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LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 University of California. 
 
 GIFT OF" 
 
 Mrs. SARAH P. WALSWORTH. 
 
 Received October, i8g4, 
 zAccessions No.Sj^S^^^ • Class No. 
 

JEWISH NATION; 
 
 CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF THEIR 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, RITES AND WORSHIP, 
 LAWS AND POLITY. 
 
 :\imuftcat*e 
 
 W&ittt WumerousTjmuljicatiSe iEnflrabfufls. 
 
 REVISED BY D. P. KIDDER, 
 
 1^ 
 
 PUBLISHED BY LANE & SCOTT, 
 
 FOR THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL 
 CHURCH, 200 MULBERRY-STREET. 
 
 JOSEPH LONGKING, PRINTER. 
 1850. 
 
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EDITOR'S PREFACE 
 
 The works on Jewish customs and Scripture 
 antiquities hitherto pubUshed, have usually 
 been either very meager or very voluminous 
 and expensive. A convenient manual like 
 the present, embracing the best information 
 of modern times, and illustrated by good en- 
 gravings, had long been needed by practical 
 students of the Bible. 
 
 The present volume having been issued 
 by the Religious Tract Society, to meet this 
 want in England, has been found highly 
 worthy of reproduction for a similar purpose 
 in America. The revision has been chiefly 
 confined to the omission of some irrelevant 
 matter, and the alteration of such expressions 
 as were adapted to English readers only. 
 
 The "Jewish Nation," as represented in 
 this work, may be confidently commended 
 to the attention of ministers of the Gospel, 
 Sunday-school teachers, and Christian fami- 
 lies. 
 
 New-YorJc, January, 1850. 
 
LIST OF ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 The seven-branched candlestick, and other articles used in the Jewish 
 
 Temple worship Page 7 
 
 Brickmakers in Egypt 12 
 
 Mode of reclining at table 18 
 
 Skin bottles 21 
 
 Polish Jews 22 
 
 Modes of bowing, doing homage, and worship in the East 31 
 
 Putting off the shoes 34 
 
 Women grinding at the mill 39 
 
 Small hand-mill 41 
 
 Eastern oven , 42 
 
 Persians at breakfast 50 
 
 Washing before meals 52 
 
 Shepherd and his flock 61 
 
 Eastern women at a well 62 
 
 Egyptian v/heat 68 
 
 Ancient reapers 69 
 
 Treading out the corn 70 
 
 Carts and implements used by the Saxons 71 
 
 The Mount of Olives ... 76 
 
 Small domestic loom of the East 77 
 
 The potter at work 78 
 
 Woman spinning 79 
 
 Egyptian loom 81 
 
 Roman coin. 85 
 
 The wild ass 95 
 
 Stone of witness 105 
 
 Ancient musical instruments 113 
 
 An ancient foot-race 121 
 
 Arab scholars writing on sand 123 
 
 Mesh-als, or lamps 127 
 
 Mourning for the dead 135 
 
 Rock-tomb in the sides of the Valley of Jehoshaphat 140 
 
 Abel offering sacrifice 142 
 
 Putting up the tabernacle 158 
 
 The court of the tabernacle 159 
 
 St. Paul addressing the people 171 
 
 Large altar for sacrifices 174 
 
 Molten sea and brazen oxen 175 
 
 The high priest 191 
 
 Sacrifices in the court of the tabernacle 201 
 
 The meat-offering 205 
 
 Modern Jerusalem 208 
 
 First-fruits offered 213 
 
 The first-fruits carried up to Jerusalem 214 
 
 The leper pronounced clean 228 
 
 A Jewish priest at prayer 232 
 
 .Tews teaching children the law 245 
 
 A Jew lighting the Sabbath candle 255 
 
 A school of the prophets 264 
 
 Offering children in sacrifice to Moloch 295 
 
 Proclaiming the Jubilee 311 
 
 Jewish Sabbath meal 329 
 
 Manslayer fleeing to a city of refuge 334 
 
 Elisha multiplying the widow's oil 343 
 
 A witness holding up his right hand 370 
 
 Stoning to death 377 
 
 Eastern soldiers 385 
 
 Ancient armor 387 
 
 Eastern gleaners 394 
 
 Scribes and Pharisees 400 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I. — THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 Inti-oduction 7 
 
 I. Habitations — Tents and Houses 9 
 
 II. Furniture 17 
 
 III. Dress, clothing, and ornaments . . . . .22 
 
 IV. Salutations — Visiting — Early rising . . . .31 
 V. Food — Fuel — Water and other drinks — Manner of 
 
 eating . . . 38 
 
 VI. Traveling 54 
 
 VII. Cattle — Agriculture — Cultivation of the land — Sowing 
 
 and^harvest — Vineyards — Wine and fruits . .61 
 
 VIII. Manufactures — Trades — Commerce — Money — Ships . 77 
 
 IX. The fine arts and images 91 
 
 X. Natural history — Philosophy . . . . .94 
 
 XI. Divisions of time ........ 96 
 
 XII, The art of writing — Books, and substances written upon 99 
 XII.* Poetry, music, dancing, and public amusements . 112 
 
 XIII. Schools and education ....... 123 
 
 XIV. Marriages — Children 126 
 
 XV. Physicians — Medicines — Customs relative to the dead 
 
 —Funerals 132 
 
 II. — THE RITES AND WORSHIP OF THE JEWS. 
 
 I. The three dispensations — The meaning and origin of 
 
 sacrifices ......... 142 
 
 II. Sacrifices under the Patriarchal dispensation — Places 
 
 for sacrifices ........ 147 
 
 III. The Jewish nation — Its ritual and worship . . . 155 
 
 IV. The Tabernacle, and the articles therein . . . 157 
 
 V. The furniture and utensils of the Tabernacle . . 160 
 VI. The Temple— its courts 166 
 
 VII. The Temple— The holy places — Present state of the site 177 
 
 VIII. The Levites — The priests — The high priest . . 184 
 
 JX. The dailjr service of the Temple . . . .195 
 
b CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PACK 
 
 X. The sacrifices . 201 
 
 XI. The Jewish festivals 207 
 
 XII. Miscellaneous observances — The use of salt — Circum- 
 cision — Laws against Necromancy — The red heifer — 
 
 Cleansing the leper 222 
 
 Tabular view of the ceremonial law .... 230 
 
 XIII. The worship of prayer and praise .... 232 
 
 XIV. Places for spiritual worship — Proseuchas — Synagogues, 
 
 and the synagogue service 236 
 
 XV. Privatedevotionsof the Jews — Fasts, public and private 247 
 
 XVI. Purifications 252 
 
 XVII. The Sabbath — Festival of the new moon — Feast of 
 
 Trumpets ......... 255 
 
 XVIII. The Prophets 263 
 
 III. — THE LAWS AND POLITY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Introduction 271 
 
 I. General character of the Jewish laws .... 273 
 II. The principles of the judicial law . . ~ . . 280 
 
 III. Slaves and servants ....... 285 
 
 IV. The ceremonial law 291 
 
 V. Vows and purifications 301 
 
 VI. The Sabbatical year-^The jubilee — The new moons . 308 
 
 VII. The moral laws 313 
 
 Table of the Jewish moral and political laws . .318 
 VIII. The first, second, third, and fourth Commandments . 320 
 IX. Duties to fellow-creatures, or the fifth, sixth, and 
 
 seventh Commandments 331 
 
 X. Offenses against property, or the eighth, ninth, and 
 
 tenth Commandments 339 
 
 XL Jewish Polity 349 
 
 XII. History of the Jewish Polity 354 
 
 XIII. Courts of Justice 365 
 
 XIV. Punishments inflicted among the Jews . . .369 
 XV. Treaties, Covenants, and Oaths 378 
 
 XVI. Warfare— Militaiy affairs 384 
 
 XVII. Expenses of government 391 
 
 XVIII. Sects and orders of men 399 
 
 Conclusion , 407 
 
JEWISH NATION 
 
 BIBLE MANNERS, CUSTOMS, RITES, AND LAWS. 
 
 THE SEVEN-BRANCHED CANDLESTICK, AND OTHER ARTICLES USED IN THE 
 JEWISH TEMPLE WORSHIP. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The Manners and Customs of the ancient Jews, and other 
 nations mentioned in the Bible, differed very much from 
 those of Europe and America at the present time. On this 
 account it is not easy for a modern reader to understand 
 some passages of Scripture. Hence many things in the 
 Bible seem very strange to those who do not know the man- 
 ner in which people in the East lived in former times. Nor 
 do the beauty and importance of many texts appear, unless 
 what is alluded to m them is known. 
 
8 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 The eastern Manners and Customs of old times may be 
 explained from two sources : — 1. From the ancient writers 
 of other nations, who have described the customs of former 
 times. Their works contain many passages which confirm 
 the accounts given in the Bible, and nothing which really 
 contradicts them when carefully examined. Learned men 
 have clearly proved this. Nor should we forget, that a 
 great part of the Old Testament was written many hundred 
 years before any other book now in existence. — 2. Much 
 also may be learned from modern travelers, who have vi- 
 sited the places mentioned in the Bible, and other countries 
 of the East. People live there now very much in the same 
 manner as they did in the times about which we read in 
 the Bible, which were from two to six thousand years ago. 
 The books of eastern travelers now are full of such state- 
 ments ; many are given in this volume, but they are only a 
 small part of what might have been stated. Perhaps some 
 travelers have gone too far, and mention as illustrations 
 of the Bible what are not really such. 
 
 Also the Rites and Ceremonies of the Jewish religion 
 are too often carelessly passed by, from ignorance as to 
 many of the particulars, which are very interesting when 
 explained by the customs of the ancient Jews, or by the 
 accounts of their own writers who hved about the time of 
 our Saviour. 
 
 The Laws and Polity, or the pohtical institutions of 
 the Jews, contain much that is very important to be known, 
 but which is not noticed by common readers; here, also, a 
 knowledge of the manners and customs is of much use. All 
 these things will be found interesting when inquired into. 
 The design of this volume is to induce the reader so to 
 study his Bible ; and all who read it should examine the 
 texts noticed. It would have been easy to refer to 
 a great many other texts, but most who read this book 
 can look at a Concordance, or, if young persons, it is a good 
 exercise to examine for themselves, and thus to be led to 
 search the Scriptures. For this reason, as well as to save 
 space, the texts are seldom given at great length in this 
 volume. If that had been done, the book would have been 
 doubled in size and cost, without any advantage in return ; 
 while any plan that prevents the examining of the whole 
 Bible is by no means desirable. 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 
 
 OF THE JEWS AND OTHER NATIONS MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 HABITATIONS— TENTS AND HOUSES. 
 
 TENTS. 
 
 When Adam and Eve were driven from Paradise, they did 
 not find houses ready built. They might, probably, for a 
 time, have taken shelter in a cave ; though we read very early 
 of Cain building a city. Gen. iv, IV. Their abodes would be 
 improved by degrees. Jabal, the son of Lamech, is thought 
 to have invented tents. He is called the " father of such 
 as dwell in tents," Gen. iv, 20. 
 
 All these dwellings were destroyed by the flood. Gen. 
 vii, 19. 
 
 After the earth was dried, and Noah came out of the ark, 
 he seems, for some time at least, to have lived in a tent, 
 Gen. ix, 21. This sort of dwelling would be the easiest to 
 make. Even now, tents are very common in the East, espe- 
 cially for travelers. But it was not long before men began 
 again to build houses and cities. Gen. xi, 4, 5. 
 
 People also often lived in caves. They sometimes hol- 
 lowed out rooms in the cliffs and rocks, to serve for conceal- 
 ment as well as for dwellings, Judg. vi, 2 ; Heb. xi, 38. 
 David often hid himself in caves, 1 Samuel xxii, 1 ; 2 Sam. 
 xxiii, 13. Such places may be seen even in England. 
 Many of these caves and under-ground places are to be 
 found in Egypt and the East ; they are described by Ste- 
 phens and others. Buckingham found a hundred people 
 at one place in Arabia, living in caves or grottoes hollowed 
 in the rock. Some of these excavations are very large, and 
 have many rooms. But, in general, people lived either in 
 tents or houses. 
 
 1* 
 
10 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 The patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, lived in tents 
 while in the land of Canaan, as we read in the book of 
 Genesis. They are spoken of (Heb. xi, 9) as " dwelling 
 in tabernacles," that is, tents. The hfe of a traveler in the 
 East still illustrates this text. One says : — " It is a life of con- 
 stant dependence and faith : when the tent is struck in the 
 morning, the traveler knows not where it will be pitched at 
 noon or evening ; Avhether it is to be beside the palms and 
 springs of water, or in solitude and sand." The patriarchs 
 had more than one tent, probably a considerable number, 
 and the women lived separate, as is now the custom among 
 the rich Arabs. Thus we read of Rebekah having Sarah's 
 tent, Gen. xxiv, 67. The tents of Rachel, Leah, and Jacob, 
 also were separate, Gen. xxxi, 33. Or the tent often is 
 divided into two parts, one for the women, where they cook 
 and attend to domestic concerns. Irby and Mangles de- 
 scribe them as retiring to that part after placing mats for 
 the guests, and then preparing food as a matter of course. 
 
 The tents were generally put up under the shade of large 
 trees. Abraham's tent was under a tree in the plains of 
 Mamre, Gen. xviii, 1, 4 ; and Deborah, the prophetess, 
 dwelt vmder a palm-tree in Mount Ephraim, Judg. iv, 5. 
 In the East, the people like to have trees near their dwell- 
 ings, both for shade and shelter. From 1 Kings iv, 25, we 
 may conclude this was usual in the land of Judea, even 
 when they lived in houses. The trees generally planted 
 for this purpose were vines and fig-trees, which would grow 
 up against the walls, and over the roof, as they now do about 
 our cottages. These trees supplied grapes and figs ; which 
 were used for food, and the branches of the ^dne that did not 
 bear fruit were used for fuel to burn. This is referred to by 
 Christ, (John xv, 6,) when he describes himself as the Vine, 
 and his people as the fruitful branches ; and those who do 
 not love him, as the withered branches which were cast 
 into the fire. 
 
 The tents of the Arabs usually are black, or of a very 
 dark color ; the tents of Kedar were so in former times, 
 Sol. Song i, 5 ; a few are striped. The master of the family 
 is often seen sitting in the door of the tent in the heat of 
 the day, as is described Gen. xviii, 1. The tents are of all 
 sorts, varying in size and shape according to the means of 
 the owner, from a mere cloth of goats' hair, camels' hair. 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 11 
 
 or coarse wool, thrown over a few sticks, mucli worse than 
 the gipsy tents in England, to large habitations divided 
 into several rooms, separated by fine curtains. In the bet- 
 ter tents, a curtain of needlework is hung at the door. A 
 king of Persia had a tent made with cloth of gold and other 
 expensive materials, that cost $700,000. 
 
 The tents were fixed by stakes and cords, and could be 
 enlarged by lengthening the cords, strengthening the stakes, 
 and adding more covermgs, Isa. liv, 2. The cords are fas- 
 tened to pins driven in with a mallet, as in Jael's tent, 
 Judg. iv, 21. Buckingham describes the tent of a sheikh sup- 
 ported by twenty-four poles. They are easily removed, the 
 tent-pins are plucked up, the curtains folded, the poles taken 
 down, and, in a few minutes, some holes in the ground, a heap 
 of ashes, and the marks of feet of men and beasts, and per- 
 haps of camels' knees, are the only traces left of their habi- 
 tations. When people travel, they always, if they can, fix 
 their tents near some river, fountain, or well ; see 1 Sam. 
 xxix, 1 ; xxx, 21. The tents, particularly when many are 
 near together, much enliven a prospect, as Balaam said. 
 Num. xxiv, 6. 
 
 The Israelites, in the wilderness, lived in tents for forty 
 years. Many of these were what we should call booths, 
 made of the branches of trees. That they might remember 
 this, the feast of tabernacles was to be kept. Read about 
 it, Lev. xxiii, 39-42. Such a booth Jonah made, when he 
 went and sat on the east side of Nineveh, to see what would 
 happen to the city. Without some such shelter it is im- 
 possible to endure the hot mid-day sun of those countries. 
 Thus the shepherds have their tents (Isa. xxxviii, 12) speed- 
 ily and suddenly removed. If travelers have no tents, they 
 put some of their garments upon sticks, and creep under 
 them ; or get into the shade of a rock, or even pile up stones. 
 Buckingham describes the efifects of a storm as beating 
 down all the tents of a large encampment, and many kids 
 and lambs, and even infants, perishing from the exposure. 
 Such a storm is described Isa. xxviii, 2, when a more 
 secure covert than a tent was needful, Isa. iv, 6. 
 
 HOUSES. 
 
 The houses of the rich were built with stone or bricks ; 
 but those of the poor were of wood, or more frequently of 
 
12 
 
 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 mud, as they are to this day in many parts of the East, and 
 in some villages in England. Houses built of mud are not 
 well fitted to withstand the torrents, which at times flow 
 from the mountains of Palestine. This is alluded to by 
 Christ, in Matt, vii, 26, 27. Shaw saw some houses fall after 
 a shower of rain that lasted only two hours ; a few years ago, 
 between three and four hundred houses were washed down 
 at Alexandria, in one night of storm and rain. Thieves also 
 could easily dig or break through mud walls ; to which the 
 Saviour refers, when he exhorts his disciples not to lay up 
 treasures where thieves break through and steal. Such 
 robberies are very frequent in the East Indies at the present 
 day. The holes or cracks in these walls afford a harbor 
 for serpents: see Amos v, 19. 
 
 The Egyptian bricks were made of mud, clay, and straw 
 chopped in short lengths, mixed together ; generally baked 
 in the sun, not burned in kilns. These were the bricks the 
 Israelites were employed in making ; so they needed the 
 
 BRICKMAKERS IN EGYPT. 
 From Ancient Egyptian Paintings. 
 
 straw which Pharaoh forbade his officers to give them, 
 Exod. V, T. Morier saw men thus compelled to labor in 
 making bricks and building in Persia. Bricks of this sort 
 are found among the ruins in Egypt and other eastern 
 countries. In some places, they still remain very hard, 
 while, where less baked, they have moldered away, and 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 13 
 
 other houses have been built upon the ruins or rubbish of 
 the first, as Jowett describes, which may explain Jer. xxx, 
 18, and illustrate Job iv, 19. Very large stones were 
 used in some of the public buildings. At Baalbec are some 
 fifty-eight feet long, and twelve in thickness. Robinson 
 measured one in the ancient foundation of the temple at 
 Jerusalem, above thirty feet long, and six and a half broad. 
 Many houses in Jerusalem, and other cities, are roofed with 
 stone. Burkhardt describes doors of stone. 
 
 The rich people in the East build their houses very 
 strong, particularly when they live in the country away 
 from towns. This is necessary, that they may be safe from 
 robbers. Thus their houses might often be called castles. 
 It was the same in our own country some hundred years 
 ago, as may be seen in ruins which remain. 
 
 In the eastern cities, the larger houses were usually very 
 similar in form, though different in size ; the same manner 
 of building seems to have been continued from very early 
 times. Often several families inhabited the same house. 
 The streets are generally very narrow, the better to shade 
 the inhabitants from the sun ; so narrow that two carriages 
 cannot pass each other. Usually, only the door of the 
 porch, and one latticed window or balcony, open upon the 
 street. When any alarm takes place, or any remarkable 
 spectacle is to be seen, the people hasten to the house-tops, 
 Isaiah xxii, 1. On entering a large house, you pass 
 through a porch, with benches on each side, where the 
 master receives visitors, and transacts business ; for stran- 
 gers are seldom admitted farther. 
 
 The court is open to the weather, and usually has galle- 
 ries round it, like those in old inns. When a number of 
 persons meet at a house for a feast, or on any similar occa- 
 sion, they usually assemble in the court; the ground is 
 covered with mats and carpets ; and an awning is generally 
 stretched over their heads, to screen them from the sun or 
 the rain. In the courts of the houses our Saviour and his 
 apostles often instructed those who came to hear. This ex- 
 plains the expression, " into the midst," (Luke v, 19,) where 
 Christ was sitting when the man sick of the palsy was 
 brought to him. The covering above mentioned is what is 
 meant by the roof that was removed to let the sick man 
 down from the top of the house; for the word translated 
 
14 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 tiling or roof, means also a covering such as is just described. 
 This may explain Psa. civ, 2 : " Who stretchest out the hea- 
 vens like a curtain." Round the court are a number of 
 rooms ; the buildings are sometimes two or three stories 
 high, with a gallery to each. The inner chamber is alluded 
 to, 1 Kings XX, 30 ; xxii, 25. The bed-chamber, (2 Chron. 
 xxii, 11,) where Jehoshabeath hid Joash, was not like our 
 sleeping-rooms, but a room where mattresses, or beds, 
 were stored. 
 
 Sometimes there is a well in the court, as in the house 
 at Bahurim, 2 Sam. xvii, 18 ; in handsome modern houses 
 often there are fountains. In some places there are 
 rooms under ground for the hot days. In the court is also 
 an awning, or " roof," under which the family in sultry 
 weather repose, but it is not the large covering stretched 
 across the whole court on such an occasion as that mentioned 
 Luke V. Under the adjoining arcades is a staircase, by 
 which the flat roofs are reached. Towards the street there 
 is generally only a range of blank wall, perhaps with a few 
 small openings, so as not to attract notice by a splen- 
 did front. 
 
 The tops of the houses in the East are always flat ; they 
 are covered with plaster, and layers of reeds and earth, so that 
 they form a terrace. They are surrounded with low walls, 
 called battlements, Deut. xxii, 8 ; or sometimes with a sort 
 of railing, or latticed work, through which Ahaziah probably 
 fell from the top of the house, or from one of the upper 
 galleries ; see 2 Kings i, 2. Pliny Fisk describes a gallery 
 faced with latticed work, at which a bride appeared, looking 
 through the lattice. Cant, ii, 9. These roofs, or terraces, are 
 used for many family purposes, such as drying linen or flax. 
 Josh, ii, 6, etc. : the inhabitants enjoy the cool air there in 
 the evening, and converse with each other and their neigh- 
 bors : see Luke xii, 3. Sometimes they were used as 
 places of retirement for prayer, as is mentioned of Peter, 
 Acts x, 9 ; and there the booths were made for the feast of 
 tabernacles, Neh. viii, 16. The tops of the houses being 
 flat, the people could pass from one to another without 
 going down into the street. This further explains the 
 account of the paralytic, Luke v, 1 9 ; for it shows how the 
 persons who carried him might go to the top of the house 
 in which Jesus was teaching. Isaiah (xxii, 1) describes 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 15 
 
 the people of Jerusalem as msliing to the tops of their houses 
 when alarmed by the enemy. Hartley describes them as 
 doing so now in cases of fire. Morier, and other travelers 
 in the East, when passing on their journeys at an early hour, 
 observed people thus sleeping on the roof, or beginning to 
 set about the duties of the day. Paxton noticed huts of 
 reeds on the houses at Bey rout, in which the inhabitants 
 slept. At Safet, a town built on the side of a hill, the flat 
 roofs of one row of houses form the roadway of a higher 
 range of buildings. 
 
 The stairs were often on the outside of the houses, so 
 that a person could descend at once into the street, without 
 going into the house, which explains our Lord's command. 
 Matt, xxiv, 17. It is very common for people, at this day, 
 to sleep on the roofs of their houses in the summer months. 
 The Enghsh consul was sleeping thus at the time of the 
 great earthquake at Aleppo, and he ran down into the street 
 when he felt the shock, without going through the house. 
 
 The upper rooms were, and are at the present time, gene- 
 rally used as the principal apartments. Such a room vras 
 prepared for our Saviour and his disciples, for the passover. 
 In such a reom St. Paul was preaching at Troas, when 
 Eutychus was overcome with sleep and the heat, there being 
 many lights : the windows being open, he fell from the 
 third loft, or story, into the street. The windows sometimes 
 project and overhang the street. Jowett describes such 
 apartments. 
 
 In building houses, large nails, or pins, were fixed in the 
 walls, alluded to Isa. xxii, 23 ; Ezra ix, 8 ; on which various 
 articles were hung. "Wilson describes such at Damascus. 
 The houses are sometimes very beautifully fitted up and 
 finished, the beams of valuable wood, (Cant, i, 17,) perhaps 
 carved or ornamented with ivory, as that of Ahab, 1 Kings 
 xxii, 39. 
 
 When the house was finished, and ready to be inhabited, 
 it was usual to celebrate the event with rejoicing, and to 
 entreat the Divine blessing and protection : this is alluded 
 to, Deut. XX, 5. Psalm xxx is stated to have been written 
 for the dedication of the house of David. 
 
 When mankind began to multiply upon the earth, vio- 
 lence and wickedness increased ; they found themselves less 
 safe in their tents and separate dwellings, and began to live 
 
16 JEVflSH NATION. 
 
 together in numbers, that they might protect each other. 
 The necessity for Hving close together led them to build 
 their houses with more than one story. Thus cities and 
 towers began to be built. In Num. xiii, 28, we read of 
 the cities of the Canaanites ; they were very numerous, and 
 strongly fortified with walls. " Walled up to heaven," 
 Deut. i, 28. These cities were very different in size ; most of 
 them probably contained only a few houses or huts sur- 
 rounded by a ditch, with a wall or bank of earth, behind 
 which the inhabitants could stand and throw stones or darts 
 at those who came to attack them. Others were larger, 
 and, as Jericho, (Josh, vi,) had high and strong walls. The 
 fenced cities, as they are often called in the Bible, were 
 very numerous; and Jerasalem, Babylon, Samaria, Tyre, 
 Ashdod, and others, could not be taken till after long 
 sieges. Houses were built upon these walls. Josh, ii, 15 ; 
 Acts ix, 25. 
 
 The Pyramids of Egypt are very large piles of building. 
 In one of them, passages and halls have been discovered ; 
 it is large enough to contain several hundred other rooms. 
 The largest of these piles are built of stone ; but there are 
 some built with the bricks used in Egypt, such as the Israel- 
 ites were tasked to make ; see Exodus i, 14. 
 
 The streets of eastern cities often are not more than three 
 or four feet wide. In Cairo, they are so narrow that in 
 many places a person cannot safely pass a loaded camel. 
 Many of them are very winding, but that at Damascus where 
 Ananias found Saul, was called Straight, Acts ix, 11; and 
 there is still one street there so named, about half a mile long. 
 At Smyrna, there is a street watered by a river, with trees 
 on each side, as in the description Rev. xxii, 2. But the 
 houses did not always stand close together ; they often had 
 large gardens and fields within the walls of the cities : this 
 was the case with Babylon. It is supposed that " the house 
 of the forest of Lebanon," (1 Kings vii, 2,) had pleasure- 
 grounds about it. There were frequently rooms detached, 
 like the prophet's chamber, (2 Kings iv, 1 0,) from the main 
 building, to be used in the summer season ; thus the summer 
 parlor of Eglon, Judg. iii, 20. And there were rooms or 
 ranges of apartments suited for each season, Jer. xxxvi, 
 22 ; Amos iii, 15. 
 
 The doors of eastern houses in exposed situations are often 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 17 
 
 made so low, that a person cannot enter without stooping. 
 Burkhardt saw many not above four feet in height. This 
 is to keep out enemies; it explains Pro v. xvii, 19. The 
 mounted Arabs ride into a building, if practicable, when 
 they attack the inhabitants. 
 
 The markets were places of importance in ancient cities : 
 they were, perhaps, at first generally close to the gates of 
 cities without: see Job xxix, Y ; 2 Kings vii, 18 ; 2 Chron. 
 xviii, 9 ; but afterwards within the walls. In Jerusalem, about 
 the time of Christ, the markets were places of general resort. 
 Matt, xxiii, 7 ; Mark xii, 38, etc. People of the same trade 
 lived in streets by themselves, as in the eastern bazaars now ; 
 thus we read of the bakers' street, Jer. xxxvii, 21. These 
 markets, or bazaars, are inclosed with walls ; and have gates, 
 which are shut at night : the shops are in streets or rows 
 within them. The gates of the cities were the places of 
 general resort. Gen. xxiii, 10 ; Ruth iv, 1 ; Judg. ix, 35 ; 
 Job xxix, 7 ; Psa. cxxvii, 5. They often are towers or 
 piles of building, which a traveler describes as pleasant for 
 the shade, and the current of air through them. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 FURNITURE. 
 
 The walls of rooms in the houses of the higher ranks were 
 covered and adorned with hangings of cloth, silk, or leather, 
 of various sorts and colors. The ceilings and walls were 
 often ornamented with carving and painting, or gilding, 
 which is alluded to Jer. xxii, 14 ; Hag. i, 4 ; or ivory, 
 Amos iii, 15. At the present day, the walls are, in general, 
 merely whitewashed. The floors were mostly of tiles and 
 plaster ; but as chairs are seldom or never used in the East, 
 they were covered with carpets. They are so at the present 
 day ; and the people sit cross-legged, or rechne at length 
 upon them. Many are in the habit of sitting upon their 
 heels, their legs being under them. They sit so even in 
 the open air, when they, of course, gather dust in their 
 long garments, which they have to shake off when they 
 arise, Isa. Iii, 2. Along the walls were placed mattresses or 
 
18 
 
 JEWISH NATION". 
 
 MODE OF RECLINING AT TABLE. 
 
 the room was raised higher than the rest 
 
 couches, to rechne upon, and pillows or bolsters, which are 
 mentioned Amos vi, 4 ; Ezek. xiii, 18. Perkins saw nobles 
 lolling with pillows under their arms. 
 
 One end of ' 
 there the bed, or rather mattress, was placed : this may- 
 explain 2 Kings i, 4 ; Psa. cxxxii, 3 ; also what is said of 
 Hezekiah, 2 Kings xx, 2 ; and of Ahab, 1 Kings xxi, 4. 
 They both appear to have turned their faces from their 
 attendants, and towards the wall, though from very diflferent 
 motives : one that his earnest prayers might not be observed, 
 the other to conceal his disappointment. 
 
 The furniture of houses in the East always was very sim- 
 ple ; in general it still is so ; it consists of but two articles. 
 Chairs were not used : they usually sat on mats or skins ; 
 these also served for bedding, while a part of their clothes 
 was used for a covering. This explains why a man was to 
 return his neighbor's garment before night : see Deut. xxiv, 
 12 ; Exod. xxii, 26. The bedding of the paralytic, (Matt. 
 ix, 6,) and of the man at Bethesda, (John v, 11, 12,) probably 
 was only mats. The rich had carpets, couches, and sofas, 
 on which they sat, and lay, and slept. These couches 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 19 
 
 were often very splendid, and the frames ornamented, 
 made of fine wood or ivory, Amos vi, 4 ; and the coverlids 
 were often richly embroidered, Prov. vii, 16. But most of 
 the beds were rolled up, and put away in the day-time. In 
 the latter times of the Jewish nation, they lay or reclined 
 on couches while taking their meals, their heads towards 
 the table, with their feet in a contrary direction, as repre- 
 sented on page 1 8. These particulars explain Amos vi, 4 ; 
 Luke vii, 36-38 ; John xiii, 23 ; and other passages. 
 
 The other articles of furniture were but few in number. 
 The furniture of the prophet's chamber, prepared for him 
 by the Shunammite, (2 Kings iv, 10,) probably, was more 
 than usual ; but it was only a bed or couch upon the floor, 
 a table, a stool, and a candlestick or lamp. Lamps are 
 constantly used in the East ; they are of clay or metal, filled 
 with oil or grease, vrith cotton or linen yarn wicks. The 
 lamps alluded to in the parable of the ten virgins, (Matt. 
 XXV,) perhaps, were like those used in the East Indies now 
 in marriage processions, a dish, or lamp, with old rags, and 
 a pot of oil to pour on them from time to time. Others are 
 like what formerly were called cressets in England, an iron 
 frame, or basket, filled with flaming wood, or other fuel ; 
 these could be carried by watchmen. We give an engrav- 
 ing of these latter in the chapter on Marriage. 
 
 Keys are mentioned, Judg. iii, 25 ; Rev. xxi. Sometimes 
 they were large, so as to be rested upon the shoulder, Isa. 
 xxii, 22. A recent traveler met a man with a wooden key 
 hanging over his breast, and an iron one over his shoulder. 
 He describes a door-key as a piece of wood with pegs in it; 
 this would be passed through a hole in the door, (Cant, v, 4,) 
 and fit the notches of the bar within. The entrance, as 
 already described, is very often mean, and the passage from 
 the street made with turnings, so that a passer by does 
 not see into the house. Buckingham describes the house 
 of the governor of Damascus as appearing very mean on 
 entermg, but within there was a gorgeous display of wealth 
 and luxury. 
 
 Pots, pans, and dishes of earthenware or metal, with a 
 few chests and boxes, supplied the place of many articles 
 with which our houses are crowded. The mill was a very 
 necessary article, but this will be mentioned in another 
 place. The kneading-troughs, described Exod. xii, 34, like 
 
20 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 many of those used in the East in the present day, were 
 small wooden bowls, or leathern bags. There were several 
 sorts of earthenware vessels, of different shapes and sizes, 
 from the smallest size, like the cnise of Saul, 
 (1 Sam. xxvi, 12,) or the pitchers of the wo- 
 man of Samaria and the water-bearer, (John 
 vi, 28 ; Mark xiv, 13,) and Rebekah, (Gen. 
 xxiv, 15,) to the large ones mentioned John 
 ii, 6. When Dr. Clarke was at Cana, in 
 Galilee, a few years since, he saw several 
 large stone water-pots, like those just men- 
 tioned, which contained from eighteen to twenty-seven gal- 
 lons each. Paxton describes such jugs or pots at Beyrout, 
 holding from two to four gallons each. 
 
 But the Jews, Uke the modem Arabs, often kept their 
 water, wine, milk, and other liquors, in bottles, or, rather, 
 bags made of skins, which could be patched and mended 
 when old. Such was the bottle given to Hagar, Gen. xxi, 
 14. Such were the bottles of the Gideonites, Josh, ix, 4. 
 This explains the allusion of our Lord, Matt, ix, 17 ; Mark 
 ii, 22 ; Luke v, 37, 38 ; which texts have been objected 
 to by some ignorant infidels, who think that what they 
 daily see at home must resemble everything in former 
 times, and in other countries. If the new wine fermented 
 after it was put into the leathern bottles, it is evident that 
 an old worn skin would be more likely to burst than one 
 which was new and strong. This was the sort of bottle 
 opened by Jael, Judg. iv, 19. 
 
 Sometimes these bottles are made of the skin of a kid, 
 or other animal, the head, and legs, and tail being cut off, 
 and the openings sewed up ; but more frequently they are 
 square bags, made of large pieces of leather, which will hold 
 several gallons of any liquid ; so that Abigail's two bottles, 
 (or skins of wine,) (1 Sam. xxv, 18,) were not out of propor- 
 tion to the rest of her present, as two glass bottles of the 
 present day would have been. Many of these leather bot- 
 tles, or bags, are made of the skin of an ox, cut square, the 
 edges sewed double, and the whole skin smeared with grease 
 on the outside ; such water-bags sometimes hold sixty gal- 
 lons. The Psalmist, when describing himself as wasted 
 with affliction and trouble, compares himself to a bottle in 
 the smoke, Psa. cxix, 83. A leathern bottle, if himg in the 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 21 
 
 SKIN BOTTLES. 
 
 smoke for a length of time, would become shriveled and 
 dried up ; the tents of the Arabs are very smoky, having no 
 openings but the doors. 
 
 There are no grates, or fireplaces like ours in the East ; 
 the fires are kindled on flat stones, or hearths. If fire 
 is wanted in the sitting-rooms, it would probably be char- 
 coal, kindled in a brazier, or metal vessel, used for the 
 purpose. Such probably was the fire in which Jehoiakim 
 burned the admonitory roll, Jer. xxxvi, 22, 23. 
 
 Horns were used for keeping liquors in, as the oil used 
 for anointing by Samuel, 1 Sam. xvi, 13; by Zadok, 
 
 1 Kings i, 39. These were sometimes made of metal in the 
 shape of a horn, and also used for drinking. Cups of gold, sil- 
 ver, and other materials, were commonly used, as Pharaoh's, 
 Gen. xl, 11 ; Joseph's, xhv, 2, and those of Solomon, 
 
 2 Chron. ix, 20. Barzillai supplied cups, 2 Sam. xvii, 28. 
 Jeremiah set pots and cups before the Rechabites, Jer. 
 xxxv, 5. The word cup is often used figuratively, as for 
 blessings, Psa. xvi, 5 ; xxiii, 5 ; but more commonly for 
 afflictions or sufferings, Psa. Ixxiii, 10 ; Isa. h, 17 ; Jer. xxv, 
 17 ; our Lord thus used the word, Luke xxii, 4^*. ; John 
 xviii, 11. 
 
22 
 
 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 POLISH JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 DRESS, CLOTHING, AND ORNAMENTS. 
 
 In the first ages, dress was very simple. God clothed 
 Adam and Eve in the skins of beasts, Gen. iii, 21. Skins 
 have continued to be the dress of savage nations, especially 
 in cold climates ; and Burkhardt describes the Bedouins 
 as wearing leather aprons. After a time, other articles were 
 used for dress, made of wool or flax : see Lev. xiii, 47 ; 
 Prov. xxxi, 13. At length garments of finer linen, and 
 even of silk, were used by the rich, 2 Sam. i, 24 ; Prov. 
 xxxi, 22 ; Luke xvi, 19. These were often dyed purple, or 
 crimson, or scarlet, Judg. viii, 26 ; Dan. v, 29; Rev. xviii, 
 16. Jacob gave Joseph a coat of many colors, because he 
 loved him more than his brethren, but it excited their 
 envy. Gen. xxxvii, 3, 4. The daughters of kings and rich 
 persons wore vests, or garments richly embroidered with 
 needlework: see Psa. xlv, 13, 14; Judg. v, 30; also other 
 texts. Such needlework still forms a principal part of the 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 23 
 
 employment of females in the Eastern nations. It was a 
 regular business, Exod. xxxv, 35. 
 
 Dr. Shaw has given a very particular account of the 
 Eastern dress, which, with what other travelers relate, ex- 
 plains many passages of Scripture. He says, the usual 
 size of the hyke (the upper garment commonly worn) is 
 six yards long, and five or six feet wide. Arundell de- 
 scribes the white felt, or coarse cloth, as being the fair- 
 weather and foul- weather companion of the camel- driver. 
 It protects him against heat or cold by day, and at night 
 makes his bed and bedding. It serves for dress by day, 
 and to sleep in at night, as it did to the Israelites, Deut. 
 xxiv, 13. A covering is necessary in those countries, for, 
 although the heat by day is very great, the nights generally 
 are cold. Such a garment was loose and troublesome to 
 the wearer; he was obliged to tuck it up, and fold it 
 round him. This made a girdle necessary whenever they 
 were actively employed ; and it explains the Scripture ex- 
 pression, " having our loins girded," when called upon to 
 be active in performing any duty. 
 
 Ruth's veil, which held six measures of barley, (Ruth iii, 
 15,) was a garment of this sort. The kneading-troughs of 
 the Israelites were bound up in their hykes, Exod. xii, 34. 
 The plaid worn by the Highlanders is much the same sort 
 of garment : the principal article of dress worn in Java, 
 and other parts of the East, is similar; it is of many 
 colors, like the Scottish plaid, and reminds us of Joseph's 
 coat. 
 
 A wooden or metal pin was used to fasten the folds of 
 this garment together at the shoulder. The upper or the 
 outer fold, (Neh. v, 13,) served for an apron to carry any- 
 thing in, as the lap full of wild gourds, 2 Kings iv, 39. See 
 also Ruth iii, 15 ; Pro v. xvi, 33 ; and other texts. Paxton 
 says nothing comes amiss ; it is put into the bosom, Luke 
 vi, 38. 
 
 The bumoose is a sort of cloak worn over the hyke. It 
 has a cape, or hood, to cover the head, as a shelter from 
 rain. Under the hyke is worn a close-bodied frock, or 
 tunic. These are the cloaks and coats mentioned Luke vi, 
 29 ; a precept meant to be observed in the spirit of it, not 
 in the letter. The coat of the high priest (Exod. xxviii, 39) 
 was a tunic, and so was Tamar's garment, 2 Sam. xiii, 18. 
 
24 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 The coat of our Saviour, " woven without seam," was of 
 this sort, (John xix, 23,) with an opening at the top for the 
 head to pass through. Such garments are not uncommon 
 in the East. When persons thus clad are engaged in any 
 employment, they usually throw off the bumoose and hyke, 
 and remain in their tunics. Thus, our Saviour laid aside 
 his garment when he washed the disciples' feet ; and when 
 Saul, and Da^dd, and others, are spoken of as being naked, 
 it means that they had put off their upper garments, and 
 had upon them only their tiuiics. Garments like these 
 would fit a number of persons. Gen. xxvii, 15 ; 1 Sam. 
 xviii, 4 ; Luke xv, 22 ; they would not need altering, like 
 our clothes, before they could be worn by others. The 
 hykes, or upper garments, were spread in the way when 
 our Saviour entered Jerusalem in triumph. Matt, xxi, 8. 
 
 Under the tunic, a shirt, usually of linen or cotton, is worn. 
 Perkins describes a pasha of the Koords with shirt sleeves 
 a yard and a half wide ; these are rolled up, and made tight 
 just above the elbow, when needful. In times of sorrow, 
 even from the days of Job, sackcloth was worn next the 
 skin, Job. X\i, 15 ; by David, when mourning for Abner, 
 2 Sam. iii, 31 ; even by Ahab, 1 Kings xxi, 27. But 
 the instances are too numerous to be all quoted here. 
 The females also wore sackcloth, Isa. iii, 24 ; Joel i, 8. 
 Loose trowsers are worn both by men and women in the 
 East. 
 
 The law of Moses directed the Israelites (Num. xv, 
 37-42) to put a fringe, or tassel, to each of the comers of 
 their upper garments, that when they saw them, they 
 might remember all the commandments of the Lord to do 
 them. The hem of Christ's garment (Matt, ix, 20) means 
 these fringes. In later times, they wrote passages from 
 the law upon strips of parchment, called phylacteries, and 
 fastened them on the borders of their garments, or round 
 their wrists or foreheads. These were, by many ignorant 
 persons, used as a sort of charm to preserve the warriors 
 from danger; hypocrites wore them, that they might be 
 thought more holy than their neighbors. Matt, xxiii, 5. 
 
 The girdles are usually of worsted, sometimes richly 
 worked, Prov. xxxi, 24 ; they were folded several times 
 round the body, and kept the clothes tight, Isa. v, 27; 
 1 Kings xviii, 46. One end is sewn up, so as to make a 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 25 
 
 purse or small pocket. Small articles were often carried 
 tucked into the girdle, see Ezek. ix, 2. A leathern girdle 
 is frequently worn round the loins imder the clothes. This 
 is alluded to, 1 Pet. i, 13. 
 
 The female dresses were often richly embroidered, as 
 Judg. V, 30; Psa. xlv, 13; Prov. xxxi, 22. Purple and 
 scarlet were colors worn by the rich and mighty, 2 Sam. 
 i, 27; Judg. viii, 26; Dan. v, 29; Luke xvi, 19; Rev. 
 xvii, 4 ; Jer. x, 9 ; Ezek. xxvii, V. The extent to which the 
 Jewish women went, as to their finery, appears from Isa. 
 iii, 18-23. Dr. Henderson's translation presents an accu- 
 rate list of female dress and ornaments — the ankle-bands, 
 tasseled tresses, crescents, ear-pendents, bracelets, small 
 veils, turbans, stepping- chains, (a sort of fetter to oblige 
 them to walk " mincingly," ver. 16,) girdles, smelling-bot- 
 tles, amulets, finger-rings, jewels of the nose, vestments, 
 tunics, cloaks, purses, mirrors, linen shifts, ribbons, and 
 large veils. 
 
 But there is one ornament which would be thought very 
 odd among us, — an ornament which hung on the forehead, 
 and reached down to the nose ; it is called the nose-jewel, 
 Isa. iii, 21. But in many parts of the East, and in India, 
 at the present day, this ornament hangs from the right or 
 left side of the nose, which is pierced for the purpose. 
 Some of these rings are very large, and richly ornamented 
 with jewels. When the ring is not worn, a bit of stick is 
 usually put into the hole to prevent it from closing. Many 
 fashionable women who are fond of necklaces, or other 
 finery, would not like to wear the ornament just described ; 
 and yet there is no reason why it should not look as hand- 
 some to wear a nose-jewel as any other vain finery. Char- 
 din says he never saw a young woman in Arabia or Persia 
 without this ornament. He describes the ring as of gold, 
 commonly with two pearls and a ruby. 
 
 The Grecian and Roman women, and those of many 
 other nations, in ancient times, all wore their hair long. 
 And it is so in the East in modern times. Pitts describes 
 women at Cairo with braided tresses down to their feet, 
 having small bells hung to them. They take a great deal 
 of pains to plait and adorn their hair, and thus employ 
 much time in a vain and unprofitable manner. Rev. ix, 8 ; 
 Luke vii, 38 ; 1 Cor. xi, 15. Shaw observed the same of 
 
26 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 the Moorish females. Jowett describes his hostess at Bey- 
 rout as wearing an infinite variety of small braids, ending 
 with gold coins, the whole being worth from five to ten 
 pomids. The apostles Peter and Paul blamed the custom, 
 1 Pet. iii, 3 ; 1 Tim. ii, 9. They forbade it as improper for 
 those who profess to love Christ ; desiring them not to seek 
 to be admired for outward finery, but for the ornament of 
 a meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God is of 
 great price, or value. The Eastern females who have been 
 influenced by the labors of the missionaries, in many cases 
 have laid aside these ornaments and fashions. 
 
 Also horns, made of silver, in shape like candle-extinguish- 
 ers, were worn on the forehead, both by men and women ; the 
 posture necessary to keep them in their places is alluded 
 to. Psalm Ixxv, 5. The horn is often mentioned in the Bible 
 as an emblem of honor or power, 1 Sam. ii, 10 ; Job xvi, 
 15 ; Psalm cxii, 9, and many other Psalms ; Lam. ii, 3, lY ; 
 but these horns were common as a part of the female head- 
 dress in Europe in fhe middle ages. Pliny Fisk describes 
 the horn worn by females in Syria as a foot long : it is called 
 Tantoor. 
 
 The women stained their eyes with a black powder, and 
 they do so now. Lane says it is applied along the edges 
 of the eyelids, with a blunt bodkin. This explains the rend- 
 ing of the eyes, (Jer. iv, 30,) which is mistranslated, as paint- 
 ing the face. Jezebel did this, 2 Kings ix, 30. Shaw sa-\^ 
 one of these bodkins, and a joint of a reed with this powder, 
 that had been taken out of a tomb. Probably the deceased 
 had been accustomed thus to " rend her eyes" when living. 
 The eastern women also sometimes draw lines or spots of a 
 blue color on their faces. The feet and the hands, particu- 
 larly the nails, are often stained a reddish yellow, with the 
 juice of a plant called henna. 
 
 The men always wore their hair short, except perhaps a 
 few, who were something like the fops and dandies of our 
 times ; this may explain 1 Cor. xi, 14. The women in Ju- 
 dea and Greece, and some other countries, wore veils when 
 they appeared in public. These were not loose, like the 
 veils now worn by Europeans, but were wrapped closely 
 round the face. Such veils are universally worn by women 
 in the East when abroad, but quite as much for concealment 
 as from modesty. The young children frequently have veils 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 27 
 
 when without any other clothing. Four sorts of veils are 
 described by Calmet : the first like a kerchief, the second 
 covers the bosom, the third is the large veil, which com- 
 pletely covers the figure, the fourth is a sort of handker- 
 chief worn over the face. The apostle Paul, in writing to 
 the Christians at Corinth, a city of Greece, blames the wo- 
 men who appeared in the house of God with their heads un- 
 covered, 1 Cor. xi, 5. 
 
 Absalom was vain of his beauty, and of his long hair, 
 2 Sam xiv, 25, 26. God often is pleased to punish wicked 
 men by the things which they have been most proud of ; 
 so when he had rebelled against his father, and had been 
 defeated in battle, his long hair was caught by the boughs 
 of a tree while riding away; thus he was overtaken and 
 slain, 2 Sam. xviii, 9. Hartley found it necessary to be on 
 his guard when riding under the olive-trees. 
 
 Plucking or pulling off the hair was not only very pain- 
 ful, but was a great disgrace among the Jews, Neh. xiii, 25. 
 They wore their beards very long, and were commanded 
 not to cut them in a fanciful or ridiculous manner, Lev. 
 xix, 27. This made the affront greater that Hanun oflfered 
 to David's ambassadors, 2 Sam. x, 4. 
 
 The eastern nations at the present day wear their beards 
 long ; they consider it is a mark of folly in Europeans to 
 cut them short. They even have a saying which expresses 
 that a man with a long beard will not act dishonestly. 
 When Martyn, the missionary, was in Persia, he allowed 
 his beard to grow, and found that the natives respected him 
 on that account. But our Saviour declared that all evil 
 thoughts and bad actions proceed from the heart. Matt. 
 XV, 19. Unless that is changed by Divine grace, there is 
 nothing in dress or fashion which will make a bad man 
 good. The Nazarites, (Nuna. vi, 5,) who did not cut 
 their hair, will be noticed in another part of this volume. 
 Samson was to be accounted as one, Judg. xiii, 1 ; 
 xvi, 11. 
 
 Cutting off the beard, or wearing it in a rough, disor- 
 dered manner, was a mark of sorrow, 2 Sam. xix, 24 ; Ezra 
 ix, 3 ; Job i, 20. It is so now in eastern nations. 
 
 The turbans worn by men are often very heavy and cum- 
 bersome. Niebuhr describes them as sometimes wearing 
 as many as fifteen caps, one over another, the outer one 
 
28 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 richly embroidered, and a piece of muslin wrapped round 
 above all. Burkhardt describes the covering of the head 
 worn by the Arabs as a square kerchief of cotton, or silk 
 and cotton mixed, folded round the head, one corner hang- 
 ing behind, two others over the front of the shoulders, 
 which they put up before tlieir faces, to protect from the 
 sun or rain, or to conceal their features. 
 
 They did not wear stockings and shoes formerly, as is 
 common now, but only a sandal, which is like the sole of 
 a shoe, tied on the foot with a band, or other fastening. 
 This was pulled off on entering a holy place, or on coming 
 into the presence of a great person : see Exod. iii, 5 : Josh. 
 V, 15. The Mohammedans do so at the present day when 
 they enter a mosque or place of worship, or come into a 
 room where a great man is sitting : (see page 34 ;) but 
 sometimes now the slipper is sewed to the stocking. 
 
 Bracelets were worn by men as well as women. Roman 
 soldiers received them as badges of merit. Saul's bracelet 
 is mentioned, 2 Sam. i, 10. Rings and chains were given 
 as marks of esteem and honor: see Esth. iii, 10; viii, 2; 
 Gen. xli, 42 ; Dan. v, 29 ; Exod. xxviii, 11 ; Jer. xxii, 24. 
 Some of the rings were called signets, they were stones set 
 in metal, as alluded to Exod. xxviii, 11 ; signets wholly of 
 metal were used among the Romans, but not till the times 
 of the emperors. They were engraved with some charac- 
 ters, or devices, like our seals ; and when the kings or great 
 men signed a decree, or written document, they did so by 
 inking the signet, and stamping it on the paper. Robinson 
 describes the Arab with whom he contracted for camels, 
 on his journey in the desert, as smearing the tip of his 
 finger with ink, and pressing it on the paper, to supply his 
 want of a signet. Or they sealed by putting clay or wax, 
 as in sealing the stone on the lions' den, Dan. vi, 17 ; and 
 the priests sealing the sepulchre, Matt, xxvii, 66. Job re- 
 fers to this, xxxviii, 14. The sacrifices were marked as ap- 
 proved, by being sealed with wax. Christ being thus ap- 
 proved as a sacrifice for the sins of men, is referred to, John 
 vi, 27 : " Him hath God the Father sealed." The ring 
 given by Pharaoh to Joseph was a signet ; and the giving 
 the ring was a mark of the highest confidence. At the 
 present day, a merchant's letter in the East is authenticated 
 by his seal. This makes the business of seal-cutter one of 
 
MANNERS AND CUBTOMS. 29 
 
 great importance. He keeps a register of those he makes. 
 Jewels with the name of a beloved person, engraven as a 
 signet, were worn, as Sol. Song, viii, 6. They may be 
 noticed in pictures or portraits. 
 
 Anklets were the tinkling ornaments about the feet, Isa. 
 iii, 18. M'Cheyne says, he heard the sound as the women 
 passed. He also noticed the Jewesses wearing round tires 
 like the moon. 
 
 In ancient times, we read in the Bible that persons al- 
 ways considered it necessary to wash and change their 
 clothes before they engaged in anything which was par- 
 ticularly holy. Jacob told his family to do so before they 
 went with him to sacrifice at Bethel, Gen. xxxv, 2, 3. Mo- 
 ses, also, spoke in a similar manner, Exod. xix, 14. All 
 should think of this ; it may remind us to be clean and 
 neat, but not finely or richly dressed, on God's holy day, 
 and before -we attend in his house. 
 
 It was customary to rend or tear the clothes, and to 
 throw dust upon them, to express sorrow and grief: see 
 Gen. xxxvii, 29, 34 ; Ezra ix, 3 ; Job i, 20 ; Num. xiv, 6 ; 
 Joel ii, 13 ; also other passages. Wlien the high priest 
 pretended to be grieved at hearing the Saviour say what ^ 
 he called blasphemy, he rent his clothes. Matt, xxvi, 65. 
 The apostles did the same, when grieved at the people for 
 offering to worship them. Acts xiv, 14. The Jews, also, 
 wore clothes of haircloth and sackcloth as mourning ; the 
 prophets who mourned over the sins of the people were 
 thus clad, Zech. xiii, 4 ; John the Baptist, Matt, iii, 4. 
 Such rough garments are now worn as cloaks. Jacob, (Gen. 
 xxxvii, 34,) and others, (as 2 Kings xix, 1 ; Esth. iv, 1, etc.,) 
 wore sackcloth when mourning, or in trouble, as already 
 mentioned. 
 
 The dress of eastern chiefs probably is much the same 
 now as it was two thousand years ago. 
 
 In ancient times rich persons generally had a number of 
 garments, many of them very rich and splendid. A great 
 man among the Romans is said to have had five thousand 
 suits of clothes. When making presents, changes of rai- 
 ment are generally included, as Gen. xiv, 22 ; 2 Kings v, 
 22 ; 2 Chron. ix, 24. A person declining the office of a 
 ruler, (Isa. iii, 7,) alledged that he had no bread or clothing 
 in his house ; neither food nor clothes to give his retainers. 
 
30 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 A lady showed Jowett at least ten heavy outer garments, 
 coats of many colors, embroidered and spangled with gold 
 and silver and flowers. These, he observes, contrasted 
 oddly with her daily occupations, taking a part in house- 
 hold duties, cooking and sweeping ; but such is the condi- 
 tion of females in the East. 
 
 Silver, and gold, and raiment, are often mentioned toge- 
 ther as riches or treasures, as Zech. xiv, 14, Thus Christ 
 told his disciples not to lay up treasures which moth and 
 rust might corrupt. Matt, vi, 19. The apostle Paul says 
 he had not coveted silver, or gold, or apparel. Acts xx, 33. 
 The apostle James expresses himself in the same manner, 
 ch. V, 2, 3. Some clothes were perfumed ; see Psa. xlv, 8 ; 
 Cant, iv, 11 ; this explains Gen. xxvii, 15, 27, for the best 
 garments were laid by in chests with perfumes. Perfumes 
 are much used in the East; "the ivory palaces," (Psa. 
 xlv, 8,) probably, were the perfume-boxes. The sweet or 
 perfumed ointments were very costly, and kept in alabaster 
 boxes, as Mark xiv, 3 ; Luke vii, 3*7. The tablets, (Exod. 
 XXXV, 22 ; Isa. iii, 20,) it is supposed, were boxes for per- 
 fumes. 
 % In large fsimilies, clothing was made at home. The wool 
 or flax was first spun into thread ; the cloth was afterwards 
 woven, and made into garments by the mistress of the 
 family and her maidens, Prov. xxxi, 13. 
 
 Among eastern nations it is still the custom to send gar- 
 ments as presents. Ambassadors and travelers generally 
 have some articles of dress given to them by the rulers and 
 great men of the places they visit. 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 31 
 
 MODES OF BOWING, DOING HOMAGE, AND WORSHIP IN THE EAST. 
 
 CHAPTER iV. 
 SALUTATIONS — VISITING — EARLY RISING. 
 
 SALUTATIONS. 
 
 When people meet, it is usual to say something kind or 
 respectful to each other : this is called saluting. The Eastern 
 nations were, and still are, very exact in observing their 
 rules of politeness. There is a beautiful instance of this in 
 Abraham's conduct to the children of Heth, Gen. xxiii. 
 David saluted his brethren when he drew near to them, 
 
 1 Sam. xvii, 22. Many other texts in the Bible also show 
 that when people met each other they used kind salutations. 
 Their inquiries respecting each other's welfare were nume- 
 rous and particular ; and at partmg they concluded with 
 many wishes of happiness to each other. When they met, 
 they generally said, '* The Lord be with thee ;" " The Lord 
 bless thee ;" and "Blessed be thou of the Lord ;" or "Peace" 
 (which they considered as including every good wish) " be 
 with thee :" Ruth ii, 4 ; Judg. xix, 20 ; 1 Sam. xxv, 6 ; 
 
 2 Sam. XX, 9 ; Psa. cxxix, 8. 
 
 Jowett remarks of Syria, that it is the land of good wishes 
 
32 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 and overflowing compliments. He gives an example of 
 these mutual expressions, "Good morning." "May your 
 day be enriched !" " By seeing you." " You have en- 
 lightened the house by your presence." "Are you happy?" 
 " Happy ! and you also ?" " Happy." " You are comfort- 
 able — I am comfortable ;" meaning, if you are so. These, 
 and various other unmeaning expressions, are repeated over 
 and over, so as to delay persons on a journey, Luke x, 4. 
 
 In the later times of the Jewish nation, much time was 
 spent in these forms and ceremonies, as is still very usual 
 in Eastern nations, particularly in China, where there is a 
 great deal more ceremony than among any other people, 
 but very little sincerity. If a traveler in the East meets any 
 person on the road, he loses much time in these salutations, 
 and his thoughts are continually interrupted from more im- 
 portant subjects. Christ told his disciples, when he sent 
 them out to travel, " Salute no man by the way," Luke 
 X, 4 ; as if he had said, "Do not waste your time in long con- 
 versations and useless ceremonies with the people you may 
 meet, but remember the important business upon which 
 you are employed." "that it was to guard against the fool- 
 ish excess to which these customs were carried, and not to 
 forbid them to show proper respect and civility, is plain 
 from Matt, x, 12. When they came into a house they were 
 to salute it, or to say, " Peace be to this house," Luke x, 5. 
 The order to salute no one on the way, would impress them 
 with the importance of attending fully to the duties they 
 were sent to perform, and the refraining from it is noticed 
 Psalm cxxix, 8, as to be regretted. This also explains 
 Elisha's order to Gehazi, 2 Kings iv, 29. 
 
 The apostle Peter wrote in his epistles, "Be courteous," 
 
 1 Peter iii, 8. The apostle Paul evidently was so; he was 
 truly " a Christian gentleman," though sometimes he earned 
 his bread with his own labor ; for these characters are by 
 no means inconsistent with each other, Acts xviii, 3 ; 
 
 2 Thess. iii, 8. 
 
 " Peace be unto you," is the usual salutation. In the 
 last discourse of our Lord with his disciples, he alludes, veiy 
 beautifully, to the empty way in which the people of the 
 world express their good wishes to each other, and shows 
 how much more sincere are his earnest desires for our wel- 
 fare. " Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you ; 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 33 
 
 not as the world giveth, give I unto you/' John xiv, 27. 
 Worldly pleasures will soon tire, and pass away ; but if we 
 really love Christ, then God the Holy Spirit will impart to 
 us peace of mind which the world cannot give ; for " great 
 peace have they that love the Lord." And that peace shall 
 endure to the end. 
 
 Salutations in the East were, as formerly in Europe, by 
 kissing, thus Gen. xxxiii, 4 ; and to this the apostle refers, 
 2 Cor. xiii, 12. Came remarked among the Arabs the kiss 
 on the cheek, and passionate exclamations of joy on meet- 
 ing. Another traveler mentions that his camel- driver and a 
 Bedouin acquaintance kissed each other five times on the 
 cheek. 
 
 In the East, people bowed very low, as Jacob, (Gen. 
 xxxiii, 3,) and his sons, (xlii, 6,) which shows what is meant 
 by stooping with the face to the earth, and bowing, David 
 did so, 1 Sam. xxiv, 8, and Ruth ii, 10. 
 
 Jacob's sending his sons and wives first, to meet Esau, 
 would be respectful, as well as a measure of precaution. 
 This is now customary. Morier remarks upon it as illus- 
 trating Balak sending " yet again princes, more and more 
 honorable than the first," to meet Balaam, Num. xxii, 15. 
 Clothes, or garments, are spread by the way, as on our 
 Lord's entrance into Jerusalem, Matt, xxi, 8, Robinson re- 
 lates that the people of Bethlehem thus honored the Eng- 
 lish consul, when they desired his interference in their 
 behalf. 
 
 When the people in former times came to kings or 
 princes, they fell down before them. Comehus did so 
 when Peter came to him. Acts x, 25 ; and Esther, before 
 Ahasuerus, Esth. viii, 3 ; Adonijah, before Solomon, 
 1 Kings i, 53. 
 
 Putting off the shoes is a mark of respect, both on en- 
 tering a place of worship, and on coming into the presence 
 of a superior. Thus Moses was to put off his shoes on the 
 manifestation of the- presence of the Lord, Exod. iii, 5. 
 
 When mounted, they alight on the approach of a supe- 
 rior. Thus Rebekah, Gen. xxiv, 64 ; and Abigail, 1 Sam. 
 XXV, 23. Niebuhr saw an Arabian lady thus alight from 
 respect to a sheikh ; another who was on foot, being unable 
 to go from the road, sat down and turned her back, as a 
 mark of respect. So difterent are the manners of the East 
 
 2* 
 
34 
 
 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 PUTTING OFF THE SHOES. 
 
 from our own. Kissing the hand, or feet, or hem of the 
 garment, are marks of respect ; they are repeatedly men- 
 tioned in Scripture, Job xxxi, 27 ; Matt, xxviii, 9 ; Luke 
 vii, 45 ; viii, 44. Or even the ground, Isa. xhx, 23 ; Psa. 
 Ixxii, 9. 
 
 VISITING. 
 
 Among Eastern nations it always has been usual to bring 
 presents when people visit each other : they never appear 
 before a prince or great man without having something to 
 offer. There are many instances of this in the Bible; as 
 Jacob, see Gen. xliii, 11 ; also Ehud, Judg. iii, 18 ; Hazael, 
 2 Kings viii, 9 ; Naaman ; the wife of Jeroboam, 1 Kings 
 xiv, 3 ; also the wise men who came from the East to see 
 the infant Jesus ; and many others. The forty camels' 
 burden of Hazael might not be heavy loads ; in such cases 
 it is usual to make a long procession, each article being 
 carried separately. 
 
 This mark of respect still is always necessary : however 
 small or mean the gift may be, it is accepted as a proof of 
 attention. Thus, in 1 Sam. ix, 7, observe Saul's anxiety : 
 " If we go, what shall we bring the man of God ? there is 
 not a present." At length his servant, producing the 
 fourth part of a shekel, (a small piece of money,) said, 
 ** That will I give to the man of God." Modem travelers 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 35 
 
 tell us that even when poor people visit, they bring a 
 flower or fniit, or some such trifle. One traveler tells of a 
 present of fifty radishes ; and when Bruce, the Abyssinian 
 traveler, had agreed, at the request of a chief, to take a 
 poor sick Arab with him for a great distance, the poor 
 man presented him with a dirty cloth, containing about ten 
 dates. Bruce mentions this to show how important and 
 necessary presents are considered in the East; whether 
 dates or diamonds, a man thinks it needful to offer some- 
 thing. This may explain Rabshakeh's advice, 2 Kings 
 xviii, 31. 
 
 The higher the rank of the person to whom the present 
 is brought, the greater it is expected to be. The queen of 
 Sheba, 2 Chron. ix, 9 ; Naaman, 2 Kings v, 5 ; and Bero- 
 dach-baladan, 2 Kings xx, 12, offered large presents. Thus, 
 the offering of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, all of which 
 were very precious, presented by the wise men of the East, 
 (Matt, ii, 11,) was a mark of their high respect for Him to 
 whose presence they were led by the wondrous star that 
 had appeared. 
 
 There is always much attention to forms in the East. In 
 visiting, the place, and even the method of sitting, are mat- 
 ters of importance. The seat at the comer of the room is 
 most honorable ; visitors are placed there to whom it is in- 
 tended to show particular respect. Conversation is gene- 
 rally very reserv^ed and grave. It appears to have been so 
 in ancient times : see Eccles. v, 3 ; Prov. x, 19 ; and many 
 other texts in that book. 
 
 When a person visited another, he did not nidely enter 
 the house at once, but he stood at the door, and called 
 aloud, or knocked, and waited till he was admitted : see 
 2 Kings V, 9 ; Acts x. I'Z ; xii, 13, 16. This is alluded to 
 in those beautiful texts, Rev. iii, 20 ; Matt, vii, 7. 
 
 When visitors were persons of rank or importance, it was 
 usual to send persons to meet them, as Balak sent the 
 princes of Moab to meet Balaam, Nrnn. xxii, 7, 13. 
 
 Visitors were always received with respect, and attention 
 was always shown to them at parting. Abraham showed 
 great respect to his three angelic visitors. On the arrival 
 of guests, water was brought to wash their feet and hands. 
 Gen. xviii, 4 ; xix, 2 ; and they were often anointed with 
 oil, Psa. xxiii, 5. 
 
36 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 This was the custom in our Saviour's time : Mary Mag- 
 dalene broke an alabaster box, or bottle, full of precious 
 ointment, and poured it upon his head and his feet. The 
 words Christ spoke to Simon respecting her behavior, show 
 what was the proper and respectful manner of receiving 
 guests, which Sunon seems to have neglected. "Seest 
 thou this woman ? I entered into thy 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. My head with 
 oil thou didst not anoint ; but this woman hath anointed 
 my feet with ointment," Matt, xxvi, 7 ; Luke vii, 44-46 : 
 see also Prov. xxvii, 9. 
 
 When guests depart, it is the custom to bum perfumes, 
 (perhaps referred to in Dan. ii, 46,) or sometimes they are 
 sprinkled with sweet-scented water. Bruce was wetted to 
 the skin with orange-flower water, thrown over him as a 
 mark of -honor, when leaving the presence of a great man. 
 If they were ambassadors, or persons of rank, it was usual 
 to give them clothes : a great many garments were kept 
 ready for this purpose. Joseph gave raiment to his bre- 
 thren, Gen. xlv, 22 : see also Judg. xiv, 12, 19 ; 2 Kings 
 V, 5 ; Rev. vi, 11, etc. A garment already worn is often 
 an especial honor, as Jonathan's present to David, 1 Sam. 
 xviii, 4. 
 
 To this custom of great men bestowing raiment upon 
 their guests, our Lord refers. Matt, xxii, 11-13. It was 
 common for the guests at marriage feasts, to appear in 
 splendid dresses ; but as the guests in the parable had 
 neither time nor ability to prepare themselves, the king 
 supplied them with robes for the occasion ; this he might 
 easily do, from the large quantity of clothes great men 
 possessed. There could be no greater disrespect than to 
 refuse a present from a superior, as the guest mentioned did, 
 who was so foolish and obstinate as to prefer his own rag- 
 ged and shabby clothes to the dress that was provided for 
 him. The Eastern monarchs have power to command 
 whatever they please ; so this guest was considered a rebel 
 against the king's command, and an enemy, and treated 
 accordingly. In how lively a manner this represents the 
 bounty of our heavenly King, and our sinful and wretched 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 37 
 
 state by nature ! Let us earnestly seek for the robe of the 
 righteousness of Christ ; see Rev. xix, 8 ; and beware not 
 to pride ourselves on our own filthy, ragged state ; lest, 
 like the guest mentioned iii the parable, we should find 
 ourselves cast out. Remember the advice, Rev. iii, 18, 
 and go to Him who " waiteth to be gracious." 
 
 An ambassador in the East was invited, with his compa- 
 nions, to dine with an eastern monarch. The interpreter 
 told them that it was the custom that they should wear, 
 over their own 'garments, the best of those which the king- 
 had sent them. At first they hesitated, and did not like to 
 have their own robes hidden ; but being told that it was 
 expected from all ambassadors, and that the king would be 
 much displeased if they came into his presence without his 
 robes, they wisely complied. 
 
 EARLY RISING. 
 
 The Jews rose about the dawn of the day, which, in 
 their country, does not differ so much in the summer and 
 winter, as it does in higher latitudes. They dined about 
 eleven, and supped about five o'clock in the afternoon. 
 These were the hours at which our ancestors dined and 
 supped, till about two hundred years ago. " To rise early," 
 is an expression often used as meaning to be diligent, either 
 in good or evil. 
 
 It is often mentioned of good men, that when they de- 
 sired to fulfill the will of God, they rose early. Abraham, 
 (Gen. xxii, 3,) when, for the trial of his faith, he was com- 
 manded to offer up Isaac, " rose up early" in the morning : 
 this shows how ready he was to do the will of God, though 
 very painful to him. Thus Jacob, (Gen. xxviii, 18,) and 
 Moses, Exod. xxiv, 4. Joshua had much to do, and is 
 often spoken of as rising early, Josh, iii, 1 ; vi, 12 ; vii, 16 ; 
 viii, 10 : see also 1 Sam. xv, 12. David rose early to fulfill 
 his father's order, 1 Sam. xvii, 20. Job, to sacrifice for 
 his children. Job. i, 5. King Darius, to inquire after Da- 
 niel, Dan. vi, 19 ; and the pious women who went to the 
 sepulchre to pay respect to the body of the Lord, went very 
 early in the morning, Luke xxiv, 1 ; John xx, I. Travel- 
 ers in the East usually begin their journeys before day : 
 this enables them to travel in the cool of the morning, 
 
38 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 and to rest iii the heat of the day. Thus our Lord sat on 
 the well at noon to rest, being wearied with the journey- 
 taken that morning, John iv, 6. The sixth hour was noon. 
 
 Morier, when he traveled in Persia, observed the people 
 sleeping upon the house-tops ; he noticed that the women 
 were generally up the first, and stirring with activity at an 
 early hour. M'Cheyne saw this at Tiberias. Paxton ob- 
 seiTed that many houses at Bey rout have a sort of hut on 
 the flat roof, built with reeds, in which people sleep. 
 
 A Latin poet describes a laborer as ri^ng early before 
 day to grind the usual daily portion in his hand-mill, pro- 
 bably Hke that on next page. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FOOD— FUEL— WATER AND OTHER DRINK— MANNER 
 OF EATING. 
 
 FOOD. 
 
 From the Bible, we see that the diet, or food, of the Jews, 
 was very simple and plain. It was chiefly bread, milk, 
 honey, rice, and vegetables. John the Baptist used to 
 feed upbn " locusts and wild honey," Mark ii, 6. The locusts 
 are insects like grasshoppers in shape, but much larger. 
 They fly in vast numbers together, and devour tlie green 
 herbs : see Joel i, 4. Some think that the fruit of a tree 
 is meant ; but the insects are more likely to be intended 
 here ; they are often sold for food, dried or salted, and then 
 eaten with rice or vegetables, though Burkhardt describes 
 the Arabs as taking a handful of them when hungry. Mof- 
 fatt saw the natives in South Africa gathering ox-loads of 
 these insects for food. The bees made their combs in hol- 
 low places, as the cleft of rocks, Deut. xxxii, 13 ; Psa. Ixxxi, 
 16 ; in hollow trees, 1 Sam. xiv, 25, 26 ; and even in the 
 carcass of a lion, (Judg. xiv, 8,) or rather among the bones, 
 for the flesh must have been consumed. Our blessed Lord 
 ate some honey when he appeared to his disciples, (Luke 
 xxiv, 42,) to show them that his body was actually raised 
 from the grave. Honey is mentioned in many other texts. 
 The land of Canaan is described as " a land flowing with 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 39 
 
 WOMEN GRINDING AT THE MILL. 
 
 milk (which inchides butter) and honey," Exod. iii, 8 ; Jer. 
 xi, 5 ; even as Job mentioned them, Job xx, lY. At a town 
 in Syria, Came was taught to mix them as delicacies ; Irby 
 and Mangles were instiiicted to dip their bread in such a 
 mixture; they are still considered great dainties by the 
 Arabs. D'Arvieux tells us, that one of the principal deli- 
 cacies with which the Arabs regale themselves at breakfast, 
 is cream, or new butter, perhaps somethuig like the clotted 
 cream used in the western parts of England, mixed with 
 honey. Among the food brought to David and his men by 
 Barzillai, (2 Sam. xvii, 29,) were honey, butter, and cheese. 
 The butter was churned as now, by shaking the milk 
 in leather bags, or bottles, such as that opened by Jael, 
 Judg. V, 25. This butter-milk is described as most refresh- 
 ing to a weary man oppressed with heat. The milk of 
 goats and sheep is used even more than. the milk of kine. 
 
 The Jews seldom had animal food, except at their solemn 
 feasts and sacrifices. As they did not often eat flesh, they 
 considered it a great dainty. Jacob's pottage of lentils, 
 which tempted Esau to sell his birthright, (Gen. xxv, 29 
 -34,) shows how simple the usmd food of the patriarchs 
 was. Irby and Mangles breakfasted in an Arab camp from 
 a mess of lentils and bread, seasoned with pepper ; they 
 
40 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 describe it as very good. Lentils are a sort of small beans ; 
 they dissolve easily into a mess of a reddish or chocolate 
 color. From Isaac's desire for " savory meat," (Gen. xxvii, 
 4,) flesh appears not to have been his usual food. The 
 feast which Abraham prepared for the angels, (Gen. xviii, 
 7, 8,) and that which Gideon and Manoah got ready on a 
 like occasion, show that flesh meat was considered to be 
 something more than common fare. We may also recollect 
 that the feast got ready for the repenting prodigal, (Luke 
 XV, 23,) was a fatted calf; and may notice the portion which 
 Samuel set by for Saul, when he expected him : it was a 
 piece of flesh meat, the shoulder, with what Avas upon it, 
 1 Sam. ix, 24. This was put by for Saul, as a mark of dis- 
 tinction and respect ; it was also at a solemn feast of the 
 people, (verses 12, 13,) which explains why flesh meat was 
 prepared. In Deut. xii, 20-27, eating flesh is spoken of 
 as a proof of wealth and prosperity. It was dressed in 
 various .ways, Judg. vi, 19; 1 Sam. ii, 15. Sometimes 
 pieces of flesh meat are roasted at a fire, but more fre- 
 quently the flesh is cut into small pieces, as soon as the 
 animal has been skinned ; these are boiled in milk, and then 
 mixed up with rice or other vegetables, forming a sort of 
 stew called pillau ; such was made for Isaac, Gen. xxvii, 9. 
 
 The sorts of food brought to David by Abigail, 1 Sam. 
 XXV, 18 ; by Ziba, 2 Sam. xvi, 1 ; and by Barzillai, 2 Sam. 
 xvii, 28, 29 ; and those taken by David to his brothers and 
 their captain, (1 Sam. xvii, 17, 18,) show what was the 
 usual food of the Israelites. The most common and useful 
 article of food was bread, made in loaves of different sorts 
 and sizes. 
 
 Bread is often mentioned in the Bible, Gen. xviii, 5 ; xxi, 
 14 ; 1 Sam. xxviii, 22 ; Exod. xvi, 3 ; Deut. ix, 9. It often 
 means bread only ; though sometimes it is used as a general 
 expression for a meal including other sorts of food, Matt. 
 XV, 2 ; Mark iii, 20 ; vii, 2 ; Luke xiv, 1 ; John vi, 23. The 
 bread was often of diff"erent sorts of grain mixed together, 
 as enumerated Ezek. iv, 9, " wheat, barley, beans, lentils, 
 millet, and fitches." Burkhardt says that coarse, black, 
 unleavened bread is the common food of the Bedouins on a 
 journey ; they often travel for a long time, the whole of 
 their daily food being a pound and a half of such bread. 
 Parched corn was grain not quite ripe, roasted or dried in 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 41 
 
 the ear, and eaten without anything else with it Such was 
 given to Ruth, (ii, 14,) and was sent to David's brethren, 
 1 Sam. xvii, 17 ; and by Abigail, xxv, 18. Robinson had 
 such parched corn offered to him in a harvest field. He 
 saw travelers eating the grain raw, as they gathered it in 
 the Avay, like the disciples, Mark ii, 23. 
 
 The grain was usually ground into flour, then fermented, 
 or made light by leaven, then kneaded into breads The 
 flour was ground by small hand-mills, which were only two 
 flat circular stones, one placed upon the other : the upper 
 one was turned round, while the corn was poured between 
 them through a hole at the top. In these representations 
 are a mill complete and ready for use : also the upper stone 
 and the lower stone. It will be seen that they are fitted 
 one into the other. 
 
 Mills like these were in use in the highlands of Scotland 
 till very lately. They were called querns ; and were usu- 
 ally worked by two women, (see Matt, xxiv, 41,) who sat 
 one on each side, and turned the upper stone round, pushing 
 the handle from one to the other. In Pennant's "■ Tom* in 
 Scotland," there is a picture which represents this, for it 
 was usual in the highlands of Scotland. One of these mill- 
 stones the woman of Thebez (Judg. ix, 53) cast upon the 
 head of Abimelech : see also Matt, xviii, 6. Shaw, Clarke, 
 Hall, and other travelers, have described the two women 
 grinding with the flat stones. The employment is laborious, 
 and usually performed by the lowest servants, Exod. xi, 5 ; 
 it is spoken of in Scripture as menial, Isa. xlvii, 2 ; Lam. 
 V, 13. Sometimes the grain is beaten or pounded in a mortar, 
 Num. xi, 8 ; Pro v. xxvii, 22 ; but this is not common with 
 com. Coffee is thus beaten. 
 
 These mills grind the flour but slowly, so that it is the 
 employment of every day to grind some flour. The sound 
 
42 
 
 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 of grinding, and of the women singing as they work the mill, 
 is heard in the morning early in the houses of the East, and 
 is considered a sign that the people are well and active; 
 when it is not heard, the neighbors fear that all is not well, 
 Eccl. xii, 4. This explains the description of the desolate 
 state to which Jerusalem was to be reduced, Jer. xxv, 10. 
 
 As the millstones were so necessary to prepare the daily 
 food of each family, the Israelites were forbidden to " take 
 the nether or the upper millstone to pledge : for he taketh 
 a man's life to pledge," Deut. xxiv, 6. This is a strong ex- 
 pression ; it shows how important an article of food bread 
 must have been, when the instrument by which it was pre- 
 pared was of so much consequence to eveiy family. The 
 finest flour was made into cakes, and baked quickly upon 
 the hearth. Gen. x\iii, 6 ; the coarser flour was made into 
 loaves, 1 Sam. xxi, 3. Sometimes the cakes were baked 
 upon the coals, being laid upon the hot embers, or upon a 
 flat piece of iron, or a grate of iron over the fire, as cakes 
 are now sometimes baked upon a plate of iron, called a 
 griddle, and are called griddle-cakes, 1 Kings xix, 6 ; they 
 must be carefully turned; the neglect is noticed, Hosea 
 
 EASTERN OVEN, AND A WOMAN WITHDRAWING A CAKE FROM IT. 
 
 vii, 8. But we also read of ovens being used. Lev. ii, 4 ; Mai. 
 iv, 1 . The ovens now in use in the East are heated by fuel 
 being burned within them, (Luke xii, 28,) as in our bakers' 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 43 
 
 ovens. When the oven is hot, the loaves are put into it to 
 bake. The bread is usually made in flat cakes. The lighter 
 kinds of bread stick to the sides of these ovens, and are 
 soon baked. These ovens are sunk in the ground, which 
 explains how the frogs of Egypt got into them, Exod, 
 viii, 3. Sometimes the oven is only an earthen pot sunk in 
 the ground. 
 
 Perkins describes a more carefully constructed oven, called 
 Tannoor, used in Persia, which, in cold weather, is covered 
 with a quilt or other covering, under which the family place 
 their feet while they sleep in a circle round it. Thevenot 
 describes the roasting or baking of meat in the ovens. 
 
 Harmer says that the kneading-troughs are often wooden 
 bowls or leather bao^s, as amonof the Israelites, Exod, 
 xii, 34. Niebuhr describes these leathers as round and flat, 
 used as tables, and, after eating, drawn up by cords and 
 rings at the sides, like a bag or purse. 
 
 Leviticus xi contains particular directions as to what sorts 
 of animal food the Jews might eat, and what was forbidden 
 them. Upon this a general remark may be made, that the 
 sorts of food forbidden, are mostly such as are unwhole- 
 some and hard of digestion. Pork, for instance, is con- 
 sidered very unwholesome in those hot countries. Many 
 sorts of food which may be eaten among us without harm, 
 would be very dangerous there. In the year 1801, when 
 the English attacked the French in Egypt, many of the 
 troops died from want of care in this respect. The illness 
 of which the captain of one of the Enghsh frigates died, be- 
 gan from his persisting to eat eggs for breakfast, though it 
 was not safe for Europeans to do so in those countries. 
 Cooling vegetables were, and still are, much used for food, 
 as melons and cucumbers, Isa. i, 8. The Israelites in the 
 wilderness longed for them. Num. xi, 5. 
 
 But the laws respecting food were also to keep the Jews 
 a separate people from those nations who fed upon what 
 they were forbidden to eat, and to teach them temperance. 
 Tertullian, one of the ancient fathers, who lived soon after 
 the days of the apostle, says, " If the law takes away the 
 use of some sorts of meat, and pronounces creatures to be 
 unclean which before were held to be quite otherwise, let 
 us consider that the design was to accustom the Jews to 
 temperance, and look upon it as a restraint laid upon glut- 
 
44 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 tons, who hankered after the cucumbers and melons of 
 Egypt, while they were eating the food of angels." To 
 think a great deal about eating and drinking is wicked, and 
 every one must despise those who thus indulge themselves. 
 
 Lane describes the food of the modern Egyptians as 
 chiefly bread, made with millet or maize, with new cheese, 
 eggs, small salted fish, cucumbers, and melons, a great va- 
 riety of gourds, onions, leeks, chick peas, lupins, lentils, 
 other vegetable substances, and dates. 
 
 Many sorts of vegetable food are represented in the 
 ancient sculptures of Egypt. 
 
 Salt was, and is, used to flavor food, though not so con- 
 stantly as in Europe. But Park says, in the interior coun- 
 tries of Africa, salt is the greatest of luxuries ; children 
 suck a piece of rock-salt as our children do sugar. To 
 say, " a man eats salt with his food, is saying he is a rich 
 man." He adds, "The long use of vegetable food creates 
 so painful a longing for salt, that no words can sufficiently 
 describe it." Job (vi, 6) asks, " Can that which is unsa- 
 vory be eaten without salt?" The eagerness of cattle foi 
 salt, shows that it is needed with vegetable food. 
 
 FUEL. 
 
 The coals mentioned in the Bible, were coals of wood, or 
 charcoal. They also used thorns, and wood of all sorts, 
 Psa. Iviii, 9 ; Eccl. vii, 6. They collected the dung of 
 cows and other animals, (Ezek, iv, 15,) and dried it for the 
 purpose, as is still the custom in the East, where wood is 
 often very scarce. Paxton saw a woman thus collecting 
 it from the oxen employed in a threshing-floor. Grass also 
 is mentioned. Matt, vi, 30 ; but usually the vine branches 
 and other refuse, that was not serviceable in other ways, 
 which explains our Lord's solemn warning, John xv, 6 : 
 see also Ezek. xv, 6 ; Isa. xlvii, 14 ; Matt, iii, 12. These dif- 
 ferent sorts of fuel are spoken of in several places in the 
 Bible. They are all such as burn away very quickly ; so that 
 the sudden manner in which destruction comes upon sin- 
 ners, by the wrath of God against sin, is frequently ex- 
 plained by referring to them. The collecting of fuel is 
 laborious and tedious ; children are now often employed in it 
 as of old. Lam. v, 13. Jowett describes one of four years 
 old bending beneath its little burden. 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 45 
 
 WATER AND OTHER DRINK. 
 
 The usual drink among the Jews was water. There 
 were numerous pubhc wells and fountains, besides those 
 belonging to private houses. It was by the side of one of 
 the former that Jesus sat (John iv, 6, 1) while he dis- 
 coursed with the woman of Samaria. At that very well a 
 woman who had come to draw water, lowered her pitcher 
 into the well, and gave some to Rae Wilson. We read that 
 Jesus was wearied, and sat thus on the well, like one wea- 
 ried with a long journey on a very hot day. How this ought 
 to affect us ! He who was God, the Creator of all things, 
 took upon him our nature, with all its infirmities, sin ex- 
 cepted, (Heb. iv, 15,) and endured all, that we might be 
 saved from the punishment our sins deserve. 
 
 The importance and value of wells of water in the East 
 are very great. In the days of the patriarchs there were 
 contests between Abraham and Abimelech, and between 
 Isaac and the PhiHstines for wells, Gen. xxi, 25 ; xxvi, 18. 
 Moses found protection from Jethro on account of the 
 assistance he rendered ito his daughters, when some shep- 
 herds attempted to drive them away, and possess them- 
 selves of the water they had drawn, Exod. ii, 16, 17. The 
 woman of Samaria seems to have thought the possession of 
 a well a proof of Jacob's greatness and power, John iv, 12. 
 Caleb's daughter (Judg. i, 14, 15) considered her father's 
 gift of land as not complete without springs of water. 
 
 Belzoni describes his arriving at a well at midnight, 
 where he found two women with a flock which they drove 
 hastily away, but were prevailed to return, and remain till 
 daylight. The noise of archers in the places of drawing 
 water, is alluded to by Deborah, Judg. v, 1 1 . Irby and 
 Mangles found a party of Arabs at a well, levying contribu- 
 tions from all passers. 
 
 In England, there is little idea of the value of water in 
 those hot and dry countries ; but the want of it is veiy 
 severely felt there. The wells are often secured, as in Haran, 
 Gen. xxix, 2, 3 ; Psa. xlii, 1 ; so are the springs or sources 
 of choice streams, Sol. Song iv, 12. Rachel probably had 
 the command over the well, for it was not opened till she 
 came. David, when expressing in the strongest manner his 
 desire for the Lord, referred to this. When he was in the 
 
46 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 wilderness of Judali, lie longed for the water from the well 
 of Bethlehem, which he used to drink, 1 Chron. xi, IT. His 
 soul feeling a strong desire for the presence of the Lord, he 
 also thus expresses himself : " O God, thou art my God ; 
 early will I seek thee : my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh 
 longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water 
 is," Psa. Ixiii, 1. 
 
 The gift of a cup of cold water in Christ's name is not to 
 be forgotten, Mark xi, 41. Lane describes the water-car- 
 riers in Egypt as often paid to distribute water. Their cry 
 frequently is, " may God compensate me." It is thus 
 offered in India from charitable motives. 
 
 Our Lord, referring to the manner in which water had 
 been alluded to in many parts of the Old Testament, spoke 
 of himself to the woman, as able to give that water which 
 would cause those who drink it never to thirst again, John 
 iv, 14. If my readers thirst for this living water, they may 
 remember Christ's own declaration : "In 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," John vii, 37. 
 Of course, he did not there refer to "common water : the in- 
 fluences of the Holy Spirit, and the fullness of grace in 
 Christ, are meant. These blessings we need as much as the 
 Jews did ; they are off'ered to us as freely ; and yet, strange 
 to say, there are many who will not quench their thirst, but 
 prefer to go on in sin, till, at length, it consumes them. 
 
 The well at Cana of Galilee is an overflowing well, sup- 
 plying li\ing or running water. Gen. xxvi, 19; Jer. ii, 13. 
 
 Dra^ving water is a laborious duty in the East, and it is 
 still performed by females, particularly the younger. Gen. 
 xxvi, 11 ; 1 Sam. ix, 11. The skins and pitchers have been 
 already described. Burkhardt describes the women as 
 having to fetch water from a distance of half an hour to the 
 encampments of the Arabs. Robinson saw the women thus 
 bringing bottles or skins of water from the fountains near 
 Jerusalem. Perkins describes the girls as sometimes jostling 
 each other till the pitcher was broken at the fountain, Eccl. 
 xii, 6. Hall says he never could see a woman in India 
 sitting by a well, resting her arm upon her water-pot, with- 
 out thinking of the woman of Samaria. 
 
 In Smyrna, is a fountain with a bowl chained, Eccl. xii, C ; 
 sometimes this may be seen in Europe. The deep wells 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 47 
 
 and cisterns often had wheels to draw up the skins or 
 jars of water. M'Cheyne describes one worked by a 
 camel at Khanounes. The well of Joseph at Cairo is so 
 called from a Sultan, not from the son of Jacob ; it has a 
 broad path-way down to the water. The reservoirs of 
 water in India have steps to them. 
 
 Much more might be said about water. The reader 
 should refer to Isa. xii, 3 ; xliv, 3 ; Jer. ii, 13 ; Zech. xiii, 1 ; 
 xiv, 8 ; and other passages. Also, remember the distress 
 the Israelites in the wilderness were in for water, and 
 how God was pleased to supply them by a miracle, which 
 the apostle Paul declares refers to Christ: see Exod. 
 xvii, 6 ; Num. xx, 11 ; 1 Cor. x, 4. 
 
 In Egypt the inhabitants were chiefly supplied with 
 water from the river Nile, which travelers say is most 
 excellent ; so that, when the Egyptians are in foreign coun- 
 tries, they continually speak of the pleasure they shall have 
 when they return home, and drink again the water of the 
 Nile. How great then must have been the plague with 
 which they were afflicted, when the water of their favorite 
 river, even in pots and jars, was turned into blood, so that 
 "they loathed it!" Exod. vii, 17. This recollection must 
 also have made the waters of Marah taste very unpleasant, 
 Exod. XV, 23. 
 
 The Jews had some other sorts of drink as well as water 
 and wine : the strong drink, (Lev. x, 9 ; Judg. xiii, 4 ; 
 and in other places,) means any fermented liquor, whether 
 prepared from corn, or dates, or grapes, or anything else. 
 The robb, or sirup from grapes, is called dipse, and is much 
 used in Syria ; this is included under the name of honey in 
 the Bible, probably in Gen. xhii, 1 1 . The term " any honey," 
 (Lev. ii, 11,) seems to include this sirup of grapes or dates, 
 as well as the honey of bees. Sometimes the juice of 
 grapes was drunk when fresh pressed, not fermented, 
 Gen. xl, 11. 
 
 The value and use of wine, and similar liquors, as a me- 
 dicine or cordial, are spoken of in many texts, Judg. ix, 13 ; 
 Psa. civ, 15 ; but the evil consequences of drunkenness 
 and excess are frequently still more strongly noticed, Prov. 
 xxiii, 29-32; Isa. v, 11-22; Rom. xiii, 13; Gal. v, 21 ; 
 and, what is more impressive, we find instances recorded 
 which show the evil consequences of " following wine and 
 
48 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 strong drink." Thus we read of the case of Noah, Gen. 
 ix, 21 ; so that there cannot be any doubt on the subject. 
 
 Morier and Buckingham have described the drinking 
 parties of the Persians, who indulge their intemperance. 
 The former was invited to join a party drinking near the 
 road- side, as early as seven in the morning, and says, " We 
 found that the Persians esteem the morning the best time 
 for beginning to drink wine, by which means they carry 
 on their excess till night." An illustration of Isaiah 
 v. 11, &c. 
 
 There were some among the Jews who abstained wholly 
 from wine and strong drink, probably from being aware of 
 the danger of indulging therein. This, also, appears to 
 have been the reason why the Rechabites, who were stran- 
 gers in the land of Judea, did the same, Jer. xxxv, 6-9. 
 The descendants of the Rechabites exist as a separate peo- 
 ple at the present day. We may, from hence, gather a 
 useful lesson, not only to avoid this evil, but also to keep a 
 strict watch upon ourselves, and to abstain from all things 
 which would lead us to sin. But let us beware how we 
 resist sin in our own strength ; let us remember the awful 
 fall of the apostle Peter, and look continually to the Sa- 
 viour for fresh supplies of grace and strength, seeking to 
 walk soberly, diligently, and righteously in this evil world, 
 Tit. ii, 12. 
 
 MANNER OF EATING. 
 
 In ancient times it was the custom, among the patriarchs 
 and others, frequently to take their meals out of doors. 
 This is often done in the East at the present day, when all 
 who pass by are invited to partake. The governor of an 
 Egyptian village is described by Pococke as giving a feast, 
 at which there was a continued succession of guests, till the 
 whole was eaten. He mentions Arab rulers as dining in 
 the street, and caUing to all passers to partake, even beg- 
 gars, as Luke xiv, 13 : see also Luke xiv, 12-14. The 
 angels sat under a tree while they ate the food which 
 Abraham prepared for them, Gen. xviii, 8. There are 
 many instances of this in the Gospels ; and it is usual 
 among Eastern nations in the present day. At Philadel- 
 phia, Chandler was invited by a family sitting at their re- 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 49 
 
 past, under some trees, near a well of water, to alight and 
 partake, as Zech. iii, 10. The regular meals were, dinner 
 a little before noon, and supper in the evening. The latter 
 was the principal meal ; see Mark vi, 21. Martha and 
 Mary's entertainment to Jesus was a supper, John xii, 2 : 
 see also Luke xiv, 16. Our Lord's intercourse with those 
 who love him is described as a supper. Rev. iii, 20. The 
 feast of the passover was in the evening. 
 
