 closed in death, .... 4 
 
 F. 
 
 Face, blackness of, 38 
 
 Factitious metals, 18^ 
 
 Faithful, when crowned,.. .59 
 Falling upt.nthe ground... 47 
 
 Fasting, common, 42: 
 
 consequences of, 23^ 
 
 Favourites, how honoured, 19 
 
 Feast, Joseph's ditto, 3l 
 
 of tabernacles, 5i; 
 
 of Purim, 19 
 
 music used at, 49! 
 
 Governor, how cho- 
 sen, 501 
 
 Feasting upon sacrifices, 59! 
 
 Feasts of love, -54 
 
 Feet, frequently washed, 58( 
 
 Female industry, 26^ 
 
 dress, 571 
 
 ormiments,... 280, 1' 
 
 paint, 32( 
 
 Fighting. 
 
 Female asses, why chosen, 19^ 
 
 Fertility of J udea, 8^ 
 
 Fields, marring of, 26^ 
 
 beasts, Q^ 
 
 - against God, 52^ 
 
 Figs, preserving them, ...13» 
 
 Filthy garments, 39( 
 
 Fire, perpetual ditto, 6J 
 
 feast of, 7* 
 
 a token, ....49,321 
 
SECOND INDEX, 
 
 No. 
 r isli, in the sea of Tiberias525 
 
 of Egypt, 60 
 
 consecrated ditto, ...226 
 
 Flies, troubksome in Judeal68 
 
 effect on ointment, 267 
 
 Flight, Jacob's, 25 
 
 Flowers used in visits, ....402 
 
 Food, herbs used for, 77 
 
 Foot, method of travelling 53 
 
 Footmen, 161 
 
 Footstool, 336 
 
 Forehead, how marked,... 34 1 
 
 Foundation of Babylon 334 
 
 Fountain, tents pitched byl35 
 Foxes, hurt vineyards, ...271 
 
 fire brands tied to, 1 10 
 
 Frost in the Holy Land. ..245 
 
 Fruit, time of, 452 
 
 sycamore ditto, — 378 
 
 ^< plundered by ArabsSSO 
 
 Fuel, different sorts of266, 425 
 Funeral, various sorts of, 475 
 
 rites in Barbary, 344 
 
 singing at, 322 
 
 G. 
 
 Games, prizes in, ...573 
 
 . : — applauses in, 577 
 
 Garment, of camel's hair, 406 
 
 — filthy ditto, 396 
 
 hem touched, ....431 
 
 Gates, description of, 109 
 
 • beggars posted at, 500 
 
 and bars, 131 
 
 Gentile dust shaken off",... 434 
 
 Gibeonites, curse of, 97 
 
 Gift of raiment, 42 
 
 — left before the altar,... 41 4 
 
 — consecrated, 44J 
 
 'Girding the loins, 493 
 
 Glasses, looking ditto, ... 64 
 Gnats, strained out of wine459 
 
 Goad, description of, 102 
 
 - — — kicking against, 53 1 
 
 Goat, scape ditto, "71 
 
 — r- a type of empire, ...360 
 
 God, called the blessed,... 481 
 
 unknown, 541 
 
 fighting against, 528 
 
 Gods, admitted with diffi- 
 culty, 539 
 
 how treated, 200 
 
 armour offered to,... 286 
 
 spoils dedicated to, 136 
 
 how honoured 351 
 
 Government, 285 
 
 Governor, how chosen 508 
 
 Grass upon the house top,24i 
 
 its rapid growth ...229 
 
 Graven images, 365 
 
 Graves visited for dreams315 
 
 visited from grief, 520 
 
 Grief, token of, 33 
 
 Grinding, manner of, 324 
 
 Groves, used for temples, 316 
 
 Ground, sitting on, 281 
 
 falling on, 479 
 
 Guests, how provided for, 454 
 
 Guide, importance of, 76 
 
 Guilt, a burden, 253 
 
 H. 
 
 Hair, how used, 490 
 
 manner of cutting,... 73 
 
 plucked off; 191 
 
 bags used for man- 
 gers, 483 
 
 Hands, ensigns graven on 311 
 
 water poured upon 169 
 
 why washed, 466 
 
 stretched out, 526 
 
 lifted up in prayer,217 
 
 clapping of, 1 75 
 
 Harbingers in the East,. .,306 
 
 Head, swearing by, 417 
 
 covered in worship, 559 
 
 covered with dust,... 95 
 
 Heat, preceded by S. wind494. 
 