 The Hebrews did not eat with the neighboring nations. 
 We are not told in the Bible when they began to separate 
 themselves in this manner ; but it was the custom in 
 Joseph's time, although in that instance it appears to have 
 arisen from objections on the part of the Egyptians : see 
 Gen. xliii, 32. The Jews in our Saviour's time did not eat 
 with the Samaritans, John iv, 9 ; and they objected to our 
 Lord's eating with publicans and sinners. Matt, ix, 11. 
 This custom was so strictly observed, that when God was 
 about to extend his Church to the Gentiles, he sent an es- 
 pecial vision to St. Peter, to show that it might be discon- 
 tinued. Peter was blamed by the other apostles for eat- 
 ing with Cornelius, Acts xi, 3 ; and from several passages 
 in the Epistles, we find that the early Christians abstained 
 from meat offered unto idols. As these sacrifices were 
 offered at all solemn feasts, and on many other occasions 
 connected with idolatrous practices, the Christians separa- 
 ted from eating with the heathens in general, and some- 
 times were over scrupulous, 1 Cor. x, 25-28. 
 
 Although these ceremonial observances were not enjoined 
 on the early Christians among the Gentiles, yet the apostle 
 Paul cautions against evil arising to others from using this 
 liberty. Much care should be taken by strong-minded be- 
 lievers, not to give occasions for mistake to weaker brethren, 
 1 Cor. viii, V-13; x, 23, 32, 33. 
 
 It is still the custom in China, Persia, and many other 
 countries, for the guests to have little tables or trays 
 placed on the floor, upon which dishes are set for them. 
 In India many persons never eat out of the same dish as 
 others, beheving it would be sinful to do so ; and thinking 
 that their dishes are polluted and spoiled if touched by per- 
 sons of another religion. If so touched, they break them, 
 as the Jews were to break their earthen vessels when 
 touched by an unclean animal. This assists in (explaining 
 
 3 
 
50 
 
 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 the apostle's words : " Touch not ; taste not ; handle not." 
 Dr. Clarke found a similar custom among the Turks. He 
 was one night entertained very kindly by a Turk and his 
 family ; after leaving the place the next morning, Dr. 
 Clarke returned for a book he had left behind, when he found 
 his kind host and all the family employed in breaking and 
 throwing away the earthenware plates and dishes from 
 which the guests had eaten, and purifying the other uten- 
 sils and articles of furniture by passing them through fire 
 or water. See Lev. xi, 33. These things may well teach 
 us, that the followers of Christ are to keep themselves 
 apart from the world, and show that they should be ready 
 even to suffer loss that they may do so. Indeed, one ob- 
 ject of the numerous injunctions to which the Israelites 
 were commanded to attend, appears to have been, to render 
 it a matter of duty, as well as of inclination, to keep them- 
 selv'es a separate people. 
 
 PERSIANS AT BREAKFAST. 
 
 Elkanah, the father of Samuel, distributed portions of 
 provisions to each of his wives separately, 1 Sam. i, 4, 5. 
 It is still the custom in the countries of the East, when 
 there is more than one wife, for each to be separate ^ as 
 much as the means of the family will afford. When en- 
 
 _ 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 51 
 
 tertaining strangers, as well as in eating and drinking in 
 general, there appears to have been great plenty, but not 
 much care or delicacy in preparing the provision. It was 
 deemed a mark of favor to send the guests a great deal of 
 any dish : thus the mess or portion which Joseph sent to 
 Benjamin was five times greater than was sent to any 
 other of his brethren, (Gen. xliii, 34,) and probably of dif- 
 ferent sorts of food. 
 
 Lane describes a round tray of tinned copper being 
 placed on a stool, so as to serve for a table ; twelve will 
 crouch round such a tray, three feet wide. Each then 
 bares his arm to the elbow, saying in a low voice, " In the 
 name of God." The dishes are placed upon the tray, two 
 or three at a time, or singly in succession, the guests taking 
 the food with the thumb and two fingers of the right hand ; 
 but using spoons, or perhaps the hollow of the hand, 
 for liquids. To pull out a morsel and offer it to another is 
 deemed polite. Their manner of eating with the fingers is 
 more delicate than would be supposed. 
 
 It is still an honor to receive a portion from the table of 
 the master of the feast, if he is a great man, A modem 
 traveler, who dined in the presence of an Eastern king, de- 
 scribes his majesty as tearing a handful of meat from a 
 quarter of lamb, which stood before him, and sending it 
 to his guest as a mark of honor. This custom also pre- 
 vails in China. Van Braam, the Dutch ambassador, relates 
 that some bones of mutton, with half the meat gnawed off", 
 were sent to him from the table of the emperor, and he 
 was told it was a great honor ! Knives and forks never 
 have been used in the East as among us. 
 
 This renders the washing of hands both before and after 
 meat a necessary ceremony. Hartley describes it as being 
 done by a servant going round and pouring water over the 
 hands of each guest. Thus (2 Kings iii, 11) Elisha is de- 
 scribed as having " poured water on the hands of Elijah," 
 to signify he had served that great prophet as an attendant. 
 The Jewish washings before meat, (Mark vii, 1-4 ; Luke 
 xi, 37, 38,) were accompanied by pecuhar ceremonies of 
 how much of the hand and arm should be washed. 
 
 It was not usual for women to appear and eat with men : 
 this was observ^ed by all ranks. Vashti refused to come to 
 the feast of the king Ahasuerus, Esth, i, 12, The ancient 
 
62 
 
 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 WASHING BEFORE MEALS. 
 
 Hebrews probably sat down upon the ground at meals, 
 round a low table or a mat, upon which the dishes were 
 placed: see 1 Sam. xvi, 11, marginal reading, and Psalm 
 cxxviii, 3. The Babylonians and Persians used to recline 
 or lie down upon table beds, something hke our sofas, while 
 they were eating ; and some among the Jews, after a time, 
 adopted this custom, Amos vi, 4-7. The guests at the 
 royal banquets or feasts (Esth. i, 6 ; vii, 8) were placed on 
 beds. Our Lord reclined in this manner when Mary an- 
 ointed his feet, (John xii, 3,) and when the beloved apostle 
 John leaned his head upon his bosom, (John xiii, 25,) at 
 the last supper. His feet were not placed like ours when 
 we sit, but as he reclined they were easily touched, or 
 wiped, by any one coming behind him. (See the represent- 
 ations of reclining at table, p. 18.) Modern travelers in Ju- 
 dea have noticed, that while persons are at dinner, others 
 freqently enter the room, sit down behind the guests, and 
 converse with them, as the woman mentioned, Luke vii, 38. 
 The Eastern attendants are accustomed to wait with much 
 respect, looking for mere signs, often scarcely perceived by 
 a guest. This illustrates the eyes of servants looking to the 
 hand of their master, (Psa. cxxiii, 2,) and shows how we 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 53 
 
 should look unto our Lord. M'Cheyne describes the ser- 
 vants, who brought pipes and coffee, as "watching the 
 slightest motion" of the hands of the guests. Jowett and 
 Lane describe the wives and females of the family attending 
 till the master has done his meal, before they partake. Thus 
 Sarah, (Gen. xviii, 9,) and Martha, John xii, 2, 
 
 The following custom, observed by the modem Jews after 
 the practice of their forefathers, strongly reminds us of what 
 passed at the last supper. Before they sit down, they wash 
 their hands very carefully, like the Pharisees of old, Mark 
 vii, 3 ; they say that it is necessary to do so. A blessing 
 is then asked. The master, or chief person, takes a loaf^ 
 and, breaking it, says, " Blessed art thou, Lord our God, 
 the King of the world, who producest bread out of the 
 earth." The guests answer, *' Amen," and the bread is 
 distributed to them. He then takes the vessel which holds 
 the wine in his right hand, and says, " Blessed art thou, O 
 Lord our God, King of the world, who hast created the 
 fruit of the vine." The 23d Psalm is then repeated. When 
 the meal is finished, the master takes a piece of bread, 
 which has been left on purpose, and filling a glass or cup 
 with wine, says, " Let us bless Him of whose benefits we 
 have partaken :" the company reply, " Blessed be He who 
 has heaped his favors on us, and has now fed us on his 
 goodness." The master then repeats a prayer, thanking 
 God for his many benefits granted to Israel, entreating him 
 to have pity upon Jerusalem and the temple, to restore the 
 throne of David, to send Elias and the Messiah, and to de- 
 hver them from their low state. The guests all answer, 
 "Amen," and repeat Psalm xxxiv, 9, 10 : then each guest 
 drinks a little of the wine that is left, and goes from the 
 table. 
 
 These customs are appointed to be observed by the 
 modem Jews, as well as those of old; but, Hke asking 
 a blessing among those who are called Christians, it is too 
 often forgotten. An author well observes, "A graceless 
 meal cannot be expected to prove a wholesome meal." 
 
 It is still usual among Eastern nations to break their 
 bread into small pieces, and dip them into such dishes as 
 contain liquids. The Israelites used to do so. Boaz told 
 Ruth to dip her morsel in the vinegar, Ruth ii, 14. By 
 giving one of these sops to Judas, our Lord pointed him 
 
54 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 out as the person who would betray him, Matt, xxvi, 23 ; 
 John xiii, 26. 
 
 Jowett allowed his European prejudices to influence hira, 
 and was annoyed by seeing Arab fingers in the dish, and 
 still more when his host, on finding a dainty morsel, apphed 
 it to his mouth. He rightly says, " This was true Syrian 
 courtesy and hospitality ; and had I been sufficiently well 
 bred, my mouth would have opened to receive it." He 
 notices the tearing the cake of bread, and sopping up the 
 fluid and vegetables in the dish. 
 
 The invitations to a feast are mentioned in Scripture, as 
 illustrating the invitations to accept the Gospel glad-tidings, 
 Luke xiv, 1 V. It is customary in the East to send messen- 
 gers to say the feast is ready ; and when the entertainment 
 is over, to call all that pass, in the name of God, to come 
 and partake, Luke xiv, 13. Morier and others describe this ; 
 and the invitations having been previously given and accept- 
 ed, it would be rude to send an excuse then ; this explains 
 Luke xiv, 16-24. At these feasts there is still much cere- 
 mony about taking places, Luke xiv, Y-ll. Morier saw 
 the governor of Kashan, arriving late, had taken a low seat, 
 but was requested to come up higher. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TRAVELING. 
 
 There were no inns like those of Europe for travelers in 
 Judea and the neighboring nations, so that the people 
 were obliged to carry everything they wanted with them, 
 and to wait upon themselves, or upon each other. For 
 this reason, as well as to protect each other, they usually 
 traveled in companies. They did so when they went up to 
 Jerusalem at the great festivals, directed Exod. xxiii, 1*7. 
 Psa. Ixxxiv, 6, ^, is descriptive of this custom. Joseph and 
 Mary were returning home in one of these companies when 
 they missed Jesus, Luke ii, 42-44. The Psalms called the 
 Psalms of Degrees, Psa. cxx to cxxxiv, are supposed to 
 have been sung by the devout Jews, while traveling to Je- 
 rusalem, on these occasions. Thus they now travel in large 
 bodies as caravans for trade, or on the pilgrimage to Mecca, 
 
MAN^^ERS AND CUSTOMS. 55 
 
 in some respects like the Israelites on their march from 
 Egypt ; and like them, at first setting out, they are in haste 
 and some confusion, Exod. xii, 33-39. 
 
 Although there are no inns like ours in the East, there 
 are places called caravansaries, in which travelers rest them- 
 selves, and find shelter for their cattle. These are large 
 buildings, consisting of a court-yard, with small rooms 
 around it. They are without furniture, and the travelers 
 take possession of them on paying a sum of money to the 
 keeper of the caravansary. Sometimes there are small 
 shops for the sale of food and other necessaries. In the veiy 
 early times, as when Jacob's sons returned from Egypt, the 
 inns mentioned (Gen. xliii, 21) were only places which, on 
 account of some trees and water, were used by travelers for 
 halting-places. Christ was born in one of the caravansaries 
 at Bethlehem ; and, as all the rooms were full, his parents 
 were obhged to take shelter in a cattle-shed, or stable, 
 Luke ii, 1. 
 
 Some travelers apply the term caravansary to these 
 places on the roadside or open country, while such build- 
 ings in towns are called khans. Where neither exist, fre- 
 quently one or more of the inhabitants are accustomed to 
 receive travelers. Arundel describes the objects and 
 scenes witnessed by travelers when resting at a khan, or 
 the more private house called menzil, as suggesting many 
 of the illustrations introduced by our Lord in his discom'ses 
 while traveling, — such as the camel-driver using his needle, 
 Mark X, 25. The entertainment provided for the traveler 
 used to be supplied by the neighbors in turn, or by those 
 who offered ; but traveling has now become so frequent 
 that Europeans commonly make payment, or send to buy 
 the food on their anival. In the remote villages, such an 
 offer is still considered an insult. In the towns payment 
 is expected ; but the Bedouins are not yet used to it. 
 
 Many of the caravansaries have been built as acts of 
 charity; some have been very beautiful structures, but 
 often are neglected and going to ruin. 
 
 In general, travelers, wherever they went, were received 
 by the inhabitants with great kindness. Thus Abraham 
 and Lot received the angels, supposing them to have been 
 travelers. Gen. xviii and xix ; and Gideon, Judg. vi, 11-19. 
 St. Paul refers to their receiving angels without knowing it 
 
56 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 at first, (Heb. xiii, 2,) to encourage Christians to be kind to 
 strangers. Our Lord himself commends this, Matt, xxv, 
 35 ; and the first Christians were very attentive to practice 
 it. St. Peter requires it, 1 Pet. iv, 9 ; and St. Paul does 
 the same, 1 Tim. iii, 2 ; Tit. i, 8 ; and in other passages. 
 
 Most of the travehng mentioned in the Bible was on 
 foot. The journeys of our Lord, and of his apostles, all 
 appear to have been so made. The taking up carriages, 
 (Acts xxi, 15,) means taking up their luggage or baggage, 
 not getting into coaches, or what we call carriages. 
 
 When on journeys, their clothes would be tucked up, or 
 "their loins girded." They usually carried staves in their 
 hands, Num. xxi, 18 ; Matt, x, 10 ; often a second, lest one 
 should break. 
 
 In traveling they wore sandals to protect their feet ; the 
 necessity for these being strong for travelers in the desert 
 is shown by the expression, "shoes of iron and brass," 
 Deut. xxxiii, 25 : this text also denotes God's care for his 
 people. The Bedouins carry small pincers to draw out the 
 thorns from their feet. Burkhardt describes an Arab as 
 borrowing a pair of sandals belonging to his friend which 
 he knew were hidden under a date-bush : he impressed his 
 foot upon the sand close by, that his friend might know 
 who had taken them, his foot being turned, so as to show 
 the direction in which he was going to travel. 
 
 The chariots mentioned in the Bible, were little, if at all, 
 better than carts. The nobility even of England had no 
 better wheel conveyances three hundred years ago. The 
 chariot in which the eunuch rode (Acts viii, 28) was pro- 
 bably something of this sort. 
 
 Wheel carriages are almost unknown in the East ; 
 persons are carried in a palanquin, or fitter, by men, or 
 placed on poles, which are slung to the backs of camels 
 or mules. Females often ride short distances on asses, 
 driven by a servant on foot, as the Shunammite, 2 Kings 
 iv, 24. 
 
 The camel is often mentioned in Scripture, particularly 
 in the Book of Genesis. It is the most useful animal for 
 traveling in the East through the sandy deserts, as it can 
 go for a long time without water, and its feet are particu- 
 larly adapted to those countries. The women usually tra- 
 vel in a sort of blanket or cradle ; Rebekah and her dam- 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 57 
 
 sels no doubt did so, Gen. xxiv, 61, 65. The camel in the 
 East is expressively called " the ship of the desert." 
 
 When traveling as messengers they often use dromeda- 
 ries, which are swifter than horses, and can be trained to 
 proceed more than a hundred miles a day. Job speaks of 
 the swiftness of a post, ix, 25. 
 
 Asses were used by persons of rank, Judg. v, 10; x, 4 ; 
 xii, 14; also for traveling. Josh, ix, 4 ; 1 Kings xiii, 23; 
 2 Kings iv, 24 ; 2 Sam. xvi, 2 ; 1 Sam. xxv, 20. Our 
 Lord himself rode upon an ass, in his triumphal entry into 
 Jerusalem. The patriarchs had no horses. Egypt was 
 famous for them, but there were none or very few in Ju- 
 dea. The Jewish ruler was forbidden to procure them, 
 Deut. xvii, 16. This prohibition was to prevent the Jews 
 from trusting in their own strength as a nation, and to 
 hinder their commerce with Egypt, whence Solomon pro- 
 cured his horses, 1 Kings x, 28 ; 2 Chron. ix, 28. The 
 Arabs now are famous for their horses, which are remark- 
 ably swift. 
 
 The ancient Greeks were very attentive to strangers, as 
 we find from Homer, and several other old writers ; any 
 instance of unkindness or injury done to a stranger was 
 considered a very great crime. Several cases of this sort 
 are mentioned in the Bible; and the attention paid to 
 strangers among the Arabs is strongly proved by many in- 
 stances stated by modem travelers. 
 
 Captains Irby and Mangles relate, that, on two occasions, 
 they arrived at Arab camps very late. They halted before 
 a tent, but found the owner and his family, having arranged 
 their carpets, had retired to rest for the night. It was sur- 
 prising, they say, to see the good-humor with which all 
 rose again, and kindled a fire, the wife kneading the dough, ^ 
 and preparing supper ; while the Arabs, who accompanied* 
 them as guides, made no apology, though the nights were 
 bitter cold, but received all as a matter of course. 
 
 Robinson relates an amusing instance of the regard for 
 hospitality proving disadvantageous. His Arab guides pur- 
 chased a kid for supper, and proceeded to kill and dress it, 
 on pitching their tent at night ; but they -vyere followed by 
 the Bedouins who had sold it, and who thus became their 
 guests ; it was necessary to give them the chief portion ; 
 and those who had bought and paid for the kid had only 
 3* 
 
58 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 the fragments ! Stephens describes one of his Arab guides 
 being recognized by a woman, who, on account of this her 
 friend, led them to her tent, where they were hospitably 
 received by her husband. The tent, though near their 
 road, was so placed as to be concealed from view, proba- 
 bly to escape the notice of travelers. 
 
 Eastern travelers often have noticed, that to eat with a 
 stranger is promising him security and protection. Nie- 
 buhr therefore recommends to secure the friendship of a 
 guide by a meal as soon as possible. The expression, 
 Psa. xh, 9, shows the stress also laid on this in former 
 times. 
 
 Shaw describes an Arab as usually, when the meal was 
 prepared, going to a rising ground, calling aloud upon all 
 to come and partake of it, though no one was within hear- 
 ing. See Prov. ix, 3. Job speaks of eating alone as a 
 wrong act. Job xxxi, l7. 
 
 Christians, in the first ages, seldom traveled without let- 
 ters from some persons well known to the brethren, and 
 they were sure of a kind reception wherever they went. 
 Calmet thinks that the second and third Epistles of St. 
 John were letters of this sort. When a person had once 
 been received as a guest, he was expected to call again 
 whenever he came the same way ; those who received him 
 would also call on him, if they visited his country. Their 
 children continued to do the same; and they provided 
 themselves with some token, as a proof of this friendship. 
 It was usually a piece of lead or stone, divided in half ; one 
 piece was kept by each family, and produced when any of 
 them visited the other. Sometimes a name v/as written 
 upon it. This custom seems to be alluded to in that beau- 
 tiful passage. Rev. ii, 17, where it is said, "To him that 
 overcometh will I give a white stone, and in the stone a 
 new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that 
 receiveth it." The words translated " a white stone," may 
 be considered as describing one of these tokens ; the mean- 
 ing of the passage appears to be, that the faithful should 
 have a mark or token given them, by which they should 
 hereafter be acknowledged by Christ as his friends, and 
 I'eceived into his favor. The " new name written, which 
 no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it," refers to that 
 new spirit which is put into the heart of those who are 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 59 
 
 united to the Saviour by a new and living faith, and 
 which the world knoweth not. 
 
 The possessors of these tokens kept them with much care, 
 as likely to be of great service in any future time of need. 
 Surely that inestimable gift, our salvation, is a token 
 whereby Christ's followers are known at the present day ; 
 and they shall be known by it at the great day of his 
 appearing 
 
 As in former times, sandals were very often the only 
 covering on the feet. It will easily be supposed that travel- 
 ers would feel very uncomfortable from mud and dust, 
 after walking any distance ; so it was always the custom, 
 when a guest arrived, that the servants should take off his 
 sandals, and wash his feet, Gen. xviii, 4 ; xix, 2 ; xxiv, 32 ; 
 Luke vii, 44. This was in general done by the lowest 
 servants ; it was a mark of great humility on the part of 
 the master of a family if he did it himself, as well as a great 
 honor to the person whose feet he washed. This may ex- 
 plain Avhat John the Baptist said, Luke iii, 16. It shows 
 us still more the love of Christ to his disciples ; he rose 
 from supper, laid aside his upper garment, tied a towel 
 round him, and, pouring water into a basin, washed his dis- 
 ciples' feet, John xiii, 4, 5. It may explain why the apostle 
 Peter was so unwilling to let his master do this for him. 
 
 It also teaches two things: — 1. If Christ, who is "over 
 all, God blessed forever," performed this mean and humble, 
 though kind action to his disciples, how ready we ought to 
 be to do what is kind to each other ! — 2. If our Lord was 
 so mindful of his disciples, as to do this act of kindness to 
 them, which was in itself of so httle importance, how sure 
 we may be that those who love him now will not be for- 
 gotten in any of the events of their lives ! The needing to 
 wash the feet after all the rest, (John xiii, 10,) is explained 
 by Malcolm, who saw some men, after bathing, come up 
 from the river or tank, and then, just before entering the 
 house, rinse their feet, dirtied by coming up from the bath. 
 
 Martyn remarked the degree of abasement expressed in 
 the act of washing the feet. This further illustrates 1 Tim. 
 V, 10, and the reluctance again to go forth into the mire, 
 when the feet are washed, Sol. Song v, 3. 
 
 The importance of guides in traveling need not to be 
 dwelt upon ; even when miraculously directed as to their 
 
60 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 main course while wandering in the wilderness, it was 
 desirable for the Israelites to have the guidance of Hobab 
 about the lesser difficulties of the way, and for directing 
 their encampment, Num. x, 31. Even now travelers in 
 the East often place a stone upon another, in some conspi- 
 cuous place, with a sort of prayer for their safe journey. 
 Morier witnessed this, and it reminded him of Jacob's prayer 
 and vow, Gen. xxviii, 18-22. 
 
 Travelers in the desert often speak of the appearance of 
 waters at a distance, where there is nothing but the hot 
 sand. This is alluded to "as the waters that fail," or "be 
 not sure," Jer. xv, 18. A modern traveler thus describes it. 
 *' I perceived a dark strip on the horizon, and asked my com- 
 panion. He looked, and presently answered that water 
 had all at once appeared there ; that he saw the motion of 
 the waves, and tall palms bending up and down over them, 
 as if tossed by a strong wind." They galloped towards it. 
 ** On a spot where the bare sands spread out for hundreds 
 of miles, where there is neither tree nor shrub, nor a trace 
 of water, there suddenly appeared before us groups of tall 
 trees girding the running stream, on whose waves we saw 
 the sunbeams dancing. Hills clad in pleasant green, rose 
 before us and vanished ; small houses, and towns with high 
 walls and ramparts, were visible among the trees. Far as 
 we rode in the direction, we never came any nearer to it ; 
 the whole seemed to recoil with our advance. Never had 
 I seen any landscape so vivid as this seeming one, — never 
 water so bright, or trees so softly green, so tall, so stately. 
 We could well conceive how the despairing wanderer, who, 
 with burning eyes, thinks he gazes on water and human 
 dwellings, will struggle onwards to his last gasp to reach 
 them." Such is the optical deception called the mirage. 
 
 The roads in the East are usually merely tracks ; there 
 are some exceptions : causeways raised over difficult places, 
 and roads made level and plain when a king or great man 
 is traveling. Thus Isaiah xl, 3-5 ; Ixii, 10. Way-marks 
 are common, as Jer. xxxi, 21. 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 61 
 
 SHEPHERD AND HIS FLOCK. 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 CATTLE— AGRICULTURE — CULTIVATION OF THE LAND — 
 SOWING AND HARVEST— VINEYARDS — WINE AND 
 FRUITS. 
 
 CATTLE AND AGRICULTURE. 
 
 The Jews were mostly employed in agriculture or cultivat- 
 ing the ground, and in tending cattle. Before the flood, 
 we read of Cain and Abel, that the first was a tiller of the 
 ground, and the latter a keeper of sheep, Gen. iv, 2. Abra- 
 ham, Isaac, and Jacob, hved in this manner, chiefly attend- 
 ing to their flocks and herds, as many of the tribes among 
 the Arabs do at the present day, only sowing the ground 
 occasionally. The laws given to Moses encouraged agricul- 
 ture ; but nothing about trade and commerce with foreign 
 nations is mentioned for many hundred years after the chil- 
 
62 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 dren of Israel were settled in tlie promised land. Their 
 riches consisted chiefly in cattle and slaves, or servants, who 
 were employed in tending the flocks and herds, and in cul- 
 tivating the ground, to raise a sufficient supply of the fruits 
 of the earth, Gen. xxvi, 12. Abraham and Lot had such 
 large herds of cattle, that they were obliged to separate to 
 find pasture for them, Gen. xiii, 6. In Gen. xiv, 14, it is 
 stated that Abraham armed three hundred and eighteen of 
 his servants, or slaves, when he hastened to rescue Lot from 
 those who had led him away captive. These slaves, or 
 servants, however, were treated very difl'ercntly from the 
 poor slaves of modern times. They were treated kindly, as 
 servants of the family ; even better, in many respects, than 
 hired servants. 
 
 Jacob had a vast number of cattle ; this appears from 
 many passages in the Bible. To persons having large flocks 
 and herds, wells and springs of water were very valuable ; 
 see Gen. xxi, 25; xxvi, 15 ; Judg. i, 15 ; for rivers and 
 
 EASTERN WOMEN AT A WELL. 
 
 brooks are not plentiful in the East. This has been already 
 fully noticed. It seldom rains there except during one part 
 of the year. , In the greater part of Egypt rain never falls, 
 and the fertility of the soil depends upon its being over- 
 flowed by the Nile. 
 
 Adam brought up Cain to cultivate or till the ground, 
 and Abel to feed sheep, Gen. iv, 2 : in the same chapter 
 
MANNERS xiND CUSTOMS. 63 
 
 (verse 20) we read that Jabal was the father of such as 
 have cattle, and of those who dwelt in tents. In those 
 countries, the people dwell in tents at the present day, 
 as stated already. Thus, when their cattle have eaten up ail 
 the pasture in one place, they easily remove to some other. 
 
 The manner in which the Arabs travel on these occa- 
 sions, reminds us of the way in which Jacob journeyed. 
 Gen. xxxii. Parsons thus describes it : — " First went the 
 shepherds and goatherds, with the sheep and goats in regu- 
 lar flocks. Then followed the camels and asses, with the 
 tents and furniture. Next came the old men and the women, 
 with the boys and girls on foot. The little children were 
 carried by the women, and the elder children carried the 
 lambs and kids. Last of all came the masters of the fami- 
 hes. Between each family there was a space of a hundred 
 yards or more, so that they did not mix or get confused 
 with each other." 
 
 Even after the times of the patriarchs, the greatest men 
 among the Jews continued to be shepherds or husbandmen. 
 Moses left the court of Pharaoh, and became a shepherd. 
 He was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Vfhen God 
 first appeared to him in the bush, Exod. iii, 1,2. Several 
 of the judges and kings had followed these employments. 
 Shamgar appears to have been a herdsman, Judg, iii, 31 ; 
 and Gideon w^as threshing wheat when the angel appeared 
 to him, Judg. vi, 11. Saul continued to attend a herd of 
 cattle after he was appointed king, 1 Sam. xi, 5. David 
 was a shepherd. Psalm xxiii evidently was written by a 
 person well acquainted with a shepherd's life; a good shep- 
 herd he was, for he risked his life for his sheep, 1 Sam. xvii, 
 34, 35. This should remind us of the best Shepherd, even 
 Christ, John x, 14. And how infinitely great is his love 
 for his sheep, as his true followers are called, for he actu- 
 ally laid down his life for them : even while they were yet 
 sinners, and therefore at enmity with him, Christ died for 
 them, Rom. v, 6-8. Let it be remembered that in the East 
 the shepherds always go before their sheep, which follow 
 them. They also have names for every sheep, and the 
 sheep answer by coming when called, John x, 3, 4. 
 
 King Uzziah was fond of husbandrj^ 2 Chron. xxvi, 10. 
 Mesha, king of Moab, was a sheep -master, 2 Kings iii, 4. 
 Several of the prophets were employed in agriculture ; as 
 
64 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 Elisha, 1 Kings xix, 19. Amos was a herdsman, chap, i; 
 and others. 
 
 Horses were forbidden to be kept in the land of Canaan, 
 Deut. xvii, 16 ; asses and oxen were therefore used for all 
 purposes of agriculture. 
 
 It is an encouragement to those who are employed as 
 shepherds, or in farming, to be diligent and faithful in their 
 service, that kings, and prophets, and rulers, have followed 
 the same employment. The women, even of high rank, 
 attended to the flocks and herds. Rebekah drew water for 
 the camels. Gen. xxiv, 20. Rachel kept her father's flocks. 
 Gen. xxix, 9 ; and Zipporah, with her sisters, who were 
 daughters of the prince, or chief priest, of Midian, (Exod. 
 ii, 16,) did the same. A traveler, who lately visited the 
 neighborhood of Mount Sinai, says, that the women of the 
 Arab tribes, who inhabit that part of the country, look 
 after the flocks, which in other parts are left to servants or 
 slaves. 
 
 When the Israelites first settled in the land of Canaan, 
 each family had a portion of land, which could not be parted 
 with for longer than a few years, for it returned to the 
 family in the year of jubilee. They were forbidden to take 
 interest for money from their brethren. Lev. xxv, 10, 36, 3*7. 
 These, with other laws, made them less able to live by 
 trade, so that they attended more to the produce of the 
 earth, and to their flocks and herds. 
 
 CULTIVATION OF THE LAND. 
 
 Many particulars respecting the manner in which the 
 Jews cultivated the land are not mentioned in the Scrip- 
 tures. They used to manure the ground ; and some per- 
 sons have supposed that the dove's dung, mentioned 
 2 Kings vi, 25, is a proof of this, as it is still much used in 
 Persia. Others sajr, and appear to be more correct, that 
 the word means the seed of a plant which is called by that 
 name : it is supposed to be the same with that we call the 
 " Star of Bethlehem," which is found in many gardens in 
 our country, but which grew much larger and more plenti- 
 fully in Judea. Salt also was used. Matt, v, 13 ; Luke xiv, 
 34, 35. 
 
 The river Jordan overflowed its banks every year : see 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 66 
 
 Josh, iii, 15 ; 1 Chron. xii, 15. The mud left by the flood, 
 not only made the fields on its banks very fertile, but was 
 also used on other lands. When the waters diminished, 
 seed was sown on the wet ground, and trampled in by the 
 feet of cattle. This is the method still used in Egypt and 
 many parts of India, particularly with respect to rice ; it is 
 alluded to, Eccl. xi, 1 ; Isa. xxxii, 20. 
 
 A great part of the labor in the cultivation of the land 
 was the watering of it ; this was, and still is, very necessary 
 in Eastern countries, where no rain falls during several 
 months in the year. For this purpose the water is raised, 
 by various machines and different contrivances, from the 
 rivers and streams to cisterns in the upper parts of the gar- 
 dens, or fields. When the rows of plants require watering, 
 some of the water is let out of the cisterns ; it runs in 
 streams, while the gardener stands ready, and from time to 
 time stops the rills by turning the earth against them with 
 his foot, opening a new channel with his spade. This is 
 alluded to in the first Psalm, as the rivers of water men- 
 tioned there mean these little streams, rather than large 
 rivers. The cisterns are alluded to in 2 Chron. xxvi, 10. 
 See the marginal reading ; the word translated wells, means 
 also cisterns. 
 
 The method of watering by the foot was practiced in the 
 land of Judea, but was still more necessary in Egypt, where 
 it so seldom rains, that this is described as the prmcipal 
 difference between that land and Judea: see Deut. xi, 10, 
 11, "The land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not 
 as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou 
 sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a gar- 
 den of herbs : but the land, whither ye go to possess it, is 
 a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain 
 of heaven." In the greater part of the land of Egypt, rain 
 never fell, which made the storm mentioned Exod. ix, 
 22-32, so much the more grievous. The river Nile every 
 year overflows all the land on its banks, for several hundred 
 miles, which renders it exceedingly fertile. 
 
 Watering with the foot may also mean raising water by 
 machines turned with the foot, something like a tread-mill ; 
 that method is used in the East, particularly in China ; but 
 it more likely means what has been just described. The 
 expression of Balaam, (Num. xxiv, '7,) " He shall pour the 
 
66 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 water out of his buckets," is understood by some persons to 
 refer to machines in which water was raised by a number 
 of buckets : it points out the future flourishing state of 
 Israel. 
 
 A solemn curse was denounced against man after the fall, 
 (Gen. iii, 17-19 :) " Cursed is the ground for thy sake ; in 
 sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life ; thorns 
 also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee ; and thou shalt 
 eat the herb of the field ; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou 
 eat bread :" that is, by hard labor shalt thou procure it. 
 We see this curse fulfilled to the present day ; the ground, 
 if left to itself, everywhere brings forth thorns and thistles, 
 and other weeds. In like manner, the hearts of the sons of 
 men are fully set in them to do evil ; and, unless God pre- 
 vent, will only do wicked works. This is an awful conside- 
 ration : it should remind us of the importance of looking to 
 Jesus for pardon and peace, through the blood which he 
 shed upon the cross, which, by the Holy Spirit, is of power 
 to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Let us pray ear- 
 nestly that God the Holy Spirit may sanctify our hearts, 
 " lest any root of bitterness . springing up trouble us ;" and 
 may we all be " filled with the fruits of righteousness, which 
 are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God," 
 Heb. xii, 15; Phil, i, 11. 
 
 At first, men probably dug the earth, having few or no 
 tools or implements to assist them. Noah is spoken of as 
 a " husbandman," Gen. ix, 20 ; perhaps he contrived 
 plows and other instruments of agriculture. Plows aie 
 mentioned by Moses, (Deut. xxii, 1 0,) when he is referring 
 to an idolatrous custom of the heathen ; also by Job, iv, 8. 
 The prophets Jeremiah (iv, 3) and Hosea (x, 12) mention 
 plowing up the fallow ground. Job xxxix, 10 speaks of 
 harrows, which are also noticed in other passages of Scrip- 
 ture. Plowing is mentioned in Gen. xlv, 6, when Joseph 
 says, " There are five years, in which there shall neither be 
 earing nor harvest ;" for the word earing is an old English 
 word that means plowing ; the Hebrew word there trans- 
 lated by it, is rendered plowing in some other texts. The 
 expression, "ear the ground," is also used, 1 Sam. viii, 12. 
 The plows usually were much smaller and weaker than 
 those used in England and the United States : they had a 
 share and coulter, but much smaller than those now used, 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. bT 
 
 as may be concluded from the prophet proposing that the 
 swords should be beaten into plowshares, Isa. ii, 4 ; Mic. 
 iv, 3. As the ploY^^s were smaller and lighter, they required 
 much care in directing them : this may assist to explain 
 Luke ix, 62, — " No man, having put his hand to the plow, 
 and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Referring to 
 the care and attention necessary in plowing, our Lord shows 
 the nece-ssity of going forward with steadiness, in attention 
 to the conocms of our souls, and the work we are appointed 
 to perform in his service. 
 
 Oxen were used with these plows, as by Elisha ; also 
 1 Sam. xiv, 14 ; Amos vi, 12. They were driven by 
 goads, or long sticks with sharp iron points, which were of 
 large size, as would be necessary when many oxen were 
 used. We read of twelve yoke, or pairs, used with EH- 
 sha's plow, 1 Kings xix, 19 ; in that case the plow proba- 
 bly was very heavy and cumbrous. Maundrell describes 
 the goads used in Syria not many years ago, as eight feet 
 long, and having a small spade at one end : with one of 
 these Shamgar slew the PhiUstines, Judg. iii, 31 ; these also 
 are the pricks mentioned. Acts ix, 5. They were formida- 
 ble instruments. 
 
 It is not unusual for the wandering tribes to occupy a 
 piece of land for a season, s6wing and reaping the harvest, 
 and then departing : Isaac did thus in Gerar, (Gen. xxvi, 
 12,) when he was blessed to receive a hundred-fold in- 
 crease. Sometimes payment is made to the parties nomi- 
 nally possessors of the soil. 
 
 SOWING AND HAKVEST. 
 
 In Exod. ix, 31, 32, various crops grown in Egypt are 
 mentioned. Isaiah (xxviii, 25) speaks of sevei-d sorts of 
 grain which were sown by the Jews. In the paiWole of the 
 sower, our Lord spoke of a return of thirty, sixty, and even 
 a hundred'fold. Matt, xiii, 8. Gen. xxvi, 12, states how 
 plentiful a harvest Isaac reaped, even a hundred-fold what 
 he had sown. In Egypt there is a sort of wheat that bears 
 several ears upon one stalk, as described by Pharaoh in re- 
 lating his dream, (Gen, xli, 5,) and produces very plentifully. 
 Some persons have tried to grow this wheat in England, 
 but the climate and soil do not well suit it. It has sue- 
 
68 
 
 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 EGYPTIAN WHEAT. 
 
 ceeded better in some parts of the United States. Three 
 months after sowing the seed, the harvest usually began, 
 and in four months was at its height. The barley harvest 
 was the first, 2 Sam. xxi, 9 ; that began about the time of 
 the passover, and the wheat harvest about the time of 
 pentecost. They used sickles to cut the grain: see Joel 
 iii, 13 ; Deut. xvi, 9 ; and several other texts. They bound 
 it up in sheaves, Gen. xxxvii, V ; Deut. xxiv, 19 ; Ruth ii, 
 15 ; and then piled the sheaves in shocks, Judg. xv, 5. As 
 wheat, and other sorts of grain, are the produce of the 
 ground, and not made by the contrivance of man, there has 
 been less alteration in the methods of cultivation, than in 
 the procejfties of arts and manufactures. 
 
 In the second chapter of Ruth, may be read a very beau- 
 tiful and particular account of the way in which the har- 
 vest was managed in Judea. There was an overseer set 
 over the reapers, (verse 5,) and women were employed in 
 the harvest-field as well as men, verse 8. 
 
 The refreshment for the reapers while they were at 
 work in the field was only bread and parched com ; their 
 drink was water, with vinegar, or a weak sort of wine. 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 69 
 
 mixed with it, wliich is very refreshing, as Dr. Clarke found 
 when traveling in those hot countries. At the end of har- 
 vest, there was great rejoicing, and a feast, Psa. cxxvi, 6 ; 
 Isa. ix, 3 ; xvi, 9, 10. These feasts were usual on other 
 occasions, such as sheep-shearing, 1 Sam. xxv, 36 ; 2 Sam. 
 xiii, 23. From the account of Nabal's preparations, it is 
 plain that large quantities of all sorts of provisions were 
 got ready. The corn was carried home, sometimes on 
 men's shoulders, sometimes on the backs of the cattle, and 
 sometimes in a wagon or cart, Amos ii, 13. It was then 
 piled up in stacks, Exod. xxii, 6 ; or in barns. Matt, vi, 26 ; 
 xiii, 30; Luke xii, 18, 24. The reapers in Egypt cut off 
 the ears of com, and left the stubble standing ; this sup- 
 plied the Israelites (Exod. v, 12) with straw for bricks. 
 
 ANCIENT REAPERS — FROM EGYPTIAN SCULPTURES. 
 
 The poor were allowed to glean, for the owners were 
 forbidden to strip the field quite bare ; some was to be left 
 " for the poor and the stranger," Lev. xxiii, 22 : this also re- 
 minds us of Ruth. It seems unkind to object to poor peo- 
 ple gleaning, if those who are allowed to do so are honest, 
 and do not attempt to take any except what is fallen. 
 
 After the corn is brought home, the next thing is to 
 thresh out the grain. This was done in different ways ; 
 sometimes by horses, (Isa. xxviii, 28,) or by drawing the 
 wheels of a cart over the corn ; but more frequently by 
 oxen, which are mentioned by Hosea, x, 11 ; and by 
 
70 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 Moses, (Dent, xxv, 4,) where it is particularly said, that the 
 mouth of the ox that treadeth out the com is not to be 
 muzzled to prevent liim from eating. Travelers observe 
 this at the present day, though the oxen are muzzled when 
 employed in other things. The horses and oxen either 
 trod out the corn with their feet, or dragged large stones 
 and heavy pieces of wood, or the carriage already men- 
 tioned, backward and forward. This method was used by 
 other ancient nations : it is mentioned by Homer ; and is 
 still practiced in the East. The most simple and usual 
 way probably was, by beating the corn with a flail or staff: 
 see Isa. xxviii, 27. Thus Gideon, Judg. vi, 11 ; and Arau- 
 nah, or Oman, and his sons, 1 Chron. xxi, 20. 
 
 TREADING OUT THE CORN. 
 
 This engraving represents the method of treading out 
 com, usual in modern as in ancient times in the East. The 
 scene is near the Sea of Galilee. 
 
 The floors, or places where the corn was threshed, are 
 mentioned several times : that of Araunah was the place 
 where Solomon's temple was afterwards built. At the floor 
 of Atad, Joseph mourned for Jacob, Gen. 1, 10. These 
 floors were made with some expense and trouble ; they 
 were carefully leveled, and covered at the top, but open at 
 the sides in the daytime, to let the wind blow away the 
 chaff". To the flying of chaff" before the wind the destruc- 
 tion of the wicked is compared, Psa. i, 4. They were shut 
 up or guarded at night to preserve the corn from being sto- 
 len. The grain was winnowed or separated from the chaff", 
 by turning it over v/ith a shovel, using a fan to blow away 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 71 
 
 the cliafF, Isaiah xxx, 24, John the Baptist alludes to this 
 when speaking of the separation of the lighteous from the 
 wicked, Matt, iii, 11, 12. 
 
 During the last fifty years, machines for threshing and 
 other purposes have been invented, which differ from the 
 more simple methods formerly used in England ; but till 
 that time, the methods of cultivating the ground, preparing 
 the corn for the mill, and the agricultural implements, were 
 nearly the same as those mentioned in the Bible. The carts 
 and implements used by the Saxons were like those here 
 represented from ancient drawings. 
 
 •-4^ 
 
 When the grain was threshed out, it was stored in build- 
 ings called garners, or granaries, Psa. cxliv, 13 ; Joel i, 17 ; 
 Matt, iii, 12. The rich man, mentioned in Luke xii, 18, did 
 so. Sometimes the quantity of grain thus laid up was 
 very great : in 1 Chron. xxvii, 25, it is recorded that 
 David had store-houses in the fields, and in the cities, and in 
 the villages, and in the castles. Pharaoh's treasure-cities 
 (Exod. i, 11) were places of this sort. The quantity laid 
 up by Joseph must have been vast indeed, for it supplied 
 the Egyptians and other nations for several years. Genesis 
 xh, 54-57 ; xlvii. 
 
 Sometimes the grain was buried in pits in the fields, 
 both to preserve it and to keep it from being found by 
 enemies : see Jer. xli, 8. This is still practiced in Eastern 
 countries. 
 
 When tlie corn ivas threshed, it was either dried to make 
 
72 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 parched com, or ground into flour to make bread. The 
 first is mentioned, Lev. xxiii, 14; 1 Sam. xvii, 11; xxv, 
 18 ; and as brought by Barzillai for David's army, 2 Sam. 
 xvii, 28. Being ready for food without other preparation, 
 it was suited for such an occasion. Sometimes corn was 
 parched or dried to make it more fit to grind. 
 
 The corn was not ground in large wind or water-mills, but 
 in small hand-mills, or pounded in mortars ; and each family 
 g]-ound for itself. The mills have been described already. 
 There were also mills in prisons, at which the prisoners 
 ground, as Samson did, Judg. xvi, 21 ; and see Lam. v, 13. 
 The prophet Isaiah (xlvii, 2) speaks of grinding as the 
 work of a slave. Although it was a laborious work, the peo- 
 ple employed used to sing at it ; this is alluded to where the 
 sound of the mill is mentioned, as in Jer. xxv, 10, and in 
 Eccl. xii, 4. 
 
 Our Lord referred to the harvest (Matt, xiii, 39) when he 
 spoke of the day of judgment. The awful day when all 
 must stand before the throne of God, is compared to the 
 harvest and vintage in the Book of Revelation, xiv, 14-20. 
 There, as elsewhere in the Bible, the harvest refers to the 
 gathering in of God's people ; the vintage, to his vengeance 
 on his enemies. 
 
 VINEYARDS— WINE AND FRUITS. 
 
 Vineyards abounded in all parts of Palestine, but the 
 grapes of the tribe of Judah were considered the best ; per- 
 haps Jacob alluded to this (Gen. xlix, 11) in what he said 
 respecting Judah. The bough of a vine is frequently 
 trained along the top of a wall, and secured by stones tied 
 to the branches. The valley of Eshcol, from whence the 
 spies brought a very large cluster of grapes, (Num. xiii, 23,) 
 was in the lot of Judah. The wine of Lebanon is men- 
 tioned, (Hos. xiv, V,) as very good. We read also of the 
 wines of Heshbon and Sibmah, which were places in the 
 tribe of Reuben. All these were mountainous districts. 
 
 The vineyards were generally on the north side of a hill. 
 By comparing Matt, xxi, 33, with Isa. v, 2, and Psa. Ixxx, 9, 
 we find that the ground was carefully prepared, the stones 
 picked up, and a wall or hedge made to enclose it. A 
 vineyard of a thousand vines is spoken of (Isa. vii, 23) as 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 73 
 
 paying a rent of a thousand silverings, or shekels of silver : 
 about $500 of our money. A number of persons, called 
 vine-dressers, (2 Kings xxv, 12,) were employed in plant- 
 ing, pruning, and propping the vines ; gathering the grapes, 
 and making the vrine. Also in guarding the vineyard ; for 
 which purpose small towers were built in them, (Matt, 
 xxi, 33 ; Mark, xii, 1,) or at least a cottage or lodge, Isa. i, 8. 
 Vines were also trained upon the walls of houses, Psa. 
 cxxviii, 3 ; Gen. xlix, 22. The Persian vine-dressers train 
 them so at the present day. In vineyards, these vines are 
 generally kept low, like currant-bushes, and trained to 
 stakes like espaliers. During the seventh year, vineyards 
 were not to be pruned or dressed, Lev. xxv, 3, 4. 
 
 The vintage was then, as it is now, a time of mirth : it 
 did not begin till after the harvest, Lev. xxvi, 5 ; Amos 
 ix, 13. The grapes were gathered and put into baskets, 
 Jer. vi, 9 ; they were then thrown into the wine-vat, and at 
 first trodden by men, as is now usual in many wine coun- 
 tries, and then pressed, Neh. xiii, 15; Rev. xiv, 18-20. 
 
 The juice of the grapes produced several sorts of wine. 
 Some was little better than vinegar, like the common wines 
 of France and other countries, which are rough and tart, 
 like cider: see Ruth ii, 14. It was probably this wine 
 which Solomon sent in large quantities to Hiram, for the 
 wood-cutters in Lebanon, 2 Chron. ii, 10. 
 
 The wine was generally mixed with water ; also with 
 spices : see Prov. ix, 2, 5 ; xxiii, 30 ; Psa. Ixxv, 8. It was 
 best when old, or on the lees, which means that the lees or 
 dregs had sunk to the bottom of the vessels in which it was 
 kept, Isa. xxv, 6. The poor were allowed to glean grapes 
 as well as com. Lev. xix, 10 ; Deut. xxiv, 21. 
 
 The wine was kept in skins, or leather bottles, made of 
 the entire skin of a kid or goat, or of pieces of leather sewn 
 together, and the seams covered with pitch: see page 21. 
 "Water and wine are carried in this manner at the present 
 day in Eastern countries. There were also bottles or ves- 
 sels made of clay by the potters : see Jer. xix, 1, 21 ; 
 xlviii, 12; Isa. xxx, 14, margin. Dried grapes, or raisins, 
 were used by the Jews, 1 Sam. xxx, 1 2 ; 2 Sam. xvi, 1 ; 
 1 Chron. xii, 40. In Deut. xxviii, 39, the Jews were told 
 that if they disobeyed the Lord, they should not eat of the 
 vineyards they had planted. 
 
 4 
 
74 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 The vines required considerable care and attention, or they 
 would not produce good fruit. To this our Lord refers, 
 John XV, 2, where he so beautifully compares himself to 
 a vine, and his people to the branches. The vines would 
 not bring forth good fruit unless they were pruned, and the 
 useless branches cut away. Thus we shall not bring forth 
 good fruit, (that is, do what is right,) unless our evil habits 
 and sinful inclinations are taken away. The vine cannot 
 pnme itself, so we cannot make ourselves good ; but the 
 Lord, in mercy, does this for his people. Though what he 
 finds needful for them sometimes is very painful, yet it is 
 for their good ; and by the power of Christ, who is the root, 
 (see John xv,) they are enabled to do what is right and 
 pleasing in the sight of God. The press in which the 
 grapes are squeezed, is often mentioned when the manner 
 in which the Lord will punish sinners by his almighty power, 
 which none can withstand, is described : see Isa, Ixiii, 3. 
 
 There were several sorts of fruits common in Judea be- 
 sides grapes : among them were dates, 2 Chron. xxxi, 6, 
 marginal reading. Also pomegranates, (Deut. viii, 8 ; 
 1 Sam. xiv, 2 ; Cant, viii, 2,) which are very pleasant fruit; 
 figs, mentioned Jer. xxiv, 2, and in many texts ; cucumbers 
 and melons, — these the Israelites had eaten in Egypt, (Num. 
 xi, 5,) and found them in the promised land. Melons and 
 cucumbers are much cultivated in Eastern countries. 
 Jowett mentions that they abound in Egypt at the present 
 day. He says, "They grow in such abundance on the 
 liver side, that the sailors of the Nile freely helped them- 
 selves ; and here and there was a small hut made of reeds, 
 just large enough to shelter a man to protect the fruit ; as 
 is mentioned Isa, i, 8, ' a lodge in a garden of cucum- 
 bers.' " Sometimes, when there was a scarcity, the Israel- 
 ites ate the gourds which grew wild in the fields, as 2 Kings 
 iv, 39. Our Lord cursed the barren fig-tree, Mark xi, 13. 
 There is a sort of fig-tree in the East, called the sycamore- 
 fig, which bears fruit several times in the year, and not at 
 any certain season. The words of our Lord declared that, 
 as the tree was then barren, it should wither away. As it 
 stood by the way-side, it does not appear to have been the 
 particular property of any one ; in the sentence passed upon 
 it, it has been considered a striking type of the condition of 
 the unbelieving Jews. 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 75 
 
 One of the principal fruits cultivated by the Jews was 
 the olive. It was particularly valuable on account of the 
 oil it yielded when ripe, Zech. iv, 12 ; when cultivated with 
 care, the fruit is much finer than on wild trees. This is 
 beautifully alluded to in Rom. xi, 17-24, where St. Paul 
 reminds the Gentiles of the inestimable benefits they receive 
 from being admitted into the Church of Christ. It appears 
 from ancient books on husbandry, that the method there 
 described, of grafting the shoots of the wild olive upon the 
 cultivated stock, was the plan pursued. 
 
 The olives were cultivated in gardens, separately; this 
 explains what was said by Elisha, 2 Kings v, 26. Nehe- 
 miah complained of the wealthy Jews, who withheld the 
 olive-yards belonging to their poorer brethren, Neh. v, 11 ; 
 also 1 Sam. viii, 14. But olive-gardens are particularly to 
 be remembered, as our Lord often went to one of them, and 
 prayed with his disciples. It was in that place he suffered 
 the anguish of mind for poor sinners, recorded by the evan- 
 gelists, particularly in St. Luke's Gospel, ch. xxii, 39-46. 
 Let us ever remember that our Lord not only suffered a 
 painful death upon the cross, but he also endured much 
 while praying in the garden. He then suflFered in his mind 
 the punishment which our sins justly deserved, which was 
 so painful, although he himself had not sinned, that " being 
 in agony, he prayed more earnestly : and his sweat was as 
 it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground," 
 Luke xxii, 44. 
 
 Dr. Clarke gives a particular account of the Mount of 
 Olives. He describes the beautiful and extensive view from 
 that mountain, where our Lord sat (Mark xiii, 3) and pro- 
 phesied the destruction of Jerusalem. He also recollected 
 the account of David's passing over it when fleeing from 
 Absalom, (2 Sam. xv, 32,) and other particulars : he "visited 
 an olive-ground always mentioned as the garden of Geth- 
 semane. This place is, not without probability, shown as 
 the scene of our Saviour's agony the night before his cruci- 
 fixion." He there found a grove of aged olive-trees, of large 
 size, covered with fruit ; although these cannot be the same 
 trees that grew there nearly two thousand years ago, yet 
 they have, no doubt, been produced from the original trees. 
 It is " a curious and interesting fact, that we have clear evi- 
 
76 
 
 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. 
 
 dence that olive-trees have grown on this spot since the time 
 of David, three thousand years ago." 
 
 More recent travelers describe this plot of ground as con- 
 taining eight of these very ancient trees : it is not possible 
 to say that it certainly is the spot mentioned by the evan- 
 gelists ; doubtless the trees there were cut down, as well as 
 all the other trees round Jerusalem, during the siege by the 
 Romans ; but the locality agrees with the description in the 
 New Testament far better than those shown for other places 
 described. 
 
 Before ending what is said respecting the agriculture of 
 the Jews, the reader may be reminded of the many allusions 
 to these subjects in the Scriptures. And as the methods 
 of cultivating the ground are still so like what they were 
 nearly two thousand years ago, these allusions explain to us 
 many texts. " Ye are God's husbandry," or cultivated field. 
 "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." "I 
 am the good Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known 
 of mine." " I am the true Vine, and my Father is the 
 Husbandman." It is needless to copy more. 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 tr 
 
 SMALL DOMESTIC LOOM OF THE EAST. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 MANUFACTURES — TRADES — COMMERCE — MONEY — SHIPS. 
 
 MANUFACTURES AND TRADES. 
 
 There is very little in the Bible about the trades and manu- 
 factures among the Jews. But they had smiths, Isa. xliv, 12 ; 
 liv, 16 ; and carpenters, Isa. xli, 1 ; xliv, 13 ; Zech. i, 20; 
 and other trades necessary in a country where the inhabit- 
 ants chiefly lived by tilling the soil. The enemies who in- 
 vaded the land, as the Philistines (1 Sam. xiii, 19) and the 
 Babylonians, (Jer. xxiv, 1,) carried the craftsmen away cap- 
 tives. They did so, both to distress the Israelites, and be- 
 cause men skilled in handicraft trades were reckoned the 
 most valuable captives or slaves ; they are so at the present 
 day. It is plain that there must be craftsmen of this de- 
 scription in every land which is at all civilized. " The val- 
 ley of craftsmen," (1 Chron. iv, 14,) shows that they lived 
 together. Joseph, the reputed father of our Lord after the 
 flesh, was a carpenter, Matt, xiii, 55 ; Mark vi, 3. From 
 the texts, Luke ii, 51 ; Mark vi, 3, some persons suppose 
 that Christ himself assisted Joseph while subject unto him 
 and his mother, Mary, before he went forth to do the will 
 of his heavenly Father, and therefore he was called "the 
 carpenter." Whether this be correct or not, the circum- 
 
78 
 
 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 iiiv 
 
 THE POTTER AT WOKK. 
 
 stance of our Lord being willing to be considered " a car- 
 penter," may well make those engaged in trades of handi- 
 craft content with their lot. In whatever state we are placed, 
 let us be therewith content, Phil, iv, 11. 
 
 There were not many regular manufactures among the 
 Jews. In 1 Chron. iv, 21, we read of the famihes of the 
 house of them that wrought fine linen, an instance of the 
 sort as a trade. In verse 23, we read of potters, and also 
 in Jer. xviii, 2, and Lam. iv, 2 : the potters in the East often 
 work with a wheel upon the same principle as with us. In 
 those times, probably, the children were usually brought up 
 to their father's business. This rule is strictly followed in 
 the East Indies at the present day : scarcely any one is al- 
 lowed to pui'sue a trade different from that of his family. 
 
 There are several beautiful allusions to weaving. Job vii, 6 ; 
 Isa. xxxviii, 12; but this, like spinning the thread, was a 
 family employment, rather than a regular trade. It is so 
 now among some Eastern nations. The loom and instru- 
 ments for spinning were of the plainest and most simple 
 kinds. In the description of the virtuous woman, (Prov. 
 xxxi, 10-31,) is a minute account of the manner in which 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 T9 
 
 WOMAN SPINNING. 
 
 these family employments were directed by the mistress. 
 Nor was this only in the families of the middle and lower 
 ranks ; in the Greek and Roman histories, we read of the 
 wives of kings and generals thus engaged. Homer, who 
 lived soon after the time of Solomon, describes two queens, 
 Penelope and Helen, employed at their looms. Dr. Shaw 
 found that the women in Barbary were the only persons 
 who wove the hykes, or upper garments. These are coarse 
 articles ; they did not use shuttles, but passed the threads 
 of the woof with their fingers. 
 
 The custom of spinning thread in families, for their own 
 use, was very common in England till within the last fifty 
 years. Even now, in some farm-houses, particularly in the 
 dairy countries, the maids sit down to spin in the afternoon; 
 sometimes an aged woman may still be seen spinning at a 
 cottage-door. The thread was sometimes sold to dealers, 
 or more generally sent to weavers, who lived near, and wove 
 for the different families of the districts. But the general 
 use of machinery has nearly put an end to this species of 
 industry. 
 
1^0 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 The Arab loom, as described by Burkhardt, is very simple. 
 It is merely two upright sticks fixed in the ground, and ano- 
 ther across them, three others being placed in the same 
 manner at about four yards' distance. The threads of the 
 warp are then stretched from one cross stick to the other, 
 the alternate threads are kept separate by other pieces of 
 wood passed between them, the woof is passed across on 
 another piece of wood serving as a shuttle, and the threads, 
 when passed across, are pressed up by a piece of horn. 
 In this way they make coarse cloth, tent coverings, and 
 carpets. Robinson saw a woman thus weaving a goat's-hair 
 cloak. 
 
 Chardin describes the Persian tailors making carpets, 
 hangings for doors, and similar articles, by sewing together 
 pieces of felt in various patterns. The embroidery is usu- 
 ally executed by the females ; it is very beautiful ; this is 
 worked with the needle, on cloth fixed in frame. Such 
 probably were the hangings for the door of the tabernacle, 
 "wrought with needlework," Exod. xxvi, 36. 
 
 It should be observed, that in the instance of Solomon's 
 virtuous woman, (Prov. xxxi,) the cloth spun and wove at 
 home was for the use of the family, and it is so usually in 
 our own times. The comfort of such clothing is well ex- 
 pressed : " She is not afraid of the snow for her household ; 
 for all her household are clothed with scarlet," Prov. 
 xxxi, 21; or, as the margin better expresses it, "with 
 double garments." Even Delilah wove, Judg. xvi, 13, 14. 
 
 Solomon's virtuous woman is represented, by the trans- 
 lators of the Bible, as having clothing of silk : the word ren- 
 dered silk should be fine cotton, cloth, or muslin. Silk was 
 then scarcely, if at all, known. Aurelian, the Roman em- 
 peror, thirteen hundred years after the time of Solomon, 
 refused his wife a silk gown because it was too expensive : 
 we can, therefore, hardly suppose that a Jewish woman of 
 the middle class could have had such clothing. The word 
 silk, in the margin of Gen. xli, 42, has the same meaning. 
 Much of the fine linen of Egypt, so often mentioned, we 
 should call now coarse, for such is the improvement in 
 manufactures. Of this there can be no doubt, from an ex- 
 amination of the linen wrapped round the embalmed bodies, 
 or mummies, of persons formerly in high rank in Egypt. 
 There were various sorts of cloth in former times ; for no 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 n 
 
 less than four different Hebrew words are all rendered 
 "linen," by our translators. It is probable one or more of 
 them were of cotton. David's robe (1 Chron. xv, 27) was 
 of " butz," which is supposed to have been fine cotton cloth. 
 Bruce mentions such robes being worn by men of rank in 
 Abyssinia. This is the representation of an Egyptian loom, 
 
 from a painting at Beni Hassan. It represents an Egyptian 
 weaver at work. It is copied from an ancient painting, and 
 shows much more machinery than the simple family loom 
 already described. 
 
 As an additional proof that the manufactures among the 
 Jews were not extensive, we may refer to Ezekiel xxvii. In 
 that chapter the prophet describes, very minutely, all the 
 articles in which the merchants of Tyre dealt ; but none of 
 them came from Judea, except "wheat, honey, oil, and 
 balm," verse 11 ; all of which were productions of the soil 
 of that country. 
 
 The account given of many articles made for the use of 
 the tabernacle, (Exod. xxv, 25, 26,) and for the temple, 
 shows that they were made by the Israelites, rather as 
 family employments, than as regular manufactures. Solo- 
 mon sent to Hiram, king of Tyre, (2 Chron. ii, 7, 13,) for a 
 4* 
 
82 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 man skillful enough to direct the manufacture of the articles 
 he wished to have made for the temple. 
 
 Shoes and clothes were also made at home : this was usual 
 in other countries. Homer describes Eumeas, the very re- 
 spectable steward of King Ulysses, employed in making his 
 own shoes. Sometimes these articles might be sold, Amos 
 ii, 6 ; but that was usually by way of barter : and there is 
 no mention of regular shoemakers or tailors, as tradesmen. 
 
 There were but few butchers or bakers. The country- 
 people brought meat and other articles of food to the large 
 towns. The men of Tyre (Neh. xiii, 16) did so, and sold 
 them in the market at Jerusalem. We read of the sheep- 
 market, and other similar places. In the case of the men 
 of Tyre, just mentioned, the purchase and sale of pro- 
 visions on the Sabbath was forbidden. It is sad to think 
 how many in our land constantly break the fourth com- 
 mandment. 
 
 That bakers were not common, we may suppose from 
 the distress of David, 1 Sam. xxi, 3. He would hardly 
 have been so urgent with the priests of Nob, to give him 
 the shew-bread, if he could have bought bread. We read, 
 Jer. xxxvii, 21, of a bakers' street ; but this was in later 
 times, and at Jerusalem. Our blessed Lord told his disci- 
 ples to buy bread for the multitude, but they did not con- 
 sider it could be done, John vi, 5-7 ; and a boy appears to 
 have followed the crowd with a few loaves and fishes for 
 sale, verse 9. 
 
 In the New Testament there is mention of several trades. 
 Joseph was a carpenter, Matt, xiii, 55 ; Mark vi, 3 ; Simon, 
 a tanner, Acts ix, 43 ; Demetrius, a silversmith, Acts xix, 
 24; Alexander, a coppersmith, 2 Tim. iv, 14; Paul and 
 Aquila were tent-makers, Acts xviii, 3 ; or, it is supposed, 
 upholsterers ; Lydia, a seller of purple, or dyer, ch. xvi, 14. 
 The preparation of leather was, and still is, an important 
 art in the East, from the many uses to which the skins of 
 beasts are applied, particularly for water-skins. The bark 
 of oak, or the peels of pomegranates, are often used for 
 tanning. Robinson describes a manufactory at Hebron, 
 where he saw 1500 goat-skins in preparation. 
 
 There is another employment frequently spoken of in the 
 Scriptures — the fishermen mending their nets, Matt, iv, 21 : 
 Mark i, 19 No doubt thev also made their own nets. 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 88 
 
 M'Cheyne describes the nets he saw used in Egypt, and at 
 the Sea of Gahlee, — a sort of purse net ; but in fishing from 
 boats, larger nets would be used. The fact that the Gos- 
 pel was made known through the world by the preaching 
 of twelve persons, who were plain fishermen, or others 
 much of the same class, is one of the strongest proofs that 
 can be of the divine origin of the Christian religion, and 
 that its prevalence has not been owing to human contri- 
 vance or art. 
 
 The first mention in the Bible respecting trade, (Gen. 
 xxxvii,) is about the Midianites and Ishmaelites, who were 
 carrying spices, and balm, and myrrh, from Gilead to 
 Egypt. These articles were much used in that country, 
 for embalming the bodies of the dead. Nicodemus 
 brought a quantity of spices for the body of Jesus, John 
 xix, 39. But those merchants appear to have been willing 
 to buy anything whereby they could make a profit : so 
 they bought Joseph, and paid twenty pieces of silver to 
 his brethren for him. They do not seem to have cared 
 whether the sons of Jacob had any right to sell Joseph : 
 they doubtless were aware that the Hebrews were doing 
 wrong ; but, like too many, even at the present day, they 
 did not mind whether this were the case or not, if they 
 could make a profit by what they bought. When the 
 merchants took Joseph down to Egypt, they little thought 
 that the poor lad was a treasure more precious than all 
 their spices, and balm, and myrrh; and that their poor 
 young slave would one day be the lord of Egypt. 
 
 Also notice, that these merchants dealt in slaves. It is a 
 very dreadful thing, that men, women, and children, 
 should be sold like cattle, and that by persons called 
 Christians. 
 
 In the law, as delivered to Moses, there are no precepts 
 or regulations respecting trade. The neighboring nations 
 were idolaters ; and the Hebrews could not have intercourse 
 in trade with them without danger of being led away from 
 the true religion. But trade and commerce were not for- 
 bidden : there are positive commands for just and true 
 dealings in the way of trade, Deut. xxv, 15, 16, — "Thou 
 shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just 
 measure shalt thou have ; that thy days may be length- 
 ened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 
 
84 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 For all that do such things, (those who have unjust weights 
 and measures,) and all that do unrighteously, are an abomi- 
 nation unto the Lord thy God." 
 
 M'Cheyne observed that the people often used stones as 
 weights, as Lev. xix, 36 : " Just balances, just stones, (as 
 weights,) shall ye have." 
 
 It would be well if this and similar texts were written up 
 in every shop and warehouse; but still better, if they 
 were written upon the hearts of all buyers and sellers. See 
 also Prov. xi, 1. In later times, the Jews traded more 
 with the surrounding nations ; see 1 Kings x, 22, 28, 29 ; 
 and 2 Chron. viii, 17, 18. Trade was encouraged by king 
 Solomon, and was accounted honorable. In 1 Kings xxii, 
 48, we read of king Jehoshaphat preparing ships to trade 
 with Ophir ; but when Ahaziah, a wicked king of Israel, 
 wanted him to join in this trade, he refused, verse 49. 
 
 MONEY AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Money is often mentioned in Scripture. The earliest notice 
 is Gen. xxiii, 16, where Abraham paid a sum of four hun- 
 dred shekels of silver to Ephron, " money current with the 
 merchant." It is not supposed that this was coined money, 
 but only that weight in silver ; for the ancient method of 
 receiving or paying money was by weighing the pieces of 
 metal, as is now usual in- China, and in some other coun- 
 tries. Malcolm says, " Burmah has no coinage. Silver 
 passes in fragments of all sizes, and the amount of every 
 transaction is regularly weighed out." There is no cer- 
 tainty of any coinage of money among the Jews, till the 
 time of Judas Maccabeus, long after the return from Baby- 
 lon. The penny paid to the laborers, (Matt, xx, 9,) for 
 their day's wages, was a Greek silver coin, worth about 
 fifteen cents, which would then purchase more food than 
 two or three times that sum now would buy. In later 
 times, the Greek and Roman money was current in Judea, 
 Matt, xxii, 20. In this money the taxes were paid. The 
 reader will recollect that a pubhcan was one who collected 
 the taxes and custom money, Matt, ix, 9 ; Mark ii, 14. 
 Matthew and Zaccheus were such. In general, the publi- 
 cans were guilty of fraud : they were also much hated by 
 the Jews for being the officers of their foreign rulers. On 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 86 
 
 these accounts they are spoken of in the manner we read 
 hi the Gospels. 
 
 Even now m the East the traveler is often stopped by 
 toll-collectors, who are very insolent and oppressive. Bruce 
 and Morier describe the extortions they practice when they 
 are able to enforce their demands. 
 
 Much of the ancient Greek and Roman money consisted 
 of the pieces now called medals. Some record the con- 
 quest of Judea by the Romans, representing that coimtry 
 as a female captive sitting under a palm-tree ; they testify 
 the truth of Scripture. 
 
 Our blessed Lord referred to merchants and trade. In 
 Matt, xiii, 45, 46, is the parable of the merchant-man, who 
 sought for goodly pearls; and in Matt, xxv, 16, 17, we 
 read that the faithful servants to whom the talents were 
 intrusted, went and traded with them. Let us particularly 
 notice the pearl-merchant. When he had found one of 
 great price, or very valuable, he went and sold all that he 
 had, even his " goodly pearls," that he might buy it. This 
 '• pearl of great price," represents to us the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. Those who have really found him are ready to 
 part with every worldly possession or indulgence that they 
 may obtain him. He has promised^ that those who seek 
 him shall find him : " With all thy getting get understand- 
 ing," Prov iv, V ; and the knowledge of Christ, as the Sa- 
 viour who suffered upon the cross for our sins, is the true 
 wisdom. 
 
 Trade was not forbidden by the law of Moses, nor by our 
 Lord, when carried on fairly and honestly, and without 
 breaking the commands of God. But the trade was sinful 
 
86 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 which our Lord reproved, when he drove the buyers and 
 sellers out of the temple, John ii; Matt, xxi; Mark xi; 
 Luke xix. Observe, it is related by all the evangelists. 
 Although in these days we do not see people buying and 
 selling in the churches and chapels, how many there are 
 who make the Lord's day a day of merchandise, and buy 
 and sell thereon for their own pleasure and profit, without 
 the least necessity ! Let them not deceive themselves, hke 
 the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who thought it necessary to 
 buy fish and other things on the Sabbath, Neh. xiii, 16 ; 
 but when Nehemiah shut the gates on the Sabbath, and 
 kept out the dealers, the people found that they could 
 manage without buying on that day. Again, there are 
 many who do not buy or sell upon the Lord's day, but who 
 think, and even talk a great deal about their merchandise, 
 their bargains, and schemes of profit. Where is the dififer- 
 ence between this and handling the goods themselves ? 
 
 In the East, a bargain is often a very long transaction. 
 Perkins says, he had occasion repeatedly to notice, that at 
 first the article asked for was spoken of as to be a present 
 to the purchaser, who, offering to pay, was then required to 
 name his own price ; that, even if reasonable, was refused, 
 and far more than the real value was then demanded ; but 
 if the purchaser turned away, more fair terms were acceded 
 to. He refers to the transaction between Abraham and the 
 sons of Heth, (Gen. xxiii, 10, 11,) as illustrating what now 
 passes in bargaining in Persia. Lane says it is the same in 
 Egypt, the peasants well knowing that advantage will not 
 be taken of their offer to give up the article as a present. 
 
 The merchants and traders whom Nehemiah shut out 
 were men of Tyre, the most famous place for trade among 
 all the cities in or near Judea. In Ezekiel xxvii, we have 
 a full account of the vast trade of that wealthy city. In 
 that chapter, Tyre is compared to a ship. The descrip- 
 tion at pages 89, 90, ^vill help to explain that passage of 
 Scripture, and also give some ideas respecting the ancient 
 ships. That chapter shows the great wealth and extensive 
 commerce of the city, which appears to have traded with 
 all countries, and to have dealt in all the principal articles 
 of trade of the present day. Here again is mention of mer- 
 chants who dealt in slaves! yer. 13. Wealth increased, 
 imtil *' her mierchants were princes, and her traffickers the 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 87 
 
 honorable of the earth," Isa. xxiii, 8. The people of Tyre 
 became proud : in their anxiety to get riches they dealt un- 
 justly, and became " defiled by the iniquity of their traffic," 
 Ezek. xxviii, 18. God, by the prophet Ezekiel, declared 
 the do-wnfall of that proud wealthy city ; in a few years it 
 was accomplished, as foretold by the prophet : see Ezek, 
 xxvi, xxvii, and xxviii. " Riches fly away as an eagle to- 
 ward heaven," Prov. xxiii, 5. This strongly shows the un- 
 certainty of riches, the danger of having our hearts cumbered 
 and led astray by worldly wealth, and the certain conse- 
 quences of unjust gain. In Ezek. xxvi, 4, 5, we read, 
 "They shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down 
 her towers : I Avill also scrape her dust from her, and make 
 her like the top of a rock. It shall be a place for the 
 spreading of nets in the midst of the sea : for I have spoken 
 it, saith the Lord God." Modem travelers have told us 
 how completely this has been fulfilled. The precise situa- 
 tion of ancient Tyre is not exactly known, so utterly has it 
 been destroyed : but a place is pointed out where it proba- 
 bly stood. Several travellers have borne witness to the 
 fulfillment of the prophecy, that Tyre should be a place for 
 fishers to dry their nets. Bruce saw two' miserable fisher- 
 men who had just returned from their labors, and were 
 about to spread their nets upon the rocks. 
 
 Yet, awful as the case of Tyre was, our Lord said it 
 should be more tolerable for the inhabitants of Tyre, in the 
 day of judgment, than for the inhabitants of Chorazin and 
 Bethsaida, where he had so often preached the gospel, and 
 told the glad tidings of salvation, confirming his words by 
 his miracles ; yet the inhabitants attended not to his words ! 
 
 The blessed Saviour called himself the Bread of life, 
 John vi, 35, 48, 51. Large portions of this Bread are set 
 before us ; for we are told much about Christ, and how he 
 suffered to save poor sinners. Let us pray that we may be 
 enabled to feast thereon, to love him, and to serve him. If 
 we enjoy this glad news, which is spoken of as a feast, (Isa. 
 XXV, 6,) surely we shall not forget the poor heathen, but be 
 anxious to " send portions unto them for whom nothing is 
 prepared," (Neh. viii, 10,) by helping those societies, by 
 which the gospel is sent to the heathen. 
 
 The history of king Solomon presents many particulars 
 respecting the commerce of the Jews, and other nations. 
 
88 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 He was a man of peace, as his name signij&es, and encou- 
 raged trade. In his days the inhabitants of Tyre were very 
 active in trade ; he saw the advantages they derived from 
 commerce, and was anxious that his subjects should partake 
 of these benefits. 
 
 King David subdued his enemies on all sides of Judea, 
 and extended his dominions to the Red Sea, so that Solomon 
 possessed a good harbor or sea-port there, called Ezion- 
 geber, (1 Kings ix, 26,) from whence ships could sail to the 
 rich countries of Africa and Asia. The Jews being igno- 
 rant of the method of building ships, Solomon applied to 
 Hiram, king of Tyre, who sent workmen able to build vessels, 
 and seamen to navigate them. The ships being ready, the 
 two kings joined in sending them to foreign countries, and 
 they brought back much gold, silver, ivory, and other valu- 
 able merchandise : they also procured apes, peacocks, and 
 other foreign curiosities : see 1 Kings ix, 27, 28 ; x, 22 ; 
 2 Chron. viii, 18; ix, 21. So important did this trade ap- 
 pear to Solomon, that he went to Ezion-geber and Elath, to 
 superintend the fitting out of the ships, 2 Chron. viii, 17. 
 The fleets sent out by Hiram and Solomon went to some 
 countries at a considerable distance, called Ophir and Tar- 
 shish. They are generally supposed to be the same which 
 are now called Zanguebar and Sofala, on the eastern coast 
 of Africa ; but they may have been other places. The art 
 of navigation was then so little understood, that the ships 
 were three years in making a voyage which now would 
 occupy only a few weeks. There is not any account of the 
 articles sent out in these ships ; but as the people of Tyre 
 traded in all kinds of merchandise, there could be no diffi- 
 culty in procuring suitable cargoes ; and Judea, we have 
 seen, abounded in corn, wine, and oil. The articles received 
 in return have been already mentioned. Solomon was sup- 
 plied by this trade with many materials for his splendid 
 palaces and other buildings, and the whole nation was en- 
 riched by this trafliic. Silver became quite common in 
 Jerusalem, so that " it was nothing accounted of in the days 
 of Solomon," 1 Kings x, 21, 27. This great monarch also 
 traded with the Egyptians, from whom he purchased horses, 
 chariots, and linen yarn. The horses cost 150 shekels each, 
 the chariots 600, 1 Kings x, 28, 29 : he had 40,000 horses 
 for chariots, and 12,000 for his horsemen, 1 Kings iv, 26. 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 89 
 
 After the death of Solomon, and the division of his Mng- 
 dom, the eastern or southern trade continued, but with less 
 advantage, and with less regularity. We read that the 
 ships of Jehoshaphat were wrecked in the Red Sea. In the 
 reign of Jehoram, his successor, the Edomites, in whose 
 country these ports were situated, revolted from the Jewish 
 yoke. Uzziah again obtained possession of Elath, when the 
 trade continued in the hands of the Jews, till Rezin, king of 
 Damascus, and afterwards Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, 
 took these ports away from the Jews. Thus their trade 
 and commercial greatness were destroyed : see 2 Kings xvi, 
 and 2 Chron. xxviii. From hence may plainly be seen, that 
 persons cannot expect to prosper in trade or commerce, or 
 in any other pursuit, without the blessing of Almighty God. 
 
 SHIPS. 
 
 No particular description of the ships belonging to the 
 Jews is given in Scripture ; they would be similar to the 
 ships of the neighboring nations, which in those times 
 differed very much from our vessels. Even in the present 
 day, the ships of the Asiatics are diflFerent from those of the 
 west ; and by attending to the accounts given by modem 
 travelers, we may better understand the account of St. 
 Paul's voyage, and other passages of Scripture. 
 
 The trading vessels were, in general, much smaller than 
 those common among us. Frequently they were less than 
 fifty tons burden. Within the last three hundred years, 
 very small vessels were sent on long voyages. Some of 
 Sir Francis Drake's vessels, which went out to sail round 
 the world, were only about thirty tons burden. In Acts 
 xxvii, is the account of Paul's voyage, which shows how 
 much less skillful the ancient sailors were than the moderns. 
 
 In those days the sailors had no compass, or magnetic 
 needle, which, by pointing constantly towards the north, 
 might have directed their course at all times. They could 
 only judge which way they were sailing by observing the 
 sun and the stars ; so that, in cloudy weather, when neither 
 appeared for many days, (ver. 20,) they were quite at a 
 loss : they knew not which way they were sailing. It was 
 then usual for vessels to remain in harbor during the 
 winter months, (ver. 12,) because the sailors feared the dark 
 tempestuous nights and cloudy days. This the master of 
 
90 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 Paul's ship intended to do ; but a storm came on, and 
 drove the vessel out of its course. It is still the custom in 
 those seas to tow the boats after the ship, which gives 
 much trouble when the waves are high, ver. 16. The ves- 
 sel being much shaken by the storm, they undergirded it, 
 ver. 17 ; that is, they passed a strong rope or cable round 
 the ship, to prevent it from falling to pieces ; this is some- 
 times done at the present day. One of the Spanish ships 
 sent out against Lord Anson, in 1*740, was so much dam- 
 aged by a storm, that a cable was fastened round it in six 
 places. Some persons have been much puzzled about the 
 four anchors cast out of the stern ; but Pocock tells us it is 
 not unusual for Egyptian saiques, or trading vessels, to cany 
 anchors at the stern, which they cast out by the help of a 
 boat, ver. 29, 30 ; or it may have been an anchor with four 
 points, or flukes, which is used in some vessels in those 
 countries. The loosing of the rudder band, (ver. 40,) is ex- 
 plained by the ancient vessels having been steered bj two 
 large, broad oars, one on each side. These were fastened 
 by bands or cords to the sides of the ship. They proba- 
 bly had been tied up when the vessel was allowed to drive, 
 (ver. 17,) but were loosed again to direct the ship's course, 
 when they hoisted the sail, and steered towards the shore. 
 These explanations remove many difficulties which sailors 
 have felt respecting the account of Paul's voyage, because 
 they did not consider the great difference between ancient 
 and modem ships. 
 
 There are many places in which ships are mentioned 
 in the Old Testament. Jonah had gone down into the 
 sides of the ship, and was fast asleep, Jonah i, 5. This 
 was in the cabin : probably the bed-places were along the 
 sides, as now is often the case ; but Jonah soon learned 
 that no man can hide himself from God, or long enjoy 
 repose when disobeying his commands. The prophet Eze- 
 kiel gives the fullest account of an ancient ship, and de- 
 scribes one of the largest and most complete : see ch. xxvii. 
 To such a noble vessel he compares the city of Tyre, which 
 existed and flourished by its trade and commerce. " The 
 walls round about," (ver. 11,) were stages projecting from 
 the sides of the ships, upon which, as is shown upon ancient 
 medals, the soldiers hung their shields, and stood to fight. 
 The towers were high places upon the forecastle. 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 91 
 
 In the passages mentioned are one or two other points 
 to notice. When the men in Jonah's ship were in danger 
 and afraid, " every man cried unto his god," ch. i, 5. Per- 
 sons who have been on board ships with a crew of Roman 
 Catholic sailors during a storm, describe similar scenes. 
 The frightened sailors then call upon different saints to pro- 
 tect and save them. 
 
 The ship of Alexandria, (Acts xxviii, 11,) in which Paul 
 sailed from Malta to Syracuse, had for its sign Castor and 
 Pollux. These were two idols worshiped by the heathens, 
 by whose name this ship was called, and to whose care it 
 was committed ; it doubtless had images of those gods, as 
 was usual in ancient ships. This vessel, and the one wrecked 
 at Mehta, doubtless were employed in the carrying corn 
 from Egypt to Rome. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE FINE ARTS AND IMAGES. 
 
 THE FINE ARTS. 
 
 The Jews did not possess much knowledge of what are 
 called the fine arts, such as sculpture and painting ; many 
 beautiful specimens of which abounded in Italy and 
 Greece, particularly at Athens, where the apostle Paul's 
 spirit was stirred within him, when he beheld the people 
 worshiping these idols ; nor was their beauty any excuse 
 for the idolatry. He bore testimony against them on the 
 very spot itself. Acts xvii. Some of the very same sculp- 
 tures which he then beheld, are now in the British Museum. 
 However, when the Israelites left the land of Egypt, it is 
 evident that some among them must have possessed know- 
 ledge of this sort, for they made a molten calf and fashioned 
 it with a graving tool, Exod. xxxii, 4 ; and, after their 
 arrival in the land of Canaan, Micah employed a founder 
 who made a graven image and a molten image, Judg. xvii, 4. 
 Bezaleel and Aholiab appear to have been especially di- 
 rected by the Lord in cutting the precious stones, and in 
 all the beautiful works they executed for the tabernacle, 
 Exod. XXXV, 30-35. There is little mention of anything of 
 this sort afterwards, till the time of Solomon, who was 
 
92 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 obliged to employ a foreign artist from Tyre, 2 Chron. 
 ii, 7, 13, 14, to plan and direct the works of the temple. 
 
 If the simple mode of life pursued by the Israelites for 
 many years after their settlement in Canaan is considered, 
 it is plain that there would be little or no employment for 
 persons skilled in the arts of luxury. The second com- 
 mandment also expressly forbade the use of sculpture (or 
 making images) and painting, the purposes to which those 
 arts were then almost entirely confined. The chief employ- 
 ment of such artists then, and even in later days, was to 
 make the images of deities, which the heathen worshiped ; 
 so that where the worship of false gods was prohibited, 
 there would be little demand for their labors. The histo- 
 ries of Greece and Rome, and a sight of the articles dug 
 from the ruins of ancient cities fully explain this ; among 
 them are many images, which were placed in the houses, 
 and were supposed to be protectors of the families. Such 
 is the case now among heathens ; although to us it appears 
 very absurd that people should suppose a piece of wood or 
 metal, which they have just carved or purchased, could 
 guard them from evil and danger. There is a striking de- 
 scription of idols in Psa. cxxxv, 15-18. The ancient sculp- 
 tures in the Egyptian tombs represent the making and 
 painting of idols. 
 
 An ancient author has well exposed this folly. He re- 
 presents the master of a family going to a sculptor's shop 
 to buy a god, for a long time puzzled which to choose, and 
 at last disputing with the workman respecting a few pence 
 in the price of a Jupiter ! 
 
 The silver shrines for Diana, made at Ephesus, (Acts xix, 
 24,) were little images of this sort, or perhaps models of 
 that temple, as models of the sepulchre at Jerusalem, and 
 of Popish shrines, are now made and sold. But the house- 
 hold deities or teraphim, the molten and graven images, 
 such as those in the house of Micah, (Judges xviii, 14,) were 
 fanciful figures of supposed deities. 
 
 Let me ask youthful readers how they would feel if 
 their father went to a shop where plaster figures are sold, 
 or to one of the image-boys who go about the streets, and 
 when he had bought one of the figures, if he should bring 
 it home, and order them to worship it ? Or what would 
 servants think of a master who gravely told them that such 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 93 
 
 a thing could preserve them from evil ? But similar pro- 
 ceedings really take place in heathen countries. A few 
 years ago, there was an account, in the letter of a mission- 
 ary, about a boy who came to school in India, where he 
 learned respecting Christ, and to repeat the command- 
 ments. His parents one day ordered him to worship an 
 image which they had lately bought ; but he knew that it 
 was sinful, and refused to do so. He patiently endured a 
 great deal of ill-treatment : at length his parents saw that 
 he was dutiful in all other respects, and they did not any 
 longer require him to worship their image. 
 
 Lamentable as the folly of worshiping idols may ap- 
 pear, there are similar practices, not only in heathen lands, 
 but in countries called Christian, and even in our own day. 
 It is related of Louis XL, king of France, a most cruel and 
 vile character, that he wore a great number of small images 
 of saints around his hat, and that, when he was in any 
 great trouble, he used to kneel down, take out one or other 
 of the images, put it on the table, and pray to it ! Dr. 
 Moore saw a great number of shops at Loretto, in Italy, a 
 few years ago, which were full of these little images. Tra- 
 velers may notice the same in all countries where the 
 Romish religion prevails. Jowett represents the pagan 
 traffic for shrines, and other idolatrous articles, graphically 
 described by the prophet, (Isa. xliv, 9-18,) as being in full 
 activity in Romish countries even now. They are openly 
 sold, and many persons got their livelihood by making 
 them. 
 
 After a time, when the Israelites began to follow the 
 wicked customs of the idolatrous nations around them, they 
 had workmen to make their images. Such persons are de- 
 scribed by the prophets, Jer. x, 3-5 ; and Isa. xl, 20 ; xliv, 
 17-20. Various passages in the books of Kings and 
 Chronicles show that images were made, and even set up 
 in the temple, by the kings, particularly Manasseh. See 
 2 Chron. xxxiii, 7. Many passages in those books awfully 
 describe the manner in which the Jews refused to listen to 
 the repeated warnings of the prophets against their idolatry, 
 until, at length, they were carried captive to Babylon. 
 Since that time, down to the present day, the Jews never 
 have worshiped graven images. 
 
 The prophet Ezekiel (viii, 8-12) speaks of chambers of 
 
94 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 imagery. This is strikingly illustrated by the tombs of 
 Egypt, which often have several rooms cut out in the rock, 
 the walls literally covered with figures. These are sculp- 
 tured or cut out, till they are slightly raised on the surface 
 of the wall, and then painted. Belzoni ascertained the 
 process from unfinished specimens, and fully describes it. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 NATURAL HISTORY— PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 The Jews were well informed on subjects of natural his- 
 tory. They were acquainted with the nature of the dif- 
 ferent animals and plants, and other objects of creation. 
 But their knowledge on these points was very inferior to 
 that which we enjoy. In this, as in other respects, more 
 talents are committed to our care ; let us beware of neglect- 
 mg to use them aright. Matt, xxv, 29. Solomon was skilled 
 in the sciences. " He spake of trees, from the cedar-tree 
 that is in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop that springeth out 
 of the wall : he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of 
 creeping things, and of fishes," 1 Kings iv, 33. This, as 
 well as other knowledge, was given in answer to his prayer 
 for wisdom, 2 Chron. i, 7-12. 
 
 There are also other places in the Bible, which show that 
 the Jews, and other nations, were not ignorant on these 
 subjects. There are many beautiful passages in the Book 
 of Job, (see chaps, xxxvii to xli,) which prove that the 
 patriarchs were accustomed to observe the works of God, 
 and the wonders of creation. The Book of Job is one of the 
 most ancient parts of Scripture. Moses also frequently re- 
 fers to animals in a manner which shows that he was well 
 acquainted with all circumstances respecting them. From 
 Psalm viii, it is plain that David used to study the works 
 of creation ; indeed, pious persons in all ages have endea- 
 vored to acquaint themselves, more or less, with the works 
 of the Almighty. Those who live in the country have the 
 best opportunity for making such observations. Let them 
 turn to what is said about the ant. Pro v. vi, 6 ; xxx, 25 ; 
 about the spider, Job viii, 14 ; Prov. xxx, 28 ; the horse. 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 95 
 
 Job xxxix, 19 ; Psa. xxxiii, 17 ; the eagle, Deut. xxxii, 11 ; 
 the coney, Prov. xxx, 26 ; the wild ass, Job xxxix, 5-8 ; 
 
 THE WILD ASS. 
 
 and elsewhere of other animals and plants, — they may learn 
 useful lessons. Let them remember, that the texts in which 
 things respecting these animals are alluded to, explain other 
 passages ; thus, " as a sheep before her shearers is dumb," 
 (Isa. liii, 7,) explains how patiently Christ endured all the 
 pains he suffered for us. The lamb without blemish or 
 spot, (Lev. ix, 3 ; 1 Pet. i, 19,) showed that Christ was holy, 
 harmless, and undefiled. 
 
 With respect to astronomy and the heavenly bodies, the 
 knowledge in ancient times was more limited : they had not 
 the advantage of telescopes. Yet from several passages in 
 Job and elsewhere, it is plain that they observed the stars, 
 and all the host of heaven. The inhabitants of the country 
 round Babylon early observed the stars with great accuracy, 
 and ascertained much respecting the motions of the heavenly 
 bodies. The wonders they beheld caused them to worship 
 the host of heaven, which was the earliest species of idolatry. 
 Job alludes to this (ch. xxvi, 1) when, speaking of the power 
 of God, he says, " He hangeth the earth upon nothing :" 
 which proves that they understood something about the 
 wonderful manner in which the earth is, as it were, suspended 
 in the heavens. But the Bible was written to make men 
 wise imto salvation, under the teaching of God the Holy 
 
96 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 Spirit. This is so fully set forth, that even a plain man may 
 understand the evil of sin, and the truths of the gospel ; 
 though he may be very much puzzled to make out a learned 
 book about natural history or astronomy. When any re- 
 mark is made respecting the sun, moon, and other heavenly 
 bodies, they are usually spoken of just as they appear to 
 our view. 
 
 The ancient Greek philosophers principally derived what 
 good there is in their systems from the Jews. Thales was 
 in Egypt at the time when many of them were captive in 
 that land ; and there is good reason to beheve that Pjrtha- 
 goras was in Judea, and also had much intercourse with the 
 captives at Babylon. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 DIVISIONS OF TIME. 
 
 The Eastern computations of time by days, months, and 
 years, were made from observations of the heavenly bodies. 
 The Jewish day was reckoned from evening to evening. 
 Lev. xxiii, 32. In the account of the creation, (Gen. i,) the 
 evening is mentioned before the morning. The day varied 
 in length at different times of the year ; but not so much as 
 in England, Judea being more to the south. The longest 
 day is about fourteen hours, consequently the shortest is 
 about ten. The day was divided into four parts, Neh. ix, 3 ; 
 afterwards into twelve hours. Sun-dials were constructed 
 to mark the divisions of time. The ancients had no clocks 
 or watches like ours ; but they had some contrivances to 
 find out how time passed : as by cups with very small holes 
 in the bottom, which, being put to float in a vessel of water, 
 would sink in a certain space of time ; or by burning long 
 candles with marks along them, or other methods. 
 
 The first mention of hours is Dan. iii, 6, 15 : and, as the 
 Jews were then captives in Babylon, it is probable they 
 learned this division of time from the Chaldeans, who were 
 great astronomers. The hours were counted from six in 
 the morning to six in the evening ; consequently, the third 
 hour was our nine in the morning, the ninth hour was our 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 97 
 
 three in the afternoon : see Mat. xx, 3, 5, 6, 9 ; many other 
 texts are explained by this. The night was at first divided 
 into three parts, called ' watches : see Lam. ii, 19; Judg. 
 vii, 19; Exod. xiv, 24. These divisions would be longest 
 in winter ; and it is easy to suppose how ardently the morn- 
 ing light would be desu*ed by those who watched during a 
 long, severe winter night, Psa. cxxx, 6. In the time of our 
 Saviour, the night was divided into four watches : see Mark 
 xi'.i, 35. 
 
 The two evenings, Exod. xii, 6, margin, was the time 
 between three and five. Tlie paschal lamb was sacrificed at 
 that time. Our blessed Lord, who was represented by that 
 lamb, expired at three, and was taken down from the cross 
 at sunset, about five. 
 
 The division of weeks has nothing to do with the obser- 
 vations, or the periods, of heavenly bodies. It proceeds 
 from the institution of the Sabbath, Gen. ii, 2. The Jewish 
 Sabbath was on the seventh day, or Saturday. After the 
 resurrection of our blessed Lord, the day of rest was altered 
 to the first day, that on which he rose from the dead. The 
 reasons for this are shown in many books written upon the 
 subject. 
 
 It is remarkable that the division of time into weeks, or 
 periods of seven days, has been found among heathen na- 
 tions, as well as Jews and Christians. It was observed by 
 the Greeks and Romans of old, and it is now regarded by 
 the Chinese and East Indians. It is a striking proof that 
 all nations descended from one parent, and that the observ- 
 ance of the Sabbath was a Divine command, as is recorded 
 in the Bible, 
 
 The observance of Sabbatical and jubilee years, (see 
 Lev. XXV,) had reference to the institution of the Sabbath. 
 Many texts direct the holy observance of this day, and Sab- 
 bath-breaking constantly leads on to other crimes. It is 
 very sad to see how common this sin is. It is a national 
 sin, and if persisted in, will bring down national judgments 
 upon Christendom, as it did on Judea of old, 2 Chron. 
 xxxvi, 2 1 . Let us remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. 
 
 The Jewish months were lunar months ; that is, each was 
 nearly one change or revolution of the moon, being alter- 
 nately twenty-nine and thirty days. Persons were set to 
 watch on the tops of high hills for the first appearance of the 
 
 5 
 
98 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 new moon, of which notice was given by sound of trumpet 
 and messengers, (Psa. Ixxxi, 3,) and the first day was a 
 solemn feast. The solar year, or the time in which the earth 
 goes round the sun, being more than twelve lunar months, 
 the Jews were forced to add a month every second or third 
 year, else the spring months and festivals, in a few years, 
 would have fallen into the middle of winter. The method 
 of observing the time of Easter, which is the same season 
 as the passover, by making it depend upon the moon, causes 
 it to come on different days in the months of March and 
 April. The Jewish months were named from the seasons 
 of the year. Thus Abib, the first month, (Exod. xii, 2,) 
 means green : at that time of the year the ears of com are 
 green. The years were also divided into six seasons of two 
 months each : seed-time, winter, cold season, harvest, sum- 
 mer, and hot season. The winters in Judea are very cold, 
 and the summers very hot. Notices of the diflferences in 
 the habits of the people, caused by the winter, may be found, 
 Jer. XXX vi, 22 ; Ezra x, 13 ; Ezek. xxxiii, 30 ; Matt. xxiv. 20 ; 
 John X, 22. The heat of summer is very great. 2 Kings 
 iv, 19 ; Psa. cxxi, 6. 
 
 The " third day " is to be counted by including both the 
 day from which, and to which, the counting is made. Thus 
 our Saviour was crucified on Friday, and rose again from 
 the dead on Sunday, the third day. The same applies to 
 the eighth day, and to other similar expressions. 
 
 The Jews were accustomed to number their years from 
 remarkable periods. The departure from Egypt was a very 
 memorable one, Exod. xix, 1; xl, lY ; Num. i, 1 ; ix, 1 ; 
 xxxiii, 38 ; 1 Kings vi, 1. Afterward, from the building 
 of the temple, 1 Kings ix, 10; 2 Chron. viii, 1. Also the 
 Babylonish captivity, Ezek. i, 1 ; xxxiii, 21 ; xl, 1. 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE ART OF WRITING — BOOKS, AND SUBSTANCES 
 WRITTEN UPON. 
 
 THE ART OF WRITING, 
 
 The art of writing is of great importance ; it conveys hu- 
 man thoughts by certain marks or representations : there are 
 several methods by which it was practiced in former times, 
 and in later days. One method, used by some Indians and 
 other untaught nations, is a kind of picture writing, or 
 drawing, to represent the things which the writer desires to 
 tell to others. The Rev. T. H. Home, in a work which he has 
 written about books, copies a drawing of this sort made 
 by some North American Indians, which represents one of 
 their expeditions against their enemies. Similar drawings 
 of the ancient Mexicans have been copied by other authors. 
 Another sort of picture writing was much used by the 
 Egyptians : it is called hieroglyphic writing. The first sort 
 of picture writing only represents things ; but this repre- 
 sents ideas or thoughts. For instance, an eye represented 
 God, who sees all things ; a sword, a cruel tyrant ; an eye 
 and sceptre, a king ; a lion represented courage ; armies 
 were meant by hands with weapons. There are cards and 
 books to amuse children, with pictures, or hieroglyphics, 
 not unlike the sorts of wiiting I have just mentioned. An 
 inscription on a temple in Egypt, expressing this moral 
 sentence, " All you, who come into the world, and go out 
 of it, know this — that the gods hate impudence ;" was 
 represented by an infant, an old man, a hawk, a fish, and a 
 river horse. It is thought by some persons, that, from this 
 way of representing religious and moral truths by pictures 
 of animals, the ancient Egyptians came to worship the ani- 
 mals themselves ; as the introducing images, or paintings, 
 into churches, led the people to worship them. Several 
 obelisks, or high pillars, in Egypt, are covered with this 
 sort of writing. There are two famous ones at Alexandria, 
 called Cleopatra's needles, a hundred feet in height, and 
 upwards of seven feet square at the base. The four sides of 
 both are richly adorned with hieroglyphics, cut an inch 
 
100 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 deep in the granite stone. There is an ancient monumental 
 stone, brought from the ruins of Thebes, in the house of the 
 Religious Tract Society in London, which has many hiero- 
 glyphics engraved upon it. 
 
 Another sort of writing represents words by marks of 
 different forms for each word, instead of spelling them by 
 letters. Chinese wiiting is of this sort : many of the marks, 
 or signs, at first represented in some degree the things 
 meant, as in hieroglyphics, but by degrees they were altered 
 to their present form. The words in the Chinese language, 
 more than fifty thousand in number, are each represented 
 by a different mark or character ; very few, even of their 
 most learned men, are acquainted with more than half, or 
 two-tliirds of them. All these methods are less useful and 
 convenient than writing and spelling by means of a few 
 alphabetical letters. 
 
 There is not in the Bible any account of the invention of 
 writing, but there is reason to believe that it was known 
 to man even before the flood. God brought the beasts of 
 the field and the birds of the air to Adam, to see what he 
 would call them. Gen. ii, 19 : and Adam gave names to all 
 cattle, and to the fowls of the air, and to every beast of the 
 field. From this it is plain, that God taught Adam the 
 language, or to speak the words which he used, to call the 
 animals by their names. And we may venture to suppose, 
 that God either taught Adam how to write the language 
 which he spoke, or that he enabled the children of Adam, 
 who lived before the flood, to discover the art of writing. 
 The Book of Genesis states that they were acquainted with 
 music, and other arts and sciences. 
 
 After the flood, " the whole earth was of one language 
 and of one speech ;" and at first they all dwelt in the land 
 of Shinar, near the Euphrates. There they began to build 
 the Tower of Babel, when the Lord confounded their lan- 
 guage, so that the different famiUes or tribes did not under- 
 stand each other's speech, and the Lord scattered them 
 abroad upon the face of the earth. Some went in one di- 
 rection, some in another ; they doubtless must have suffered 
 much trouble, and many difficulties, in this dispersion. 
 Their language being changed, their methods of writing 
 would probably, like their other arts and customs, become 
 changed, and even forgotten in a greater or less degree. 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 101 
 
 Those who remained in or near the land of Shinar, would 
 suffer the least from this change. The forefathers of 
 Abraham stayed in that country, as appears in Gen. xi, 28. 
 Learned men tell us many reasons why we may suppose 
 that the Hebrew language, in which the Old Testament is 
 written, and which was spoken by the Jews, is the same, or 
 nearly the same, as the language spoken when the whole 
 earth was of one speech. If this be correct, we may con- 
 clude that the method of writing used by the Hebrews, 
 which is spelhng by an alphabet of letters, was the 
 most ancient way of writing. The ancient Greek or Ro- 
 man writers speak of these letters as being first invented 
 and first used by the Phenicians. As the Phenicians lived 
 close to the Jews, the latter might learn the art of writing 
 from them : and, as they had ships, and traded with Greece 
 and other nations, they probably taught the Jews how to 
 express their thoughts in writing. 
 
 How the commandments of God and other laws men- 
 tioned in the Bible were written down, is thus sufficiently 
 explained. It was not by picture writing or hieroglyphics, 
 but by letters ; for as these writings are not mentioned till 
 after the Jews had become a separate people, they would 
 be written according to the language then used. These 
 were very similar to what is called the Hebrew language, 
 though the letters rather differed in shape, as appears from 
 some ancient inscriptions. The ancient Hebrew, and the 
 languages similar to it, as Chaldean, Samaritan, and Sjriac, 
 are written, not like those of Europe, from the left to the 
 right, but from right to left ; so that you begin to read at 
 the other end of the line, and the other end of the book, 
 from what you do in English. 
 
 The earliest mention of writing we find in the Bible, is 
 in Exodus xvii, 14. God commanded Moses to write in a 
 book the memorial of the defeat of Amelek, and said that 
 he would utterly put out the remembrance of Amelek from 
 under heaven. This direction to write was not mentioned 
 as a new thing ; we may, therefore, conclude that writing 
 had been practiced before. 
 
 The next passage is Exod. xxiv, 4, where we find that 
 " Moses wrote all the words of the Lord." And xxxi, 18, 
 when the Lord had made an end of communing with Moses 
 upon Mount Sinai, he gave unto Moses " two tables of tes- 
 
102 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 timony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God." 
 These contained the ten commandments ; and when Moses 
 saw the children of Israel worshiping the golden calf, " he 
 cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath 
 the mount," (ch. xxxii, 19,) to show that the Israelites had 
 broken the law of God. In ch. xxxiv, 1, "the Lord said 
 unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the 
 first : and I will write upon these tables the words that 
 were in the first tables, which thou brakest." And, in 
 verse 28, we read that the Lord "wrote upon the tables the 
 words of the covenant ;" that is, the ten commandments. 
 In one respect these differed from the first tables, which 
 were the work of God ; they were made by Moses, but the 
 writing was the same in both, " the writing of God, graven 
 upon the tables," ch. xxxii, 16. These tables were put into 
 the ark, and kept there. The two tables of stone were in 
 the ark when Solomon caused it to be carried into the 
 temple, 1 Kings viii, 9 ; after which time there is no account 
 of the ark, nor of the tables of stone. They probably 
 perished when the temple was. destroyed by the Babylo- 
 nians. The candlesticks, table of shew-bread, trumpets, 
 and other articles, were replaced by new ones, or given back 
 by the Babylonians, and remained till Jerusalem was taken 
 by the Romans. 
 
 During the first ages, when the patriarchs lived a great 
 many years, the will of the Lord was easily handed down 
 from one generation to another, by the fathers teUing their 
 sons what had passed. But when the Israelites were de- 
 livered from Egypt, the hfe of man had been shortened ; 
 many more instructions also were given about sacrifices and 
 offerings. It was necessary that these directions should be 
 preserved correctly, which could only be done by writing. 
 Therefore, the Lord ordered Moses, "Write thou these 
 words," Exod. xxxiv, 27. And, in Deut. xxxi, 9, " Moses 
 wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests." It was 
 also directed that when they had a king, he should " write 
 him a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before 
 the priests and Levites : and it shall be with him, and he 
 shall read therein all the days of his life, that he may learn 
 to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law 
 and these statutes, to do them," Deut. xvii, 18, 19. 
 
 There are directions concerning the writing of parts of 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 103 
 
 the law, or the promises of the Lord, to those who kept his 
 covenant : they were to be bound upon their hands, and as 
 frontlets between their eyes. They were to be taught to 
 their children, and to be written upon the door-posts of 
 their houses, and upon their gates, Deut. xi, 18-20. God 
 further commanded the children of Israel, " On the day 
 when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the 
 Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt set thee up great 
 stones, and plaster them with plaster : and thou shalt write 
 upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed 
 over : and ye shall set up these stones in Mount Ebal, and 
 thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law 
 very plainly," Deut. xxvii, 2-4, 8. When Joshua conquered 
 the land, and came to Ebal, ** he wrote there upon the stones 
 a copy of the law of Moses, in the presence of the children 
 of Israel," Josh, viii, 32. 
 
 Thus the law of the Lord was a written law ; and upon 
 several occasions the words of the law were publicly read 
 to the people. It is supposed this was done in the year of 
 jubilee, or every seventh year. When Ezra brought the 
 book of the law of Moses, and read therein to the people, 
 with the assistance of some of the Levites, he gave the sense, 
 and caused them to understand the meaning : see Nehemiah 
 viii, 7-9. After the return of the Jews from Babylon, por- 
 tions of the law were always read in the synagogues : this cus- 
 tom still continues among the Jews. Our Lord read to the 
 Jews in their synagogues, and taught from the words of the 
 law and the prophets : see' Luke iv, 16 ; Matt, xiii, 64 ; John 
 xviii, 20, 
 
 There are many passages in the Scriptures which tell us 
 that the will of God is fully revealed in his holy word. Our 
 Lord repeatedly rebuked the Jews for laying aside the com- 
 mandments of God, and teaching the doctrines of men in- 
 stead ; thus "making the word of God of none eflPect through 
 their traditions," Mark vii, 3-13. This is not contradicted 
 by the apostle Paul, when he tells the brethren to stand 
 fast, and to hold the traditions they have been taught, 
 2 Thess. ii, 15 ; for the original plainly shows, that the 
 apostle here refers to the things which were taught, or 
 handed down to them in the Scriptures. 
 
 But the Roman Catholics and some others teach things 
 that are not commanded in the Bible, which they pretend 
 
104 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 were spoken by our Lord and holy men of old, and say that 
 they have been repeated, from fathers to their sons, to the 
 present time. Now, many of these things are quite con- 
 trary to what is written in the Scriptures, so that it is evi- 
 dent both cannot be true ; and this is the great reason why 
 Roman Catholic priests object to people reading the Bible. 
 John Fox well knew the value of the art of printing, as ap- 
 plied to increase the number of copies of the Bible and good 
 works. He said that the pope must abolish printing, or 
 printing would abolish him. He added, " By this printing, 
 as by the gift of tongues, and as by the singular organ of 
 the Holy Spirit, the doctrine of the gospel soundeth to all 
 nations and countries under heaven. What God revealed 
 to one man, thus is dispersed to many; and what is known 
 to one nation is opened to all." But since printing was not 
 known to the ancients, it is only mentioned here as showing 
 how God causes fresh means of making known his will to 
 be found out, whenever he sees fit that others should be dis- 
 continued. Let us hold fast the word of God, " Not as the 
 word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God," 1 Thess. 
 ii, 13. Especially may the young remember what the aged 
 apostle John says : " I have written unto you, young men, 
 because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, 
 and ye have overcome the wicked one," 1 John ii, 14. 
 
 BOOKS A^I> SUBSTAITCES WRITTEN" UPON. 
 
 The commandments were "tlie writing of God, graven 
 upon the tables." These tables were flat, thin pieces of 
 stone. Also, the names of the children of Israel, worn upon 
 the high priest's shoulders, were engraved on precious stones 
 with the work of an engraver, like the engravings- of a signet 
 or seal. For the high priest's mitre it was directed, " Thou 
 shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, hke the 
 engravings of a signet, Holiness unto the Lord." 
 
 The letters were engraved or cut into various hard sub- 
 stances that they might last, and not be rubbed out like 
 common writing. When Job wished that his words should 
 be preserved, he says, " O, that they were graven with an 
 iron pen and lead in the rock forever !" Job xix, 24. This 
 method of writing is still used for inscriptions ; but it was 
 more common formerly. Among the ruins of ancient cities 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 105 
 
 STONE OF WITNESS. 
 Ebenezer, 1 Sam. vii, 12. 
 
 in Persia, Egypt, and Greece, many long inscriptions are 
 found engraved upon the walls of buildings, and upon the 
 rocks. In a part of Arabia, near Mount Sinai, there are 
 large rocks covered with writing ; but the meaning of the 
 words cannot be made out. Major Denham, who lately 
 traveled in Africa, also found long inscriptions cut into the 
 rocks in several places. 
 
 The engraving of writing, or cutting the letters upon hard 
 substances, was very general in cases of importance, being 
 much more lasting than other methods. When Mr. Bu- 
 chanan was in India, the Jews in Malabar showed him a 
 brass plate, on which was engraved the grant of some privi- 
 leges from an ancient king, about A. D. 490. He found 
 similar tablets in the possession of the Syrian Christians in 
 the south of India. Some of these, and copies of others, 
 are in the public library at Cambridge. It has been sup- 
 posed that Samuel engraved the word Ebenezer on the 
 stone he set up when God had smitten the Philistines, 
 1 Sam. vii, 12. This method of writing was practiced, in 
 later times, on wood and other substances. 
 
 To the law of God being engraven, the apostle refers, 
 when describing the work of God the Holy Spirit upon the 
 
106 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 heart of the believer. He speaks of it as written not with 
 ink, which might be rubbed out, but as engraved or cut into 
 the substance ; and not upon tables of stone, but upon the 
 heart of the believer, 2 Chron. iii, 3 : see also Jer. xxxi, 33 ; 
 Ezek. xi, 1 9. My readers, may the Lord write his law in 
 your hearts, and be your God, making you his followers, 
 forgiving your iniquity, and blotting out the writing that is 
 against you. For dreadful is the state of those in whom 
 sin is graven upon the table of their hearts, Jer. xvii, 1. 
 Let us earnestly pray that this may not be our case ; but 
 that God will put his truths into our minds, enabling us to 
 do his will in all things. 
 
 And if the law of the Lord be thus engraved in our 
 hearts, we must beware lest we should be satisfied to let 
 it be obscured or covered with the evil which by nature 
 cleaves to our hearts, even as a writing engraved upon a 
 stone may be covered over with dirt or rubbish, as is often 
 seen on old grave-stones. Remember, God says, " My son, 
 give me thy heart," Prov. xxiii, 26. He will not be satis- 
 fied with a divided heart ; and he also commanded, *' Keep 
 thy heart with all diligence ; for out of it are the issues of 
 life," Prov. iv, 23. But it is the Lord himself who en- 
 graves the graving thereof, Zech. iii, 9 ; and upon him that 
 overcometh will be written the name of the Lord: see 
 Rev. iii, 12 ; and that writing shall not perish or decay. 
 Reader, watch over your heart ; pray that God the Holy 
 Spirit may sanctify, or make it holy. 
 
 Job expresses his desire that his words should be writ- 
 ten upon lead, as well as on a rock, chap, xix, 24. Montfau- 
 Qon, in the year 1699, purchased at Rome an ancient book, 
 entirely of lead, four inches long, and three inches wide ; 
 it had six leaves, and two covers, and was written over with 
 ancient Egyptian figures, and writing he could not under- 
 stand. Such a book would need a pen of iron, and a 
 diamond point might be used, as Jer. xvii, 1. 
 
 Brass, or rather copper, was used for matters of import- 
 ance. In the first book of Maccabees, we read of treaties 
 between the Romans and the Jews written on tables of 
 brass, chap, viii, 22, and xiv, 18 ; and although the books 
 of Maccabees are not the word of God, yet they may be 
 referred to for information as to history and customs, for 
 they were certainly written a very long time ago. It was 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 107 
 
 the custom of the Romans to preserve their laws and 
 records upon tablets of brass ; and it is related, that a fire 
 in the capitol at Rome, in Vespasian's reign, destroyed three 
 thousand of these tablets. The ancient tablets of brass dis- 
 covered by Dr. Buchanan in India, have been already noticed : 
 they are six in number ; upon the plate said to be the oldest, 
 the writing is hke that on the bricks foimd at Babylon. 
 
 Among the ruins of Babylon, bricks are found with in- 
 scriptions upon them. The letters or marks are shaped 
 like the heads of arrows or nails, but no one has yet been 
 fully able to make out their meaning. It is supposed they 
 may have been part of the tower of Babel : whether this is 
 correct or not, they must be very ancient. The writing has 
 been engraved, or impressed into these bricks. Ezekiel 
 portrayed Jerusalem upon such flat brick or tile, Ezek.iv, 1. 
 
 Wood was frequently used. Sometimes the tablets of 
 wood were engraved, the letters being cut into them : or a 
 thin coat of wax was spread over the wood, and the words 
 were scratched upon the wax, with a sharp-pointed metal 
 bodkin, or a stick. Sometimes the words were written with 
 ink upon the tablets. The writing upon sticks, mentioned 
 Ezek. xxxvii, 16, appears to have been engraved or cut 
 into them. In our own country, in former times, words 
 were engraved upon sticks, which were put into a wooden 
 frame : some of these still exist. Almanacs also were cut 
 upon sticks : these may still be found among the inhabi- 
 tants of Sweden. 
 
 The ancient letters sent by persons, one to another, were 
 in general written upon tablets of wood. The difierent 
 pieces were tied together with a thread or string, and a seal 
 from an engraved signet was put upon the knot, so that 
 no one could read what was written till the seal was broken. 
 
 Among the natives of Africa, and in the East, it is very 
 common to have writing-boards, like schoolboys' slates, 
 upon which persons write with ink, and rub it out when 
 done with. When Park was at Koolkorro, in Africa, his 
 landlord brought him a writing-board, asking him to write 
 upon it. Park did so : the African then washed the writing 
 from the board, and drank the water ; for the poor igno- 
 rant man thought this would protect him from harm ! Such 
 tablets of wood are commonly used in schools in those coun- 
 tries. The prophets sometimes wrote upon tables of wood ; 
 
108 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 see Isa. xxx, 8 ; Hab. ii, 2 : the writing table which Zacha- 
 rias made signs for, when desired to name his son, (Luke 
 i, 63,) was a wooden tablet ; perhaps it was covered with 
 wax. Such a table is mentioned, Isa. xxx, 8 ; what was 
 written thereon would be openly seen. The prophet Ha- 
 bakkuk was thus to make his vision plain upon tables, ii, 2. 
 In this manner the Romans caused their laws to be written 
 on tables of brass, and hung up in pubhc. Such tablets are 
 mentioned by Greek and Roman writers, and were used in 
 England till after the year 1300. 
 
 Leaves were formerly used, and still are so, for writing 
 upon; many ancient authors mention them. In India, 
 particularly in Ceylon, they use the leaves of some trees 
 which are very broad and thick ; these are cut into slips, 
 and smoothed : they write upon them with sharp-pointed 
 bodkins. To make a book, several leaves are strung toge- 
 ther. These leaves are called ollas, and the missionaries 
 have frequently used them for writing tracts upon. But 
 this way of preparing tracts is veiy expensive, and the 
 leaves are liable to break, so that they now use paper, and 
 print the tracts. But children in India often write their 
 lessons on the ground, or in sand strewed for that purpose. 
 Thus Jer. xvii, 13 ; and our Lord wrote on the ground, 
 John viii, 6. 
 
 The bark of trees has been used in all countries to write 
 upon. The word book, in Latin liber, is the name by which 
 the inner bark of trees is called in that language. In Su- 
 matra, bark is still much used for books : the North Ame- 
 rican Indians used it for picture writing. 
 
 Linen was used in former times, particularly by the 
 Egyptians : many of their linen books, and writings upon 
 linen, remain to this day. They are frequently found in- 
 side the wrappers of the mummies, or dead bodies of per- 
 sons who died a long time ago, which have been preserved 
 or embalmed, in the same manner as the bodies of Jacob 
 and Joseph. See Gen. 1, 2, 26. 
 
 Skins of animals were used long before people had found 
 out how to make them into parcliment. These leather 
 and linen books were in the form of long rolls. It is pro- 
 bable that the book of the law, written by Moses, and given 
 by him to the priests, (Deut. xxxi, 24, etc.,) was of linen 
 or leather ; and that the book of the law found by Hilkiah, 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 109 
 
 (2 Cliron. xxxiv, 14,) was so. It may have been the same 
 book that was written by Moses. When Dr. Buchanan 
 was in India, he found a very old copy of the law, written 
 on a roll of leather about fifteen feet long. Many such 
 rolls exist, some more than a hundred feet in length. It 
 must have been very troublesome to read in such a book or 
 roll, which was the general form of books in ancient times. 
 The rolls were several feet long, but not very wide, gene- 
 rally about twelve or fourteen inches ; the writing was 
 in pages, beginning at one end of the roll, and so proceeding 
 to the other. The ends of the roll were often fastened upon 
 sticks ; the roll was opened at the beginning enough to allow 
 of a page or two being read. The ancient manuscripts 
 w^ere all written in capital letters, and without divisions of 
 the words, so that the roll, when first opened, looked some- 
 thing like this : — 
 
 NOWWHENJE GBEHOLDTHE HATISBORNKI OWOI18HIPHI 
 
 SUSWASBORN KECAMEWISE NGOFTHEJEW MWHENHERO 
 
 INBETIILEHE MENFRGMTH SFORWEHAVE DTHEKINGHA 
 
 MOFJUDEAIN EEASTTOJERU SEENHISSTARI DHEARDTHES 
 
 THEDAfSOFH SALEMSATING NTHEEASTAN ETHINGSHEW 
 
 ERODTHEKIN WHEREISHET DARECOMET ASTROUBLED 
 
 Matt, ii, 1-3. 
 
 The part first opened, when read, was rolled up again, 
 and more was opened : thus the whole book could be read 
 without the difficulty which there must have been if the 
 lines had gone all along, from one end to the other, so as to 
 require the whole roll to be opened at once. Sometimes 
 both sides of the roll were written upon, Ezek. ii, 10. 
 Hartley describes a roll written on both sides, so that when 
 the reader had read the page next the inner stick, he turned 
 the parchment over and read the other side. This was 
 written within and without. 
 
 The roll described, Zech. v, 1-3, was about thirty-five 
 feet long. The description. Rev. vi, 14, strikingly repre- 
 sents the removal of a roll when rolled up. That seen by 
 the evangelist seems to have had seven leaves or skins, with 
 a pictorial representation on each : the whole being rolled 
 up, the edge of each could be sealed separately, so as to 
 allow of their being opened one after the other. 
 
 They were laid up in repositories especially for the pur- 
 pose, as the house of the rolls, Ezra vi, 1. 
 
110 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 The rolls, or books rolled up, are often mentioned or 
 alluded to in the Bible, Ezra vi, 2 ; Isa. viii, 1 ; xxxiv, 4 ; 
 Jer. xxxvi, 2 ; Ezek. ii, 9 ; Rev. vi, 14. The scribes, or per- 
 sons employed in writing, were considered persons of im- 
 portance. From Ezek. ix, 2, 3, 11, it appears that they 
 wore their ink-bottles, or ink-horns, at their girdles. The 
 prophecy of Jeremiah, sent to Jehoiakim, was written by 
 Baruch, with ink, in the roll of a book : it is plain that this 
 book was of some soft substance, as the king was able to 
 cut it to pieces with a penknife, before he cast it into the 
 fire, Jer. xxxvi, 23. 
 
 The word " scribe" requires explanation. It is used in the 
 Bible for a secretary or clerk. These were persons of im- 
 portance then, as in Europe during the Middle Ages, when 
 but few persons could write. Such were those mentioned. 
 
 Such an officer would keep the records mentioned Est. 
 vi, 1-3. 
 
 A scribe, or secretary, also was an officer of considerable 
 importance, having duties of moment in his charge : these 
 were of different iHnds, as the scribe of the host, or muster- 
 master of the army, 2 Kings xxv, 19. Such a list of names, 
 kept by some official person, seems to illustrate the book 
 of life, Phil, iv, 3 ; Rev. iii, 5 ; xx, 12 ; xxi, 27. 
 
 The scribes in the New Testament were doctors or learn- 
 ed men, skilled in the law : their business was to interpret 
 it; but, as our blessed Lord said, they oftener made it void 
 by their traditions. Matt, xxiii, 2. 
 
 In Persia, at the present day, the meerzas, or scribes, are 
 of importance. Travelers state that the higher classes 
 employ them through indolence, instead of writing letters 
 themselves ; and the lower classes cannot write. Lane de- 
 scribed them in Egypt as sitting in the street, and writing 
 for those who came to them. 
 
 Parchment is made of the skins of goats, sheep, or calves, 
 prepared with care. It was known to the Jews, and being 
 a later invention, and more valuable than skins of leather, 
 was used for writings of the greatest importance. The 
 apostle Paul, when writing to Timothy, desires him to bring 
 the books he had left at Troas, but " especially the parch- 
 ments," 2 Tim. iv, 13. The value and scarcity of parch- 
 ment was so great, before the invention of paper, that the 
 writing was frequently effaced from the rolls or books 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. Ill 
 
 already written, and other works more desired were written 
 instead. Some of the most ancient manuscripts of the Bible 
 now known, have been TOtten over in this manner ; but the 
 first writing can still be made out, though with difficulty. 
 Another substance much used for writing upon, was a kind 
 of paper made from the thin skin or film which covers a 
 sort of bulrush that grows in Egypt, and is called papyrus, 
 or hiblos. It was found in abundance on the banks of the 
 Nile and other streams, Isa. xix, V. Among these reeds or 
 bulrushes Moses was placed, when his parents dared not to 
 keep him any longer. The daughter of the king found him 
 there, as is related in Exod. ii, 5. These bulrushes are also 
 mentioned in Isa. xviii, 2. This sort of paper was much 
 used by the Romans and Greeks. The manuscripts or books 
 found in Herculaneum — the city that was bmied under the 
 ashes and lava from Mount Vesuvius, A. D. 79, and which 
 remained unknown until about a hundred years ago — are all 
 written on this sort of paper. They are rolls, or long slips, 
 of different lengths, about twelve inches wide ; but, from the 
 heat of the lava, and the many centuries they remained un- 
 touched, it is very difficult to unroll or open them. 
 
 Different sorts of paper have lately been made of bark 
 of trees, cotton, silk, straw, and many other substances ; but 
 these, as well as the paper now made of linen rags, were 
 imknown to the ancient Jews. The paper mentioned 
 2 John 12, was made of papyrus. 
 
 The ancients wrote upon these substances with ink. The 
 first mention of ink is in the writing of the prophecy of 
 Jeremiah by Baruch, which we find was written " with ink 
 in a book," or roll, Jer. xxxvi, 18. The prophet Ezekiel 
 speaks of a writer's ink-horn. Lane describes the literary 
 men, and those who are writers by profession, in Egypt, as 
 wearing a silver, brass, or copper case at their girdle, with 
 a receptacle for ink and pens. Other travelers describe 
 secretaries wearing this for a mark of their office. The 
 apostle John mentions writing with ink and pen, 2 Jolm 
 12; 3 John 13. Also the Apostle Paul, 2 Cor. iii, 3; 
 from which it appears that the Epistles were written 
 with ink upon paper or parchment. The pens were not 
 of quills, like ours, but of reeds, which are still used 
 by Eastern nations. Persons could write quicker with 
 them than with the iron pens or bodkins, which engraved 
 
112 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 or scratched the writing : this is alluded to, Psa. xlv, 1, 
 where the pen of a ready writer is mentioned. 
 
 There were pens in some ink-horns found in Herculaneum, 
 but they were merely pointed sticks, like skewers. 
 
 Printing was not discovered till about the year 1450 : 
 before that time books were but few in number, and cost 
 much money. Yet, even in his own time, Solomon could 
 say, " Of making many books there is no end," Eccl. xii, 12. 
 How much more is this the case now ! and how many vain, 
 trifling, silly, and even wicked and profane books there are ! 
 Beware of bad books. We read (1 Cor. xv, 33) that " evil 
 communications corrupt good manners ;" and, as the writer 
 of the Book of Ecclesiasticus has well observed, as " a man 
 cannot touch pitch without being defiled," be assured that 
 you cannot read bad books without injury. Flee the tempta- 
 tion ; and if a bad book comes into your possession, as soon 
 as you are aware of its contents, commit it to the flames. 
 You would not drink a cup of poison because it was offered 
 to you ; why then take a bad book if off'ered to you ? Re- 
 member what is said of the heavenly Jerusalem : " There 
 shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither 
 whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie ; but they 
 which are written in the Lamb's book of life," Rev. xxi, 27. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 POETRY, MUSIC, DANCING, AND PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 POETRY. 
 
 The Eastern nations have always been remarkable for the 
 excellence of their poetry: the Jews, in particular, were 
 much distinguished in this respect. Many parts of the Old 
 Testament are in verse. Learned men have examined this 
 subject very carefully, and have said much about the dif- 
 ferent sorts of verse in the original Hebrew. They espe- 
 cially notice the manner in which diff'erent things are con- 
 trasted with each other. This is very common in the Hebrew 
 poetry, and adds much to the impression that it produces. 
 Thus, in Luke i, 63, Mary contrasts the mighty with them 
 of low degree ; and the hungry being filled with good things. 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 113 
 
 l^;MHH|i|iy|i||,|,i|H'l/'iit^*^^t^^Urfi,^ 
 
 while those who were rich (in their own opinion) were sent 
 away empty. This text shows very strongly, that all the 
 blessings we enjoy come from the Lord. 
 
 The excellence of the Hebrew poetry is owing to its 
 having been employed on religious subjects. When persons 
 who understand the ancient languages, compare the poetical 
 parts of the Bible with the best poetry of nations that knew 
 not the Lord, they are struck with the superior excellence 
 of the poetry of the Bible. This arises from its being written 
 about those things which relate to the good of #iir souls, by 
 men inspired or taught of God. 
 
 In the Bible are a great many songs, or psalms, which 
 were written to praise the Lord, to offer thanks for mercies 
 received, or to implore his help under every circumstance 
 
114 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 of trial and distress which can afflict the soul. And, as the 
 trials of believers in all ages are the same, so the same ex- 
 pressions of prayer and praise will be found suitable. The 
 Book of Psalms, in particular, should have much attention. 
 The excellent psalms written by Dr. Watts, as well as 
 several other versions, are taken from the Book of Psalms ; 
 and there is scarcely a hymn of any value, which has not 
 some thought or expression from the Book of Psalms. Nor 
 is this to be wondered at, for " holy men of God spake as 
 'they were moved by the Holy Ghost," 2 Pet. i, 21 ; and 
 the Book of Psalms, as well as the rest of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, contains the word of God. Doubtless, the Jews had 
 many other hymns, or divine songs, which they used to sing 
 while traveling, or while engaged in labor ; but the Psalms 
 probably were most used. In Matt, xxvi, 30, we read that 
 after the last supper, and before our Lord went to the 
 Garden of Gethsemane, he sung a hymn with his disciples : 
 this is supposed to have been the 113th to the 118th 
 Psalms. The song of Moses after the destruction of the 
 Egyptians, Exod. xv ; the song of Deborah, Judg. v ; of 
 Hannah, 1 Sam. ii : all are beautiful hymns of praise and 
 thanksgiving. The hymn, Isa. xii, and the thanksgiving 
 of Hezekiah on his recovery from sickness, (Isa. xxxviii,) 
 are of the same description. Others, as the lamentation of 
 David for Jonathan and Saul, (2 Sam. i,) are of a mournful 
 cast. The Lamentations of Jeremiah, in particular, may be 
 noticed. 
 
 The constant use of songs among the Hebrews and other 
 ancient nations, is shown in many parts of the Bible. Thus, 
 Laban found fault with Jacob, (Gen. xxxi, 27,) that he had 
 departed secretly, so that he could not send him away with 
 songs. Modem travelers tell us, that songs are frequently 
 used by Arabs and others at the present day on the hke 
 occasions. The schools of the prophets are mentioned re- 
 peatedly, as 1 Sam. x, 5 ; xix, 20 ; 2 Kings ii, 3, 5. In 
 these places sacred poetry was studied. During the reign 
 of David it was particularly attended to. Barzillai (2 Sam. 
 xix, 35) sjftaks of the lang's singing men and women. 
 From 1 Chron. xxiii, 5, we learn that David had four thou- 
 sand Levites, whose employment it was to sing hymns, and 
 to perform on the musical instruments used in pubhc wor- 
 ship; and in chap, xxv, 1, we read of two hundred and 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 115 
 
 eiglity-eight, the sons of Asapli, Heman, and Jeduthun, who 
 were especially " instructed in the songs of the Lord ;" and 
 John in vision beheld the redeemed thus engaged in heaven, 
 Rev. V, 9 ; xiv, 3 ; xv, 3, 4. Ezra brought back two hun- 
 dred singing men and women from the captivity, Ezra ii, 65. 
 The hymn of Zacharias is given Luke i, 67. He was em- 
 ployed in the service of the temple. 
 
 The apostle told the Colossians to sing with grace in their 
 hearts to the Lord, Col. iii, 16 : see also 1 Cor. xiv, 15. 
 
 The value of the Book of Psalms is very great. The 
 Psalms cannot be too strongly recommended to the atten- 
 tion of the young. Athanasius said that they contained the 
 whole of the Scriptures ; Luther called them a little Bible ; 
 several excellent men have learned the whole Psalter, or 
 Book of Psalms, by heart. 
 
 The value of these precious Psalms is much increased by 
 the great use made of them by our blessed Lord himself, 
 when he was upon earth. Even in his last moments, he 
 expressed himself in the words of the 22d and the 31st 
 Psalms : he expired just after he had uttered the 5th verse 
 of the latter. He in whom are all the treasures of wisdom 
 and knowledge, who spake as never man spake — he who is 
 one with the Father — chose to conclude his life, and to 
 breathe out his soul in the words of the Psalmist. Surely 
 nothing can better show the importance of making the 
 Psalms a constant study. More texts from the Book of 
 Psalms are quoted by our Lord and his apostles, in the New 
 Testament, than from any other book of the Old Testament. 
 The texts so quoted are nearly seventy, besides others which 
 are evidently referred to. 
 
 The prophetic books, in the original Hebrew, are mostly 
 written in verse. Several passages are Divine songs or psalms, 
 as Isa. xii ; Hab. iii. Most of the prophecies were spoken 
 in verse. The language of Hebrew poetry was more suit- 
 able than prose for the striking and impressive descriptions 
 of the sinfulness of the Jews, and the Divine wrath against 
 sin, as well as for the beautiful and the touching declara- 
 tions of the mercy and loving-kindness of the Lord. 
 
 In the East, people usually read in a sort of singing tone, 
 giving an emphasis which would suit with their mode of 
 writing. Jowett was told that he did not read, but talked. 
 He observes, he might have rephed, You do not read, you 
 
116 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 chant. People thus read aloud, as the treasurer of Can- 
 dace, Acts viii, 30. 
 
 The earhest instance of speaking in verse, in the Bible, is 
 the address of Lamech, Gen. iv, 23. The answer of Samuel 
 to Saul, (1 Sam. xv, 22, 23,) is of the same description. 
 The blessing of Jacob, (Gen. xhx,) and the song of Moses, 
 (Deut. xxxii,) are beautiful instances of this style. The pro- 
 phecies of Balaam deserve notice, not only from being some 
 of the earliest we find in the Bible, but also from their pe- 
 culiar beauty, Num. xxiii, and xxiv. In Micah vi, 6-8, is 
 a striking passage, which that prophet gives as the inquiry 
 of the king of Moab, and the answer of Balaam ; it is an 
 important inquiry : — 
 
 Wherewith shall I come before the Lord? 
 
 And bow myself before the high God? 
 
 Shall I come before him with burnt-olferings ; 
 
 With calves of a year old ? 
 
 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams ; 
 
 Or with ten thousand rivers of oil ? 
 
 Shall I give my first-born for my transgression ; 
 
 The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul ? 
 
 Each second line repeats and enforces the idea expressed 
 in the preceding one. This was a favorite sort of poetry 
 among the Jews. 
 
 The responsive form is particularly shown in Psalm 
 cxxxvi, where the singers answered each other, as Miriam, 
 Exod. XV, 21. It is often a recitative and chorus, and the 
 Arabs of the desert thus sing and answer at the present 
 day. St. Paul speaks of singing to each other in psalms 
 and hymns, (Col. iii, 16; Eph. v, 19,) andf when merry, 
 James v, 13. 
 
 Another beautiful specimen of ancient Hebrew poetry is 
 David's lamentation over Saul and Jonathan. It has been 
 thus translated, dividing the lines as in the original : — 
 
 O Beauty of Israel ! 
 
 Pierced on thine own mountains ! 
 
 How hava the mighty fallen ! 
 
 Tell it not in Gath : 
 Pubhsh it not in the streets of Askelon ; 
 Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice ! 
 Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised extdt ! 
 
 Ye mountains of Gilboa, 
 On you be neither dew nor rain, 
 Nor fields affording oblations ; 
 » Since there hath been vilely cast away 
 
 The shield of the mighty, the shield of Saul, 
 The armor of him anointed with oil ! 
 
 From the blood of warriors, 
 From the fat of the mighty, 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 117 
 
 The bow of Jonathan was not held back, 
 Nor did the sword of Saul return in vain. 
 
 Saul and Jonathan ! 
 In their lives were united in mutual love, 
 And in their death they were not separated. 
 They were swifter than eagles I 
 They were stronger than hons ! 
 
 Ye daugliters of Israel, weep over Saul ! 
 Who clothed you in delightful scarlet, 
 Who put golden ornaments on your apparel. 
 How are the mighty fallen. 
 In the midst of the battle ! 
 
 O Jonathan, pierced on thine own mountains ! 
 I am in distress for thee, my brother Jonathan ', 
 Very dear to nie wast tliou : 
 Thy love to me was wonderful, 
 Surpassing the love of women ! 
 
 How have the mighty fallen ! 
 And the weapons of war perished. 
 
 In the Paragraph Bibles the poetical parts are printed in 
 lines, or with breaks, so as to show the parallelisms for which 
 the Hebrew poetry is especially remarkable. Attention to 
 this will be found to make the sense of many passages much 
 more clear, and adds to their beauty. 
 
 MUSIC AND DANCING. 
 
 Music was used in the worship of the Jews, and at their 
 festivals. On occasions of rejoicing or thanksgiving both 
 music and dancing were customary. Thus Laban spake of 
 his desire to have sent Jacob away with the sound of the 
 tabret and the harp, as well as songs. Gen. xxxi, 27. The 
 prophet Isaiah mentions that the harp and the viol, the 
 tabret and the pipe, were "in their feasts," Isa. v, 12 ; and 
 in the parable of the prodigal son, (Luke xv, 25,) is men- 
 tion of music and dancing on a private occasion of joy. 
 They were also used to celebrate victories over enemies, as 
 by Jephthah's daughter, Judg. xi, 34 ; on David's victory 
 over Goliath, 1 Sam. xviii, 6 ; and on similar events. Mu- 
 sic and dancing were also used on solemn occasions by the 
 women, as led by Miriam after the deliverance of the Israel- 
 ites and the destruction of Pharaoh's host, Exod. xv, 20, 21 ; 
 on the removal of the ark by David, 2 Sam. vi, 14 ; and 
 generally on sacred occasions : see Psa. cxlix, 3. But we 
 must remember that music and dancing were also used for 
 bad purposes. The Israelites danced when they worshiped 
 the golden calf, Exod. xxxii, 19. The Amalekites thus re- 
 joiced after plundering Ziklag, 1 Sam. xxx, 16. Job refers 
 
118 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 to the music and dancing of the wicked, Job xxi, 11, 12; 
 and the dancing of the daughter of Herodias, (Matt, xiv, 6,) 
 ended in the murder of John the Baptist. 
 
 As to music we may remark that David played very 
 well upon the harp ; this was blessed by God to make it 
 the means of calming Saul, when the evil or wicked spirit 
 troubled him, 1 Sam. xvi, 23. The prophets also called 
 for music sometimes, when they were about to speak the 
 words they were commanded, as Elisha, 2 Kings iii, 15. 
 See also 1 Sam. x, 5, where we read of a company of 
 prophets with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a 
 harp before them. David had four thousand Levites, who 
 praised the Lord with instruments which he caused to be 
 made expressly for that purpose, 1 Ghron. xxiii, 5. These 
 instruments were used in the services at the temple, (see 
 2 Chron. v, 12 ; vii, 6,) and are mentioned in Psa. cl, 3-5. 
 
 The principal instruments of music among the Jews 
 were harps, lyres, (a sort of small harp, something like a 
 violin,) tambourines, mouthpipes, a sort of bagpipe, trum- 
 pets, flutes, cymbals, triangles, musical bells, and others 
 which cannot now be correctly ascertained. Many are 
 enumerated as used in the worship of the golden image set 
 up by Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. iii 15 ; but they are not all 
 correctly described by the names used in the translation. 
 
 Jubal is mentioned (Gen. iv, 21) as the father, or first 
 teacher, of all such as handle the harp and organ. 
 
 The cymbal is mentioned by the apostle, 1 Cor. xiii, 1 ; 
 the sounding brass probably means a sort of trumpet. 
 The organ (Psa. cl, 4) was formed of several pipes joined 
 together, like what are called pan pipes. Trumpets are 
 often mentioned. Moses was commanded to make two of 
 silver, which were used to call the people together in the 
 wilderness, and to give signals for their marching. Num. 
 X, 1, 2. These are supposed to have been straight, with 
 bell-mouths, each about two feet long. Two such trum- 
 pets are represented on the triumphal arch of Titus at 
 Rome, where there is a sculpture representing the table of 
 shew-bread, candlestick, and other sacred articles of the 
 Jews, as carried in his triumphal procession. Joshua was 
 to make seven trumpets of rams' horns, or rather of metal 
 bent like rams' horns, (Josh, vi, 8,) though sometimes such 
 were made of the horns of animals. 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 119 
 
 It is remarkable that the heathen Romans should have 
 given representations of several of the sacred articles of 
 the Jews, and that these should have been preserved, wliile 
 many other arches and representations commemorating their 
 victories have been destroyed. 
 
 When music is used properly, it solemnizes the mind ; 
 but it is often much abused for profane and wicked pur- 
 poses. This should make us very careful to shun trifling 
 or foolish music, while there appears sufficient waiTant to 
 authorize us to use it for good purposes. Like wine, and 
 many other gifts of God, it is too often misused; and 
 those who cultivate this talent or ability should earnestly 
 pray that it may not lead them into temptation, but that 
 they may use it only for the glory of God, and in such a 
 manner as his word permits. They should be particularly 
 reminded of the apostle's declaration respecting singing, 
 which may be fully apphed to music : "I will sing with 
 the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also," 
 1 Cor. xiv, 15. 
 
 With respect to dancing, it is hardly necessary to say, 
 that what is now called dancing is very different from that 
 used by David and others. The dancing mentioned in the 
 Bible, accompanying music on solemn occasions, was a 
 grave, regular manner of moving, or a measured step. 
 There certainly is not a text or passage in the Bible which 
 justifies what is now called dancing. The dancing of 
 the daughter of Herodias was probably something of that 
 sort, and its evil effects are recorded. It led to the destruc- 
 tion of the life of a prophet, which tended to fill up the 
 measure of iniquity of Herod and his wicked family. There 
 are also other instances in the Bible where dancing ended 
 badly. 
 
 As for plays, or, as they are called, theatrical amuse- 
 ments, which often include music and dancing, it cannot 
 be necessary to say more, than that no real Christian will 
 be found encouraging such abominations. The apostle 
 Paul expressly mentions revelings and such like, among the 
 works of the flesh ; and says, that " they which do such 
 things shall not inherit the kingdom of God," Gal. v, 21. 
 The apostle Peter also condemns revelings as being con- 
 trary to the will of God, 1 Pet. iv, 3. The original word 
 used in both these places is komoi, or comedies, and plainly 
 
120 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 shows that what are called plays are expressly forbidden in 
 the word of God. 
 
 PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 The ancients had many public amusements besides those 
 already noticed ; but most of them were very barbarous — 
 quite contrary to the spirit of Christianity. The public com- 
 bats with wild beasts were of this sort. In them criminals 
 condemned to death were exposed to fight with lions, bears, 
 wild bulls, and other savage beasts ; and the people took 
 pleasure in seeing their fellow-creatures torn to pieces by 
 these fierce animals ! The apostle Paul compares his hav- 
 ing to withstand his enemies at Ephesus, (Acts xix,) to a 
 combat of this nature, 1 Cor. xv, 32. In many passages, 
 wicked men are spoken of as wild beasts. Herod is com- 
 pared to a fox, Luke xiii, 32. Hypocrites are called wolves 
 in sheep's clothing, Matt, vii, 15. See also Acts xx, 29 ; 
 Phil, iii, 2. 
 
 What now are usually described as public amusements 
 are mentioned among the Jews. Among the heathens 
 there were many, and to them there are some references in 
 Scripture. The Olympic Games were the most famous 
 public amusements. On those occasions people came from 
 all parts of the world to see the contests, which were prin- 
 cipally racing or wrestling. Only persons of good charac- 
 ter, and of respectable famihes, were allowed to contend for 
 the prizes, which were merely crowns of leaves and palm 
 Dranches ; but the honor of being a conqueror at these 
 contests was reckoned very great: even kings sometimes 
 engaged in the games. In the races, the runners threw 
 aside all their garments, and on an appointed signal rushed 
 forward, in the sight of many thousand spectators. The 
 rewards were presented to their view at the end of the 
 course, which was kept clear from every obstruction. This 
 illustrates that beautiful passage, (Heb. xii, 1-3, 12, 13,) 
 " Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so 
 great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, 
 and the sin that doth so easily beset us, looking imto 
 Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith." The word 
 which is translated " beset," means also to entangle; as long 
 garaients, such as were then worn, might entangle and throw 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 121 
 
 AN ANCIENT FOOT-RACE. 
 
 down the runner if lie did not throw them off. This is re- 
 corded as having happened once, and afterwards the racers 
 threw aside all their garments. How desirable it is that a 
 Christian should throw aside and be freed from the sins 
 which beset or entangle him in his Christian course ! 
 
 St. Paul, in another place, alludes to these contests. 
 " Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but 
 one receiveth the prize ? So run that ye may obtain. And 
 every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all 
 things. — Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown ; 
 but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as un- 
 certainly ; so fight I not as one that beateth the air : but I 
 keep under my body, and bring it into subjection : lest that 
 by any means when I have preached (the gospel) to others, 
 I myself should be a castaway," 1 Cor. ix, 24-27. 
 
 The racers and others who contended for the prizes, fasted, 
 or lived upon a particular diet, for some time before the day 
 of the contest : the apostle strongly urges the followers of 
 Christ to consider the pains and privations which the 
 heathens endured for a poor, fading, worldly honor. He 
 shows how much more in earnest they should be, since 
 a reward infinitely greater was offered to them. This pas- 
 sage is in one of St. Paul's epistles to the inhabitants of 
 Corinth : the games to which the apostle alludes were cele- 
 brated near that city. The words of the apostle have 
 
 6 
 
122 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 often been recollected by Christian travelers when in that 
 neighborhood. Wilson, the missionary in Greece, espe- 
 cially noticed this when passing the Isthmus of Corinth. 
 
 The same circumstances explain two other beautiful 
 passages in the epistles : one is, (Phil, iii, 13, 14,) " Forget- 
 ting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto 
 those things which are before, I press toward the mark for 
 the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." The 
 other, (2 Tim. iv, V, 8,) " I have fought a good fight, I have 
 finished my course, I have kept the faith : henceforth, 
 there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the 
 Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day : and 
 not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appear- 
 ing." Let not the readers suppose that the apostle, by re- 
 ferring to the games and customs of those times, meant to 
 encourage or approve of Christians engaging therein. And 
 let them not suppose that the games and races practiced at 
 the present day are countenanced thereby. The ancient 
 games were conducted with much order and solemnity by 
 the heathens ; the greatest and best characters among them 
 engaged therein, and they were in their view religious 
 ceremonies. But we live in a better day, and in the light 
 of the gospel : we do not ofifer such things for worship, 
 and no one can suppose that the riotous and wicked prac- 
 tices so prevalent at the English wakes and fairs, are 
 pleasing to God, or approved by his word. They are 
 " the revelings, and such like," (Gal. v, 21,) of which the 
 apostle expressly declares, that " they which do such things 
 shall not inherit the kingdom of God." It is also to be 
 remarked, that most of those wakes are the continuance of 
 heathen revelings, which were practiced by our forefathers, 
 when Pagans, many centuries ago ; for when the Romish 
 missionaries were sent to this country by Pope Gregory, 
 about the year 600, they allowed those revels to be con- 
 tinued, that they might the more easily persuade the heathen 
 Saxons, who then ruled the greater part of England, to 
 profess themselves Christians. Let us earnestly pray for 
 grace, that we may be enabled to run the race which is set 
 before us, and to wrestle with the corruptions of our hearts, 
 seeking for strength from the Lord. 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 123 
 
 ARAB SCHOLARS WRlTlx\U UX\ SAND. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION. 
 
 The Jews do not appear to have had regular public schools, 
 either boarding or day-schools, nor schools hke those now 
 established by our missionaries. The schools of the sons 
 of the prophets, if they are to be called schools, were very 
 different. The way of life of the ancient Jews was labo- 
 rious, and that constantly ; so that they needed the help of 
 their children, and brought them up to work from their 
 childhood. Thus Gideon, Saul, David and his brothers, and 
 Elisha, all engaged at an early age in the labors of a coun- 
 try hfe. In the cases just named, as well as those of Amos 
 and others, God chose persons engaged in the duties of 
 their callings, to perform services for him. 
 
 It was much the same in other nations: the word "school" 
 is originally Greek, and signifies leisure, as denoting the 
 place where people met who had no particular business to 
 do, so that they had time to amuse themselves. There are, 
 however, many references in the Bible to instruction : (Prov. 
 i, V,) " Fools despise wisdom and instruction ; a wise person 
 
124 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 will hear, and will increase learning," verse 5 ; and that " when 
 wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant 
 unto thy soul, discretion shall preserve thee, and understand- 
 ing shall keep thee to deliver thee from evil," Prov. ii, 10-12. 
 And let it always be remembered, that " the fear of the Lord 
 is the beginning of knowledge," see Prov. i, T. No learning 
 can be really good, if contrary to God's word. The learning 
 of the Jewish children, therefore, chiefly depended upon the 
 instruction they received from their parents, whom they 
 accompanied as they went about their employments. 
 
 Even king Solomon speaks of having been taught by his 
 father, and tells us, in the Book of Proverbs, what that in- 
 struction was : see Prov. iv, 4-9. If king Da\dd, amidst his 
 wars and the cares of government, could instruct his son, 
 his custom should remind parents amongst us of their duty, 
 and encourage them to undertake it : children also should 
 be more attentive than in general they are, to the instruc- 
 tions of those parents who give up many pleasures and pur- 
 suits to teach them. Especially let them remember what 
 David said, " And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the 
 God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and 
 with a willing mind," 1 Chron. xxviii, 9. 
 
 This method of instruction was plainly commanded in 
 the law of Moses, Deut. vi, 6, 7 : " And these words, which 
 I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart ; and thou 
 shalt teach them diligently unto thy children." This in- 
 struction was given rather by conversation than by regular 
 lessons : " And ye shall teach them your children, speak- 
 ing of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when 
 thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when 
 thou risest up," Deut. xi, 19. Instruction so continually 
 given doubtless produced considerable effect : but, alas ! 
 men forgot the words of the Lord in this as in other things. 
 It is too much the same in our day, and we should be very 
 thankful that there are persons who come forward to give 
 this instruction, for " that the soul be without knowledge 
 it is not good," Prov. xix, 2. 
 
 Thus the greater part of the Israelites were m||^e ac- 
 quainted with whatever was necessary for them, both as to 
 general knowledge and their own particular occupations. 
 There were, however, some who applied themselves more 
 particularly to study : we read of men of the tribe of 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. IM 
 
 Issachar who ** had understanding of the times," 1 Chron. 
 xii, 32 ; and the priests and Levites, being in a great mea- 
 sure provided for, had more time for study, and it was 
 required of them : see Mai. ii. The Jews relate that the 
 men of the tribe of Simeon were generally employed as 
 schoolmasters. On this account they were dispersed among 
 the other tribes, which was prophesied respecting them by 
 Jacob, Gen. xlix, 1. 
 
 There were also schools of the prophets, such as those 
 which Samuel taught at Naioth, 1 Sam. xix, 19, 20; and 
 at Bethel, where Elijah, and afterwards Elisha, gave in- 
 structions : but these were not so much for children as for 
 all persons, whatever their age might be, who desired to 
 know divine truths more fully than they could learn them 
 in a general way. From 2 Kings vi, it appears that they 
 labored, and partly maintained themselves. 
 
 In later times, the public teachers became more like our 
 schoolmasters, though even then they rather resembled the 
 professors and teachers in the universities. The scholars 
 usually addressed their instructors by the title of Rabbi, 
 which means great, or master. This was often applied to 
 our Lord, and also the title of Rabboni, (John xx, 16,) 
 which signifies. My great master. We are told that in the 
 Jewish schools this title was only bestowed upon seven 
 persons. Teachers were also sometimes called fathers, 
 and their disciples were called sons, Matt, xii, 27 ; xxiii, 9. 
 Paul speaks (Acts xxii, 3) of having been brought up at 
 the feet of Gamaliel, alluding to the manner in which scho- 
 lars sat at their master's feet. The disciples of the Phari- 
 sees, (Matt, xxii, 15,) who were sent, hoping that they 
 might " entangle Jesus in his talk," or hear him say some 
 words that they could misrepresent, were scholars of that 
 sort, and evidently must have been young men, not children. 
 
126 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 M A R R I A a E S.— C H I L D R E N. 
 
 MARRIAGES. 
 
 Marriages in the East are celebrated with much pomp 
 and ceremony, and very large expense is often incurred. 
 The pasha of Egypt is said to have expended five hundred 
 thousand dollars in 1845, when marrying his daughter. 
 
 There are many allusions in the Bible to the ceremonies 
 attending marriages. The union itself often is alluded to 
 as illustrating the union of Christ, as our Lord and Saviour, 
 with his Church, his faithful people of every age and nation. 
 The book called Solomon's Song, or Canticles, is wholly 
 based on this. Under the form of a poem, or poems, illus- 
 trative of the marriage ceremony, or marriage union, the 
 imion of the blessed Redeemer with believers, and the va- 
 rious changes in the spiritual state of the soul, may be 
 plainly traced. The reader who refers to Clarke's or Ben- 
 son's Commentary will trace these analogies ; and, by the 
 explanations there given, will be assisted to understand this 
 remarkable book. This is the more necessary ; for the good 
 men who translated it, three hundred years ago, knew very 
 little about Eastern customs, and therefore have, in some 
 places, mistaken the original ; and in others have not 
 so plainly shown its meaning as they would have done 
 if they had possessed the advantages now enjoyed from 
 the accounts of travelers. See also Eph. v, 23 ; Rev. 
 xxi, 2. 
 
 The most decided allusion to the marriage procession, 
 however, was made by our Lord, to show the evil of being 
 negligent in the concerns of the soul. It is in the parable 
 of the Ten Virgins, Matt, xxv, 1-12. Ward describes a 
 marriage at Serampore, where the bridegroom came from 
 a distance : after waiting some hours, his arrival was an- 
 nounced, at near midnight, in the very words of Scripture, 
 " Behold, the bridegroom cometh ; go ye out to meet him." 
 All the persons employed then lighted their lamps, and ran 
 to take their places in the procession. Some had lost their 
 lights, and were unprepared ; but it was then too late to 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 127 
 
 seek them : the procession moved forward, and after re- 
 maining a short time at the entrance, the bridegroom went 
 into the house, the door of which was immediately shut 
 and guarded." Mr. Ward and others entreated for admis- 
 sion, but it was in vain. In Luke xii, 35, 37, our Lord 
 also spoke of the men watching for their lord's return from 
 the wedding. 
 
 MESH-ALS, OR LAMPS. 
 
 The lights carried in bridal processions, called massals, 
 or meshals, are formed of linen rags, forcibly pressed to- 
 gether, and put in a vessel of copper, upon which oil is from 
 time to time poured from a bottle : " the vessels with the 
 lamps," Matt, xxv, 4. Or sometimes, as here represented, 
 they are frames of metal, at the end of a pole, and filled 
 with small pieces of burning wood. Lane describes these 
 as used in Egypt. 
 
 At these feasts the guests are sometimes supplied with 
 robes more magnificent than their own. Matt, xxii, 12. 
 
 M'Cheyne speaks of a delay at a Jewish marriage, from 
 the bridegroom having neglected to bring a bridal orna- 
 ment, her friends refusing to let the ceremony go forward 
 without it. He quotes Jer. xi, 32. 
 
 Others describe the palanquin in which the bridegroom 
 is carried in India : probably what is translated Solomon's 
 chariot and bed, (Cant, iii, 7, 9,) was a sort of palanquin. 
 
 In many Eastern countries the husband now pays a sum 
 
128 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 of money as a sort of purchase of his wife, as Hosea iii, 2. 
 The contract is made through a confidential friend, or 
 agent, as Abraham's steward. Gen. xxiv, 3. Grant de- 
 scribes these customs, especially among the Nestorians. 
 Lane describes the negotiations in Egypt as very similar ; 
 but when the bride is of rank, her wedding- presents, jew- 
 els, slaves, and attire, amount to a considerable value. 
 Buckingham speaks of the money paid for a wife among 
 the Arabs, as varying from fifty to a thousand piastres, ac- 
 cording to their beauty and connections. In China, lately, 
 an Englishman was asked how much he had paid for his 
 wife ? when he in joke replied, two thousand dollars ; but 
 was soon reminded that he had done wrong to utter a 
 falsehood, for he was offered five thousand, and even seven 
 thousand dollars for her. Let women in Christian coun- 
 tries be thankful that they are not thus made articles of 
 merchandise, though too often marriage is a mercenary 
 bargain. 
 
 Herschell, in his Sketch of the Jews, has described 
 the ceremonies attending a Jewish marriage, and shows 
 how they illustrate Scripture. First, the betrothment, 
 the solemn engagement formed some months before-hand, 
 (Matt, i, 18-20,) often with much ceremony and pre- 
 sents. Cant, iii, 11. The night before the marriage cere- 
 mony was called the watch-night, in which the brides- 
 maids and others watched for the appearance of the bride- 
 groom, as already described from Matt. xxv. But they 
 do not meet till the next day : the bride is then dressed 
 in her most splendid attire, with much ceremony, Psa. 
 xlv, 13-15; Isa. xlix, 18; Ixi, 10; Rev. xix, 1, 8; xxi, 
 2 ; and a veil placed over her head, as a mark of subjec- 
 tion. A large canopy, supported on four posts, is erected 
 in the garden, or in towns, sometimes in the street. The 
 bridegroom places himself under it, and the bride, closely 
 veiled, is then led there. The Rabbi then reads the 
 contract of marriage, and gives an exhortation, and the 
 bridegroom places a ring on the forefinger of the left hand 
 of the bride. They then return to the house, and the 
 marriage feast follows, which is a very joyful scene, as 
 described John ii, and to which many guests are invited : 
 it lasted for several days. Matt, ix, 15. 
 
 Jowett describes the feasting as continuing for several 
 
MANNEllS AND CUSTOMS. 129 
 
 days, as that of Samson's marriage, Judg.xiv, 12. Hartley 
 describes the Armenian brides as so closely veiled, that even 
 now such deceptions as that practiced on Jacob occur, (Gen. 
 xxix, 25,) on one side or the other; sometimes there are 
 interested attempts on both : such unions, it need not be 
 said, are not agreeable to the injunction to marry only in the 
 Lord, 1 Cor. vii, 40 ; 2 Cor. vi, 14. 
 
 The husband sometimes still gives personal services to 
 the father, as Jacob did, Gen. xxix, 18, 30; and it is to 
 be observed that the service in this case was after the mar- 
 riage. 
 
 At weddings, a person was selected to be especially the 
 friend or attendant of the bridegroom. This is alluded to, 
 John iii, 29. He had many important duties to perforai 
 from the beginning of the contract ; and after the marriage 
 was the friend of both. 
 
 Our Lord reproved the divorces which were frequent 
 among the Jews, either from the contracts being made for 
 a limited time, (Hosea iii, 3,) a custom which Lane describes 
 as still known in Egypt, or from the fickleness of the parties 
 and their unkind feehngs : this is reproved, Mai. ii, 14, 16 ; 
 but still more forcibly by our Lord himself, who told them 
 it was not so from the beginning. 
 
 In the East, the birth of a son has always been much 
 rejoiced at, while little or no notice is taken of the birth of 
 a daughter. Even among the Jews this was the case, as 
 Jeremiah powerfully describes, xx, 15. Females are con- 
 sidered as inferiors, and much less cared for. 
 
 Morier describes the feast when children are weaned, like 
 that made by Abraham on the weaning of Isaac, Gen. xxi, 8 ; 
 also the bringers up of children to whom the boys are com- 
 mitted by rich fathers, when two years old ; such were the 
 bringers up of the children of Ahab, 2 Kings x, 5. 
 
 In the East children are sometimes carried at the back, in 
 the hyke, but often sitting on the shoulders, (Isa. xlix, 22,) 
 or astride on the hip, Isa. Ixvi, 12. Lane describes the 
 Egyptian mothers thus carrying their children, even when 
 very little. They soon learn to hold on by the head and 
 neck, when thus carried in walking, or even riding. 
 
 One peculiarly commendable point in Eastern children is 
 their reverence for their mother ; so one way of showing 
 violent anger against other persons is to speak reproachfully 
 6* 
 
130 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 of their p^*eiits. A traveler's servant, seeing his master in 
 a rage, said, " Strike me, but do not curse my mother." 
 
 GHILDRKN. 
 
 It was common among the ancients for persons to adopt 
 children, either when they had none of their own, or when 
 there was something particular to interest them for the 
 children who were adopted. Elie^er, of Damascus, pro- 
 bably had been thus adopted by Abraham before he had 
 children of his own, Gen. xv, 3. This is common at the 
 present time among the Indians, particularly in North 
 America. Persons, both grown up and children, who have 
 been taken prisoners in their wars with the white people, 
 have been adopted by the Indian tribes, and have hved 
 many years among them. Jacob's adoption of Ephraim 
 and Manasseh, (Gen. xlviii, 5.) was something of this sort. 
 It is still more fully shown in the c;^se of Moses, who was 
 adopted by Pharaoh's daugliter, Exod. ii, 10 ; and of Esther, 
 who was adopted by her uncle, Mordec^ni, Esth. ii, 7. In 
 these cases the adopted children were considered as though 
 they had been really children of those who adopted them, 
 and thus became subject to their authority. 
 
 The two instances above mentioned deserve notice: 
 " Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called 
 the son of Pharaoh's daughter ; choosing rather to suffer 
 affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures 
 <rf sin for a season ; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater 
 riches than the treasures in Egypt : for he had respect unto 
 the recompense of the rewai-d," Heb. xi, 24-26. Esther 
 was strengthened and had courage given to her, so that she 
 was enabled to declare that she belonged to the nation of 
 the Jews, jilthough they were ordered to be destroyed ; and 
 thus her people were dehvered. We also read, that, even 
 after she had become queen, she still " did the command- 
 ment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with 
 him," Esth. ii, 20. 
 
 Both these accounts show the power of Divine grace in 
 the hearts of young persons : enabling the one decidedly to 
 refuse honors, we^th, and the earthly advantages of being 
 adopted by a king's daughter — perhaps even the succes- 
 sion to the throne itself — when these thincfs could not be 
 
MANlirEBS ASD CUSTOMS. 181 
 
 enjoyed without acting c<Hitrary to the wOl of (lod, and 
 bcang connected with wicked people. And in the other in- 
 stance, a young perscm who had heeaa. raised to the actual 
 possession fd m& greatest advantages this worid could be- 
 stow, was ready to fcanego ih@Di Si, and life itself, ratho- 
 than displease Otod and fixsake his people, Esth. iv, 16. 
 These are useful and important lessons. 
 
 Hie custom cC adoptim is preserred among the Moham- 
 medans to the present day. Wh«i a Turk thus adopts a 
 child, it is passed througli the shirt of its new father. This 
 reminds of Elijah adopting the prophet Elisha as his sm in 
 the faith, by throwing his mantle orer him, 1 Kings ziz, 19. 
 When Elijah was islkexk up into heaTen, Elisha called after 
 him, ''^My father, my father;*' and, having caught his 
 mantle, proceeded to fulfill the duties peifonned by his 
 spiritual father, (2 Kings n,) by succeeding to las office. 
 
 Th^e are seToal texts in the Kew Testament, (as Rom. 
 xm, 14 ; GaL m, 27 ; Eph. ir. 24 ; CoL iii, 10,) m which die 
 i^»ostle speaks of belieTers in Chiist haTing '* put on the 
 new man," which may refer to this custom of tiie manner 
 of adoption as sons. But St. Paul speaks still more plainly, 
 in Rom. Tm, of the change thus efifected in the believer. 
 He thoe shows the ofal^ttiqn upon all m&k who are made 
 partakers of sahFation through Cluist^ to forsake their ftxmer 
 evil course, and to lire accordii^ to the SjHiit ci Chiist: 
 <* For as many as are led by the SjHiit oi God, they are the 
 sons oi God. For ye hare not reodred the spirit a( haad- 
 a^" (or sfatToy) ** again to fear; but ye have reoeired the 
 l^iiit of adoption, whoeby we cry, Abba, Father. The 
 ^writ itself beareth witness with our spirit^ that we are the 
 childrai of God : and if childnai, then bars; bars of God, 
 and j<Mnt-h€irs with Chiist: if so be that we suffer with 
 him, that we may be also glorified together," Toses 14r-17. 
 Also GaLi|^4, 5,tiiat«wfae&thefannessofttietimewa5 
 oome, God%Lt fnth his Son, — ^that we might receive the 
 adoptioa of sons." 
 
 These passages are explained by refioiii^ to the cnstoBBs 
 rdalii^ to adoption, and show most fuOy tiie great privi- 
 leges of bdong^ to Chist 
 
132 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 PHYSICIANS — MEDICINES — CUSTOMS RELATIVE TO THE 
 DEAD — FUNERALS. 
 
 PHYSICIAl^S AND MEDICINE. 
 
 The first mention of physicians in the Bible, is Gen. 1, 2. 
 Joseph commanded the physicians to embalm his father ; 
 that is, to wrap up the dead body with spices and medical 
 preparations, to prevent it from decaying in the natural 
 manner. This was in Egypt, and the physicians were 
 Egyptians. From the simple, plain, and healthy manner in 
 which the patriarchs lived, it is probable that they had not 
 much occasion for medicine. 
 
 Even in the later times of the Jews, they do not seem 
 to have known much of what is called the medical art. 
 Their medicines were chiefly outward applications. Their 
 knowledge probably did not extend far beyond binding up 
 a broken limb, or healing a woimd. As for other diseases, 
 they appear to have regarded them as immediate effects of 
 the anger of God. Job's friends thought so, Job. v, 17, 18. 
 Good people generally consulted the prophets or other min- 
 isters of God ; while wicked men consulted idolatrous priests, 
 or pretended magicians or sorcerers : the heathen nations 
 do so still. When king Asa had the gout, and trusted to 
 his physicians for a cure, without seeking God's blessing on 
 the means used, we are reminded that this was wrong, 
 2 Chron. xvi, 12. When Jeroboam's son was ill, he sent 
 his wife to the prophet Ahijah, to inquire respecting the 
 event of his illness, 1 Kings xiv. Hezekiah, when almost 
 at the point of death, was recovered by means directed by 
 Isaiah, 2 Kings, xx, V. For the leprosy, in {j|rticular, no 
 medicine seems to have been used. It is generally thought 
 to have been considered as an especial mark of Divine dis- 
 pleasure ; the priests were directed particularly to watch 
 the progress of the disease, and to keep all persons afflicted 
 with it by themselves. Naaman came to consult Elisha for 
 a cure of his leprosy ; but the prophet would not even see 
 him, thus showing that his cure was to proceed wholly 
 from God, 2 Kings v, 10. When Benhadad, king of Syria, 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 133 
 
 was dangerously ill, he also sent to Elisha, 2 Kings viii, T, 8. 
 Ahaziah, king of Israel, who was a wicked man, sent to 
 the idol Baalzebub, at Ekron, to ask of the priest respect- 
 ing his illness ; 2 Kings i, 3. But he was solemnly warned 
 of the folly and wickedness of turning from the Lord to idols. 
 
 Jeremiah inquires, " Is there no balm in Gilead ? is there 
 no physician there ? why then is not the health of the 
 daughter of my people recovered ?" Jer. viii, 22 ; see also 
 xlvi, 11. This shows that there were physicians and medi- 
 cines, although the words point out the great Physician of 
 souls, the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone can heal our 
 souls, which are full of evil, as the body of a sick person is 
 full of disease. Our Lord spoke thus of himself when he 
 said, " They that be whole need not a physician, but they 
 that are sick," Matt, ix, 12. He thus reproved those who 
 fancied themselves free from sin, and therefore despised his 
 salvation, just as sick people sometimes think that they are 
 well. But our souls are full of disease, as the prophet 
 Isaiah says, Isa. i, 6 ; let all beware of acting like the Pha- 
 risees, or the people of Laodicea, Rev. iii, 17 ; and reject 
 not this great salvation, which is so fully and so freely 
 offered to them. 
 
 The woman healed by our Lord, (see Mark v, 56,) " had 
 suffered many things of many physicians." St. Luke the 
 evangelist, who wrote one of the Gospels and the Acts, was 
 a physician, Col. iv, 14. As for medicine, Prov. xvii, 22 
 says, that " a meriy heart doeth good like a medicine." 
 This of course does not mean foohsh merriment ; but a 
 cheerful disposition often adds to health and strength. The 
 balm already mentioned was a healing balsam, or gum, 
 highly valued : the best were found in Gilead. The mer- 
 chants to whom Joseph was sold were carrying this balm to 
 Egypt. Jacob sent some as a present to the ruler of Egypt, 
 Gen. xxxvii, 25 ; xliii, 11. 
 
 Some diseases mentioned in the Bible, were like those 
 with which people are afflicted at the present day. All 
 are proofs of the displeasure of God against sin. It was 
 by sin that death entered into the world, Rom. v, 12 ; and 
 diseases are the means whereby the life of man is usually 
 shortened. In Exod. xv, 26, and Deut. vii, 15, Moses was 
 commanded to tell the Israelites, that if they kept the law 
 of God, he would put none of the evil diseases of Egypt 
 
134 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 upon them ; and we know that the Lord often chastises a 
 nation or a people for their sins, by sending them diseases : 
 this is mentioned in many places in the Scripture. In the 
 New Testament, there is frequent mention of persons being 
 possessed with devils. Their conduct, in some respects, 
 resembled that of maniacs, or mad people, now ; but evi- 
 dently it was, in many respects, different, and was pro- 
 duced by the immediate influence of evil spirits. Such 
 cases, however, have long ceased to exist. The diseases of 
 the body also frequently refer to the sickness or diseases of 
 the soul from sin, as already mentioned : thus many such 
 expressions in the Psalms, and other passages in Scripture, 
 doubtless refer to the soul. 
 
 CUSTOMS RELATIVE TO THE DEAD AND TO FUNERALS. 
 
 By the ceremonial law it was considered that a dead 
 body polluted for seven days everything that touched it, 
 Num. xix, 14-16. For this reason, the priests, who had 
 to offer sacrifices every day, were forbidden to assist at 
 funerals. Even the bones of the dead had the same effect. 
 Josiah caused the bones of the idolatrous priests to be 
 burned on the altars of their false gods, 2 Chron. xxxiv, 5. 
 
 When a person was dead, his nearest relations closed his 
 eyes. This was promised to Jacob when he was to go down 
 to Egypt, Gen. xlvi, 4. The body was then washed (Acts 
 ix, 3*7) and laid out, as it is still called. 
 
 It was usual to make great lamentations and mourning 
 for the dead. Abraham and his family mourned for Sarah, 
 Gen. xxiii, 2 ; and the funeral of Jacob was a very solemn 
 one : see the account in Gen. 1. All the Israelites " mourned 
 for Aaron thirty days," (Num. xx, 29,) and the same time 
 for Moses, (Deut. xxxiv, 8,) although then on the point of 
 entering Canaan. The mourning for Jacob was seventy 
 days. Gen. 1, 3. Sir John Chardin relates, that, in the 
 year 1676, when he was at Ispahan, in Persia, the mistress 
 of the next house died ; the moment she expired, all the 
 family, about twenty-five or thirty persons, set up a loud 
 cry, that quite startled him. He says these cries were re- 
 peated at intervals for a long time together ; they were 
 continued during forty days. This custom led to the em- 
 ployment of hired mourners, who are referred to in several 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 135 
 
 MOURNING FOR THE DEAD. 
 
 places in Scripture : see Jer. ix, 17, 18 ; 2 Chron. xxxv, 25 ; 
 Job iii, 8 ; Eccl. xii, 5 ; Amos v, 16. From Matt, ix, 23, 
 we learn that music was sometimes used. In Egypt the 
 mourning women bring tambourines, which they beat, cry- 
 mg, " Alas for him !" Others play on tabors, and sing 
 mournful songs. 
 
 The manner in which persons cut themselves and tore 
 their hair, upon' these occasions, is referred to, Jer. xvi, 6 ; 
 vii, 29 ; although it was forbidden in the law, Lev. xix, 28; 
 Deut. xiv, 1. 
 
 Even in families where extensive preparations were not 
 made, the people mourned greatly. This led to much vain 
 ostentation of sorrow. Many of the Jews had come to Martha 
 and Mary, to lament with and to comfort them, John xi, 19. 
 This was after the funeral, and they followed Mary to the 
 grave, thinking she was going to weep there. Thus many 
 persons were present to witness the miracle of raising Laza- 
 rus from the dead. The widow of Nain also was accom- 
 panied by many friends, Luke vii. It is so now. Hartley 
 describes the corpse as carried openly on a bier, dressed 
 with much care ; thus probably the only son of the widow 
 was earned forth, Luke vii, 12-15. The ceremonial of the 
 
138 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 Greek burial-service closes with a parting kiss given to the 
 body by the relatives present. 
 
 It is still customary among the Eastern nations for rela- 
 tives, particularly females, to go to the graves of their de- 
 ceased friends, and to lament over them. Fountain, a mis- 
 sionary in th* East Indies, says, " One morning I heard a 
 great noise, and found a number of women and girls as- 
 sembled 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 upon it, ex- 
 claiming, ' 0, my child ! O, my child !' At the other end of 
 the grave sat another female, expressing her grief in the like 
 manner." Sitting is the usual posture of mourners in the 
 East, Isa, iii, 26 ; Matt, xxvii, 61. They hang down their 
 heads, as Lam. ii, 10. Le Bruyn, at Ramah, saw a number 
 of women visit the burial-place, and make a great lamenta- 
 tion, Jer. xxxi, 15. 
 
 The ancient customs of mourning may be noted from what 
 Ezekiel was forbidden to do. He was not to cry, not to put 
 off his head-dress, not to go barefoot, not to cover his mouth, 
 or the lower part of his face ; this latter is the binding up 
 the lower jaw like that of a dead corpse ; he was not to eat 
 the bread of men — the feast usually prepared for the fune- 
 ral, Ezek. xxiv, 17. The lamentations usual are alluded to, 
 Jer. xxii, 18. 
 
 The bodies of great people were embalmed, or wrapped 
 up very carefully with gums and spices, before they were 
 put into the tomb. Jacob was embalmed, Gen. 1, 3. The 
 dead body was laid in nitre for thirty days, and afterwards 
 forty days in spices and gums. This was done by physi- 
 cians. Joseph of Arimathea brought a quantity of spices, 
 and wrapped the body of Jesus in linen cloths, John xx, 
 39, 40. The two companies of women who went to the 
 sepulchre on the morning when our Lord arose from the 
 dead, had prepared spices for the same purpose, Luke 
 xxiii, 56 ; Mark xvi, 1. This was the manner of the Jews 
 to bury, John xix, 40. Lazarus also was bound in cloths, 
 so that it was necessary to loose him, John xi, 44. Asa 
 was " laid in the bed, which was filled with sweet odors 
 and divers kinds of spices, prepared by the apothecaries' 
 art," 2 Chron. xvi, 14. 
 
 Many dead bodies are still found in Egypt thus wrapped 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. . 137 
 
 up, or embalmed. Countless myriads of these remain in 
 the mummy-pits and excavations. They are called mum- 
 mies, and numbers of them have been brought to this coun- 
 try. Not more than two hundred years ago, the mummies 
 were used in medicines ! It should cause us solemn thoughts 
 to look at one of the bodies thus preserved, so that even 
 its features can be plainly distinguished ; and to think it 
 may, perhaps, be the body of one of those ancient Egyp- 
 tians who lived when the Israelites were in Egypt, or the 
 remains of one who was concerned in the invasions of Ju- 
 dea, or in trading with the Jews, or in some other of the 
 events recorded in the Scriptures. It also shows how fool- 
 ish such care and anxiety for the dead body are. After 
 having been preserved at a great expense for ijiany hun- 
 dred, or even, perhaps, some thousand years, the body at 
 last is brought to a distant land, shown for some time as a 
 curiosity, and then suffered to molder away. Thousands 
 of these remains have been broken and mutilated for the 
 sake of the ornaments sometimes found with them, while 
 many are used for fuel, the gums and resinous substances 
 with which they were embalmed making them useful to 
 burn. Of how much greater consequence is it for every 
 one to care for the soul ! Many of the Egyptians had heard 
 of the true God, and yet continued to worship idols ; nay, 
 even cats and monkeys, or leeks and onions ! Let us be- 
 ware how we neglect the great salvation which is offered 
 to us! 
 
 Among the Jews, and some other Eastern nations, it was 
 customary to bury the dead bodies. Abraham and Sarah, 
 and their descendants, were buried : a particular account is 
 given of Abraham's purchasing a burial-place for his family, 
 Gen. xxiii. It was also the custom in the days of our Lord, 
 as we find from the account of Lazarus, John xi, 38. The 
 graves sometimes were dug in the earth, as that of Rachel, 
 Gen. XXXV, 19. That spot is now marked by a small square 
 building, not by a pillar. Buckingham describes the place 
 as wild and solitary. Came notices that the Mohammedan 
 graves around it are very numerous. The Jews are not 
 allowed to enter this tomb. In general, the places of in- 
 terment were caves, or places cut in the rocks, as the tomb 
 where our Lord was laid. Matt, xxvii, 60. Such tombs 
 are now found in Judea, Persia, and elsewhere. There are 
 
138 . JEWISH NATION. 
 
 many in the rocks near Jerusalem : such was that prepared 
 by Shebna, Isa. xxii, 16. 
 
 Coffins, or boxes to hold dead bodies, were not usual 
 among the Jews. The body was wrapped in a cloth, and 
 carried upon a bier to the tomb, as is described respecting 
 the widow's son at Nain, so that he immediately sat up, 
 when commanded by Christ, Luke vii, 14, 15. In those 
 climates, when the body was not embalmed, it was buried 
 very soon after death. See the account of Ananias and 
 Sapphira, Acts v, 5-10. The embalmed bodies in Egypt 
 were usually put into a box of sycamore-wood, generally 
 painted yellow, with figures of other colors. 
 
 In the accounts of the funerals of the Jewish kings, we 
 sometimes, read of burnings. Several other nations com- 
 monly burned dead bodies ; but this was not the usual 
 practice among the Jews. In the burnings just mentioned, 
 the clothes, armor, and other things belonging to the de- 
 ceased were burned, as well as some parts of the inside of 
 the bodies, which were removed to make room for the 
 spices. At the death of Jehoram, (2 Chron. xxi, 19,) the 
 " people made no burning for him." He was a wicked king, 
 and probably was accounted unworthy of such an honor. 
 The bodies of Saul and his sons were burned : probably 
 they were so mangled, or in such a state, that they could 
 not be embalmed. Amos vi, 10, mentions the burning of 
 dead bodies ; but that appears to have been in the time of 
 pestilence, when it was impossible to attend to the usual 
 rites of interment. 
 
 To be deprived of burial was thought to be a 'great dis- 
 honor and calamity : see Eccl. vi, 3. The casting forth of 
 Jehoiakim's body, (Jer. xxii, 19,) is spoken of in this man- 
 ner ; and in Psalm Ixxix, the dead bodies of the Israelites 
 having been left unburied, is mentioned as increasing the 
 calamities of the nation. The bodies of criminals were cast 
 out, and stones heaped over them, as Achan, Josh, vii, 26 ; 
 Absalom, 2 Sam. xviii, lY. 
 
 The ancients did not follow the unwholesome custom of 
 burying their dead in the midst of towns and cities : they 
 buried in gardens, as the tomb where our Lord was laid, 
 (John xix, 41,) in fields, or in caves, mostly in unfrequented 
 places. Many of the tombs were large, and contained 
 several recesses, or small rooms, which sometimes aflforded 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 139 
 
 shelter to the weary traveler, or became lurking-places for 
 robbers. The demoniac at Gadara, (Mark v, 2,) dwelt 
 among the tombs. These buildings often covered a large 
 space of ground. The tombs sometimes were attached to 
 their houses, as that of Samuel, 1 Sam. xxv, 1 ; Joab, 
 1 Kings ii, 34. At a place on Lebanon, Jowett saw such 
 a structure for the family of the host in a garden, like a 
 small house without door or window ; but usually they have 
 the latter. 
 
 In Egypt, the tombs of the kings were very magnificent 
 and beautiful. Belzoni, a few years since, by digging away 
 some rubbish at the side of a hill, discovered a most re- 
 markable tomb, containing a number of rooms and passages. 
 The walls were sculptured, and painted with beautiful figures. 
 Among them were some which, from their countenances 
 and dress, evidently represented Jews. From the hiero- 
 glyphic inscriptions and other circumstances, Belzoni had 
 no doubt but that it was the tomb of Psammis, a king of 
 Egypt, the son of Necho, 2 Chron. xxxv, 20 ; or that it was 
 erected by Psammis for the remains of his father Necho, 
 who conquered Judea, in battle with whom Josiah was slain. 
 The sarcophagus, or cofiin of alabaster, was brought to Eng- 
 land, and is now in London ; it is sculptured with several 
 hundred figures. 
 
 Robinson describes Petra and its beautiful excavations 
 and structures, remarking, that of those that now remain, 
 most were for the dead. 
 
 At Rome, Naples, Thebes, and some other places, there 
 are vast excavations underground, wherein dead bodies were 
 interred. These are called catacombs, and the spaces and 
 passages are so numerous and intricate, that strangers would 
 be lost in them without guides. There are little recesses 
 on the sides, as described Ezek. xxxii, 23, "in the sides of 
 the pit." The mummy pits at Goumou have been described 
 by several travelers. They are so intricate that it is danger- 
 ous to go far into them. The half savage natives who in- 
 habit the entrances have broken up vast numbers of the 
 coffins, and destroyed the contents. 
 
 In some sepulchres, there were buildings on which much 
 expense was bestowed. To these our Lord alludes, when 
 he speaks of the Pharisees as whited sepulchres. Matt, 
 xxiii, 27. They were usually whitened every year, to warn 
 
140 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 passengers not to approach so as to be defiled. Sometimes 
 titles or inscriptions were placed upon them : see 2 Kings 
 xxiii, 17: while the graves of the poorer people were with- 
 out distinction ; so that, as our Lord said, " men that walk 
 over them are not aware of them," Luke xi, 44. The Jews 
 erected sumptuous monuments for those whom they despised 
 or neglected when alive, (Luke xi, 48,) which is too often 
 the case amongst us. Shaw particularly notices the bury- 
 ing-grounds in the East, with places allotted to families, and 
 grave-stones not unlike our own, but often ornamented and 
 beautified. 
 
 ROCK-TOMB IN THE SIDES OF THE VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT. 
 
 This represents a rock-tomb in the " sides " of the valley 
 of Jehoshaphat. They usually have an ante or entrance 
 room, with side chambers. Came says travelers often rest 
 in them. 
 
 After the burial, there was usually a feast : this probably 
 is alluded to, 2 Sam. iii, 35 ; Jer. xvi, 7, 8 ; and Hosea ix, 4. 
 It is the custom among many nations now, even among the 
 Greenlanders ; where the property left for a poor widow is 
 often consumed in this manner. The feastings at funerals, 
 so common in Ireland, and called wakes, are similar. 
 
 Moummg, as to apparel, (2 Sam. xiv, 2,) was not a black 
 dress, as in Europe, or the wearing of any particular color, 
 but was shown by ragged and neglected clothing ; it did 
 not last for so long a time as is customary amongst us. 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 141 
 
 It was usual to make elegies or mournful songs on per- 
 sons of rank, particularly when there were any especial rea- 
 sons for lamenting. Jeremiah wrote a book of Lamentations 
 for Josiah, (see 2 Chron. xxxv, 25,) but it has not been pre- 
 served. The Book of Lamentations, at the end of the pro- 
 phecy of Jeremiah, was written upon the destruction of 
 Jerusalem. The lamentation, or elegy, composed by David, 
 on the death of Saul and Jonathan, is in 2 Sam. i, 17-27. 
 But the Jews and patriarchs sorrowed not as those without 
 hope. They believed in the resurrection from the dead, 
 as is plainly pointed out in Job xix, 25 ; Hosea xiii, 14 ; and 
 many other passages. It is enough to refer to the words 
 of our Lord, Luke xx, 37, 38: "Now that the dead are 
 raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he calleth the 
 Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the 
 God of Jacob. For he is not a God of the dead, but of the 
 living ; for all live unto him." And remember, that Christ 
 is " risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them 
 that slept. For since by man came death, by man came 
 also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, 
 even so in Christ shall all be made alive," 1 Cor. xv, 20-22. 
 
 The reader is again entreated to examine such of the 
 passages referred to as he does not distinctly recollect, and, 
 by the Divine blessing, some benefit may be derived from 
 these pages. In reading the Bible, or any works relating 
 to it, we must bear in mind that the Scriptures were written 
 for our instruction : not as mere matters of history, but for 
 the good of our souls. A blessing should always be sought 
 upon our studies ; above all, upon the study of the Holy 
 Scriptures. 
 
 
142 
 
 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE RITES AND WORSHIP OF THE JEWS. 
 
 ABEL OFFERING SACRIFICE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE THREE DISPENSATIONS — THE MEANING AND 
 ORIGIN OF SACRIFICES. 
 
 A RITE is a solemn outward act of worship. By worship- 
 ing, is meant showing honor and respect ; and by rehgious 
 worship, is meant endeavoring to show honor and respect 
 to the Almighty Being, to GOD, who made the earth and 
 all things therein, and to whom man looks with the hope 
 and desire that he will cause his never-dying soul to be 
 happy forever. The Bible is the word of God. It tells 
 us about God. It tells us how God was w^orshiped in for- 
 mer times, and how he is to be worshiped now. 
 
 Three times, or periods, are particularly and separately 
 mentioned in the Bible, called dispensations, in each of 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 143 
 
 which it has been God's will that he should be worshiped 
 in a different manner as to outward rites. The first is the 
 patriarchal dispensation. This includes the period from the 
 time when Adam and Eve left paradise, till the law was 
 given from Mount Sinai. The history of the patriarchal 
 dispensation is to be found in the chapters from the third 
 of Genesis to the twentieth of Exodus. The second is the 
 Mosaic or Levitical dispensation. The account of this 
 occupies the rest of the Old Testament, and also includes 
 the history of the Jews till the coming of Christ. The 
 thkd is the Christian dispensation. The account of the be- 
 ginning and early progress of this dispensation, is given in 
 the New Testament. It has continued till the present 
 time ; nor is there reason to suppose that there will be 
 another dispensation, or another method of worship ap- 
 pointed, before Christ himself comes again to judge the 
 world. With respect to these dispensations, it is plain 
 that the wisdom of God directs the revelation of such 
 truths, and the giving of such laws, as are best suited from 
 time to time to answer his merciful designs. 
 
 Any one who has read the Bible, must have remarked 
 that the principal rite of Divine worship, under the first 
 two dispensations, was that of sacrifice. Some animal, or 
 some production of the earth, was offered to God upon an 
 altar, by some person whose duty and office it especially 
 was to make the offering. The first particular account re- 
 corded of an offering, or sacrifice, is in Gen. iv. When the 
 offering was only placed upon the altar it was called an 
 oblation. In a sacrifice, properly so called, the thing offered 
 was destroyed, or something done to it so as quite to change 
 its state. In every part of the Bible, we find frequent men- 
 tion of the sacrifices, and of the rites and ceremonies with 
 which they were offered. The Book of Psalms and the 
 writings of the prophets abound with allusions to sacrifices, 
 while the historical and narrative parts of Scripture relate 
 instances of them ; and the books of Moses contain full 
 directions about the manner in which they were to be 
 offered under the second, or Levitical dispensation. There 
 are not such full particulars as to the sacrifices of the 
 patriarchs; but enough is said concerning them in the 
 Book of Genesis, and in some other places, to give suffi- 
 cient information both as to their origin and their object. 
 
144 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 They were memorials of the sin of our first parents, and of 
 the way of mercy provided for Adam and Eve, and their 
 descendants. It is probable that these sacrifices were whole 
 burnt-offerings, and that there seldom were any others till 
 the giving of the law by Moses. 
 
 The sacrifices mentioned in the Bible were generally 
 made by taking beasts or birds of some particular kinds, 
 depriving them of life in a solemn manner, and then burn- 
 ing their bodies on a heap of earth or stones, called an 
 altar. As the sacrifices are mentioned very often, and evi- 
 dently were matters of great importance, we will here in- 
 quire what was meant by them, and what first gave rise to 
 them ? Without stating the different opinions which have 
 been given upon the subject, that which appears the only 
 correct one may at once be mentioned, and given in the 
 words of Archbishop Magee. He says, *' It requires but 
 very little acquaintance with Scripture, to know that it 
 everywhere teaches us that man, by disobedience, is fallen 
 under the displeasure of his Maker ; that to be reconciled 
 to his favor, and restored so as to be able to obey him in a 
 manner he would accept, a Redeemer was appointed ; and 
 that this Redeemer laid down his life to procure forgiveness 
 and acceptance for repentant sinners. The surrender of 
 life has been called, by the sacred writers, a sacrifice ; and 
 the end attained by it, expiation or atonement." From 
 several texts, particularly Heb. x, 1, 12, and ix, 9-14, it 
 appears that this sacrifice, or death of Christ, was the real 
 or proper sacrifice to which the sacrifices directed by the 
 law of Moses alluded, or of which they were, as it is called, 
 types and shadows. Since this was so clearly the case as to 
 all sacrifices under the second dispensation, we are war- 
 ranted in believing the rite to have been ordained by God 
 also under the first, or patriarchal dispensation, as a type of 
 that ONE SACRIFICE wMch was alluded to, or pointed to, by 
 all the other sacrifices. 
 
 That sacrifices must have been first appointed by God's 
 express command, appears from their nature and* design, 
 which has been just stated ; and also from the distinct man- 
 ner in which we read that God accepted them, when 
 offered by Abel, Noah, and Abraham. In the Book of 
 Job, which probably contains the account of events that 
 happened before the time of Abraham, we find that God 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 145 
 
 expressly directed the friends of the patriarch to offer sacri- 
 fices, that they might be forgiven, when God was displeased 
 with them because they had not spoken of him in a right 
 manner, chap, xlii, 8. 
 
 The first mention of sacrifice in the Bible, is that of Abel, 
 Gen. iv, 4 ; and the manner in which the history is related, 
 implies that there was a stated time for the performance of 
 this duty, and that it had been often observed before. We 
 must, therefore, conclude that Adam offered sacrifices ; and 
 it is generally supposed that the skins of beasts, which were 
 given to Adam and Eve for clothes, (Gen. iii, 21,) were the 
 skins of beasts which had been slain for sacrifices. 
 