 Heathen superstition, 61 
 
 sacred transacf 
 
 tions, §93 
 
 . OQuduct to idols, 300 
 
 2 c; 2 
 
SECOND INDEX. 
 
 No. 
 Heavcn,no marria|2:esthere455 
 He(lj2:es, made of thorn, ...250 
 Hem of garment touched, 431 
 Herbage, burnt by easterns460 
 
 Herbs, used for abed 275 
 
 used for food, ...... 77 
 
 Hermopolis,idolscastdown293 
 Heroes, how esteemed, ...564 
 High-places, why chosen, 167 
 — . — seats, places of ho- 
 nour, 118 
 
 Hinnom, valley of,, 474 
 
 Honey, wild ditto, » 407 
 
 Honour, how conferred, ...195 
 
 pecuniary rewardsl48 
 
 • paid a princess, ...386 
 
 Horns, worn in the East, 230 
 
 iised for drinking,... 151 
 
 Horsemen, ,,.389 
 
 Horses, painted ditto,^ ...395 
 
 wear bells, .399 
 
 Hook, how fixed in beasts,305 
 
 Hospitality, ...., 553 
 
 House of Dagon, 113 
 
 House-top, arbours upon, 254 
 
 ''r sleeping upon, 122 
 
 » grass upon, 222 
 
 Houses, diversity of, 287 
 
 ' how dedicated, ...218 
 
 winter & summer, 374 
 
 area covered, 471 
 
 • plantations about 
 
 ditto, 165 
 
 — how dishonoured, 174 
 
 — made dunghills,... 362 
 
 light ditto^ ....571 
 
 • for pigeons, ,.. 6 
 
 Human victims offered,. ..384 
 Hunting in the East, ......298 
 
 Husband, divorcement; of 476 
 Husks, used ioj swine, ...497 
 Hypocvites, ...,,,..,.., 420 
 
 Idolaters, cut themselves, 87 
 Jdolatry, Egyptian ditto, 63 
 
 No. 
 
 Idols, how formed, ,30S 
 
 red ditto, 403 
 
 kissing them 163 
 
 — — made captives, 309 
 
 — — how treated, 119 
 
 — — of Hermopolis, 293 
 
 Illumination of the Nile,... 404 
 Imagination, pleasures of, 301 
 
 Images, graven ditto, 36-5 
 
 Importance of a guide, ... 7fi 
 
 Indignation, signs of, 20(: 
 
 Indulgence to slaves 5 
 
 Industry of females, 264 
 
 Inscription of victory, &c.60(] 
 Interment, diversity of, ...183 
 
 of Joshua, 9S 
 
 Inundation in the East, ...481: 
 
 Ishmael, exposure of, 1^ 
 
 Ishmaelites, live by prey, 7( 
 Israel's present to Joseph, 37 
 
 charge to his sons, 4( 
 
 Israelites, their travels, ...54 
 
 ■■ weeping 9^ 
 
 Ivory palaces,. . . , , 221 
 
 J. 
 Jacob's flight, 2i 
 
 pillar, 2.^ 
 
 Jael's conduct to Sisera, lOt 
 
 Jephthah's vow, , 10'^ 
 
 Jerusalem, destruction of, 467 
 
 Jesus Christ, ,..51^ 
 
 Jewish schools, 54J' 
 
 Jews, their citizenship, ...42f 
 
 posture at table, 50] 
 
 manner of swearing, 58' 
 
 — . — manner of scourging43( 
 
 ' excommunication,... 52^ 
 
 — their tribute, 44< 
 
 called basket bearers44( 
 
 proverbs ,..426,451 
 
 — — funeral rites, 34^ 
 
 Jordan, lion coming from, 33^: 
 Joseph, a fruitful bough,... 4C 
 
 his feast, 3^ 
 
 ^Olt^hua, his ifttermerit, i)i 
 
SECOND INDEX. 
 
 No. 
 Journey, baggage for ditto 342 
 
 Joy, how manifested, 175 
 
 religious ditto, 802 
 
 Judea, fertility of, 85 
 
 " ■ '■» infested witii beasts 84 
 
 infested witli flies, 168 
 
 Judgment, Jewish ditto, ...524 
 Judgments upon the land, 92 
 
 — : — termed arrows, 393 
 
 J upiter,&c.eartiily visitors533 
 
 K. 
 Key, manner of carry ingit296 
 Kicking against the goad, 531 
 Kings, their coronation,... 507 
 
 f- weighing them,. ..355 
 
 - " ■•• criminals not suf- 
 fered to look upon, 190 
 
 Kissing an idol, 163 
 
 1. 
 Lamentation, marks of, ...186 
 
 Landmarks, 256 
 
 Lanterns, description of,. . .523 
 Laurel used for crowns ...242 
 Law of the Medes and Per- 
 sians, 357 
 
 Laws hung up in public,... 456 
 
 sung by the ancients 26 
 
 Lawyers, pounded, 261 
 
 Leaves used for baskets, 90 
 
 Lebanon, wine of, 360 
 
 smell of, 368 
 
 Lehi, water of, 112 
 
 Letters, style of, 188 
 
 ■ fixed in arrows, ...225 
 
 Levite, conduct of, 114 
 
 Libations of wine, 237 
 
 Libertines description of, 530 
 
 Light, of the world, 514 
 
 figure of wise men, 510 
 
 Light-houses, 571 
 
 Lights used in the East, 208 
 Lime, bones reduced to, ...372 
 Line, measuring with, ...140 
 Linen of Egypt, ..,..,... 34 
 Lion coming from Jof dan^ 333 
 
 No. 
 Lion, a destructive animal, 383 
 Lions and Crocodiles, ...346 
 Locusts good for food, ...407 
 
 Lodging in woods 349 
 
 Loins, how girded, 493 
 
 Looking-glasses, 64 
 
 Lot, apostolic ditto, 527 
 
 how cast before Ha- 
 
 man, 193 
 
 cast upon the goats, 70 
 
 cast for captives, ...388 
 
 Love feasts, 545 
 
 Luxury of Eastern tables, 187 
 
 M. 
 Magnificence of a throne, 157 
 Malefactors, how treated, 325 
 Marks in the forehead, ...341 
 
 signifying condition307 
 
 ..— .- of lamentation, ..186 
 Marriage, crowns used, 273 
 
 perfumes used, 272 
 
 wine kept for, 509 
 
 Marring fields, how done 265 
 Masters, their posture. ...412 
 Materials for building, ...210 
 Maxim, Pythagorean, ...569 
 Maxims, how inculcated, 83 
 Meals, thanksgiving at, 511 
 Measuring with a line, ...140 
 
 Meat offering, 69 
 
 messes sent to personsl 43 
 
 Medicine used externally, 248 
 Medes, &c. their law, ...357 
 Memorials of the dead, ... 31 
 
 Men, stealing of, 578 
 
 Men and women eat sepa- 
 rately, 192 
 
 Messiah, the consolation, 485 
 Metals of great value. ...185 
 
 Military presents, 129 
 
 Milk, general diet, 263 
 
 Mimicry, 436 
 
 Minstrels, how used, 432 
 
 Misletoe, 397 
 
 , Moloch, tabernacle of, ...377 
 
SECOND INDEX. 
 
 No. 
 
 Moloch, feast of fire, 72 
 
 Money, description of, ... 14 
 
 — sealed up, \76 
 
 Moon, beauty compared to 270 
 Mortar, lawyers pounded, 2(il 
 Mourners, how comforted, 519 
 Mouriiing for the dead 13, 144 
 
 •• anniversary do. 184 
 
 mark of distress 140 
 
 Mouth, smiting of, 648 
 
 Blusic, powe? of, 12o 
 
 i—- — used in feasts, 498 
 
 N. 
 Nails fastened in walls, ...297 
 
 Names, origin of, .., 234 
 
 why changed, ...506 
 
 Nazarite, shaving of, 75 
 
 Neck, sword hanging at, 164 
 Ts'ecromancy, the art of, 300 
 Night, watchmenemployed 233 
 
 Nile, waters of ...« 51 
 
 bathing in, 48 
 
 illumination of, 404 
 
 Nobles, condescension of, 453 
 Nose, branch put to, 340 
 
 O. 
 