 As it is declared that the plan of redemption, by the 
 death of the only and beloved son of God, was determined 
 from the beginning, we learn a very important lesson from 
 this account of the origin of sacrifice, which is apphcable 
 to the sacrifices of the heathens, as well as to those of the 
 Jews. For the apostles, in their discourses recorded in the 
 Acts, did not reprove the heathens for offering sacrifice, the 
 RITE which had been derived from the common parents of 
 all mankind, but for offering sacrifice to men of like pas- 
 sions with themselves, or idols, " vanities," '' gold, silver, 
 and stone, graven by art and man's device," instead of " the 
 living God which made heaven and earth, and the sea, and 
 all things that are therein," Acts xiv, 15 ; xvii, 29. 
 
 The laying on of hands confessed sinfulness in the offerer, 
 and desired that it might be transferred to the victim. The 
 sla3dng of the animal that was sacrificed, gave an instance 
 or example of that death which had been denounced as the 
 consequence of man's disobedience. It exhibited an awful 
 lesson of death, which is the wages of sin, and at the same ■ 
 time represented that death which was actually to be un- 
 dergone by the Redeemer of mankind. Hereby were shown 
 at once the two great events in the history of man, the fall 
 and the recovery — the death denounced against sin, and 
 the death appointed for that Holy One who was to lay down 
 his life to deliver man from the consequences of sin. Thus 
 the appointment of the sacrifice of animals seems to have 
 been a very significant rite ; it contained in effect all the 
 main facts of religious knowledge. And to adopt this rite 
 with sincere and pious feelings, implied an humble sense of 
 the unworthiness of the person who made the offering ; also 
 7 
 
146 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 it was a confession that the death mflicted on the victim 
 was deserved, by the sin that had proceeded from man's 
 transgression ; it also showed a full reliance upon the 
 promises of deliverance made after the fall. 
 
 Doubtless some particulars of the death or sacrifice of 
 Christ were made known from the time when the Redeemer 
 was promised, Gen. iii, 15 ; but, as this is not expressly- 
 stated in the Bible, it is suflScient for us to understand, that 
 the sacrifice of animals was enjoined as a mark, or proof, 
 that the offerer believed in the promised redemption, or 
 way of salvation, although without having a precise know- 
 ledge how it was to be accomplished. 
 
 We may now proceed to notice what is related as to the 
 offering of Cain and Abel, Gen. iv ; — why Abel's oflfering 
 was accepted and Cain's rejected. Abel, firmly relying on 
 the promise of God, and obeying the Divine command, 
 sacrificed some of his lambs or kids, which he had been 
 taught was a rite that expressed his faith in a promised 
 Saviour. Cain either cared not for this gracious promise, 
 or was unwilling to adopt the method appointed for show- 
 ing his behef of it. It is right to thank God for the daily 
 mercies we receive. It is our duty and our privilege to 
 bless God for our creation, preservation, and all the bless- 
 ings of this life ; but, above all, for his inestimable love in 
 the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ ; for 
 the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And when 
 we think that general thankfulness is enough, or that our 
 good actions are such as will procure for us forgiveness of 
 our bad acts, we are very hke Cain, when he thought that 
 the fruits he had raised were a sufficient sacrifice and offer- 
 ing to God. 
 
 Here the account of the meaning and of the origin of 
 sacrifices may be closed. It is a most important subject ; 
 for all religious worship is, and ever has been, founded on 
 that all-important truth which is pointed out by it, the 
 necessity of an atonement by Him who is the great Offer- 
 ing. These particulars were necessary to show the reason 
 for the religious observances described in the following 
 pages. 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 147 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 SACRIFICES UNDER THE PATRIARCHAL DISPENSATION. 
 PLACES FOR SACRIFICES. 
 
 The sacrifices mentioned under the patriarchal dispensation 
 are, the whole bumt-ofFering, the thank-offering, and the 
 sacrifice by which covenants were confirmed. An instance 
 of one of each of these will be found, on referring to Gen. 
 viii, 20; xxxi, 54; xv, 9-17. By the account respecting 
 the sacrifices of Cain and Abel, the latter being accepted 
 while the former was rejected, we must infer that laws oi 
 rules had been given respecting such sacrifices, the want of 
 the due observ^ance of which caused the offering of Cain to 
 be refused. But few or no particulars are given of the 
 ceremonies with which these sacrifices were offered. For 
 the burnt-offering, the patriarchs raised an altar, or heap 
 of stones or earth, on which wood was piled, Gen. xxii, 9. 
 The animal being killed, probably its skin was taken off, 
 the carcass laid upon the wood, and a fire kindled, by which 
 the animal was consumed. Or the animal, if a lamb, may 
 have been bound, laid upon the wood, and then killed. In 
 the thank-offering, a part only of the offering would be 
 consumed ; the rest was eaten by those present, as when 
 Jacob and Laban covenanted together, and were reconciled, 
 Gen. xxxi. We read in the margin of verse 54, that they 
 killed beasts and ate bread together ; thus their meal doubt- 
 less was a feast upon a sacrifice. The heap of stones then 
 raised to commemorate the event might serve as an altar. 
 The offering upon the confirmation of a covenant is de- 
 scribed more fully in Gen. xv, 9, 10. A heifer and a ram 
 were divided, and the pieces laid apart, but opposite to 
 each other. A similar sacrifice is mentioned, Jer. xxxiv, 
 18, 19. In that case, the parties who covenanted, or agreed 
 together, passed between the pieces of the sacrifice. By 
 this ceremony was denoted, that if either of them broke the 
 covenant, they might expect in like manner to be cut asim- 
 der by Divine justice. Such appears to have been the view 
 taken by the Jews, and by the heathens among whom this 
 sort of sacrifice was common. And in the account of Abra- 
 
148 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 ham*s sacrifice, (verse IV,) we find that a " smoking furnace 
 and a lamp of fire" passed between the divided carcasses, 
 as a testimony that the Lord accepted the sacrifice, and 
 confirmed the covenant. It is very probable that, in this 
 instance and in some others, the offerings were consumed 
 by fire from heaven, as a token that they were accepted ; 
 though that such was not usually the case, appears from 
 Abraham's carrying fire with him, when preparing to sacri- 
 fice his son. In the offering described Gen. xv, 9, each 
 sort of animal is mentioned that was afterwards directed 
 by the law of Moses to be used in sacrifices. Lev. i, 3, 
 10, 14. 
 
 The distinction between clean and unclean beasts before 
 the flood (see Gen. vii. 2,) has been noticed as a proof that 
 a revelation had been made respecting an appointed pubhc 
 worship, which is confirmed by the account of Noah sacri- 
 ficing immediately after the flood, without any new direc- 
 tion : see Gen. viii, 20. The statement that Abraham kept 
 the charge, commandments, statutes, and laws of the Lord, 
 (Gen. xxvi, 5,) may also have reference to this subject ; for 
 the word rendered " statutes," afterwards is applied to the 
 rules, decrees, and ordinances about God's worship. Al- 
 though there is not a particular account of any ceremonies 
 with which the patriarchs accompanied these offerings, it is 
 very plain that they were seasons of prayer and thanks- 
 giving. And if, as already noticed, there is reason to believe 
 that the patriarchs had some idea of the nature of the Great 
 Atonement prefigured by these actions, we cannot doubt 
 but that they called upon the name of the Lord with a 
 lively faith upon these occasions, looking for the promised 
 Saviour, and for the better country, the heavenly inheritance 
 God had prepared for them. 
 
 A very minute and particular account is given in Levi- 
 ticus, of the rites and ceremonies with which the sacrifices 
 were offered under the second, or Mosaic dispensation. 
 These will be noticed when we describe the tabernacle and 
 temple services. Hitherto we have spoken of the nature 
 and design of the sacrifices. We have seen that they 
 distinctly had reference to the promised Saviour, and thus 
 the first two dispensations had the very same object in 
 view as the third ; all true religion has been the very same, 
 in its object and leading principles, from the time when our 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 149 
 
 first parents were sent out from Eden, to the present day. 
 It is necessary to state this great truth clearly, that it may 
 not be supposed there has been any change in true religion. 
 In fact, there cannot have been any such thing as a new 
 true religion. The promise directly after the fall declared 
 the Messiah, who was to destroy the power of Satan, Gen. 
 iii, 15. The Lord Jesus Christ was the Saviour promised 
 from the beginning ; he is expressly called, " The Lamb 
 slain from the foundation of the world," Rev. xiii, 8 ; 
 1 Pet. i, 19, 20. Believers were chosen in him before the 
 foundation of the world, Eph. i, 4. Jesus Christ is "the 
 same yesterday, and to-day, and forever," Heb. xiii, 8 ; 
 " the First and the Last," Rev. i, 17. The heathen used to 
 choose new gods for themselves, and they do so at the 
 present day ; but the patriarch, the ancient Jew, and the 
 Christian of every age, have had but one common religion, 
 although in rites and ceremonies they have been permitted, 
 and even directed, to differ from each other. 
 
 Thus the bloody sacrifices, that is, offerings in which 
 there was the shedding of blood, were made for the ac- 
 knowledgments of guilt ; and presented evidence of belief in 
 the pardon of sin, through a great atonement, or sacrifice, 
 of which these were emblems or types. Among the Isra- 
 elites, only what were called clean beasts or birds were 
 offered ; among the heathen, other animals were also sacri- 
 ficed, even those which the Israelites were especially di- 
 rected to consider abominations, defiling whatever they 
 touched. 
 
 The bloodless sacrifices, or meat-offerings, were solely 
 from the fruits of the earth. Here it will be well to re- 
 mark, that the word "meat," as used m the English Bible, 
 almost always means food in general, or anything that is to 
 be eaten, not, as we now often understand it, only animal 
 food or flesh-meat. These meat-offerings were sometimes 
 wholly consumed upon the altar ; then they were also 
 reckoned as burnt-offerings. 
 
 Drink-offerings were of wine, and only used with 
 other sacrifices, part being poured over the victim, or any 
 other substance which was offered. 
 
 Those offerings which were not wholly burned, are to 
 be considered as expressing thankfulness to God for 
 mercies, rather than to represent or typify the Saviour, 
 
150 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 the great sin-ofFering for the sins of the world ; and fur- 
 ther details respecting them need not be entered into in 
 this place. 
 
 Thus the sacrifices, instituted from the fall of man, were 
 intended continually to represent the Saviour as the Great 
 Atonement for sin, and the Way of salvation, before he 
 came upon earth. Since his death, the sacrifices have been 
 done away, as is clearly stated in the Epistle to the He- 
 brews. The record of Christ, given in the New Testament, 
 is so full and clear, that we do not need to have emblem- 
 atical representations continually presented now, to remind 
 us of his sufferings, their design, and of what they have 
 accomplished. The spiritual sacrifice of prayers and praises, 
 are what we are directed to offer under the Christian dis- 
 pensation. But it would be wrong to suppose that this 
 SPIRITUAL WORSHIP was Icss ncccssary, or less in use, un- 
 der the patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations, than it is 
 now. The sacrifices offered by the friends of Job, were to 
 be accompanied by the prayers of the patriarchs for them. 
 Job xhi, 8-10. Divine worship always has been the same 
 in these respects ; it includes prayer for mercies needed, 
 praise for mercies received. 
 
 As every action of our lives calls for prayer and praise, 
 so there is no place in which this spiritual worship may not 
 be offered up. The apostle desired that men should pray 
 everywhere, 1 Tim. ii, 8. Solomon, even when dedicating 
 the temple as a special house of prayer for Israel, spoke of 
 their praying elsewhere, 1 Kings viii, 38, 47, 48. Mala- 
 chi (i, 11) speaks of incense, as a figurative expression for 
 prayer, being ofiered in every place. Manasseh prayed in 
 his dungeon, 2 Chron. xxxiii, 12 ; and Jeremiah also. Lam. 
 iii, 55, 56 ; Jonah (ii, 1) in the whale's belly; the penitent 
 thief upon the cross, Luke xxiii, 42 ; Paul and the Syrian 
 Christians on the seashore. Acts xx, 36. And as to 
 praises, we find that Paul and Silas, at midnight, prayed 
 and sang praises to God, not only in the inner prison, but 
 with their feet fast in the stocks. Acts xvi, 24, 25. The 
 example of Nehemiah must not be forgotten ; he prayed 
 while waiting upon the king of Persia at dinner, and his 
 prayer was heard and answered, Neh. ii, 4. 
 
 There are many other instances found in the Bible ; but 
 these are enough, especially when we refer to the example 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 151 
 
 of our blessed Lord- himself, who, though he often went up 
 to the temple, yet still more frequently, — 
 
 " Cold mountains, and the midnight air, 
 Witness'd the fervor of his prayer." 
 
 Nathanael seems to have found a place under a fig-tree, 
 (John i, 48,) where no one could behold him but that Eye 
 which sees all things. 
 
 As to places for prayer in ancient times, Daniel (vi, 10) 
 prayed in his chamber, having the windows open toward 
 Jerusalem. The disciples, after our Lord's ascension, re- 
 sorted to an upper room, where they continued in prayer 
 and supplication. Acts i, 13, 14. Peter prayed on the 
 house-top, Acts x, 9. There were buildings for prayer, 
 which will be noticed hereafter. It is clearly shown in the 
 Bible, that, from the beginning, places have been appro- 
 priated or set apart for solemn public, as well as for private 
 prayer and other worship. The patriarchs, after the flood, 
 placed altars for oJBFerings upon mountains, and in groves, 
 and worshiped by their altars ; and we may conclude that 
 the same was done by those who lived before the flood. 
 Noah built an altar to the Lord, Gen. viii, 20 ; Abraham 
 built altars wherever he pitched his tent for any length of 
 time. Gen. xii, 8 ; xiii, 4 ; xxi, 33. He planted a grove in 
 Beersheba, and there called upon the name of the Lord. 
 From the manner in which the offering of Isaac was di- 
 rected, (Gen. xxii, 2,) it appears, that then, as afterward, 
 mountains were sometimes resorted to for worship. Jacob 
 called a place by the name of Bethel, or God's house, 
 where he vowed to give to the Lord the tenth of the sub- 
 stance he might acquire. Gen xxviii, 22 ; and xxxv, 1 ; af- 
 terward, when he had forgotten or neglected to do as he 
 vowed, the Lord reminded him of his engagement, and di- 
 rected him to go to Bethel, to dwell there, and to make an 
 altar there. These places were in reality similar to the 
 houses of God, as the buildings for ^vine worship, under 
 the other dispensations, have been called. 
 
 It is evident, that the seclusion of a mountain or a grove 
 is favorable for calling off the thoughts from the world and 
 worldly objects, which is so necessary when man communes 
 with his Maker ; but the depraved heart of man, under the 
 influence of Satan, continually perverts iox evil that which 
 
152 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 has originally been directed for good. Even the idolatrous 
 and heathen sacrifices were founded upon the great principle 
 for religious worship, impressed on the mind of man, and de- 
 clared by the apostle Paul, " that they should seek the Lord, 
 if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though 
 he be not far from every one of us," Acts xvii, 27 ; but 
 wicked and abominable ceremonies were connected with 
 many of these rites, and the concealment afforded by a thick 
 grove was favorable for the proceedings of those who changed 
 the truth of God into a lie. We therefore find, that in the 
 second dispensation, when God appointed a house or build- 
 ing for the ceremonial worship he then instituted, it was to 
 be in the most public, open, and crowded place of resort. 
 From that time the groves were strictly forbidden to be 
 used as places for religious worship, and the Israelites were 
 ordered to destroy them, Exod. xxxiv, 13 ; Deut. xii, 3. 
 It has been said that God would have no groves or thick- 
 ets about his altar, that there might be no room for suspi- 
 cion that anything improper was transacted there. Every 
 part of the divine worship was publicly performed. And 
 repeatedly, when mention is made of idolatrous practices, 
 or the removal of idolatrous abominations, we find they 
 were connected with groves. Thus, Gideon cut down a 
 grove that was by the altar of Baal, Judg. vi, 25. Asa, 
 Hezekiah, and Josiah, also cut down the groves; and 
 Ahab's making a grove is connected with his doing more to 
 provoke the Lord God, than all the kings of Israel that 
 were before him, 2 Ejngs xviii, 4; xxiii, 14; 2 Chron. 
 xiv, 3. There are other passages, both in the history of 
 the kings, and in the prophets, which speak of the groves. 
 In some places, the word may mean the images of some of 
 the false gods or goddesses ; but as these were usually 
 worshiped in groves, the distinction need not be gone into. 
 We learn from hence how expressly the Israelites were 
 commanded to avoid whatever had become an occasion of 
 evil, although at first it might have been connected with 
 what was good. 
 
 The heathen temples were often surrounded by these 
 thick groves. At Daphne, near to Antioch, in Syria, was 
 a magnificent temple in honor of Apollo. The temple and 
 the adjacent buildings were enveloped in a wood of laurels 
 and cypresses, which formed a thick ever-verdant grove. 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 163 
 
 impenetrable to the rays of the sun, and covering an ex- 
 tent of ten miles in circumference. Herodotus describes the 
 temple of Mercury, at Bubastis, in Egypt, as surrounded by 
 a grove of large trees, the tops " reaching up to heaven." 
 
 The Jewish altars, under the second dispensation, some- 
 times were set up on hills and high places ; but these were 
 altars erected to the Lord in other spots than that espe- 
 cially appointed for the tabernacle and temple. We find 
 Elijah, in 1 Kings xviii, 30, repairing the altar of the Lord 
 in Mount Carmel, when he had that memorable trial with 
 the priests of Baal, which clearly showed the Israelites the 
 difference between an idol and the most high God. This 
 altar, it is supposed, had been erected in the time of the 
 Judges ; and it is remarkable, that two Roman historians 
 mention that Vespasian, the Roman emperor, went to an 
 altar on Mount Carmel, venerable for its antiquity, where 
 there was neither temple nor statue. At that time the 
 altar was used by a heathen priest ; but it probably was on 
 the same spot as the one repaired by Elijah ; perhaps the 
 same pile of stones ; and the remembrance of the wondrous 
 manifestations made at that time, had prevented the erection 
 of an idol near it. 
 
 It was unlawful to offer sacrifices in high places, after 
 God fixed upon a place for his worship, Deut. xii, 2-15. 
 The persisting in so doing is mentioned among the sins of 
 the people, 2 Kings xv, 35 ; though, before that time, there 
 are repeated instances of the prophets and other good men 
 offering sacrifice in high places and elsewhere. Thus Saul 
 found Samuel going up to the high place of the city where 
 he dwelt, 1 Sam. ix, 14. The tabernacle itself was removed 
 to the high place which was in Gibeon, 1 Chron. xxi, 29. 
 It is explained, however, that David's offering sacrifice at 
 the threshing-floor of Oman, w^s in consequence of the 
 pressure of the danger not allowing him to repair to Gibeon ; 
 and also because the Lord answered him there, and ex- 
 pressly commanded him to erect an altar in that place, 
 1 Chron, xxi, 18, 28-30. The sacrifice of Elijah at Carmel 
 is sufficiently accounted for from the pressing circumstances 
 of the case. After the temple had been erected, there are 
 repeated instances of the kings and people, both of Israel 
 and Judah, engaging in idolatrous worship, for which 
 {1 Kings xiv, 23) they built liigh places; these probably 
 
154 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 were lofty buildings, rather than erections upon hills, though 
 we read (2 Chron. xxi, 11) of Jehoram making high places 
 in the mountains of Judah. 
 
 It has been stated, that the law given by Moses forbade 
 the offering sacrifices in any other place but the temple. 
 In the history of Asa, his allowing the high places to re- 
 main is blamed, (2 Chron. xv, 17,) though there is no reason 
 to suppose he sanctioned idolatry. But there was no law 
 against the use of high places for prayer and spiritual wor- 
 ship. Again, let it be observed, that before the temple 
 was erected, and the place the Lord should choose (Josh, 
 ix, 27) finally pointed out, there are many instances of 
 sacrifices being offered and accepted in other places besides 
 the tabernacle : thus Gideon and Manoah, Judg. vi, 26, and 
 xiii, 19 ; and Samuel went to Bethlehem to sacrifice, when 
 he anointed David, 1 Sam. xvi, 5. But when Jeroboam re- 
 volted from Rehoboam, and began rites of worship which 
 soon became wholly idolatrous, if they were not so at the ' 
 very first, he made a house of high places, (1 Kings xii, 31,) 
 and his doing so is blamed. The temple had then been 
 built. 
 
 Here may be mentioned, that the stupendous pile called 
 Stonehenge, in Wiltshire, England, is thought to have been 
 one of these " high places," where lofty piles of stones were 
 erected for the purposes of sacrifice. Such erections, 
 doubtless, have been in use from the days of the patriarchs. 
 The altar erected by Moses imder Mount Sinai, with the 
 twelve pillars, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, 
 (Exod. xxiv, 4) would be like one of the erections which 
 are called cromlechs, or stone circles, by antiquaries, as to 
 general resemblance ; but the purposes for which it was de- 
 signed were very different. That altar was for burnt-offer- 
 ings to the Lord Jehovah, and may be considered as uniting 
 the patriarchal sacrifices%vith those of the second dispen- 
 sation, just then about to be established, and the pillars were 
 in remembrance of the twelve tribes ; but there is no doubt 
 that the heathen cromlechs were dedicated to the worship 
 of Baal, or of the serpent, which, in fact, was the worship 
 of Satan ! 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 155 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 THE JEWISH NATION— ITS RITUAL AND WORSHIP. 
 
 The state of the world at the close of the patriarchal dis- 
 pensation had become very wicked. Idolatry prevailed in 
 almost every part, and among every people, excepting the 
 family of Abraham. The Egyptians were the wisest and 
 most celebrated nation, the Assyrians the first powerful 
 empire, the Canaanites the most warlike nation, and the 
 Phoenicians more engaged in commerce and foreign trade 
 than any other people : but all these were corrupted by ab- 
 surd and impious idolatries. In mercy to mankind, God at 
 this period selected the family of Abraham, and caused it to 
 multiply into a nation, among whom the worship of the true 
 God should be preserved ; whose history should exhibit an 
 example of the Divine Providence continually superintend- 
 ing their conduct ; and through whom the blessed tidings 
 of the promised Saviour should be made known to all the 
 earth. Gen. xii, 1-3. For this people, so chosen, a code of 
 laws was prepared, which in every part had reference to the 
 only and true God, who made himself known to them as 
 Jehovah ! a name signifying self-existence, eternity, and al- 
 mighty power. 
 
 The tabernacle first, and afterwards the temple, were 
 emblematical parts of this peculiar system. That building 
 was not to be deemed a dwelling-place for an earthly 
 monarch, but as a royal mansion, erected for their God and 
 King, in which he was considered to take up his abode, as 
 a supreme and almighty Governor among his subjects. To 
 this place the people might always have recourse, to receive 
 his commands, to offer their petitions, and to learn his will, 
 while peculiar manifestations of his august presence were 
 visibly made there. The sanctuary was, in consequence, 
 splendidly furnished, and a numerous retinue of servants 
 and ministers were always in attendance. Hence many of 
 the peculiar rites and ceremonies under the Jewish dispen- 
 sation ; and the express directions that the ritual worship of 
 the Jewish Church should be offered nowhere but at the 
 holy place. We must not, however, for a moment, suppose 
 
156 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 that the High and Lofty One, who inhabiteth all space, 
 dwelt really, or, as it is expressed, hodily, in this habitation, 
 Acts vii, 48 ; xvii, 24 ; though, it is true, he there gave a 
 more visible manifestation of his presence than is now ex- 
 hibited on earth. 
 
 In the tabernacle and the temple, a part of the sacred 
 building was partitioned off. In this inner place was seen 
 a bright shining cloud, which the Jews called the sheki- 
 nah, the symbol of Divine presence. It appeared as if 
 resting between two figures, or angelic representations, 
 called cherubim, upon the top of an ark or chest, called 
 the mercy-seat, (Exod. xl, 34-38, and 2 Chron. vii, 1, 2,) 
 and at times it filled all the sanctuary. These holy places, 
 and their furniture, were figurative representations of hea- 
 ven, of Christ, and of the worship of the Church ; the be- 
 lieving Israelites were thus reminded continually of the 
 peculiar dispensation under which they lived, having the 
 presence of their Lord and God among them, in a symbolical 
 representation, in a manner very different from what was 
 the case with any other nation. Some writers have said, 
 that many parts of the Jewish rites and ceremonies, and 
 even the form of the tabernacle, were copied from similar 
 things among the Egyptians. But Witsius has fully shown, 
 that not the least reliance can be placed on any statements 
 of this kind ; and that the Jewish ritual, with all its ceremo- 
 nies, and restraints as to food, was very strongly contrasted 
 to the gross inventions of idolatry. It more opposed hea- 
 thenism, and marked the peculiar state of the Jewish peo- 
 ple more decidedly, than the simple and purely spiritual 
 worship, which was also taught them, would alone have 
 done. Thus Josephus says, that all their actions and stu- 
 dies, and all their words, according to the law of Moses, 
 taught the Jews religious or pious feelings towards God ; 
 for he had left nothing of this nature undetermined. It is 
 impossible here to go at any great length into this subject ; 
 and the English reader may refer to Lowman and Dean 
 Graves ; they say quite enough to silence the cavils of those 
 who think that the Jewish ritual, so expressly directed by 
 the holy Lord God, could in any respect be derived from 
 the vile human inventions of idolatry, though these in 
 many cases were imitations of parts of the patriarchal and 
 Mosaic institutions. 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 157 
 
 Here, then, we arrive at the conclusion that the Jewish 
 WORSHIP was twofold. 
 
 1. There was a ritual worship, in which they recognized 
 God's peculiar dealings with them as a nation, and by a 
 number of rites and ceremonies, testified their sense of his 
 favors : while these rites continually pointed the attention 
 of the worshiper to the promises of that great Saviour 
 who should come among them at the appointed time. 
 This was the tabernacle, or temple worship, with the sacri- 
 fices and offerings ; and every ceremony connected there- 
 with gave some useful instruction, or would help to guard 
 against idolatry, while it prepared for the more perfect and 
 spiritual state of religion under the Messiah. 
 
 2. There was a personal, family, and congregational 
 spiritual worship, in which the believer, both in private 
 and public, offered prayer and praise. The synagogue 
 worship belonged to this class ; it resembled the worship 
 of the Christian dispensation, which spiritual worship has 
 continued, while the temple worship, with its ceremonies 
 and offerings, has been done away by the coming of 
 Christ ; that is, by the fulfillment, or coming to pass, of the 
 events those ceremonies represented or shadowed forth. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE TABERNACLE, -AND THE ARTICLES THEREIN. 
 
 The tabernacle was the only place where the public ritual 
 of Jewish national worship was to be celebrated. The di- 
 rections how it was to be constructed were given by the 
 Lord to Moses, Exod. xxvi. This place is mentioned under 
 different names in the Old Testament. It is called a tent, 
 a habitation, a sanctuary, a house, the dwelling-place of 
 Jehovah's glory, Jehovah's tent, and the tent of the con- 
 gregation, and sometimes the palace, although these names 
 are not always preserved distinctly in our English version. 
 There was another tabernacle erected a short time before, 
 (see Exod. xxxiii, Y,) called the tabernacle of the congrega- 
 tion, probably a large tent, where Moses transacted public 
 business. 
 
158 
 
 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 PUTTING UP OF THE TABERNACLE. 
 
 The engraving shows the appearance of the tabernacle 
 as it may properly be called, which it will be seen was 
 a movable place of worship, that could be taken to pieces, 
 and carried from place to place. The reader will find an 
 account of the tabernacle, and the articles it contained, in 
 Exodus XX to XXX, and xxxvi to xl. 
 
 The outer inclosure was the court of the tabernacle, 
 about 150 feet long and 75 feet broad. This was sur- 
 rounded on all sides with linen curtains, hanging from silver 
 rods, which extended from one column to another. On the 
 east and west sides were ten columns, twenty on the north, 
 and as many on the south. These columns were of shittim- 
 wood, a sort of acacia ; or some thmk it was cedar. Each 
 post was fixed in a socket, or large piece of brass. Near 
 the top of the columns silver hooks were fixed, on which 
 the curtain rods rested. The entrance was on the east. A 
 curtain, or piece of tapestiy, richly wrought with blue, pur- 
 ple, and scarlet, hung on the four middle columns of that 
 side, which was drawn up, and thus left three entrances 
 adjoining each other. 
 
 The tabernacle or tent was placed about the middle of 
 the western side of the court. It was an oblong square, 
 about 54 feet long from west to east, and 18 feet from north 
 to south. The walls or sides were formed of forty-eight 
 wooden planks of shittim-wood, each rather more than two 
 feet and a half broad, and 18 feet long. Twenty of these 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 
 
 159 
 
 THE COURT OF THE TABERNACLE. 
 
 boards formed the north side ; as many were used for the 
 south ; and six on the west ; an additional board being 
 placed at each western corner. The planks were covered 
 with plates of gold, their ends were fixed by mortices and 
 tenons, in blocks of silver, weighing about one hundred 
 pounds weight, two to each board ; bars covered with gold 
 extended along each side, to unite the whole firmly toge- 
 ther. The eastern end was left for the entrance, and 
 was closed by a curtain of worked linen cloth, hanging 
 from silver rods, which rested upon five columns covered 
 with gold. The roof, some think, was a frame of wood 
 resting upon the upright planks, and over this were four 
 coverings of different materials made up in several curtains, 
 joined together by loops and couplings. Others consider 
 that the coverings formed the only roofing. The under- 
 most was of fine twined linen : it hung down to about two 
 feet from the earth, and had figures of the cherubim 
 wrought upon it with blue, purple, and scarlet. The next 
 covering was of goats' hair, woven into a sort of cloth ; 
 the third was a covering of rams' skins dyed red ; the 
 fourth of what is called in our translation badgers' skins ; 
 but what animal is meant is not certain. The three outer 
 coverings reached to the ground. The tabernacle was 
 divided into two unequal parts ; the first occupied about 
 
160 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 iwo-thirds of the length, or nearly 35 feet. This was 
 called the Holy Place, or the First Tabernacle, Heb. ix, 2. 
 The inner apartment was only half the length ; it was 
 separated from the outer by a wrought curtain or veil, and 
 was called the Most Holy Place. The height of each 
 apartment was the length of the planks, or 18 feet. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE FURNITUKE AND UTENSILS OF THE TABERNACLE. 
 
 About the middle of the outer court was the altar for 
 burnt-offerings. It was a sort of coffer or chest, made of 
 shittim-wood, nearly five feet and a half in height, and nine 
 feet in length and breadth. It rested on four short feet of 
 brass, which were hollow, and through which the blood of 
 the victim flowed out. The sides were covered with brass; 
 the inner space, it is supposed, was filled with earth, on 
 which the fire was kindled upon a grate of brass : see Exod. 
 xxxviii, 1-Y. The four comers of the altar projected up- 
 wards, so as to resemble Horns, 1 Kings ii, 28 ; Psalm 
 cxviii, 27. To these the victims were bound ; and criminals, as 
 in the cases of Joab and Adonijah, caught hold of them. 
 These horns, however, were not considered as protecting a 
 heinous criminal. At the four comers were rings, through 
 which were put the poles used for carrying the altar. On 
 the south side was an ascent to the altar, (Lev. ix, 22,) made 
 of earth heaped up. 
 
 There were various articles for the use of the altar, as 
 pots or ums to take away the ashes, shovels, basins, flesh- 
 hooks, and fire-pans : all these were made of brass : see 
 Exod. xxxviii, 1-7. The fire upon this altar was miracu- 
 lously kindled, and was kept perpetually burning. Lev. ix, 24 ; 
 vi, 12, 13. This fire is considered to have been emblemati- 
 cal of the wrath of God against sin, Heb. xii, 29 ; Isa. 
 xxxiii, 14. The Spirit of God also is compared to fire, 
 Matt, iii, 1 1 ; Isa. iv, 4 ; and his influences are a sacred fire 
 that never goes oiit. The Divine word and ordinances also 
 are likened to fire, Jer. xxiii, 29 ; and we read of fiery trials 
 and afflictions, 1 Pet. iv, 12. 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 161 
 
 Between the altar and the tabernacle was placed a laver, 
 or large basin, with an ornamented stand or foot, in which 
 the priests washed their hands and feet, when about to per- 
 form their duties. It was made of brass, of the looking- 
 glasses of the women who assembled at the door of the 
 tabernacle, Exod. xxxviii, 8. This description has puzzled 
 many modern readers ; but it means that the laver was 
 formed of the brazen mirrors used by the women. At that 
 time glass was not in use, and it would not be "suitable for 
 making such a basin. In ancient times the women had 
 small plates, or flat pieces of metal, very highly polished, 
 which showed the face nearly as well as our present look- 
 ing-glasses. These they usually earned about with them. 
 The Greek version adds, that the women here mentioned 
 were fasting at the doors of the tabernacle, on the day when 
 it was first set up. 
 
 The tabernacle had no windows, but there was a large 
 candlestick or candelabra, (represented in the cut page 7,) 
 the main pillar of which was five feet high, according to 
 Jewish writers. It had six branches ; and at the end of 
 each, and at the top of the main stem, was a lamp. All 
 the seven lights were kept constantly burning in the night ; 
 but, according to Josephus, only three in the daytime ; and, 
 from Exod. xxx, 8, it appears that a part, if not the whole, 
 were lighted in the evening. In the morning, a priest put 
 the lamps in order, with the gold snuffers made for that 
 purpose, and removed the snuff and dregs in a golden ves- 
 sel. He then filled the lamps with the purest olive-oil, 
 such as ran easily from the fruit when bruised, without be- 
 ing pressed. The candlestick, with the articles belonging 
 to it, weighed a talent, or one hundred and twenty-five 
 pounds, and was made of pure gold, very beautifully wrought 
 with buds and flowers, and various ornaments. 
 
 In the holy place, also, was a table of shittim-wood, 
 about three feet and a half in length, twenty inches broad, 
 and thirty in height, covered with plates of gold, and orna- 
 mented with a border of wrought gold. There was an orna- 
 mented cornice or border round about, to keep the frame- 
 work steady ; also golden rings for the staves to carry it. 
 Upon this table were placed twelve unleavened loaves, each 
 containing about ten pints of fine flour, which were changed 
 for fresh loaves every week. These loaves, called the shew- 
 
162 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 bread, were arranged in two piles, sprinkled with frankin- 
 cense and salt. The name given in the original literally 
 means, " bread of the face," because it was placed before 
 the face or presence of Jehovah. Also, it is called the 
 bread arranged in order, and the perpetual bread : see Lev. 
 xxiv, 6, 7 ; 1 Chron. xxiii, 29. Wine was placed upon the 
 table in bowls or cups, called vials ; and there were dishes, 
 and spoons, and covers, all of gold. 
 
 A small .altar for incense was placed near the veil which 
 divided the apartments. This was made of shittim-wood, 
 twenty-one inches in length and breadth, and three feet and 
 a half in height. It was ornamented and plated with gold ; 
 hence it was called the golden altar, to distinguish it from 
 the brazen altar in the outer court. It had an ornamented 
 border, and rings for the staves by which it was carried. 
 On this altar incense was burned every morning and even- 
 ing. The incense was a compomid of drugs, mentioned 
 Exod. XXX, 34-38, and when burned made a sweet per- 
 fume. No other perfume might be used in the sanctuary ; 
 nor was this composition to be used for any common pur- 
 poses. The incense was typical of Christ's intercession, and 
 of prayer : thus the golden altar was a type of Christ in 
 regard to his intercession, see Rev. viii, 3 ; as the altar of 
 burnt-offering was a type of Christ in regard to the other 
 part of his priestly office, his oblation or satisfaction. 
 
 The inner apartment, called the Holy of Holies, did not 
 contain many articles. There was deposited the ark of the 
 covenant, a chest of shittim-wood, rather more than thirty 
 inches in breadth, the same in depth, and three feet and a 
 half in length. It was covered with the purest gold, with 
 an ornamented border on the top ; on each side were two 
 gold rings for the staves by which it was carried, and which 
 remained in them. The ends of these staves were drawn 
 out so far as to touch the veil which separated the apart- 
 ments. The lid of the ark was of pure gold, ornamented 
 with two figures of cherubim, so placed that their faces 
 turned towards each other, and looked downwards towards 
 the ark. Their form cannot now be ascertained, but it is 
 supposed to have been something like the representation 
 usually given. The wings were spread to form a sort of 
 seat ; hence the lid was called the mercy-seat, and might be 
 considered as a throne, on which the Shekinah, or Divine 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 163 
 
 presence, rested, while the ark itself formed, as it were, the 
 footstool. There was nothing in the ark but the tables of 
 stone on which the ten commandments were engraven. By 
 the ark stood a vase of gold, which contained some manna, 
 also the rod of Aaron which budded, and a copy of the 
 books of Moses containing the law. Or, the manna and the 
 rod may have been in the ark when placed by Moses in the 
 tabernacle ; but these articles do not appear to have been 
 therein when it was placed in the temple. Perhaps they 
 had been taken away while the ark was in the hands of the 
 Philistines, or at some other time during the period of con- 
 fusion and disorder recorded in the books of Judges and 
 1 Samuel. Either of these views explains the apparent 
 difference between Heb. ix, 4, and 2 Chron. v, 10. 
 
 Thus the tabernacle gave the idea of a noble residence, 
 and the various articles in it may be considered as the requi- 
 site articles of furniture ; and the whole was intended to 
 convey to the nation the idea of their Ruler residing con- 
 tinually among them. But these were only the examples 
 and shadows of heavenly things ; and the sight of them 
 profited not, unless the beholder looked beyond them, con- 
 sidering what they signified. They are expressly spoken 
 of as being " the patterns of things in the heavens," Heb. 
 ix, 23 : each article has been considered as having reference 
 to some spiritual object ; but too many fanciful applications 
 have been made ; the minute discussion of the subject of 
 Scriptural types requires much sobriety of judgment. Ma- 
 ther, Worden, and M'Laurin have written expressly on these 
 subjects. 
 
 The materials for this tabernacle and its contents were 
 provided by the people, who offered according to their re- 
 spective abilities, and worked for it in various ways. So 
 ready were they on this occasion, that Moses found it ne- 
 cessary to give public notice that enough was provided, and 
 that no more articles should be brought, Exod. xxxvi, 6. 
 The extent of these offerings will appear, when it is stated, 
 that learned men compute that the value of the metals 
 alone, the weight of which is recorded Exod. xxxviii, 24-29, 
 would amount to upwards of $1,000,000 of our money. 
 The articles given by the Egyptians to the Israelites when 
 leaving their land, and those taken from the Amalekites, 
 probably supplied a large portion of these oflferings. The 
 
164 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 readiness of the Israelites shows, that when God the Holy 
 Spirit puts his grace into the heart, the hands will be dili- 
 gently employed in the Divine service. The chief directors 
 of the work were Bezaleel of the tribe of Judah, and Aho- 
 liab of the tribe of Dan. It is expressly said that they 
 were Divinely instructed for this purpose, Exod. xxxv, 
 31-35. Thus, when God requires any particular services 
 to be done, he will find out or make persons fit and able to 
 perform them. And the women, who spun the goats' hair 
 for this work, are said to be wise-hearted, as well as the 
 skillful jewelers and goldsmiths who executed the most 
 difficult articles. Surely this is encouragement for all to 
 unite in the work of God, believing that a man is accepted 
 therein according to the ability he may possess. 
 
 A particular account of the setting up and consecrating 
 the tabernacle is given in Exod. xl. There we read (verse 
 34) that the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. This 
 was the Shekinah, or manifestation of the Divine presence ; 
 so called from a Hebrew word, which signifies to inhabit or 
 dwell. God had directed that the tabernacle or sanctuary 
 should be made, that he might dwell among the people, 
 Exod. XXV, 8. From various passages in Scripture, the 
 Shekinah appears to have been, as Josephus describes it, 
 the visible form of a flame, most hkely very shining and 
 glorious. Whether or not it was constantly visible in the 
 tabernacle and temple, there is no distinct account ; but its 
 entrance into the temple is expressly stated, 1 Kings viii, 
 10, 11, and its departure seems to be spoken of in Ezek. 
 x, 18, and xi, 23. The Jewish writers relate that it never 
 appeared in the second temple. Its absence from that 
 temple where the Son of God himself appeared in human 
 flesh, is a proof that the Shekinah was a figurative or pro- 
 phetical representation, that the promised Messiah should 
 appear in due time. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt" 
 (tabernacled, or shekinised) "among us," John i, 14. This 
 was expressly prophesied, Mai. iii, 1 ; Hag. ii, 7. 
 
 Another manifestation of the Divine acceptance of their 
 service and offerings was the descent of fire. Thus, when 
 Moses and Aaron offered the sin-offerings, " there came out 
 fire from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the 
 burnt-offering and the fat : which when all the people saw, 
 they shouted, and fell on their faces," Lev, ix, 24. In like 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 166 
 
 manner the fire descended on the oflfering of Solomon, 
 2 Chron. vii, 1 ; and on that of Elijah, 1 Kings xviii, 38. 
 The acceptance of Gideon's sacrifice was also shown by- 
 miraculous fire, Judg. vi, 21. 
 
 In Numbers iv, it is related how the different parts of the 
 tabernacle, and the articles belonging to it, were carried, 
 during the removals of the Israelites in the wilderness. The 
 priests, Aaron and his family, covered all the articles before 
 the Levites were allowed to come into the tabernacle to pre- 
 pare for the removal. The coverings showed the reverence 
 due to the holy things, and also that mysterious meanings 
 were intended by them. That dispensation was obscure 
 and dark, compared with the hght of the gospel. 
 
 When the Israelites entered the land of Canaan, the 
 tabernacle was set up at Gilgal, where they first encamped. 
 It remained there about seven years, and |,hen was removed 
 to Shiloh, a more central situation, a few miles north of 
 Jerusalem, Josh, iv, 19-; xviii, 1. Here other tents and 
 buildings were placed round the tabernacle, to lodge the" 
 priests, and to receive various articles connected with the 
 services. Thus EU's sons sent to the kitchen where the 
 peace-offerings were boiled, (1 Sam. ii, 14,) and this explains 
 how Samuel and Eli lay down near the taberaacle, iii, 2. 3. 
 Also David's going into the house of God, or that part of it 
 where the priests lived, and there obtaining the shew-bread 
 which had been taken from the holy place, 1 Sam. xxi. 
 From this the tabernacle appears to have been fixed at Nob, 
 some time after the death of Eli, and from thence was 
 carried to Gibeon, 2 Chron. i, 3. It is to be remarked, that 
 as Saul slew the priests of the Lord before the tabernacle 
 at Nob, and ruined that place, so his sons were hanged up at 
 Gibeon, whither the tabernacle had been removed, 1 Sam. 
 xxii, 18, 19 ; 2 Sam. xxi, 9. There is no account of these 
 removals, nor of what became of the tabernacle after the 
 temple was built. The ark does not appear to have been 
 replaced in it when restored by the Philistines. Another 
 building was reared by David to receive the ark, when it 
 was carried to Jerusalem, 2 Sam. vi, 1*7. 
 
166 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 THE TEMPL E — I TS COURTS. 
 
 There is an account of the origin of the temple in 2 Sam. vii, 
 and 1 Chron. xvii, and how David was permitted to form 
 plans for the temple, and to collect a vast quantity of ma- 
 terials for building it, though not himself to build it. All 
 the particulars respecting these preparations are related in 
 2 Sam. vii ; 1 Chron. xvii ; 2 Sam. xxiv ; 1 Chron. xxi to 
 2 Chron. vi ; and 1 Ejngs i to viii. From 1 Chron. xxvi, 28, 
 it is clear that articles had been dedicated for this, or a 
 similar purpose, by Samuel, and even by Saul, also by Abner 
 and Joab. Two acoounts are there given, each of which 
 contains particulars that assist in explaining the other ; and 
 when these chapters are read attentively, the reader will 
 have a full idea of the whole proceeding. 
 
 The letter of Solomon to Hiram, king of Tyre, (2 Chron. 
 ii, 3-10,) contains a summary of his reasons for buildmg 
 the temple — that it was intended to facilitate the offering 
 of the prescribed sacrifices, and to perpetuate the due per- 
 formance of the Mosaic ritual. He expressly rejected the 
 thought, that such a place could be a residence for Him 
 whom the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain. 
 The prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple, 
 (1 Kings viii, 23-61,) contains the most exalted ideas of the 
 Supreme Being, and carefully does away any supposition 
 which might prevail, of Jehovah's dwelling in a house made 
 with hands, however glorious, although he vouchsafed tokens 
 of his immediate presence there, in the midst of his people. 
 He was equally ready to hear " from heaven, his dwelling- 
 place," the supplications presented to him, whether from 
 that house or from a land of captivity. 
 
 The temple stood upon Mount Moriah, a hard lime-stone 
 rock, nearly surrounded by precipices, on the eastern side 
 of Jerusalem. The summit was leveled to make a space 
 sufficient to erect it ; and as the extent, even then, was not 
 large enough for the building and its courts, a terrace was 
 raised from the valley beneath, by constructing a wall, in 
 some places several hundred feet high. But much of the 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 167 
 
 valley has been filled up, during the two thousand five 
 hundred years which have elapsed since the building was 
 first erected. 
 
 Of this remarkable site, Lightfoot says, — " This bank was 
 once well stored with bushes and brambles, (Gen. xxii, 13,) 
 and afterwards with worse briers and thorns, the Jebusites, 
 who had it in possession till David purchased it for Divine 
 use, and built the structure we have described. Here was 
 then a poor threshing-floor of Oman, the Jebusite, but after- 
 wards the habitation of the God of Jacob ; a place and fabric 
 as sumptuous and eminent as it was possible for man, and 
 art, and cost, to make it ; the glory of the nation where it 
 was, and the wonder of all the nations round about it ; but 
 at last as great a wonder and monument of desolation and 
 ruin, as ever it had been of beauty and glory." 
 
 The particulars given in the Bible, and those related by 
 Jewish writers, show that the plan of the temple was similar 
 to that of the tabernacle, but it was much larger. There 
 were also similar utensils and articles for the sacred services, 
 but some were larger or more numerous. The superb edi- 
 fice constructed by Solomon, consisted of the Holy Place 
 and a Holy of Holies, as in the tabernacle ; the main build- 
 ing being about 110 feet long, 36 wide, and 54 high. This 
 pile was surrounded on each side, except the entrance, by 
 three stories of small rooms, about eight feet square, which 
 reached to about half the height of the body of the temple. 
 The east end, or front, was a magnificent portico, which 
 rose to the height of 220 feet. Thus the form of the whole 
 pile would not be unlike that of some ancient churches, 
 which have a lofty tower in front, and a low aisle extending 
 along each side of the main building. The principal struc- 
 ture was surrounded by several courts, and a variety of other 
 buildings, some of which are mentioned in the books of 
 Kings and Chronicles. 
 
 The daily services in Solomon's temple are briefly stated 
 by Abijah, in his remonstrance to Jeroboam and the Israel- 
 ites, 2 Chron. xiii, 10, 11 ; — "The priests, which minister 
 unto the Lord, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait 
 upon their business ; and they bum unto the Lord, every 
 morning and every evening, burnt sacrifices and sweet in- 
 cense : the shew-bread also set they in order upon the pure 
 table ; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to 
 
168 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 bum every evening." Thus the daily services of Solomon's 
 temple were the same as those of the tabernacle ; and the 
 Jewish writers show that the same services were continued 
 after the captivity. 
 
 This beautiful temple, the richest and most highly finished 
 edifice the world ever saw, continued in its original splen- 
 dor only about thirty years. Shishak, king of Egypt, then 
 took Jerusalem, and plundered the temple. Many other 
 circumstances connected with its history are recorded in the 
 books of Kings and Chronicles, and it was burned by the 
 Chaldeans, when it had stood about 430 years. See 
 2 Kings XXV, 13-16 ; 2 Chron. xxxvi, 1*7-20. 
 
 After the captivity, one of the first cares of the Jews 
 who returned to their beloved country, was to rebuild the 
 temple. Various liindrances and delays retarded the pro- 
 gress. It was begun by Zerubbabel ; but their means were 
 so scanty, that the aged men who had seen the first house, 
 wept with a loud voice when they saw the new foundations 
 laid, Ezra iii, 12. Yet the people in general praised the 
 Lord with shouts of joy. To those who had not enjoyed 
 the divine ordinances in their greater glory, the renewal of 
 these services was felt as an especial blessing. Let us 
 learn hence, that the day of small things is not to be de- 
 spised, and let us especially be thankful for the great mer- 
 cies we now enjoy as to the worship of God. 
 
 This second temple stood for about five hundred years, 
 when, being much decayed, Herod the Great undertook to 
 rebuild it. He employed 18,000 workmen, for more than 
 nine years, in the work. But, although at that time the 
 main building was completed, other works were undertaken. 
 The courts were further enlarged, and additional buildings 
 erected, so that, in our Saviour's time, the Jews could say, 
 that forty-six years had passed during its construction, 
 John ii, 20. It is calculated that the courts were suffi- 
 ciently spacious to contain more than half a million of 
 persons at the same time. No expense was spared to 
 render this temple equal, if not superior, in size, as well 
 as in beauty and splendor, to anything ever seen among 
 mankind. Of this pile, including several courts, and 
 many hundred additional apartments, there is no particular 
 account in Scripture ; but it has been described by Jose- 
 plms and other Jewish writers. A map, or ground plan. 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 169 
 
 is given, which will enable the reader to form a general 
 idea of the temple ; but it would have been useless to at- 
 tempt to insert the smaller apartments which surrounded 
 the structure. 
 
 The principal entrance to the court of the Gentiles, the 
 extent and situation of which will be seen on reference to a 
 plan of Jerusalem, was by the east gate, called the gate 
 Shushan, and the king's gate. The first name is said to 
 have been derived from a representation of the city of Shu- 
 shan, in Persia, portrayed upon it, to remind the Jews of 
 their captivity, that they might beware of again falling into 
 idolatry : and also to remind them of the feast of Purim, 
 established in that city, to coiqamemorate their deliverance 
 from the plot of Haman, The name of the king's gate was 
 to remind them of Solomon, who raised the foundation from 
 the valley beneath ; the piazza on that side of the court 
 was wider than on the others, and was called Solomon's 
 porch. There our Lord walked at the feast of dedication, 
 (John X, 23,) when the Jews were about to cast stones at 
 him ; and there Peter addressed the people after the mi- 
 raculous healing of the lame man. Acts iii, 11. Josephus 
 says, that no one could look down from the flat roof of this 
 cloister without being dizzy, on account of the vast depth 
 of the valley beneath. At the south-east comer is sup- 
 posed to have been the pinnacle from whence Satan tempt- 
 ed our Saviour to cast himself dovra. Matt, iv, 6. 
 
 After passing the buildings immediately about the en- 
 trance gate, pens or folds would be seen, containing cattle, 
 sheep, and lambs. At this gate the half shekel, as directed, 
 (Exod. XXX, 13,) was collected during three weeks before the 
 passover, and there sat the money-changers, ready to sup- 
 ply Jewish coins for the temple dues, and the purchase of 
 sacrifices, to persons who came from a distance, in exchange 
 for foreign money : thus not only levying a tax on the ne- 
 cessities of the devout visitor of the temple, but making 
 God's house a place of me?-chandise. It is probable that 
 the ofl&cers of the temple let these standings for considerable 
 sums, to compensate for which the sellers made an unjust 
 and fraudulent gain ; therefore our Lord called the place a 
 " den of thieves." There were also small shops or apart- 
 ments for the regular sale of wine, oil, meal, and other 
 things, which were used with the sacrifices. Our Lord's 
 
 8 
 
170 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 solemn rebuke of this conduct is well known. It was so 
 manifestly evil, that the guilty crowds fled before Him when 
 they heard it. 
 
 In this court, often called by the Jews " the mountain of 
 the house," persons from all nations were seen. Many de- 
 vout Gentiles, no doubt, entered this space, desiring there to 
 offer supplications to the God of Israel, as none but a Jew 
 might approach nearer to the inner courts and the holy 
 places. But how must the feelings of the pious strangers 
 have been outraged, on finding the inclosure intended ex- 
 pressly for their use, turned into a cattle-market and an ex- 
 change ! Singular to relate, there was a long time when 
 the interior of St. Paul's, the largest place for worship in 
 London, presented much such a scene. During part of the 
 sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the main building was 
 crowded by persons who resorted to it for buying, and sell- 
 ing, and hiring, and for making known their wants, and even 
 for disgraceful and wicked purposes. It is true, that God 
 dwells not within stone walls, and that there can be no holi- 
 ness in bricks and mortar ; but if the world and its devices 
 are allowed to gain a settlement within the house dedicated 
 to Divine worship, it will be even more difficult than it is at 
 present, to prevent the intrusion of worldly thoughts during 
 the hours set apart for sacred services. 
 
 The piazza, or covered walk which surrounded the court, 
 had a roof supported by large pillars of beautiful white 
 marble. The whole is computed to have included a large 
 level space, equal to four acres and a half, paved with va- 
 riegated marble. In the north-west comer of this court 
 was an ascent to the tower of Antonia, by the stairs into 
 that castle, from whence St. Paul addressed the people. 
 Acts xxi, 40. 
 
 From the court of the Gentiles the Jews entered by 
 several openings, each with twelve steps, into the Hill, or 
 sacred fence. This was a space eighteen feet wide, and 
 nine feet above the court which surrounded it. A wall of 
 lattice- work, five feet high, formed the outward boundary ; 
 and at each entrance were posts with inscriptions in different 
 languages, forbidding strangers to enter. The outcry against 
 Paul was first excited by a false accusation, that he had 
 taken a Greek beyond this boundary. Acts xxi, 2 7- -2 9. 
 This fence is evidently alluded to by the same apostle, (Eph. 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 
 
 171 
 
 ii, 13, 14,) when he speaks of Christ as "our peace," who 
 united both Jews and Gentiles into one Church, having broken 
 down " the middle wall of partition" between them. 
 
 From the Hill, the Jew passed by an ascent of five steps, 
 into the court of the women : so called, because this was 
 their appointed place of worship, beyond which they might 
 not pass, unless they had burnt-offerings or trespass-offerings 
 to present. It is mentioned by different names in Scripture, 
 as the new court, 2 Chron. xx, 5 ; the outer court, Ezek. 
 xlvi, 21 ; the treasury, John viii, 20. The eastern gate to 
 this court was the beautiful gate mentioned, Acts iii, 2. It 
 was so named from being overlaid with plates of Corinthian 
 brass, a valuable mixture of gold, silver, and copper. This 
 court contained a space of about an acre and a half ; it was 
 wholly surrounded by buildings, and a piazza with ranges 
 of galleries. It was paved with marble, and had three 
 gates besides that already described. In each comer was a 
 smaller court, where the priests boiled the sacrifices, with 
 buildings for different purposes. In one comer the Nazarites 
 cut off their hair. In another, the wood intended for the 
 altar was carefully examined, to separate any pieces that 
 had worms : these were deemed unfit for the altar, and used 
 for inferior purposes. Another was for the reception of 
 cleansed lepers : and in the fourth were stores of wine and 
 oil. These piles of buildings, and the galleries between 
 them, were forty-five feet in height. In this court also were 
 the chests for receiving the offerings, into one of which our 
 
172 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 blessed Lord saw the poor widow cast her two mites. 
 These chests were thirteen in number, each for a different 
 purpose. Into this court the lame man, when healed, fol- 
 lowed Peter and John ; and here stood the proud Pharisee, 
 near the gate leading to the inner court, when he thanked 
 God that he was not as other men ; while the poor publican 
 stood in a remote part, offering his humble petition. This 
 court was the usual place of worship for those who did not 
 bring sacrifices to offer on the altar. It is probable that 
 many offerings, and also the spoils taken by Herod from 
 the nations he conquered, were suspended on the walls ; 
 and here Agrippa hung up the golden chain given him by 
 the Roman emperor, Caligula, as a memorial of the iron 
 chain with which he had been bound by Tiberius. The 
 offerings were visible from a distance, and appear to have 
 been " the gifts" pointed out to our Lord, as he sat with his 
 disciples on the Mount of Olives, Luke xxi, 5. 
 
 The court of Israel was next. The ascent to this was by 
 fifteen steps, the pavement being about thirteen feet higher 
 than the court of the women. The gate tower was ninety 
 feet high, and richly adorned. Here lepers stood while the 
 atonement for them was offered, and their purification com- 
 pleted. Here the trial of bitter waters was made. And 
 this was the gate described by Josephus, so heavy, that it 
 could hardly be shut by twenty men ; yet opening of its own 
 accord one night, some years before the destruction of Jeru- 
 salem, though barred and bolted : an omen regarded as im- 
 porting the approaching ruin of the state. 
 
 On reference to the plan, it will be seen that the court of 
 Israel surrounded the main buildings of the temple, as a 
 frame encompasses a picture. It was only about fourteen 
 feet wide, and was no more than a piazza, under which the 
 Israelites stood while their sacrifices were burning on the 
 altar ; probably something like the piazza round the Royal 
 Exchange in London, but the centre part was higher than 
 the piazza, for the pavement of the court of Israel was about 
 four feet below the level of that of the court of the priests, 
 from which it was also separated by an open railing. On 
 the outer side it was separated from the Hill by a wall and 
 buildings, probably some over the piazza and others on the 
 outside, but the precise arrangement cannot be ascertained, 
 although the names and uses of many of the apartments are 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 173 
 
 stated, and their probable situation is pointed out upon the 
 plan. They were chiefly used for the accommodation of the 
 priests and Levites, for baths and purifications, and for 
 various other purposes connected with the offerings. The 
 eastern side appears to have been rather wider than the 
 others, and was partly appropriated to the Levites, who 
 played on musical instruments and sang during the ser- 
 vices. The whole area of this court was less than half an 
 acre. 
 
 The court of the priests was the inner division of the 
 temple, and contained about an acre and a quarter, which 
 was nearly filled by the building of the temple itself and 
 the brazen altar. It was only entered by the Israelites in 
 general when they ofifered sacrifices ; the rule was, that 
 they came in at the north or south sides, and returned by a 
 different gate from that by which they entered. The brazen 
 altar stood exactly on the site of the threshing-floor of 
 Araunah. It was much larger than the altar in the taber- 
 nacle. The altar of Solomon was thirty-seven feet square ; 
 that erected after the capti\aty about six feet larger ; that of 
 Herod was sixty-two feet square at the base, and forty-four 
 at the top, and eighteen feet high. A cubit on the south- 
 east comer was cut off; the boundary line between the 
 tribes of Judah and Benjamin ran there ; and, from a fanci- 
 ful application of Gen. xlix, 27, it was thought that no part 
 of the altar should be in the former tribe. At about two 
 feet above the ground, the altar was narrowed two feet on 
 each side, and about nine feet higher it was again narrowed 
 two feet ; on these two ledges the priests could walk round 
 the altar, as they did on the upper of these ledges when 
 they sprinkled the blood of the sacrifices. A red line round 
 the altar, at half the height, directed the priests in sprink- 
 ling, which was done in some cases above, and in others be- 
 low the line. If any blood remained when they had com- 
 pleted the circuit, it was poured out at the south-west comer, 
 through two holes leading to a conduit or pipe, by which 
 the blood was conveyed to the brook Kidron. Higher up 
 was another ledge, but interrupted by the columns called 
 the horns of the altar. 
 
 In the temple rebuilt by Herod, the altar was formed of 
 a large mass of stones from the valley of Bit-kerim, or Beth- 
 hacurim, a place about eight miles from Jerusalem. They 
 
174 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 LARGE ALTAR FOR SACRIFICES. 
 
 were not shaped ; no iron tool had been used upon them, 
 Exod. XX, 25 ; but they were cemented together with mortar, 
 pitch, and lead, into a regular form. On account of the 
 number of sacrifices, the altar was washed on the eve of the 
 Sabbath, and whitened at the passover and feast of taber- 
 nacles. On the top of this altar three fires were kept con- 
 stantly burning. The first was the great fire for the sacri- 
 fices ; the second, a small fire of fig-tree wood, to supply the 
 coals taken into the holy place to bum the incense ; the 
 third, another small fire, to rekindle the larger fire in case 
 it should go out. The priest went up by an inclined plane, 
 or sloping ascent of stone, united to the altar. 
 
 This altar of burnt-offering was sometimes called Ariel, 
 or the lion of God, from the number of animals it devoured, 
 the number consumed on it as sacrifices. Whatever touched 
 it was esteemed holy, and there was no other altar allowed 
 in the land of Israel ; thus the unity of God was symboh- 
 cally taught. The height of the altar itself, added to the 
 higher ground on which the inner court stood, would render 
 the flames that consumed the sacrifice partially visible to 
 those in the outer courts, and thus remind them of the great 
 object of these institutions. 
 
 On the north side of the altar were twenty-four rings, 
 fixed in the stones of the pavement, to which the animals 
 
RITES AND AYORSHIP. 
 
 175 
 
 MOLTEN SEA AND BRAZEN OXEN. 
 
 intended for sacrifices were fastened when slaughtered. 
 Also four pillars on which the carcasses were suspended to 
 be flayed, and eight marble tables on which they were 
 washed and divided. 
 
 In the first temple the molten sea, or brass laver, stood 
 in this court ; an immense vessel of metal, nine feet deep, 
 and more than fifty in circumference. Its precise shape is 
 not known, but it contained from 12,000 to 20,000 gallons 
 of water. 
 
 It is not likely that the oxen on which it stood, (2 Chron. 
 iv, 3, 4,) were fully represented as here ; the supports pro- 
 bably were oval masses of metal, having the form and 
 something of the appearance of the head of an ox. 
 
 On the south side of the altar, under the ascent, was 
 a dark recess, where the ofFal and ashes were put till re- 
 moved from the court, and a closet for birds that were found 
 unfit for sacrifices. On the side of the ascent was a table 
 of silver, for vessels and utensils ; and one of marble, on 
 which were placed the pieces of the sacrifices, before they 
 were carried up to the altar. Below the ascent on the 
 south side, the less holy sacrifices were killed, when the 
 whole were too numerous to be slaughtered on the north 
 side. 
 
 Between the altar and the porch was a space about forty 
 feet in width, considered particularly sacred. None might 
 enter it who were maimed or deformed, nor any persons 
 
176 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 with their heads uncovered; for, contrary to European 
 customs, that was a sign of irreverence : nor durst any 
 enter it with unwashen hands and feet, or if excited by 
 wine. 'No one might remain in this space while the high 
 priest was burning the daily incense in the holy place, 
 nor when he went into the most holy place once a year, 
 with the blood of the sin-offering. This may remind us. 
 that no one is able to take part with Christ in his interces- 
 sion for his Church, in that intercession which was figured 
 by the offering of incense, and sprinkling blood on the 
 mercy-seat. And thus there is an emblem, that human 
 merit cannot, in any degree, be the ground of our justifi- 
 cation. In this space the priests, the ministers of the Lord, 
 wept and prayed on the days appointed for public fasting 
 and national humiliation, Joel ii, 17. As this space was so 
 sacred, how daring the blasphemous conduct of the idola- 
 ters, whom Ezekiel (viii, 16) saw between the porch and the 
 altar, worshiping the sun, with their faces towards the 
 east, and their backs to the temple ! Here also Zacharias, 
 the son of Barachias, was murdered, Matt, xxiii, 35 ; the 
 atrocity of the crime being increased by the place where it 
 was committed. 
 
 In this place was the megeruphita, apparently a large 
 vessel of sonorous metal, which was struck at certain times, 
 to give signals for the performance of various duties. Also 
 the laver, in which the priests washed before they entered 
 on their duties. In the last temple there was only one 
 laver ; its size, and the material of which it was made, are 
 not mentioned, but it was filled afresh every day. On one 
 side of this court was a room which contained a draw-well ; 
 or rather a wheel, by which water was drawn up from a 
 very large cistern, or reservoir. The quantity of water used 
 in the temple was very great, both for the personal use of 
 the priests, and for cleansing the courts, which after many 
 sacrifices needed a considerable quantity to wash the pave- 
 ment. Aristeas describes this supply as being brought 
 more than half a mile, in pipes, under-ground, Being raised 
 by this wheel, the water was easily supplied to the baths, 
 and other places where it was needed. There were many 
 vents, or holes in the pavement, through which the waste 
 water and washings were conveyed, by under-ground chan- 
 nels, to the brook Kidron. Some traces of these reservoirs 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 177 
 
 under the temple have been found and described by recent 
 travelers. They formed part of a vast subterranean struc- 
 ture beneath the temple, much of which still remains, 
 but has not been fully explored. The original limestone 
 rock has been very clearly traced, and various excavated 
 chambers have been examined. Different conjectures have 
 been formed respecting their date. Some appear to have 
 been of the date of the temple built by Herod, from their 
 resemblance to the erections of that period ; while others 
 of a different description have been attributed to the time 
 of Solomon ; and it is certain that the rocky foundation is 
 the same that it was in his days, though probably the arched 
 or vaulted chambers under ground may belong to a later 
 period, when the bridge was erected between the temple 
 and Mount Zion. " To whatever age," says Bartlett, " we 
 may refer the erection of the bridge, it undoubtedly existed 
 at the time of the advent of Christ. At that time it was 
 often crowded with the noble and wealthy of the land, on 
 their way from the proud palaces of the upper city to the 
 house of God. What a contrast is presented by its present 
 state ! the bridge broken down, the Jews shut out from the 
 holy and beautiful house of their fathers, and the slopes of 
 Zion himg with mean and ruinous houses, the abodes of 
 poverty and wretchedness." 
 
 CHAPTER Vn. 
 
 THE TEMPLE — THE HOLY PLACES — PRESENT STATE OF 
 THE SITE. 
 
 The pile of building containing the temple itself, as recon- 
 structed by Herod, was much larger, and in some respects 
 differed in form from that of Solomon, already described. 
 The east front or porch was 180 feet long, and 218 high 
 in the centre ; but lower on each side, and contained many 
 apartments. It had a flat roof surrounded with battle- 
 ments. The body of the temple behind this was narrower, 
 so that the whole was in the form of the letter T. This 
 porch was entered by twelve steps, each nearly eleven 
 inches high, and of different widths, but extending almost 
 to the altar. Thus the whole elevation of the threshold of 
 8* 
 
178 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 the porch above the court of the Gentiles was more than 
 forty feet. The porch was about thirty-nine feet across, 
 from the threshold of the holy place, including the thick- 
 ness of the walls. The entrance to the porch was a large 
 opening, more than seventy feet high, and half as wide. 
 It had no doors, but stood always open. Josephus says 
 this was intended to be emblematical of heaven — always 
 open to the prayer of the believer. In the porch of Solo- 
 mon's temple stood the two pillars, called Jachin and 
 Boaz. In that of Herod's temple was a golden vine 
 richly wrought, the bunches of grapes as large as a man ; it 
 was continually increased in size, some persons giving a leaf 
 or a grape, others more. 
 
 The entrance to the holy place was through a wall ele- 
 ven feet thick. A door of two leaves was hung next to the 
 porch, and another next to the holy place ; each opened 
 inwards. The priest, whose business it was to open and 
 shut these doors, first passed through a wicket in the outer 
 door, then entered the holy place through a small opening 
 in the wall, exactly where one of the leaves of the inner 
 door fell back against the wall when opened. He then 
 unclosed the large leaves of the doors. Those of the outer 
 door, being richly adorned, formed ornamental sides to the 
 entrance. In this entrance was a marble slab, which could 
 be lifted by a ring fastened in it. From a cavity under- 
 neath this, the priest took the dust used in the trial 
 by the bitter water. Num. v, IV. We may here observe, 
 that the proceedings of that trial, as originally directed, 
 were simple, solemn, and considerate towards both parties ; 
 but, in later times, many circumstances of unkindness to- 
 wards the woman were added to the ceremonial, rather 
 showing a determination to prejudge the case against the 
 accused, than leaving the result to the Most High. 
 
 When the doors of the holy place were opened, the en- 
 trance was closed by a veil richly wrought. Veils were 
 also hung in the gates of the court of Israel, and in the 
 gateway of the porch. 
 
 The holy place, at the time our Saviour was upon earth, 
 was not only larger, but more lofty than that of Solo- 
 mon ; the flooring and the sides were covered with gold, 
 and richly wrought with carved-work, probably flowers, 
 palm-trees, and cherubim. In each temple there was a 
 
RITES AND .WORSHIP. 179 
 
 range of windows near the roof, above the chambers at the 
 sides of the building. A candlestick for the lamps, a table 
 for the shew-bread, and a golden altar for incense, stood in 
 the holy place of each temple, as in that of the tabernacle. 
 When Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus, a priest named 
 Joshua, or Jesus, preserved the first two articles, and deli- 
 vered them to the conqueror, who had them carried in his 
 triumphal procession, and deposited them in the Temple of 
 Peace at Rome. The table and the candlestick are repre- 
 sented among the sculptures with which the triumphal 
 arch of Titus, in that city, is adorned. Very frequent use 
 was made of the trumpets in the temple services. In 
 Num. X, 10, " In the day of your gladness, and in your 
 solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall 
 blow with the trumpets over your burnt-offerings, and over 
 the sacrifices of your peace-offerings ; that they may be to 
 you for a memorial before your God :" and they were 
 introduced into the temple services, 2 Chron. v, 13 ; 
 xxix, 27. In later times, the rule was, that not more than 
 one hundred and twenty, nor less than two trumpets, were 
 to be blown on any occasion of sacrifice. 
 
 In the temple of Solomon, the Holy of Hohes, or Most 
 Holy Place, was separated from the outer apartment by 
 folding-doors of olive-wood, gilded and richly ornamented. 
 In the second temple there were no doors, but two veils 
 instead, exceedingly thick and strong, being of blue, purple, 
 scarlet, and white twined linen yarn, some say of woolen 
 yam; each thread sixfold, and woven upon hair warp, 
 seventy-two hairs to each thread. Though two veils in 
 number, they are spoken of as one, both in Scripture and 
 by Josephus, as they formed one partition. These veils 
 were rent asunder, from the top to the bottom, at our Sa- 
 viour's death, which signified that the mysteries of the 
 Jewish dispensation were then to be revealed and to pass 
 away ; and that the way of access to God was opened, 
 Christ having entered for us into the holy place not made 
 with hands: see Heb. ix, 7; x, 19. Having overcome the 
 sharpness of death, he opened the kingdom of heaven to 
 believers ; and there is nothing now to hinder, but every- 
 thing to encourage, our direct access to God upon his mercy- 
 seat. 
 
 It is thought that the most holy place in the temple was 
 
180 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 about four times the size of that in the tabernacle ; the 
 length, breadth, and height each being doubled. In Solo- 
 mon's temple, the floor and ceiling were of cedar, overlaid 
 with gold; the walls of cedar, carved with palm-trees, 
 cherubim, and flowers covered with gold ; and doubtless 
 they were very magnificent in the temples of Zerubbabel 
 and Herod. Here was no window. The glory of the Lord 
 had been its light when the Shekinah appeared ; at other 
 times it was in darkness. In Solomon's temple, the ark of 
 the covenant was placed here ; but when he deposited it, 
 the golden pot with manna and Aaron's rod appear to have 
 been lost, or perhaps they were placed near, but not within 
 it, for it only contained the tables of stone, 2 Chron. v, 10. 
 The copy of the law (see Deut. xxxi, 26) probably also was 
 deposited by its side, which was found by Hilkiah, in the 
 days of Josiah, 2 Chron. xxxiv, 14. The ark, doubtless, 
 perished when the temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnez- 
 zar, but a copy of it was made for the latter temples. The 
 Jews have a tradition that the original ark was concealed 
 by Jeremiah, and will be found hereafter. No human in- 
 genuity, however, could bring again the Shekinah, the cloud 
 of glory, over the mercy-seat, or the spirit of prophecy. 
 The urim and thummim, and the fire kindled from heaven, 
 also were wanting, as well as the original ark. In all these 
 respects the Jews admit that the latter temple was inferior 
 to that of Solomon. 
 
 In one respect the glory of the latter house exceeded 
 that of the former. Hag. ii, 7-9 is here adverted to. In 
 the latter temple appeared " the Desire of all nations," the 
 Messiah, the Son of God when manifest in the flesh. And 
 this prophetic declaration, preserved by the Jews them- 
 selves, is one of the strong proofs of Scripture that Jesus 
 was the Messiah, since to no other person did this descrip- 
 tion apply ; and as that temple has long since ceased to 
 exist, it cannot now be applied to any other. 
 
 The glorious appearance presented by this inner pile of 
 building is described by Josephus. " To strangers who 
 were approaching, it appeared at a distance like a mountain 
 covered with snow ; for where it was not decorated with 
 plates of gold, it was extremely white and glistening." On 
 the top were pointed spikes of gold, to prevent any birds 
 from resting upon the building and polluting it. He de- 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 181 
 
 scribes some stones in that structure as more than eighty- 
 feet long, nine high, and eleven wide. Well might the 
 disciples exclaim, "Master, see what manner of stones, 
 and what buildings are here!" Mark xiii, 1; and be sur- 
 prised at our Saviour's declaration, that not one of these 
 stones should be left upon another, and that this destruc- 
 tion should come to pass before that generation had ceased 
 to exist. But it was the declaration of Him who is Truth 
 itself : it was fulfilled, as every other of his words has been 
 or shall be. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but his 
 words shall not pass away. 
 
 The description of the latter temple is now nearly 
 finished. Along the sides, and at the west end of the main 
 building of the temple, were thirty-eight chambers in three 
 stories. These were chiefly used as store-houses, for laying 
 up the sacred utensils, and the olBFerings made for the sus- 
 tenance of the priests and the services of the altar. Over 
 these chambers was a flat terrace, to which persons could 
 ascend by a staircase at the north-east. Two rooms over 
 the holy places were entered from the south-west corner of 
 this terrace, by an ascent of steps eighteen feet high. The 
 floor of these rooms being that height above the terrace, 
 allowed space for the windows which lighted the holy place. 
 The rooms were of the same length as the holy places be- 
 low them; and two cedar-trees, laid sloping, as inclined 
 planes, led from them to the top of the temple. The use 
 of these rooms is not clearly stated. From the one over 
 the most holy place, workmen were let down through trap- 
 doors to repair or clean the walls. 
 
 At the north-west corner of the inner court was a large 
 apartment called the fire-room, where a fire was kept con- 
 stantly burning in cold weather and at night. Here the 
 priests in attendance, who were not posted as sentinels, re- 
 mained during the night. It was a sort of guard-room to 
 the temple ; and they slept in their clothes, on benches 
 placed round the room. The buildings in the several courts 
 have already been noticed, as containing a vast number of 
 apartments, but the particulars are too uncertain to justify 
 any attempt at describing them. 
 
 The whole extent occupied by the courts and buildings 
 is estimated at somewhat more than nineteen acres. A 
 large part of the ground beneath the surface, it is said, was 
 
182 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 excavated and arched, to prevent the possibility of pol- 
 lution from any secret graves: thus repositories for va- 
 rious purposes were also supphed, and for the water 
 reservoirs. 
 
 An Arabian historian relates, that when the caliph Omar 
 took Jerusalem, he inquired of the patriarch for a proper 
 place to build a mosque, and was conducted to the site of 
 Solomon's temple. Subsequent caliphs added to the build- 
 ings, and inclosed the rock with walls. The Crusaders 
 used it for a place of Christian worship ; but the sultan 
 Saladin restored it to the former use, and it has ever since 
 continued to be a Mohammedan mosque. This application 
 of the spot has prevented it from being crowded with com- 
 mon buildings, and the remembrance of the site has thus 
 been preserved to the present day. 
 
 Belzoni found means, a few years since, in the disguise 
 of a Turk, to obtain a hasty and superficial view of this 
 building and the court around it, while some repairs were 
 going forward ; and Dr. Richardson, having, by his medical 
 skill, gained the favor of the Turkish ecclesiastical authori- 
 ties, obtained permission, in 1821, to visit this mosque, dis- 
 guised as a Turk. He has given a minute description of 
 the buildings within the inclosure, which he was told is 
 about one thousand four hundred and eighty-nine feet long, 
 by nine hundred and ninety-five feet wide ; but, as these 
 are wholly of Turkish origin, they have no reference to our 
 present subject. Other travelers have also gained admit- 
 tance. Among other objects of attention is a stone on the 
 top of the wall, impending over a tremendous precipice, on 
 which the Turks believe that Mohammed is to sit at the day 
 of judgment, and to judge the re-embodied spirits, which 
 will then, as they believe, be assembled beneath in the val- 
 ley of Jehoshaphat. 
 
 Perhaps, among all the considerations which have refer- 
 ence to the temple, none is more affecting than the extreme 
 veneration of the Jews for that pile of building. Some of 
 the Psalms which were composed during the Babylonish 
 captivity strongly evidence this ; and there are several in- 
 stances of it in the Old Testament. Afterwards this feeling 
 was heightened to superstitious regard. The law required 
 solemn and holy conduct in all who approached the courts 
 of the Lord to worship therein, and persons were excluded 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 183 
 
 under some circumstances of ceremonial uncleanness ; but 
 the Jewish rabbis added many other restrictions. Weapons 
 of offense were rightly excluded from the house of God, 
 and no man might enter it even with a staff. This was to 
 teach that, in their worship, it was not right to lean on any 
 staff but God ; and it accounts for our Saviour making and 
 using a whip of small cords to drive out the buyers and 
 sellers, as a staff was not allowed in the courts even for 
 driving the cattle. None were to enter with shoes, or with 
 dust on their feet ; nor was it lawful for the worshipers to 
 have money about them, yet we find tables of money- 
 changers placed there ! None were to make the courts a 
 thoroughfare, or to use any irreverent gesture; spitting 
 was absolutely forbidden. While attending the service, the 
 worshiper was to stand with his feet even, his eyes cast 
 downwards, and his hands crossed. However weary, he 
 must not sit down in the court of the Israehtes, nor in that 
 of the priests. When they departed, they were to go back- 
 ward till they had left the inner court where the altar stood, 
 and must not quit the temple by the same gate through 
 which they entered. These scruples entertained after the 
 captivity, strongly contrast with the neglect, and worse 
 than neglect, manifested towards the building during the 
 reigns of the idolatrous kings of Judah. The anathemas 
 and penalties denounced against any one who should enter 
 the courts of the temple, while ceremonially unclean, were 
 most severe. 
 
 The least slight towards the temple, real or supposed, 
 excited the bitterest rage of a Jew. Not to mention Paul 
 and Stephen, there is the strongest instance of this in the 
 case of our blessed Lord. The rulers of the Jews seized 
 upon an expression uttered by him some years before, (John 
 xi, 19, 20,) and, misrepresenting his words, gave them the 
 semblance of disrespect to the temple, when they had in 
 vain sought for any other ground of accusation which might 
 influence the people, Mark xiv, 55-58. The mere assertion, 
 though not well supported, that Jesus had been heard to 
 declare he was able to destroy the temple, was considered 
 as impious guilt, too great to be forgiven. And when ex- 
 piring on the cross under this charge, the same people who, 
 a few days before, had hailed Jesus of Nazareth as the son 
 of David, viewed him with scorn, and taunted him with 
 
184 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 the words they supposed him to have spoken, Matt, xxvii, 
 39, 40. 
 
 The same typical meaning may be apphed to the temple 
 as to the tabernacle ; and as it was supported by a strong 
 foundation, it may further remind us of the sure Foundation, 
 even Christ Jesus, that only Foundation, in reference to 
 whom the inspired apostle declared, " If any man's work 
 abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a re- 
 ward," 1 Cor. iii, 14. And let us remember, that the 
 tabernacle and the temple, in their typical and figurative 
 meaning, were as maps of the gospel-land we now inhabit. 
 They represented by shadows, or at best through a glass 
 darkly, truths now clearly set before us. It has been said 
 the glories of that blessed country then could only be faintly 
 discerned through the smoke of the sacrifices ; now the fruit- 
 ful fields, and refreshing streams, and rich prospects of that 
 heavenly Canaan, are clearly revealed. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE LEVITES— THE PRIESTS— THE HIGH PRIEST. 
 
 The ritual services of the Mosaic dispensation required a 
 number of persons, whose time should be devoted to the 
 due performance of the ceremonials. The main principle 
 also of that dispensation required ministers of various ranks 
 and gradations, suitable to the splendor of that peculiar, or 
 national worship, which recognized the presence of Jehovah, 
 dwelling among them as a monarch in his palace. The 
 variety also of the ofiferings, and the precision with which 
 the attendant ceremonies were to be performed, demanded 
 constant practice, as well as clear instruction in the first in- 
 stance. All this was provided for by the selection of one 
 whole family or tribe, whose entire attention should be de- 
 voted to sacred things. Here was an important change 
 from the system of the patriarchal dispensation, when the 
 head of the family offered sacrifices, and conducted the wor- 
 ship of those under his charge, and the eldest son assisted 
 in preparing and slaying the sacrifices, and succeeded to 
 the sacred duties, in addition to the authority as ruler of 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 185 
 
 the family. Esau, when he despised his birth-right, and 
 sold it for a mess of pottage, (Gen. xxv, 34,) gave up his 
 right to officiate in these holy services. Hence he is spoken 
 of by the apostle (Heb. xii, 16, 17) as a profane person. 
 
 There is another reason for this selection of one tribe to 
 wait at the altar, Num. iii, 13 : " Because all the first-bom 
 are mine ; for on the day that I smote all the first-bom in 
 the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the first-born in 
 Israel, both man and beast." From the context we leara, 
 that God, having appointed Aaron and his family to be the 
 priests under the new dispensation, gave them the whole 
 tribe of Levi, to which Aaron belonged, to assist in the 
 ritual services, instead of the eldest child of every family in 
 Israel. The advantages of such an arrangement are ob- 
 vious. And the waiting on the priest's office was not the 
 only service for which the Levites were set apart. They 
 were to diffuse religious and moral instmction throughout 
 the nation. This has been already noticed. In the last 
 solemn discourse of Moses, he speaks thus of the double 
 service of the tribe of Levi, addressing himself to the Most 
 High : " Let thy Urim and thy Thummim be with thy holy 
 one ; they have observed thy word and kept thy covenant ; 
 they shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law ; 
 they shall put incense before thee, and whole burat-sacrifice 
 upon thine altar." Another solemn injunction respecting 
 public instruction had previously been given, Deut. xxxi, 
 10-13. 
 
 All the institutions respecting this tribe were calculated 
 to give them weight and influence in Israel, which, provided 
 they acted according to the Divine injunctions, would be 
 eminently beneficial. The law, or word of God, was com- 
 mitted to them, that they might study its contents, and be 
 able to instruct the people in all its requirements. They 
 were relieved from secular cares. Their habitations were 
 not confined to one district. They had cities in every tribe, 
 but were relieved from the labor and care of cultivating the 
 ground. The tenth part of the produce of the soil, and 
 portions of many of the offerings, were allotted for their 
 sustenance, Num. xviii, 24 ; Deut. xiv, 29. Thus, as Graves 
 obsei-ves, " deriving their maintenance from a source which 
 would necessarily fail if the worship and laws of God were 
 neglected, they were deeply interested in their support." 
 
186 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 Being especially devoted to the study of the Divine law, 
 which was a code of moral justice, as well as of religious 
 worship, they must have possessed considerable influence 
 over the people. They were everywhere at hand, ready to 
 admonish and instruct. No others were admitted to dis- 
 charge any sacred office, and even the administration of 
 justice necessarily Called for their assistance. From Deut. 
 xvii, 9, and xix, 17, it appears that a connection between 
 the tribe of Levi and the judicial office was designed to 
 exist. They also had the care of the pubhc records and 
 genealogies. The express mention of the Levite (Deut. 
 xxvi, 11) may imply the residence of this tribe among other 
 famiUes ; and the history of Micah and the Danites shows 
 that the presence of a Levite in a family or community was 
 much desired ; also, that persons of that tribe were accus- 
 tomed to go forth from their cities to seek places where 
 they might be received, Judg. xvii, 8, 13. But the office 
 of instructor was not exclusively confined to the Levites, 
 whose primary duties were those called ritual, in attendance 
 on the sacred ceremonies of the tabernacle and temple. 
 
 During the abode of the Israehtes in the wilderness, the 
 duties of the Levites were numerous and heavy. They 
 had the whole charge of the tabernacle, and when it was 
 removed had to carry most of the materials, as well as the 
 sacred utensils. Their duties are stated, Num. iv. When 
 settled in the land of Israel, many of these ceased ; and in 
 Joshua xxi are the names of cities appointed for their resi- 
 dence. Some Levites were still engaged in the services of 
 the tabernacle, but there is no regular account of the dis- 
 tribution of their duties till the time of David and Solomon, 
 who appointed them to attend the temple in regular rota- 
 tion ; and when not thus employed at Jerusalem, they were 
 dispersed through the country on other public duties. 
 
 1 Chron. xxvi, 32, states that David made 2,700 Levites 
 rulers over the two tribes and a half located beyond Jor- 
 dan, for every matter pertaining to God, and affairs of the 
 king. Their attention having been directed to the divine 
 law from early youth, they must have possessed peculiar 
 qualifications for these offices. From 1 Chron. xxiii, 4, and 
 
 2 Chron. xix, 8, it may be learned that they were employed 
 by David and Jehoshaphat, generally, as officers and 
 judges. David allotted 6,000 for these duties ; 4,000 were 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 187 
 
 to be porters or guards, and 4,000 to be singers and musi- 
 cians. At that time, the whole number of the tribe, aged 
 thirty years and upward, was 38,300, and the remaining 
 24,000 were divided into twenty-four courses of 1,000 
 each ; see 1 Chron. xxiii, 24 ; and 2 Chron. xxxi, 2 ; these 
 afterward attended the temple, each course for a week in 
 rotation, and all the duties of the temple were discharged 
 by the Levites. The time for the attendance of each 
 course being ascertained, they knew at what periods to go 
 up to Jerusalem. From among them the guards who pro- 
 tected the temple, and kept order in its courts, were se- 
 lected. The singers bore an important part in the temple 
 services ; for their use many of the psalms were composed. 
 Heman, Asaph, and Jeduthun, were chiefs among them. 
 A particular account of the porters and musicians is given, 
 1 Chron. xxv, xxvi ; and 2 Chron. viii, 14, shows that the 
 arrangement of David was confirmed by Solomon, when 
 the temple was completed. From 1 Chron. ix, 22, it 
 would appear that these regulations were partly made by 
 Samuel, whether for the service of the tabernacle, or in 
 prospect of the temple establishment, is not distinctly 
 stated. 
 
 Scripture does not describe any dress assigned for the 
 Levites. Josephus says, it was done only eight years be- 
 fore the destruction of the temple, when they obtained per- 
 mission to wear a linen tunic like the priests, which dis- 
 pleased some. The period of service for the Levites was 
 settled by David to be from twenty to fifty years of age, 
 1 Chron. xxiii, 24-27. Besides all the general duties of 
 the temple and tabernacle, the Levites assisted the priests 
 in killing the sacrifices, and sang during the offerings, see 
 
 1 Chron. xxiii, 31, and 2 Chron. xxxi, 2 ; but they did not 
 themselves offer the sacrifices, or bum the incense, unless 
 in case of necessity, or when the priests were remiss in 
 their duties, as at the time of the reformation by Hezekiah, 
 
 2 Chron. xxix, 34. The Levites were assisted in the most 
 laborious duties by the Nethinims, who are supposed to 
 have been descendants of the remains of the Canaanites, 
 principally the Gibeonites, Ezra viii, 20. These appear, 
 from Neh. iii, 26, to have had a place at Jerusalem called 
 Ophel, near the temple, for their residence. The word 
 Nethinim signifies given, or devoted : their service was ac- 
 
188 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 counted honorable, so as to be mentioned in Ezra and Ne- 
 hemiah next after the Levites. 
 
 The priests were the descendants of Aaron, chosen from 
 the tribe of Levi exclusively, to discharge the higher duties 
 of the public service. The name, when apphed to men, 
 signified those who have near access to the king, as it is 
 used 1 Chron. xviii, 17. They prepared the victims and 
 offered the sacrifices ; they kept up the fire on the altar, 
 attended to the lights in the golden candlestick, and made 
 the loaves of shew-bread. Every morning and evening a 
 priest, appointed by lot, brought a censer of incense into 
 the sanctuary, kindled with fire from the altar. The ark 
 of the covenant, in the wilderness, and in the times of the 
 judges, was under their charge. The priests were divided 
 by David into twenty -four classes, (1 Chron. xxiv, 18,) 
 which order was retained by Solomon, Hezekiah, and Je- 
 hoshaphat. Descendants from only four of these classes 
 returned from the Babylonish captivity, Ezra ii, 36-39 ; 
 Neh. vii, 39-42. These were subdivided into the same 
 number as before, of twenty-four classes, distinguished by 
 the original names, and each class was subdivided into 
 three ranks. The chief of each class appointed an entire 
 family to offer the sacrifices of each day ; at the close of 
 the week they all united together, and on the Sabbaths the 
 next class began to officiate. The members of each family 
 drew lots for the offices they were to perform, which will 
 be described under the daily service of the temple. But the 
 services of the priests, like those of the Levites, included 
 other duties besides the rites of the temple. It is ex- 
 pressly noted (2 Chron. xv, 3) that Israel had long been 
 without " a teaching priest ;" and (Mai. ii, 7) that " the 
 priest's lips should keep knowledge;" and that the people 
 " should seek the law at his mouth," because he was " the 
 messenger of the Lord of hosts." 
 
 In 2 Chron. xvii, 7, is a full account of the manner in 
 which Jehoshaphat sent some of his princes, with priests 
 and Levites, as an itinerant ministry, to explain the Law, 
 and teach the people throughout all the cities of Judah. 
 The number of the officiating priests is not distinctly men- 
 tioned in Scripture. Those residing at Jerusalem, soon 
 after the captivity, were one thousand one hundred and 
 ninety-two: see Neh. xi, 10-14. Josephus states, at a 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 189 
 
 later period, there were four tribes of priests, each of five 
 thousand persons. A considerable number lived at Jeri- 
 cho, (Luke X, 31, 32,) from whence they came up to Jeru- 
 salem when their duties required ; the rest were dispersed 
 through the land. 
 
 The genealogies of the priests were preserved in the 
 temple ; all who sought the ofl&ce had to prove their de- 
 scent from the children of Aaron. Health of body and 
 holiness of life were indispensable. A hundred and forty 
 personal blemishes are enumerated as excluding from the 
 services of the priesthood. No particular ceremony ap- 
 pears to have been observed at their admission, but only 
 the performance of some office of their order, at a sacrifice, 
 after they had been very strictly examined by the sanhe- 
 drim as to their descent and freedom from blemish. They 
 were not distinguished by their dress, unless engaged at 
 the altar. 
 
 The official dress, described Exod. xxviii, and Lev. viii, 
 was provided at the public expense : when the articles be- 
 came old they were unraveled, to form wicks for the 
 lamps required at the nightly rejoicings during the feast of 
 tabernacles. The priests' garments were linen drawers ; 
 and tunics, or long garments with sleeves, closely fitted to 
 the body, made of linen, which it is considered was wrought 
 in checker- work, somewhat like our diaper cloth; with 
 girdles, or long embroidered pieces, encircling the body 
 twice, and hanging down before ; these girdles, having 
 woolen mixed in the fabric, might not be worn under 
 other circumstances. They wore mitres, or tiaras ; these 
 were turbans of several rolls of linen twisted round the 
 head ; they originally were pointed at the top, but in later 
 times were flat. The peculiarity of the priests' habit, it 
 has been remarked, might remind them of the necessity of 
 man's being clothed with other righteousness than his own ; 
 and the anointing may show the need of the unction of the 
 Holy One, in all his gifts and graces. 
 
 The maintenance of the priests was from the tenths of 
 the tithes received by the Levites, a share of the offerings, 
 the skins of the animals sacrificed, and the redemption-mo- 
 ney paid for every first-born Israelite, Numb, xviii, 15, 16. 
 Also, the first-born of clean animals, and the first-fruits of 
 the crops, varying from a fortieth to a sixtieth. They also 
 
190 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 received the fruit of trees in the fourth year of their 
 growth, and a share of spoils taken in warfare. In 2 Chron. 
 xxxi, is an interesting account of the abundant offering 
 brought in by the people for the portions of the priests, 
 and as free-will offerings upon the reformation by Heze- 
 kiah, when the nation rejoiced under the administration of 
 a religious king and a faithful ministry. Such were the 
 principal revenues of the priests ; sufficient, as Home ob- 
 serves, "to keep them above want, yet not so ample as to 
 enable them to accumulate riches, or impoverish the laity." 
 By this wise constitution they were deprived of all power 
 to injure the liberty of other tribes, or endanger the na- 
 tional polity. Some priests are spoken of as mighty in 
 valor, 1 Chron. xii, 27, 28 ; and Benaiah, the son of Jeho- 
 iada the priest, had his name among David's thirty wor- 
 thies, 1 Chron. xi, 22-25. This was not inconsistent with 
 the principle of the Jewish theocracy, which regarded Je- 
 hovah as the supreme Monarch of Israel ; and we repeat- 
 edly find the priests mentioned as going forth with the 
 armies to battle. The services of those called porters in- 
 cluded the duties of guards and sentinels. 
 
 The HIGH PRIEST was over all the other priests. He was 
 the final judge in all controversies, and in later ages held 
 the next rank to the prince, and at times united both 
 offices in his own person. In the days of the New Testa- 
 ment, all who had filled the office retained the title. When 
 the high priest was infirm, or had committed any crime, 
 (for his office did not exempt him from legal control,) or if 
 he had been exposed to any pollution, so as to disqualify 
 him for a time, a substitute, called the sagan, was appointed 
 to perform his duties. Upon the entrance of the high 
 priest on his office, he was invested with the sacred robes, 
 and anointed with the holy oil, Exod. xxx, 23-25 ; but 
 after the captivity the anointing ceased. Lev. viii, 23-30, 
 shows that in the consecration of Aaron and his sons, they 
 were sprinkled with the blood of the animal sacrificed at 
 that ceremony. This appears to have been imitated and 
 carried further by the heathen. At the consecration of the 
 high priest of Cybele, he was placed in what literally was 
 a shower-bath of blood ; and when he came forth, with his 
 head and vestments covered with blood, he was considered 
 as so holy that the multitude dared not approach him. 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 
 
 191 
 
 The robes of the high priest, in addition to those worn 
 by other priests, were — 1. The coat, or robe of the ephod, 
 made of blue wool ; the hem or border was ornamented 
 with seventy-two golden bells, placed alternately with as 
 many pomegranates of embroidered work. 2. The ephod, 
 a vest fastened on the shoulders, reaching to the heels be- 
 hind, but only a little below the waist in front. It was ot 
 fine twisted hnen, wrought with gold and purple. On each 
 of the shoulders was a clasp, in which was set a precious 
 stone engraved with the names of the tribes. 8. The breast- 
 plate of judgment was a piece of cloth hke the ephod, ele- 
 ven inches square, set with twelve precious stones, also en- 
 
 THE HIGH PRIEST. 
 
 graved with the names of the tribes. This had something 
 to do with what is called the urim and the thummim, two 
 words meaning " lights," and " perfections," about which 
 learned men have been very much puzzled. The general 
 and most probable opinion is, that these words mean the 
 twelve precious stones in the breastplate. In the descrip- 
 
192 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 tion of that article, (Lev. viii, 8,) those stones are not men- 
 tioned as in Exodus, but it is said that the urim and thum- 
 mim were in the breastplate. We leara from different 
 passages of Scripture, that when the high priest went to 
 ask counsel or advice of Jehovah, he was arrayed with this 
 breastplate, and it was called asking counsel after the judg- 
 ment of urim, Num. xxvii, 21. This solemn consultation 
 was only to be made for the principal public personages, 
 and on public occasions ; some Jewish writers think it was 
 resorted to only in the tabernacle. Others have thought 
 that the urim and thummim were three precious stones, two 
 inscribed as affirmative and negative, and one left blank, 
 which were solemnly drawn as lots, in answer to questions 
 proposed ; they refer to the cases of Achan, (Josh, vii,) and 
 that of Jonathan, (1 Sam. xiv, 41,) as confirming this view. 
 But, as Parkhurst says, it may suffice to know that this was 
 a singular piece of workmanship, which the high priest 
 was obliged to wear upon solemn occasions, as one of the 
 conditions upon which God engaged to give him answers. 
 Perhaps the use of it was to be a sign that the Lord would 
 give the high priest an inward hght, and make him know 
 the Divine will as to what was inquired after ; see Deut. 
 xxxiii, 8 ; 1 Sam. xxviii, 6 ; Ezra ii, 63 ; Neh. vii, 65. 
 4. The high priest wore a crown or mitre, on the front of 
 which a plate of pure gold was fastened by a blue ribbon, 
 engraved with Hebrew words, meaning " Holiness to the 
 Lord." A full description of these robes is in Exod. xxviii 
 and xxxix. 
 
 The high priest was arrayed with the splendid garments, 
 on solemn occasions, when he ministered in the tabernacle 
 and temple ; but at other times he wore the common dress 
 of the priests. 
 
 The feet of the priests were always bare when they min- 
 istered, in token of reverence to the Divine presence ; see 
 Exod. iii, 5 ; Josh, v, 15. During the services, this stand- 
 ing barefooted upon the marble pavement of the temple 
 must have been severely felt, especially in winter, when the 
 body was frequently bathed, and the hands and feet conti- 
 nually washed in cold water ; and the officiating priests 
 stood upon the cold stones in linen dresses. 
 
 The high-priesthood at first was held for hfe ; but Solo- 
 mon deprived Abiathar of the office, for being concerned 
 
EITES AND WORSHIP. 193 
 
 in Adonijah's treasonable practices, 1 Kings ii, 2V. Ori- 
 ginally it passed from father to son, to Eli, having conti- 
 nued in the descendants of Eleazar, the son of Aaron. 
 When Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of EH, met with an un- 
 timely death, the just reward of their wickedness, the high- 
 priesthood passed to the descendants of Ithamar, the second 
 son of Aaron, 1 Sam. ii, 35, 36. Josephus, indeed, asserts 
 that Eli was of the family of Ithamar. But in the reign of 
 Solomon the high-priesthood was again in the family of 
 Eleazar, for Zadok had the office, 1 Kings ii, 35 ; 1 Chron. 
 vi, 8. In that branch it remained till the captivity. During 
 this period, it is supposed that the high priest was elected 
 by the other priests, or by an assembly partly consisting 
 of them. 
 
 After the captivity, the first high priest was Joshua, the 
 son of Josedech, a descendant of Eleazar, Ezra iii, 2. The 
 succession next passed into a private Levitical family. After- 
 wards the office was held by some of the Maccabean prin- 
 ces, who were of the family of Aaron, of the com^se of 
 Jehoiarib : and by them a triple crown of gold was added 
 to the mitre, they being princes at the same time. The 
 high-priesthood ought to have been for life ; but under the 
 Romans, and at an earlier period, under Herod, the dignity, 
 sanctity, and authority of the office were almost done away. 
 Even at a still earlier date, after the captivity, the office 
 frequently was sold to the highest bidder, and latterly, 
 sometimes to persons not of the families of the priests. 
 Often they were changed every year, which explains how 
 several high priests were in existence at the same time, a%. 
 those who had held the office, though only for a short time, 
 retained the title. Ananus, or Annas, so often mentioned 
 in the Gospels, was himself high priest for several years, 
 and saw the station afterwards filled by five sons, and some 
 of his sons-in-law, which gave him considerable influence in 
 the government, even when out of office ; see John xviii, 13, 
 and Acts iv, 6. Caiphas actually was the high priest, but 
 Annas was so called, when Peter and John were brought 
 before the council, from having filled that office, or then 
 being the segan. 
 
 The above statement includes the chief particulars re- 
 lative to the office of the priesthood under the Mosaic law. 
 The Scripture declares that Aaron and his successors were 
 
 9 
 
194 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 figures of the great High Priest of our profession, Christ 
 Jesus. Sev^eral writers have shown that the circumstances 
 relative to the office, even the articles of their apparel, had 
 a spiritual meaning. These conveyed instruction, being 
 emblematical of the beauties of the mind, which are orna- 
 mental to the soul, implying that the priests should be 
 clothed with righteousness, Psa. cxxxii, 9. The desire to 
 spiritualize sometimes may have carried writers too far ; but, 
 as the high priests were types of Christ, we must readily 
 admit that these injunctions are not unworthy of God, nor. 
 useless to man, and the subject deserves most serious atten- 
 tion. Especially contemplate the high priest as intercessor 
 for the people, the only person permitted to enter into the 
 most holy place to present the supplications of Israel. 
 Christ is a High Priest, who is a reconciler indeed ; who 
 presents his people without spot to God, clothed in the 
 robe of his righteousness. The Mosaic priesthood has, it is 
 true, now ceased, Christ being the end of the law, (see Heb. 
 vii, viii,) but there is a metaphorical priesthood, which the 
 New Testament ascribes to all Christians without exception. 
 Thus, the apostle addresses the whole body of believers as 
 a royal priesthood, 1 Pet. ii, 9 ; and, in many respects, the 
 resemblance between the priesthood under the law, and that 
 of the faithful under the gospel, is easily traced. 
 
 Where high the heavenly temple stands,— 
 The house of God not made with hands,— 
 A great High Priest our nature wears, 
 The guardian of mankind appears. 
 
 He who for men their surety stood. 
 And pour'd on earth his precious blood, 
 Pursues in heaven his mighty plan. 
 The Saviour and the friend of man. 
 
 In every pang that rends the heart. 
 The Man of sorrows had a part ; 
 He sympathizes in our grief, 
 And to the sufPrer sends relief. 
 
 With boldness, therefore, at the throne. 
 Let us make all our sorrows known, 
 And ask the aid of Jesus' power, 
 To help us in the evil hom. 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 196 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE DAILY SERVICE OF THE TEMPLE. 
 
 The manner in which the daily service of the temple was 
 latterly conducted may be next described. Most of the 
 priests, when on duty, resided in a building near the north- 
 west corner of the court of Israel, called the fire-room. 
 Their first care, early in the morning, was to bathe theii 
 whole bodies, which was not repeated during the day, though 
 they washed their hands and feet every time they had left 
 their duties and returned to them. Perhaps our Savioui 
 alluded to this, John xiii, 10. The priests having bathed 
 and dressed, waited for the coming of him who was called 
 president of the lots. It was about cock-crowing ; but the 
 precise time was uncertain, which our Lord's exhortation 
 (Mark xiii, 35, 36) may be considered to illustrate. On his 
 arrival, the priests divided into two companies, and passing 
 round. the opposite sides of the court, with lamps or torches, 
 they examined that all was safe, and met at the gate 
 Nicanor, where they summoned an officer, called the pastry- 
 man, to make the cakes for the high priest's meat-ofiering. 
 They then went into the chamber called Gezit, and having 
 fixed upon a number, they stood in a circle, and each held 
 up some of his fingers, more or less as he pleased. The 
 president then directed one to take off his bonnet or turban, 
 and counting his fingers, proceeded to the next person, and 
 so counted on till he reached the number already settled. 
 
 This method of counting fingers was occasioned by a 
 superstition as to counting persons. The priest with whom 
 this enumeration ended was to begin to remove the ashes 
 from the altar of burnt-offering, a post considered honor- 
 able ; and thus all contention for it was prevented. This 
 plan was adopted in consequence of a priest having his leg 
 broken, by being pushed off the ascent, in rushing forward 
 with others to the altar.. Having washed his hands and 
 feet, the priest filled a silver shovel with ashes from the 
 prmcipal fire, separated from the unconsumed wood and 
 flesh; he then descended to the pavement, and laid the 
 ashes in the appointed place. The others then came for- 
 ward and assisted in the work, removing the ashes to a clean 
 
196 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 place without the city, renewing the j&res, and replacing on 
 the wood any parts of the offerings of the day before not 
 yet consumed. The priests having returned to the room 
 Gezit, by a similar plan of counting, allotted thirteen par- 
 ticular services to as many priests ; the others were to act 
 as assistants. 
 
 The next proceeding was to offer the daily morning sacri- 
 fice of a lamb, Exod. xxix, 39. The president directed one 
 to go and see whether it was time. He went to the top of 
 a part of the building, and when he saw the dawn, said, " It 
 is day !" The president inquired, " Is the heaven bright up 
 to Hebron?" On being answered in the affirmative, the 
 lamb was ordered to be brought. The appointed priests 
 examined for the last time to see that it was without blemish, 
 and prepared to slaughter it on the north side of the altar. 
 The other priests meanwhile brought forward the ninety- 
 three silver and gold vessels used in the ordinary daily ser- 
 vices of the temple, from one of which water was given to 
 the lamb to drink. Those priests who had the keys of the 
 gates opened the doors of the court of Israel and of the 
 holy place. The noise of the opening of the latter was 
 the signal for killing the lamb. The silver trumpets were 
 sounded, as a signal for the musicians to be at their desks, 
 and for the station men, who represented the people of 
 Israel, to be at their places. Meanwhile, the lamps in the 
 golden candlestick were trimmed, the incense altar prepared, 
 and the blood of the lamb sprinkled on the large altar. 
 The priests then returned to the room Gezit, and offered the 
 following prayer : — " Thou hast loved us, O Lord our God, 
 with an everlasting love : with great and abundant compas- 
 sion hast thou compassionated us, our Father, our King. 
 For our fathers' sakes, who trusted in thee, and whom thou 
 didst teach statutes of life, so be gracious to us also, our 
 Father, O most merciful Father. thou compassionate 
 One, pity us ; and put into our hearts to know, understand, 
 obey, learn, teach, observe, do, and perform all the words 
 of the doctrine of thy law in love. And enlighten our eyes 
 by thy law, and cause our hearts to cleave to thy command- 
 ments, and unite our hearts to love and fear thy name." 
 The priests then recited the commandments and the con- 
 tents of their phylacteries, and again had recourse to lots to 
 fix who should ofifer incense, and who should lay the pieces 
 
KITES AND WORSHIP. 197 
 
 of the lamb on the fire. Two persons having been selected 
 for the first duty, proceeded to the sanctuary for that pur- 
 pose, and joined two others who had trimmed the lamps. 
 When all was prepared, three went into the porch, and only 
 one remained to burn the incense. He waited till the pre- 
 sident called to him to offer, which was not done till all the 
 priests had retired from the space between the porch and 
 the altar, and the people were ready to worship. The in- 
 cense was then kindled, the holy place filled with perfume, 
 and the people recited prayers, first for the heathens who 
 were friendly to the Jewish people, and then for their own 
 nation. These prayers have been translated by Lightfoot ; 
 and it is well observed, that, on comparison with the most 
 reverent and best of the prayers offered by the heathen to 
 their gods, we may plainly see the vast advantages a land 
 possesses by being favored with Divine revelation. In the 
 emphatic words of the Psalmist, "Blessed is the nation 
 whose God is the Lord," Psa. xxxiii, 12. However, the 
 prayers used in the later times were disfigured by vain re- 
 petitions, and destitute of that unction which exists in the 
 prayers of the gospel dispensation, wherein reference is made 
 to the Saviour, the Lamb of God, who died to take away 
 the sins of the world, and who pleads for his people, offer- 
 ing up their prayers with the sweet incense of his interces- 
 sion. The office of burning incense was accounted parti- 
 cularly honorable ; it could only be performed once by the 
 same priest during his administration. It fell by lot to 
 Zacharias at the time mentioned, Luke i, 9. 
 
 After these prayers were ended, the pieces of the lamb 
 were laid reverently upon the fire. When this was done, 
 the four priests who had been in the temple appeared upon 
 the steps of the porch. They stood looking humbly towards 
 the ground, their hands raised above their heads, and the 
 one who had burned the incense solemnly pronounced the 
 blessing, Num. vi, 24-26. This explains Luke i, 9. The 
 daily meat-offering was then offered, next the meat-oflfering 
 for the high priest, and lastly the drink-offering. At the 
 conclusion the Levites began the song of praise, pausing at 
 times while the trumpets soimded and the people wor- 
 shiped. 
 
 The psalms regularly sung were the 24th, 48th, 81st, 
 8 2d, 9 2d, 93d, and 94th ; one upon each successive day of 
 
198 JEWISH NATION, 
 
 the week, the last upon the Sabbath. This selection, it is 
 said, was made with some reference to each day of the cre- 
 ation. Other psalms probably were sung during the day, 
 while the sacrifices of individuals were offering. On the 
 Sabbath also there was an additional sacrifice, during which, 
 in the morning, the Levites sang the song of Moses, (Deut. 
 xxxii,) and in the evening that in Exod. xv, each divided 
 into six parts, one for each of six successive weeks. Some 
 think there is a reference to this in Rev. xv, 3, where the 
 saints who had reached heaven, the place of everlasting 
 Sabbath, or rest, are said to sing the song of Moses. The 
 singing was accompanied by instrumental music, mentioned 
 in Kings and Chronicles. There never were fewer than 
 twelve singers, frequently more. On this occasion, also, the 
 young children of the Levites were allowed to stand between 
 their father's feet and join in the psalm, though forbidden 
 to enter the court at other times. 
 
 The above description refers to the ritual services of the 
 temple every morning. The duties of the priests, during 
 the middle of the day, varied according to circumstances : 
 but some were always in readiness to offer the sacrifices any 
 Israelites might come to present, whether a freewill-offering, 
 or to expiate an offense. Though the sacrifices sometimes 
 were few, at other times they were numerous, especially at 
 the great festivals. 
 
 The evening service began at the ninth hour, about three 
 or four o'clock, and was nearly the same as that of the morn- 
 ing : the same duties being, for the most part, performed by 
 the same persons, and nearly in the same order. 
 
 Such was the daily routine of the temple service ; there 
 is much in it very impressive, although many of the circum- 
 stances described sound strange to us as connected with the 
 worship of God. These ritual observances were designed 
 for the whole nation, to keep before their view continually 
 the Great Atonement now so distinctly set before us in the 
 Gospel. There Were services of prayer and praise through- 
 out their land, similar to our present public worship. 
 
 The regularity and minute exactness with which every 
 circumstance was performed, were very suitable to the ser- 
 vice of that Being who is a God of order and not of confu- 
 sion, and widely different from the sacrifices and services 
 of the heathen. The early hour of the morning sacrifice, 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 199 
 
 which began with the first dawn — the nature of the sacri- 
 ficial ceremonies, founded on the admitted fact that all man- 
 kind are sinners, and leading to Him who was the Lamb 
 slain from the foundation of the world, (Rev. xiii, 8) — the 
 awful silence at prayer — the solemn benediction from the 
 steps of the holy place — the general and harmonious song 
 of praise, and the open and regular repetition of all these 
 services — very strongly contrast with the abominations of 
 the heathen rites, concerning which the apostle so emphati- 
 cally says, " It is a shame even to speak of those things 
 which were done of them in secret," in their, falsely so 
 called, religious services, Eph. v, 12. 
 
 There were various minute regulations to insure the re- 
 verent and orderly conduct of the people at large, when 
 attending the services in the inner court. Many of these 
 became mere forms in the latter days of the Jewish state : 
 some were burdensome ; others, which were wholly of their 
 own devising, were trifling, or even absurd. 
 
 The sagan, it has been stated, acted as the substitute for 
 the high priest, or as his assistant. Zephaniah, mentioned 
 2 Kings XXV, 18, as the second priest, probably was this 
 officer. From the priests were selected two overseers of 
 the treasuries, seven overseers of the gates and chambers 
 where the vestments and utensils were deposited ; also 
 deputy collectors, the president of the weekly course, and 
 the heads of the houses of their fathers. There were fif- 
 teen overseers to superintend the due performance of various 
 duties. Among them we need only mention three : " the 
 man of the mountain of the Lord's house," whose duty it 
 was to visit the nightly guards, the Levites ; the overseer 
 of the sick — the priests were often unwell, from being thinly 
 clothed and barefooted during the services ; and the over- 
 seer of the water, who had to take care that the temple 
 was abundantly supplied. Nicodemus, who came to Jesus 
 by night, is supposed by some to have held this office. 
 
 The Levites acted as guards during the night, at twenty- 
 one out of twenty-four stations, in the courts of the temple. 
 Priests were stationed at the other three. These guards 
 were visited by the officer called " the man of the moun- 
 tain." If any Levite were found asleep, he was beaten 
 upon the spot, and his garments set on fire by the torches 
 carried by those who accompanied this visitor. Some think 
 
200 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 this is alluded to, Rev. xvi, 15. It has also been thought 
 that Psalm cxxxiv was repeated by this oflficer and the 
 guards when visited. 
 
 The stationary men, or Israelites of the station, are not 
 mentioned in Scripture ; but, from the Jewish writings, we 
 learn that latterly there were twenty-four courses of persons, 
 selected from the nation at large, who attended in rotation, 
 in the same manner as the Levites. The objects in view in 
 this appointment seem to have been, that there should al- 
 ways be a sufficient number of persons present at the temple 
 services ; particularly as the representatives of the nation, 
 at the sacrifices appointed to be offered for the whole people. 
 We do not learn their number, but are told that those at 
 home met the priests and Levites in the synagogues of 
 their respective cities to pray, read the law, and entreat 
 that the services of their brethren, then in attendance at 
 Jerusalem, might be accepted for the people. They might 
 not be trimmed by a barber, nor have their clothes washed 
 during their attendance ; they were expected especially to 
 manifest devout behavior during that time. They also 
 then read a portion of Scripture daily, part of Genesis i 
 and ii. 
 
 Some of these daily services were added after the return 
 from captivity ; but the main outline was the same, from 
 the first erection of the tabernacle to the destruction of the 
 last temple by the Romans. During the reigns of the idola- 
 trous kings the services were discontinued, particularly by 
 Ahaz, who shut up the house of the Lord, and suffered the 
 courts to be defiled with filth, 2 Chron. xxviii, 24 ; xxix, 16. 
 After the captivity, the services were very regularly at- 
 tended to ; any omissions were occasioned, not by neglect 
 on the part of the Jews, but by the \aolence of their ene- 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 
 
 201 
 
 SACRIFICES IN THE COURT OF THE TABERNACLE. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE SACRIFICES. 
 
 The animals sacrificed at the Jewish altar were selected ac- 
 cording to the circumstances and situation in life of the 
 offerer, but only five sorts were accepted. These were bul- 
 locks, goats, sheep, turtle-doves, and young pigeons. Of 
 all these, burnt-offerings might be offered, so called from a 
 Hebrew word signifying " to ascend," as in smoke or flame. 
 And here bear in mind the object for which these offerings 
 were made. Tlie offerer, conscious of the evil of his heart, 
 and the sins he had committed, was desirous that these 
 should be done away by faith in the Messiah, typified by 
 these sacrifices ; or, having committed some actual offense, 
 he wished to express his sorrow and desire of pardon 
 through the same Great Sacrifice, and therefore brought 
 his offering, according to the precept of the law in such a 
 case. 
 
 The offerer was to appear '* before the Lord," (Lev. i, 3,) 
 to present himself in the court of the tabernacle, in front of 
 
 9* 
 
202 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 it, or "before the door." When the temple. was erected, 
 this was understood to mean in the court of Israel. Hav- 
 ing brought the animal, he laid his hand upon its head 
 while yet alive. This was emblematical ; it denoted a 
 solemn transfer of sin from himself to the victim, and that 
 by its death he acknowledged his own liability to suffer : 
 thus every sacrifice was a type of Christ's suffering for us. 
 This was usually done on the north side of the altar, among 
 the rings. The offerer stood with his face towards the holy 
 place, and said, " I have sinned ; I have done perversely ; 
 I have rebelled and done thus ;" mentioning, either aloud 
 or to himself, his offense, or the cause of the offering ; — 
 *' but I return by repentance before Thee ; and let this be 
 my expiation." The animal was then fastened to one of 
 the rings if large, or only its feet tied if small ; its head was 
 laid towards the south, and its face turned to the holy place. 
 At first the animal often was struck, and the blood received, 
 by the offerer ; but, in the time of the temple worship, this 
 was done by the priests, who were then more numerous, 
 and better skilled in doing it. The blood being received in 
 sacred vessels was taken to the altar, the vessels being 
 handed by one to another as they were filled. The blood 
 was sprinkled on the sides of the altar by a priest, as al- 
 ready stated. The person whose office it was to flay and 
 divide the animal, hung it, when dead, upon one of the 
 hooks, took off the skin, which was given to the priests ; 
 and, dividing the carcass into several parts, handed them 
 in succession to other priests in waiting, by whom they 
 were carried to the ascent of the altar, and sprinkled with 
 salt, Lev. ii, 13. To this Christ referred, Mark ix, 49, 50. 
 It is considered that, as salt preserves things from putrefy- 
 ing, so the application of it to the sacrifices signified that 
 the covenant of grace is lasting. The priest who had to 
 lay the pieces on the altar, then cut out the sinew mentioned 
 Gen. xxxii, 32, threw it among the ashes, and laid the pieces 
 upon the burning pile of wood, nearly in their natural posi- 
 tion. In the holocausts, or whole burnt-offerings, all the 
 pieces were consumed. 
 
 Birds were always brought in pairs ; one was carried 
 round the altar, its head wrung off, and the blood sprin- 
 kled, its feathers stripped, and its crop turned out and the 
 contents cast among the ashes. The body was then cut 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 203 
 
 open, salted as well as the head, and both were laid upon 
 the fire. 
 
 The SIN-OFFERING wa§ also a burnt-offering, but differed 
 from what has been already described in some particulars. 
 The victims were offered for sins committed inadvertently, 
 or through ignorance, but for which the offender would 
 have deserved cutting off if done willingly. There were 
 some other occasions enumerated in Leviticus, both public 
 and private, when sin-offerings were to be made, but the 
 later Jewish doctors enumerated three hundred and sixty- 
 five precepts ; for forty-three of these, if broken, a sin-offer- 
 ing was required. The beast being killed, as already de- 
 scribed, some of the blood was sprinkled in the holy place, 
 before the veil, as well as on the altar, and if for individu- 
 als, also on the golden altar of incense. The fat and in- 
 wards only were burned upon the altar, the carcasses were 
 given to the priests, who might eat the flesh within the 
 temple ; but, in the sin-offering for the priests or for the 
 congregation, (Lev. iv,) only the fat was burned upon the 
 altar ; all the rest, even the skin, was carried to the place 
 where the ashes used to be cast out, and there burned. 
 The birds were offered as already described, but were 
 given to the priests. They ate of the sacrifices after the 
 services were concluded ; so their chief meal must have 
 been in the evening : it was unlawful to eat after midnight. 
 
 The principle set forth by the sin-offerings, we have 
 seen, was to seek atonement for sins committed from igno- 
 rance. And in several parts of the New Testament, as in 
 Romans viii, 3 ; 2 Cor. v, 21, Christ is spoken of as a sin- 
 offering, the original word meaning both sin and the offer- 
 ing for sin, as Magee and others clearly show. But, as the 
 offerings went to the priests, in corrupt times they desired 
 to promote their own advantage more than the devotion of 
 the people. To this, perhaps, Hosea referred, chap, iv, 8, 
 when he said, " They eat up the sin" (the original word 
 also signifies sin-offering) " of my people, and they set their 
 heart on their iniquity." They sought their own advantage, 
 instead of the reformation of the people. 
 
 Another class of sacrifices was the trespass-offerings. 
 These were for doubtful cases, as when a person was in 
 doubt whether what he did were criminal or not, such as 
 the case stated Lev. v, 2-6 ; but the Jewish doctors, in 
 
204 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 later times, added to the burden of this, as well as to other 
 observances. The trespass-offerings evidently were de- 
 signed that the conscience might be kept tender, and the 
 appearance of evil be shunned. But evil-disposed priests 
 gained many advantages by raising scruples ; thus, as well 
 as in other instances, laying upon the people a burden too 
 heavy to be borne. Trespass-offerings were expressly or- 
 dered in the case of things stolen, unjustly gotten, or de- 
 tained ; for sacrilege, injury to a bondmaid, for the Nazarite, 
 and for the leper. The carcasses of the animals in this case 
 also went to the priests, except the fat and part of the 
 inwards. There was an exception in the case of the leper. 
 Part of the blood of the lamb was put upon the tip of his 
 right ear, the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe 
 of his right foot. The sacrifice also, as less holy, was 
 killed on the south side of the court, and the flesh might 
 be eaten by any persons, and out of the temple. 
 - The PEACE-OFFERINGS included thank-offerings, freewill- 
 offerings, and offerings in consequence of vows. These 
 were usually of calves or lambs; and a freewill-offering 
 needed not to be free from blemish. The blood was 
 sprinkled, the fat and inwards burned ; the breast and 
 shoulder, after being lifted and waved by the offerer from 
 right to left and up and down, but always toward the altar, 
 was kept by the priests ; the rest of the sacrifice might be 
 eaten by the offerer, under certain regulations, after having 
 been boiled in a part of the temple used for that purpose. 
 In the case of Eli's sons, the priests took more than the 
 portion assigned them, and that in an overbearing, violent 
 manner, 1 Sam. ii, 13, 14. Every peace-offering was ac- 
 companied by a meat-offering of cakes of flour; a part 
 was burned, and the rest given to the priests. 
 
 The sacrifices above described might be offered by hea- 
 thens, either directly or indirectly, by the congregation of 
 Israel at large, and by individual Israelites ; such, at least, 
 was the practice in later times. The Jewish writers speak 
 of the space between Jerusalem and the tower of the flock, 
 or the tower of Edar, (Micah iv, 8,) as partly used for a 
 pasture for cattle, the males of which were used for burnt- 
 offerings, and the females for peace-offerings. This is 
 thought to be the place where the shepherds were watch- 
 ing their flocks by night, when the angel brought them 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 
 
 205 
 
 tidings of Christ's birth, Luke ii, 8-14. Perhaps the ani- 
 mals they watched over were intended for the sacrifices 
 which typified the Lamb of God, whose appearance on 
 earth was then announced. The tower of Edar is men- 
 tioned as one of the places where Jacob fixed his abode. 
 Gen. XXXV, 21. 
 
 "T'i'lliiPfW! 
 
 % 
 
 .J^ 
 
 ^^^SW 
 
 THE MEAT-OFFERING. 
 
 Another class of offerings included those called meat- 
 offerings. Of these there were three for the whole con- 
 gregation: — 1. The shew-bread. Lev. xxiv, 5-9. 2. The 
 sheaf of the first-fruits of barley, Lev. xxiii, 10-12 ; this 
 was waved before the Lord. The side motion, the later 
 Jewish rabbins said, was for restraining evil winds, the up- 
 and-down motion for restraining evil dews : thus did they 
 add to the simple statements of the divine law. 3. The 
 offering of two wheaten loaves, for first-fruits, at the feast 
 of Pentecost, Lev. xxiii, 17. The offerings for individuals 
 were : — 1. The daily offering of the high priest, Exod. xxix, 
 40, 41. 2. That offered by every priest on entering his 
 office, Exod. xxix ; Lev. vi, 20 ; these were wholly burned. 
 3. The offering of a small quantity of flour, by a poor man, 
 instead of an animal, for a sin-offering, Lev. v, 11. 4. The 
 offering of barley-meal, brought with a suspected wife, 
 
206 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 Num. V, 15 ; this and the first-fruits at the passover were 
 the only oflPerings of barley. 5. An offering, Lev. ii, 13 ; 
 this appears to have been a thank-offering for the bounties 
 of Providence, and might be of dough, either unbaked, or 
 baked in an oven or a pan, also in wafers or thinner cakes. 
 6. The first-fruits, Lev. xxiii, 10-21. Oil and frankincense 
 appear to have been required in most of these. Among 
 the exceptions was the poor man's offering ; but neither 
 leaven nor honey was allowed in any case ; see Lev. ii, 11. 
 It has been observed, that leaven is the emblem of pride, 
 malice, and hypocrisy; honey, of sensual pleasure: these 
 are directly opposed to the graces and to the conduct re- 
 quired by the divine law. Regular proportions of flour 
 and the other articles were directed for the different sacri- 
 fices, and were kept in readiness for the offerers. In our 
 Saviour's days, the flour being mixed properly in a gold or 
 silver dish belonging to the temple, it was put with the 
 frankincense into the vessel of service. The priest, then 
 standing at the south-east horn of the altar, took a handful 
 from the part moistened with oil, salted it, and laid it upon 
 the fire with the frankincense. The rest was carried away 
 for the priests' use. 
 
 The DRINK-OFFERING was a quantity of wine, differing 
 according to the occasion, poured out, as the remainder of 
 blood, at the base of the altar. This was offered with the 
 morning and evening sacrifice, (Exod. xxix, 40,) and on 
 other occasions. 
 
 The due performance, or payment of these offerings, ap- 
 pears to have been enforced by conscientious feelings in the 
 minds of the pious. Bodily punishments were inflicted on 
 the unprincipled ; the strict Pharisaical observances of out- 
 ward ceremonies also acted as a general stimulus in later 
 times. They were at least to be offered on one of the three 
 solemn festivals, when every male Israelite was required to 
 attend and worship before the Lord in the tabernacle or 
 temple, Exod. xxiii, 14 ; Deut. xvi, 16. 
 
 It is evident that such observances are widely different 
 from any services appointed under the gospel dispensation ; 
 but the directions respecting sacrifices, and the accounts of 
 their being offered, are so minute and frequent, that we can- 
 not be at any uncertainty as to their having been not only 
 directed, but also offered up. And, considering the im- 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 207 
 
 mense number of sacrifices offered on some occasions, as 
 that of the dedication of the temple by Solomon, (1 Kings 
 viii, 62-64,) and at the cleansing of the sanctuary by Heze- 
 kiah, (2 Chron. xxix, 31-35,) the courts of the temple 
 would present a scene which would now appear very singu- 
 lar to us, as well as the priests being regularly employed in 
 slaughtering animals. We may be thankful that a more 
 simple way of approach to the mercy-seat is permitted to 
 us, less repugnant to the general feelings of mankind. In 
 later times, the number of sacrifices often was very great : 
 at one of the last passovers celebrated in Jerusalem it is 
 stated that 255,000 lambs were eaten, so that, at least, three 
 millions of people must have been present ; and that Josiah 
 gave to the people no less than 30,000 kids or lambs for 
 the passover, 2 Chron. xxxv, 7 ; all these must have been 
 without blemish. 
 
 We are not able to ascertain the manner in which the 
 Levites studied the law, so as to know the extent of their 
 views as to the design and meaning of the sacrifices ; but 
 there are statements in the Prophets sufficient to show that 
 the types were studied with reference to the Messiah ; and 
 it is plain that some among the Jews saw and rejoiced in 
 the day of Christ, being led to contemplate it by the typical 
 sacrifices and figurative language of Scripture ; see Heb. xi, 
 1, 26 ; John viii, 56 ; Luke ii, 25, 38. . " 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE JEWISH FESTIVALS. 
 
 The three great annual festivals of the Jews brought to 
 remembrance three most important national blessings : the 
 bringing of the people out of Egypt, the giving the law, 
 and the putting into their possession the land of promise. 
 They are mentioned particularly, Lev. xxiii. Each festival 
 continued several days, and all or most of the males were 
 required to be present at the tabernacle, being assured that 
 their homes should not be injured during their absence on 
 these occasions, Exod. xxxiv, 23, 24. This positive pledge 
 and assurance is a manifest proof that the religion requiring 
 
208 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 MODERN JERUSALEM. 
 
 sucli an observance was from God, and upheld by his al- 
 mighty power and particular providence. For it does not 
 appear that the nation ever received any injury during the 
 attendance on these occasions ; though, from passages in the 
 historical books and Gospels, it is evident that this resort 
 to the tabernacle, or to Jerusalem, was obligatory upon the 
 people at large. The first instance of injury on record hap- 
 pened thirty years after the national rejection of Christ, 
 when Josephus states that fifty persons were slain at Lydda, 
 while the rest of the inhabitants were absent attending the 
 feast of tabernacles. 
 
 At these times the Jews, from all parts of the country, 
 met together as brethren ; they often went up accompanied 
 by their wives, (1 Sam. i, 3, 7,) and in large companies, 
 Luke ii, 44. Several of the Psalms, it is supposed, were 
 sung during these journeys to Jerusalem. Here is a re- 
 markable instance of direct providential interposition, united 
 with a right observance or use of means ; for these festivals 
 occurred at the seasons best suited for traveling, and did 
 not interfere with the ordinary labors of the field. This 
 attendance promoted mutual love and friendship, by persons 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 209 
 
 from different parts thus often meeting together. It tended 
 to keep up attention to the services, and may be considered 
 as typifying the gathering of all the people together to 
 Christ, and into his Church, from all parts of the world, 
 under the Christian dispensation. These assembhes appear 
 to be alluded to, Heb. xii, 23. 
 
 The first of the great festivals was the passover, insti- 
 tuted to remind the Israelites of their deliverance from 
 Egypt. A full account of this festival is given in Exod. 
 xii, 3-28. It was called the feast of unleavened bread, 
 because no leavened bread was to be eaten during the seven 
 days it lasted, to remind the Jews how their fathers left 
 Egypt in haste, Deut. xvi, 3. Even now, before the pass- 
 over, the Jews examine their houses very scrupulously, to 
 be sure that not a morsel of leavened bread remains within 
 their walls. It used to be customary, and perhaps may be 
 so still, to leave a few crumbs in a corner, which, when 
 found, were cast out of the house with some ceremony ; 
 thus the minds of the young children were impressed by 
 the peculiar observance required. Perhaps this has suc- 
 ceeded to the custom of encouraging the children to ask 
 the meaning of the sprinkling of the blood on the lintel and 
 posts of the houses, Exod. xii, 26, 27. It has been already 
 remarked, that leaven is spoken of as an emblem of malice, 
 hypocrisy, and sensuality : see 1 Cor. v, 7, 8. 
 
 The passover was very strictly observed. The number 
 of persons who resorted to Jerusalem at this time was very 
 great, as already stated. The inhabitants gave free use of 
 their rooms to the strangers. An instance of this is in the 
 case of our Saviour, Mark xiv, 13, 14 ; many might be ac- 
 commodated in temporary erections. The rabbins assert 
 that none ever said on this occasion, " I have not found a 
 bed in Jerusalem to lie on." The beds in the East are 
 merely small mattresses, little better than a piece of cloth. 
 
 In later times, several observances were added to the 
 passover, beyond the simple observances directed in Exod. 
 xii. The manner of celebrating it when our Lord was 
 on earth appears to have been as follows, though it is 
 not certain that all the ceremonials were universally ob- 
 served : — 
 
 1. The males of the family or company, consisting of not 
 less than ten, and sometunes twenty, met together in the 
 
210 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 evening, when they washed their hands and feet, and placed 
 themselves at table in the rechning posture then customary. 
 In earlier times they ate the passover standing, with their 
 staves in their han^s, as about to begin a journey, Exod. xii, 
 1 1 ; latterly they reclined at this, as at other meals, to in- 
 dicate that they had been brought into the promised land 
 of their rest. A cup of wine, mixed with water, was pre- 
 sented to each guest, over which a blessing was pronoimced, 
 " Blessed be He that created the fruit of the vine !" The 
 lamb, some unleavened bread, and bitter herbs were then 
 placed on the table, as appointed by the law, also other ar- 
 ticles of food. The principal person distributed pieces of 
 the paschal lamb, with unleavened bread, until all the lamb 
 had been eaten. The paschal lambs had been killed in the 
 temple, with observances instituted for the occasion, and 
 then, bemg taken to the respective houses, were roasted on 
 spits made of pomegranate wood. Every person present 
 was bound to eat to the size of an olive at least. 2. Aftei 
 this first repast they again washed their feet, and replaced 
 themselves at table, to eat the second course, or repast, 
 consisting of bitter herbs, with a kind of sauce made of 
 bruised palm-branches, and berries or raisins, mixed with 
 vinegar. This sauce was thick ; it was called " haroseth," 
 and was considered to represent the tempered clay from 
 which their forefathers made bricks during their bondage in 
 Egypt. Another cup of wine was taken. The master di 
 vided the bread into two parts, and laying one part aside, 
 covered with a napkin, he then blessed the other and distri 
 buted it, saying, " Blessed be thou, Lord our God, tht 
 King of the whole world, in the eating of unleavenec" 
 bread." 3. He next took the reserved part from the nap- 
 kin, and divided it into as many portions as there were 
 guests. At that time, or some think at a rather earliei 
 period, one of the youngest of the company asked the 
 meaning of this rite, Exod. xii, 26 : " And it shall come t( 
 pass, when your children shall say unto you, What meah 
 ye by this service ? Then ye shall say. It is the sacrifice 
 of the Lord's passover, who passed over the houses of the 
 children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, 
 and delivered our houses." The master answered by re- 
 peating the hagadah, or " showing forth." " This is the 
 bread of affliction, which our fathers ate in the land of 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 2n 
 
 affliction. Let him that is hungry come and eat the pass- 
 over ; let him that hath need come and eat the passover ; 
 for this passover is our Saviour and our refuge." Or, he 
 explained the symbolical meaning of the different dishes 
 and observances, expounding from Deut. xxvi, 5, " A 
 Syrian ready to perish was my father," etc. Then taking 
 the cup, he first tasted it himself, and presented it to 
 each, saying, " Blessed be thou, O Lord our God, King 
 of the world, who hast created the fruit of the vine !" 
 This third cup was usually called the cup of blessing. 
 The apostle refers to it, 1 Cor. x, 16, "the cup of blessing 
 which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of 
 Christ ?" See also Psa. cxvi, 13. 4. The whole ended with 
 taking a fourth cup of wine, and singing the 1 1 3th and five 
 following Psalms of praise and thanksgiving, of which the 
 118th, the last, is peculiarly significant of the coming of 
 Christ. These were called the great Hallel, or Hallelujah. 
 
 The preceding particulars throw considerable light on 
 the concise accounts of the evangelists. The events of the 
 passover and last supper, blended together, may be consi- 
 dered to have occurred as follows : — 
 
 When the paschal lamb was dressed, and all things 
 were ready, Jesus reclined at table with the twelve, and, 
 according to Luke xxii, 15, he expressed that he had earn- 
 estly desired to eat this passover with them before he 
 suffered. Taking a cup of wine, he blessed it, and told 
 them to divide it among themselves. When the paschal 
 supper, or what is called the first course, was ended, Jesus 
 rose from the table, and, to set them an example of humility, 
 washed their feet himself ; he also exhorted them against 
 seeking who should be the greatest. Our Lord then al- 
 luded to the traitor Judas, (John xiii, 11,) gave them the 
 encouragement of a future glorious reward, Luke xxii, 26- 
 30, and cautioned them all, especially warning Peter that 
 Satan had desired to sift him. 
 
 Having replaced themselves at table to eat the second 
 course, Christ testified more plainly than before, that one 
 of them should betray him, and said that it was he who 
 dipped his hand in the dish with him. Judas asking, as 
 well as the rest, " Is it I ?" Jesus answered that it was, 
 but unheard by the rest. Then John, instigated by Peter, 
 inquired who was meant, and our Lord told the beloved 
 
212 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 disciple, who reclined next him, that it was the person to 
 whom he should give a sop. After dipping the sop in the 
 haroseth, or sauce, he gave it to Judas, who, finding him- 
 self detected, hastened from the place to put his treachery 
 into execution. 
 
 Our Lord then took the bread which had been reserved, 
 and blessed, and broke, and gave to the eleven disciples. 
 Likewise he took the cup, and told them, " Drink ye all of 
 it," Matt- XX vi, 27 ; showing by the words with which he 
 accompanied these actions, that he instituted a solemn 
 memorial of the sacrifice of his death. He concluded the 
 whole by singing with his disciples a hymn, or the psalms 
 already mentioned. Some principal commentators consi- 
 der that the bread was distributed before Judas left the 
 table, but they generally agree that he went out before the 
 cup was given. That cup our Lord spoke of as typifying 
 his blood, the blood of the new covenant — the grand plan 
 of agreement or reconciliation God was estabhshing be- 
 tween himself and mankind, by the passion, that is, the 
 suflPering and death of his Son, through whom alone men 
 can draw nigh to God. 
 
 Learned men, who have closely examined the subject, 
 have shown that the observances of the Jewish passover 
 were directly opposed to several ceremonies common among 
 heathen in their idolatrous feasts. And the passover had 
 an especial typical reference to Christ in the circumstances 
 attending it. It was, 1. Descriptive of his person; 2. Of 
 his sufferings and death ; 3. Of the fruits of these suffer- 
 ings — deliverance and freedom ; and 4. Of the manner 
 in which believers are made partakers of the blessed fruits 
 of the sacrifice of Christ ; as it is by the precious blood of 
 Christ shed for our sins, and by that alone, that sinful man 
 is delivered from the wrath which his sins justly deserve. 
 This subject is discussed in works which treat upon the 
 types, and in commentaries on the Bible, 
 
 During the passover, the sheaf of the first-fruits of the 
 barley harvest was offered with a particular sacrifice : this 
 is directed Lev. xxiii, 9-14. On the anniversary of this 
 day, our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead ; the apos- 
 tle Paul may have had this specially in view when speak- 
 ing of Christ's resurrection, 1 Cor. xv, 20 : " He is become 
 the first-fruits of them that slept." 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 
 
 ¥1 
 
 213 
 
 FIRST-FRUITS OFFERED. 
 
 The second great festival was the feast of Pentecost, a 
 Greek word, from the feast being kept on the fiftieth day- 
 after the first day of unleavened bread. In the Bible it is 
 spoken of under several names. The feast of weeks, 
 Exod. xxxiv, 22 ; Deut. xvi, 10-1'7 ; the feast of harvest, 
 Exod. xxiii, 16 ; the day of first-fruits, Num. xxviii, 26, 
 It was celebrated during the seventh week, or a week of 
 weeks after the first day of the passover, and because on 
 this day the first-fruits of the wheat harvest were presented 
 with thanksgiving to God for his bounties : see Exod. 
 xxiii, 16; Lev. xxiii, 15-21; Num. xxviii, 26-31. On 
 this day also the giving of the law from Mount Sinai was 
 commemorated. The number of Jews who attended at the 
 festival was very great ; see Acts ii, 5-1 1 . At this season 
 the Holy Spirit came miraculously upon the apostles and the 
 first-fruits of the Christian Church, Acts ii, 4, 41. 
 
 On this occasion, the people went up to Jerusalem in 
 solemn processions, carrying their oflPerings of first-fruits ; 
 many in baskets richly wrought, and ornamented with 
 flowers; which were solemnly presented in the temple. 
 The sacrifices at this festival were numerous, but we need 
 not go minutely into the particulars. In Deut. xxvi, 5-10, 
 
214 
 
 JEWISH NATION* 
 
 /"^"^ 
 
 THE FIRST-FRUITS CARRIED UP TO JERUSALEM. 
 
 is a beautiful form of thanksgiving to be used in presenting 
 the first-fruits, which reminded the Jews of their origin from 
 " a Syrian ready to perish," and recapitulated the Lord's 
 merciful dealings towards them. 
 
 The feast of tabernacles continued for a week. It was 
 to keep in the memory of the Israelites their dwelling in 
 booths or tents in the desert, consequently of the days of 
 their pilgrimage there ; thus it was an emblem of the tran- 
 sitory nature of man's abode upon earth. Lev. xxiii, 34-43. 
 It is also called the feast of ingatherings, Exod. xxiii, 16. 
 At this time was the vintage, and the gathering of fruits. 
 The sacrifices for this occasion a^e directed, Num. xxix. 
 They were numerous, but diminished each day the festival 
 lasted. In the whole, seventy bullocks, fourteen rams, 
 seven goats, and ninety-eight lambs were offered during the 
 seven days. During this week the people were to dwell in 
 tents, or in arbors, of branches of trees, which latterly were 
 made upon the flat roofs of their houses. They carried 
 branches of palm and of other trees, singing, " Hosanna !*' 
 that is, " Save, I beseech thee !" Lev. xxiii, 40 ; Neh. viii, 15. 
 This festival was celebrated with especial rejoicings. But 
 the most remarkable of the later ceremonies was the pour- 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 216 
 
 ing out water upon the altar. A golden pitcher was filled 
 at the pool of Siloam, and brought into the temple, through 
 the water-gate, with much ceremony. The water was then 
 mixed with wine, and poured upon the sacrifice as it lay 
 upon the altar. It seems to have been adopted as an em- 
 blem of future blessings, perhaps in allusion to Isa. xii, 3. 
 It might have reference to the water that flowed from the 
 rock in the wilderness, and to the blessing of future rains 
 sohcited on this occasion ; but the devout Jews also con- 
 sidered water emblematical of the Holy Spirit, and in their 
 writings referring to this custom, say, " Why is it called the 
 place of drawing ? Because from thence ye draw the Holy 
 Spirit ; as it is written. And ye shall draw water with joy 
 from the fountains of salvation." The rejoicing on this oc- 
 casion was such as to cause a saying, " He that never saw 
 the rejoicing of the drawing of water, never saw rejoicing 
 in all his life." Upon this day, they read the last section 
 of the law, and also began the first, lest they should appear 
 more glad to end these readings than willing to begin them. 
 It was upon this day, the last, or the great day of the feast, 
 that our blessed Lord stood forth in the temple, and spake 
 with a loud voice the animated and very expressive decla- 
 ration, implying that the Holy Spirit should be his gift, 
 (John vii, 3*7, 38,) " If any man thirst, let him come unto 
 me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture 
 has said, out of his belly" (or rather from his heart) "shall 
 flow rivers- of living water." 
 
 The people attended the sacrifices, heard the traditions 
 expounded, and listened to the vocal and instrumental music 
 of the psalmody ; even the gravest among the men leaped 
 and danced in the temple courts on this occasion. The 
 rabbins say this custom was founded on the act of David, 
 2 Sam. vi, 14 ; but his movements in the procession which 
 accompanied the ark must have widely differed from the 
 indecorous display of the Jews in later days. These re- 
 joicings were continued to a late hour, and the court of the 
 women was splendidly lighted up. Each person had a 
 luleb, formed of some branches of willow, bound up with 
 pieces of palm and myrtle, and carried a pome-citron, or 
 fruit of the citron-tree, somewhat resembling a large orange, 
 in his hand. The lulebs were carried home to their houses, 
 and brought again on the day following. Maimonides con- 
 
216 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 siders that these branches were intended for a sign of joy 
 on account of the deliverance of the IsraeHtes from the 
 desert, a place destitute of fruits and seed. 
 
 Two other festivals were directed in the law, although 
 the celebration require^ was not so general as upon the 
 occasions already mentioned. The first was the feast of 
 TRUMPETS, so Called from the trumpets being blown with 
 more than usual solemnity ; and it may be considered as 
 typical or emblematical of the publishing the Gospel, Num. 
 xxix, 1-6 ; Lev, xxiii, 24, 25. The other was the feast, or 
 rather the fast, of expiation ; the great day of atonement, 
 on which day the people were forbidden to eat food. Mai- 
 monides speaks of it as a day wholly devoted to repentance 
 and Divine worship, to be entirely spent in confessing and 
 forsaking sin. The sacrifice on this day was more solemn 
 than any other. It was offered by the high priest alone, 
 for the sins of the whole nation during the preceding year. 
 The law respecting it is given Ley. xvi, which chapter the 
 reader should now peruse. We will describe the proceed- 
 ings of this day as observed in the later times of the Jews. 
 The high priest left his house and family seven days before, 
 and lived in a chamber in the court of Israel : a substitute 
 also was appointed, lest anything should occur to render 
 him unable to discharge the duties of this great day. Twice 
 during this interval he was sprinkled with water in which 
 ashes of the red heifer had been steeped, lest he might un- 
 knowingly have been defiled by some dead body. During 
 this interval he practiced the duties he would have to per- 
 form on that day, and studied the directions for the ser- 
 vices. He was solemnly adjured not to alter anything as 
 to buiTiing the incense ; a high priest, of the sect of the 
 Sadducees, having once ventured to light it before he went 
 within the veil. On the day before the solemnity took 
 place, he might eat plentifully, to prepare himself to sup- 
 port the ensuing fast, but he must not sleep during the 
 night. He either read and expounded the Scriptures, or 
 listened to others ; the parts usually selected were Chroni- 
 cles, Ezra, Job, or Daniel. Upon this day, according to 
 the later Jews, the high priest was permitted to pronounce 
 the word Jehovah, the peculiar name of God, which they 
 did not allow any one to pronounce except the high priest, 
 and him only on this day. 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 217 
 
 We now come to the duties of the high priest on the 
 great day of atonement. Early in the morning he bathed, 
 and arrayed himself in the rich garments of his office ; then, 
 proceeding to the court, he washed his hands and feet at 
 the laver. During this day he bathed his whole body five 
 times, and washed his hands and feet ten times. He then 
 killed the morning sacrifice, laid the pieces on the fire, 
 trimmed the lamps in the holy place, offered the incense, 
 and blessed the people from the steps of the porch. The 
 usual morning service being concluded, he proceeded to 
 offer the sacrifices peculiar to the day — a bullock, a ram, 
 and seven lambs for a burnt-offering, with meat-offerings, 
 and a kid for a sin-offering. He then again washed his 
 hands and feet at the laver. 
 
 As it was a fast day, the people did not return home, 
 but the public services were continued without intermission. 
 The high priest again bathed his whole body, and put on 
 the white linen dress usually worn by priests, thus showing 
 that when he appeared as a sinner, to expiate his own sins 
 and the sins of the people, he was to be arrayed in an hum- 
 ble dress, and that there is no distinction of persons before 
 God ; also that he then acted, not in his peculiar character 
 of high priest, but as the representative of the congrega- 
 tion. Having again washed at the laver, he proceeded to 
 the north side of the altar, where he found more animals 
 ready to be sacrificed. The first were the sin-offerings : 
 the bullock for his own sins and those of the priests, and 
 the two kids of the goats for the congregation. Placing 
 his hand upon the head of the bullock, he turned towards 
 the holy place, and prayed as follows : — " Lord, I have 
 sinned, done perversely, and transgressed before thee, I and 
 my house. I beseech thee, O Lord, expiate the sins, per- 
 versities, and transgressions whereby I have sinned, done 
 perversely, and transgressed, I and my house, as it is written 
 in the law of Moses thy servant, saying. For on this day he 
 will expiate for you, to purge you from all your sins before 
 the Lord, that ye may be clean." The attending ministers 
 added, " Blessed be the glorious name of his kingdom for- 
 ever and ever !'* 
 
 The high priest then went to the north-east corner, and 
 the kids were placed one on his right and the other on his 
 left hand. Two pieces of gold, one inscribed, " For the 
 10 
 
218 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 Lord," the other, " For Azazel," were put mto a box ; the 
 high priest drew forth one with each hand, and the goat on 
 the hand in which was the lot of Azazel became the scape- 
 goat, and a scarlet Hst was tied on his forehead. The 
 Jewish tradition is, that this cloth frequently became white 
 when tied on the goat, but that it never changed during 
 the last forty years before the destruction of Jerusalem. 
 This is noticed by some with reference to the manner in 
 which the Jews, about that period, imprecated the blood 
 of Christ to be on themselves and on their children. Matt, 
 xxvii, 25. The other goat was then taken to the rings. 
 The high priest, having repeated his confession, killed the 
 bullock, and gave a vessel with some of the blood to a priest, 
 who carried it to the top of the steps of the porch, stirring 
 the blood to prevent its congealing. 
 
 The high priest next took from the altar a censer of coals, 
 and ascended the steps of the porch, carrying also a plate 
 with incense, while the people anxiously prayed for him. 
 He crossed the porch and the holy place, and, opening the 
 veils, entered the holy of holies. This day was the only 
 time during the year when that sacred place was entered 
 by any one. Standing before the ark, the high priest placed 
 the censer on the floor, and with his hands put the incense 
 upon the fire. When the place was filled with smoke, he 
 retired backwards till he was without the veil, uttering a 
 short, but lifeless formulary for national prosperity. He 
 then fetched the blood, and sprinkled it eight times before 
 the ark, and lea\^ng the burnmg censer, retired to the holy 
 place, where he set down the rest of the blood, and then 
 returned to the court of the priests. He then sacrificed the 
 goat, and sprinkled the blood in the same manner. During 
 this time no person was allowed to come beyond the altar. 
 The typical nature of the services of this day will be noticed 
 presently ; but we may here remark, from Outram, that, as 
 the high priest thus carried the blood, which is the vehicle 
 of the life or sensitive soul of the victims, into the innermost 
 sanctuary, and sprinkled it towards the mercy- seat ; so our 
 High Priest in the heaven itself, which that sanctuary pre- 
 figured, presents not only the soul, but the body of the 
 victim that was slain for our sins. Christ has appeared in 
 the character of the High Priest, as well as in that of the 
 offering, Heb. ix, 11, 14, 24-26. 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 219 
 
 The next process was to make atonement for the holy 
 place, by sprinkling the blood of the bullock and the goat, 
 first separately, and then mixed together, before the veil, 
 and upon the altar of incense. Then, crossing the court of 
 the priests, he made atonement for that place, by pouring 
 out the rest of the blood at the south-west corner. The 
 great altar was not sprinkled like that of incense ; perhaps 
 from being considered to be so holy as to sanctify every 
 offering laid upon it, (see Exod. xxix, 37 ; Matt, xxiii, 19,) it 
 was not thought to need any pmification. 
 
 The time now came for sending away the scape-goat, as 
 a type of Him who bare away our infinnities, and carried 
 off our diseases, Matt, viii, 1 7 ; Isa. liii, 4. The high priest 
 proceeded to the place where the scape-goat still stood, and, 
 with the stationary men, confessed over it the sins of the 
 people, placing their hands upon its head. It was then 
 given to a person who, accompanied by others, led it forth 
 to a high and steep rock, about twelve miles from Jerusalem. 
 Ten booths were erected on the road thither, at equal dis- 
 tances, and in each of them persons were placed. The man 
 in charge of the goat was delivered over to each company 
 in succession, meat and drink being offered to him at each 
 station. The company from the last booth stopped at a dis- 
 tance from the rock, while the man who led the goat un- 
 bound the scarlet cloth, and tore it into two, replacing one 
 half between the horns of the animal, and fixing the other 
 piece to the rock ; then pushing the goat backwards, to pre- 
 vent its leaping, he tumbled the animal over the rock, and 
 it was dashed to pieces by the fall. The person appointed 
 to discharge this duty returned to the nearest booth, and 
 remained there till the evening, when he bathed, and washed 
 his clothes, and went back to the city. Maimonides thus 
 speaks of this ceremonial : — " The scape-goat expiates all the 
 sins mentioned in the law, whether hght or heavy, whether 
 committed through contumacy or error, whether done ig- 
 norantly or knowingly. Every one who repents is thus 
 atoned for by the scape-goat ; but if any one do not repent, 
 then only his lighter transgressions are expiated by the 
 scape-goat." Surely Christians should learn to look to Him 
 who was typified by the scape-goat. 
 
 Meanwhile the priest disposed of the carcasses of the sin- 
 offerings ; only the fat was burned upon the altar, the rest 
 
220 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 being burned without the city, as directed Lev. viii, 1*7, by- 
 some of the priests, who also bathed and washed their 
 clothes before their return. 
 
 At the time when they supposed that the man with the 
 scape-goat had gone three miles from Jerusalem, the high 
 priest entered a pulpit in the court of the women, and read 
 Lev. xvi and xxiii, 27-32, the passages in the law concern- 
 ing the solemnity. He also repeated eight short prayers. 
 Then, returning to the inner court, he washed his hands and 
 feet at the laver, went again to a chamber on the north 
 side, where he bathed and put on his rich garments, and 
 again washed his hands and feet at the laver ; this being 
 required of every priest each time he quitted the court and 
 re-entered it. He then offered two rams for a burnt-offering. 
 
 By this time the hour for the evening service had arrived, 
 and when it was offered, the high priest again washed and 
 bathed, and, putting on his plain garments, washed and 
 went into the holy of holies a fourth time, to bring away 
 the censer and incense plate. His being said to enter once, 
 (Heb. ix, 12,) has reference to his entering only one day in 
 the year. He again washed, bathed, put on his rich gar- 
 ments, washed, and went into the holy place to offer the 
 evening incense and trim the lamps. Then washing for the 
 last time, the high priest laid aside his rich apparel and re- 
 tired to his own house, accompanied by the multitude, who 
 rejoiced that God had not mingled his blood with that of 
 the sacrifices. 
 
 Thus ended this solemn ceremonial, and there is much in 
 it that deserves serious attention. It was a day of fasting 
 for national humiliation, and surely other nations ought to 
 copy the example statedly, and humble themselves before 
 the Lord. The scape-goat, figuratively bearing away the 
 iniquities of the people, reminds us of the Saviour, who bare 
 the sins and sorrows of the people, as the burnt- offerings 
 remind us of Christ's sufferings; while the high priest's 
 offering for himself as well as others, reminds us that all 
 mankind have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. 
 But the solemn entrance of the high priest into the most 
 holy place was especially to represent Jesus, the Great High 
 Priest of our profession, who, when by the one offering up of 
 himself he had made expiation for sin, entered into heaven 
 itself, with his ovm blood, having obtained eternal redemp- 
 
KITES AND WORSHIP. 221 
 
 tion for all his people, there to appear m the presence of 
 God for them, and to make continual intercession for them, 
 Heb. ix, 24-28. The apostle (Heb. ix, x) declares how 
 much the intercession of Christ was superior to that of any 
 mere man ; also that sacrifices of bullocks and goats were 
 only of avail to take away ceremonial pollution, for it was 
 not possible these should atone for sin. Hence the apostle, 
 writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, concludes, 
 " If the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an 
 heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of 
 the flesh : how much more shall the blood of Christ, who, 
 through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to 
 God, purge " the believer's " conscience from dead works," 
 (deeds deserving of death,) " to serve the living God," Heb. 
 ix, 13, 14. Here again remark, with Outram, the manner 
 in which Christ united in his own person the various parts 
 of this typical service — as Offerer, as Victim, and as High 
 Priest. He offered himself willingly in our behalf, both as 
 ofierer and offering ; he was the victim slain ; and he was 
 both the High Priest and the slain victim when he entered 
 the heavenly sanctuary, where he now ^pleads for us. 
 
 After the captivity, the Jews instituted other fast and 
 feast days, in addition to those prescribed by the law. The 
 two principal were the feast of purim, and that of the dedi- 
 cation. The feast of purim, or lots, was to commemorate 
 the deliverance of the Jews from the plot of Haman, for 
 their extirpation, as recorded in the Book of Esther. One 
 day was kept as a fast, in reference to the day on which the 
 Jews were to have been destroyed, the two following as 
 feasts for their deliverance. This is still observed ; but 
 there are no particulars as to the manner in which it was 
 celebrated in the temple. 
 
 The feast of dedication was appointed by Judas Macca- 
 beus, as a new consecration of the temple, after it had been 
 polluted by Antiochus Epiphanes, who destroyed the books 
 of the law, plundered the temple, and even erected an altar 
 on the top of the great altar, where he caused a sow to be 
 sacrificed, and sprinkled the courts and temple with broth 
 of swine's flesh ; thus rendering them as defiled as it was 
 possible to be, in the view of the Je^^ish people. This de- 
 filed altar was taken down by the Maccabees, and the 
 stones laid up in a chamber at the north-west part of the 
 
222 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 court of Israel. A new one was built, and the hallowed 
 furniture again supplied. The re-dedication then took 
 place, B.C. 170. The festival continued eight days; but 
 the cliief distinctive observances were, singing the hallel, or 
 Psalms 113 to 118, on the first day, with a general illumi- 
 nation for eight successive nights. The rabbins connected 
 with it a stoiy of a miraculous increase of the temple oil 
 after Antiochus had been overcome. This festival is no- . 
 ticed, John x, 22, from whence it appears that our Lord 
 sanctioned it by his presence, and that it took place in the 
 winter. 
 
 The festival of the Sabbatical year claims attention else- 
 where, in connection with the observance of the Sabbath- 
 day ; and the feasts connected with the new moons, and the 
 beginning of the year, come under view when noticing the 
 spiritual worship of the Jews, 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVANCES. 
 
 USE OP SALT—CIRCUMCISION— LAWS AGAINST NECRO- 
 MANCY — THE RED HEIFER — CLEANSING THE LEPER. 
 
 In Lev. ii, 13, is an injunction, " With all thine offerings 
 thou shalt offer salt." Salt was an emblem of friendship 
 and faithfulness, and was used in their sacrifices, and in 
 their covenants which were confirmed by sacrifices, as a 
 token of confirmation: see Lev. ii, 13; Num. xviii, 19; 
 2 Chron. xiii, 5. In the latter passage, Abijah speaks of 
 the covenant or promise sent to David by the prophet Na- 
 than, as an assurance by a covenant of salt. In the figu- 
 rative language of Scripture, salt denotes that incorruption 
 of mind, and sincerity of grace, which is necessary in all 
 who would present an acceptable offering to God, as well 
 as hold communion with him in the exercises of worship. 
 
 Large quantities of salt were used in the temple with the 
 sacrifices ; it was chiefly rock or earth salt, which abounds 
 in several places in the neighborhood of Judea ; and nothing 
 can be more solitary or desolate than these districts, — even 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 223 
 
 the birds and beasts shun them. The sentence denounced 
 against idolatrous Judah (Jer. xvii, 6) was, that her land 
 should be as desolate as one of these dreary wastes. This 
 salt loses its savor by exposure to the air ; it was then scat- 
 tered over the marble pavement of the temple, to render it 
 less slippery in wet weather. Our Saviour is supposed to 
 refer thereto, Matt, v, 13 ; and his words present an affect- 
 ing caution, as well as an encouragement to every professing 
 Christian. " Ye are the salt of the earth," preserving it 
 from being destroyed through the corruptions of the wicked, 
 but justly cast forth as worthless refuse, if that great ob- 
 ject is not duly attended to by you. With respect to the 
 confirmation of covenants, if an Arab gives a traveler salt, 
 he may be assured of his protection. It is related of an 
 Arab robber, that having broken into a palace, he was 
 about to depart with a considerable booty, when he kicked 
 something with his foot in the dark ; on putting it to his 
 mouth he found it was a lump of salt. Considering that 
 he had, though unintentionally, partaken of the salt of the 
 owner of the property, he laid down the articles he had 
 collected, and hastened from the spot. 
 
 The Jews, in Scripture, are frequently called the circum- 
 cision, in allusion to their being the chosen people of God, 
 the descendants of Abraham, and taken into covenant with 
 Jehovah : see Gen. xvii, 4-8, — " Thou shalt be a father of 
 many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called 
 Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham ; for a father of 
 many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee 
 exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee ; and 
 kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my co- 
 venant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in 
 their generations, for an everlasting covenant ; to be a God 
 unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give 
 unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein 
 thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an ever- 
 lasting possession ; and I will be their God." 
 
 Circumcision was ordained as a token of this covenant, 
 and Abraham and his descendants were to be circumcised, 
 as a token of their partaking its benefits, and that the re- 
 membrance of it might not be forgotten. But the freeness 
 of the grace of justification, which was promised to Abra- 
 
224 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 ham and all his spiritual seed by this covenant, preceded 
 the institution of the rite of circumcision. This point is 
 strongly pressed by St. Paul, in Rom. iv. The apostle 
 also shows the spiritual or mystical intent of this ordinance, 
 by teaching that as he is not a Jew who is only one out- 
 wardly, so neither is that (the true) circumcision which is 
 outward in the flesh ; but "he is a Jew," or true Israehte, 
 " who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the 
 heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter ; whose praise is 
 not of men, but of God," Rom. ii, 28, 29 ; see Col. ii, 11. 
 
 The Jews, when boasting of their privileges, often called 
 themselves "the circumcision," and spoke of the Gentiles 
 with contempt as the uncircumcised. It was the sign or 
 mark of their profession as worshipers of the true God ; 
 and no Jew, without this, could be admitted to partake of 
 the passover, Exod. xii, 48. Thus it was enforced as an 
 observance of the Levitical dispensation ; and thus Christ 
 ascribes the institution of circumcision to Moses, though it 
 was derived from the patriarchs, John vii, 22. It was a 
 rite suited to teach the obligations of a holy nation, to seek 
 for purity of heart and holiness of life. 
 
 A proselyte of the covenant was a stranger, who re- 
 nounced idolatry, and had been circumcised, and thereby 
 was pledged to keep the whole of the ceremonial as well as 
 the moral law. These were called proselytes of righteous- 
 ness. A proselyte of the gate was a stranger who so- 
 journed among the Jews — " the stranger that is within thy 
 gates," Deut. xiv, 21. He worshiped Jehovah as the only 
 true God, and received the moral law ; but he was not cir- 
 cumcised, nor engaged to the ritual and ceremonial obser- 
 vances. Of this description probably were " the devout 
 men who feared God," frequently mentioned in the New 
 Testament, particularly Cornelius, Acts x, 1. They were 
 bound to the observance of the Sabbath. 
 
 The rite of circumcision was to be performed when the 
 child was eight days old, even though that day might fall 
 upon the Sabbath, John vii, 22 ; and it is considered that it 
 was then customary to name the child : see respecting John 
 the Baptist and Jesus, Luke i, 59 ; ii, 21 ; where we read 
 how Simeon took the child Jesus in his arms and blessed 
 him. At the institution of this rite Abram's name was 
 changed to Abraham. 
 
RITES AND WOKSMIP. 225 
 
 In later times, the Jews introduced superstitious and un- 
 necessary observances into this as well as other rites. One 
 was to leave a seat empty for the prophet Elijah, who was 
 supposed to be present, though not visible. The whole ob- 
 servance became unnecessary, when the ceremonial law was 
 done away by the coming of Christ, and the Christian dis- 
 pensation was set forth. There are frequent references to 
 this in the writings of the apostles ; for many Jewish Chris- 
 tians were still attached to their old rites, and endeavored 
 to enforce the observance of them, especially circumcision, 
 which was the first, and as it were the bond or pledge to 
 all the rest. But the apostles, particularly St. Paul, ear- 
 nestly contended against the observance of this rite by the 
 Gentiles ; knowing that, if liberty should be permitted in 
 this respect, their Christian liberty as to all ceremonial ob- 
 servances could no longer be opposed. The question was 
 solemnly considered by the apostles and the rest of the 
 Church at Jerusalem, as is recorded Acts xv, when the as- 
 sembly followed the view taken by the apostle James, that 
 the observance of this rite was not to be required from 
 Gentile converts. Then the preachers of the Gospel seem 
 to have gone forth with renewed activity and success. Yet, 
 while the temple stood, many Christians who were of Jew- 
 ish extraction seem to have considered it requisite that they 
 and their children should observe the ordinances of the 
 ceremonial law. St. Paul caused Timothy to be circum- 
 cised, his mother being a Jewess, Acts xvi, 1-3 ; and the 
 apostle himself declared before Festus, that he had not 
 done anything contrary to the law of the Jews. An attempt 
 to confirm this point, that he " walked orderly and kept the 
 law," in which perhaps there was some departure from 
 Christian simplicity, gave rise to the tumultuous scenes _ 
 that ended in the apostle being sent to Rome as a prisoner : 
 see Acts xxi. It is best always to act with simplicity as 
 well as with truth, and not even in appearance to lay stress 
 upon things which in our hearts we believe are indifferent. 
 
 It is plain also that Moses, from the first promulgation 
 of the law, directed the attention of the Jews to the spirit- 
 ual import of this rite : see Deut. x, 16 ; xxx, 6. The lat- 
 ter verse is a promise, as follows : " And the Lord thy God 
 will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to 
 love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all 
 10* 
 
226 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 thy soul, that thou mayest Hve." It indicated the putting 
 off the body of the sins of the flesh, Col. ii, 11; and the 
 prophets frequently reproached the disobedient Jews as 
 uncircumcised in heart. 
 
 At the admission of full proselytes, who were called 
 proselytes of righteousness, circumcision, baptism, and the 
 offering of sacrifices were customary. The two latter were 
 required of women as well as men. The baptisms or wash- 
 ings were accompanied with some ceremonies, and are sup- 
 posed to be alluded to by the apostle Paul, Heb. vi, 2, and 
 elsewhere. A proselyte was required : 1. To come willingly; 
 neither force nor fraud might be employed. 2. Perfectly 
 to renounce errors and idolatry, and entirely to separate 
 from former friends : the Jews called proselytism a new 
 birth, and our Lord showed that men must be born again, 
 not only of water, but of the Holy Ghost, John iii, 5. 
 3. Submission to the law given by Moses. 4. An engage- 
 ment to continue faithful to death. 
 
 Another point respecting the ritual or ceremonial law, 
 noticed by Lowman, must here be briefly adverted to. The 
 ritual law clearly denotes the belief in the immortality of 
 the soul, and the separate existence of departed spirits, as 
 the general belief of the whole nation. This is also ex- 
 pressed by the laws against consulting the dead ; but es- 
 pecially by the strict enactments against the idolatrous cus- 
 toms of their neighbors, either in regarding tlie souls of 
 dead men as demigods, or in worshiping demons as the 
 guardians of mortal men. Not only are there direct laws 
 against these observances, but the whole of the Jewish rites 
 evidently are framed so as positively to exclude any such 
 ^ doctrines. Nothing is more expressly set forth, than that 
 no attention must be paid to any belief in a class of inferior 
 deities, wherewith heathen worship abounds. This is strongly 
 implied in the regulations which precluded all undue respect 
 to the dead : see Lev. xix, 28. The excess to which funeral 
 honors were carried among the heathen, by an easy transi- 
 tion, led to deifying the objects of this respect ; the very 
 same feehng led to the canonizing of dead men, and the 
 worship of saints, in the Church of Rome and in the Greek 
 Church. 
 
 Among the ritual observances of the Jewish law was the 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 227 
 
 consecration of the ashes of the red heifer, and the use 
 made of them by mixing them with water, to be employed 
 for the ceremonial purifications, by sprinkling the unclean. 
 This is of importance, for the rite certainly had direct refer- 
 ence to Christ and things done under the Gospel. It has 
 been well remarked, that the water used for purifying owed 
 even its typical qualities to the ashes of the heifer mixed 
 with it. St. Paul makes a distinct allusion to it in the 
 Epistle to the Hebrews, chap, ix, 13, 14. In Numbers xix, 
 the reader will find a full account of this ritual observance, 
 and the various purposes for which the ashes were to be 
 used. To these ceremonials the later Jews made very con- 
 siderable additions. Many rules were appointed for guid- 
 ance in selecting the heifer, which was shut up seven days 
 before the sacrifice. The priest appointed to oflSciate was 
 prepared by a variety of ceremonials, and the animal was 
 sacrificed on the side of the valley of Kedron, toward the 
 Mount of Olives. The heifer being killed and burned, the 
 ashes were gathered up with great care, pounded, and sifted. 
 One-third part was laid up in a place on the mountain for 
 the sprinkling the people, one-third delivered to the twenty- 
 four courses of priests for their purifications, and the re- 
 mainder kept in a chamber of the temple. The lengths to 
 which the later Jews carried their superstitious observances, 
 in using these ashes, are too absurd to be mentioned. 
 
 According to Jewish traditions, nine red heifers have 
 been sacrificed : one by Eleazar, the son of Aaron ; one by 
 Ezra ; seven others between the captivity and the destruc- 
 tion of the temple by the Romans ; and they expect that a 
 tenth will be burned in the days of their Messiah. That 
 seven should have been required during the last five hun- 
 dred years, and only two during the preceding period of 
 one thousand, shows how the ceremonial observances were 
 multiplied. The sacrifice of this heifer was typical of the 
 death of Christ ; but learned men point out several circum- 
 stances, by which this sacrifice and its ceremonials poured 
 contempt on some heathen usages, especially by the sacri- 
 fice of an animal held sacred by the Egyptians. And by 
 confining the use of consecrated water to one case, that of 
 defilement by a dead body, the use of similar lustrations 
 by consecrated water on other occasions was checked. In 
 the other cases of general occurrence, the water used for 
 
228 
 
 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 purification was selected without any ceremonial observances ; 
 but still they expressed a due honor to the presence of Je- 
 hovah, constantly representing how needful it was for those 
 honored by a near approach to the Divine Presence, to keep 
 themselves pure, and cleansed from all filthiness of flesh 
 and spirit, that they might honorably serve a God so holy 
 and so pure. 
 
 In other regulations the customs of the heathens are 
 directly opposed, and sometimes expressly forbidden, as by 
 the injunction not to seethe a kid in its mother's milk, 
 (Exod. xxiii, 19,) which was practiced among the heathen 
 as a magical rite. They sprinkled the milk in their fields 
 and gardens, believing it would insure fruitfulness in the 
 following year. Also in the distinctions about clean and 
 unclean meats, (Lev. xi,) and by directing sacrifices of ani- 
 mals which were accounted sacred by the heathen. 
 
 
 THE LEPER PRONOUNCED CLEAN. 
 
 One more ceremonial must be noticed. The rites for 
 cleansing a leper are stated Lev. xiv, in very clear and ex- 
 press terms. It is to be observed, that the cleansing of the 
 leper was not in any manner supposed to be caused by the 
 observance of any rites of the law, or by any proceedings 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 229 
 
 of the priests. All they had to do was to examine the 
 leper, and pronounce when he was cleansed. The priest 
 was to examine the leper some days before he was allowed 
 to enter the court of the tabernacle, to offer the sacrifices 
 commanded by the law for his cleansing. The same course 
 was pursued in the temple, where a place was set apart 
 for the leper till the time for the offering of his sacrifice 
 arrived. Although pronounced clean by the priest wliere 
 he dwelt, and inspected on his arrival at the temple, yet it 
 is to be observed, that he was not allowed to enter the 
 court of Israel till his sacrifices had been offered. He stood 
 in the gate Nicanor, stretching forwards toAvards the inner 
 court, but might not proceed farther till his sacrifices were 
 slain, and the priest had put some of the blood of the vic- 
 tim upon his left ear. How lively this representation of 
 tlie efficacy of the atoning blood of Christ ! 
 
 Lowman and Graves have clearly shown that the Jew- 
 ish ritual, as a system, was not so burdensome as many 
 suppose. It is true that there were many ceremonial ob- 
 servances, but these in their simple and original form were 
 all calculated to promote the temporal interests and welfare 
 of the nation ; therefore the adversary tempted them be- 
 fore the captivity to break these, and to refuse compliance 
 with the divine pi'ecepts ; and after the captivity, to render 
 the kind restrictions a heavy yoke, by adding their own 
 traditions. The sacrifices, when offered by individuals as 
 sin-offerings, were light compared Avith the penalties which 
 might have been enforced. And as a national ritual, though 
 at times complicated, and to our ideas unpleasing, the sacri- 
 fices could not be regarded as expensive. The stated offer- 
 ings at the temple during the year have been estimated as 
 follows: — 115 bullocks, 38 rams, 31 kids, 1103 lambs, 600 
 bushels of fi|ie flour, 500 gallons of oil, and 400 gallons of 
 wine. The whole yearly expense of this national ritual 
 service, Lowman observes, would not cost five hundred 
 dollars for each of the twelve tribes. Still the personal at- 
 tendance, the occasional sacrifices and lustrations, rendered 
 it burdensome to individuals, when compared with the 
 Christian dispensation: see Acts xv, 10. 
 
230 
 
 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 The following Tabular View of the Ceremonial Law will be found useful. 
 It arranges the various precepts under their respective heads, so as both to 
 show the details, and to what those details may be referred. Most of these 
 precepts have already been noticed ; others need only to be thus enu- 
 merated. 
 
 1 
 
 Thk Cjkkbmonial Law. 
 
 Exodus. 
 chap. 
 
 Leviticus, 
 chap. 
 
 Numbere. 
 chap. 
 
 Denteron. 
 chap. 
 
 f >f thp holv nlace 
 
 20. 
 25, 26. 
 27. 35. 
 
 30. 
 
 27. 
 
 30. 
 
 25. 
 25, 26. 
 
 28. 
 
 27. 
 30. 
 
 29, 30. 
 
 29, 30. 
 29. 
 
 33, 34. 
 
 12, 13. 23. 
 
 34. 
 
 23, 34. 
 
 23. 34. 
 
 - 
 
 17. 
 
 1: 
 
 19. 10. 
 
 22. 
 
 6. 
 
 6,7. 
 
 3.7. 
 
 4. 
 
 5.7. 
 6. 
 
 6,7. 
 
 2, 6, 7. 
 
 24. 
 
 24. 
 
 6.8. 
 
 23. 
 
 23. 
 
 23. 
 23. 
 
 23. 
 
 18. 3. 8. 
 3. 18. 
 
 -J 
 
 6. 
 
 5. 
 
 15. 
 
 8^ 
 
 8. 
 35. 
 
 ^. 
 
 28. 
 
 10. 
 
 28. 
 
 9.28. 
 
 28. 
 29. 
 
 29. 
 
 12. 
 
 Of the tabernacle ] 
 
 
 The laver of brass 
 
 
 The altar of burnt-offering 
 
 
 The altar of incense .... 
 
 
 The candlestick of pure gold 
 
 - 
 
 The priests and their vestments. . . 
 
 The choosing of the Levites 
 
 The priest's office in general 
 
 Their office in teaching 
 
 18. 12. 17. 
 31. 
 
 Of the sacrifices according to their 
 several kinds ; namely — 
 What the sacrifice ought to be 
 
 15. 17. 
 
 
 
 Of the peace-offerings 
 
 
 For sin committed through igno- 
 rance of the law 
 
 
 For sin committed through igno- 
 rance of the fact 
 
 
 For sin committed wittingly, yet 
 not through impiety 
 
 
 The special law of sacrifices for sin 
 Of things belonging to the sacri- 
 fices ... 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Of the use of ordinary oblations :— 
 Of the consecration of the high 
 priests and other priests. . 
 
 
 Of the consecrations and office of 
 the Levites 
 
 
 Of the dwellings of the Levites 
 
 Of the anointing the altar, and all 
 the instruments of the tabernacle 
 
 Of the continual daily sacrifices . . . 
 
 Of the continualSabbath-days' sacri- 
 fice 
 
 - 
 
 Of the solemn sacrifice for feast- 
 days; namely — 
 
 
 Of new moons, or beginning of 
 
 
 Of the three most solemn feasts in 
 
 16. 
 
 Of the feast of passover | 
 
 Of the feast of pentecost 
 
 16. 
 16 
 
 Of the feast of tabernacles 
 
 Of the feast of blowing the trum- 
 pets 
 
 16. 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 
 
 231 
 
 Thb Ckbkmonial Law. 
 
 Of the feast of expiation 
 
 Of the first-fruits 
 
 Of tithes 
 
 Of fruits growing and not eaten of. 
 
 Of the first-born 
 
 Of the Sabbatical year 
 
 Of the year of jubilee 
 
 Of vows in general 
 
 What persons ought not to make 
 
 vows 
 
 What things cannot be vowed . 
 
 Of redemption of vows 
 
 Of the vows of the Nazarites . . . 
 
 Of the laws especially regarding 
 the priests ; namely — 
 
 Of pollutions 
 
 Of the high priest's mourning . . 
 
 Of his marriage 
 
 Of the mourning of the ordinary 
 
 priests 
 
 Of their marriage 
 
 Of their being forbid the use of 
 
 wine, &c 
 
 Of sanctified meats 
 
 Of the office of the Levites ; name- 
 ly— 
 
 Teaching 
 
 Offering 
 
 Other ceremonial laws ; namely — 
 Of uncleanness in general 
 
 Of uncleanness in meats ; namely — 
 
 Of blood Gen. ix. 
 
 Of fat 
 
 Of dead carcasses 
 
 Other meats, and divers living crea- 
 tures 
 
 Of uncleanness in the issue of seed 
 
 and blood 
 
 In the dead bodies of men 
 
 In the leprosy 
 
 Of circumcision Gen xvii. 
 
 Of the water of expiation 
 
 Of the mourning of the Israelites. . 
 
 Of mixtures 
 
 Of their garments and writing the 
 
 law privately 
 
 Of young birds not to be taken with 
 
 the dam 
 
 Of their paddle staves 
 
 Exodus, 
 chap. 
 
 22. 34. 
 23. 
 
 Leviticus, 
 chap. 
 
 2. 
 21. 
 19. 
 
 25. 
 
 25. 
 27. 
 
 22. 
 21. 
 21. 
 
 21. 
 21. 
 
 10. 
 17. 19. 
 
 7. 17. 19. 
 3.7. 
 17. 
 
 11. 20. 
 
 15. 12. 
 
 13. 14. 
 12. - 
 
 19. 
 
 Numbers, 
 chap. 
 
 ao. 
 
 5.8. 
 
 4. 18. 
 5. 
 
 Deuterou. 
 chap. 
 
 12. 14. 26. 
 15. 
 
 13. 
 
 23. 
 
 12. 15. n 
 
 17. 
 
 14. 
 22. 
 
232 
 
 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 A JEWISH PRIEST AX PRAYER, WEARING THE PHYLACTERY FOR THE HEAD, 
 AND THE VEIL. 
 
 CHAPTER XIIL 
 
 THE WORSHIP OF PRAYER AND PRAISE. 
 
 The second part of the subject under consideration may be 
 called, by way of distinction, The spiritual worship of the 
 Jews. There is quite enough, both in Deuteronomy and 
 Joshua, to prove that Moses and his successor taught the 
 Israelites that they were to draw near to God in acts of 
 mental worship. And the same principles are taught in 
 every part of Scripture. The necessity for prayer at once 
 appears, when we consider the dependent condition of all 
 creatures, who can only be supported and supplied by that 
 bounty and hberality which at first created all things. The 
 house of the Lord (see Isa. Ivi, V) is especially to be deno- 
 minated the house of prayer. Nor should the remark of 
 Henry be forgotten, that, as in the institutions, so in the 
 devotions of the Old Testament, there is more of Christ 
 than perhaps the Old Testament saints were aware of. 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 238 
 
 There is no reason to doubt that Adam and Eve were 
 made partakers of the grace set forth in the promises of 
 redemption, and that they instructed their children in the 
 same truths. This appears from Abel's conduct, and the 
 early distinction (Gen. iv, 26) between those who received 
 these doctrines, and professed themselves followers of God, 
 and others who must have rejected the truth ; or a differ- 
 ence would not have been noticed. When God is looked 
 up to as a Creator and Benefactor, and much more where 
 he is believed in as a Saviour and Redeemer, the heart will 
 be lifted up in prayer and praise. As in the case of Enoch 
 and of Noah, the renewed heart will walk with God ; and 
 how can this intercourse be maintained unless by prayer ? 
 They came to God, believing that he is a re warder of those 
 that diligently seek him, Heb. xi, 6. 
 
 The early history of the patriarchs after the flood shows 
 that they attended to prayer, both for themselves and for 
 others. Abraham prayed for Sodom. Lot prayed for him- 
 self and his family, Gen. xviii, xix. Abimelech was told 
 that Abraham would pray for him, (Gen. xx, 7,) and he did 
 so plead. Eliezer, Abraham's steward, probably prayed at 
 the well, Gen. xxiv, 12. Rebekah's mother and brother 
 prayed for her, ver. 60. Isaac's prayer in the field appears 
 to have been his regular evening practice, (ver. 63,) and he 
 prayed for his sons. Gen. xxvii, 28, 29, 39, 40. Jacob 
 wrestled all night with God in prayer, (Gen. xxxii, 24, 26,) 
 but it is unnecessary to multiply instances. These all con- 
 fessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth ; 
 they called God their God, and desired a heavenly inherit- 
 ance. How can faith exist without prayer ? And praise 
 necessarily accompanies prayer ; it is part of it. 
 
 The names by which the patriarchs called various places, 
 frequently were acts of prayer or praise. Thus, when pre- 
 vented from offering up Isaac, Abraham called the place 
 Jehovah-Jireh, which means, " the Lord will provide," Gen. 
 xxii, 14. When the herdmanof Gerar ceased to strive with 
 the herdman of Isaac, he called the name of the well Reho- 
 both, or " room," adding an acknowledgment of God's 
 goodness. Gen. xxvi, 22. Jacob called the place where he 
 prayed, Peniel, (Gen. xxxii, 30,) "the face of God," express- 
 ing thankfulness that he had been permitted to see God, and 
 yet was preserved. The blessings the patriarchs uttered 
 
234 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 respecting their descendants were both prayers and praises ; 
 see particularly the words of dying Jacob, Gen. xhx. Leah 
 not only praised the Lord for his providential mercy to her, 
 but expressly named one of her children Judah ; that is, 
 *' praise," Gen. xxix, 35. The Book of Job, also, is full of 
 passages which indicate a mental and spiritual communion 
 with his God. It may further be observed, that most of the 
 places where the patriarchs erected altars for sacrifice had 
 previously been marked by their spiritual intercourse with 
 God. Thus, at Bethel, or the house of God, where Jacob 
 set up a pillar, or pile of stones, to keep in remembrance his 
 remarkable vision, was afterwards built an altar by Divine 
 command. Gen. xxxv, 7. 
 
 Prayer and praise, or spiritual worship, were continually 
 offered under the second dispensation, without sacrifice, as 
 well as when accompanied by offerings. The solemn in- 
 junction, " Hear, Israel ! The Lord our God is one Lord ; 
 and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, 
 and with all thy soul, and with all thy might ;" see Deut. 
 vi, 4, 5, plainly shows a spiritual religion of the heart, not 
 mere outward ceremonies, like heathen sacrifices. In Num. 
 vi, 23-26; x, 35, 36; Deut. xxvi, 3, 5-11, 13-15, are 
 short devotional formularies of prayer for stated occasions. 
 In the ceremonies appointed for the expiation of a murder 
 when the perpetrator was unknown, a prayer was appointed, 
 which is recorded Deut. xxi, 7, 8. In accordance with this 
 principle, the prophet Samuel expressly declares that " to 
 obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of 
 rams," 1 Sam. xv, 22. The occasion upon which these 
 words were uttered particularly claims notice. King Saul 
 and the people had disobeyed the Divine directions, and 
 thought to compensate for so doing by offering sacrifices. 
 The prophet Hosea (xiv, 1) calls upon Israel to return to 
 the Lord, and when accepted, to offer "the calves of the 
 lips ;" not the sacrifices of slain beasts, but the thanksgivings 
 of the heart. ^ 
 
 The expressions in the fiftieth Psalm imply that God 
 would not accept the typical sacrifice, where thanksgiving 
 unto God, and the calling upon him in the day of trouble, 
 had been neglected, see ver. 14, 15. In ver. 23, it is ex- 
 pressly said, that offering praise is glorifying God ; see also 
 Prov. xxi, 3 ; the strong declaration, Isa. i, ll-lV, and Jer. 
 
KITES AND WORSHIP. 235 
 
 vii, 21-23 ; Hos. vi, 6 ; Amos v, 21, 22 ; Mic. vi, 6-8, and 
 many more. To these may be added the declaration of the 
 scribes, confirmed by our Lord himself, " To love God with 
 all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all 
 the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor 
 as himself, is more than all whole burnt- offerings and sacri- 
 fices," Mark xii, 33. The Book of Psalms may be consid- 
 ered as expressions of spiritual worship in prayer and praise. 
 And we must not forget the noble hymns of praise sung 
 by Miriam, Moses, Deborah, and Hannah, in earlier times. 
 
 Prayer and praise are especially directed under the third, 
 or Christian dispensation. JSTote the precept, to " Pray al- 
 ways," and "Pray without ceasing;" the promise, "Ask, 
 and ye shall receive ;" the injunction, " In everything give 
 thanks ;" and the assurance, that " Whatsoever we ask in the 
 name of Christ it shall be given." And " Speak to your- 
 selves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing 
 and making melody in your heart to the Lord." 
 
 Does the reader ask why so much is here said upon a 
 matter so plain, and in !• self so evident ? The answer may 
 easily be given. Mankind are not inclined to act as thougli 
 these Divine precepts were self-evident. Do we not find 
 many acting hke Saul of old ? How else do those act who 
 perhaps scarcely ever pray, or commune with their God in 
 private, yet are punctual in their attendance on outward 
 ordinances, regular at their place of worship, constant in 
 receiving the Lord's supper, and perhaps never omitting to 
 use the formularies in their " Companion to the Altar !" 
 Wherein do these sacrifices differ from the rejected oflFering-s 
 of old ? They are outward, formal acknowledgments of the 
 Saviour, just as were the typical sacrifices ; but are they 
 more than the sacrifice of fools, spoken of Eccl. v, 1 ? The 
 words in ver. 4, " He hath no pleasure in fools," should 
 startle many ; for what are prayers but vows solemnly ex- 
 pressed, therefore to be performed as solemnly. 
 
 The Pharisees in the time of our Saviour wore the phy- 
 lacteries and fringes while at prayer. The former are strips 
 of parchment, on which are written passages from the law ; 
 these were worn on the left arm. The fringes were ordered, 
 (Num. XV, 28,) that they might be reminded of the com- 
 mandments. These were and are merely formal observances, 
 and as such were expressly condemned by our Lord. 
 
236 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 PLACES FOR SPIRITUAL WORSHIP — PROSEUCHAS — SYNA- 
 GOGUES, AND THE SYNAGOGUE SERVICE. 
 
 The places used for prayer and praise are often mentioned. 
 Isaac meditated and prayed in the field, and Abraham 
 planted a grove in Beer-sheba, (Gen, xxi, 33,) and there 
 called on tlie name of the Lord, the everlasting God. In 
 early days buildings were not erected for this purpose, and 
 kept separate for this use only. The social worship was 
 family worship ; and on the most solemn occasions, doubt- 
 less, was at the place of sacrifice : perhaps other persons 
 might attend from various motives. 
 
 The earliest mention of any separate building, apparently 
 used expressly for religious worship, is of the first taber- 
 nacle, mentioned Exod. xxxiii, 7. The use of this, indeed, 
 is uncertain ; and the most probable opinion is, that it was 
 a temporary building erected for the use of Moses, in trans- 
 acting the daily affairs of the congregation. Soon after, 
 a tabernacle expressly for religious typical worship was 
 erected ; this was carried by the Israelites in their joumey- 
 ings to the promised land, and set up wherever they rested. 
 
 But as individuals continued to offer sacrifices in other 
 places, even after the tabernacle had been erected, and the 
 ceremonial rites instituted, we may conclude that they re- 
 sorted to those places also for prayer and praise. The his- 
 tory of Micah shows that he had a house, or apartment, 
 especially devoted to the images, the worship of which he 
 mixed with the worship of Jehovah ; and those who con- 
 tinued faithful to the true religion, would have places where 
 they assembled for Divine service. 
 
 Prideaux considers that from an early period there were 
 places for the people to offer up prayers to God, which 
 were called by a name signifying the assemblies of G od, but 
 in after times proseuchas. These were open inclosures, built 
 in private and retired spots, frequently in high places, and 
 on mountains, without any covering, except perhaps the 
 shade of trees. Those high places which are not condemned 
 in Scripture probably were proseuchas. Samuel resorted 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 237 
 
 to such a place, 1 Sam. ix, 19 : another is mentioned in the 
 following chapter, and others elsewhere. Prideaux thinks 
 that the sanctuary of the Lord in Shechem, by which 
 Joshua set up a pillar under an oak, (Josh, xxiv, 26,) was 
 one of these proseuchas ; it is e^adent there were trees near 
 it. Epiphanius describes such a place near Shechem, in 
 the fourth century. Several passages in the New Testa- 
 ment mention proseuchas as resorted to among the Jews in 
 later times. The passage Luke vi, 12, when literally 
 translated, is, " In those days Jesus retired to a mountain 
 to pray, and he passed all the night in a proseucha of God." 
 We cannot suppose our Lord would have resorted with this 
 intent to a building forbidden by the law, or used for idola- 
 trous worship ; nor did any such places exist at that time in 
 Judea. St. Paul found a proseucha at Philippi, to which 
 Lydia resorted. Acts xvi, 13. He taught there, and her 
 conversion encourages regular attendance on public wor- 
 ship. The Jewish proseuchas are noticed by Juvenal, who 
 was a heathen Roman poet. Other writers mention the 
 existence of proseuchas in different countries. Philo com- 
 plains that the people of Alexandria, in Egypt, cut down 
 the trees by which the proseuchas in that city were shaded. 
 A proseucha at Mispah is mentioned by the author of the 
 first book of the Maccabees, (iii, 46.) 
 