 Oath, how taken, 587 
 
 Oblation of tongues, 534 
 
 Oblations to the gods, ...351 
 
 Observance of days, 567 
 
 Odours, how offered, 353 
 
 Offering of Cain, 1 
 
 of the Philistines, 120 
 
 — meat ditto, 65 
 
 . salt used with, ... 67 
 
 drink ditto, 332 
 
 wave ditto, 62 
 
 — wood ditto, 189 
 
 Officer, called an angel, ...596 
 
 Officers, how chosen, 565 
 
 Oil poured upon victims, 583 
 
 - manner of eating ditto 116 
 
 Ointment, offensive, 267 
 
 Olives, Egyptian, 366 
 
 —. -—method of gathering 80 
 
 N#. 
 Olympic games, the crown 555 
 Omens, their inffuence ...381 
 Opulence of shepiierds, ... 4 
 Orders given by signs, ...240 
 
 Origin of names 24 
 
 Ornaments, female ditto, 280 
 Ovens, portable, .. .;.... .337 
 
 how healed 266 
 
 Ox-goad, description of, 102 
 
 P. 
 Paint used by females, 320 
 
 Painted horses, 395 
 
 Palaces of ivory, &c. ...221 
 
 Palms, how carried, 604 
 
 Party-colored robes, .T....145 
 
 Patriarchal sacks, 40 
 
 Perfumes used at marriages 272 
 
 used at visits, 260 
 
 burntforthe dead 181 
 
 Pestilence, 375 
 
 Philaeteries, description of 458 
 Physicians, how displaced 354 
 
 Piety of compliment, 38 
 
 Pigeon houses, numerous, 6 
 
 Pillar, Jacob's 23 
 
 Pillars of sand, 212 
 
 Pitchers, description of, . . . 16 
 
 Plain of Rephidim, 57 
 
 Plantations about houses, 155 
 Pleasures of imagination, 301 
 
 Plots of warriors, 173 
 
 Poison infused in wine, ...606 
 
 Poisoned arrows, 201 
 
 Portable ovens, 387 
 
 Portion, a cup so called,. ..449 
 Post, exceedingly swift, 204 
 
 Posts, doves used for, 314 
 
 Posture at table, 501 
 
 of reading, &c. ...487 
 
 of devotion, 160 
 
 Pot,, seething ditto, 317 
 
 Potions, stu[ufying ditto, 325 
 
 Pottage, Esau's, 19 
 
 Powder and dust, rain of, 91 
 Power of music, ,,.,..... 125 
 
SEC OND INDEX. 
 
 No. 
 
 Prayer, how made, 358 
 
 ———lifting: up of hands "217 
 
 — in the streets, ...421 
 
 vain repetitions, 422 
 
 Present, IsraeFs to Joseph, 37 
 Presents, essential to inter- 
 course, 121 
 
 «— military ditto 129 
 
 — expensive, 101 
 
 sometimes rejec- 
 ted, 400 
 
 Presses, wine ditto, 190 
 
 Prey, Ishmaelites, 76 
 
 Pride of conquerors 312 
 
 Priests, clothed in wliite, 599 
 
 — — custom of 216 
 
 — » exempt from war, 74 
 
 Princes, how honored, ... 450 
 
 compared to lions, 346 
 
 Prisoners, how bound, ... 546 
 
 Prisons, account of 329 
 
 Prizes in grecian games, 573 
 Procession, singing in, ... 322 
 Profane swearing, origin of, 36 
 
 Profits, how shared, 499 
 
 Pronunciation, variety of 108 
 Prophets, how secluded, 158 
 
 procession of, 1 23 
 
 Proselytes, 568 
 
 Prostration in the East,... 228 
 Protection, banner a sign, 224 
 
 Proverbs, ....247 
 
 among the Jews 
 
 426, 451 
 
 Public worship, head co- 
 vered, 559 
 
 Puiiishment, sawing asun- 
 der, 462 
 
 Purchasing of wives, 30 
 
 Purim, feast of, 197 
 
 Purses, description of, ... 433 
 
 Pythagorean maxim, 569 
 
 Q. 
 Quails, description of, ,,... 78 
 
 R. 
 