 The Jews resorted to the cities of the Levites, and the 
 schools of the prophets, to be instructed in religious mat- 
 ters ; and from the observation of the husband of the Shu- 
 nammite, (2 Kings iv, 23,) it appears that these assemblies 
 were usual on the new moons and Sabbaths. But there is 
 no clear statement of regular public services till after the 
 Babylonish captivity. Prideaux thinks this may have been 
 one of the causes why the people were so easily led into 
 idolatry, when the kings and rulers were men who did not 
 take active measures to keep up true religion throughout 
 the country. Such times appear to be pointed out by the 
 expression, " They did that which was right in their own 
 eyes." It is plain from Scripture, that during the times 
 of the judges, and also under many of the kings, public 
 matters of a religious, as well as of a civil nature, were in 
 many respects subject to changes, and often in confusion. 
 The synagogues were buildings expressly for worship. It 
 is now generally agreed that there are no sufficient grounds 
 
238 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 for believing that these existed before the Babylonish cap- 
 tivity. It is thought that Psalm Ixxiv was either written 
 after that period, and that verse 8 refers to the destruction 
 of the synagogues by Antiochus ; or that the expression, 
 which in the original is, "all the assembhes of God," de- 
 scribes the proseuchas already mentioned. 
 
 During the captivity, the Jews appear to have resorted 
 to the houses of the prophets, or other holy men^ who were 
 accustomed to instruct their families, and to read the Scrip- 
 tures, especially the law : see Ezek. xiv, 1 ; xx, 1 ; Neh. 
 viii, 18. Though it is impossible to trace the origin of 
 synagogues, we may conclude that the advantages found to 
 result from such assemblies induced their general adoption. 
 Probably they might be used by the Jews in foreign coun- 
 tries, before they became general in Judea. Philo, a Jew- 
 ish native of Alexandria, contends for their antiquity. The 
 practice of Ezra to read the lavr^ publicly, with explanations, 
 (Neh. viii, 1-8 ; xiii, 1-3,) may also have had something to 
 do with these assemblies becoming general ; and they were 
 very numerous in the time of the Asmonean princes. The 
 best way to reconcile the different opinions on the subject 
 appears to be, to suppose that the people from their first 
 settlement in Canaan used to meet in the open air, in high 
 places and proseuchas ; also in houses, particularly at the 
 houses of the prophets ; but that, after the captivity, when 
 these meetings became more general and regular, houses 
 were built expressly for the purpose of worship ; and, be- 
 fore the time when our Saviour was upon earth, the syna- 
 gogue worship had become regularly established. The as- 
 sembling together in the open air, (Neh. viii, 1, and Ezra 
 x, 9,) would soon be found inconvenient. 
 
 The rules respecting synagogues were, that one should 
 be built wherever at least ten persons, of full age and free 
 condition, could be got together to form a congregation ; 
 for unless that number of persons were present, the service 
 could not be performed. It was therefore usual to appoint 
 ten men to attend whenever the service was performed ; in 
 some cases they seem to have had regular salaries for so 
 doing. In our Saviour's time, the synagogues had so in- 
 creased, that there was no town without one or more of 
 these buildings. In Tiberias, the Jewish writers say, there 
 were twelve synagogues, and in Jerusalem no less than four 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 239 
 
 hundred and eighty. Even if this number is an exaggera- 
 tion, it shows that the synagogue worship was general, and 
 that the temple worship did not render it unnecessary. It 
 is an additional proof that the national typical services were 
 not intended to prevent spiritual and personal worship, 
 though even these had often been allowed to degenerate 
 into formality. 
 
 The synagogues were not required to be of any particular 
 form, although they were similar in their internal arrange- 
 ments ; the western end being for the ministers and elders, 
 the eastern for the body of the congregation. There was 
 a table on which the roll, or book of the law, was spread, 
 and on the east side a chest or ark, covered with a rich veil, 
 in which the roll was kept. Also there was a pulpit, or 
 reading-pew, large enough to hold several persons. The 
 seats were so arranged that the people looked towards the 
 book of the law and the elders. The elders sat with their 
 backs to the ark and their faces towards the people. These 
 were the chief seats the Pharisees were so eager to occupy, 
 see Matt, xxiii, 6 ; and a similar desire among the Christian 
 Hebrews seems to be condemned, James ii, 3. The women 
 sat in a gallery inclosed with lattice-work, so that they could 
 see without being seen. To build a synagogue appears to 
 have been deemed an act of piety, as the erecting of a 
 church or chapel is considered at the present day, Luke 
 vii, 5. The modern Jewish synagogues resemble the an- 
 cient ones as to many points of their interior arrangements. 
 
 The officers of the synagogue were : 1 . The rulers, Luke 
 viii,'41, 49. These had the chief care and direction of the 
 matters concerning the synagogue and its services, and 
 formed a sort of council or tribunal of judgment. They 
 were more than one ; thus at Corinth both Crispus and 
 Sosthenes are mentioned as rulers of the synagogue. The 
 number usually was three. 2. The second officer was called 
 the angel of the Church ; he was the minister of the syna- 
 gogue, and labored among them in word or doctrine. He 
 also appointed the readers, and stood by them to see that 
 they read aright. Hence he was also called hezen, or 
 overseer. The title " angels," given to the ministers of the 
 seven churches, (Rev. i, 20,) appears to have reference to 
 this officer. 3. The deacons, almoners, or pastors of the 
 poor, were usually three in number. They collected alms 
 
240 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 from house to house ; there was also a poor's box in the 
 synagogue. From these funds the poor Jews were reheved 
 on the Sabbath eve. The deacons had the care of the 
 utensils of the synagogue. 4. The interpreter, who stood 
 beside the reader, to translate the portion of Scripture from 
 the Hebrew mto the language then used : as for instance, 
 in Judea, into the Chaldee dialect. Among the Greek 
 Jews the law was read in the Greek version of the Old 
 Testament, called the Septuagint. To these officers are to 
 be added the doctor, or lecturer of the divinity school, and 
 his interpreter. 
 
 In the methods for the synagogue services, as Lowman 
 remarks, the Jews appear to have been left to the ancient 
 customs of the Abrahamic worship ; for the Mosaic ritual 
 contained no directions for these services. They differed 
 but little from the present worship of Christian assemblies, 
 and thus connect the three dispensations. 
 
 The routine of the pubhc service was as follows : — The 
 angel, 'or minister, ascended the raised platform or pulpit, 
 the people all standing in a posture of devotion. Their 
 liturgies or prescribed forms at first were few, but after- 
 wards increased to a great number, when the service be- 
 came long and tedious, and the directions respecting it 
 intricate and perplexed. The most solemn part of the 
 synagogue prayers are the Shema, or Shemoneh Esreh, 
 eighteen prayers which the Jews say were composed and 
 appointed by Ezra. They certainly are very ancient; a 
 considerable part of them were probably in use in the time 
 of our Saviour. The first will suffice as a specimen : 
 " Blessed be thou, O Lord our God, the God of our fathers, 
 the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, 
 the Great God, powerful and tremendous, the High God, 
 bountifully dispensing benefits, the Creator and Possessor 
 of the universe, who rememberest the good deeds of our 
 fathers, and in thy love sendest a Redeemer to those who 
 are descended from them, for thy name's sake, King, our 
 Helper, our Saviour, and our Shield. Blessed art thou, O 
 Lord, who art the Shield of Abraham." 
 
 These prayers, or a part of them, were to be said by all 
 Jews every day. Many other prayers were added to these ; 
 and our Lord in his time found fault with the long public 
 devotions of the Pharisees, as being made merely for a pre- 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 241 
 
 tense, Matt, xxiii, 14 ; Luke xx, 47. A prayer is offered 
 by the modern Jews for the rebuilding of the temple ; also 
 a curse or execration on the Christians. The people re- 
 sponded at the close of each prayer, saying, " Amen," or 
 *,'So be it." Among the idle superstitions of the later 
 Jews, may be included their opinion of the efficacy attached 
 to this word, some beheving that the gates of paradise will 
 be open to any one who says Amen, with all his might ! 
 They covered their heads while they prayed, thereby pro- 
 fessing reverence, and that they were unworthy to appear 
 before God. 
 
 The second part of the synagogue service was the read- 
 ing the Scriptures. This comprised : 1 . Three portions of 
 Scripture, called the Kerioth Shema, from the word with 
 which the first begins. They are, Deut. vi, 6-9 ; xi, 13-21 ; 
 Num. XV, 37-41, and form a solemn part of the Jewish 
 service. 2. A portion of the law, or the five Books of 
 Moses. These are divided into fifty-four paraschoith, or sec- 
 tions, one being allotted to every Sabbath, thus supplying 
 enough for their longest or intercalary year; and in other 
 years some of the shortest sections were put together. Tliis 
 annual course of reading began at the feast of tabernacles. 
 3. Selections from the prophetical writings, called haphto- 
 roth. Antiochus Epiphanes having prohibited the pubhc 
 reading of the law, passages from the prophets were substi- 
 tuted, and were retained when the prohibition as to the law 
 was removed. The haphtoroth are portions from the his- 
 torical and prophetical books intermixed ; there are some 
 variations as to these among the Jews of different nations ; 
 but the portions of the law, and many of those of the pro- 
 phets also, remain now the same as they were in the days 
 of our Saviour. Henderson found that the prophecy, Joel 
 ii, 28-32, forms part of the service for the day of Pentecost 
 among the Kairite Jews who live in the Crimea. The 
 apostle Peter quoted those verses in his discourse to the 
 Jews on the day of Pentecost, Acts ii, 16-21. It is very 
 probable, that in the days of the apostles this passage 
 formed a part of the haphtoroth of the day, which would 
 render the quotation particularly forcible and appropriate. 
 The other modem Jews stop at ver. 27, thus omitting a 
 very important part, a circumstance not easily to be ac- 
 counted for, excepting by the fact of its having been thus 
 11 
 
242 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 (juoted, to the conviction of many of the Jews in the days 
 of the apostle. 
 
 The number of readers in the synagogue varied from 
 three to seven, but there might not be fewer than three 
 readers of the law. On the Sabbath, seven was the usual 
 number. If priests and Levites were present, one of each 
 read a portion, the other five were private Israelites. They 
 were selected by the minister, who chose whom he pleased. 
 The person called upon then went into the desk or pulpit 
 with the minister, and the roll being opened, the reader 
 waited till the ruler of the synagogue told him to com- 
 mence. He began with a short prayer, blessing God that 
 he had chosen them to be his people, and had given to them 
 his law. The minister, as already stated, stood by the 
 readers ; if any word was omitted, or pronounced wrong, he 
 made them correct the error : this point was strictly ob- 
 served. The plan appears well calculated to interest the 
 people at large in the public services, and would assist the 
 minister in discharging the duties of his office. 
 
 The last part of the synagogue service was expounding 
 the Scriptures, and preaching from them. In Luke iv is an 
 account how the first of these was conducted in the syna- 
 gogue service in the time of Christ. Let the reader refer 
 to that chapter, and read ver. 15-22. This took place at 
 Nazareth, Christ's own city, where he would be a member 
 of the synagogue. He was called out to read the section 
 of the prophets appointed for that day, which appears to 
 have been the 51st haphtoroth. This now begins at ver. 10, 
 but our Lord read from the first verse. A. Clarke well 
 asks, " Have the Jews altered this haphtoroth, knowing the 
 use our blessed Lord made of it among their ancestors ?" 
 He stood up to read the word of God, as was customary for 
 the reader to do, and unrolling the manuscript, till he came 
 to the lesson for the day, he read it ; then rolling the book 
 again, he gave it to the minister, and sat down while ex- 
 plaining it, as was usual among the Jews. Sometimes, 
 when the reader expounded, he did not read the whole of 
 the appointed portion. 
 
 The preaching was arranged in the following manner : — 
 The minister might call on any person who was present, to 
 speak or preach after the regular services of the day were 
 gone through ; and from several passages in the Gospels and 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 243 
 
 Acts, as well as the testimony of the Jewish writers, we 
 find it was not unusual to invite strangers to do this. Thus, 
 Acts xiii, 15, 16, after the portions from the law and the 
 prophets had been read, the rulers of the synagogue sent to 
 Paul and his companions, saying, " Men and brethren, if ye 
 have any word of exhortation for the people, say on." Upon 
 which Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand, said, 
 " Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience," etc. 
 Other passages show that it was customary for the apostles 
 thus to preach in the synagogues. Our Lord's history re- 
 cords the same. Luke iv, 16, shows that he used to attend 
 the synagogues every Sabbath-day ; and it appears to have 
 been his custom, even where he was not a member, for him 
 to teach or preach after the law and the prophets had been 
 read. Here is a wide distinction between the spiritual sa- 
 crifices of prayer and praise, and the typical of slain beasts 
 imder the ceremonial law. For administering the latter, a 
 separate order of men, all of one tribe, were trained up from 
 their youth, and especially devoted to these services ; but it 
 was not so with the former. The apostle, speaking of the 
 spiritual priesthood after the order of Melchisedec, says, 
 " He of whom these things are spoken pertainethto another 
 tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. For 
 it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah ; of which 
 tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood," Heb. 
 vii, 13. 
 
 How completely the Jewish rabbins, even in prayer, lost 
 sight of the vicarious offices of the Mediator, as represented 
 by the sacrifices, and substituted what was personally their 
 own, appears from the following account, given by Schoett- 
 gen: — When Eabbi Scheschett once fasted, after he had 
 finished his prayers, he said, " O Lord of the universe, it is 
 known to thee, that if any one who had sinned stood in thy 
 temple, he brought a sacrifice to thee, but of that no part 
 was offered excepting the fat and the blood, and these being 
 ofiered he was cleansed from his sin. Now I fast so that 
 my fat and my blood waste away ; may it then please thee 
 that my fat and my blood, thus wasted away, may be ac- 
 counted as if I had offered them upon thy altars, and grant 
 me thy grace." How the Jews rested in "the beggarly 
 elements," (Gal. iv. 9,) appears from another extract. " The 
 Israelites said. While the temple stood, we offered to thee 
 
244 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 fat and other things, by which was obtained expiation. Now 
 we offer to thee our fat, our blood, and our Hves, may it 
 please thee that they may be an expiation for us !" 
 
 The days for the synagogue services were the 2d of the 
 week, or Monday ; the 5th, Thursday ; and Saturday, or the 
 Sabbath. The first two were called days of assembling, 
 and were kept as fasts by the strict Jews ; to this the Pha- 
 risee probably refers, Luke xviii, 12. It seems also to be 
 alluded to. Acts xiii, 42, where the original words strictly 
 mean, " in the middle Sabbath," probably the next syna- 
 gogue day. As the people were anxious about what they 
 had heard, we may suppose they did not wish to defer hear- 
 ing more on the subject for a whole week. 
 
 The reason assigned for this appointment, by which a 
 portion of the law was publicly read every three days, de- 
 serves notice, though it is connected with that mystical plan 
 of interpretation, by which the Jews of later times often 
 made void both the law and the prophets. In Exod. xv, 22, 
 it is stated that the Israelites were in great distress, on their 
 traveling three days together in the wilderness without 
 meeting with any water. By their mystical rules of inter- 
 pretation, they explained this water to mean the law ; and 
 said that they were thus taught that they ought not to allow 
 three days to pass without hearing a portion of it. They 
 therefore divided the weekly portion into two, by reading 
 half on each of the days of assembling, and on the Sabbath 
 they read the whole in the morning, and again in the even- 
 ing. The same plan was pursued with the portion from the 
 prophets. Surely Christians may learn a useful lesson from 
 this. The Holy Scriptures, which holy men of old wrote 
 as they were inspired by G-od the Spirit, are as water to the 
 soul ; and many a weary, thirsty soul finds them refreshing, 
 as water is to the tired thirsty bodily frame. 
 
 On the days of synagogue service, the people met three 
 times — at nine in the morning, at noon, and at three in the 
 afternoon; hours corresponding with the temple services. 
 None might pass the door of a synagogue during service, 
 unless they had some object requiring them to do so. 
 
 The synagogues were used for private prayer as well as 
 the temple, individuals resorting thither as a place for re- 
 tirement. Schools were sometimes taught in the syna- 
 gogues. The teachers sat on raised seats, while the scho- 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 
 
 245 
 
 JEWS TEACHING CHILDREN THE LAW. 
 
 lars stood at their feet, or before them. St. Paul says he 
 was brought up at the feet of Gamahel, one of the most 
 celebrated teachers of that day, Acts xxii, 3. The words 
 of the apostle, Acts xxiv, 12, and other passages, indicate 
 that synagogues often were places of discussion, conference, 
 and debates connected with matters of religion, and the 
 rabbins and elders used to meet for such discussions. 
 
 The rulers of the synagogues possessed a power of judg- 
 ment. This they exercised, with the concurrence of the 
 elders, over the members who offended against the law. 
 The culprit was stripped from his shoulders to his middle, 
 and bound by the hand to a low pillar, so that he was 
 obliged to lean forward and present his back to the scourge. 
 The law forbade the infliction of more than forty stripes, 
 Deut. XXV, 3 ; and in order to be sure not to exceed this 
 number, the Jews usually restricted the punishment to 
 thirty-nine. It was usually inflicted by thirteen blows from 
 an instrument with three cords or lashes. The punishment 
 of scourging in a synagogue, was to be considered rather as 
 a fatherly correction than as a public shameful punishment ; 
 but it was often abused for vindictive or persecuting pur- 
 poses. The apostle Paul seems to record five such punish- 
 ments having been inflicted upon him, 2 Cor. xi, 24 ; doubt- 
 
246 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 less with severity, from hatred to Christianity. Our Lord 
 alluded to the same punishment, (Matt, x, IV ; xxiii, 34,) 
 when he told his disciples that they should be scourged in 
 the synagogues. In Luke xii, 11, there is reference to these 
 courts of judgment. Saul desired letters to the synagogues 
 in Damascus with the same design. Acts ix, 2. 
 
 Excommunication, or casting out, was a very serious pun- 
 ishment. The offender on whom this sentence passed, 
 was shut out from joining the public prayers and religious 
 services ; he was looked upon as a mere heathen, and de- 
 barred of all the pri\ileges enjoyed by a descendant of 
 Abraham. This most severe sentence was denounced against 
 all who confessed that Jesus was the Christ, John ix, 22 ; 
 accordingly the blind man who had been restored to sight 
 by our Lord was cast out, or excommunicated, when he 
 declared his belief of the Divine nature of the person by 
 whose word the miracle was accomplished. 
 
 In the schools taught in the synagogues, the youth re- 
 ceived instruction as to the Divine law. In the temple, as 
 well as in the synagogues, assemblies of learned men were 
 held ; in one of which the parents of our Lord found him, 
 sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and 
 asking them questions, and all that heard him were aston- 
 ished at his understanding and answers. Lightfoot describes 
 three such schools, or places for lectures and inquiries, which 
 were held regularly within the precincts of the temple ; one 
 of these was the sanhedrim, when not occupied as a court 
 of judgment : he thinks it is possible that may have been 
 the place where our Lord was found. 
 
 Observe the striking similarity between the sendees of 
 the Christian churches and th^ Jewish synagogues. Here 
 is also clearly seen the identity of the spiritual worship of 
 the first and second dispensations, distinct from the ordinan- 
 ces of the worldly sanctuary of the first covenant, which 
 were figures for the time then present, but were done away 
 when Christ came as a High Priest of good things to come, 
 Heb. ix, 11. 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 247 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS OF THE JEWS — FASTS, PUBLIC 
 AND PRIVATE. 
 
 The private devotions of the Jews next claim notice. 
 Enough has been said on the subject of their prayers, to 
 show that prayer was considered an individual as well as a 
 national duty. Nor is there occasion here to enlarge upon 
 that secret communion with God, which will ever be the 
 object of the devout soul, its privilege as well as its duty. 
 By such, a compliance with the injunction of the apostle, 
 "Praying always," (Eph. vi, 18,) will be accounted a privi- 
 lege, and not be viewed as a burden ; believers seek to live 
 always in a prayerful spirit. Nor will the rule of the 
 Psalmist, (Psa. cxix, 164,) to call upon God seven times a 
 day, be deemed a yoke too heavy to be borne. The seasons 
 for intercourse with our blessed Lord and Saviour will be- 
 come more and more frequent, although not regulated by 
 any precise enumeration, or defined form of words. 
 
 The stated hours of prayer among the Jews were the 
 third and ninth, or nine in the morning, and six in the after- 
 noon. In the later times, the repeating of the shema, 
 (see p. 240,) twice every day, was expressly required from 
 every Jew. Wotton considers that our Lord alluded to 
 this, when he answered the lawyer as to what was the first 
 and great commandment of the law. Our Lord answered 
 from the shema, which at once satisfied this scribe, who was 
 accustomed to recite these words daily. But when the spirit 
 of Pharisaism prevailed, long formularies were set forth, to 
 be repeated at these hours, wherever persons might be. We 
 learn from Matt, vi, 5, that the Pharisees were pleased 
 when these hours found them in the streets, and that they 
 not only recited their prayers in public, but at the corners 
 of the streets, where they might be seen by the passengers 
 in more than one place of resort. Wotton has given a full 
 description of these postures in prayer. They denoted hu- 
 miliation, and were various, as the following texts show, and 
 that the prayer was mental as well as audible : Exod. ix, 
 29 ; xxxiv, 8 ; Isa. i, 15 ; 1 Sam. i, 13 ; Lukexviii, 11, 13 ; 
 Psa. cxliii, 6 ; cxli, 2 ; 2 Chron. vi, 13 ; Ezra ix, 5 ; 
 
248 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 Lam. iii, 41 ; Dan. vi, 10 ; Matt, xxvi, 39 ; Acts vii, 60 ; 
 1 Tim. ii, 1. 
 
 Prayers were offered both standing and kneeling, and 
 even prostrate on the ground when the supphant was 
 deeply agonized, as Matt, xxvi, 39. Kneeling was consi- 
 dered the most proper, as expressing humility, contrition, 
 and subjection. Thus Solomon, 2 Chron. vi, 13 ; Ezra ix, 5 ; 
 Stephen, Acts vii, 60. The pubhcan, deeply in earnest, 
 smote on his breast while he prayed, " God be merciful to 
 me, a sinner !" Luke xviii, 13, Frequently the hands were 
 expanded or raised up in prayer. Thus St. Paul speaks of 
 praying everywhere, lifting up holy hands, 1 Tim. ii, 8. 
 The followers of Shammai said that men ought literally to 
 he down in their evening devotional services, and quoted 
 the words of Deut. vi, V. These peculiar postures in prayer 
 may also be considered as outward testimonies that the 
 offerer was engaged in worship. Upon this subject it is 
 sufficient to observe, that the posture cannot be of essential 
 consequence : but this drawing near to the great Sovereign 
 of heaven and earth, should be done with reverence in man- 
 ner, as well as in the matter of the petitions offered ; and it 
 is well to use such a posture as may promote spirituality in 
 our feelings, and keep our attention alive to the petitions 
 we offer ; for who has not often groaned in bitterness of 
 soul for the wanderings of his mind in prayer ? 
 
 That forms of prayer were in use among the Jews in the 
 time of our Lord is evident, not only from the traditions of 
 the Jewish writers, but from the request of the disciples to 
 Christ, who, in compliance with their petition, gave them a 
 model by which they might frame their prayers, and which 
 might serve as a form for those unable to extend their sup- 
 plications farther. This was, in fact, the practice at that 
 time, a short summary being prepared for those unable to 
 learn the whole routine of the shema. Wotton has given 
 the form at length, as, probably, it was used in the time of 
 our Lord. It is too long for insertion here. He says, 
 "How great is the difference between these and the Lord's 
 prayer ! What vain repetitions are many times here ! What 
 little variation of sense, and yet how great a multitude and 
 variety of words !" In these prayers of the Jews very few 
 of the necessities of hfe are pointed at. No resignation to 
 the will of God, no confession of human frailty, appear 
 
RITES AND WORSHlf . 249 
 
 tliroughout the whole ; but chiefly a magnificent ostentation 
 of God's great and miraculous mercies, so spoken of, as if 
 they thought themselves worthy of all the things which had 
 been wrought for their forefathers. 
 
 With respect to our Lord's prayer, it has been shown 
 that the Jewish prayers then in use contained some similar 
 expressions. It adopted and concentrated the following 
 clauses contained in their prayers : " Our Father who art in 
 heaven, be gracious unto us ! O Lord our God, hallowed 
 be thy name, and let the remembrance of thee be glorified 
 in heaven above, and upon earth here below. Let thy 
 kingdom reign over us now and forever. The holy men 
 of old said, Remit and forgive unto all men whatsoever 
 they have done against me. And lead us not into tempta- 
 tion, but deliver us from the evil thing. For thine is the 
 kingdom, and thou shalt reign in glory forever and ever- 
 more." Some formularies of prayer, directed in Numbers 
 and Deuteronomy, have been already noticed. 
 
 In reference to this prayer, Montgomery beautifully ob- 
 serves, " How many millions and millions of times has that 
 prayer been preferred by Christians of all denominations ! 
 So wide, indeed, is the sound thereof gone forth, that daily, 
 and almost without intermission, from the ends of the earth, 
 and afar off upon the sea, it is ascending to heaven, like in- 
 cense and a pure oflfering. Nor needs it the gift of pro- 
 phecy to foretell that, although * heaven and earth shall 
 pass away,' these words of our blessed Lord ' shall not pass 
 away,' till every petition in it has been answered, till the 
 kingdom of God shall come, and his will be done in earth 
 as it is in heaven." 
 
 Fasting was often connected with prayer, both in public 
 and private. The great day of atonement was a solemn 
 national fast, on which the people were "to afflict their 
 souls ;" an expression which showed that the service was 
 to be spiritual. They were to lament for their past sins 
 and iniquities, and to humble themselves before the Lord. 
 This was the only public and general fast dii^ected by the 
 law ; but fasts were also held on other occasions, by direc- 
 tion of the supreme authority : see Judg. xx, 26 ; 1 Sam. 
 vii, 6 ; 2 Sam. iii, 35 ; 2 Chron. xx, 3 ; Isa. Iviii, 3-12 ; 
 Jer. XXX vi, 9. The case of the solemn fast ordered by 
 Jezebel in the name of Ahab, (1 Kings xxi, 9,) is an instance 
 11* 
 
250 JEWISH NATION- 
 
 of a fast ordered by authority, but to cloak a most wicked 
 purpose. Ezra and his company fasted at the river Ahava, 
 when they implored the Divine blessing on their journey, 
 and the undertaking connected with it, Ezra viii, 21. After 
 the captivity, four regular days for fasting were appointed, 
 which are enumerated Zech. viii, 19. One was in the 
 fourth month, to commemorate the famine in Jerusalem, 
 when there was no bread left in the city, Jer, lii, 6 ; Lam. 
 ii, 12, 20. This also is thought to have had some reference 
 to the breaking of the tables of stone by Moses, (Exod. 
 xxxi, 19,) and the erecting an idol in the temple by Ma- 
 nasseh, 2 Chron. xxxiii, 1. One, in the fifth month, for the 
 destruction of the temple, mentioned Zech. vii, 3. In the 
 seventh month, on account of the murder of Gedaliah, Jer. 
 xh, 2. And another in the tenth month, for the beginning 
 of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. Public fasts 
 were also appointed in times of danger, Joel i, 14; ii, 12. 
 To abstain from food, and publicly to show humiliation and 
 sorrow for sin, is a duty, a proceeding intelligible even to 
 the heathen ; there is a striking instance recorded in the 
 Book of Jonah, iii, 7 ; the fast at Nineveh was so general, 
 that even the cattle were kept from food. 
 
 The private fasts were numerous in the latter days of the 
 Jewish state; some were observed publicly in the syna- 
 gogues. Many persons fasted twice in the Aveek, on the 
 second and fifth days ; and every month had its fasts. In 
 the month Abib, they fasted on the 1st, for the death of 
 Nadab and Abihu, Num. iii, 4 ; on the 10th, for the death 
 of Miriam, xx, 1 ; on the 24th, for the death of Joshua, 
 Josh, xxiv, 29 ; and the 29th, when they prayed for the 
 latter rain, Deut. xi, 1 4 : but it is needless to enumerate all 
 these fasts ; Ave may suppose that they were not fully ob- 
 served by the people in general, although the Pharisees 
 might make a public appearance of fasting often. Our 
 Lord's reference to their conduct, (Matt, xxiii, 2-33,) Avhen 
 he severely censured it, would include their private fasts 
 also : and some fasted on the day before the new moon, on 
 the anniversaries of the death of relatives, or of other se- 
 vere calamities ; but these fasts were not to be held on the 
 Sabbath, or any festival, nor on the sixth day of the week. 
 The disciples of John fasted often, Luke v, 33 : this was a 
 religious observance, characteristic of the solemn mission of 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 261 
 
 John the Baptist. The fasts always began in the evening, 
 and continued till the following evening. From Zech. xii, 
 12-14, it appears that the male and female parts of the 
 families were apart from each other on the days of fasting. 
 No pecuhar ceremonials were directed, but the public ser- 
 vices were those usual at the time when the fasts happened 
 to be held. In 1 Sam. vii, 6, is mention of water being 
 poured out on a fast-day. This might be intended as a 
 symbolical expression of the pouring forth of the heart, re- 
 quired at such a season. In Jer. xxxvi, 6, we find Jere- 
 miah was ordered to read the Divine warnings of the ap- 
 proaching national judgments, to the people assembled on 
 that day in the temple. On these occasions, outward ap- 
 pearances of grief were manifested : coarse garments were 
 worn; rent and disordered apparel conveyed an idea of 
 sorrow and grief; ashes were scattered on the head, whe- 
 ther the occasion were pubhc or private, 2 Sam. iii, 31 ; 
 Psa. XXXV, 13 ; Isa. Iviii, 5 ; Lam. ii, 10 ; Joel i, 13, 14 ; 
 the countenance was downcast ; weeping and the voice of 
 supplication were heard, as Judg. ii, 4 ; Jer. iii, 21 ; xxxi, 9. 
 Against assuming such outward appearances of grief our 
 Lord cautioned his disciples, Matt, vi, 16, 17. Thus, also, 
 the prophet Joel exhorted the people to rend their hearts, 
 and not their garments, ii, 13. The fasting of Esther and 
 her attendants, before she ventured into the king's presence 
 to entreat for the lives of her people, is a striking instance, 
 both of the observance of this rite and of its efficacy, when 
 accompanied by the prayer of faith, Est. iv, 14. 
 
 Upon the subject of fasting, it is well to observe, that it 
 is of use as a help to a devotional spirit ; therefore, when 
 carried to such an extent as to weaken the system, and to 
 render the body unfit for religious exercises, it cannot be 
 rightly considered as an acceptable service. Thus the rigid 
 observances of some of the ancient hermits, and of some 
 Popish monastic orders of modern date, are equally distant 
 from the spirit Avhich should actuate the followers of Christ. 
 Such fasts are no better than the fasts of the Pharisees, 
 fl^fiinst which our Lord distinctly cautioned his disciples. 
 That degree of abstinence which will promote liveliness of 
 spirit is desirable ; even as the hearty feeling and repletion, 
 which indisposes the mind for communion with God, and 
 attendance on his worsliip, is to be avoided. Let the reader 
 
252 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 turn to Isa. Iviii, 3-7, where it is clearly stated what absti- 
 nence is acceptable to God. Little, however, need be said 
 at the present day to caution persons against carrying ab- 
 stinence too far. If we look round our public assemblies, 
 we see a very different appearance from that which our 
 Lord often witnessed in the synagogues in his time, and 
 which he describes. Matt, vi, 16.' He would doubtless now 
 rather caution against the contrary extreme. Having thus 
 noticed passages which condemn fasting in a wrong spirit, 
 and for wrong purposes, let us refer to some texts which 
 show what right fasting is. Let the reader bear these in 
 mind, as the Scripture rule under the Christian, as well as 
 under the Jewish dispensation: Psa. xxxv, 13; Ixix, 10; 
 Dan, ix, 3 ; Joel ii, 12 ; Luke ii, 37 ; Acts xiii, 2, 3. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 PURIFICATIONS. 
 
 The purifications connected with the worship of the Jews 
 require notice here ; although they were often observed by 
 the performance of vows, which belong to another part of 
 our subject, as Acts xxi, 23, 24. Washings, or ablutions, 
 are generally among the most ancient religious ceremonies 
 of every nation ; but the simplicity of the rites of purifica- 
 tion, directed by the Divine law, was well calculated to 
 guard the Israelites against the use of the superstitious, and 
 often barbarous rites practiced by the heathen for lustra- 
 tions. There was a washing of the whole body, used at the 
 admission of Jewish proselytes in later times, and in some 
 ablutions commanded by the law, Exod. xxix, 4 ; Lev. xiv, 8, 
 and elsewhere. There was also a pouring of water on the 
 feet and hands, or sprinkling it, Deut. xxi, 6 ; Num. viii, V ; 
 xix, 18. Sometimes the water was mixed with ashes of the 
 red heifer already mentioned. In the solemn sacrifices, 
 sprinkling the blood was an indispensable ceremony, typi- 
 fying Christ's shedding his blood for our sins, 1 Pet. i, #; 
 Lev. i, 5. Also anointing with oil was sometimes used, as 
 with respect to the tabernacle and its furniture, Exod. 
 XXX, 26-28 ; or, as in the cleansing the leper, Lev. xiv, 27-29 ; 
 but the anointing was more frequently used in consecrating 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 253 
 
 or setting apart to an office, Exod. xxviii, 41. The holy oil, 
 as Mather observes, signified the Spirit of God ; the anoint- 
 ing therewith, the communication of the Spirit in the saving 
 graces, and in the Divine joys and consolations of it. Also 
 the anointing of the priests, signified the anointing of Jesus 
 Christ with the Spirit beyond measure, Psa. xlv, 7 ; John 
 iii, 34. This is called the resting of the Spirit upon him, 
 Isa. xi, 2. Those appointed to the kingly office were also 
 anointed with oil : thus " Samuel took a vial of oil, and 
 poured it upon his (Saul's) head," 1 Sam. x, 1. 
 
 The numerous cases in which washing, pouring, and 
 sprinkling of water were enjoined, all intimated the neces- 
 sity of purity in heart and life, without which God could 
 not be approached acceptably, either in public or private 
 devotions. These observances, also, were conducive to the 
 general health; for attention to the holy precepts of the 
 Bible profits the body as well as the soul. 
 
 The custom of washing the hands before and after meals 
 has always prevailed in the East, and has been fully de- 
 scribed. But to this simple washing, as in many other 
 matters, the later Jews added superstitious and burdensome 
 observances to the customs of their forefathers, and the 
 plain directions of the law. Our blessed Lord condemns 
 the extent to which the Pharisees carried these require- 
 ments. Tliere was to be a certain quantity of water used, 
 and the hands and arms must be washed in a certain 
 manner, and to a certain height ; and this repeated, if not 
 done at first exactly as was customary. Again, for some 
 sorts of food more washings were required than for others : 
 before bread was eaten the hands must be washed with care, 
 but dry fruits might be eaten with unwashed hands. Many 
 directions were given on these subjects by the Jewish doc- 
 tors, and these caused our Lord's dispute with the scribes 
 and Pharisees, Mark vii, 2-8. This law was even made a 
 hindrance to the reading of the Bible. If a person, other- 
 wise clean, touched any part of the Scriptures, he might 
 not eat till he washed his hands. The reason assigned for 
 this was, that possibly the books, which often had been 
 laid up in secret places, might have been gnawed by mice ! 
 Surely this plainly shows what spirit dictated such rules. 
 
 So scrupulous were the Pharisees as to these purifications, 
 that the Jewish writers relate a story of a certain rabbi, who 
 
•254 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 was imprisoned in a dungeon with a scanty allowance of 
 food and water. One day a part of the water being acci- 
 dentally spilled, he chose to use the small quantity that re- 
 mained for his washings, at the hazard of perishing with 
 thirst, rather than to drink what was left, and omit his usual 
 purifications. Well might these observances be character- 
 ized as a yoke too heavy to be borne, Acts xv, 10. These 
 " divers washings " are censured by the apostle Paul, (Heb. 
 ix, 10,) among other ceremonial rites to which the Jews 
 clung with extreme pertinacity. 
 
 M'Caul refers to these endless distinctions, with which 
 the observance of the simple precept to wash the hands is 
 encumbered, as a decided proof that the rabbinical commands 
 are a religion of men's making. This is the first observance 
 with which the Jew begins his day ; but there are so many 
 points to be observed, that scarcely any Jew can be sure 
 he has observed them all ; and yet, let it be remembered, 
 that if they fail in any one point, the hands are considered 
 as unwashed, consequently they are unfit for prayer, or to 
 eat particular sorts of bread. Take another example : " All 
 bread that has salt in it requires washing of hands after it, 
 lest perhaps it might be the salt of Sodom, or salt of the 
 same nature, and a man might pass his hands over his eyes 
 and become bhnd." Another precept declares, that in 
 washing, a man must pour water on his hands three times, 
 for an evil spirit rests upon them before washing, which will 
 not depart till the water has been poured thiee times. 
 Those who despise these washings are considered as ex- 
 communicated, liable to fall into poverty, and to be rooted 
 Dut of the world. Nay, to neglect in this instance is de- 
 clared to be as guilty as to break the seventh command- 
 ment. These were some of the precepts by which the 
 scribes and Pharisees imposed burdens too heavy to oe 
 borne, making the law of God a terror and a cruel imposi- 
 tion; from this bondage our Lord set them free. Yet, even 
 at the present day, these observances are enforced among 
 the Jews, and they falsely declare, " Blessed art thou, O 
 Lord our God, king of the universe ! who hath sanctified us 
 with his commandments, and commanded us to cleanse our 
 hands." But under the Old Testanjent and the Mosaic dis- 
 pensation we find Samuel expressly declaring, " Man looketh 
 on the outward appearance, but God looketh on the heart." 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 255 
 
 A JEW LIGHTING THE SABBATH CANDLE. 
 
 CHAPTER XYII. 
 
 THE SABBATH — FESTIVAL OF THE NEW MOON — FEAST OP 
 TRUMPETS. 
 
 The observance of the Sabbath, or the rest of the seventh 
 day, being especially enjoined by one of the ten command- 
 ments, it will come most properly under notice as one of 
 those laws, except that notice may here be taken of the 
 ceremonial or ritual services and observance of that day. 
 
 It is evident, from many passages in Scripture, that this 
 day was not usually kept holy to the Lord as it should 
 have been. There were many who considered it a burden, 
 because it debarred them from their usual pursuits ; who, 
 as Amos states, (viii, 5,) longed for the time when the Sab- 
 bath should be gone, that they might continue their fraud- 
 ulent traffic ; or, as Isaiah denounces, (Iviii, 13,) sought their 
 own pleasure on that day. How similar are the evil desires 
 and the evil practices of men in every age ! After the cap- 
 tivity, more attention was paid to the outward observance ; 
 and tlie Book of Nehemiah (see x, xiii, particularly the latter 
 
256 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 chapter) shows the active measures taken by that ruler, to 
 hinder the people of the land from compelling, or inducing 
 the Jews to break the Sabbath by trading, as well as to 
 prevent the Jews themselves from piirsuing their ordinary 
 labors on that holy day. But it is possible to err by going 
 into one extreme as well as another; it was so with the 
 Jews. Before the captivity, the Sabbath was neglected, 
 2 Chron. xxxvi, 21 ; Neh. xiii, 18 ; afterwards the outward 
 observance became superstitious. When the Maccabees 
 first took up arms against their oppressors, the Jews carried 
 their observance of the Sabbath so far, as to allow their 
 enemies to attack and massacre them without resistance on 
 that day ; but Mattathias explained to his countrymen that 
 this could not be right, and from that time the Jews fought 
 in their own defense on the Sabbath, although they would 
 not on that day attack their foes. In more than one in- 
 stance, their enemies took advantage of this forbearance ; as 
 late as the time of Pompey, that Roman general took Jeru- 
 salem by pushing forward the works of the siege on the 
 Sabbath ; on that day placing his engines, and battering the 
 w^alls in places which could not have been approached had 
 the Jews fought against him. 
 
 In the days when our blessed Lord was upon earth, the 
 privileges of the Sabbath were so lost, under the ceremo- 
 nial additions of the Pharisees, that Christ, as Lord of the 
 Sabbath, openly showed his disregard of these traditional 
 innovations, and reverted to the simple and merciful design 
 of the institution, declaring that the Sabbath was made for 
 man, not man for the Sabbath, Mark ii, 27, 28 ; Luke vi, 5. 
 
 Let us now see how the Jews kept their ceremonial Sab- 
 bath in the days of our Saviour ; considerable information 
 will be obtained thereby relative to several circumstances 
 in the Gospel history. About three on the Friday after- 
 noon began what was called the eve, or the preparation for 
 the^ Sabbath, Mark xv, 42. The people ceased from their 
 daily labor and usual employments, and prepared food for 
 the next day, as no fire ought then to be kindled ; they 
 trimmed their beards, and washed their faces, hands, and 
 feet ; this the rabbis called '* meeting king Sabbath." A 
 little before sunset they lighted what was called the Sab- 
 bath candle or lamp ; the interval, from sunset till three stars 
 were plainly visible, was called, " between the suns," as 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 257 
 
 they were in doubt to which day it belonged. Whoever 
 found that he had inadvertently done any work in that space, 
 was bound to bring a sin-offering. The reader will recol- 
 lect that, in Judea, the time of sunset did not vary so 
 much as in more northern countries, and the approach of 
 darkness is more rapid and decided. This plan of reckon- 
 ing the day, from one evening to the next, was the custom 
 at that time, being founded on the statement, (Gen. i,) that 
 the evening and the morning made the first day, and so 
 on. We are not called on to adopt this plan now ; and the 
 quiet, entire change produced by a night's rest is an import- 
 ant separation between the days of labor and the Sabbath. 
 When the Sabbath began, they placed food on the table, 
 better than their usual provision, also the Sabbath lamp. 
 The master of the house took a cup of wine, and after 
 repeating Gen. ii, 1-3, drank it. The rest of the family 
 did the same, and, after washing their hands, began supper. 
 With respect to the lights for the Sabbath, one rabbi says, 
 " He that is accustomed to take great care in trimming his 
 Sabbath lamp well, will have children who shall be disciples 
 of the wise ;" the having a handsome Sabbath lamp was 
 represented to be as necessary as providing food. A hea- 
 then Roman poet alludes to these customary lights, and the 
 attempts to provide a supper more sumptuous than ordi- 
 nary, in the following lines : — 
 
 — But Herod's feast returns ! — 
 Now lamps with violet deck'd in rows depend, 
 And from each window greasy clouds ascend. 
 ***** 
 
 Now the red dish within its circling- rim, 
 Beholds the tail of some poor tunny swim. 
 Now the white earthen vessel swims with wine. 
 
 After returning thanks, the family retired to rest. Early 
 the next morning, they attended the first service at the 
 synagogue, or perhaps at the temple, if they lived in 
 Jerusalem ; and on their return home took their breakfast, 
 which was the second Sabbath meal. They then went to 
 some teacher who publicly explained the traditions of the 
 elders, or they engaged in religious duties at home. At 
 noon they dined, and the afternoon passed away till the 
 time of the evening sacrifice, about three o'clock, when 
 they again went to the temple, or to a synagogue ; after 
 which, they returned home to eat their fourth meal, and 
 
258 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 continued conversing till sunset, when the Sabbath ended. 
 Just before that time, a second Sabbath lamp was lighted, 
 and the master of the family having given thanks over a 
 cup of wine, he repeated a passage of Scripture, as Psa. 
 cxvi, 13, or Esther viii, 16, and pronounced a blessing, by 
 way of separation between the Sabbath and the working 
 day, then about to begin. The chief circumstance to be 
 noticed as objectionable in these observances is, that on the 
 Sabbath the Jews made a point of indulging in food, and 
 invited company more than on any other day : see Luke 
 xiv, 1. It is not to be a day of abstinence or fasting, but 
 certainly it should not be a day of gluttony and feasting. 
 
 The Sabbath was to be strictly a day of rest, except for 
 works of necessity or mercy. That public notice might be 
 given, the minister of the synagogue sounded a trumpet 
 six times from the roof of the building, at the beginning 
 and at the end of the Sabbath. Still further to make it a 
 day of rest, the Jews were forbidden to walk more than a 
 Sabbath-day's journey, a distance of 2,000 cubits, or some- 
 thing less than a mile. This limitation is not found any- 
 where in Scripture ; but the Jews founded the tradition on 
 Exod. xvi, 29, " Let no man go out of his place on the 
 Sabbath-day." They consider that the distance at first 
 was twelve miles, that being the extent they assign to the 
 camp in the wilderness, but that after the settlement in 
 Canaan, it was restricted to the shorter distance. 
 
 The restrictions of the later Jews with respect to the 
 Sabbath-day were numerous, fanciful, and very burden- 
 some. For instance, they enumerated thirty-nine " primi- 
 tive" or general kinds of work, from which they made 
 out innumerable others as " derivatives." To plow was a 
 primitive ; to dig was likewise forbidden, but was a deriva- 
 tive ; to reap was a primitive ; to gather ears of corn was 
 of the same nature as reaping, and so was to pluck fruit. 
 If it was proved that any one had broken these rules pre- 
 sumptuously, he was in danger of being stoned ; our Lord 
 therefore, in fact, pleaded for the lives of his disciples, 
 Matt, xii, 1-8. The minute points to which these rules 
 were extended, and the fanciful classification of them, can 
 scarcely be supposed ; for instance, to chop herbs was 
 considered the same as grinding. The distinctions as to 
 healing were also very strict. It was lawful to resort to 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 259 
 
 means necessary to save life ; but if the disease were of a 
 chronical nature, it was to be endured on tliat day, rather 
 than prepare medicines or attempt a cure on the Sabbath. 
 Our Lord cured the bhnd man on the Sabbath-day, not 
 only showing his miraculous power in using means impro- 
 per according to human reason, but also such as directly 
 opposed the Jewish traditions. 
 
 Maimonides, in his writings, gives the following decisions 
 on this point : " Let not those that are in health use physic 
 on the Sabbath-day. Let not him that labors under a 
 pain in his loins anoint the place affected with oil and vine- 
 gar, but with oil he may if it is not oil of roses ; nor is it 
 lawful to rub any part so as to rub the skin off! He 
 that has the tooth-acbe, let him not take vinegar into his 
 mouth to spit it out again, but he may to swallow it. 
 He that has a sore throat let him not gargle it with oil, 
 but he may swallow down the oil, whence if he receive a 
 cure it is well. Let no man chew mastich or rub his 
 teeth with spice for a cure, but if he does this to make 
 his mouth taste sweet it is allowed. They do not put wine 
 into a sore eye. They do not apply fomentations or oils to 
 any affected part." The rules for using physic are very 
 numerous, and show what foolish nostrums were latterly in 
 use among the Jews. Many are such that it was well to 
 be restrained from using them at any time. The regula- 
 tions of the Mishna, respecting the Sabbath, make us won- 
 der how such enactments could have been made by rational 
 beings. Thus, a man might break a barrel to get dried 
 figs out of it to eat on the Sabbath, but he must not 
 bore a hole in it for that purpose. The evasions were 
 numerous. One man might not do any forbidden work 
 alone ; but if two joined in doing it, then it often became 
 lawful. If any food had been warmed on the eve of the 
 Sabbath, it might be heated again. A man might ask his 
 neighbor to give him wine, but not to lend it to him, as that 
 might tempt the lender to make a written memorandum on 
 the Sabbath. One other case may be related. If a house had 
 two balconies on different stories, projecting out, that the 
 inhabitants might draw up water out of a well in an open 
 court beneath, and the bucket passed through a hole in the 
 lower balcony when drawn to the upper one, they might 
 not use it on the Sabbath, unless an inclosure ten palms 
 
260 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 high was made round the mouth of the well, or reaching 
 downward from the lower balcony. What must have been 
 the state of a people, where similar regulations without 
 number were enforced, or even devised ! 
 
 The stricter Jews did not allow even the pulling out a 
 beast or sheep from a pit, though it was not condemned 
 by the teachers as unlawful; see Matt, xii, 11. They 
 thought it enough to bring food and fodder to the place, 
 unless there were danger from its remaining there. Christ's 
 question to the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda, had 
 reference, not to his desiring to be healed — that he had 
 shown by lying there so long ; but the inquiry was, whether 
 he would be healed on the Sabbath; thus ascertaining 
 whether he was blindly superstitious, hke the Pharisaical 
 rulers, John v, 6-9. 
 
 Another class of limitations affected the removal of things. 
 They might not carry a burden on the Sabbath, but they 
 might remote articles from one place to another. Our 
 Lord's directions to the man at Bethesda, to take up his 
 bed and go to his house, was plainly in opposition to these 
 unscriptural limitations. It was both a trial to the man's 
 faith, and an open opposition to the Jewish superstitious 
 observances. Hereby also a preparation was made for the 
 change of the Sabbath, from the seventh to the first day of 
 the week. 
 
 One method of observance, by which the later Jews 
 broke the Sabbath while they pretended to be strict in ob- 
 serving it — ^their feasting on that day — has already been 
 alluded to. The extent to which they proceeded in this 
 respect appears from many passages in the Jewish writings. 
 One of their rabbis is said to have bought flesh from thirteen 
 butchers, that he might be able to select the very best ; 
 another seated himself upon an ivory seat, to blow the fire 
 for warming his dinner, thus thinking that he honored the 
 Sabbath, although the precept was express, that no fire 
 should be kindled on that day. Lightfoot notices these 
 customs in reference to the statement, (Luke xiv, 1,) " that 
 Christ was feasted in the house of a Pharisee on the Sab- 
 bath, when he healed the dropsical man." But the inter- 
 pretation given by the Jewish writers to Isa. Iviii, 13, " Thou 
 shalt call the Sabbath a delight," is a sufficient proof of the 
 dreadful extent to which these blasphemous practices (for 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 261 
 
 such they may be called) were carried. They blasphe- 
 mously said, " We must live more delicately on the Sabbath 
 than on other days ; and he is highly to be commended who 
 provides the most delicious fare against that day. He that 
 feasts thrice on the Sabbath shall be delivered from the 
 calamities suffered by the Messias, from the judgment of 
 hell, and from the war of Gog and Magog !" Too often, 
 indeed, do nominal Christians make the Sabbath a day of 
 surfeiting and drunkenness ; and others, though not going 
 to this extent, yet on that day plainly show that "their 
 God is their belly," Phil, iii, 19. 
 
 The new moons, or first days of every month, were ob- 
 served with peculiar solemnities; see Num. xxviii, 11-15. 
 Additional sacrifices were then offered, comprising burnt, 
 sin, meat, and drink-offerings ; and trumpets were sounded 
 during the oblations, Psa. Ixxxi, 3. The new moons, also, 
 were seasons on which the pious Israelites resorted to the 
 prophets and public teachers to hear the word of God, 
 2 Kings iv, 23 ; Isa. Ixvi, 23 ; Ezek. xlvi, 1 ; Amos viii, 5. 
 From what passed between David and Jonathan, (1 Sam. 
 XX, 5, 18,) the new moon appears to have been observed as 
 a public festival. This period is regarded by the modem 
 Jews, who bless God for having created the moon, and for 
 having renewed her to teach the Israehtes that they ought 
 to become new creatures. 
 
 Connected with this observance was the annual festival 
 of the feast of trumpets, so called from the solemn sounding 
 of the trumpets on that occasion. Lev. xxiii, 24 ; Num. 
 xxix, 1. It is called a memorial of the blowing of trumpets, 
 but it is not easy to tell of what it was a memorial. Patrick 
 considers that it was a memorial of the creation of the 
 world, wherefore the ancient beginning of the year was 
 dated from that time. It was on the first day of the moon, 
 in the autumnal month Tizri, consequently on the first day 
 of the civil year ; but it was the seventh month, according 
 to the way of reckoning the ecclesiastical year, and some 
 suppose that it was honored by this feast as a Sabbatical 
 month. All servile work was forbidden, a holy convocation 
 of the people assembled on this day, and additional sacri- 
 fices were offered. In the later times of the Jewish state, 
 three forms of public benediction were read, blessing God 
 as the author of the seasons. After each benediction, three 
 
262 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 short portions or verses from the law, and as many from the 
 psalms or prophets were read, concluding with another 
 from the law ; and in the temple, the Levites sang the 81st 
 Psalm. Thus the feast of the new moons was held as 
 sanctifying each month, and the feast of trumpets sanctified 
 each year, and reminded the Israehtes that their times were 
 in God's hands. The later Jews connected the observance 
 of this day with a superstitious behef that God then sits in 
 judgment on the actions of men, and that records are made 
 accordingly in a book of life for the just, a book of death 
 for the wicked, and a book of a middle state for those not 
 very good nor very bad : upon such an unscriptural idea it 
 is unnecessary to offer any remarks. Maimonides, a Jewish 
 writer, after stating that the good and bad deeds of a man 
 are balanced against each other on this day, adds the fol- 
 lowing useful exhortation : " The blowing of the trumpet on 
 the new-year's day is an ordinance of Scripture, and there 
 is intimation in it as saying. Ye sleepers, awake from your 
 sleep ; and je who are in a deep sleep, arise from your deep 
 sleep ; search into your actions, turn with repentance, and 
 remember your Creator. Ye who have become forgetful 
 of truth, by pursuing vain and temporary things, and have 
 been absorbed the whole year in vain and idle matters, 
 which can neither avail nor deliver you, look after your 
 souls, amend your manners and your deeds ; and may every 
 one of you forsake his wicked ways and his ungodly 
 thoughts." 
 
 The beginnings of the months and years were not settled 
 by a regular calculation, but by the actual appearance of 
 the new moon. Persons were appointed to watch on the 
 tops of the mountains for its first appearance after the change. 
 As soon as they saw it, they inforaaed the sanhedrim, and 
 public notice was given through the land. This notice at 
 first was given by lighting fires upon the high places ; but, 
 as the Samaritans sometimes caused deceptions by making 
 false fires, latterly the notice was given by messengers, in 
 the seven months in which the most important festivals oc- 
 curred. But if the moon was not seen on the night follow- 
 ing the thirtieth day, they made the next day the first of 
 the following month. Hence there was sometimes a differ- 
 ence of a day as to the beginning of a month ; and persons 
 came forward who had seen the new moon when the watchers 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 2G3 
 
 had not observed it : whence, at times, disputes arose as to 
 the proper day for the great festivals, particularly the pass- 
 over ; and the sanhedrim latterly commanded that the first 
 statement should be followed, and not corrected, even if 
 other evidence proved it to be wrong. 
 
 The solemn sounding of the trumpets reminds of that 
 great and solemn day, "when the trumpet shall sound, and 
 the dead shall be raised," 1 Cor. xv, 52. To this awful 
 moment, perhaps, these soundings of the trumpets were in- 
 tended to have particular reference. But the blowing of 
 the trumpet is also considered to betoken the glad sound 
 of the gospel, as the trumpet of the jubilee. Lev. xxv, 9. 
 In either case it is a rousing sound. 
 
 Awake ! again the gospel-trump is blown ; 
 From year to year it swells with louder tone ; 
 
 From ye V to year the sounds of wrath 
 
 Are gathering round the Judge's path ; 
 Strange words fulfiU'd, and mighty works achieved, 
 And truth in all the world both hated and believed. 
 
 But what are heaven's alarms to hearts that cower 
 In willful slumber, deepening every hour. 
 
 That draw their curtains closer round, 
 
 The nearer swells the trumpet's sound 1 
 Lord, ere our trembling lamps sink down and die, 
 Touch us with chastening hand, and make us feel thee nigh. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE PROPHETS. 
 
 There is not in Scripture a precise account of the prophets 
 and the schools of the prophets, but many circumstances 
 are mentioned respecting them. The prophets were not a 
 regularly constituted order or succession of men, but were 
 raised up as God saw fit, to perform sacred and important 
 duties. The gift of prophecy was not confined to the tribe 
 of Levi ; there were prophets from all the tribes, and even 
 sometimes among the Gentiles, as Balaam, Num. xxii, 5 ; 
 though, when evil men were employed as prophets, it was 
 only for a limited time, and with reference to some particu- 
 lar message. At first, the prophets were called seers, 
 (1 Sam. ix, 9 ; 2 Sam. xv, 27,) from the discoveries made 
 to them of things to come. They declared the will of God, 
 and delivered the Divine messages committed to them, both 
 
264 
 
 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 A SCHOOL OF THE PROPHETS. 
 
 to kings and people, with a freedom which showed that the3r 
 knew they were the authorized messengers of Jehovah. 
 But their office did not relate to future events only ; it was 
 their duty to instruct the people, and interpret the law or 
 word of God, Neh. viii, 8. In many texts prophet means 
 interpreter or teacher, and prophecy means interpretation 
 or teaching. The solemn warnings in Ezek. xxxiii, show 
 that the prophets were preachers in the general acceptation 
 of the term, and especially to warn persons of the evil of 
 sin. The words of the prophets also confirmed the Mosaic 
 ritual, and thus drew a wide distinction, in practice as well 
 as in doctrine, between the Hebrews and the surrounding 
 idolaters. Even to the Gentiles, the Mosaic ritual and the 
 prophecies were mutual confirmations of each other, or rather 
 the regular observance of the first strengthened the latter in 
 their views ; both led to the crucified Saviour, who was 
 given for a covenant of the people, (the Jews,) and a light 
 of the Gentiles, Isa. xlii, 6. 
 
 There were many prophets or seers whose names are not 
 noticed in Scripture ; and some are mentioned none of whose 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 265 
 
 prophecies are recorded. Both Jews and Christians agree 
 that Maiachi was the last of the prophets under the Old 
 Testament dispensation; and it has been observed that, 
 while there were prophets among them, the Jews were not 
 divided by sects or heresies. The prophets being divinely- 
 inspired, the people had to receive their declarations, or 
 were conscious that they rejected the word and authority 
 of Jehovah, and when they did so they fell into idolatry. 
 But when the law of God was interpreted by uninspired 
 men, liable to error, and often disagreeing in their opinions, 
 differences and disputes were the natural consequence ; then 
 divisions and parties followed. 
 
 The schools of the prophets are supposed to have arisen 
 about the time of Eli ; and probably were instituted to in- 
 struct persons for the sacred ministry, in consequence of the 
 degraded and wicked state into which the priesthood had 
 then fallen, as is exemphfied in the account of the conduct 
 of EU's sons, 1 Sam. xi, 12-17, 22. The Levite engaged 
 by Micah, (Judg. xvii, 10, 11,) who could unite the worship 
 of a graven image and a molten image with the service of 
 Jehovah, probably was but one among many who then 
 sought the priest's office for the sake of a livelihood. The 
 disciples, or young persons taught in these schools, were 
 called sons of the prophets. Some venerable, divinely in- 
 spired prophet presided, who was called their father, and 
 the younger disciples ministered to him. Samuel, (1 Sam. 
 xix, 20,) Elijah, and Elisha were among these fathers. The 
 sons of the prophets lived together as a community, and 
 subsisted on the labor of their hands, assisted by the con- 
 tributions of those who knew the value of these institutions, 
 and were able to help in supporting them. In 2 Kings 
 iv, l-V, and vi, 1-7, are some interesting particulars respect- 
 ing these communities, which evidently were, both in spirit 
 and in practice, widely different from the monastic institu- 
 tions of the Church of Rome. The instruction in these 
 schools was the study of the Divine law, and the principles 
 of their faith ; also psalmody, and lecturing or preaching. 
 And in these services, doubtless, the sons of the prophets, 
 and their superintendents, were much employed ; for people 
 resorted to them at st^ed .seasons, 2 Kings iv, 23. Singing 
 the praises of God is also called prophesying, 1 Chron. 
 XXV, 1 ; 1 Sam. x, 5, 10. Thus the sons of the prophets 
 12 
 
266 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 were prepared for scenes of active usefulness. From these 
 institutions most of the prophets appear to have been called ; 
 for Amos, who was a herdsman, speaks of his call as un- 
 common. Observe, however, that the priest of Bethel did 
 not deny the inspiration of Amos, or his right to prophesy, 
 but only wished to prevent him from prophesying or preach- 
 ing at court. The plain truths and warnings against sin, 
 which fell from the lips of this divinely inspired, but rustic 
 prophet, grated upon courtly ears, accustomed to smooth 
 language and deceitful statements, Amos vii, 10-15. 
 
 A prophet, in the strictest sense of the word, was one to 
 whom the knowledge of secret things was revealed, that he 
 might declare them to others. The Jewish writers since 
 Christ enumerate forty-eight of these prophets, and seven 
 prophetesses, from Abraham to Malachi. In this number 
 they include Eldad and Medad, (Num. xi, 26,) though there 
 is nothing to show that they did more than exhort ; nor 
 does it appear that their gifts differed from those of the 
 other seventy elders. And they now omit Daniel, evidently 
 because he prophesied clearly of the coming of the Mes- 
 siah. His title to be ranked among the prophets cannot be 
 disputed ; and Josephus, who lived soon after our Lord was 
 upon earth, expressly speaks of Daniel as one of the most 
 eminent of their prophets. 
 
 We do not find that any regular form or ceremony was 
 used when a prophet was constituted, or sent forth. The 
 casting of EHjah's mantle upon Elisha, (1 Kings xix, 19,) 
 may be regarded rather as a sign than as a ceremony ; and, 
 from the repeated mention of that mantle, we may suppose 
 there was something peculiar to Elijah in his dress and ap- 
 pearance. He is described (2 Kings i, 8) as hairy, or 
 wearing a hairy garment, girt with a girdle of leather ; the 
 appearance of John the Baptist was similar. Matt, iii, 4. 
 As to the method by which the prophets were designated, 
 or marked out for their office, we only read that " holy men 
 of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost ;" 
 and all the true prophets mentioned in Scripture evidently 
 had the witness of the Spirit, carrying them forth to the 
 discharge of their office, and strengthening them for it. 
 Their qualifications also are plainly stated. The true pro- 
 phet was a man of piety. His mind, when receiving the 
 Divine impulse, was in a well-regulated state, not carried 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 267 
 
 away or influenced by disorderly passions. Thus, when 
 Elisha's mind was disturbed by the sight of Jehoram, the 
 wicked king of Israel, he called for a minstrel, whose sacred 
 harmony might compose his mind before he sought thq 
 Lord, 2 Kings iii, 15. Maimonides says, that the prophets 
 were not able to prophesy just when they wished to do so, 
 but were obliged to prepare their minds, and to sit down 
 joyfully, cheerfully, and solitarily; seeing that prophecy 
 dAvells neither amidst melancholy nor amidst apathy, but 
 amidst joyfulness, therefore the sons of the prophets used 
 to have instruments of music, and thus sought after pro- 
 phecy. 
 
 The Divine revelations to the prophets were made in 
 various ways. 1. By dreams and visions. As to Jacob, 
 Daniel, and others : they are also alluded to, Joel ii, 28. 
 St. Peter's trance (Acts x, 10-16) was of this nature. The 
 term vision sometimes is applied to a really visible and mi- 
 raculous appearance, as that of the angel to Zacharias, 
 Luke i, 22 ; and the same word is apphed generally to the 
 prophecies of Isaiah, Nahum, and Obadiah. The prophets 
 were able to distinguish these visions from common dreams, 
 and from the delusions of Satan : see 1 Sam. xvi, 6, 1 ; 
 2 Sam. vii, 4-17 ; 1 Chron. xvii, 3-15 ; Isa. xxx\Tii, 1, 4--8 ; 
 2 Kings XX, 1, 4-11. These visions would always be con- 
 sistent with the wisdom, holiness, and majesty of God. 
 
 The expressions used by the prophets, often imply that 
 they saw the events they describe, as though they were 
 actually occurring before them. Thus, Nahum sees the 
 overthrow of Nineveh, Nah. iii, 1-3. Isaiah sees the re- 
 velings, the sudden surprise and massacre of the Baby- 
 lonians, and the fall of her monarch, Isa. xxi, 1-10 ; xiv, 4-23. 
 Habakkuk beheld in vision a most glorious display of Divine 
 power, shown both in magnificent and in minute circum- 
 stances, — the mountains trembling, the nations scattered, 
 and even the tents of the wild Arabs agitated and hastily 
 removed, as is common at the approach of some mighty 
 conqueror ; see Hab. iii. His prophecy is entitled, " The 
 burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see," i, 1. 
 
 It may be remarked, that these ecstatic visions seem to 
 have represented at once events both near and remote, 
 with a general idea of succession only, not a precise view 
 as to the intervals to occur between them. Thus we behold 
 
268 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 the stars in the firmament, all apparently at distances nearly 
 equal from us, as seen by the eye. Thus we see the towers 
 and spires of a distant city rise from the horizon at once to 
 view, without being able clearly to discern their intervals 
 from each other. This may explain why the prophets often 
 speak of future events as present ; and of those which were 
 fulfilled shortly after the times when they prophesied, as 
 though connected with events which we consider as yet un- 
 fulfilled. 
 
 Maimonides states, that belief in prophecy precedes behef 
 in the law, and describes the mode of revelation to the pro- 
 phets : " As in wisdom one wise man may be greater than 
 another, so in prophecy one prophet may be greater than 
 another prophet. All of them see, however, the apparition 
 of prophecy in a dream only, in a vision of the night, or on 
 some day when deep sleep falls upon them, Nimi. xii, 6. 
 Moreover, the limbs of all of them shake at the time when 
 they are prophesying, their bodily power fails, and their 
 mind, undisturbed by any other impression, is left to con- 
 ceive that which it sees, as is declared of Abraham, Gen. 
 XV, 12, and of Daniel, x. 8. The things thus revealed are 
 revealed to them by way of allegory ; but the interpretation 
 is also at once impressed upon their minds, so that they 
 know what it means ; as the ladder which Jacob saw ; the 
 living creatures and the roll Ezekiel saw ; the almond-tree 
 Jeremiah saw ; and the ephah Zechariah saw. And so it was 
 with the other prophets : some, like these, related the alle- 
 gory, and also gave the interpretation ; others told the inter- 
 pretation only, and sometimes they related the allegory 
 only." 
 
 The highest degree of inspiration was a direct commimi- 
 cation to the mind of a prophet; this the Jewish writers 
 would restrict to Moses, to whom the Lord spoke face to 
 face, Exod. xxxiii, 11. They considered, and still consider, 
 him as the greatest prophet ever yet raised up in the world. 
 The confession of faith used in the latter ages of their state 
 declares, " that all the prophecies of Moses, our master, are 
 true ; and that he is the father of all the sages, whether 
 they went before or after him." And the Jews expect that 
 the Messiah will be a prophet " hke unto Moses," consider- 
 ing him as the triumphant deliverer of his people. Upon 
 this part of the character of their lawgiver they dwell, even 
 
RITES AND WORSHIP. 269 
 
 as Stephen, Acts vii, 37, referred to the same passage, 
 Deut, xviii, 15, but enlarged upon that part of his history 
 which represents him as suffering for his people. There 
 appears no cause for this limitation to Moses. A direct 
 communication also appears to have been sometimes made 
 by a voice to other prophets, as to Samuel. The ministry 
 of angels has already been mentioned. At times a prophet 
 could not refrain from delivering his message, even when it 
 seemed disadvantageous to declare it, see Jer. xx, 7-10 ; 
 but it is probable, that usually, when charged with a Divine 
 communication, he was directed or led to select the oppor- 
 tunities most suitable for the purposes in view. 
 
 A prophet, when called to stand forth among his <l'y^- 
 trymen, to reprove sin, to warn Gf judgments to" come, and 
 to set forth the Divine promises, was about to enter upon 
 a course both difficult and dangerous. The history of Jere- 
 miah fully shows this; and few have read unmoved the 
 minute and graphic description of his sufferings in the dun- 
 geon, Jer. xxxviii. But the Divine protection was pro- 
 mised, and if wicked men were suffered to prevail, a better 
 recompense awaited the prophet than any earthly advan- 
 tage. He had to manifest, in his life and conversation, that 
 he dedicated himself wholly to his office. His apparel was 
 simple, and his food coarse. Isaiah wore sackcloth, Isa. 
 XX, 2. Elijah was clothed in skins, 2 Kings i, 8. So usually 
 was this the garb of the prophets, that it was assumed by 
 the false prophets after the captivity, in order to deceive, 
 Zech. xiii, 4 ; a rough garment, or garment of hair, either 
 of skins or hair-cloth. The appearance of Elijah probably 
 occasioned the scoffs and mockery of the young men of 
 Jericho, 2 Kings ii, 23, 24. By this plain and self-denying 
 course of life their disinterestedness was manifested, as in 
 the instance of Elisha and Naaman, 2 Kings v, 16. 
 
 From many circumstances it is plain, that the prophets 
 often possessed the respect and regard of persons of the first 
 rank in the state. Elijah and Elisha commanded this even 
 from the wicked kings of Israel, 1 Kings xviii, 1 7 ; 2 Kings 
 iii, 14. Isaiah had extensive influence with the good king 
 of Judah, Hezekiah, Isa. xxxvii, 2. Nor did he hesitate 
 boldly to deliver his message, even when the rulers of the 
 land were men of a different stamp. The reproof to Shebna 
 (Isa. xxii, 15-25) is supposed to have been delivered pub- 
 
270 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 licly to him, when one of the idolatrous ministers of Ma- 
 nasseh ; and at a time when probably he was superintending 
 the erection of some stately monument, thinking thereby to 
 perpetuate his memory. Some consider that this solemn 
 personal warning was so resented by the wicked ruler, that 
 he caused the prophet to be put to a cruel death, by being 
 sawn in sunder by a wooden saw, which is the Jewish tra- 
 dition respecting the martyrdom of Isaiah. But the most 
 remarkable instance of political power and influence enjoyed 
 by a prophet, is that of Daniel. The fearlessness with which 
 he risked his life, rather than cease from the worship of God, 
 at a time when he enjoyed the highest honors of the realm, 
 shows the excellent spirit he was of; see Dan. vi. The con- 
 duct of the princes lO Jeremiah, (chap, xxxvi, 19,) proves 
 the respect and r'egard manifested to him, even by the 
 courtiers of Jehoiakim. That chapter also shows, that the 
 messages or discourses of the prophets sometimes were de- 
 livered publicly in the temple, ver. 5-8. Many passages 
 confirm these statements, and the reverence required to- 
 wards the prophets and their messages, 2 Chron. xx, 20, 
 and xxxvi, 16 ; proving that the neglect and ill-treatment 
 many among them experienced, added much to the national 
 guUt. Their words were often confirmed by the exhibition 
 of miracles, as in the case of Moses ; and at other times by 
 judgments, immediate or shortly to come to pass, as in the 
 instances of Jeroboam, whose hand withered, 1 Kings xiii, 4, 
 the captains sent to take Elijah, 2 Kings i, 10, 12 ; and the 
 death of Hananiah, Jer. xxviii, 17. 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 271 
 
 PART III. 
 
 THE LAWS AND POLITY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The attentive reader of the historical books of the Bible 
 must perceive that they differ widely from the common his- 
 tories of nations. They not only record the events which 
 befell the Jews, with a minuteness and fidelity very differ- 
 ent from the early records of other nations, but they give 
 details and particulars, which unfold the springs and sources 
 of their actions, and show the results of their proceedings 
 on succeeding generations, so as to furnish the most excel- 
 lent moral and religious instructions. The principles upon 
 which the laws and polity of the Jews were founded, are 
 fully developed in the Bible ; they are therefore written for 
 our instruction, and should be fully considered in connec- 
 tion with their history. From thence we may learn how 
 fully this policy was calculated to promote their national 
 happiness, and how clearly it appears that their national 
 sufferings were the result of their departure from the laws 
 which God had given them. It is by thus taking a view 
 of the polity, in connection with the history of the Jews, 
 that the sacred narrative presents the most impressive les- 
 sons. Their covenant with the Lord, as a people, was really 
 the foundation of their national power and strength, which 
 were only preserved and continued to them whilst they ad- 
 hered to that covenant. It was in this view that the Psalm- 
 ist exclaimed, " Happy is that people whose God is Jeho- 
 vah!" Psa. cxliv, 15; and that the prophet, anticipating 
 the calamities about to fall upon the nation, showed the evU 
 effects of disobedience, Jer. ii, 19. 
 
 " Know, therefore, and see 
 That it is an evil and bitter thing 
 That thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God, 
 And that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts." 
 
272 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 It must also be remembered, that this national covenant was 
 closely connected with the still more comprehensive cove- 
 nant made by the Lord our God with the lost children of 
 men, of every kindred, tongue, and people, for their salva- 
 tion. The national covenant with the Jews had direct refer- 
 ence to the redemption which is in Christ Jesus ; the love 
 of God for his chosen nation was a type of his love for his 
 children of every country. The Jewish poHty shadows 
 forth the rich designs of saving grace ; the Jewish history 
 proves how fully and freely this grace was imparted by Him 
 who is "rich in mercy,*' Eph. ii, 4. Here then we see at 
 once our danger and the remedy. Let us enter upon the 
 consideration of the Jewish polity with a view to our own 
 improvement. Let individuals, families, and nations, re- 
 member that Jehovah changeth not ; that the principles of 
 his government are ever the same ; that the Bible alone con- 
 tains his revealed will, and that it is in vain for any, whether 
 the largest community or the humblest individual, to think 
 that they can sin against God, and yet prosper ; that they 
 can reject the principles of his law, and yet escape the pun- 
 ishment deserved by disobedience : and also that God the 
 Lord will not forsake those who obey his word, for he is 
 "a just God and a Saviour," Isa. xlv, 21. 
 
 We must ever remember that Moses was not the author 
 of the laws and polity of the Jews ; he did not frame them 
 from his OAvn devisings, or borrow them from other coun- 
 tries. There doubtless is much similarity between the 
 manners and customs of the Jews, and those of Gentile 
 inhabitants of the East ; but the laws and institutions of the 
 Jewish nation were evidently based upon something far 
 superior to those of other lands. As Moses declared, 
 "These words" (of the ten commandments) "the Lord 
 spake unto your assembly in the mount." The details 
 were, by the desire of the people, thus spoken unto Moses, 
 and repeated by him to them : see the whole passage, Deut. 
 V, 22-33. The Hebrew nation were placed in the centre 
 of the civilized world, then a world of idolaters, to exemplify 
 the great doctrine of one God, as the Creator of all things, 
 and the Governor of the universe, as opposed to the idolatry 
 and worship of many gods which then prevailed, Deut. vi, 
 13, 14. Some few of the most enlightened men in other 
 lands had partial ideas of this truth, derived either from the 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 273 
 
 Jews themselves, or more remotely from the patriarchs. 
 As a proof of the Divine origin of this principle, the Jews 
 were to prosper more than any other nation, as long as they 
 were obedient ; and they did so. This principle was not 
 exemplified in the same manner by any other people. The 
 Rites and Worship of the Jews were especially instituted 
 for them as a nation, as has been previously shown, while 
 the purity taught in all their laws and observances plainly 
 pointed out Him, who has enforced his laws by the decla- 
 ration, " Ye shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am 
 holy," Lev. xix, 2. How different was their case from that 
 of every heathen nation, which possessed, in all the histories 
 of their gods, a record of criminal actions, that encouraged 
 and allowed sin ! 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE JEWISH LAWS. 
 
 When considering the details of the Jewish law, as given 
 to Moses from on high, and taught by him, we should mark 
 for our own guidance at the present day, the principles more 
 than the details. The principles are of universal applica- 
 tion, as they proceed from the mind of Him who changeth 
 not, but the details are not so to be viewed. They were ad- 
 mirably adapted to promote the welfare and happiness of 
 the Jewish nation, a people of whom God himself declared, 
 " I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel," Num. 
 XXXV, 34 ; and who were separated from the nations, 
 (1 Kings viii, 53,) not only as a special favor to them, but 
 as a type of the spiritual Israel, the people of God, who in 
 later ages should be called from all nations. Also, as God 
 works by means, many of the details had special reference 
 to the state of Israel, as liable to be corrupted by the na- 
 tions around, and thei'efore severed from other people. Lev. 
 XX, 26. Others are grounded upon various circumstances 
 of the climate or situation, therefore not adapted or intended 
 for adoption universally. But while it is lawful to adopt 
 or decline the matters of detail, the principles which regu- 
 lated Moses while king in Jeshurun, (Deut. xxxiii, 5,) issu- 
 12* 
 
274 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 ing his commands from the tabernacle in the wilderness ; 
 or Solomon, when all Israel were dwelling in peace and 
 safety, every man under his own vine and fig-tree, (1 Kings 
 iv, 25,) are of universal application : these should guide the 
 monarchs, rulers, and legislators of every land in the pre- 
 sent day. The details commanded by Moses were all in 
 perfect accordance with the principles^ Miserable work did 
 the Jewish doctors and rulers make in later days, when 
 they carried on the details without having reference, in the 
 first instance, to the main principle, which our blessed Lord 
 himself declared to those rulers was " mercy, and not sacri- 
 fice," Matt, xii, 7. Very striking instances of this occur in 
 considering the Mishna and oral law, of which our Saviour 
 spoke when he said, " Ye have made the Law" (the prin- 
 ciples emanating from the Godhead) " of none effect by 
 your traditions," (by your enactments in opposition to those 
 principles,) Matt, xv, 6. This, be it observed, is the natural 
 tendency of the human heart. The strict, sanctimonious 
 Pharisees, and the Hbertine Sadducees, have not been the 
 only teachers and rulers pretending to have special reve- 
 rence for the word of God, while departing widely from the 
 principles it sets forth. The pontiffs of Rome, though pre- 
 tending to claim only spiritual guidance, brought in a domi- 
 nation, a tyranny over both the souls and bodies of men, 
 impossible to be borne. Tendencies to similar interference 
 with the happiness and the consciences of men have appeared 
 even in the proceedings of purer Churches, and less selfish 
 leaders. It is to be remarked, that every spiritual domina- 
 tion has departed more or less, in its details, from the clear 
 principles of the Divine law. " Glory to God in the highest, 
 and on earth peace, good- will towards men," Luke ii, 14. 
 These seldom, or for any long time, have really actuated 
 any ruhng power ; but a time will come when these princi- 
 ples shall be universally carried out, when One greater and 
 wiser than Solomon shall reign, of whom it has been de- 
 clared, (Psalm Ixxii, 17,) 
 
 " Men shall be blessed in Him ; 
 All nations shall call Him blessed." 
 
 Well might the sweet Psalmist of Israel, the king over 
 the Jewish nation, return from the sheep-folds to feed 
 Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance, while anticipat- 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 275 
 
 ing this glorious carrying out of the Divine principles of 
 legislation into the details of human laws, say, 
 
 " Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, 
 Who only doeth wondrous things ; 
 And blessed be His glorious name forever: 
 And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen." 
 
 and then close with the emphatic declaration, — 
 
 " The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended." 
 
 Psa. Ixxii, 18-20. 
 
 The judicial laws of the Jews may be considered as those 
 referring — first, to their polity or government, which dif- 
 fered in different periods of the Jewish history, and will be 
 hereafter considered under the title of Polity. The second 
 division relates to the laws, both civil and criminal, by 
 means of which justice was to be administered, and punish- 
 ment inflicted. On these a few remarks will next be made.* 
 
 In order the more clearly to point out the difference be- 
 tween Moses and other lawgivers, some laws as to out- 
 ward conduct may first be noticed, observing that it must 
 be kept in mind that all these laws proceed from a Lawgiver 
 who was able to search and judge the heart of man. As 
 already observed, they are all based upon, and reducible to 
 the golden precept, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy- 
 self" — or, in plain words, "Do unto others as you would 
 they should do unto you," a principle which never has been 
 adopted by mere human lawgivers. While the Jews were 
 subject to these laws, the heathen nations around them 
 were under very different codes. In one of the most virtu- 
 ous of these, namely, that of Sparta, theft was allowed ; it 
 was not a crime to steal, but to do it so as to be detected. 
 In others, piracy was honored ; licentiousness and unnatural 
 crimes were sanctioned ; revenge was counted praiseworthy, 
 though in the eye of a heart-searching God it was murder. 
 In many cases parents and masters were allowed to kill 
 their children and slaves with impunity, to say nothing of 
 the public murders sanctioned by the permission of human 
 sacrifices. 
 
 Graves well remarks, how clearly the importance of Re- 
 velation is shown by the turpitude and cruelty of the sys- 
 tem of pubhc morals recommended by Plato, one of the 
 
 * Considerable use has been made of the valuable work by Dean Graves, 
 " On the Pentateuch, showing the Divine Origin of the Jewish Religion, chiefly 
 from Internal Evidence." 
 
276 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 greatest of the ancient philosophers, in his ideal scheme of 
 perfection for a state, even for what he considered a perfect 
 republic. Some infidels have endeavored to make out that 
 Judaism was derived from heathenism ; but the moral law of 
 the Jews sufficiently proves that it had a far superior ori- 
 gin. Artificial light may be good in the absence of the sun, 
 but all the discoveries of science cannot produce a light 
 which will supply the place of the solar rays. Nor is there 
 any perfect code of morality but that revealed in Scripture, 
 enforced by the example of Christ. 
 
 " Talk they of morals 1 O thou bleeding Lamb, 
 Thou maker of new morals to mankind, 
 The grand morality is love to Thee." 
 
 How little have those examined the subject, who consider 
 the Jewish law as a mere system of outward ceremonies ! 
 It is a perfect summary of moral duty, and bears the image 
 of its Author. And when we consider the great purposes 
 attained by the keeping Israel a separate people, we see 
 that this object was worthy the interposition of the Deity. 
 Hereby the people were prepared for those great objects 
 described in Scripture, especially for the coming of the Re- 
 deemer, and the fulfillment of the promise, " In thy seed 
 shall all the nations of the earth be blessed," Gen. xxvi, 4 ; 
 and here was a pattern given, by adherence to which, in a 
 greater or lesser degree, the happiness of other nations has 
 been more or less attained. 
 
 Obsei-ve how distinctly revenge is forbidden, Lev. xix, 18 : 
 " Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the 
 children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor 
 as thyself : I am the Lord." And this was not to those of 
 their own nation only, as the rabbins endeavored to limit it, 
 but to the stranger also, ver. 34 : " The stranger that 
 dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one bom among 
 you, and thou shalt love him as thyself, for ye were stran- 
 gers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God." 
 Also the Divine principle was extended even farther, to 
 ** love your enemies," Exod. xxiii, 4, 5 : " If thou meet thine 
 enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring 
 it back to him again. If thou see the ass of him that hateth 
 thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help 
 him, thou shalt surely help with him." Here observe the 
 agreement between the Law and the Gospel, Matt, v, 43-48. 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 277 
 
 No private enmity was to interrupt those good offices 
 which were due to other members of the same community. 
 Also, it must be remembered, that the enactments of the 
 ceremonial law kept the Jew at a distance from hea- 
 thens ; still there were occasions when, in the way of duty, 
 he had intercourse with them, and then these precepts were 
 binding on him ; while, since the promulgation of the gospel, 
 the application undoubtedly extends to all, even as God 
 hath made of one blood all nations upon the earth. The 
 command of our blessed Lord is thus widely apphcable. 
 As Graves says, " It was reserved for him, the expected 
 Messiah, the God of love and mercy, to extend and enforce 
 the principle of benevolence; to teach men to regard all 
 human beings requiring their aid as friends and brethren, 
 however different their country, however opposite their 
 faith ; to teach them to love their enemies, to return blessing 
 for cursing, and good for evil ; to imitate the example of 
 their Redeemer, who laid down his life for his enemies, and 
 in the agonies of death prayed for his persecutors. Thus 
 it was strictly true, that the commandment of our Lord, to 
 * love one another, even as he loved us,' was new, John 
 xiii, 34. New, in the universality of its application ; new, 
 in the all-perfect example by which it was illustrated ; and 
 new, in the sanction by which it was enforced, and the pre- 
 eminence which it obtained in the scheme of Gospel duties, 
 where it is ranked as the peculiar characteristic of the fol- 
 lowers of Christ, and an essential condition of obtaining 
 forgiveness from God. But the principle was recognized in 
 the Mosaic law, and applied as extensively as existing cir- 
 cumstances would permit." And the duties referred to 
 were not ceremonial observances, acts of the hand, with 
 which the heart went not ; but — " These words shall be in 
 thine heart," Deut. vi, 4, 5. And when warned of the pun- 
 ishments that would attend departure from these laws, 
 the Jews were not only called to resume the practice of the 
 acts required, but to humble the heart, and to turn to the 
 Lord with all the heart and soul. See Deut. xxx. To such 
 returning only, a blessing was promised. 
 
 The same may be observed in reference to Solomon's in- 
 tercession at the consecration of the temple : though that 
 was a place especially provided for the observance of out- 
 ward rites, yet Solomon, when pleading for the Divine an- 
 
278 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 swer to the repenting Jew, spoke of prayer only : " Hear 
 thou in heaven thy dwelUng-place, and forgive." Josephus 
 thus observes : " When we offer sacrifices, we do it, not in 
 order to surfeit ourselves and be drunken, for such excesses 
 are against the will of God, and would be an occasion of 
 pride and luxury ; but by keeping ourselves sober, orderly, 
 and ready for our other occupations, and being more tem- 
 perate than others, and for our duty at the sacrifices them- 
 selves. We ought, in the first place, to pray for the com- 
 mon welfare of all, and after that, for our own ; for we are 
 made for fellowship one with another ; and he who prefers 
 the common good before what is peculiar to himself, is 
 above all acceptable to God. And let our prayers and sup- 
 phcations be made humbly to God. Not so much that he 
 would give us what is good, for he hath already given that 
 of his own accord, and hath proposed the same publicly to 
 all, that we may duly receive it, and when we have received 
 it, may preserve it." On this passage Whiston truly and 
 judiciously remarks : " That we may here observe how 
 known a thing it was, that sacrifices were accompanied 
 with prayers, — whence came those phrases, of the sacrifices 
 of prayer, of praise, and of thanksgiving." 
 
 Philo, another Jew, as Graves states, " is full of the same 
 moral and religious spirit in his comments on the signifi- 
 cancy of the dress of the priests, the sacrifices, and all the 
 various circumstances of the ritual. Indeed, the inscrip- 
 tion on the holy crown of Aaron, of " Holiness to the Lord," 
 naturally suggested such ideas to every pious and reflect- 
 ing Israelite. Philo has pursued them certainly often with 
 overstrained refinement and fanciful ingenuity ; but his 
 writings show that the enlightened Jews, when Christianity 
 was introduced, (for Philo was contemporary with the 
 apostles,) were addicted to spiritual and moral views of their 
 litual and law. The spiritual nature of the law was further 
 shown by the requirements of the ceremonial institutions, 
 of a trespass-offering for every offense, pointing typically to 
 the atonement of Christ, independently of any infliction of 
 punishment upon the offender, by the directions of the law. 
 The offender might undergo the penalty of his sin, and so 
 satisfy the judicial law, but that was only a part of the 
 Hebrew code ; there was a pardon to be sought from Jeho- 
 vah, their just God, as well as supreme Ruler. 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 279 
 
 Thus, ''the Jewish law enjoined love to God with the 
 most unceasing solicitude and love to our neighbor, as ex- 
 tensively and forcibly as the peculiar character of the Jewish 
 people would permit. It impressed the deepest conviction 
 of God's requiring, not mere external observances, but heart- 
 felt piety, well-regulated desires, and active benevolence. 
 It taught that sacrifice could not obtain pardon without re- 
 pentance, or repentance without reformation and restitution. 
 It described circumcision itself, and by consequence every 
 other legal rite, as designed to typify and inculcate internal 
 holiness, which alone could render man acceptable to God ; 
 and it represented the love of God as a practical principle, 
 stimulating to the constant and sincere cultivation of purity, 
 mercy, and truth." 
 
 The injunctions for the daily offering of sacrifices to God 
 are given in Exod. xxxix, 38-46, and Num. xxviii, 1-8. 
 Other and additional offerings were made on the Sabbath- 
 day, and also at the beginning of every month. These pub- 
 lic observances were especially needful, when the means of 
 private instruction were generally limited. " How plain and 
 easy," says Lowman, " how grave and solemn, and even 
 how rational and instructive is this daily worship of the 
 Hebrew Church, as directed by the Mosaic ritual. Thus 
 God was honored and worshiped, and the people blessed 
 every day : they acknowledged the loving kindness of Jeho- 
 vah in the morning, and his faithfulness in the evening ; and 
 they hoped for their safety and happiness every day of their 
 lives in the protection and blessing of Jehovah, who dwelt 
 among them as their God." And there is a promise refer- 
 ring to the gospel day, Mai. i, 11 : — • 
 
 " For from the rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the same, 
 My name shall be great among the Gentiles ; 
 And in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, 
 And a pure offering : 
 For my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts." 
 
280 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE PRINCIPLES OF THE JUDICIAL LAW. 
 
 The judicial law, in its relative effect upon the community, 
 aflfords full proof that it was worthy of its Divine Author, 
 and calculated to promote the temporal as well as the 
 eternal welfare of the people. The chief crime forbidden 
 in it was idolatry. This was punished by death, and was 
 treated as a treasonable offense, and it will be noticed under 
 the first commandment. 
 
 The next class of offenses that will be noticed here are 
 those against the sixth commandment, — murder or homicide. 
 According to the early practice of men, the punishment of 
 murder was usually left to the relatives of the deceased, 
 who proceeded upon the impulse of the moment, and sought 
 to shed blood for blood, without reference to the degree of 
 malignity, or due inquiry whether it was an accidental or de- 
 liberate act. This provoked retaliation ; and, among the hea- 
 thens, we find deadly feuds perpetrated, as in fact they were 
 even until recent times. Here the law discriminated aright. 
 Foll6wing up the patriarchal code, " Whoso sheddeth man's 
 blood, by man shall his blood be shed ;" it declared, " If a 
 man come presumptuously upon his neighbor to slay him 
 with guile, thou shalt take him from mine altar that he may 
 die." Exod. xxi, 14. But examinations were made, as to 
 whether there had been malice between the parties. See 
 Num. xxxv. By that remarkable institution of the cities 
 of refuge, which were typical of Christ, our sure refuge, and 
 also were directed to accomplish an important object of le- 
 gislation, by providing for the due trial of the manslayer — 
 the murderer was not protected. Here was a wide differ- 
 ence from the sanctuaries of the heathens, and of papal 
 Rome. No ideal sanctity was attributed to the plaq^, to 
 delay or impede justice, and afford facility for atrocious 
 crime ; but due inquiry was secured, and the murderer was 
 executed, while the inadvertent homicide was kept there 
 under protection, 
 
 Montesquieu observes, " These laws of Moses were per- 
 fectly wise. The man who involuntarily killed another was 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 281 
 
 innocent, but he was obliged to be taken away from before 
 the eyes of the relatives of the deceased ; Moses, therefore, 
 appointed an asylum for such unfortunate persons. Great 
 criminals deserved not a place of safety, and they had none. 
 The criminals who would resort to the temple from all parts 
 might disturb the Divine service. If persons who had com- 
 mitted manslaughter had been driven out of the country, as 
 was customary among the Greeks, there was reason to fear 
 they would worship strange gods. All these considerations 
 made them establish cities of refuge, where they might 
 remain until the death of the high priest." These cities 
 were six in number. Josh, xx, 8 : Kedesh, Shechem, and 
 Hebron, on the one side of Jordan, and Bezer, Rameth, and 
 Golan, on the other ; so that one of them might be easily 
 reached from any part of the land. The roads to them 
 were always kept in good repair, bridges were provided, 
 and way-marks prevented the traveler from mistaking his 
 course. 
 
 Not only the life of man was thus carefully protected, but 
 humanity towards animals was enjoined, and the eating of 
 blood was expressly forbidden, even to the eager hunter 
 after wild animals. See Levit. xvii, 13, 14. This tended 
 to keep up a reverence for the sacrifices that typified the 
 precious blood of Christ, which cleanseth from all sin. 
 
 Inquiries which did not ajffect life were treated with more 
 mercy than they are in many modern codes. Damages to 
 compensate, or retaliation to punish, were the expedients. 
 The latter law was enacted for purposes of mercy, though 
 the Jews in later times perverted that intent. It never was 
 designed for individuals to retaliate on their own account ; 
 and our Saviour, when on earth, censured this application, 
 showing how contrary it was to the duties of forbearance 
 and forgiveness, Matt, v, 38. 
 
 Impurity of every kind was to be punished with death. 
 Here was a wide difference from the laws of the heathens, 
 who treated such offenses as venial, or of no importance. 
 The Jewish law strictly maintained conjugal and domestic 
 happiness. Graves well says, " A system so favorable to 
 the interests of virtue, and restraining so powerfully, and yet 
 so judiciously, the excesses of passion ; a system introduced 
 at that early period, in an Eastern climate, and amongst a 
 people accustomed to be irresistibly led by objects of sense. 
 
282 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 had a higher origin than mere human wisdom ; and to secure 
 submission to its restraints, required an interference more 
 powerful than mere human authority." 
 
 Presumptuous disobedience, whether against the magis- 
 trate or the parent, (Deut. xvii, 12,) was punished with 
 death : it was treason under the Mosaic system. As to dis- 
 obedience towards parents, the laws of the heathens gave 
 fathers arbitrary power over their children ; they might put 
 them to death, or sell them for slaves, with or without rea- 
 son, at their own will. Not so the provisions of the Jewish 
 law : cause must be shown, and the death, if deserved, was 
 to be solemnly and legally inflicted, Deut. xxi, 18-21. 
 There is, indeed, no record that any such case actually oc- 
 curred. Possibly the dread of the punishment might have 
 proved a sufficient restraint. 
 
 Offenses against the property of others were forbidden 
 by the eighth commandment. Here the Mosaic law was far 
 milder than those of ancient, or modern lawgivers. No 
 injury against property was punished by the death of the 
 offender. Surely the Jewish law adjusted its punish- 
 ments more suitably to the real degree of depravity than 
 some modern codes, which permit atrocious instances of 
 moral guilt to pass with trivial punishments, or none at all, 
 while they inflict ignominious death upon slight invasions 
 of property, which in the Jewish law were punished by the 
 requirement of restitution, or by a fine. 
 
 In passing from the consideration of those heavier crimes 
 that more directly affect the well-being of society, to others 
 wherein property is the object immediately in view, we may 
 seem to be descending to matters of less importance ; but 
 in reality they are not such. The distribution of property 
 has much to do with the general happiness and welfare of 
 a people ; and in a state of society which does not possess 
 the means of self-adjustment, direct legislation is needful. 
 In the early states of society there was more necessity 
 for this direct system of enactment than there is at the 
 present day. In those ancient nations, where the welfare 
 of the lower classes was considered to be an object of care, 
 there were legislative provisions in their behalf. But these 
 were at best imperfect. In Rome, the attempts to secure 
 this balance only tended to promote civil discord. At Sparta, 
 they caused the creation of a still more degraded race — their 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 288 
 
 slaves, or helots ; and instead of inducing their citizens to be 
 contented, they eagerly devoted themselves to warfare, and 
 thus caused the destruction of their own institutions. 
 