 Raiment, gift of, 42 
 
 Rain, how preceded, 170 
 
 of powder and dust, 91 
 
 early and latter, 370 
 
 Rainbow, a token, 601 
 
 Rapacity of dogs, 166 
 
 Reading, posture of, 487 
 
 Reapers drink water, .^... 132 
 
 Records, how kept, 194 
 
 Red sea, division of, 55 
 
 Red idols, 403 
 
 Registers of cities, 574 
 
 Rehgious buildings, 536 
 
 — — — houses dishonored, 174 
 
 —- Joy> 302 
 
 Repetition, vain ditto, .... 422 
 
 Rephidim, plain of, 57 
 
 Repositories for corn, 331 
 
 Respect, paid to superiors, 
 
 100,213 
 
 Reverence in worship, ... J 62 
 Rewards, tokens of honor, 148 
 Riddles, proposing them, 109 
 
 Riding, upon asses, 172 
 
 white ditto, 104 
 
 Robbery, Arabs wait for, 319 
 
 Robes, party-colored, 145 
 
 Rocks, places of abode, ... 299 
 
 casting from, .... 182 
 
 sepulchres in, . ... 295 
 
 memorials, 207 
 
 places of defence. 111 
 
 Roman prisoners bound, 546 
 
 banishment, 595 
 
 Royalty, bracelets a sign, 137 
 
 "- — robes of 424 
 
 Ruin of Babylon, 394 
 
 Ruins, their use, ... ...... 292 
 
 frequented by ver- 
 min, 279 
 
 S. 
 
 Sackcloth, sitting in, 92 
 
 Sacks, patriarchal, , 40 
 
SECOND INDEX. 
 
 A 
 
 No. 
 
 Sacking: towns, 243 
 
 8acred transactions, 503 
 
 animals, 477 
 
 Sacrifice of thanksgiving, 591 
 
 Sacrifices crowned, 53o 
 
 — how nsed, 328 
 
 dividing ditto, 581 
 
 ■ feasting upon, 592 
 
 skins given away, 69 
 
 human ditto, ... 384 
 
 Salt, used in offerings, ... 67 
 
 may lose its savour, 413 
 
 Salvation, wells of, 289 
 
 Salutation, method of, 419, 446 
 
 piety of, 38 
 
 Sand, pillars of, 212 
 
 Sandals worn in the east, 532 
 
 Sanhedrim, silting in, .... 448 
 
 ' ■ placing men, ... 464 
 
 Sawing asunder, 462 
 
 Scapegoat, 71 
 
 Sceptre, an ensign, 44 
 
 Schools, Jewish ditto, .... 543 
 Scourging among the Jews 435 
 Scribes, description of, ... 457 
 
 their speeches, ... 428 
 
 Seal, manner of using it, 165 
 Sealing, mode of, ......... 582 
 
 victims, 512 
 
 tlie eyes, 284 
 
 Seats, places of honor, ... 118 
 
 Seething pot, 317 
 
 Sepulchres, description of, 521 
 
 in a rock, 295 
 
 '■■■ ' memorials 207 
 
 Serpents, hid in walls, ... 376 
 
 — chambers of, ... 223 
 
 Servants receive profits, 499 
 
 Shade, a luxury, 270 
 
 Shamblfes 558 
 
 Shaving the I^azarite, 75 
 
 ^Iie beard, 142 
 
 Shedding blood, 179 
 
 Sheep, leading of, 516 
 
 — — «— ahearing^, ,. 25 
 
 No. 
 
 Shepherd, chief ditto, 594 
 
 Shepherds, their opulence, 4 
 
 knowthcirsheep517 
 
 Sheshach, Babylon so call- 
 ed, 335 
 
 Shield, description of, ... 156 
 anointing it, 294 
 
 Ships, images upon, 550 
 
 Shoes, custom oftaking oif, 94 
 
 carried by servants, 408 
 
 Shoulder, key carried upon, 296 
 
 Sign, fire used for, 321 
 
 Signs, of the weather, ... 442 
 
 — orders given by, 240 
 
 — of indignation, ... 206 
 
 Simoom, nature of, 117 
 
 Sin compared to scarlet, 278 
 Singing, description of, 26 
 
 in procession, .... 227 
 
 at funerals, 322 
 
 Sisera, killed by Jael, .... 103 
 
 Sitting, posture of, 412 
 
 in the corner, 375 
 
 on cushions, 211 
 
 on stones, 29 
 
 on the ground, ... 281 
 
 Situation of Tyre, 345 
 
 Skins, given the priests, 69 
 
 exchanged, 199 
 
 Slaves, indulgeijce to, 5 
 
 sold at a low price, 371 
 
 Sleeping on the-house top, 122* 
 
 Sling, the use of, 127 
 
 Smell of Lebanon, 36^ 
 
 Smiting the mouth, 548 
 
 the thigh, 326 
 
 Smoakiness of tents, 238 
 
 Snow, in tlie Holy Land, 245 
 
 used to cool wine, 259 
 
 Sodom, destruction of .... H 
 Soldiers despise bribes, 290 
 
 Sounding brass, 560 
 
 South wind precedes heat, 494 
 Sowing, manner of, ........303 
 
 Spirit of divination, , 537 
 
SECOND INDEX. 
 
 No. 
 Spitting, a mark of contempt, 79 
 
 Spittle, swallowing of, 203 
 
 Spoils, how disposed of,... 180 
 
 ' how dedicated, .,..136 
 
 Spouts, water ditto, 220 
 
 Sprinkling in the East, ... 313 
 
 ashes by Moses 52 
 
 Staff, divining by it, ^.... 363 
 
 Stars, portend births, 405 
 
 Stealing of men, 578 
 
 Stocks, description of, 538 
 
 Stone, burthensome ditto, 398 
 Stones, different colours, 598 
 
 — sacred ditto, 22 
 
 —heap of, 149 
 
 • sitting on, 29 
 
 Stoning, how inflicted, .... 58 
 
 Stopping wells, 20 
 
 Storks, their utility, 235 
 
 Strange gods how admitted 539 
 
 . clothing, 88 
 
 Strangers, proselytes, 568 
 
 entertainment of 98 
 
 Streets, pray er in, 42 1 
 
 Style, of letters, 188 
 
 Submission, how shewn,... 526 
 Sudden change of weather, 28 
 
 Summer, very dry, 219 
 
 Sun, temples sacred to, ... 339 
 
 eclipsed, 379 
 
 Superiors, how respected, 213 
 Superstition, heathen do. 61 
 Supplication, modes of, ....359 
 
 Swearing, origin of, 36 
 
 manner of, 15 
 
 by the head, .... 417 
 
 by heaven and 
 
 earth, 416 
 
 Swiftness, esteemed, 214 
 
 of posts, 204 
 
 Swine, fed with husks, 497 
 
 Sword, standing upon, 348 
 
 hung at the neck, 164 
 
 Sycamore trees 232 
 
 fruit, 378 
 
 9 
 
 No. 
 
 Synagogue, leaching in, 411 
 
 T. 
 Tabernacle, of Moloch, ...377 
 
 Tabernacles, feast of, 513 
 
 Tables, writing ditto, 390 
 
 eastern luxury,... 187 
 
 Target, description of 156 
 
 Taxes, paid in kind, 154 
 
 Teaching, in the Syna- 
 gogue, 411 
 
 Tears, preserved in urns, 222 
 Tediousness of compliment 491 
 
 Temple of Jerusalem, 502 
 
 Temples sacred to the sun, 339 
 groves used for, ...316 
 
 Tents, description of, 8 
 
 smoaky, 238 
 
 pitched by fountains, 1 35 
 
 black and comely, 269 
 
 Teraphim, how consulted, 362 
 Thanksgiving at meals,... 5H 
 sacrifice of, 591 
 
 Theatres, places of busi- 
 ness, 544 
 
 Thigh, smiting upon, ..... 326 
 Thorns, used for hedges, 250 
 
 a crown made of, 468 
 
 Thrashing, variety of, 299 
 
 Threshold, idol tlirown on, 119 
 Throne, description of, ... 336 
 magnificence of ... 157 
 