 The Book of Numbers has especial reference to the in- 
 heritance and allotments of the tribes, ch. xxvi, 53 ; xxvii, 
 8, etc. A particular law was made on account of female 
 orphans; and though the Jewish traditional writers say 
 that the law was made in reference to that period alone, 
 yet the Christian may, as a recent author has observed, see 
 cause to attribute to this law the position of the women 
 among the Hebrews, as well as the social rank which 
 woman takes in all the countries of Christendom, in which 
 the Bible is known and read, as compared with countries 
 that are not Christian. And the position of woman in any 
 nation, is a very clear and decided test of the civilization of 
 the nation, 
 
 A provision was made for the division of the promised 
 land, as soon as the nation came into possession. Taking the 
 number of the families as 600,000, and the area of Judea, 
 fertile for the most part, as at least 11,000,000 of acres — 
 some, indeed, think it to have been far larger, — after all 
 necessary deductions, it would leave from sixteen to twenty- 
 jfive acres for each family. This portion was secured to 
 each by what might be termed an agrarian law, which is 
 expressed, Levit. xxv, 43. 
 
 Thus that arrangement was made which is most likely 
 to promote general happiness, namely, to place and keep 
 all in a state above want, and yet free from luxurious indo- 
 lence. But this state was not only directed by the express 
 enactments of the law, it was further provided for and ar- 
 ranged by other wise and salutary measures, without which 
 the direct precept would have been of little avail. Nor was 
 this all ; the law never sought to stop the usual course of 
 Providence, according to which, while some attain property, 
 others lose, or vainly struggle to gain. The poor shall 
 never cease out of the land, Deut. xv, 7-11. It was evi- 
 dent that some would have to part with their little estates, 
 and others be able to acquire additions to their own ; but a 
 plan for self-adjustment was devised. All debts were can- 
 celed at the end of eveiy seventh year ; and every seventh 
 Sabbatical year, even land reverted to its original owner or 
 his descendants. Fifty years was the time allotted, beyond 
 
284 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 which the descendants of the original possessor could not 
 forfeit it. This is fully stated in Leviticus, chap. xxv. 
 
 But the leveling principle of socialism was equally- 
 guarded against. Property in houses and effects was not 
 thus protected ; of these, a man might gain possession with- 
 out limitation, though the adding of field to field in order 
 to dwell alone was forbidden. How long these habits of 
 simpHcity subsisted, is not expressly stated ; but the de- 
 parture from them was evidently one of the causes why the 
 land was brought under the Assyrian yoke — that it might 
 enjoy its Sabbaths. When the Sabbatical year was forgot- 
 ten, there could be no restitution of inheritance, 2 Chron. 
 xxxvi, 21. Yet the indelible character of these laws was re- 
 cognized to the last ; even when Jerusalem was betrayed, 
 the prophet Jeremiah, then in prison, became a party to a 
 transaction of this nature under one branch of these laws — 
 the right of pre-emption, or purchasing in anticipation, 
 which every one possessed in the land of his kindred ; see 
 Jer. xxxii. So long as these arrangements continued, there 
 seems to have been no facility for the assumption of power 
 by others, than those who were appointed to be their lead- 
 ers, Deut. xxix, 10. 
 
 Another enactment directed the daily payment of labor- 
 ers, Levit. xix, 13 ; Deut. xxiv, 14, 15. See Matt, xx, 8. In 
 later times this was neglected, Jer. xxii, 13 ; James v, 4. 
 Especial consideration was shown to the feelings of the poor, 
 as well as their wants, as Graves remarks on Deut. xxiv, 10 : 
 **When thou dost lend thy brother anything, thou shalt 
 not go into his house to fetch his pledge." " No : says the 
 law, the hovel of the poor must be sacred as a holy asy- 
 lum ; the eye of scorn and the foot of pride must not dare 
 to intrude ; even the agent of mercy must not enter it ab- 
 ruptly and unbid, without consulting the feelings of its 
 wretched inhabitants." 
 
 In the directions respecting harvest, a grasping spirit was 
 especially forbidden, Deut. xxiv, 19-21 ; Levit. xix, 9, 10 ; 
 xxiii, 22. All these provisions, and many more, went to 
 guard against a spirit of covetousness, and to foster the 
 habit of readiness to distribute. This tended to check the 
 desire for undue acquisitions ; and surely it was the best 
 way to guard against theft, and to promote the observance 
 of the tenth commandment. The ninth commandment was 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 285 
 
 no less protected by these enactments concerning property. 
 The chief temptations to falsehood and perjury are ever 
 found in connection with theft and covetousness. 
 
 How far more simple and forcible were these precepts 
 than the boasted regulations of Sparta, which have been 
 highly praised by many worldly wise men, whilst despising 
 their Bibles ! " Is not such a scheme of government (as that 
 of the Jews) worthy of the Divine Author to whom it is 
 ascribed ? And does not its establishment at so early a 
 period, and among a people so apparently incapable of 
 inventing it, attest its heavenly original !" 
 
 CHAPTER in. 
 
 SLAVES AND SERVANTS. 
 
 Most of the servants in ancient times were slaves ; that is, 
 persons who were the property of others — the same as 
 their horses, or cows, and other animals — who must do 
 everything that they were ordered, whether right or wrong, 
 and could not leave their masters. This kind of service, or 
 slavery, as it is called, is very ancient, and exists even now 
 among many nations. The slaves among the Jews, and 
 other ancient nations, were also the property of their mas- 
 ters, but they were instructed in religion, and treated far 
 more kindly than negro slaves in modem times. 
 
 People were made slaves in different ways. 1. When 
 prisoners were taken in war, they became the slaves of the 
 conquerors, Gen. xiv, 14 ; Deut. xx, 14 ; 2 Chron. xxviii, 
 8 ; Dan. i, 4 ; and many other places might be referred to. 
 2. Offenders, such as had committed thefts, or other of- 
 fenses, were sold for slaves, Exod. xxii, 3. 3. Also for debt. 
 When persons owed more than they could pay, they be- 
 came slaves to those to whom they were indebted, or they 
 were sold to other people, 2 Kings iv, 1 ; Neh. v, 4, 5 ; 
 Matt, xviii, 25. 4. Others were kidnapped, or seized 
 without any cause ; such in fact was the case with Joseph. 
 5. Some were the children of slaves, and bom in the mas- 
 ter's family, Gen. xiv, 11 ; xv, 3 ; xvii, 23 ; xxi, 10 ; Psa. 
 Ixxxvi, 16 ; cxvi, 16 ; Jer. ii, 14. Slaves of this latter class 
 
286 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 were generally treated with more kindness than the others ; 
 but there was a great difference between them and the sons 
 of the family, as the apostle describes, Rom. viii, 15 ; Gal. 
 iv, 6. Yet their masters put confidence in them, and we 
 find they were often armed in their service : see Gen. xiv, 14 ; 
 xxxii, 6 ; xxxiii, 1. From the words of Job, (xxxi, 13,) we may 
 learn that there were masters who treated their slaA^es kindly ; 
 some such we hope there are even now, but it is to be feared 
 that many act far otherwise. The honors bestowed upon 
 Joseph and Daniel show that slaves were sometimes ad- 
 vanced to great authority ; and it is singular to remark, that 
 in Egypt at the present day, the beys who rule that coun- 
 try, for the most part, have been slaves. 
 
 In the law of Moses there are many precepts respecting 
 the treatment of slaves, which show that the Divine law 
 was a law of mercy for them: see Exod. xx, 10; xxi, 20, 
 26, 27 ; Deut. v, 14 ; xii, 18 ; xvi, 11, etc. Yet these pre- 
 cepts also show us that, after all, the state of slavery is a 
 hard bondage, and that slaves were often treated unkindly, 
 or such laws would not have been needed. 
 
 Hebrews who had been compelled to become slaves, were 
 to be set free at the seventh year, unless they chose to con- 
 tinue in the service of their master, Deut. xv, 12 ; and, from 
 Jer. xxxiv, 9, etc., we find that the neglect of this command 
 was one reason why the Lord delivered the Jewish nation 
 into the hands of their enemies, verse 20. 
 
 The strict obedience required from servants in ancient 
 times was referred to by the centurion. Matt, viii, 9. " I 
 say to my servant. Do this, and he doeth it." Thus a 
 captive chief, being asked why he had been found in arms 
 against the English, answered, " My master sent me. He 
 says to his people, to one, ' Go you to Ghurwal :' to another, 
 * Go you to Cashmire.' My lord, thy slave obeys. It is done. 
 None ever inquires into the reason of an order of the rajah." 
 
 The condition of slaves among the Greeks and Romans 
 was far worse than among the Jews. Their masters could 
 treat them as they pleased, just as a cruel person may now 
 treat any animal he possesses : nay, worse, for, in our coun- 
 try, cruel people are not allowed to torture or injure even 
 beasts. Surely this should show us how much happier it 
 is to live in a land where the true God is really worshiped, 
 than to live among heathens. This cruel treatment caused 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 287 
 
 rebellions or insurrections among the Roman slaves, in 
 which many thousand lives were lost ; but we do not hear 
 of any among the Jews. At Rome, also, persons who could 
 not pay their debts were sold for slaves, and were used as 
 cruelly as the others. 
 
 The apostle Paul often refers to the state and condition 
 of slaves to explain his meaning, and to express it more 
 strongly. Thus he speaks of believers as being the servants 
 of Christ, bound to do the will of their Lord, and to exert 
 themselves in his service. He says, *' Ye are not your own, 
 for ye are bought with a price ; therefore glorify God in 
 your body, and in your spirit, which are God's," 1 Cor. vi, 
 19, 20. He also refers to the marks with which slaves 
 were branded, when he speaks of the manner in which his 
 body was marked with scars, and other tokens of his suf- 
 ferings in the cause of Christ : he says, " I bear in my 
 body the marks of the Lord Jesus." The prophet Isaiah 
 alludes to these marks, xliv, 5. Many early Christians 
 marked their arms with the sign of the cross, or the name 
 of Christ. 
 
 Very often slaves were redeemed ; that is, a price was 
 paid, which is called a ransom, to make them free. This 
 affords a beautiful illustration of the grace of our Lord Je- 
 sus Christ : by nature and practice we are the slaves of sin ; 
 but Christ became our Redeemer ; and vast indeed is the 
 price he paid to ransom us. The apostle says, " Ye were 
 not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold ; 
 but with the precious blood of Christ," 1 Pet. i, 18, 19: 
 " Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from 
 all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, 
 zealous of good works," Titus ii, 14. 
 
 But let no one suppose that slavery is authorized or ap- 
 proved of by God, because it is thus mentioned in the Bible. 
 Slavery is quite opposed to the character and precepts of 
 the Gospel ; the text, 1 Thess. iv, 6, " Let no man go be- 
 yond and defraud" (oppress or overreach) " his brother in 
 any matter," is sufficient, even if there were no more, to 
 show us that it is not lawful to treat our fellow-creatures as 
 slaves. And in the law as given by Moses, it is expressly 
 commanded that man-stealers, those who kidnap others to 
 sell them for slaves, should be put to death. 
 
 We also find various precepts addressed to those who 
 
288 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 were slaves, showing that they were to act as becometh 
 the Gospel, which spoke of pardon and salvation for them 
 as well as their masters. Thus we read, (1 Pet. ii, 18,) 
 ** Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear ; not 
 only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward." The 
 apostle Paul says, (Eph. iv, 5-8,) " Servants, be obedient 
 to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with 
 fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto 
 Christ ; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers ; but as the 
 servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart ; 
 with good-will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to 
 men : knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, 
 the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond 
 or free." Remember, that these exhortations were not ad- 
 dressed to the slaves of Christian or Jewish masters only, 
 but also to those who were the servants of heathens. Nor 
 should Christian masters forget the especial injunctions that 
 all their servants should enjoy the rest of the Sabbath, and 
 religious instruction. 
 
 In former times there were slaves in England ; they were 
 bought and sold just as the negroes in the West Indies used 
 to be, and as they are even now sold in some parts of the 
 United States of North America ; also in South America, 
 and in many other lands. A few hundred years ago, men, 
 women, and children were exposed for sale on the quay at 
 Bristol, just like cattle or sheep. In the accounts of the 
 abbey of Dunstable for the year 1283, there is mention 
 made of " our slave by birth, William Pike, and all his 
 family," being sold for a mark ; that is, about three dol- 
 lars. It is noticed as any common occurrence. The price 
 of this man and all his family was not more than about fifty 
 dollars of our money at the present day. But the reader 
 probably has heard that there are no slaves in England, and 
 has been told, that if a slave treads upon English ground 
 he directly becomes free. This has been the case with 
 some poor blacks who have, at different times, been car- 
 ried to that country. They became free when the ship 
 arrived there. But, after all, it is a fact that there still 
 ARE MANY SLAVES IN England. " How is this ?" the reader 
 may say ; "I never heard of any." Perhaps so, and yet 
 after all, my reader, you may be a slave yourself. Are 
 you surprised to hear this ? — turn to Romans vi, 16 : " Know 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 289 
 
 ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, 
 his servants" (or slaves) " ye are to whom ye obey; whether 
 of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness ?" 
 Read on to the end of the chapter. Is there no evil pas- 
 sion or sinful practice which you often give way to, or de- 
 light in ? Remember, " no man can serve two masters," 
 Matt, vi, 24. Satan is a hard master ; turn then to Christ, 
 whose yoke is easy, and whose burden is light, whose 
 "commandments are not grievous;" and remember the 
 words of the Psalmist, "I will walk at liberty; for I 
 seek thy precepts," Matt, xi, 30 ; 1 John v, 3 ; Psalm 
 cxix, 45. 
 
 When speaking of slavery, it should be mentioned, that 
 among the Jews parents had power to sell their children. 
 That this was sometimes done, we may conclude from 
 Isaiah 1, 1, and Neh. v, 5. This is still the case in Eastern 
 nations : persons who have traveled or lived among them, 
 tell us of instances in which parents have brought their 
 children for sale, particularly in times of famine, as in the 
 days of Nehemiah. 
 
 The severe manner in which slaves were punished, is also 
 alluded to in Scripture ; they were often confined in dark 
 dungeons, or sent to labor in the mines, either of which may 
 explain the words of our Lord, Matt, viii, 12 ; xxii, 13. In 
 Luke xii, 45, 46, our blessed Lord seems to have referred 
 to the case of a slave that had been raised to authority, but 
 proved to be a hypocrite, and deceived his master; who, at 
 length, detecting his wicked conduct, ordered him to be cut 
 to pieces. Another cruel punishment inflicted upon slaves, 
 and the worst malefactors, was crucifixion. It was a pun- 
 ishment, in particular, for worthless slaves. St. Paul refers 
 to this when he speaks of our Lord taking upon him the 
 form of a servant, and becoming subject to death, even the 
 death of the cross, Phil, ii, 1, 8. And in Heb. xii, 2, he 
 speaks of our blessed Lord, " who for the joy that was set 
 before him endured the cross, despising the shame." This 
 explains why the apostle speaks of the preaching of the 
 cross being foolishness to the Gentiles, (1 Cor. i, 23,) and 
 of glorying in the cross. Worldly-minded men rejected 
 the idea of receiving as their Lord and Saviour, one who 
 had suffered the death usually inflicted upon slaves and 
 malefactors. This is what St. Paul means when he speaks 
 13 
 
290 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 of the offense of the cross, Gal. v, 11. In our times the 
 same prejudice does not precisely exist, yet there are many 
 who take offense at the truths of the Gospel. This will 
 always be the case ; for those that love the world, are not 
 inchned to love the truth. But let us remember, our Lord 
 requires us to take up our cross and follow him ; that is, 
 to show that we belong to him, and to live to the praise of 
 the glory of his grace, without minding the perishing vani- 
 ties and fashions of this world, which must pass away, 
 1 Cor. vii, 31 ; nor should we care for its contempt. 
 
 There were hired servants, as well as slaves, among the 
 Jews. The law of Moses ordered that they should be 
 treated kindly, and expressly directed that their wages 
 should be paid every day before sunset. Lev. xix, 13 ; Deut. 
 xxiv, 14, 15. From the parable of the laborers in the vine- 
 yard, (Matt. XX,) we find that they stood in the market-place 
 to be hired ; that their daily wages at that time were a 
 denarius, or about sevenpence halfpenny of our money ; also 
 that they left work about six o'clock in the evening, and 
 then were paid their wages. 
 
 When Morier was in Persia, a few years ago, he stayed 
 some time in the city of Hamadan. He saw every morn- 
 ing, before sunrise, a great number of persons assemble in 
 a large open square, with their tools in their hands, waiting 
 to be hired. Some of them, as in the parable, remained 
 till late in the day without being hired, and on asking them, 
 in the words of Scripture, ** Why stand ye here all the day 
 idle?" he received the answer mentioned in the parable, 
 though they had never heard of it. They replied, " Be- 
 cause no man hath hired us." In many parts of England, 
 and even in London, laborers assemble in the morning, and 
 stand to be hired. 
 
 In other parts of the Bible we find strong injunctions to 
 deal kindly with hired servants, as Mai. iii, 5 ; James v, 4 ; 
 Jer. xxii, 13. The reader will recollect the words of the 
 prodigal son, when he reflected upon the plenty which the 
 hired servants of his father enjoyed, and compared it with 
 the scanty fare which his master, probably a heathen, al- 
 lowed him. In like manner, such has ever been the bitter 
 experience of all who follow the ways of sin ; but the folly 
 of sinners is such, that they do not take warning from the sad 
 examples which prove that " the way of transgressors is hard." 
 
 1 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 291 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE CEREMONIAL LAW. 
 
 Many of the ceremonial laws given to the Jews referred to 
 the great atonement, and were types and figm-es pointing 
 to the Lord Jesus Christ, our blessed Saviour, and his 
 taking our nature, and* dying for us. These sacrifices, and 
 the various institutions connected with them, as the scape- 
 goat, and the annual festivals, are noticed at page 201 of 
 this work, to which the reader is referred for particulars 
 concerning them, and also for remarks upon the circumcision 
 and other religious observances practiced by the ancient 
 people of God. 
 
 The miscellaneous ceremonial institutions of the Jews 
 will here be noticed. These are well worthy of examina- 
 tion, since they will be found not to be arbitrary enact- 
 ments, or such as must be traced up to the unrevealed will 
 of God, like his providential dispensations, Deut. xxix, 29» 
 In mercy to us he often restrains us from evil, by ways and 
 means the wisdom of which we may not be able now to 
 discern ; and to such matters the words may be applied, 
 " What I do thou knowest not now ; but thou shalt know 
 hereafter," John xiii, 7. In the ceremonial law, the mean- 
 ing of every enactment may not be discerned, and may be 
 mistaken in those which seem to be clearly understood ; 
 still there is much to be learned respecting them by search- 
 ing into history, and inquiring respecting the customs of 
 Eastern nations. And all we are able to understand will 
 prove more and more abundantly, that these enactments 
 were a reasonable service, well adapted to the Jews in theii*'' 
 peculiar situation. The subject is interesting, as bringing 
 before the mind many remarkable circumstances, and it 
 should excite in the heart of the reader especial thankful- 
 ness for the time and place in which God has seen fit to fix 
 our own lot, and for our superior religious advantages. 
 
 It has been said that the ceremonial law, by its sacrifices 
 and other rites, pointed to the atonement — to Jehovah, as 
 the Almighty God, just, and yet the justifier of those who 
 come unto him through Christ Jesus. This revelation was 
 
292 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 always directly opposed to idolatry, and made known the 
 only true God as infinitely superior to idols, Psa. cxv ; and 
 thus the ignorant and uninstructed were guarded against 
 the practices by which their souls would be deeply injured. 
 Also a perfect ritual was given, through which also the 
 people of Israel were taught instructive lessons, by outward 
 and visible signs. 
 
 The Sun of righteousness had not then arisen ; therefore 
 it was the more necessary to guard the Jews against the 
 dangers of darkness, and to give thdha some lesser lights to 
 guide their steps, and to prepare them for the dawn of the 
 Gospel light. In Romans i, a true picture of the state of 
 the heathen world is given, showing how men did not like 
 to retain God in their knowledge, but changed the truth of 
 God unto a lie, and worshiped and served the creature 
 more than the Creator, who is over all, God blessed for- 
 ever. Amen. 
 
 The minuteness of the Jewish ritual was then especially 
 needful, since there was danger of lesser evils leading to 
 greater sins, and of tempting to forbidden practices. Still 
 there was full opportunity left for suiting the worship to 
 the circumstances of time and place, whether private or 
 pubHc. The minute ritual observances, also, were calcu- 
 lated to meet the situation of the Jewish nation, just able 
 to take milk, but not to bear strong meat, (1 Cor. iii, 12,) 
 having lived among the Egyptians, whose ritual ceremonies 
 were very numerous and diversified. The minuteness of the 
 ceremonial observances, which were burdensome rather from 
 their numbers than their expense, showed that they were 
 intended for the people at large ; and, to a reflecting mind, 
 would strongly confirm the declaration of the prophets as 
 to the insufficiency of all ceremonial observances in them- 
 %elves to procure pardon for the soul. A dependence on 
 outward rites is an error common to human nature in every 
 state. It abounds among ourselves, even more than we are 
 aware. How many, in fact, rest their hope for acceptance 
 upon certain ceremonial observances, instead of remember- 
 ing that these are nothing in themselves, but only valuable 
 as directing the thoughts to the one only perfect and suffi- 
 cient sacrifice for sin. 
 
 " No bleeding bird, nor bleeding beast, 
 Nor hyssop branch, nor sprinkling priest, 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 293 
 
 Nor running brook, nor flood, nor sea, 
 Can wash the dismal stain away. 
 
 Jesus, my God, thy blood alone 
 Hath power sufficient to atone ; 
 Thy blood can make me white as snow. 
 No Jewish types could cleanse me so." 
 
 One of the principal enactments which claims attention, 
 as distinct from ritual observances, was the separation be- 
 tween clean and unclean animals. The principal mark of 
 the clean animal was that it chewed the cud, and divided 
 the hoof ; that the foot was not covered with a solid mass 
 of horn, nor yet separated into claws. These distinctions 
 (Lev. xi and Deut. xiv) could not be merely to point out 
 what was unwholesome, or unfit to be eaten ; for several 
 animals forbidden to the Jews are eaten in the present day, 
 as hares, camels, and swine. The distinctions as to forbid- 
 den birds are still less clear upon common grounds. Some 
 writers have labored to make out that the forbidden animals 
 were symbolical of evil qualities, as the hare of cowardice, 
 the hog of filthy desires, the hawk of rapine; while the 
 ruminating animals, or those that chewed the cud, symbolized 
 those who consider the truth, and the divided hoof the at- 
 tempting no concord between sin and duty. But all these 
 are mere guesses and fancies, such as the early fathers and 
 Jewish doctors too often indulged. Neither can the in- 
 junctions be regarded as merely arbitrary tests of obedience, 
 which would be unworthy of Jehovah. They were not re- 
 quirements in conformity with the customs of the heathen, 
 to which, in many instances, they were directly opposed, 
 and in that light we may be enabled to discern the wisdom 
 which forbade them. Thus the swine were not only dis- 
 agreeable in appearance, and perhaps unwholesome if made 
 a principal article of food in hot countries, but they were 
 used largely, as heathen writers state, in pagan sacrifices, 
 feasts, and magical rites. Thus the absolute abhorrence of 
 their flesh kept the conscientious Jew from joining in ob- 
 servances which were very displeasing to the Most High. 
 In like manner, other forbidden animals, as the goose, will 
 be found to have been used by the heathen on particular 
 occasions. 
 
 It may also be observed, that the confining of the ritual 
 observances to one fixed spot (Deut. xii, 14) placed a very 
 decided mark of distinction between the Israelite and the 
 
294 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 heathen. Also, the institution of the priesthood was im- 
 portant, not only as commemorating the deliverance from 
 Egypt, (Nmn. iii, 12, 13,) but as raising up a body of men 
 especially zealous for the peculiar services to which they 
 were appointed. In no other country was any body of 
 priests organized upon similar principles. The rigid exclu- 
 sion of the Gentiles from the temple was also calculated to 
 keep up the distinction. Though there was nothing in the 
 Jewish law to encourage a persecuting or a bitter spirit 
 against others, there was much to limit and prevent inter- 
 course with an idolatrous and ungodly world. 
 
 The direct prohibition to join in the worship of the heathen 
 was also calculated to keep the separation, for some reli- 
 gious observance was connected with almost every daily 
 action in the lives of the Gentiles, as well as of the Jews. 
 Even the names of the days of the week, in our own land, 
 are a memorial of the worship of false gods among our an- 
 cestors, who had their customary offenngs and ritual ob- 
 servances that no society or circumstances would induce 
 them to lay aside. In this respect their example might 
 shame many professors of Christianity. 
 
 Meats offered to idols, and reverence for consecrated 
 groves and trees, are frequently alluded to in holy writ. 
 Whole families united in idolatrous practices, Jer. vii, 18. 
 The Jew was called to show the same or even greater care 
 for the observance of his law. He was most strictly for- 
 bidden to pass his children through the fire to Moloch, 
 (Lev. xviii, 21,) eitlier as a burned sacrifice, or by the mere 
 ceremonial of passing them through the smoke, as a sort of 
 expiation, believing that otherwise they would die in their 
 infancy. 
 
 A pious writer says, '' There is little pleasure in describ- 
 ing scenes of horror ; but they are useful, they show the 
 evils of a false religion, and should make us thankful for 
 the enjoyment of the true. Let it be known, then, to the 
 disgrace of the Israehtes, that although in possession of the 
 knowledge and worship of the true God, they were but too 
 much inclined to the worship of idols ; and that in the val- 
 ley of Hinnom they erected an altar to one of those agents 
 which God employs for the benefit of the world. The solar 
 fire was erected into a divinity. An idol of brass, having 
 the head of an ox but the body of a man, was made to 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 295 
 
 OFFERING CHILDREN IN SACRIFICE TO MOLOCH. 
 
 represent it. That idol was placed on a throne of the same 
 metal ; a crown was placed on its head, and its hands were 
 extended to receive their gifts. But what gifts were deemed 
 most acceptable ? Had garlands of roses, baskets of fruits, 
 or the lives of animals been the only request, it had been 
 comparatively well ; but human sacrifices were demanded, 
 and the tender pledges of domestic love glutted the rapacity 
 of the fictitious divinity. The hollow idol was heated to 
 redness ; the parent himself, by a refinement of cruelty, in 
 order to acquire the summit of sanctity, became the priest, 
 — himself must place his darling in his arms. No bewitch- 
 ing smiles or mournful cries must drive him from his pur- 
 pose. His eye must not pity, nor his ear regard. His 
 heart must be steeled against every tender impression, and 
 a complete conquest obtained over the feelings of humanity. 
 The scene lasted not long ; sacred drums, as they were 
 called, drowned the cries of the suffering infants ; their 
 bodies became the victims of merciless superstition, but 
 their souls fled to a merciful God. The place where Mo- 
 
296 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 loch was worshiped was called the Valley of Hinnom, or of 
 * those who shrieked,' and the Valley of Tophet, or ' drums/ 
 from their being used on such occasions. The image was 
 made hollow, and sat within seven chapels ; whoso oflFerecl 
 a flower, they opened to him the first of these ; whoso 
 offered turtles or pigeons, they opened to him the next ; to 
 the offerers of lambs, rams, calves, or oxen, the four fol- 
 lowing ; but whoso offered his son, they opened to him the 
 seventh." 
 
 The prohibition to seethe a kid in its mother's milk, re- 
 peated three times, (Exod. xxxiii, 19, and xxxiv, 26 ; Deut. 
 xiv, 21,) has puzzled many. Some have thought the food 
 was not wholesome ; others, that it was inhuman. But we 
 learn from ancient writers that this practice was used in 
 magical incantations ; for a kid was killed, and boiled in 
 milk drawn from its mother, and then the trees, gardens, 
 and fields were sprinkled with the milk, in order to render 
 them fruitful. It was, in fact, a heathen sacrifice, especially 
 contrasted with the thank-offering for the harvest, and the 
 mention of it is connected with the law for the ceremony 
 of offering the first-fruits. This law was also in accordance 
 with the feast of tabernacles or ingathering, the prohibition 
 of leavened bread at the passover, and the command that 
 the first-fruits should be brought only to the temple. These 
 customs are all more fully described at pages 213-216 
 of this volume, and were all prohibitions of heathen ob- 
 servances. 
 
 The direction not to mar the comers of their beards, in 
 Lev. xix, 27, forbade the heathen practice of tearing the 
 hair or beard, to lay it on the funeral pile, or as marks of 
 mourning. The original term seems also to include various 
 modes of cutting the hair, used among the heathen as marks 
 of gratitude, or vows of dedication to some idolatrous object. 
 Maimonides, in his treatise concerning idolatry, details many 
 of these heathen ceremonials. The cutting of hair for the 
 dead (Lev. xix, 28) was also a heathen funeral observance. 
 It is even now practiced by the American Indians, and 
 others. The Jews who fell into idolatry gave way to this 
 practice, and the prophets especially rebuked it. Isa. xv, 2 ; 
 Jer. xvi, 6 ; xlvii, 5. 
 
 The custom of imprinting marks upon the body, forbid- 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 297 
 
 den in the same passage, has been a favorite usage with 
 most uncivilized heathens. We read of it among the an- 
 cient Britons, and have seen it in the natives of Polynesia,' 
 or the South Sea Islands. 
 
 Often the ancient heathens showed who was their favor- 
 ite deity by these marks : thus a thunderbolt was used for 
 Jupiter, a spear for Mars, an ivy leaf for Bacchus, and a 
 trident for Neptune. When Ptolemy Philopater persecuted 
 the Jews of Alexandria, he ordered that they should be 
 marked with the ivy leaf, the symbol of his god, Bacchus, 
 or else doomed to slavery and death. These marks were 
 sometimes impressed with a hot iron, but more frequently 
 by pressing sharp points into the flesh, and filling the pimc- 
 tures with some indelible liquid, as is done in the South 
 Seas. True religion requires its followers also to bear the 
 mark or badge of their profession, even holiness, and sepa- 
 ration from the world, 2 Cor. vi, 17. In Rev. xiv, 1, the 
 followers of the Lamb are described as having his Father's 
 name in their foreheads, and the w^orshipers of the beast 
 as having his mark on their right hands or foreheads. Rev. 
 xiii, 27. 
 
 The early Christians adopted the cross as their badge, 
 which was then a token of reproach ; but Satan, ever on 
 the watch, turned this to an occasion of evil, and it was af- 
 terwards a badge of idolatry, worship being given to the 
 cross, not to Him who died on it. The early Christians 
 spoke of heathen and Christian badges as not agreeing; 
 they might have expressed their meaning in still plainer 
 terms, so as to leave no doubt that they referred to inward, 
 and not mere outward observances : see Rom. ii, 29. 
 
 The cross seems to have been originally a Jewish mark. 
 It is beautifully referred to, Ezek. ix, 4, as the ancient 
 figure of the Hebre^ letter ri, though let it be here ob- 
 served that the outward sign or figure is very briefly passed 
 by. The passage implies merely a marking or setting 
 apart of the people of God from others, like the blood-be- 
 sprinkled doors in Exod. xii, 13. Those who have been 
 among the Hindoos describe many of them as bearing marks 
 on their foreheads, consisting of spots of diflerent colored 
 chalk, distinguishing the god whom they serve. This may 
 remind the reader of Deut. xxxii, 5. 
 
 The injunction, Deut. xxii, 5, that the sexes should not 
 13* 
 
298 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 wear the dresses of each other, is, in some degree, a moral 
 precept. Bad consequences have followed such changes, 
 even when made only in sport, and they cannot be too 
 strictly forbidden amongst youth. Among the Jews there 
 was probably another circumstance also in view : Maimoni- 
 des relates that, among the heathens, it was customary for 
 a woman to put on a man's coat of armor, for the worship 
 of the idol Mars ; and for men, in like manner, to wear female 
 attire, in honor of Venus. These usages were attended 
 with gross immorality. All such practices, as well as hea- 
 then superstitions, were therefore guarded against by this 
 command. 
 
 A similar explanation may be given as to the law against 
 plowing with an ox or an ass together, Deut. xxii, 10. 
 The yoking animals so dissimilar in strength and habits, be- 
 sides being a cruel practice, was connected with some hea- 
 then rites. This regulation, and others connected with it, 
 have been traced to be in direct opposition to the usages of 
 the Zabians, doubtless derived from the most ancient kind 
 of idolatry, that which Job condemned, ch. xxxi, 26-28. 
 Under this head might also be classed the wearing garments 
 of linen and woolen mixed together, which was not only a 
 practice of the Zabians, but the scholars of Pythagoras also 
 were dressed in cloth made of wool and flax. Other rites 
 were connected with sowing different sorts of seed together. 
 All these prohibitions tended to keep the Jews from mixing 
 with idolaters. Had they gone among them, they must 
 have been in contact with rites and articles forbidden in 
 express terms by their law. But enough has been shown 
 in the foregoing examples to render it unnecessary to enter 
 upon details which cannot profit at this time. Several 
 ceremonial observances may therefore be briefly passed 
 over. Here, for instance, the laws respecting uncleanhness, 
 Lev. XV and xx ; the rules to be observed by the priests. 
 Lev. xxi and xxii ; and also the directions concerning the 
 plague of leprosy, Lev. xiii and xiv ; Deut. xxiv, 8, 9. Re- 
 specting these also several particulars are given in page 228. 
 
 The prohibition against eating blood was also subversive 
 of certain Gentile superstitions, and is frequently enjoined. 
 Lev. xvii and xix, 26; vii, 26, 27; Deut. xli, 16; xv, 23. 
 This prohibition has been justly described as most consist- 
 ent with temperRnc(3, prudence, and religious caution ; for 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 299 
 
 flesh eaten with blood in warm climates is indigestible and 
 unwholesome. But here, no doubt, there was a reference 
 to the appointed sacrifices and to the precious blood of 
 Christ, which alone cleanseth from all sin, as the great sacri- 
 fice that all lesser victims were designed to prefigure, which 
 is so often and plainly declared in Scripture, 1 John i, 7 ; 
 Rev. i, 5 ; Heb. ix, 14. 
 
 Many of the heathens, in their sacrificial observances, 
 also drank a part of the blood of the victim, and by joining 
 together in this, sealed their most solemn vows, which, in 
 fact, were made under the sanction of the evil one. Of this 
 the prophet speaks, Ezek. xxxiii, 25 ; and the classical 
 scholar will recollect the descriptions of Homer, from which 
 it is clear, that by that practice they thought to hold com- 
 munion with spirits in the invisible world. St. Paul, in 
 1 Cor. X, 20, 21, shows that these things were incompatible 
 with true religion. The prohibition against eating blood 
 was needful in the days of the early Christians, but is not 
 so now that heathenism has disappeared, Acts xv, 20. 
 Still, however, cruelty is a sin against this law. 
 
 The ceremonial laws respecting purifications not only 
 kept up a needful separation from unbelievers, but they 
 also distinctly pointed out the holiness of heart and life re- 
 quired by the Divine law. The celebrated Jewish writer, 
 Maimonides, observes, " Cleanliness of dress, washing of the 
 body, and the removal of all dirt and squalidness, is cer- 
 tainly the intention of the law ; but subordinate to the puri- 
 fication of the conduct and the heart from depraved and 
 corrupt morals. For to think that exterior purity, by ab- 
 lutions of the body and dress, can be sufficient, though a 
 man indulges in gluttony and drunkenness, is the extremest 
 madness." 
 
 Thus the ceremonial law of the Jews taught them the 
 leading doctrines of divine truth, first, by those rites which 
 were, as St. Paul describes, types and shadows of good 
 things to come: Heb. viii, 9, 10. Secondly, by pointing 
 out certain things to be abstained from, which had direct 
 reference to heathen worship and idolatrous practices. 
 Thus, even those who did not enter into the typical mean- 
 ing of the first class of ceremonies, who did not look to the 
 Messiah therein set forth, were guarded from the debasing 
 and abominable practices of the heathen, and might be led 
 
300 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 to ask why they were thus kept a separate people, which 
 the prophets constantly called on them to remember. The 
 epistle to the Hebrews especially gives information on the 
 subject of the ceremonial law, and should be read in con- 
 nection with the Pentateuch, for the purpose of obtaining 
 clear ideas on these points. It has been well called the 
 Jewish Gospel. The following remarks by Dr. Owen are 
 appropriate to the subject. "By the blood of sacrifices, 
 God signified his will and pleasure in two things: First, 
 That by this blood there should be a pohtical remission 
 granted to sinners, that they should not die under the 
 sentence of the law, as it was the rule of the government of 
 the nation. And in this sense, for such sins as were not 
 politically to be spared, no sacrifice was allowed. Secondly, 
 That real spiritual forgiveness and gracious acceptance with 
 himself was to be obtained only by that which was signified 
 by this blood, which was the sacrifice of Christ himself. 
 And whereas the sins of the people were of various kinds, 
 there were particular sacrifices instituted to answer that 
 variety. Their institution and order is recorded, Lev. i, Y ; 
 and if any person neglected that especial sacrifice which 
 was appointed to make atonement for his especial sin, he 
 was left under the sentence of the law; politically and 
 spiritually there was no remission. Yea, also, there might 
 be sins that could not be reduced directly to any of those 
 for whose remission sacrifices were directed. Wherefore 
 God graciously provided against the distress or ruin of the 
 Church on either of these accounts. He had graciously pre- 
 pared the great anniversary sacrifice, wherein public atone- 
 ment was made for all the sins, transgressions, and iniquities 
 of the whole people, of what sort soever they were : Lev. 
 xvi, 21. But in the whole of his ordinances he established 
 the rule, that * without shedding of blood there is no re- 
 mission.' This is the great demonstration of the demerit of 
 sin, of the holiness, righteousness, and grace of God. For 
 such was the nature of sin, such was the righteousness of 
 God, that without shedding of blood it could not be par- 
 doned. And what blood must this be? That the blood 
 of bulls and of goats should take away sin, was utterly im- 
 possible, as our apostle declares. It must be the blood of 
 the Son of God : Rom. iii, 24, 25 ,' Acts xx, 28. And herein 
 were glorified both the love and grace of God, in that he 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 301 
 
 spared not his only Son, but gave him up to be a bloody 
 sacrifice in death for us all." 
 
 It may also be remarked, that the ceremonial law neces- 
 sarily ceased with the existence of the Jewish polity, as a 
 separate state. It was to the Jews a safe-guard and sup- 
 port, and conferred on them benefits which far outweighed 
 its burdens ; but when the Jewish nation had filled up the 
 measure of their guilt, by crucifying the Lord of glory, 
 when the Romans were sent to take away their place and 
 nation, then the Jewish ceremonial law was abrogated, and 
 became unnecessary. There was no longer a reason for 
 these restrictions when the door was opened to the Gentiles, 
 and therefore, even before the destruction of Jerusalem, the 
 remarkable discussion described in Acts xv, decided, under 
 the guidance of the Holy Ghost, that those teachers were 
 wrong who thought it needful to bring Gentile Christians 
 under the Jewish yoke. Other enactments were given, of 
 which the literal observance would be useful, till the do- 
 minion of heathenism had ceased in the Christian world ; 
 and which, in a spiritual sense, would require to be regarded 
 through succeeding ages. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 VOWS AND PURIFICATIONS. 
 
 The Jewish vows were observances closely connected with 
 this part of our subject ; but they were hmited to the Mo- 
 saic dispensation, rather than applicable to the Christian 
 system. The directions as to vows will be found. Lev. xxvii ; 
 Num. XXX ; Deut xxiii, 21-23. These passages show, 
 that the particulars of a vow were to be distinctly expressed, 
 and not merely a mental resolution : this would prevent 
 many unnecessary scruples in the minds of conscientious 
 persons, arising from passing thoughts and hasty sugges- 
 tions. It is also clearly stated, that if the party who made 
 a vow was under the control of others, the vow was not 
 binding without the sanction of the husband, parent, or 
 superior. But herein the Jews made the law of God of none 
 effect through their traditions : see Matt, xv, 4-6 ; Mark 
 
302 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 vii, 9-13. If a man declared that his property was "cor- 
 ban," or devoted to God, he was considered as forbidden 
 to afford his parents any relief from that time. This was a 
 device to let a parent perish from want, and, under pre- 
 tense of a religious obligation, to gratify malignant or 
 covetous feelings, by directly breaking the fifth command- 
 ment. In this case, the son was not required actually to 
 give to the temple, or to the priests, what ought to have 
 been given to the parent ; it was enough if he declared an 
 intention to do so. Encouragement was thereby given to 
 an avaricious spirit ; this was contrary to the express law, 
 (Lev. xxvii, 15-22, 23,) which shows how the Lord God 
 knows the lurking thoughts and propensities of the heart, 
 and how the love of riches would make the people inchne 
 to cut short even their holy offerings ; therefore, if any one 
 changed his mind, and desired to retain what he had de- 
 voted to the Lord's service, he not only had to bestow 
 what was equal in value, but to add one -fifth part more. 
 
 At first we may be inclined to doubt that even the Pha- 
 risees could countenance such a direct breach of the Divine 
 law as the law of the corhan, when its advantage to them 
 was but contingent. A little reflection, however, will ex- 
 plain this. When the law of God had been thus broken, 
 the conscience would be brought into bondage ; and, when 
 the heart is not renewed, relief under trouble in such a 
 case will be sought from man, rather than directly from 
 God himself. The Pharisees of old, and the anti-christian 
 priesthood of later days, have availed themselves of this 
 feeling, and large sums have often been bequeathed for 
 superstitious purposes, in the hope of obtaining relief from 
 self-accusation, for the misemployment of comparatively 
 small amounts. Here the declarations of God's word are 
 express : Man is required to do justly, to love mercy, and 
 to walk humbly with his God, Micah vi, 8. "If we say 
 that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the tinith 
 is not in us. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and 
 just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all un- 
 righteousness," John i, 1-9. It is not the offering of 
 thousands of rams, or ten thousands of rivers of oil, that 
 will satisfy for the sin of the soul. God can overrule the 
 false ideas of men on the subject, and cause a bequest to 
 a charitable society, or a religious institution, to become 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 808 
 
 the means of good to others ; but let none 3onsider that 
 such a disposal of property ever will remove the stain which 
 may have been contracted by fraud or violence in acquiring 
 wealth, or by withholding more than is meet, while increas- 
 ing the store. It is true, 
 
 *' There is a fountain fill'd with blood, 
 Drawn from Immanuel's veins, 
 And sinners plunged beneath that flood, 
 Lose all their gxiilty stains ;" 
 
 and we are expressly told, that the blood of Jesus Christ 
 cleanse th from all sin, 1 John i, 1 ; but when pardon has 
 thus been obtained, and the heart is renewed by God the 
 Holy Spirit, all will be devoted to the service of our Lord 
 and Master. Not, however, by taking or withholding, 
 contra^ to the principles of the Divine law, under the 
 idea that wealth thus gotten by vanity, can be accepted 
 if applied for other purposes, however laudable in them- 
 selves. Where God requires services at our hands, he will 
 send the needful ability or property for the purpose. Let 
 us seek to employ the talents committed to us in simplicity 
 and faith, avoiding the snares into which many fall, by 
 thinking that they are doing service to the Lord, when, 
 in fact, they are only gratifying their own self-will, and 
 even their corrupt inclinations. In connection with this 
 subject we may observe, that whatever was vowed to God, 
 must have been obtained honestly, or it was not accepted. 
 This is expressly stated in several passages of the sacred 
 writings : herein was a striking contrast between the Di- 
 vine law and the observances of heathenism, under which, 
 in some cases, money was expressly acquired by infamous 
 and sinful practices, that it might be applied to the ser- 
 vice of idols. Even now, in heathen lands, these shameful 
 practices exist. 
 
 The vows of execration, or devoting to destruction, 
 called cherem, were solemn ; they did not admit of retrac- 
 tion or change of purpose. The destruction of Jericho, 
 recorded in the Book of Joshua, is a remarkable example 
 of this, and was the result of the wrath of God against the 
 sins of the Canaanitish nations. The circumstances need 
 not be here noticed ; the reader may refer to what is said 
 upon the subject in " The Journeys of the Children of 
 Israel." (Youth's Library, No. 330.) The same awful 
 
304 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 penalty was denounced against any city of Israel that should 
 introduce the worship of false gods, Deut. xiii, 12-18, 
 Some have thought that the sacrifice of Jephthah's daughter 
 was of this description ; but the original word is different, 
 it is neder, and implies resigning or giving up to the service 
 of the Lord ; not chereniy or destruction of the thing 
 dedicated. 
 
 In Lev. xxvii, are the rules relating to things dedicated 
 to God by a solemn vow. The vow of Jacob (Gen. xxviii, 
 20-22) was similar. Other vows were of abstinence or self- 
 denial, as to abstain from wine, and to be scrupulously 
 careful in some circumstances of conduct. Such was the 
 vow of the Nazarite ; see Numbers vi. There were two 
 classes of Nazarites — those wholly devoted, often from 
 their birth, as Samson and John the Baptist ; ani. those 
 for a limited period, which vows were not unfrequent on 
 recovery from sickness, or deliverance from danger, and 
 continued for an interval of time before sacrifices of thanks- 
 giving were offered. Here we may refer to Acts xviii, 18. 
 The apostle Paul, for some reason not recorded, bound 
 himself by a vow, in consequence of which he shaved his 
 head, and we find him afterwards saying he must needs go 
 to Jerusalem. He felt that it was his duty to proceed there 
 at that time ; this was also needful for the performance of 
 his vow, for when such an engagement was made in a fo- 
 reign country, the party must go to Jerusalem to perform 
 it. We may notice the similarity of the Romish pilgrim- 
 ages to this custom ; but many abuses accompanied these 
 observances in the days of our fathers, and are continued in 
 some degree even up to the present day. 
 
 Advocates of Popery refer to the vows under the Mosaic 
 law, and to the Nazarites in particular, when they seek to 
 defend their monastic institutions. But a slight examina- 
 tion of the subject will show, that even the ceremonial 
 observances of the Mosaic law do not, in this respect, 
 afford any sanction to the slavish restrictions and painful 
 results of the system maintained by the Church of Rome. 
 There is nothing in common between the cheerful, simple- 
 hearted, and pious devotedness of the Hebrew votaries, 
 such as the Rechabites, Jer. xxxv, and the victims of the 
 Romish system; the horrors of which, even in our own 
 times, have been very ably delineated by Blanco White, 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 305 
 
 and many others. A system, by the principles of which 
 Blanco White saw some of the intimate friends of his youth 
 hurried " into the grossest and most daring profligacy :" 
 while under its slavish observances he saw one sister, at the 
 age of twenty-two, slowly sink into the grave, from decay- 
 ing health, the result of spiritual apprehensions and tempo- 
 ral privations ; and bade farewell to another sister, who at 
 the age of twenty had been induced, by the visionary repre- 
 sentations of the Romish clergy, to leave an infirm mother 
 to the care of servants and strangers, and to bind herself to 
 the observances of rules which denied her the comforts en- 
 joyed even by the lowest classes of society. Her health 
 speedily gave way, and disease filled her conscience with 
 fears. Her brother says, " I had often to endure the tor- 
 ture of witnessing her agonies at the confessional. I left 
 her, when I quitted Spain, dying much too slowly for her 
 only chance for relief. I wept bitterly for her loss two 
 years after; yet I could not be so cruel as to wish her 
 alive." After this brief allusion to the horrors of the mo- 
 nastic vows, both in their principles and their effects, can 
 any one doubt whether they are the institutions of God or 
 the inventions of man ? They illustrate the statement of our 
 Lord, that the Pharisees bound men with heavy burdens, 
 grievous to be borne. The apostle said to his brethren, ye 
 are not ignorant of the devices of Satan, 2 Cor. ii, 11 : let 
 us beware that he get no advantage over us. 
 
 This part of our subject must not be left without refer- 
 ring to the vow of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, and the faith- 
 fulness with which his descendants observed it in the days 
 of Jeremiah, chap, xxxv. It has been said that the Recha- 
 bites still exist, according to the Divine promise, verse 19. 
 Joseph Wolff relates, that one of these people, named Mousa, 
 was pointed out to him in 1824, while among the Yezedi, 
 or devil- worshipers, in Mesopotamia. He was wild in his 
 appearance, like an Arab, dressed in the costume usual 
 among those children of the desert, and was standing by 
 his horse, the bridle in his hand, ready to mount. Wolff 
 showed him the Bible in Hebrew and Arabic, and found he 
 was acquainted with the Old Testament. On inquiring 
 whose descendant he was, Mousa replied by turning to the 
 Book of Jeremiah, and read chap, xxxv, 5-1 1 ; and added, 
 " We reside at Hadoram, Usal, and Mecca, in the deserts 
 
306 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 around those places. We drink no wine, and plant no 
 vineyard, and sow no seed, and live in tents, as Jonadab 
 our father commanded us. Hobab was our father too: 
 come to us, you will still find sixty thousand in number, and 
 you see thus the prophecy has been fulfilled : ' Therefore 
 thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; Jonadab 
 the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me 
 forever.' " Mousa accepted the Bible, mounted his horse, 
 and galloped off to the desert, carrying with him the word 
 of God, and leaving behind him a striking evidence to the 
 truth of sacred writ. Such is the account given by Joseph 
 Wolff; and let us not forget why the Rechabites were made 
 a sign to the prophets, or rather to the people at large. 
 The children of Rechab obeyed the words of their father ; 
 the Jews refused to hsten to the warnings of their God, as 
 spoken by his servants the prophets ; " Behold, I will bring 
 upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, all 
 the evil that I have pronounced against them ; because I 
 have spoken unto them, but they have not heard ; and I 
 have called unto them, but they have not answered." Aw- 
 fully indeed has this declaration been fulfilled. How shall 
 we escape, if we, in like manner, neglect the great salvation 
 offered to us ! 
 
 The purifications connected with the worship of the Jews 
 may be noticed here ; they were often observed by the per- 
 formance of vows, as Acts xxi, 23, 24. Washings, or ab- 
 lutions, are generally among the most ancient religious cere- 
 monies of every nation ; but the simplicity of the rites of 
 purification, directed by the Divine law, was well calculated 
 to guard the Israelites against the use of the superstitious, 
 and often barbarous rites practiced by the heathen for lus- 
 trations. There was a washing of the whole body, used at 
 the .admission of Jewish proselytes in later times, and in 
 some ablutions commanded by the law. There was also a 
 pouring of water on the feet and hands, or sprinkling it. 
 Sometimes the water was mixed v/ith ashes of the red 
 heifer mentioned at page 227. In the solemn sacrifices, 
 sprinkling the blood was an indispensable ceremony, typi- 
 fying Christ's shedding his blood for our sins, 1 Pet. i, 2. 
 Also anointing with oil was sometimes used, as with respect 
 to the tabernacle and its furniture, Exod. xxx, 26-28 ; but 
 the anointing was more frequently used in consecrating or 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 307 
 
 setting apart to an office, Exod. xxviii, 41. The holy oil, 
 as Mather observes, signified the Spirit of God ; the anoint- 
 ing therewith, the communication of the Spirit in the saving 
 graces, and in the Divine joys and consolations of it. Also 
 the anointing of the priests signified the anointing of Jesus 
 Christ with the Spirit beyond measure, Psa. xlv, 7 ; John 
 iii, 34. This is called the resting of the Spirit upon him, 
 Isa. xi, 2. 
 
 We need not go into the details of the numerous cases 
 in which washing, pouring, and sprinkling of water were 
 enjoined. They all intimated the necessity of purity in 
 heart and life, without which God could not be approached 
 acceptably, either in public or private devotions. These 
 observances, also, were conducive to the general health ; in- 
 deed we everywhere find, that attention to the Divine pre- 
 cepts profits the body as well as the soul. "" 
 
 The custom of washing the hands before and after meals 
 has always prevailed in the East ; it is the more necessary 
 from the custom of eating without knives, or forks, or 
 spoons, or even the chopsticks used by the Chinese. But 
 in this simple washing, as in many other matters, the later 
 Jews added superstitious and burdensome observances to 
 the customs of their forefathers, and the plain directions of 
 the law. Our blessed Lord condemns the extent to which 
 the Pharisees carried these requirements. There was to be 
 a certain quantity of water used, and the hands and arms 
 must be washed in a certain manner, and to a certain height ; 
 and this repeated, if not done at first exactly as was cus- 
 tomary. Again, for some sorts of food more washings were 
 required than for others : before bread was eaten, the hands 
 must be washed with care, but dry fruits might be eaten 
 with unwashen hands. Many directions were given on these 
 subjects by the Jewish doctors, and these caused our Lord's 
 dispute with the scribes and Pharisees, Mark vii, 2-8. This 
 law was even made a hindrance to the reading of the Bible. 
 If a person, otherwise clean, touched any part, of the Scrip- 
 tiires, he might not eat till he washed his hands. The 
 reason assigned for this was, that possibly the books, which 
 often had been laid up in secret, might have been gnawed 
 by mice ! Surely this prohibition plainly shows what spirit 
 dictated such rules. 
 
 So scrupulous were the Pharisees as to these purifica- 
 
308 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 tions, that the Jewish writers relate a story of a certain 
 rabbi, who was imprisoned in a dungeon with a scanty al- 
 lowance of food and water. One day, a part of the water 
 being accidentally spilled, he chose to use the small quantity 
 that remained for his washings, at the hazard of perishing 
 from thirst, rather than to drink what was left, and omit his 
 usual purifications. Well might these observances be cha- 
 racterized as a yoke too heavy to be borne. These "divers 
 washings" the apostle Paul mentions among other cere- 
 monial rites to which the Jews clung with extreme per- 
 tinacity. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE SABBATICAL YEAR — THE JUBILEE — THE NEW 
 MOONS. 
 
 The Sabbatical year was an ordinance in the law given by 
 Moses, and had reference to the institution of the Sabbath. 
 As the Sabbath of the seventh day was a day of rest for 
 man and beast, so the Sabbatical year was a time of rest 
 for the land, which, during every seventh year, was to lie 
 fallow, or remain uncultivated. What was produced with- 
 out tillage or pruning was to be left common for all, espe- 
 cially for the poor and for the cattle, Exod, xxiii, 1 1 ; Lev. 
 XXV, 1-22. But the Jews were not to pass their time in 
 idleness during this year. They could fish, and pursue the 
 wild beasts, repair their buildings and furniture, and carry 
 on manufactures and commerce. They also were more em- 
 ployed in devotional services this year, when the whole law 
 was to be pubhcly read, Deut. xxxi, 10-13. To prevent 
 any suffering from famine, in consequence of this adherence 
 to the Divine command, God promised an unusual supply 
 every sixth year. This remarkable institution was a trial 
 of the faith of the Jews, and of their reliance on a particu- 
 lar Providence, and it was a special mark of that govern- 
 ment under which the Israelites were placed when they 
 settled in the promised land ; a government which acknow- 
 ledged the Lord for their King, and considered him as pre- 
 sent among them in a peculiar manner. It created and 
 strengthened a sense of dependence on God, and charity 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 309 
 
 towards man, reminding them that Jehovah was Lord of 
 the soil, and that they held it only from his bounty. In 
 2 Chron. xxxvi, 21, the neglect of this law is mentioned 
 particularly among the national sins which caused the cap- 
 tivity ; and the length of the captivity, seventy years, is 
 stated as compensating the land, by giving it a period of 
 rest equal to that during which the Jews had defrauded it 
 of its Sabbaths. If we calculate by the whole term of this 
 period, it would lead us to conclude that the observance of 
 the Sabbatical year was wholly neglected soon after the 
 land was governed by kings. Samuel, indeed, expressly 
 told the people, that their desire for a king was a direct 
 renouncing of Jehovah as their King and Ruler ; and we 
 may conclude, that all institutions which especially regard- 
 ed the Lord as their immediate Sovereign would then be 
 neglected. Another date, however, is assigned by Prideaux. 
 He reckons only the fifty-two years which elapsed between 
 the destruction of Jerusalem and the return of the Jews, 
 during which period the land was wholly desolated. This 
 gives a period of 364 years, and goes back to an early part 
 of the reign of Asa. 
 
 After the return from captivity the Sabbatical years 
 were better observed, although this was rendered more 
 difficult by the insecurity of property, and the foreign tri- 
 bute the land was then under. However, Josephus men- 
 tions, that exemption from taxes during the Sabbatical 
 years was obtained from Alexander, and afterwards from 
 the Roman emperors. 
 
 The seventh year was a year of release from debts, or at 
 least they were not then to be collected ; and the personal 
 servitude into which any Hebrew had fallen then ended. 
 The laws respecting this freedom are very remarkable, 
 showing the kind and merciful spirit of the Mosaic law, and 
 taking away the most severe features of the slavery at that 
 time generally prevalent. Nothing can be more opposite 
 in spirit than the servitude permitted to exist among the 
 Hebrews, and that of modem slavery. It is indeed time 
 that every nation, professing to be Christian, should follow 
 the example of England, and abohsh that slavery which is 
 among the worst remains of heathenism, and which espe- 
 cially is opposed to every principle of the New Testament. 
 
 It is not quite cei-tain whether servitude among the Jews 
 
310 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 ended in every Sabbatical year, or whether the service ter- 
 minated at the end of six years from its commencement. 
 But' an express law directed that servants should not be 
 sent away without some provision from the produce of the 
 soil, or the cattle they had assisted to raise ; and another 
 law, providing for the continuance of their servitude during 
 life, if such was their own wish, further shows that the 
 bondage was not intended to be bitter or severe. The re- 
 markable laws respecting this servitude, and the release 
 from it, will be found in Exod. xxi ; Lev. xxv ; Deut. xv ; 
 and the reader is particularly recommended to examine 
 these passages carefully. It has been well asked. Could 
 there be an infidel in such a land, or a sinner against God 
 and his' own soul, with such proofs before his eyes of God 
 and his attributes, as one Sabbatical year afibrded ? 
 
 The " solemnity of the year of release " was marked at 
 its conclusion by the public reading of the law, from a kind 
 of pulpit in the court of the women, during the feast of 
 tabernacles. The Jewish traditions relate the ceremonial 
 with which this was accompanied ; and that, in the later 
 times, the whole law was n'ot read by the ruler, but the 
 following portions: Deut. i to vi, 4 ; xi, 13-22; xiv, 22 ; 
 xxix, 2. Seven prayers were then recited. It is related, 
 that when Agrippa read the passage, Deut. xvii, 15, forbid- 
 ding the setting a stranger as king over the people, his eyes 
 were filled with tears on remembering that he was of Gen- 
 tile extraction, but the people comforted him, calling out 
 that he was their brother. 
 
 The year of jubilee was connected with the Sabbatical 
 year. It was celebrated every fiftieth year, and was to be 
 observed by letting the land rest in that year also ; conse- 
 quently, at the jubilee there would be two years following, 
 in which the people would depend for support upon the 
 especial provision promised by Divine Providence, Lev. 
 xxv, 20-22. The only passage of Scripture which is sup- 
 posed to refer to this provision, is 2 Kings xix, *29. 
 
 The year of jubilee began on the day of expiation, and 
 was notified by the solemn sounding of trumpets through- 
 out the land ; whence some suppose the name of jubilee is 
 derived ; others consider that the word denotes, " to bring 
 back," or " liberty." The Jews on the coast of Malabai* 
 tuld Buchanan, that when their fathers settled in that land, 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 
 
 311 
 
 after the destruction of the second temple, they brought 
 with them the two silver trumpets used at the jubilee. 
 There were two such trumpets kept in most of the con- 
 siderable towns of Judea. In this year all lands or houses 
 in the country, which had been sold or ahenated, were to 
 be returned to the famihes that originally possessed them : 
 
 PROCLAIMING THE JUBILEE. 
 
 a provision evidently intended to preserve that middle state, 
 as to property, which is most conducive to human happi- 
 ness. Ezekiel xlvi, 16-18, extends this to royal grants. In 
 this year, also, all the poor Israelites, who, although not 
 sold as slaves, had engaged themselves and their families as 
 servants, returned into the possession of their paternal in- 
 heritance. Never was there any people so secured as the 
 Israelites, both as to their property and as to their personal 
 liberty. 
 
 It has been well observed, that no lawgiver would have 
 ventured to propose such laws, had there not been the 
 fullest conviction, on his own part and that of the people, 
 that a peculiar Providence would facilitate their execution. 
 And it was the want of faith in that peculiar Providence, 
 
312 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 which led to the neglect of this solemn observance, and 
 consequently to further ruinous evils. 
 
 We may imagine the joy which would re-echo through 
 the land, when, on the evening of the solemn day of atone- 
 ment, the sound of the silver trumpet was heard in every 
 town, announcing the commencement of this auspicious 
 period. How beautiful is the following sketch, of one of 
 the families liberated at the jubilee, returning to their pa- 
 ternal home : — 
 
 " The freedom-freighted blast through all the land 
 At once in every city, echoing rings : — 
 Free is the bondman now, each one returns 
 To his inheritance. The man grown old 
 In servitude far from his native fields, 
 Hastes joyous on his way ; no hills are steep, 
 Smooth is each rugged path ; his little ones 
 Sport as they go ; while oft the mother chides 
 Their lingering step, lured by the way-side flowers. 
 At length the hill, from which a farewell look, 
 And still another parting look, he cast 
 On his paternal vale, appears in view. 
 The summit gain'd, throbs hard his heart with joy 
 And sorrow blent, to see that vale once more. 
 Instant his eager eye darts to the roof 
 Where first he saw the light : his youngest bom 
 He lifts, and pointing to the much-loved spot. 
 Says, ' There thy fathers lived, and there they sleep.' 
 Onward he goes, near and more near he draws : 
 How sweet the tinkle of the palm-bower'd brook, 
 The sun-beam slanting through the cedar grove ! 
 How lovely and how mild ! but lovelier still 
 The welcome in the eye of ancient friends, 
 Scarce known at first : and dear the fig-tree shade, 
 'Neath which on Sabbath eve his father told 
 Of Israel, from the house of bondage freed. 
 Led through the desert to the promised land. 
 With eager arms the aged stem he clasps. 
 And with his tears the furrow'd bark bedews ; 
 And still, at midnight hour, he thinks he hears 
 The blissful sound that brake the bondman's chains, 
 The glorious peal of freedom and of joy !"— Grahame. 
 
 Shall not we consider this a lively emblem of the gospel 
 declaring to all the acceptable year of the Lord ? Isa. 
 Ixi. 1, 2. It is to be regretted that the poet just quoted 
 has not noticed how the joy of a believing Israelite, set free 
 by the jubilee, would be heightened by the remembrance 
 that his liberation was introduced by the day of expiation 
 or atonement, in which freedom from spiritual bondage was 
 both sought and commemorated. 
 
 "Jesus, our great High Priest, 
 
 Hath full atonement made ; 
 Ye weary spirits, rest ; 
 
 Ye mournful souls, be glad. 
 The year of jubilee is come ! 
 Return, ye ransom'd sinners, home !" 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 313 
 
 Hales considers Luke iv, 18, 19, as an evidence that our 
 Lord began his public ministry in a year of jubilee. 
 
 It has been noticed, that the Sabbatical year, and the 
 year of jubilee, were especially institutions of mercy to the 
 poorer Israelites; and we must again remark, how much 
 consideration towards them was manifested in every part 
 of the Mosaic law. This is no slight proof of its Divine 
 origin. Let any one read these enactments, or only refer 
 to the passages, Lev. xiv, 21; xix, 10, 15; xxv, 25-47; 
 Deut. XV, 7-18, and say whether the Divine law is not in- 
 finitely superior to every code of heathen laws, and to all 
 the counsels of pagan philosophers. Deut, xv, 11, is a very 
 remarkable passage. All the provisions of the Mosaic law 
 were calculated to maintain the people at large in a happy 
 state, being neither exalted by riches, nor ground down by 
 poverty ; yet we read the positive declaration, that " the 
 poor shall never cease out of the land," accompanied with 
 the plain precept, " Tlierefore I command thee, saying. 
 Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy 
 poor, and to thy needy, in thy land." Is it not evident, 
 that the constant occasions that exist for the exercise of » 
 charity to the poor, are designed that our hearts should not 
 gi'ow cold, nor be hardened to any of our Christian affec- 
 tions and duties? The text, Prov. xiv, 31, contains a 
 striking warning : " He that oppresseth the poor reproach- 
 eth his Maker : but he that honoreth him hath mercy on 
 the poor." 
 
 For particulars concerning the festival of the new moon, 
 and of the feast of trumpets, see pp. 261-263. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON THE MORAL LAWS. 
 
 The moral laws were declared in the ten commandments, 
 which were solemnly delivered from Mount Sinai, as re- 
 corded in the twentieth chapter of Exodus, under the cir- 
 cumstances there mentioned, and which are noticed in the 
 "Journeys of the Children of Israel." These laws were 
 given in a clear and permanent form; not only declared 
 14 
 
314 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 aloud, as with the voice of the trumpet, but twice written 
 by the finger of God on tables of stone, which were care- 
 fully preserved in the ark. How different this from the 
 vagueness and uncertainty of tradition ! Surely then these 
 commandments must contain a summary of all our duties 
 to God and man ! Accordingly we shall find that the other 
 mora] enactments may all be referred to one or other of 
 these ten commandments, and are quite consistent with 
 them ; not like the writings of the Jewish rabbins, often 
 contradictory, and always superfluous. 
 
 When our blessed Lord was upon earth, though he set 
 aside the Jewish traditions, condemning them in the strong- 
 est terms, he declared that he came not to destroy the law, 
 but to fulfill it. Matt, v, 18. To the moral law therefore 
 all may be referred, as expressed by our Saviour in these 
 words, Mark xii, 29-33: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
 God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all 
 thy mind, and with all thy strength ;" thus comprehending 
 the first four commandments, or the first table, and adding, 
 " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself ;" thus including 
 ^lie second table, or the last six. 
 
 The moral law was not only given to the Israelites from 
 Mount Sinai, but it was repeated to their children thirty- 
 eight years later, in the plains of Jordan, when about to 
 enter the promised land. On this latter occasion it was 
 sanctioned by a solemn recapitulation of all the mercies 
 they had experienced in the wilderness. Some variations 
 were made, but none of material import. The fourth com- 
 mand, for the observance of the Sabbath, is enforced by an 
 additional motive, their redemption from Egypt, Deut. 
 V, 15, which was typical of the behever's redemption by 
 Christ, and therefore furnished to Christians, as well as to 
 the ancient Jew, an additional motive for the duty and pri- 
 vilege of the observance of the holy day, as well as an ad- 
 ditional consideration for allowing to servants the needful 
 Sabbath rest, of which many without thought, and others 
 with atheistic indifference, deprive them. To the fifth com- 
 mand is also added a motive, " As the Lord thy God hath 
 commanded thee," and an additional promise, " that it may 
 go well with thee," Deut. v, 16. To this St. Paul refers, 
 Eph. vi, 3. 
 
 Now, all these commands are holy, just, and good. Their 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 315 
 
 observance tends to promote the glory of God and the hap- 
 piness of men. If mankind were guided by the principles 
 here plainly laid down, the world would present a widely 
 different scene from that which at present it displays. But 
 though the way of holiness and happiness is plainly set be- 
 fore men, yet they will not walk therein, unless renewed 
 in the spirit of their minds, being born again by the Holy 
 Spirit, as our Lord fully showed to Nicodemus. Even the 
 renewed man is continually prone to depart from the ways 
 of peace, and to forget his main principles of action. It is 
 the great regret of the believer, that his corrupt nature still 
 hinders him from keeping the law, Romans vii, 23. He 
 that offends in one point is guilty of all, and therefore the 
 most exalted Christian daily needs to throw himself on the 
 mercy of God in Christ. Thus the law is our schoolmaster, 
 Gal. iii, 24. And while these spiritual benefits flow fmm 
 the Divine laAv, even on earthly principles there is great re- 
 ward in keeping the commands of God. Here the expe- 
 rience of all classes of persons might be referred to, as 
 showing that there is no peace to the wicked, who oppose 
 these laws. Men need not only the general precept ad- 
 dressed to all, and also the voice of conscience speaking 
 within each individual, but, alas ! the former is continually 
 lost sight of, and the latter often silenced. Thus there is 
 need for permanent and public directions to commimities at 
 large, upon which they may be required to act, so that 
 rulers may be a " terror" to the evil doer, and give praise to 
 those that do well. These are statute laws ; express direc- 
 tions and full explanations of what is right and wrong. The 
 need of these clearly appears ; for the Lord, after giving 
 the ten commandments, immediately followed them by 
 statutes and judgments, and instituted a regular ofiicial ad- 
 ministration for their establishment and enforcement. 
 
 In conformity with this example, in later ages, under the 
 changed and changing circumstances of the nation, addi- 
 tional laws and regulations were made ; and, in like manner, 
 in other nations, a continual succession of enactments is 
 requisite ; yet all should be in conformity to the two great 
 principles of the moral law. The Pharisees departed griev- 
 ously from this perfect rule ; consequently our blessed Lord 
 charges them with making void the law of God, and de- 
 nounces a woe upon them as rulers, for laying burdens upon 
 
316 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 others which they would not themselves bear, thus at once 
 refusing to do unto others as they would themselves desire 
 to be done unto. Let us then remember the great prin- 
 ciples of the moral law, as the standard by which every 
 minor and more detached rule should be tried. It was in 
 the neglect of these that Israel sinned and fell. 
 
 " Their glory faded, and their race dispersed, 
 The last of nations now, though once the first ; 
 They warn and teach the proudest, would they learn, 
 Keep wisdom, — or meet vengeance in your turn." 
 
 The first announcement of the moral law was preceded 
 by a brief reference to the providential dealings of the 
 Almighty, proving that he is a God of love, and that all 
 his paths are mercy and truth unto such as keep his cove- 
 nant and his testimonies. " Ye have seen," he said, " what 
 I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' 
 wings, and brought you unto myself," Exod. xix, 4. This 
 comparison would probably remind the Israelites of scenes 
 that they had witnessed in the deserts of Arabia. It is 
 more fully alluded to by Moses in Deut. xxxii, 11, 12. 
 
 Thus Jesus, the Lawgiver, has now left his people an ex- 
 ample in his own fulfillment of all righteousness, and his con- 
 cern for them is repeatedly described under similar figures ; 
 Isa. xlvi, 3, 4 ; Heb. xii, 1, 2. 
 
 A late writer has remarked, that the actions of our bless- 
 ed Lord, when upon earth, may be divided into three dis- 
 tinct classes : 1 . The things which he did, as God, in which 
 it would be presumption to think of imitating him. 2. Those 
 which had reference to the climate and customs of the 
 country in which he was, and which would be unsuitable 
 for general imitation ; and, 3. Those in which he left us an 
 example that we should follow his steps, as showing our 
 duty both towards God and man. So the same distinctions 
 have also been applied to the moral regulations by which 
 the Jewish state was to be governed. Here are, 1. Laws 
 connected with the Theocracy, or the immediate govern- 
 ment of God, by which they were distinguished from other 
 nations, and which it would be presumption to apply else- 
 where ; and, 2. Laws referring to the time and place in 
 which they were enacted, which would be unsuitable else- 
 where. 3. There are also laws connected with the general 
 principles of morality and religion, which are binding on 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 317 
 
 all mankind ; and from considering them, much instruction 
 may be derived, that is suitable for every age and every 
 cUmate. 
 
 It is pleasing to observe, that the lately christianized 
 islanders of the South Seas have frequently referred to -the 
 rules and principles of Scripture in the formation of their 
 own laws. Thus it is related that, in 1832, the Queen of 
 Raiatea, when consulted by the representatives of her sub- 
 jects, as to whether the introduction and sale of ardent 
 spirits should be allowed in her dominions, sent to them a 
 copy of the New Testament, wdth a message, " Let the 
 principles contained in that book be the foundation of all 
 your proceedings," and the result was, the prohibition of in- 
 toxicating liquors. Might it not be said that this *' queen 
 of the south shall rise up in judgment" with many who have 
 had greater advantages, yet do not show the same regard 
 to the injunctions of Scripture, by using endeavors to deter 
 those under their influence from 
 
 *' The road that leads from competence and peace 
 To indigence and rapine ; till at last 
 Society, grown weary of the load, 
 Shakes her encumber'd lap, and casts them out." 
 
 And it is impossible to state the benefits which have 
 been derived even from the outward observance of the laws 
 given by God to man, or the sin and danger of those who 
 slight and reject these benefits, and turn after things that 
 cannot profit, saying, like Israel of old, We will be as the 
 heathen families of the countries, that serve wood and stone, 
 Ezek. XX, 32. And this is the condemnation, that light is 
 come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than 
 light, because their deeds were evil ; for every one that 
 doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest 
 his deeds should be reproved, John iii, 19, 20. How fear- 
 ful is the responsibility of those who thus slight the privi- 
 leges they enjoy, as the words of St. Paul in Romans ii 
 most plainly testify ! 
 
318 
 
 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 TABLE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 JEWISH MORAL AND POLITICAL LAWS. 
 
 The Moral Law, written on Two Tables, containing 
 THE Ten Commandments. 
 
 The first Table, which includes 
 
 The first commandment 
 
 The second commandment 
 
 The third commandment 
 
 The fourth commandment 
 
 The Second Table, including 
 
 The fifth commandment 
 
 The sixth commandment 
 
 The seventh commandment. . . 
 
 The eighth commandment 
 
 The ninth commandment 
 
 The tenth commandment 
 
 The sum of both tables 
 
 Exodus. 
 
 Leviticus. 
 
 Numbers. 
 
 
 chap. 
 
 chap. 
 
 chap. 
 
 chap. 
 
 20. 13. 
 
 
 
 _ 
 
 5,6. 
 
 20. 23. 34. 
 
 19. 26. 18. 
 
 
 
 4-8. 10-13. 
 
 20. 23. 
 
 
 
 5. 
 
 20. 23. 3L 
 34. 35. 
 
 19. 23. 26. 
 
 ! - 
 
 
 20. 22. 
 
 19. 
 
 
 5. 
 
 20. 
 
 19. 
 
 
 
 5. 
 
 20. 
 
 18. 19. 
 
 
 
 5.23. 
 
 20. 22. 
 
 19. 
 
 
 
 5. 
 
 20. 23. 
 
 19. 
 
 _ 
 
 5. 
 
 20. 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 5. 
 
 — 
 
 19. 
 
 — 
 
 6. 
 
 The Political Law. 
 
 The Political Laws of the Israelites are referred to both the Tables, and are to 
 be reduced to the several precepts of the Moral Law. 
 
 Laws referred to the First Table, 
 namely, 1. to the First and Second 
 commandments, viz. 
 
 Of idolaters and apostates 
 
 Of abolishing idolatry 
 
 Of diviners and false prophets 
 
 Of covenants with other gods 
 
 2. To the third commandment, viz. 
 Of blasphemies 
 
 3. To the fourth commandment, viz. 
 Of breaking the Sabbath 
 
 Political Laws referred to the Se- 
 cond Table. 
 
 1. To the fifth commandment, viz. 
 Of magistrates and their authority. 
 Of the power of fathers-. 
 
 2. To the sixth commandment, viz. 
 
 Of capital punishments 
 
 Of willful murder 
 
 Of manslaughter, and of the cities 
 
 of refuge 
 
 Of heinous injury 
 
 Of punishments not capital 
 
 Of the law of war , . 
 
 Exodus, 
 chap. 
 
 Leviticus, 
 chap. 
 
 Numbers, 
 chap. 
 
 22. 
 23. 24. 
 
 22. 
 23. 34. 
 
 20. 
 19, 20. 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 24. 
 
 15. 
 
 31. 35. 
 
 — 
 
 15. 
 
 18. 30. 
 21. 
 
 20. 
 
 11. 
 
 21. 
 
 24. 
 
 35. 
 
 21. 
 21. 
 
 24. 
 
 35. 
 
 — 
 
 _ 
 
 — 
 
 Deuteron. 
 chap. 
 
 13. 17. 
 
 7. 12. 
 18 
 
 7. 
 
 16. 17. 23, 
 21. 
 
 21. 24. 
 
 19. 21, 22. 
 
 25. 
 
 25. 
 
 20. 23. 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 
 
 S19 
 
 3. To the seventh commandment, viz. 
 
 Of unlawful marriages 
 
 Of fornication 
 
 Of whoredom 
 
 Of adultery and jealousy 
 
 Of copulation against nature 
 
 Of divorcements 
 
 Other matrimonial laws 
 
 4. To the eighth commandment, viz. 
 
 Of the punishment of theff 
 
 Of sacrilege (Josh, vii ) 
 
 Of not injuring strangers 
 
 Of not defrauding hirelings 
 
 Of just weights 
 
 Of removing the land-mark 
 
 Of lost goods 
 
 Of stray cattle 
 
 Of corrupted judgments 
 
 Of fire breaking out by chance 
 
 Of man-stealing 
 
 Of the fugitive servant 
 
 Of gathering fruits 
 
 Of contracts, viz. 
 
 Borrowing 
 
 Of the pledge 
 
 Of usury 
 
 Of selling 
 
 Of the thing lent 
 
 Of a thing committed to be kept. . . 
 
 Of heirs 
 
 5. To the ninth commandment, viz. 
 Of witnesses 
 
 The establishing the political law. . 
 
 The establishing the Divine law in ) 
 
 general ) 
 
 From the dignity of the lawgiver. . . 
 
 From the excellency of the laws . . . 
 
 From the promises | 
 
 From the threateuings 
 
 Exodus. 
 
 Leviticus. 
 
 Numbers. 
 
 chap. 
 
 chap. 
 
 chap. 
 
 _ 
 
 18. 20. 
 
 
 
 
 19. 
 
 
 
 22. 
 
 21. 
 
 5. 
 
 
 19, 20. 
 
 
 
 22. 
 
 18. 20. 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 21. 
 
 18. 20. 
 
 - 
 
 22. 
 
 
 
 5. 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 22. 23. 
 
 ]9. 
 
 — 
 
 
 19. 
 
 
 
 _ 
 
 19. 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 22. 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 22, 23. 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 23. 
 
 19. 
 
 _ 
 
 22. 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 _.. 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 19. 23. 
 
 — 
 
 
 _ 
 
 
 22. 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 22. 
 
 25. 
 
 — 
 
 21. 
 
 25. 
 
 
 
 22. 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 22. 
 
 I 
 
 26. 27. 33. 
 
 
 - 1 
 5. 
 
 36. 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - ) 
 
 — 
 
 19, 20. 22. 
 
 15 j 
 
 
 
 _ 
 
 
 15. 19.23. 
 24. 
 
 j 18. 26. 
 
 - j 
 
 23. 
 
 26. 
 
 - j 
 
 Deuterou. 
 chap. 
 
 24. 
 21, 22. 
 24, 25. 
 
 10. 
 
 26. 25. 
 
 25. 
 
 19. 
 
 22. 
 16. 24. 
 
 24. 
 
 23. 
 
 23, 24. 
 
 17. 19. 
 
 4. 
 6, 11. 29- 
 
 31. 
 
 5-8. 10. 
 
 26, 27. 
 
 4.26. 
 
 4-7.10- 
 
 12. 
 4. 7. 11. 
 27-30. 
 
320 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE FIRST, SECOND, THIRD, AND FOURTH COMMAND- 
 MENTS. 
 
 In addition to the ten commandments, which are given 
 Exod. XX, 1-17, and other precepts given in the Books of 
 Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, the Book of Deuteronomy- 
 contains a repetition of most of the Mosaic laws, and often 
 further develops the principles which they set forth and 
 enforce. These enactments have been classed under each 
 of the ten commandments, selecting that to which they 
 most appropriately belong, according to the index annexed 
 pages 318, 319, which is taken from one that was printed 
 nearly 200 years ago, from a manuscript in the library of 
 St. John's College, Oxford. Some explanatory remarks 
 will now be given upon each of the commandments, in 
 their order. 
 
 THE FIRST COMMANDMENT. 
 
 In Exod. XX, 3. — Thou shalt InDeut.v, 7. — Thou shalt have 
 have no other gods before me. none other gods before me. 
 
 Idolatry was the most heinous crime among the Jews ; it 
 was not only a sin against the only living and true God, 
 but it was also high treason against their chief Ruler. 
 This principle is laid down in the first commandment ; the 
 second forbids all outward demonstrations or actions that 
 are idolatrous. Here is included all worshiping of images, 
 whether intended (1) to represent the true God in a visible 
 form, or the images of the gods of the Gentiles, which 
 either were (2) of Satan under various forms, or (3) of men, 
 usually after their decease, who were noted for something 
 which the world approves, though often very contrary to 
 the Divine commands, and (4) representations of the hea- 
 venly bodies or other objects of nature. The worship of 
 the golden calf (Exod. xxxii) was of the first sort, and there 
 are other instances in their history after the Jews were 
 settled in the land of Canaan, but especially the calves of 
 Jeroboam, 1 Kings xii, 26-31. The image of Baal, (2 Kings 
 lii, 2 and 5f, 27,) and those mentioned so often in the his- 
 
LAWS AND POLITY, 321 
 
 torical and prophetic books, were of the other classes. All 
 such idolatry is expressly forbidden, Exod. xxxiv, 14, and 
 in detail, Deut. iv, 16-19; viii, 19. 
 
 These precepts, it will be seen, extend to the worship of 
 anything besides the true Lord God, although without an 
 image : such worship usually consisted of, or was accom- 
 panied by, falhng prostrate to the earth, or at least bowing 
 or kneeling, Exod. xxiii, 24 ; Lev. xxvi, 1 ; 2 Kings v, 18. 
 In the Book of Joshua even the mention of false gods is 
 forbidden, Josh, xxiii, 1. 
 
 Not only were images and the worship of idols or other 
 visible objects forbidden, but the possessing of altars or 
 groves dedicated to them : these were to be cut down and 
 destroyed, Exod. xxxiv, 13 ; Deut. vii, 5 ; xii, 3. There are 
 various instances of carrying this command into execution 
 in the historical books, as Hezekiah, 2 Kings xviii, 4 ; 
 Asa, 2 Chron. xiv, 3 ; Jehoshaphat, xvii, 6 ; Josiah, xxxiv, 7. 
 The grove, or anything connected with the idol worship, 
 was to be utterly destroyed, lest the sight of it should 
 recall the use foraierly made of it, or there should be some 
 superstitious feeling about it. 
 
 All sacrifices of animals, except as oflferings to the Lord, 
 are forbidden. Lev. xvii, 1-7. The most dreadful rite of 
 idolatrous worship, human sacrifices, is expressly forbid- 
 den, so as to show that the heathen practiced it, Lev. xx, 
 1-5 ; Deut. xii, 30, 31 ; xviii, 10. The most horrible, that 
 of the sacrificing their children, was not to be allowed 
 among the strangers in the land, Levit. xx, 2 ; nor even to 
 be mentioned. The Jews were not to be present at the 
 sacrifices of the heathen, lest they should partake of them, 
 Exod. xxxiv, 15. The prohibition to offer any sacrifices, 
 excepting to the Lord Jehovah, is strongly stated, Exod. 
 xxii, 20. 
 
 The greatness of the crime of idolatry was thus fully 
 pointed out ; the punishment was death by stoning, Lev. 
 XX, 2 ; in this case death was instantly to follow detection, 
 Deut. xiii, 10 ; xvii, 5. When the inhabitants of a city 
 had gone and served other gods, they were to be put to 
 death, and the city, with all belonging to them, was to be 
 utterly destroyed, Deut. xiii, 12-1*7. 
 
 Blasphemy was another branch of the crimes forbidden 
 by this command. When the peculiar state of Israel, with 
 14* 
 
322 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 the favor of the Lord God dwelling visibly among them, 
 is considered, it will be seen that this was a most heinous 
 crime, a denial of the visible operations of the Most High. 
 A special instance is recorded Lev. xxiv, 10-16, when this 
 law was enacted, and it was declared to extend to the 
 stranger as well as to those born in the land. Naboth 
 seems to have been put to death under a false accusation 
 of this kind, 1 Kings xxi, 10-13 ; and be it observed, that 
 to bless idols, or to speak of them as gods, was blasphemy 
 against the Most High. 
 
 Closely connected with blasphemy, indeed a branch of 
 that crime, was that of false prophecy. A false prophet was 
 held to be such, and was to be stoned, when he spoke in 
 the name of false gods, without entering into any question 
 whether or not he had spoken truly, Deut. xvii, 2-6. And 
 if he had pretended to speak in the name of the true God, 
 still he was liable to punishment when what he had de- 
 clared did not come to pass, Deut. xviii, 21, 22. Surely 
 the principle of this law should be regarded at the present 
 time : not, indeed, to put to death such pretenders, for we 
 live under a different dispensation ; but they ought to be 
 turned away from, whether, like Irving, they have once 
 been teachers of the truth, or, like Southcote and the Mor- 
 monite Smith, deceivers and cheats from the beginning. 
 Such characters are, indeed, enemies to the truth; they 
 have '* spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God," 
 Deut. xiii, 5. 
 
 Even those who were not thus guilty, yet who from any 
 circumstance were induced to declare that which came not 
 to pass, were by no means guiltless, Deut. xviii, 20-22. 
 Well would it have been for the Church in every age, and 
 also at the present day, had this solemn warning been kept 
 more fully in mind. Let us also remember, that this is 
 applicable not merely to declarations of future events, but 
 to every word that is spoken in the name of the Lord. A 
 more solemn office cannot easily be pointed out, and the 
 faithful ministers of Christ, in every age, have deeply felt 
 their responsibility. 
 
 Divination is another branch of idolatry. In the English 
 translation of the Bible, this is spoken of under the name 
 of witchcraft. It is not to be supposed that the common 
 vulgar idea of witches and witchcraft is here meant. A 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 323 
 
 more gross delusion seldom has existed than that which 
 supposed a poor helpless old woman, however cross, or ill- 
 tempered, or wicked, could torment the cattle and children 
 around her, or that she rode through the air on a broom- 
 stick, and went to revel with the devil at night, effecting 
 her evil purposes through " a familiar," as it was called, in 
 the shape of a cat, who told her of things she wished to 
 know. Surely, at the present day, such nonsense must 
 have passed away, and poor old women are now, for the 
 most part, allowed to sit with their cats in peace. It is to 
 be regretted that the translators of the Bible were led to 
 use such a term, although at that time even King James 
 himself beheved in witchcraft, and required others to do 
 the same. The divination and witchcraft meant in the 
 Bible, (Exod. xxii, 18; Lev. xix, 26-31 ; xx, 6-27; Deut. 
 xviii, 10, 11,) is a more serious evil, and more directly 
 idolatrous, as well as diabolical. The Eastern people of 
 old were very prone to inquire into future events. Of 
 course the worshipers of the true God could find no en- 
 couragement for such a system, nor did they need it. The 
 patriarchs, like Abraham of old, had full reliance on the 
 Lord their God, but wicked minds wished for unlawful in- 
 formation, and sought it from the votaries and priests of 
 false gods. All these false worships had some relation to 
 the worship of Satan, especially that of the serpent, {Auh, or 
 Ob:) to make these inquiries, therefore, was worshiping 
 the spirit of evil. It was, as Elijah put it to the messengers 
 of Ahaziah, (2 Kings i, 3, 4,) a declaration that the inquirer 
 did not believe in the God of Israel, but put his trust in 
 some exhibition of Satan. This also was Saul's last offense, 
 the going to a woman described as having a familiar spirit 
 at Endor, 1 Sam. xxviii, 8. She was not what our fathers 
 understood by " witch or wizard," but a priestess of Ob, 
 one who secretly kept up the serpent worship ; that which 
 was adoration of the old serpent, the devil. And we know 
 that such worship exists even now over a large part of the 
 globe. What is called Buddhism is especially of this de- 
 scription ; it prevails over a large portion of the East, so 
 that, awful as is the fact, these idolatrous worshipers ot 
 Satan even now are far more numerous than all the nomi- 
 nal worshipers of Christ, or those of the followers of the 
 false prophet, who also reject idolatry, commonly so called 
 
324 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 Can there be anything more affecting than such deplorable 
 infatuation and degradation ? 
 
 The priest of this devil-worship, or diviner, was to be 
 put to death, Lev. xx, 27 ; but it is to be remembered that 
 God reserved to himself the punishment of those who broke 
 this law by consulting the diviner. A striking admonition 
 against the sinful practice is contained in Lev. xx, 6 ; Deut. 
 xviii, 9-13. The fate of Saul showed that these commands 
 were not to be disregarded with impunity, 1 Chron. x, 13. 
 The folly as well as tlie guilt of such inquiries is exposed 
 by the prophet, Isa. viii, 19 ; xliv, 25 ; xlvii, 13 ; and the 
 impotence and helplessness of the sorcerers were shown, 
 both in Chaldea and Egypt, where they were especially re- 
 garded, Exod. viii, 19 ; ix, 11 ; Dan. ii, 27, 28 ; iv, 7. A 
 similar failure is threatened to the deceivers in later times, 
 2 Tim. iii, 8, 9 ; 2 Pet. ii, 1-3. 
 
 The prevalence of such customs among the heathens is 
 well known, Ezek. xxi, 21. Even the enlightened Ephe- 
 sians, in later times, used curious arts, which they renounced 
 on receiving the gospel. Acts xix, 19. The sorcerers who 
 abused their powers of mind to deceive the ignorant, like 
 Elymas (Acts xiii, 6) and Simon, (Acts viii, 9,) were always 
 strongly opposed to the preaching of the word of God; 
 and the Eastei-n magicians, in later times, have evinced 
 a similar spirit of enmity, being well aware that there is 
 no agreement between the true God and idols ; but wher- 
 ever the Lord comes the idols are moved at his presence, 
 Isa. xix, 1 ; even as Dagon of old fell before the ark oi 
 God. 1 Sam. v, 3. 
 
 THE SECOND COMMANDMENT. 
 
 The Second Commandment stands almost word for word 
 m Exod. XX, 4-6, and Deut. v, 8-10. It is as follows, — 
 " Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any 
 likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is 
 in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the 
 earth : thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor 
 serve them : for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, 
 visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto 
 the third and fourth generation of them that hate me ; and 
 showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and 
 keep my commandments." 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 326 
 
 Here must be noticed the precepts for abolishing idolatry, 
 and destroying all traces of it. See Exod. xxiii, 24, with 
 the fuller explanation, Deut. vii, 25, 26. The whole of the 
 latter chapter refers to the subject, as does also Deut. xii, 
 2, 3. These directions in their details are not binding on 
 us now, but surely professed Christians should be more 
 careful on this subject than they often are. There is far 
 too much trifling with idolatrous figures, and the recognized 
 symbols of idolatrous worship, Avhether as to the pictures 
 and statues honored by the ritual of the Church of Rome, 
 or the mythology of the ancient heathens, from which the 
 latter have, in many cases, been borrowed, as is clear to all 
 who have attentively looked into the subject. The Ashta- 
 roth of the Zidonians and Assyrians, ( 1 Kings xi, 5 ; Judg. 
 ii, 13,) was the Yenus of Greece and Rome, and the great 
 Diana of the Ephesians. A personification of the whole 
 frame or course of nature, was worshiped in still earlier 
 times as the queen of heaven, Jer. vii, 18. Many of their 
 titles and attributes were, in the early days of Popery, 
 transferred to the Virgin Mary ! and the celebrated statue 
 of St. Peter at Rome is in fact an image of the idol Jupi- 
 ter. Other Romish rites and festivals have their origin in 
 paganism ; but the subject is too extensive for further dis- 
 cussion in these pages. Perhaps the above remarks will 
 suflficiently show how contrary it must be to the principles 
 of the second commandment, to introduce such images 
 into buildings set apart for Christian worship. If symboli- 
 cal representations are required there, they might be taken 
 from the types and emblems of the Bible, as Hervey shows 
 in his dialogue between Theron and Aspasio. Here may 
 be applied the caution of St. Paul, 1 Cor. x, 20, 21. 
 
 Some writers have given particular descriptions of the 
 heathen idols, but these may well be passed over with a 
 few brief remarks. The weeping for Tammuz, (Ezek. viii, 
 14,) was an idolatrous custom observed in the month of 
 Thammuz, or June, on account of the death of a youth 
 called Adonis, who was said to have been slain by a wild 
 boar, and the most impure observances were joined with it. 
 The processions and ceremonies used by idolaters were 
 very numerous. Both the worshipers and sacrificial vic- 
 tims appeared with garlands of flowers, and libations or 
 drink-offerings were poured out upon them, a custom to 
 
326 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 which St. Paul alludes, 2 Tim. iv, 6 ; Phil, ii, 11. It was 
 impossible to mingle with the heathen without learning 
 some of their works, Psa. cvi, 36-39 ; Num. xxv, 1, 2 ; 
 1 Kings xi, 1-8 ; and how mercifully it was ordered by- 
 God that the Hebrew nation should be a barrier or check 
 to the prevalence of idol worship, which otherwise would 
 have overspread the world, Rom. i, 20-25. In reference 
 to this sin alone does God describe himself as jealous, 
 Exod. xxxiv, 14 ; Isa. xlii, 8 ; and in the warnings which 
 he gave to his servants the prophets, he compares it to 
 adultery and whoredom, so as to set forth most plainly 
 its extreme guilt, Ezek. xvi, 15 ; xx, 30 ; Hos. ii, 5-1. 
 Many other quotations might be added, in which the sin 
 and folly of idolaters are fully described, as Isa. xliv, 
 12-20 ; Psa. cxv, 2-8. We read of Dagon, the god of the 
 Phihstines, which was a figure half man and half fish, and 
 probably commemorated the tradition of Noah's preserva- 
 tion : see 1 Sam. v. 
 
 The conclusion of the second commandment claims atten- 
 tion. It was afterwards willfully misapplied by the Jews, 
 Ezek. xviii, 2. Yet Scripture and experience clearly prove 
 that they who turn away from the sins of their parents, 
 have no cause to fear, Num. xiv, 31 ; though, alas ! this is 
 seldom found to be the case, for how often, 
 
 " Train'd by bad parents in an evil way, 
 Children grow up more reprobate than they." 
 