 Thunder showers, 124 
 
 Token of grief, .'. 492 
 
 Tombs, description of, ... 460 
 
 Tongues, oblation of, 534 
 
 Torch bearers, 382 
 
 Tormentors, their cruelty, 447 
 Torture, description of, ... 589 
 
 Towers, a refuge, 496 
 
 Trade given to children,... 542 
 
 Translation of Enoch, 2 
 
 Travelling, method of, 27, 53 
 
 Traveller deceived, 304 
 
 water given to, 473 
 
 ' Travels of the Israelites^ '^4 
 
SECOND INDEX* 
 
 No. 
 Treasury, description of, 515 
 
 gifts devoted to, 441 
 
 Treatment ofthe Apostles,554 
 Trees, destroyed by ene- 
 mies, 171 
 
 Trespass offering, 120 
 
 Tribute among the Jews, 443 
 Trumpet, how sounded, ...420 
 Tumult occasioned by 
 
 death 472 
 
 Tyre, situation of, 345 
 
 U. 
 
 Ifmbrellas, how used, 239 
 
 Unveiling an eye, 274 
 
 Urns, tears kept in, 222 
 
 V. 
 
 Valley of Hinnom, 474 
 
 Vegetation, dew a blessing 367 
 Veils, used by females, ... 18 
 Vermin, frequent ruins, ... 279 
 Vesture, often changed, 234 
 
 Vials, description of, 603 
 
 Victims, how sealed, 512 
 
 oil poured upon, . . . 583 
 
 human ditto, 384 
 
 Victors, custom of, 130 
 
 Victory and privilege..... 500 
 Vinegar, given our Lord, 469 
 Vine gar and oil how eaten, 1 1 6 
 
 Vines of Egypt, 232 
 
 Vineyards description of, 59 
 
 dancing in, 115 
 
 hurt by foxes, 271 
 
 Visits, perfumes used at, 260 
 Vow, Jephthah's to the 
 
 Lord, 107 
 
 W. 
 Walls of eastern cities, ... 82 
 
 nails fastened in, ... 297 
 
 War, priests exempt from, 74 
 Warriors, how clothed, ... 105 
 '■ ' swiftness esteem- 
 ed in, 214 
 
 ' their contrivance 173 
 
 how buried, 347 
 
 Washing, of children, .....584 
 
 a consecration, 410 
 
 the hands, 4GG 
 
 the feet, 58Q 
 
 Watchmen, how employed 23;j 
 Water, used for ablutions, 588' 
 
 »-poured on the hands 169 
 
 given to travellers, 47;> 
 
 given to reapers, 132 
 
 ofthe Nile, 51 
 
 ofLehi, 11-2 
 
 engines, 86 
 
 spouts, 220 
 
 Waters, an emblem, .285 
 
 clothes shaken 
 
 over, 385 
 
 Wave offering, 62 
 
 Weather, signs of 442 
 
 sudden change, 28 
 
 Wedding garments, 454 
 
 Weeping for Moses, 93 
 
 Wells, description of ....... 16 
 
 stopping of> 20 
 
 of salvation, 289 
 
 Weights and Measures, ...251 
 Whirlwinds, precede rain, 170 
 
 Whistle, bees led by, 282 
 
 White asses, 104 
 
 Wife, how divorced, 415 
 
 Wilderness, place of our 
 
 Lord's temptations,... 486 
 Wild honey in Palestine, 407 
 Wind, called the doctor, 401 
 Wine, different kinds of, 231 
 
 of Lebanon, 369 
 
 libations of 237 
 
 cooled with snow, ... 259 
 
 kept for marriages, 509 
 
 gnats strained outof^ 459 
 
 )oison infused in, ... 606 
 
 bottles, 96 
 
 presses in towns 190 
 
 Winter and summer houses,374 
 AVise men compared to light,51 
 
 ■ M l dancing of do. 139 
 
SECOXD 
 
 No. 
 
 Witchcraft, 566 
 
 Wives, contracted for, ... 361 
 
 how purchased, ... 30 
 
 Women invite to banquets, 249 
 
 Wood offerina^, 189 
 
 Woods, lodging in, 349 
 
 INDEX, 
 
 No. 
 Worship of the missletoe, 397 
 
 of Baal, 159 
 
 of the Devil, 605 
 
 Writing tables, 390 
 
 learning ditto, ... 323 
 
 ■ •■ preservinjg ditto,... 327 
 
 
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