 And the evil consequences must be familiar to every ob- 
 servant mind. A few of the most striking texts which 
 bear on this point may be mentioned : Gen. ix, 25 ; xiv, 16 ; 
 
 1 Kings xi, 36-38; xv, 26-30 ; xxi, 29 ; 2 Kings xv, 12 ; 
 
 2 Chron. xxxvi, 14-16; Ezra ix, 14; Zech. i, 4; Matt, 
 xxiii, 35 ; 1 Thess. ii, 16. 
 
 THE THIRD COMMANDMENT. 
 
 The Third Commandment reads the same in Exodus and 
 Deuteronomy ; " Thou shalt not take the name of the 
 Lord thy God in vain ; for the Lord will not hold him 
 guiltless that taketh his name in vain," Deut. v, 11 ; 
 Exod. XX, 9. 
 
 This commandment includes all false oaths, and vain and 
 profane swearing. Lev. xix, 12. There are many instances 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 327 
 
 m Scripture of solemn oaths being administered and taken. 
 Thus, to go no farther, in the case of Rahab, Josh, ii, 17 ; 
 and the Gibeonites, Josh, ix, 15; and the oath between 
 David and Jonathan, 1 Sam. xx, 3-17. We may read on 
 this subject Deut. vi, 13 ; Psa. Ixiii, 11 ; Isa. xlv, 23. 
 
 Several enactments show that an oath was to be regarded 
 as solemn and binding, Lev. v, 4 ; Num. xxx, 2 ; and there 
 was considerable difficulty felt as to being released from an 
 oath as well as to being engaged by one, if it was unlaw- 
 ful. Josh, ix, 20; Ezek. xvii, 15. As for the wicked oaths 
 prevalent in later days, they certainly are included under 
 profaning the name of the Lord, but they rather may be 
 considered as blasphemies, and that this command has espe- 
 cial reference to solemn engagements by the deliberate and 
 solemn use of the name of the Lord. In all the apphca- 
 tions of the word " profane," to the name of the Lord, it is 
 evident that actions are meant even more than mere words, 
 as Lev. xx, 6 ; xxi, 2. 
 
 THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 
 
 Exod. XX, 8-11. — Remember Deut. v, 12-15. — Keep the Sab- 
 the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy, bath-day to sanctify it, as the Lord 
 Six days shalt thou labor, and do thy God hath commanded thee, 
 all thy work : but the seventh day Six days thou shalt labor and do 
 is the Sabbath of the Lord thy all thy work : but the seventh day 
 God : in it thou shalt not do any is the Sabbath of the Lord thy 
 work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy God : in it thou shalt not do any 
 daughter, thy man-servant, nor work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy 
 thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor 
 nor thy stranger that is within thy thy maid-servant, nor thine ox, 
 gates : for in six days the Lord nor thine ass, nor any of thy cat- 
 made heaven and earth, the sea, tie, nor thy stranger thr.t is wiih- 
 and all that in them is, and rested in thy gates : that thy man- 
 the seventh day : wherefore the servant and thy maid-servant 
 Lord blessed the Sabbath-day and may rest as well as thou. And 
 hallowed it. remember that thou wast a ser- 
 
 vant in the land of Egypt, and 
 that the Lord thy God brought 
 thee out thence through a mighty 
 hand and by a stretched-out arm : 
 therefore the Lord thy God com 
 manded thee to keep the Sabbath 
 ' day. 
 
 TherAj^re also many other passages of Scripture which 
 enjoin fro observance of this institution, which was not firsi 
 given from Mount Sinai, but had existed from the creation 
 
328 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 Gen. ii, 2, 3. The very word " Remember," proves that 
 it had previously existed, and therefore this command is 
 binding on all men, and not on the Jews only. The fol- 
 lowing texts more fully point out the duties connected with 
 the observance of the Sabbath, Exod. xxiii, 1 2 ; xxxi, 
 13-17 ; Lev. xix, 3, 30; xxiii, 3 ; and xxvi, 2 ; Jer. xvii, 
 21-25 ; Ezek. xx, 12, 24 ; Isa. Ivi, 2, 4, 6 ; and Iviii, 13, 14 ; 
 Neh. xiii, 15-22 ; and show thai a special blessing was 
 promised to those who regarded it. In many other works 
 a fuller statement has been given, both of the motives for 
 obedience to this command, and of the manner in which it 
 was misapplied by many of that nation ; and the subject 
 must not here be overlooked, for it is a point on which 
 the prosperity of individuals, families, and nations closely 
 depends. The example of presumptuous disobedience 
 recorded in Numbers xv, 35, was a breach of this com- 
 mand. 
 
 Christians observe the first day of the week for their 
 Sabbath, in remembrance of the resurrection of their Lord, 
 (See page. 260.) But if the time be altered, the spirit and 
 manner in which it is to be kept, even as holy unto the 
 Lord, must remain unchanged. Rev. i, 10 ; and where this 
 rule is practiced, a blessing will surely follow. Even out- 
 ward holiness and seriousness will produce a degree of peace 
 and comfort ; but still more blessed are they who are ena- 
 bled to make the Lord's day " a kind of transfiguration 
 day," as it has been beautifully described, " shedding a mild 
 glow upon every object, and enabling us to view the con- 
 cerns of time in connection with those of eternity." 
 
 It was the well-known remark of one of the greatest 
 men who ever filled the office of an English judge, that ac- 
 cording to his observance of the Sabbath, he found his 
 worldly concerns to prosper in the week that followed ;* 
 and many others, of every grade in life, have rejoiced with 
 the pious statesman, Wilberforce, that Sunday was their 
 
 * " Though my hands and mind have been as full of secular business, both 
 before and since I was a judge, as it maybe any man's in England, yet I never 
 wanted time in my six days to ripen and fit myself for the business and em- 
 ployments I had to do, though I borrowed not one minute from the Lord's day 
 to prepare for it by study, or otherwise. But, on the other hand, if I had at any 
 time borrowed from this day any time for my secular emp]oyme|rt|. I found it 
 did further me less than if I had let it alone, and, therefore, I grjpPperempto 
 rily resolved never in this kind to make a breach upon the Lor^s day, whick 
 I have strictly observed for above thirty years." — Sib Matthew Hale. 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 329 
 
 own, which they could spend with their family, when 
 wearied 
 
 " With six days' care, and noise, and strife." 
 
 JEWISH SABBATH MEAL. 
 
 ** It is," says a writer of the present generation, " the be- 
 liever's day of rest from worldly care, and of holy activity 
 for God ; in it he has to study truth, which he had too little 
 leisure through the week to investigate. He has to read 
 the word of God, with which he might never otherwise be- 
 come familiar. He has to study himself, by comparison of 
 his tempers and conduct with the law of God, and with the 
 Christian character, as portrayed in the Scriptures. He 
 has to learn, from week to week, whether he is retro- 
 grading or advancing in the ways of God. He has to listen 
 to the preaching of the Gospel, which is Christ's ordinance, 
 and on which he may therefore expect a blessing. He has 
 to meditate on that which he has read or heard, and then 
 to enlarge his knowledge, or deepen his impressions, by 
 Christian conversation with others. Alone, in his family, 
 and with the Church, he has to ask the blessings, which 
 the experiences of life, with devout meditation, have made 
 him see and feel to be necessary. And then he has 
 to bless God in secret for unnumbered mercies, and to 
 
330 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 join his praises with those of his fellow- worshipers in the 
 Church." 
 
 The same author adds, " It seems desirable that those 
 who desire to consecrate the Sabbath to God, should not 
 be ruined, or even seriously injured in their property, on 
 that account, by the traffic of others on that day, in a coun- 
 try professing Christianity. And the poor man should have 
 his right of the Christian rest of the seventh day secured to 
 him. Still, in a thousand ways, which the law can never 
 touch, may the unprincipled and profane abuse and reject 
 this ordinance of God ; and when they do so, the Sabbath, 
 instead of a blessing, is a curse to them, and as far as their 
 influence extends, a mischief to all." 
 
 The Sabbath is still continued. It returns at the end of 
 seven days. It is still a memorial of the creation ; but the 
 institution is enlarged to commemorate also the work of re- 
 demption ; for which observance the first day of the week 
 was most suitable, after the resurrection of Christ. The 
 duty and blessing are stated in the fourth commandment to 
 apply, not to the seventh, but the Sabbath day. The 118th 
 Psalm has been considered to contain a direct prediction, 
 that the day of Christ's resurrection was to be the day on 
 which the Sabbath should be holden under the Gospel. 
 We have sufficient evidence from the New Testament, that 
 the first day of the week was observed as the Christian 
 Sabbath by the apostles. The peculiar blessings which 
 have resulted to millions of souls from the observance of 
 the Lord's day as the Sabbath, are too manifest for us to 
 hesitate as to the will of God on the subject. 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 331 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 DUTIES TO FELLOW- CREATURES, OR THE FIFTH, SIXTH, 
 AND SEVENTH COMMANDMENTS. 
 
 FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 
 
 In Exod. XX, 12. — Honor thy In Deut. v, 16. — Honor thy 
 father and thy mother ; that thy father and thy mother, as the 
 days may be long upon the land Lord thy God hath commanded 
 which the Lord thy God giveth thee ; that thy days may be pro- 
 thee. longed, and that it may go well 
 
 with thee, in the land which the 
 Lord thy God giveth thee. 
 
 Thus there is a special blessing promised to the keeping 
 of this commandment, an outward and visible blessing. It 
 has been frequently remarked that the fulfillment of this 
 promise has been very observable in all ages ; that where 
 parents have been honored in the spirit, as well as in the 
 letter of the command, there has been outward prosperity 
 remarkably manifested in the children. It is necessary to 
 say, in the spirit as well as in the letter, for more is requisite 
 than merely caring for their bodily wants ; this often may 
 be done without a right feeling and desire to act according 
 to this precept in its full extent. 
 
 The system of the patriarclial life was based on parental 
 authority; but the cases of Esau and the sons of Jacob 
 plainly show, that then, as now, something more than cus- 
 tomary observance was needed. The spirit, therefore, as 
 well as the letter of this command, was impressed upon the 
 Jewish nation. Not only striking parents, (Exod. xxi, 15,) 
 but even angry and irreverent language was forbidden. 
 The cursing of parents was punishable with death, Exod. 
 xxi, 17 ; Lev. xx, 9. Observe in the first of these passages, 
 " shall surely be put to death ;" and in the second the mar- 
 ginal reading for " cursed" is " reviled." Our blessed Lord 
 chose this commandment when giving an instance of the 
 manner in which the degenerate Jews of his days upon 
 earth perverted the whole scope and meaning of this Divine 
 precept, Mark vii, 10. Michaelis notices that our Lord, 
 when exposing their wickedness, expressly referred to the 
 law of Moses on the subject, and that this act was cursing 
 
I 
 332 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 the parents most eflfectually, not by mere words which pass 
 away, " but it is a fulfilling of the curse, and making it to 
 all intents and purposes effectual." 
 
 Under this commandment may be classed the law, Deut. 
 xxi, 18-21 : " If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, 
 which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of 
 his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will 
 not hearken unto them : Then shall his father and his mo- 
 ther lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of 
 his city, and unto the gate of his place ; and they shall say 
 unto the elders of his city. This our son is stubborn and 
 rebellious, he will not obey our voice ; he is a glutton and 
 a drunkard. And all the men of this city shall stone him 
 with stones, that he die : so shalt thou put evil away from 
 among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear." Here 
 should be noticed the express mention of drunkenness, as 
 though the other crimes could not exist without that, and 
 shomng that then, as now, drunkenness leads to the worst 
 enonnities. 
 
 Let it also be remembered how fully the Saviour him- 
 self, when on earth, fulfilled the law of God as to the fifth 
 commandment. Whilst a child he was subject to Joseph 
 and his mother, Luke ii, 51. In his after life he submitted 
 to earthly rulers, and his apostles have left plain directions 
 for a similar course of conduct. " Children, obey your pa- 
 rents in all things : for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord," 
 Col. iii, 20. " Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man 
 for the Lord's sake," 1 Pet. ii, 13. 
 
 Reverence to those in authority was taught, Deut. xvii, 
 8-13. In the Theocracy then existing the priest was es- 
 pecially authorized to declare the Divine will in all " mat- 
 ters too hard for thee in judgment," where the recorded 
 precepts were not plainly applicable ; and in those where 
 " the sentence of the law" could be applied, they were to 
 listen to those authorized to enforce it. Due respect to them 
 was commanded, Exod. xxii, 28: "Thou shalt not revile 
 the gods," (margin, judges,) " nor curse the ruler of thy 
 people." Here, as in Judg. ix, 13, and some other places, 
 the word " god" denotes those in authority. Deut. i, 13-15, 
 shows that those who then were made iTilers were divinely 
 appointed. It is hardly needful to say how, in the New 
 Testament, obedience to those in authority is enforced, even 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 333 
 
 under heathen rulers, Rom. xiii, 1 ; Titus iii, 1 ; 1 Peter 
 ii, 13, 14. 
 
 THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 
 This is the same in Exod. xx, 13, and Deut. v, 17. 
 
 Thou Shalt not kill. 
 
 This commandment is explained by our Lord, Matt, v, 21, 
 22 ; 1 John iii, 15. 
 
 Among heathen nations there was little or no discrimi- 
 nation as to the circumstances under which life was lost. 
 If any one was slain, the slayer immediately became a 
 marked object for destruction by the relatives of the de- 
 ceased, who pursued him with unrelenting activity till he 
 also was slain : and then again the executor of vengeance 
 became a marked object for avengement in his turn. Thus 
 did Satan pervert the precept given to Noah, Gen. ix, 6 ; 
 so that instead of repressing violence, it was made the cause 
 for extending it. These practices continued under the cor- 
 rupt Christianity of the middle ages, and were a part of the 
 feudal system. In the details of the law given to Moses, 
 this matter is set right, the original precept is confirmed, 
 but definitions are given to prevent it from being mis- 
 apphed. Murder is distinctly marked as proceeding (1) 
 from hatred or enmity, Num. xxxv, 20, 21 ; Deut. xix, 11 ; 
 (2) from a thirst for blood, or desire for revenge, Num. 
 xxxv, 20 ; (3) when designed or done with premeditated 
 deceit or lying in wait, Exod. xxi, 14 ; Deut, xix, 11. The 
 punishment of death to the ofiender in cases of murder is 
 most distinctly stated, Exod. xxi, 12-14. 
 
 Manslaughter, as distinguished from murder, is very 
 plainly marked in these laws, as (1) when the death is caused 
 without hatred or enmity. Num. xxxv, 22 ; Deut. xix, 4-6 ; 
 (2) without desire for revenge, Num. xxxv, 22 ; also 
 Exod, xxi, 13, where there is the first mention of the in- 
 tended appointment of cities of refuge ; (3) when death 
 is caused by mistake, Nimi. xxxv, 11-15 ; (4) or by acci- 
 dent, Deut. xix, 5. It is to be observed that these dis- 
 tinctions are principally stated as a part of the law insti- 
 tuting the cities of refuge, a blessed institution under the 
 Mosaic law, not only as regulating the administration of 
 justice, and restraining the bursts of passion, but as sha- 
 
334 
 
 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 I 
 
 dowing forth the blessed truths of the gospel, and a type 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the refuge for sinners. But 
 observe, there is not a trace of any ideal sanctity attaching 
 to the place : — " And this is the case of the slayer which 
 shall flee thither that he may live : Whoso killeth his 
 neighbor ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past; 
 as when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbor to 
 hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the ax to 
 cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, 
 and lighteth upon his neighbor, that he die ; he shall flee 
 unto one of these cities and live : lest the avenger of blood 
 pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake 
 him, because the way is long, and slay him ; whereas he 
 
 MANSLAYER FLEEING TO A CITY OF REFUGE. 
 
 was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in 
 time past." In the law instituting cities of refuge, (Num. 
 XXXV, 16-21,) the circumstances that tended to define the 
 difference between murder and manslaughter are important, 
 and are distinctly marked. 
 
 The same regulations are again noticed. Josh. xx. The 
 spiritual import of these cities is, however, in the present 
 day far more striking than their political purpose. They 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 335 
 
 are not indeed directly pointed out with this view by any 
 of the Old Testament writers, yet surely they were among 
 the types and shadows of good things to come ; Heb. vi, 
 18; Isa. XXV, 4; Zech. ix, 12. Refuge! refuge! that 
 welcome term, was inscribed, at every cross-road, in 
 characters so large and plain, that he who ran might 
 read. 
 
 The roads leading to these cities were always kept in 
 good repair, the gates stood open, and the fugitive was 
 safe as soon as he entered their suburbs. No weapons of 
 war might there be made, and the height of the hills on 
 which these cities were built, must have made them con- 
 spicuous to the surrounding country. And is not Jesus ex- 
 alted in like manner, to receive all who come to him? 
 Matt, xi, 28 ; John vi, 37. Are not his ministers employed 
 to direct sinners to him, Isa. Ivii, 14 ; Ixii, 10 ; while all 
 who are in Christ Jesus are at once secured from all con- 
 demnation? Rom. viii. Three other cities, as it appears 
 from Deut. xix, 8, might also have been added, if the 
 Israelites had carried out their conquests ; they neglected 
 the Divine word. 
 
 The punishment for manslaughter was banishment, or 
 confinement to the city of refuge : this indefinite, perhaps 
 long and irksome restraint, must have been a severe pun- 
 ishment in many cases ; nor was there any provision made 
 that the offender should eat the bread of idleness, as in the 
 sanctuaries attached to the abbeys and monastic establish- 
 ments of Popery. Also every facility was given to ascer- 
 tain the real facts of the case. 
 
 The exceptions in which homicide was allowed were, (1) 
 a burglar, one breaking into a house by night, might be 
 slain with impunity, Exod. xxii, 1, 2 ; but if the sun had 
 risen, it was unlawful to slay him. He then might be made 
 to pay full restitution for his theft ; or if unable to do so, 
 might be sold for a slave. (2) Another exception was to 
 meet the habits of the times, but still with discrimination. 
 If the person near of kin, who was the avenger of blood, 
 overtook the fugitive before he reached the city of refuge, 
 " while his heart was hot," (Deut. xix, 6,) and slew him 
 without stopping to inquire into the particulars, he was 
 excused for so doing ; or if the offender, after having found 
 refuge, presumptuously left the limits appointed for his 
 
336 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 restraint, he might then also be put to death. (3) Another 
 exemption was, if a master struck a slave, so as to cause 
 his death, but he had continued to live a day or two after 
 the injury, (Exod. xxi, 20, 21,) a reason is assigned, because 
 the slave was " his money." This seems to have been a 
 concession like that our blessed Lord mentions, " because of 
 the hardness of their hearts ;" and be it observed, that the 
 whole of the laws as to punishment for the manslayer, and 
 as to slavery, were great improvements on the laws of hea- 
 then nations. Nor was the Jewish refuge like the sanctua- 
 ries of the Church of Rome, where, as already mentioned, 
 inquiry was forbidden, no officer of justice being allowed 
 even to enter the precincts. Also it was expressly ordered, 
 that the institution of the cities of refuge should not protect 
 the murderer, Deut. xix, 11-13. Another law, tending 
 strongly to mark the Divine abhorrence for shedding blood, 
 was the solemn manner in which the chief persons of a city 
 nearest to where a murdered body was found, were re- 
 quired to declare their ignorance of the matter, Deut. 
 xxi, 1-9. 
 
 Under this important command, also, are to be classed 
 various precepts as to the avenging or punishing for lesser 
 injuries. Without dwelling upon each, it may be observed 
 that they show the wisdom and discrimination ever seen in 
 these Divine precepts. In several cases they were milder 
 than many modem enactments. 
 
 Under the Sixth Commandment also must be included 
 the directions given in Deut. xxv, for the expiation or put- 
 ting away of the guilt of murder, when the real murderer 
 remained unknown. The heifer that was slain on this oc- 
 casion was not a sacrifice, for it was not brought to the 
 altar, but was made a ^dctim, to show that the man who 
 had done the deed should have bled in like manner, if he 
 could have been found. It seems to have been one un- 
 trained to the yoke, as the murderer had refused to bear 
 the yoke of God's laws, Jer. xxxi, 1 8 ; and was slain in a 
 valley, probably one where there was some running stream 
 of water, in which the neighboring inhabitants washed their 
 hands, as a token of innocency, Psa. xxvi, 6. A similar 
 protestation, but not in the spirit of prayer, was made by 
 the wretched Pilate, (Matt, xxvii, 24,) that he might cast 
 oif from himself on others the guilt of the murder of Jesus. 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 337 
 
 He was mistaken, and so are all they who think that be- 
 cause their misdeeds are now hid they shall escape the 
 righteous judgment of God, Rom. ii, 3 ; Isa. xxix, 15. 
 
 THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT. 
 
 In Exod. XX, 14. — Thou shalt In Deut. v, 18.— Neither shalt 
 not commit adultery. thou commit adultery. 
 
 This crime itself was to be punished with death, Lev. 
 XX, 10 ; as well as others which come under this head, and 
 are always marked with the deepest abhorrence in the word 
 of God, though permitted by the heathens, and even some- 
 times sanctioned by them, or even practiced as rites of their 
 false religions. There were numerous and various precepts 
 given, which are to be classed under this head, generally 
 marked by the severest punishment; these would take 
 much space to explain, and need not be entered into here. 
 If the reader should have occasion to examine into the par- 
 ticulars, he can consult larger works, or authors who have 
 written expressly on the subject. A full examination will 
 show that these precepts all tended to the same broad and 
 comprehensive view taken by our blessed Lord, in the ser- 
 mon on the mount, Matt, v, 27, 28. The plain enactment 
 against the most obvious breach of the law, included all 
 other or more complicated offenses, also lesser departures 
 from that purity repeatedly taught in the Mosaic law. The 
 requirement of God is, " Ye shall be holy : for I the Lord 
 your God am holy," Lev. xix, 2 ; xx, 26 ; which is em- 
 phatically repeated by the apostle, 1 Peter i, 15. 
 
 Even an impure thought or desire is a breach of this 
 command. Matt, v, 27-32. Yet the Scriptures give no 
 encouragement to a state of convent seclusion, nor do they 
 anywhere represent single life as meritorious, which is one 
 of the errors of the Cliurch of Rome, 1 Tim. iv, 3. On 
 the contrary, among the daughters of Israel, who longed 
 for the birth of the promised Messiah, marriages were ear- 
 nestly desired, and occasions of great festivity. The hus- 
 band and wife were usually espoused or betrothed to each 
 other for a twelvemonth before they were united. To this 
 state the relation between Christ and his Church on earth 
 has been compared, Song iv, 11 ; Eph. v, 26 ; Rev. xix, 7; 
 2 Cor. xi, 3 ; and the numerous rebukes and warnings of 
 15 
 
338 JEAVISH NATION. 
 
 the prophets against the Jews of old for their idohitry, and 
 departing from tlie living God, are frequently expressed in 
 terms suited to this comparison, Ezek. xvi ; jer. iii. Here- 
 by, also, the sins connected with the neglect of the seventh 
 command were shown to be hateful and disgraceful, how- 
 ever common such practices might be among the heathens. 
 With the seventh commandment was connected the 
 trial by bitter water, Num. v, 12-31 ; the only species of 
 ordeal allowed among the Jews, which was so directed, that 
 the innocent could not be injured, while the honor of God 
 was solemnly appealed to, to punish the guilty — a very 
 different case from the trial by ordeal in England, and else- 
 where, during the dark ages, when the numerous ceremonies 
 and conditions gave room for much mistake and deception. 
 The Jewish trial fell into disuse in the latter years of their 
 state, when their morals had become exceedingly corrupt. 
 In the time of our Lord, not only was divorce or separation 
 on slight grounds very common, (Matt, xix, 3-11,) but 
 men and women were often known to come together, ar- 
 ranging that it should be but for a time, Hosea iii, 3. All 
 this was forbidden under the Christian dispensation, Matt. 
 X, 5-9 ; Eph. v, 31 ; 1 Cor. vii, 2. Thus the Christian re- 
 ligion has conferred blessings even on Jewish females, in 
 the lands inhabited by the followers of Jesus of Nazareth, 
 who are freed from the jealousies and the debased condi- 
 tion to which their sisters in Mohammedan and pagan coun- 
 tries are still exposed, where the same laws are not ob- 
 served, and more wives than one may be taken. 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 3S9 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 OFFENSES AGAINST PROPERTY, OR THE EIGHTH, NINTH, 
 AND TENTH COMMANDMENTS. 
 
 THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT IS, 
 
 In Exod. XX, 15.— Thou shalt In Dent, v, 19.— Neither shalt 
 not steal. thou steal. 
 
 On this head the Mosaic law enters into many details, and 
 the principles will be found to exhibit the highest discrimi- 
 native wisdom. And though every detail is not applicable 
 to modern times, or to the European state of society, yet 
 the principles are so ; and the more closely they can be at- 
 tended to in modem codes of laws, the more will there be 
 of justice and equity. The main principle was, restitution 
 for the injury done, and so as to restrain the evil-doer, but 
 not to take man's life for the matter of property. 
 
 The only exceptions, — the only cases in which death was 
 permitted as punishment for crimes under this head — were 
 those of burglary by night, (Exod. xxii, 2,) already noticed, 
 and for Max-stealing, the taking a free-born Israelite by 
 craft or violence to enslave him or sell him for a slave, 
 Exod. xxi, 16 ; Deut. xxiv, 1. Thus, to tear a man from 
 all near and dear to him, and transfer him into a state of 
 dependence upon the will or caprice of another, probably 
 of a heathen, was indeed a deliberate murder of the indivi- 
 dual as to all earthly happiness, though not destroying at 
 once the spark of life. 
 
 The objects for theft in the early state of the Israelites 
 would naturally be their flocks and herds. In the simplest 
 case, when the stolen ox or sheep was found, so that it could 
 be restored to the owner, the thief was to double the value, 
 to "restore double," Exod. xxii, 4. The same rule was 
 also applicable " for all manner of trespass," "for raiment, 
 or for any manner of lost thing," ver. 9 ; but if it was an ox, 
 sheep, or goat, and the animal was killed, so that the owner 
 could no longer have the same use of it as before, then the 
 restitution or penalty was fivefold for an ox, fourfold for a 
 sheep or goat, Exod. xxii, 1. In later times, a thief, in 
 all cases, seems to liave been required to pay sevenfold, 
 
340 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 Prov. vi, 30, 31. Thus the penalty became a debt ; it was 
 treated as such, and if the thief had nothing, it is enacted, 
 (Exod. xxii, 3,) " then he shall be sold for his theft," whe- 
 ther for the usual period of the service of a Hebrew slave, 
 (Exod. xxi, 11,) which was six years, or according to the 
 value of the article and of the service, does not very 
 clearly appear. 
 
 There is in Lev. vi, 2-5, a remarkable provision ifi 
 favor of one guilty of theft, but repentant. Though it could 
 not be proved against him at the time, if he afterwards con- 
 fessed his guilt, he was cleared on restoring the amount lost, 
 and one-fifth of its value besides. 
 
 There are many cases specified of careless and willful 
 damage or injury without theft, stated in Exod. xxii, 5, 6. 
 Another class of precepts extended to property committed 
 in trust to others, Exod. xxii, 7-13 ; but there were excep- 
 tions in the case of live animals which might have strayed, 
 or suffered from circumstances the party intrusted could 
 not control. A borrowed article, if lost or damaged, was 
 to be replaced unless the owner himself was with it, Exod. 
 V, 14, 15. In these and other cases there are some minute 
 discriminations, which have been adopted in the laws of our 
 own country, as important in guiding to just and equitable 
 proceedings. 
 
 The laws respecting Debt had many enactments peculiar 
 to the circumstances of the Jews. All usurious profit or 
 interest, or benefit, over and above the return of the article 
 intended, was forbidden among their own countrymen, 
 though they might take interest from strangers. This was 
 an important regulation, calculated to retain the mass of 
 the Jewish people in the middle state, which was especially 
 marked out for them, and which, when all things are consi- 
 dered, is the happiest for a people. It is however evident, 
 that such a state of things cannot continue, unless a nation 
 is actuated by the principles of true religion, both to restrain 
 the ambitious and covetous, and to excite the indolent and 
 dissipated to activity and industry. It will commonly be 
 found that the rise of some, and the depression of others, is 
 owing to the ignorance, idleness, or vices of those who sink, 
 more than to rapacity or oppression in those that rise. Pa- 
 rents cannot be too diligent in training up their childi-en in 
 habits o^ activity, industry, and carefulness. These may 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 341 
 
 indeed degenerate into covetousness when the mind is not 
 regulated by the fear of God ; but where carelessness, and 
 waste, and indolence become habitual, there will be found 
 deplorable results, not only to the parties themselves, but 
 to all connected with them. The Mosaic laws were quite 
 as much opposed to the habits and practices of pauperism 
 as to the vast and useless accumulation of property. There 
 are many precepts to relieve the poor man, but the poor 
 Israelite was a very different being from the English pauper, 
 or the beggar of Popish countries. Under the very differ- 
 ent state of society in Europe at the present day, there is 
 nothing to prevent the taking a moderate use or interest 
 for money, which does not extend to oppression. A large 
 number of the means of livelihood at the present day can 
 only be followed by borrowed capital. The sharing of 
 property, on the one hand, and allowing the use of capital 
 on the other, under such circumstances, is quite in accord- 
 ance with the principles of the Divine law. There are, 
 however, cases in which usurious and oppressive returns 
 are exacted, and these are as contrary to the principles of 
 Christianity as they are to the letter of the Jewish law. 
 The borrower also was protected in many little points 
 affecting his feelings. If a pledge was taken for a debt, 
 the lender was not to enter the house and choose an article 
 at his will, but was to wait at the door, allowing the bor- 
 rower to select what he could best spare, (Deut. xxiv, 
 10, 11,) as was noticed p. 284 ; and as this would probably 
 be an article of clothing, for no one was supposed likely to 
 borrow but in cases of absolute necessity, it was to be re- 
 stored him for his use at night ; Exod. xxii, 25-27 ; Deut. 
 xxiv, 12, 13. This enactment shows that it was never in- 
 tended that there should be even a borrower, unless in 
 case of what we should call deep poverty. The mill- 
 stone, the article for daily use, was not at all to be taken, 
 Deut. xxiv, 6. 
 
 When debts were contracted, the lender was not to be 
 wronged. Here the laws of antiquity were very severe, 
 sometimes giving creditors power over the lives of their 
 debtors. In Rome, more than one insurrection was occa- 
 sioned by the cruelty of creditors ; but the Mosaic law did 
 not allow of such proceedings. It is true, that the pro- 
 perty of the debtor was answerable for his debts, and 
 
'H'l JEWISH NATION. 
 
 even his person and that of his family, in case of the land 
 and other property being insufficient to repay the loan ; 
 but still the debtor was not to be plunged into irremediable 
 and hopeless poverty. The law of the jubilee fully pro- 
 vided for a return to former privileges, as already fully ex- 
 plained, page 311. Imprisonment for debt, as mentioned 
 Matt, xviii, 84, was not permitted by the Mosaic law. All 
 loans and all servitude was for a limited period only, and a 
 beautiful exposition of duty was recorded, to prevent any 
 grudging at this principle of good- will to others, Deut. xv, 
 7-11. In various places in the Old and also in the New 
 Testament, there are notices which illustrate the Jewish 
 law of debtor and creditor, and the manner in which it was 
 at times departed from. The debtors that resorted to 
 David, 1 Sam. xxii, 2. The family of the son of the pro- 
 phets, 2 Kings iv, 1-7. The oppressed debtors, that cried 
 to Nehemiah, Neh, x. The cautions in the Book of Pro- 
 verbs, xxii, 6, 7. The parables of our blessed Lord, Matt, 
 xviii; Luke vii. The word by the prophet Ezekiel, xviii, 7 ; 
 and in the comment on the Lord's Prayer, Matt, vi, 12-15. 
 But the injunction by the apostle, " Owe no man anything, 
 but to love one another," (Rom. xiii, 8,) is not less a com- 
 mand ; and the observance of it is equally needful to com- 
 fort and real enjoyment of life. When Elisha multiplied 
 the widow's oil, he directed her first to go and pay her 
 debt, and to live on what remained. 
 
 Becoming surety for a debt does not appear to have been 
 sanctioned by the law, though afterwards practiced; this 
 explains the express cautions against it, Prov. xi, 15 ; xvii, 
 18; xxii, 26. At the present day these cautions are im- 
 portant, and should be attended to, both as principles and 
 as matters of practice. Whenever such engagements exceed 
 what can be met without serious injury, they are often 
 injurious, not only to the surety, but to those dependent 
 on him. 
 
 We may also observe the range of this command in 
 Lev. xix, 13, "Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor, nei- 
 ther rob him : the wages of him that is hired shall not abide 
 with thee all night until the morning." 
 
 Before leaving this law, let the institution of the jubilee 
 be again referred to, as a happy means to promote the mid- 
 dle state of society by the process of readjustment being 
 
 ^ 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 
 
 343 
 
 ELISHA MULTIPLYING THE WIDOW'S OIL. 
 
 perpetuated, without injustice, violence, or leveling. Pro- 
 perty in effects or houses was not to return, in those days, 
 but under the circumstances that existed, there could be no 
 very great accumulation ; for lending of money or commo- 
 dities for the sake of gain was forbidden. 
 
 THE NINTH COMMANDMENT. 
 
 InExod. XX, 16.— Thou shalt In Deut. v, 20.— Neither shalt 
 not bear false witness against thy thou bear false witness against 
 neighbor. thy neighbor. 
 
 This law has been well said to include all crimes of 
 MALICE. The bearing false witness in matters of judica- 
 ture is not the only evil forbidden, though that is very 
 strongly marked, Exod. xxiii, 1-3 ; and all leaning to either 
 party, even to the poor out of compassion, is expressly 
 forbidden, Exod. xxiii, 1-3. Lev. xix, 15, was applica- 
 ble to witnesses as well as to the judge. The punishment 
 of false witnesses is very clearly stated, and very equitably 
 settled, Deut. xix, 16-21. This was a strong protection to 
 the poor man. " If the witness be a false witness, and 
 hath testified falsely against his brother ; then shall ye do 
 unto him as he had thought to have done unto his brother : 
 so shalt thou put the evil away from among you." 
 
344 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 This commandment extended far beyond the crime of 
 false witness in matters of pubhc judgment. It aimed at 
 the malicious and idle tale-bearing and gossip which cause 
 so many injmies every day amongst us. Exod. xxiii, 1, 
 may be considered as applicable both to raising and receiv- 
 ing false reports ; it may be truly said, in this case, if there 
 were no receivers there would be no thieves, none trying to 
 steal away a neighbor's character or peace. " Thou shalt 
 go up and down as a tale-bearer among thy people," is 
 still more applicable at the present day than in ancient 
 days, and seldom will any report be traced or followed out, 
 but there will be found cause to wonder at the additions 
 and perversions made to the most simple and truthful 
 matter. 
 
 This command also was applied to every transaction of 
 life. Observe the wide range included in a few words, 
 Lev. xix, 12: "Ye shall not swear by my name falsely, 
 neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God ; I am the 
 Lord." The preceding verse expressly forbids "lying." 
 " Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, nor lie one to an- 
 other." The passages in the Psalms, Proverbs, and prophets 
 that condemn all lying and falsehood are too numerous 
 to quote ; they show the awful extent to which this sin 
 prevailed. 
 
 As a strong guard against false evidence in all matters 
 affecting the life of any one charged with crime, more than 
 one witness was required, Num. xxxv, 30 ; Deut. xvii, 6 ; 
 xix, 15. The reader will recollect how this law embarrassed 
 the chief priests and Jewish rulers in their malicious pro- 
 ceedings against our blessed Lord, (Mark xiv, 55, 5Q,) pro- 
 bably recorded by the apostle Peter, who was present 
 at the time. 
 
 THE TENTH COMMANDMENT. 
 
 In Exod. XX, 17. — Thou shalt In Dent, v, 21.— Neither shalt 
 not covet thy neighbor's house, thou desire thy neighbor's wife, 
 thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's neither shalt thou covet thy neigh- 
 wife, nor his man-servant, nor his bor's house, his field, or his man- 
 maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his servant, or his maid-sei-vant, his 
 ass, nor anything that is thy ox, or his ass, or anything that 
 neighbor's. . is thy neighbor's. 
 
 This law especially shows the Divine origin of the Ten 
 Commandments. No human lawgiver has ever attempted to 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 
 
 ^A 
 
 make such an enactment; the proceedings of man's laws 
 seem fully to agree with the common but mistaken saying, 
 " Thought is free." It is not so ; this is shown throughout 
 the Bible. Deut. xv, 9, is to the same purport as this com- 
 mand. David cautioned Solomon that the Lord " under- 
 standeth all the imaginations of the thoughts," 1 Chron. 
 xxviii, 9. Solomon recorded that " the thought of foolish- 
 ness is sin," Prov. xxiv, 9. Elijah cautioned the people on 
 Carmel not to halt "between two thoughts," 1 Kings xviii, 21, 
 margin ; thus showing them that the thought even of 
 idolatry was sin. The Psalmist characterizes the wicked man 
 as not having God in all his thoughts, Psa. x, 4, and con- 
 sidered God as understanding his thoughts, Psa. cxxxix, 2. 
 The prophet Ezekiel warned against evil thoughts, 
 xxxviii, 10. Isaiah counseled the unrighteous man to for- 
 sake his thougtits, Iv, 1 : but it is needless to multiply ex- 
 amples. In the New Testament this is even more strongly 
 shown. Acts viii, 22 ; 2 Cor. x, 5. Our blessed Lord pointed 
 to the evil source, the heart, Matt, xv, 19. 
 
 This last command then shows that the Divine Lawgiver 
 meant that all the prohibitions of these commands should 
 refer to the dispositions and intents and desires of the heart, 
 as well as to outward acts, not only to murder, theft, and 
 other crimes, but to all that lead to those evils. The Jews 
 evidently knew this ; the Psalms continually refer thereto : 
 " Try me, and know my thoughts," Psa. xxxix, 23, is one 
 among very many instances ; and see the whole of Psa. cxix. 
 Graves dwells upon this, giving extracts also from the 
 writings of Josephus and Pliilo, while the precepts of the 
 Scribes and Pharisees plainly show how they strove to take 
 away this wide and spiritual application of the law, which 
 they felt was most decidedly opposed to the corrupt motions 
 of their hearts ; consequently we do not class other pre- 
 cepts under this head, but refer to it as covering, and con- 
 firming, and summing up all the rest. This, indeed, is the 
 strongest enforcing that can be devised ; unless the lieart 
 was right with God, there would be little probability of 
 obedience to his commands. The summary, Deut. x, 12, 13, 
 is very comprehensive and important. The whole of 
 the sermon on the mount (Matt, v, vi, vii) showed how our 
 blessed Lord insisted upon this, carrying it out to the mi- 
 nutest details. And, to return again to the Old Testament, 
 15* 
 
34(5 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 the word of the Lord, speaking by the prophet, is impres- 
 sive : " For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, 
 and smote him," Isaiah Ivii, 17. It was the tenth com- 
 mandment, in its wide extent and spiritual import, which 
 St. Paul mentioned as having con\inced him that he was a 
 sinner, though his outward conduct had been upright and 
 blameless, Romans vii, 7 ; Phil, iii, 6. 
 
 CONCLUDING REMARKS ON THE JEWISH LAWS. 
 
 The law of God is found to refer to some things that 
 men might regard as trifles ; for instance, mercy to animals, 
 Deut. xxiv, 4, and xxii, 1-7. The Jews say that the law 
 respecting birds' nests was the least of all the commands 
 given by Moses, yet it contains the same sanction which 
 is given to the most important earthly duties. The same 
 spirit of humanity and concern for inferior creatures is 
 taught in other parts of Scripture : " One of them shall 
 not fall on the ground without your Father," Matt, x, 29. 
 " A righteous man regardeth the hfe of his beast : but the 
 tender mercies of the wicked are cruel," Prov. xii, 10. Let 
 it, then, be remembered, that even in little matters (Matt. 
 V, 19) the heart must be kept right with God, and let all 
 resemblance to Satan, the great destroyer, be carefully 
 avoided, for " trifles make the sum of human things," and 
 " he that despiseth small things shall fall by little and 
 little." 
 
 Although some of the lesser enactments of the Jewish 
 law have not been literally copied in the laws of the Bri- 
 tish islands, yet it must be evident that the leading features 
 of the Hebrew code still exist in the institutions of most 
 civilized nations. In the north of Europe, and in Britain 
 especially, Christianity and civihzation advanced liand in 
 hand ; for the inhabitants of our own land were long de- 
 spised by the learned Greeks and Romans, as rude barba- 
 rians, incapable of understanding, and little superior to the 
 beasts of the field. It was the preaching of the word of 
 God to " Britons severed from the world beside," which was 
 the means of raising England to the place she now holds 
 among the nations ; and in many points, the conversion of 
 the Britons and Saxons, in its character and results, may 
 be compared to the changes that have recently taken place 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 347 
 
 in New-Zealand and other isles of the south. It is desi 
 rable, however, in this place, to refer chiefly to the present 
 condition of Britain, and especially to those institutions by 
 which a state of order and prosperity has been secured 
 under the blessing of God. 
 
 With respect to the administration of the law, Blackstone, 
 in his Commentaries upon the Laws of England, observes, 
 "As to the power of human punishment, or the right of 
 the temporal legislator to inflict discretionary penalties for 
 crimes and misdemeanors, it is clear that the right of 
 punishing crimes against the law of natiu-e, as murder and 
 the like, is in a state of mere nature vested in every indi- 
 vidual ; for it must be vested in somebody, otherwise the 
 laws of nature would be vain and fruitless, if none were em- 
 powered to put them in execution ; and if that power be 
 vested in any one, it must also be vested in all mankind, 
 since all are by nature equal. Whereof the first murderer, 
 Cain, was so sensible, that we find him expressing his ap- 
 prehensions, that whoever would find him should slay him. 
 In a state of society this right is transferred from individuals 
 to the sovereign power, whereby men are prevented from 
 being judges in their own causes, which is one of the evils 
 that civil government was intended to remedy. Whatever 
 power therefore individuals had of punishing off'enses against 
 the laws of nature, that is now vested in the magistrate 
 alone, who bears the sword of justice by the consent of the 
 whole community. As to offenses against the laws of 
 society, the temporal magistrate is also empowered to inflict 
 coercive penalties for such transgressions, and this by the 
 consent of individuals, who, in forming societies, did either 
 tacitly or expressly invest the sovereign power with the 
 right of making laws, and of enforcing obedience to them 
 when made, by exercising upon their non-observance seve- 
 rities adequate to the evil. The lawfulness, therefore, of 
 punishing such criminals, is founded upon this principle, 
 that the law, by which they suffer, was made by their own 
 consent ; it is a part of the original contract into which they 
 entered, when first they engaged in society ; it was calcu- 
 lated for, and has long contributed to, their own se- 
 curity." 
 
 This light, therefore, being thus conferred by universal 
 consent, gives to the State the same power, and no more. 
 
348 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 over all its members, as each individual has naturally over 
 himself or others, which has occasioned some to doubt how 
 far a human legislature ought to inflict capital punishment 
 for positive offenses. Capital punishments are in some in- 
 stances inflicted by the immediate command of God himself 
 to all mankind, as in the case of murder, by the precept 
 delivered to Noah, their common ancestor and repre- 
 sentative : " Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his 
 blood be shed." In other instances they are inflicted after 
 the example of the Creator, in his positive code of laws for 
 the regulation of the Jewish republic. But they are some- 
 times inflicted Avithout any such express warrant or example, 
 at the will and discretion of the human legislatures, as for 
 forgery, theft, and sometimes oflfenses of a lighter kind.* 
 The practice of inflicting capital punishments for oflfenses of 
 human institution, has been thus justified by that great and 
 good man. Sir Matthew Hale : " When offenses grow enor- 
 mous, frequent, and dangerous to a kingdom or state, de- 
 structive or highly pernicious to civil societies, and to the 
 great insecurity and danger of the kingdom and its inhabit- 
 ants, severe punishment, and even death itself, is necessary 
 to be annexed to laws in many cases." Where the evil to 
 be prevented is not adequate to the violence of the pre- 
 ventive, a sovereign that thinks seriously can never justify 
 such a law to the dictates of conscience and humanity. To 
 shed the blood of our fellow-creatures is a matter that re- 
 quires the greatest deliberation, and the fullest conviction 
 of our own authority, for life is the immediate gift of God 
 to man, which neither he can resign, nor can it be taken 
 from him unless by the command or permission of him who 
 gave it, either expressly revealed, or collected from the laws 
 of nature or society, by clear and indisputable demonstra- 
 tion. When a question arises, whether death may be law- 
 full)^ inflicted for this or that transgression, the wisdom of 
 the laws must decide it, and to this public judgment or de- 
 cision all private judgments must submit, else there is an 
 end of the first principle of all society and government. 
 The guilt of blood, if any, must lie at their doors who mis- 
 interpret the extent of their warrant, and not at the doors 
 
 * This applies to England, where, happily, of late years, and especially during 
 the reign of Queen Victoria, the frequency of capital punishment has been 
 greatly reduced. 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 349 
 
 of the subject, who is bound to receive the interpretations 
 that are given by the sovereign power." 
 
 By our law, also, every one, until he is proved to be 
 guilty, is regarded as innocent. Yet even in the best re- 
 gulated state, there are evils that cannot be remedied, and 
 mistakes which must arise from the weakness and imperfec- 
 tion of all human instruments. The true Christian in pri- 
 vate life will therefore remember that his part on earth is 
 *' to do well, and bear evil," and leave all events in the hand 
 of Him who worketh all things after the course of his own 
 will, and can cause those things which seem to be against 
 us, to promote our truest welfare. This does not, however, 
 excuse those who are called to rule, from a neglect of the 
 duties of their stations — the powers that be are ordained of 
 God — and are required to be a terror to evil doers, and a 
 praise to them that do well. Even the humblest Christian 
 may, by prayer and a holy course of life, do something to 
 check the course of increasing corruption. " Ten righteous 
 men would have saved a city once ;" and the Lord in after 
 times declared, by his inspired servant, that he sought for 
 such in Judah to stand before him in the gap, but found 
 none, Ezek. xxii, 30. The day is fast approaching, of which 
 the ruin of Jerusalem was but a type, when the things that 
 are now hidden will be clearly brought to light, and fierce 
 wrath will be poured out on all the ungodly, — " When God 
 shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret 
 thing, whether it be good or evil." 
 
 " Then Mercy for Judgment will call ; 
 And who shall his coming abide, 
 When wrath, the most fearful of all— 
 The wrath of the Lamb, is defied ?" 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 JEWISH POLITY. 
 
 The name of a creature brings with it the idea of a Creator 
 and Disposer, Rev. iv, 11. Man claims authority over the 
 objects that himself has formed ; and this comparison is often 
 used in Scripture to shadow forth the great truth that the 
 Most High ruleth in the kingdoms of men, and fulfills his 
 
350 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 own purposes, as tlie potter fashions vessels out of the clay, 
 Dan. iv, 32; Rom. ix, 20, 21; Isa. xlv, 9; Jer. xviii, 6; 
 Psa. c, 3 ; cxix, 73. The deahngs of God with nations as 
 such, are plainly manifested both by Scripture and experi- 
 ence ; for, although the true state of individuals cannot be 
 judged from their condition as to outward prosperity, 
 (Eccl. ix, 2,) yet since communities exist only in this world, 
 it is in this world that nations are either punished or re- 
 warded. 
 
 It would be easy to multiply instances in point, from the 
 histories of both Jews and Gentiles. Some of the striking 
 and minute descriptions of prophecy may be here alluded 
 to. The sword, Hab. i, 6-8. The famine, Jer. xiv, 1-4 ; 
 V, 24 ; Lam. ii, 13-15. Wild beasts, Isa. xxxiv, 13, 14. 
 The pestilence, 2 Sam. xxiv, 15. Numerous interpositions 
 of Providence might also be referred to, in which, though 
 outwardly weak and powerless, the people of God expe- 
 rienced the truth of the promise, " No weapon that is form- 
 ed against thee shall prosper," Isa. liv, IV. Theirs was 
 not merely a god of the hills, but one who was nigh unto 
 them in all places and in all circumstances, Deut. iv, 7 ; 
 
 1 Kings XX, 27, 28. See also 2 Kings vi, 16; 2 Chron. 
 xiii, 12 ; xx, 12 ; xxx, 21. How necessary it is to keep in 
 mind that in the Lord alone is righteousness and strength ! 
 all other confidence is leaning on a broken reed, by which 
 many have pierced themselves with sorrow. 
 
 " Sure as on creatures we depend, 
 Our hopes in disappointment end." 
 
 It is probable that the fallen angels gloried in their own 
 perfections, and lost sight of that dependence which must 
 ever subsist between a creature and his Creator. It is cer- 
 tain that by this temptation Satan beguiled Eve, Gen. iii, 6 ; 
 
 2 Cor. xi, 3 ; and in the same manner he has endeavored to 
 seduce all her posterity. The long hves of men before the 
 flood, and their free and undisturbed possession of earthly 
 indulgences, might have led them to exclaim, " Who is lord 
 over us ?" and perhaps to say, " There is no God." These 
 were " overflown with a flood," but the race that followed 
 them soon proved the corruption of their hearts, rejecting 
 the commands of God, and falling into superstition and 
 idolatry. The presumptuous spirit of infidelity has from 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 851 
 
 time to time revived, and in these latter days it has become 
 especially prevalent, 2 Pet. iii, 2, 
 
 The Jews of old rightly judged, that the covenant which 
 God made with Noah was made with all his posterity, Gen. 
 ix, 9 ; and that its requirements were binding on Gentile 
 proselytes. These were enjoined to abstain from fornica- 
 tion, murder, theft, idolatry, blasphemy, eating of things 
 strangled, and of blood. Similar engagements were made 
 by the apostles with their first converts from heathenism, 
 and there had been instances, from time to time, of solitary 
 individuals in distant lands acknowledging the authority of 
 the God of Israel, who submitted to these rules, and re- 
 nounced their heathen practices. In many cases, doubtless, 
 these sons and daughters from afar would also be instructed 
 in the import of the Levitical sacrifices, and brought to un- 
 derstand how all the families of the earth should be blessed 
 in the promised son of Abraham, that Seed of the woman 
 who should bruise the head of the serpent, and become the 
 Desire of all nations. But it was reserved for later ages 
 that a nation should be bom in a day, and the kingdoms 
 of this world become the kingdoms of God and of his 
 Christ, of which time even yet our views are distant and 
 imperfect, though some faint glimpses of a happier state of 
 things are occasionally offered to us. 
 
 Having thus considered briefly the condition of mankind 
 at large, and the relation in which they stand towards their 
 Almighty Ruler, it may be desirable to return to the notice 
 of some of those institutions by which the Jews were for 
 1500 years distinguished, as those to whom pertained "the 
 adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving 
 of the law, and the service of God, and the promises," as 
 well as to those plans of their own devising, in which they 
 more or less departed from the will of God. All law and 
 social order, under whatever foiTn it may be organized and 
 administered, is necessarily based upon this great principle, 
 that there is a self-existent God, the Creator and Disposer 
 of all things, to whom all are accountable ; and that this 
 Almighty Being, this Good, as the name emphatically de- 
 notes, desires the welfare of all his creatures, especially of 
 those who are endowed with rational powers, who possess 
 immortal souls. All religion, natural or revealed, is based 
 upon this principle, and is, in truth, a code of laws pro- 
 
352 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 ceeding from an almiglity, all-perfect Being. Or, to bring 
 it more immediately home to us, it is a series of precepts 
 delivered to children by a wise and aflPectionate Father. 
 
 When mankind began to increase upon earth, the parent 
 or head of the tribe exercised supreme authority over his 
 children and servants. He was himself accountable to no 
 earthly superior, and could reward, punish, or dismiss, as 
 he thought proper. This is fully exemplified in the histories 
 of Abrabam, Isaac, and Jacob. Each exercised his autho- 
 rity with an absolute power, and, as in the cases of Ishmael, 
 Esau, and Jacob, Simon and Levi, acted from what would 
 appear personal feelings, rather than from any defined code 
 of laws. Doubtless the older patriarchs before them did 
 the same, but their histories are less fully given. It is ob- 
 vious that in proportion as men were actuated by the fear 
 of God, their government would be exercised with justice 
 and kindness ; but wliere this was wanting, as in the family 
 of Cain before the flood, and in the case of Nimrod after 
 the flood, there would be oppression, violence, and wrong. 
 Tlie conduct of such men, in all ages, may be thus de- 
 scribed : — 
 
 " To heaven the proud blasphemers raised their eyes, 
 And scorn'd the tardy vengeance of the skies ; 
 On earth invincible, they sternly broke 
 Love's willing bonds, and Nature's kindred yoke. 
 Mad for dominion, with remorseless sway 
 Compeird their reptile bretliren to obey, 
 And doom'd their human herds, witli thankless toil, 
 Like brutes, to grow and perish on the soil ; 
 Their sole inheritance through lingering years, 
 The bread of misery and the cup of tears." 
 
 A more minute description of such characters is contained 
 in Job xxiv, 1-12. In fact, the most detailed account con- 
 tained in the sacred records, with reference to patriarchal 
 life, is found in the Book of Job. There we see the man 
 of wealth, influence, and ability, the object of respect and 
 attention, using his talents for the benefit of his fellow- 
 creatures, and deriving instruction from the works of crea- 
 tion and providence, mourning over the mixture of good 
 and e\il in this earthly scene, yet comforting himself in the 
 prospect of a future day of retribution. 
 
 For I know that my Redeemer liveth, 
 And that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth ; 
 And though after my skin, worms destroy this body, 
 Yet in my flesh shall I see God.— Job xix, 25, 26. 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 353 
 
 As men multiplied upon the earth, larger groups were 
 formed, called states and kingdoms : all their systems may 
 be traced up to the patriarchal source ; but they were fre- 
 quently corrupted much. The Egyptians are considered to 
 have been the first to introduce kingly government, (see 
 Gen. xii, 15, 20,) but the kings in those days were very 
 different from the monarchs of later times. We read in 
 Josh, xii, of thirty-one kings in a very small space of terri- 
 tory, scarcely equal in extent to the principality of Wales. 
 Yet if their dominions were small, their aiithority was still 
 absolute, as may be gathered from the tyrannical proceed- 
 ings of Adoni-bezek, Judg. i, and of Pharaoh, Exod. i. 
 
 The deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt was a direct 
 act of Divine power, and the subjects of this deliverance 
 were called upon to obey the Lord who led them forth. 
 This was expressly declared before the deliverance had been 
 accomplished, and again immediately after it, Exod. vi, 7, 
 and xii, 42. The form of government thus established for 
 the Jews is rightly deemed a theocracy, — a system in which 
 the affairs of state were conducted by the immediate direc- 
 tion of the Almighty. Thus Jehovah was the King as well 
 as the God of Israel, and is continually spoken of as such. 
 He was everywhere present among them ; not only as he is 
 in all places, but by a special manifestation of his power in 
 the tabernacle, over the mercy-seat, in the bright cloud 
 called the Shechinah, to which, in all cases requiring direc- 
 tion, the high priest resorted, as a prime minister to an 
 earthly ruler or sovereign prince, to receive orders and di- 
 rections. There is in Num. ix, 17-23, a beautiful descrip- 
 tion of the manner in which the Lord guided his people 
 through the wilderness, and the Psalmist refers repeatedly 
 to God as his leader, Psa. xxxii, 8 ; Ixxiii, 24. And it must 
 be remembered that the earlier proceedings of this remark- 
 able people were foreseen and directed by Jehovah, as is 
 plain from Acts vii, 1-20, and from Genesis xv. However, 
 it is from the departure out of Egypt that their polity as a 
 nation is to be dated. 
 
 " The covenant of Jehovah with the Hebrew people," 
 says an eminent wiiter, "and their oath by which they 
 bound their allegiance to Jehovah, their God and King, 
 was, that they should receive and obey the laws which he 
 should appoint as their Supreme Governor, with a particu- 
 
354 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 lar engagement to keep themselves from the idolatry of the 
 nations round about them, whether the idolatry they had 
 seen while they dwelt in the land of Egypt, or that which 
 they had observed in the nations by which they passed to 
 the promised land. In keeping this allegiance to Jehovah, 
 as their immediate and supreme Lord, they were to expect 
 the blessings of God's immediate and peculiar protection in 
 the security of their liberty, peace, and prosperity, against 
 all attempts of their idolatrous neighbors ; but if they 
 should break their allegiance to Jehovah, or forsake the 
 covenant of Jehovah by going and serving other gods and 
 worshiping them, that they should forfeit these blessings 
 of Divine protection, and the anger of Jehovah should be 
 kindled against the land, to bring upon it all the curses that 
 are written in the Book of Deuteronomy, xxix, 25-27. 
 The substance, then, of this solemn transaction between 
 God and the Israelites, which may be called the original 
 contract of the Hebrew government, was this : If the He- 
 brews would voluntarily consent to receive Jehovah as their 
 Lord and King, to keep his covenant and laws, to honor 
 and worship him as the one true God, in opposition to all 
 idolatry, then, though God, as sovereign of the world, rules 
 over all the nations of the earth, and all nations are under 
 the general care of his providence, he would govern the 
 Hebrew nation by peculiar laws of his own appointment, 
 and bless it with a more immediate and particular protec- 
 tion ; he would secure to it the invaluable privileges of true 
 religion, together with liberty, peace, and prosperity, as a 
 favored people above all other nations. 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWISH POLITY. 
 
 Every well-regulated government must possess a code of 
 laws known to the people, that their conduct may be regu- 
 lated accordingly. Thus it pleased God to deliver to the 
 Jews the laws of Moses, by which they should be governed. 
 These have been already considered. We have now to 
 notice the ruhng or administrative power. The first raagis- 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 355 
 
 trates were appointed, as the ministers of the Most High, 
 upon the recommendation of Jethro, Exod. xviii, 14-26. 
 They were very similar in degrees to the officers under the 
 Saxon government in England. Probably King Alfred de- 
 rived the idea from this portion of holy writ. But it is evi- 
 dent, that previously and subsequently to their appoint- 
 ment, there were officers of the children of Israel. Moses 
 had his previous communications with the people through 
 officers — their elders ; these could not have been the 
 Egyptian task-masters, and it is not said that others were 
 appointed in their places. From comparing Deut. xxix, 10, 
 and Josh, xxiii, 2, it is considered that these representatives 
 were the heads of tribes or families, and judges or officers. 
 Michaelis is of opinion that, like the members of the British - 
 House of Commons, they acted on their own responsibility, 
 not being required to take instructions from their constituents. 
 The heads and princes of tribes at that time in office, are 
 mentioned by name in Num. i, and as late as the time of 
 David (1 Chron. xxvii, 16) they are enumerated. The man- 
 ner of their appointment, their succession, their peculiar 
 powers, are all unknown to us ; but it is evident that they 
 possessed considerable authority, and that, with their assist- 
 ance, public affairs might proceed without a king, or judge, 
 or legislative body. In the absence of these, the tribes 
 would be a confederacy of tAvelve states, in which the 
 strongest would have some predominance ; for instance, those 
 of Judah, Ephraim, and Manasseh. See Josh, xvii, 15-17 ; 
 Judg. i. Under these the judges would act, Judg. xi, 5 ; 
 1 Sam. viii, 4. Their continuance, when the Jews should 
 settle in the promised land, is expressly provided for, Deut. 
 xvi, 18. The term " make," seems there to indicate, being 
 appointed by, or in behalf of the people, and not as by 
 Divine interposition. There was also a counsel of seventy, 
 who appear to have been counselors or assistants to Moses, 
 and not originally a judicial tribunal. See the history. 
 Num. xi, 24, 25. After the captivity in Babylon, this 
 council, called the Sanhedrim, ruled the nation ; they were 
 similar in numbers, but their character was greatly altered. 
 The judges were usually selected from the tribe of Levi, as 
 were also the Shoterim or scribes. That tribe was most 
 conversant with the law ; they studied it, and became inter- 
 preters of its difficulties, which led to the introduction of 
 
366 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 interpretations making void the law, as our blessed Saviour 
 declared, Matt, xv, 9. But in earlier times they seemed to 
 have been useful, 2 Chron. xix, 5-11, and xxxv, 3. In 
 addition to the high priest or ecclesiastical ruler, who was 
 the immediate channel for intercourse with God, there was 
 a supreme ruler for civil affairs, to whom even the former 
 was sometimes subordinate. Moses was the first of these, 
 then Joshua, whose appointment is recorded Num. xxvii, 18. 
 After him, the elders, who had formed his council, carried 
 on his government, though no individual was especially set 
 apart as chief ruler. But the people continued to obey 
 them, and served the Lord, " all the days of the ciders that 
 overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the 
 Lord that he had done for Israel." 
 
 After their decease, a state of anarchy followed ; this was 
 connected with disobedience to the Divine commands, Judg. 
 ii, 12-15. Then indi\iduals were appointed from time to 
 time, who exercised the rule as judges. These appear to 
 have been selected according to the Divine appointment; 
 their mission and authority were usually sanctioned and 
 confirmed by some manifestations of Di\dne power. In 
 some cases they were individuals called upon by the public 
 voice, to act under some pressing emergency, like Jephthah, 
 and in some cases their authority was restricted to a part of 
 Israel. They had no power to enact new laws, but to ad- 
 judge causes according to the law, and were the executive 
 power. They had no regular funds, except their private 
 incomes, which in some cases appear to have been con- 
 siderable, for instance, fifty asses ; but the people were ac- 
 customed to bring them presents or offerings. This form 
 of government continued from the death of Joshua to the 
 appointment of Saul as king of Israel ; a space, according 
 to Hales, of 470 years, but Samuel seems chiefly to have 
 confined himself to the office of a prophet during the latter 
 part of his life. 
 
 In the first Book of Samuel, the appointment of Saul, the 
 first king, is recorded, and the circumstances are minutely 
 related. It was plainly stated that the desiring of a king 
 was displeasing to the Lord, for it was in effect casting off 
 the rule of Jehovah, and ending the theocracy. It had, 
 however, been foreseen and provided for, Deut. x\ii, 14-20. 
 The first appointment showed the people the evil of their 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 357 
 
 wishes, but it was afterwards ovemiled for good. The royal 
 power continued in the family of Da\nd until the captivity, 
 and from this line of earthly monarchs our blessed Saviour, 
 according to the flesh, descended. 
 
 Laws were provided especially for the guidance of the 
 kings, but they were soon departed from. According to the 
 neglect or observance of these precepts, the king and the 
 people suffered or prospered. Though in many respects 
 absolute, the kings could not depart from or change the law. 
 Thus even Ahab could not compel Naboth to break the 
 law of Jehovah, and could only put him to death by means 
 of a false charge against him, 1 Kings xxii. The monarchs 
 were the vicegerents of Jehovah, bound to consult him 
 through the high priest on all occasions of emergency, and 
 limited by the revelations and precepts of God. Nor were 
 they permitted to take the office of ministers on themselves 
 in affairs relating to religious worship ; for doing this, Saul 
 was found guilty of his second act of disobedience. King 
 Uzziah also was struck with leprosy when thus engaged. 
 Our Lord Jesus Christ alone is at once the King, the Pro- 
 phet, and the Priest of his obedient people, and by his one 
 offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. 
 
 Saul's inauguration was not attended with any pomp or 
 splendor, nor was any provision made for his administra- 
 tion ; but when settled on the throne, he seems to have taken 
 whatever he thought desirable. Such is the character of 
 any government when first adopted, among a people of sim- 
 ple habits. Many in the present day will be aware that 
 the natives of the South Sea Islands, before the introduc- 
 tion of a regular system of law and government, were often 
 required to yield their property to those who possessed 
 power ; and that a queen among them, who had been con- 
 verted to Christianity, owned that " it was not right to take 
 a little man's tree without his permission," and sent him a 
 present as an equivalent for the loss which had been inflict- 
 ed on him by her attendants. 
 
 There is no express statement in the history of the kings 
 of Israel, as to the amount of their revenues, but these ap- 
 pear to have been chiefly paid in kind, as is still the case in 
 the court of Abyssinia. Voluntary offerings and presents 
 were frequently made, 1 Sam. ix, 27. Lands formerly un- 
 cultivated or confiscated, became annexed to the crown, and 
 
858 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 were given as rewards to the servants of the kings, 1 Sam. 
 viii, 14 ; xxii, 1 ; while foreign tribute and commerce were 
 afterwards added to their resources, 2 Sam. viii ; 1 Kings 
 X, 28, 29. It is evident, however, that the greatest mon- 
 archs took much interest in what would now be called 
 farming, 1 Chron. xxvii, 26-31 ; 2 Chron. xxvi, 10; Amos 
 vii, 1 ; Prov. xxvii, 23-27. 
 
 The worst feature in the conduct of Saul was his self- 
 will. He forgot the true character of God, the Supreme 
 Ruler of Israel, and aimed at being an independent monarch, 
 after the manner of the nations. He did not lay aside the 
 worship of Jehovah, but he failed in obedience to the 
 Divine command, and for this he was set aside, 1 Sam. xv, 
 22, 23. In the same spirit, he sought to slay David. His 
 son, Jonathan, showed more submission to the will of God, 
 to which his noble disinterested friendship for David is to 
 be traced, and it may therefore be observed that he better 
 understood that Israel was a theocracy, — a government 
 under the immediate direction of the Lord. The people 
 were left for some time to a king after their own heart, 
 Hos. xiii, 11. Even after the death of Saul, for awhile they 
 rebelled against the word of God, 2 Sam. v, 2. In all this 
 David was a type of Christ the Lord, who reigns as a king 
 over those that once rejected him. Many passages in the 
 Psalms are spoken with this two-fold signification ; for in- 
 stance, Psa. xviii ; Ixxxix, 20-35 ; cxxxii, 17, 18. Nor must 
 the important prophecy and promise contained in 2 Sam. vii, 
 be here unnoticed. 
 
 David's government was more agreeable to the principles 
 of the Divine law than that of his predecessor, but in some 
 respects it seems to have pressed upon the people. Solo- 
 mon's rule was still more oppressive. The separation of 
 Israel and Judah into two distinct kingdoms may be traced 
 to several anterior events. As it has been observed, from 
 the very beginning of the Israelitish nation the two tribes 
 of Judah and Ephraim had disputed the pre-eminence. 
 The former flourished in the number of its families, as well 
 as in its power and wealth, being allied to the Pharaohs in 
 Egypt, 1 Chron. iv, 19; v, 2. Judah also marched first 
 in the sojourning in the desert, and reckoned upon a do- 
 minion which had been promised. Gen. xlix, 10. The 
 other, Ephraim, depended on the great name of Joseph, 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 359 
 
 and the blessing pronounced by Jacob, 1 Chron. v, 2 ; Gen. 
 xlviii, 5-19; became powerful in Egypt, 1 Chron. vii, 24; 
 and afterwards increased in strength and prosperity. Josh, 
 xvii, 14 ; Judg. i, 35. These tribes were also among the 
 first to receive their allotments, when the land was divided. 
 Josh, xviii, 2. In after years, the tribe of Ephraim was 
 distinguished for its turbulent and warlike spirit, Judg. viii, 1 , 
 and xii, 1-4. That of Judah was probably more disposed 
 for peace, Judg. xv, 11. It is not mentioned in the his- 
 tories of Deborah or of Gideon. The elevation of David 
 completed the mortification of Ephraim, and the northern 
 tribes ; and it is remarkable that during his long continued 
 wanderings, he never quitted the territories of Judah and 
 Benjamin, On the death of Saul two thrones existed for a 
 time. David felt his weakness, 2 Sam. iii, 39. The choice 
 of Jerusalem, for the capital and centre of worship, mstead 
 of Shiloh, could not but displease the tribe of Ephraim, 
 Psalm Ixxviii, 6Y, 68. Afterwards a small spark kindled a 
 flame, which Sheba knew how to excite, in the northern 
 tribes, 2 Sam. xix, 41 ; xx, 1. Finally the privileges en- 
 joyed by the tribe of Judah, and the advantages of their 
 situation for commerce with Egypt, Idumea, and Arabia, 
 with the intrigues of Jeroboam, (1 Kings xi, 2Y, 28,) pro- 
 duced the revolution which broke out upon the death of 
 Solomon, 1 Kings xii. 
 
 All this, however, was wisely overruled for good. The 
 change was not made until the Mosaic law had subsisted 
 for some time, under circumstances which proved that it 
 did not depend upon any human power, and the revolt was 
 expressly spoken of as being permitted by God, (1 Kings 
 xii, 24, and xiv, 8,) for wise reasons ; for instance, the pre- 
 venting the entire prevalence of idolatry and corruption in 
 the descendants of Israel, 2 Chron. xi, 13-17. This was 
 still more evident in after times, 2 Chron. xxx, 6 ; xxxiv, 33; 
 Hosea xi, 12 ; Amos vii, 12. The kingdom of Judah be- 
 came a place of refuge for those who were piously disposed, 
 and its inhabitants were often warned to avoid the example 
 of their neighbors. In some respects, the effect would be 
 similar to that produced in our own land and elsewhere, by 
 the removals of Protestants under persecution, from one 
 coimtry to another, which has undoubtedly been useful in 
 keepmg alive a sense of the dangers and errors of Popery. 
 
860 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 There might even have been seasons of temporary reformation 
 in Israel, when the prospects of true rehgion in Judah were 
 discouraging, but the reverse was far more commonly the case. 
 
 Through the history of the kings, there are many par- 
 ticulars which show that the monarchy was limited in 
 power, although the king was in many respects absolute. 
 The courts of Europe, in ancient times, resembled Eastern 
 courts much more than they do under modern arrangements. 
 Thousands of followers are supported, hence large supplies 
 of provisions are needed, 1 Kings iv, 22, 23. The king sits 
 in the midst of his nobles in regular pomp, and is rarely 
 seen by the mass of his people. " Seeing the king" is often 
 spoken of in Scripture as an especial privilege. (See Isa. 
 xxxiii, 11; Matt, xviii, 10.) The prostrations which were 
 usual on entering the royal presence, are frequently referred 
 to, 1 Sam. xxiv, 8; Matt, ii, 11. But in this respect, the 
 Jews avoided otfering the idolatrous homage common among 
 heathen nations, Esth. iii, 2. The Eastern sovereigns were, 
 and still are, fond of appearing in splendid robes, and adorned 
 with jewels. Acts xii, 21 ; Esth. vi, 8, 9 ; 1 Kings xxii, 10. 
 The kings of Persia are described as choosing those apart- 
 ments for the reception of ambassadors, in which, according 
 to the season, the light will best display their magnificence. 
 These points, however, belong rather to the "Manners 
 AND Customs of the Jews," as to which many particulars 
 may be found in pages 28, 36, 51. 
 
 The principal officers or persons about the king were, the 
 prime minister, literally the second to the monarch, 1 Sam. 
 xxiii, 17 ; 2 Chron. xxviii, 7. The royal counselors, 1 Kings 
 xii, 6 ; Isa. iii, 3 ; Jer. xxvi, 11. The recorder or chronicler, 
 an office of some importance in days when reading and 
 writing were comparatively little known, 2 Sam. viii, 1 6 ; 
 1 Kings iv, 3 ; 2 Kings xviii, 18. See also Esth. vi, 1, and 
 X, 2. The scribe, or secretary of state, who wrote from the 
 dictation of the monarch, 2 Sam. viii, 17, and xx, 25 ; Isa. 
 XXX vi, 3. The prophets also, and the high priests, were fre- 
 quently admitted, as being commissioned from God. This 
 is plain throughout the history of David and his successors. 
 Also the governor of the household may be mentioned, 
 1 Kings xviii, 3 ; 2 Kings xviii, 18 ; Isa. xxii, 22. The king 
 had the power of issuing edicts or laws, in doing which he 
 generally took the advice of his counselors, Jen xxxvi, xxxviii. 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 361 
 
 But these were not to supersede the written law, as record- 
 ed by Moses ; the royal edicts ought to have carried out the 
 same principles, Deut. xvii, 18, 19. Yet how often was 
 the law forgotten. We read, 2 Kings xxii, of the just con- 
 sternation of Josiah, when a copy of the law was found, at 
 discovering how widely he and his people had departed 
 from its precepts. He then purged the temple of its sym- 
 bols of idolatrous worship, and burned the vessels used in 
 the service of Baal. The sins of Israel had already brought 
 down the judgments threatened against them, and now the 
 iniquity of Judah was fast involving them in the like ruin, 
 2 Kings xvii, 18-23. Before forty years more had elapsed, 
 the land was left " utterly desolate and utterly spoiled, for 
 the Lord had spoken the word, ' to rest and enjoy her Sab- 
 baths ;' " according to the emphatic language of Moses, " be- 
 cause it did not rest in your Sabbaths when ye dwelt upon 
 it." The utter desolation that followed, is strikingly de- 
 scribed by Isaiah, ch. ix, 18, 19. 
 
 " For wickedness burneth as the fire, 
 It shall devour the briers and thorns, 
 And shall kindle in the thickets of the forest. 
 And they shall mount up, like the lifting up of smoke. 
 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, 
 And the people shall be as the fuel of the fire." 
 
 It is sufficient to state, that the banished Jews were, 
 after a time at least, treated rather as colonists than slaves, 
 so that many, perhaps most of them, remained behind. 
 They had a ruler and magistrates from their own number, 
 with power to judge and punish, as appears from the apo- 
 cryphal history of Susanna. Those who returned to their 
 own land were governed by Zerubbabel or Sheshbazzar, 
 and Joshua the high priest, (Ezra ii, 8, and iv, 3 ; Hag. ii, 4, 
 and Zech. iii, 8, and iv, 6,) and afterwards by Ezra and 
 Nehemiah, whose proceedings are particularly recorded. 
 With their histories the Old Testament closes, giving indi- 
 cations which confirm the accounts of uninspired writers, 
 that the Jews were subject to the Roman government, as 
 well as to the earlier monarchs of Persia and Syria. The 
 high priests exercised the authority, both civil and ecclesi- 
 astical, assisted by the council of the Sanhedrim, whose 
 power was increased and established, so that the govern- 
 ment was in fact an oligarchy, being vested in a few chief 
 leaders. .-^ ^ivi 
 
 16 
 
362 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 The oppressions of the Syrian rulers led to attempts at 
 self-defense, and the rising of the Maccabees, after three 
 hundred years had passed, who, in some respects, imitated 
 the proceedings of the judges of old. That house governed 
 for one hundred and twenty-six years, until the dispute 
 between Hyrcanus and his brother Aristobulus, led to the 
 subjugation of Judea under the power of the Romans, who 
 continued Hyrcanus in his office as high priest, but gave 
 the government to Antipater, an Idumsean proselyte. He 
 was succeeded by his son Herod, in whose family the chief 
 power remained until it was taken from them and given to 
 a Roman deputy. The true Shiloh, the Prince of Peace, 
 even the Lord Jesus Christ, had now come, and the sceptre 
 was departed from Judah. Even this slight reference 
 to the history of preceding times will show that the faith 
 of true believers among the Jews, in all ages, had respect 
 to the promised Messiah, the only Mediator between God 
 and man. 
 
 " E'en they who dragg'd to Shinar's fiery sand, 
 Till'd with reluctant strength the stranger's land ; 
 Who sadly told the slow revolving years, 
 And steep'd the captive's bitter bread in tears, — 
 Would oft awake to chant their future fame, 
 And from the skies their lingering Saviour claim. 
 His promised aid could every fear control, 
 This nerved the warrior's heart, this steel'dthe martyr's soul." 
 
 Such has not been the case with their descendants in 
 later ages, during the centuries that have elapsed since the 
 Romans destroyed their city, A. D. VO. Time would fail to 
 tell the ridiculous and blasphemous legends which have 
 gained credence among the Rabbinical Jews, and which 
 describe the Almighty God as existing in a human form ; — 
 as playing with the leviathan ; as daily occupied in studying 
 the law ; in administering justice, — and providing food for 
 mankind, according to certain fixed rules; as weeping, 
 groaning, and roaring, interpreting literally the figurative 
 style of prophecy ; and taking little or no care of the Gen- 
 tile world. All these wrong notions may be fitly summed 
 up in one sentence of the Psalmist, " Thou thoughtest that 
 I was altogether such a one as thyself, but I will reprove 
 thee." The false and wicked traditions of the rabbins 
 respecting the history of our blessed Redeemer are best 
 suppressed. The Jewish views as to a future state are also 
 gross and sensual, and closely allied to the fables of Mo- 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 363 
 
 hammedanism, rather than to the representations of Scrip- 
 ture, Psa. xvii, 15 ; xlix, 15 ; Isa. xxxiii, 17-24. 
 
 The Roman government was in many respects oppres- 
 sive to the Jewish nation, but it was their own continued 
 obstinacy and willful rejection of Christ and his salvation 
 which hastened their destruction. Being now left to them- 
 selves, they became a prey to the sinful dissensions and 
 excesses which ended in the ruin of their city and temple, 
 A. D. 10. After the destruction of Jerusalem, the Sanhe- 
 drim, or Jewish council, continued to exist. It was settled 
 at Tiberias, and governed the people by its influence, draw- 
 ing still closer the bondage of traditional observances which 
 took the place of the temple worship and sacrifices, the 
 chief rabbi ruling the nation instead of the high priest. The 
 Eastern Jews afterwards chose another head, whom they 
 termed the Prince of the captivity, and, in secret, the de- 
 struction of their enemies was predicted, by the name of 
 the Edomites. But our limits forbid any attempt to trace 
 the varying fortunes of the Jews who were dispersed 
 throughout the Roman empire, and have remained scat- 
 tered to the present time. 
 
 The regular establishment of synagogues, wherever the 
 Jews have been allowed to settle, has formed particular 
 points for union and intercourse through the whole commu- 
 nity ; while their regular maintenance of men learned in the 
 law, to keep up a course of instruction for youth, has also 
 preserved them separate from the people among whom 
 they dwelt. Every duty and pursuit of life, every hour of 
 the day, was subjected to some special observance ; among 
 which, daily lamentations for the degraded state of their 
 nation assisted in keeping up the distinction by which the 
 Jew was still held in subjection to his spiritual guides. 
 About A. D. 260, the Mishna, or written code of traditional 
 law, proceeded from the school of Tiberias, and by furnish- 
 ing interpretations to the Mosaic law, supplied a new code 
 to the Jewish nation, which itself was not long afterwards 
 overlaid by the Gemara, a sort of additional code ; these 
 together composing the Talmud, and containing a set of 
 adjudged rules or cases to guide or mislead the Jews still 
 farther from the principles of Scripture. In later times, 
 many of the Jews have cast off this mental bondage ; and 
 while some have resolved to keep close to the Old Testa- 
 
364 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 1 
 
 ment alone, and are thus placed within the reach of the 
 efforts of Chi-istian friends, like the scribe to whom Jesus 
 could say, " Thou art not far from the kingdom of God," 
 Mark xii, 34 ; others have quite renounced all religious pro- 
 fessions, and devoted themselves to the cares and pleasures 
 of this life, like too many of the nominal Christians around 
 them. This is very much the case where Popery and irreli- 
 gion prevail ; and the expression, *' he lives like a Chris- 
 tian," has become proverbial among the more rigid, to 
 denote a profligate and irrehgious character. This state of 
 carelessness is common, though not peculiar to the Jews 
 now settled in England. Until the last few years the Jews 
 of Poland and Germany were far superior to most of their 
 brethren in strictness and outward decorum, and some of 
 the most bigoted still continue to reside in those lands. 
 Further particulars as to the modem descendants of Israel 
 may be found in a little work entitled " The Jew in all 
 Nations," published at our Book-Room.* 
 
 Having lost the fear of God, they are enslaved to the 
 dread of evil spirits, who, they say, are constantly exerting 
 influence to injure them, and regularly frequent the syna- 
 gogues to hear sermons. They believe that if they do not 
 rise betimes in the morning, and immediately wash them- 
 selves, the evil spirits are sure to get hold upon them ; for 
 their prayers have only power to keep these enemies in 
 check for a certain number of hours. AH these rules show 
 that they trust to their own strength, and they have also 
 many charms and " curious arts," which are foolishly sup- 
 posed to be useful. 
 
 The condition of Jewish females is especially degraded. 
 They are not always, even in the present day, taught to 
 read, for it is considered unnecessary for them to study the 
 law. In the synagogues, also, the women are confined to 
 their own latticed gallery, and can see or hear little of the 
 public worship below. How different from the direction of 
 Moses, Deut. xxxi, 12. The male children begin to learn 
 the Hebrew text at five years ; but, from the age of ten, the 
 Talmud and its commentaries are chiefly studied. 
 
 Although the labors of Christian ministers and teachers 
 among the Jews have, in many cases, been crowned with 
 success ; yet still, as a body, they remain insensible to the 
 
 * No. 307 Youth's Library. 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 365 
 
 sin of their nation in crucifying the Lord of glory, and 
 rather regard their dispersed and wretched state as a pun- 
 ishment for other offenses. They continue to await the 
 coming of the Messiah, who, as some of them say, is sitting 
 in disguise as a beggar at the gates of Rome. Others look 
 for two Messiahs, the one suffering and the other triumph- 
 ant. Thus the children of Israel have abode many days 
 without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacri- 
 fice : but they shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the 
 latter days. On the annual return of the date of the de- 
 struction of their temple, some of the Jews have long been 
 accustomed to assemble near its site, to mourn over its 
 ruins, and read the Book of Lamentations. To this occa- 
 sion the following lines refer : — 
 
 " Where yon sad ruin crowns Moriah's steep, 
 Thy humble remnant, Judah ! sit and weep. 
 Thy gathering thousands press the hallow'd ground ; 
 Bare are their feet, their loins with sackcloth bound. 
 The book of sorrows to their hearts they press, 
 And tears and songs bewail their deep distress. 
 Yet hark again ! amidst their stifling sighs, 
 A louder, loftier chant begins to rise ; 
 The voice of prayer cheers Judah's weeping throng. 
 Faith warms the strain, and hope renews the song." 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 COURTS OF JUSTICE. 
 
 While mankind remained in the small divisions of families 
 or tribes, the father of the family, or head of the tribe, 
 possessed and exercised the authority of a judge. All 
 quarrels or complaints would be brought before him, or de- 
 cided by him as the legal ruler. When these bodies of men 
 became more numerous, or the head proved infirm, others 
 would be appointed to discharge his duties, which, by de- 
 grees, in every community, led to some method for the re- 
 gular administration of justice. In the patriarchal times, 
 we find many proofs that matters were thus decided ; and 
 when the first stage of society was passed, it appears that 
 judgment was regularly given in public, usually at the gate 
 of the city, which was the place of chief resort and passage. 
 All public business in the East seems to have been trans- 
 
366 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 acted there, for which purpose spaces were left at the gate, 
 where buildings were often erected. Abraham bargained 
 for his purchase of a sepulchre at the gate of the city of 
 Hebron, Gen. xxiii, 10. Hamor and his son negotiated 
 with Jacob and his sons at the gate of the city, Gen. 
 xxxiv, 24. The transaction between Boaz and the nearer 
 kinsman of Ruth was at the gate of Bethlehem. 
 
 This explains Job v, 4, where the children of the wicked 
 are said to be crushed in the gate, and Psalm cxxvii, 3, 
 where it is said of those blessed with families, that they 
 shall not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies 
 in the gate. Also Prov. xxii, 22, — 'Neither oppress the 
 afflicted in the gate ; and Lam. v, 14, — The elders have ceased 
 from the gate. Many consider that our Lord makes allu- 
 sion to this, (Matt, xvi, 18,) when he says the gates of hell 
 shall not prevail against his Chm'ch. In Eastern cities 
 generally the same custom has existed. The Turkish sove- 
 reign has long been called the Porte, a name derived from 
 the performance of public business at the gate of the palace. 
 
 When the Israelites left Egypt, they had no arranged 
 system for the administration of justice, which doubtless 
 had been carried before the Egyptian tribunals. All mat- 
 ters and disputes, therefore, were brought before Moses, 
 who devoted much of his time to settle them. But it was 
 obvious that some other plan must be adopted among so 
 vast a multitude. The particulars of the change are re- 
 corded, Exod. xviii. Before the Israelites entered Canaan, 
 the administration of justice there throughout the land was 
 noticed, Deut. xvi, 18, and the appointment of administra- 
 tors for every locality was an important measure. In the 
 following chapter, various provisions relative to their pro- 
 ceedings are given, with directions for obtaining further 
 judgment in matters of importance. There is no particular 
 account of them before the captivity, except in reference 
 to the proceedings of Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. xix, 8-11, 
 though at first the judges, and afterwards the kings, super- 
 intended the administration of justice in matters of difficulty. 
 Thus Deborah appears to have acted, (Judg. iv, 5,) while 
 the general administration was conducted by others, proba- 
 bly those noticed ch. v, 10. The Eastern moUahs, or men 
 of the law, have been thus distinguished in later days. 
 
 After the captivity, Ezra appointed two classes of judges, 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 367 
 
 Ezra vii, 25 ; but difficult cases were still brought before the 
 high priest or ruler, until the time of the Maccabees, when 
 a supreme tribunal was appointed. This was the Sanhedrim, 
 or great council, as it is often called in the New Testament, 
 consisting of seventy-two persons, under a president and 
 vice-president. From the time of B. C. the office of presi- 
 dent was held distinct from that of high priest, and became 
 of considerable importance. The method of appointment 
 to this council is not clearly stated, but it consisted of three 
 classes, — these were the chief priests, the elders, perhaps 
 the heads of tribes and the scribes, or men learned in the 
 law. This council appears to have sat daily, at first in a 
 room between the inner and outer courts of the temple, 
 afterwards in other places. Its authority was very great ; 
 it decided all causes brought before it from inferior courts, 
 and directed the affairs of the nation generally. Especially 
 it decided upon those who claimed to be prophets, who 
 were numerous in the latter days of the Roman state. 
 From this council a deputation was sent to John the 
 Baptist, in order to examine his pretensions and proceedings, 
 John i, 19. This council also sat upon our blessed Lord, 
 but the assembly by which he was condemned was hastily 
 and illegally summoned, and came together determined to 
 condemn him, (Matt, xxvi, 59,) seeking false witnesses to 
 give a color to their proceedings. When the Roman power 
 became paramount in Judea, the power of ordering the 
 punishment of death was taken from this assembly. The 
 stoning of Stephen was a tumultuous act, not a regular sen- 
 tence. Acts vii, 57. When the rulers were powerful and 
 arbitrary, this council could not exercise much power. 
 Under Herod, who, at the beginning of his reign, had caused 
 the whole number, except three, to be beheaded, they could 
 not act with independence. Latterly, though the Romans 
 ruled in Palestine, the Sanhedrim exercised more inde- 
 pendent authority in matters connected with the Jewish 
 privileges and religion. Thus it filled up the measure of 
 the national iniquity, by its bitter persecution of the Chris- 
 tians, of which many details are recorded in the Acts of the 
 apostles, and also in the Epistles. The seventy elders 
 chosen by Moses in the wilderness, under the Divine direc- 
 tion, seem to have been a council, or senate, that assisted 
 him in governing the people. There is no trace of theii 
 
368 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 having sat as judges, or mention of them after the arrival 
 in Canaan. 
 
 There were also smaller councils of local authority. 
 These are thought to be referred to by our blessed Lord, 
 as the judgment, Matt, v, 22. But the inferior courts of 
 judicature are not clearly described by any writers upon 
 whom reliance can be placed ; for the Talmudists are not 
 worthy of credit. However, there were judges in every 
 city and town, who were assisted by two Levites, that tribe 
 being devoted to the study of the law, and best skilled in 
 its precepts. In reference to these tribunals, great care was 
 taken to inculcate the necessity for the strict and correct 
 administration of justice and the prohibition of bribery. 
 See Exod. xxiii, 8; Lev. xix, 15; Deut. i, 17-19. They 
 were even cautioned against leaning too much to the feel- 
 ings of compassion. Lev. xix, 15. They were in fact the 
 representatives of the Most High as the Supreme Ruler, 
 and therefore must act without respect of persons. Yet 
 bribery and corruption prevailed with other evils, which the 
 prophets frequently reproved. Amos even testifies to the 
 taking a bribe so paltry as a pair of wooden sandals, ch. ii, 6. 
 The administration of justice among heathen and Moham- 
 medan nations, in the East, has usually been very corrupt, 
 and the judges have almost openly exacted bribes from the 
 parties applying to them. 
 
 There were also courts of judicature held in the syna- 
 gogues before the rulers of them, who inflicted punishment 
 by scourging. Matt, x, 17; Acts xxii, 19, 20. Something 
 of this sort still exists among the Jews, and frequently, as 
 of old, it is made the means of oppression and persecution. 
 The assemblies mentioned by St. James, (ch. ii, 2,) are con- 
 cluded to have been similar courts among the early Chris- 
 tians. The context evidently refers to matters of judgment, 
 in which the poor were oppressed, rather than to public 
 worship, though it must be admitted that too little atten- 
 tion has been given to the accommodation of the poor, even 
 in our days. There has been, however, considerable im- 
 provement in this respect in our own land. 
 
 Hired pleaders or advocates were unknown in earjy times. 
 Each man spoke in his own cause. Of this there are many 
 proofs, Prov. xviii, 17; 2 Sam. xix, 15; Jer. xxvi, 12-15; 
 but none could be stronger than that of the two mother?, 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 369 
 
 who pleaded their own causes before King Solomon, in a 
 simple and summary way, as much as, or more so than 
 would now be done in a police ojQ&ce. Sometimes a friend, 
 or even a bystander, known for liis wisdom, might be asked 
 to assist, Job xxix, 1-11; Isa. i, 17. The Hebrew name 
 for a widow signifies one that is dumb. But when the 
 Romans had the power, regular advocates were employed, 
 especially in matters that fell under their judicature. A 
 notable specimen of this class was Tertullus, who was 
 brought forward by the high priest to vilify the apostle 
 Paul, Acts xxiv, 1. 
 
 Complaints were first made to the judges, who sent offi-' 
 cers with the complaining party to bring the accused before 
 them. This is described by our Saviour, Matt, v, 25. In 
 the latter times, judges were attended by notaries, who 
 wrote their sentences. There is probably an allusion to this 
 before the captivity, Isa. x, 1, (margin.) The judges sat 
 while the accused stood, Matt, xxvii, 11. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 PUNISHMENTS INFLICTED AMONG THE JEWS. 
 
 The tribunals having been described, the course of pro- 
 ceeding next claims attention. The transactions of these 
 courts of judicature necessarily would be preserved in writing. 
 Josephus describes a repository at Jerusalem for such docu- 
 ments, Bell. Jud. vi, 6, 3. The tribunals were attended 
 by officers to execute their proceedings ; such are the officers. 
 Matt. V, 25. There were others, whose business it was to 
 exact the fines imposed by the tribunal, and also the tor- 
 mentors, who inflicted torture or punishments. Early in 
 the day was the lawful time for administering justice, as 
 appears from Jer. xxi, 12 : "0 house of David, thus saith 
 the Lord; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver 
 him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest 
 my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, 
 because of the evil of your doings." The Talmud states 
 that it was not lawful to proceed in the night, or to execute 
 sentences on the day they were pronounced. Neither were 
 16* 
 
370 
 
 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 sentences to be executed on festivals. All these regula- 
 tions were openly violated in the case of our blessed Lord. 
 " He was taken from prison and from judgment," Isa. liii, 8. 
 In criminal cases, one of the first proceedings was to exhort 
 the criminal to confess, if guilty. If he denied the act, the 
 accusation was gone into, and the accused was then heard. 
 Of this Nicodemus reminded the Sanhedrim, who were 
 ready to prejudge our Lord : John vii, 51 : " Doth our law 
 judge any man before it hear him, and know what he 
 doeth ?" In the last and worst times of the Jews, tlieir 
 judges did not hesitate to act with harshness towards the 
 ' accused, as in the case of our Lord, and would even cause 
 the prisoner to be silenced by blows. Thus Paul was treated. 
 Acts xxiii, 2. Such injustice is too frequently exhibited in 
 the East at the present time. 
 
 A WITNESS HOLDING UP HIS RIGHT HAND. 
 
 One peculiar manifestation of equity in the Jewish law, 
 was that regarding testimony, that there should be the con- 
 current testimony of two or three credible witnesses, Num. 
 XXXV, 30 ; Deut. xvii, 6, 7 ; xix, 25. These directions do 
 not object to the evidence of females ; nor is there reason 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 371 
 
 to suppose they were excluded, when the manner in which 
 Jewish females came forward is considered, as shown by 
 Esther, Abigail, Deborah, and others. But in later times, 
 when the nation had become more mixed up with heathen 
 Eastern nations, Josephus relates that the testimony of 
 females, as well as that of servants, was excluded. Here is 
 one instance, to which many others might be added, of the 
 advantage that females derive from regard to the precepts 
 of the Bible. Even in the present day the minds of modern 
 Jewesses appear to be in a neglected and uncultivated state. 
 
 The witness, as already stated, hstened to the adjuration 
 read, held up his right hand, and replied, Amen. This ex- 
 plains Psa. cxliv, 8 ; Lev. v, 1 ; 1 Kings viii, 31. Every 
 one solemnly adjured, by legal authority, was constrained 
 to reply : thus the Lord Jesus Christ answered to the in- 
 quiry of the high priest, " I adjure thee by the living God, 
 that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of 
 God !" " Thou hast said ; nevertheless, I say unto you, 
 Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right 
 hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." False 
 testimony was severely punished, Exod. xx, 16 ; xxiii, 1-3 ; 
 yet in evil times there was much perjury, and witnesses 
 were suborned, 1 Kings xxi, 16 ; Acts vi, 11. 
 
 At times, when there was no other means of coming to 
 a decision, casting lots was resorted to, Prov. xvi, 33 ; xviii, 
 18; 1 Sam. xiv, 41 ; Josh, vii, 16. This would generally 
 be in cases respecting property, and might arise from the 
 inquiry by Urim and Thummim, which seems to have been 
 a proceeding of this nature, to discover guilty parties, or 
 decide in doubtful cases. Written docimients were pro- 
 duced, else they would not have been taken in affairs of 
 property, Jer. xxxii, 14. The trial of the woman sus- 
 pected of adultery was an appeal of this nature, and it is 
 remarkable that a somewhat similar proceeding has been 
 found among some of the African tribes. 
 
 The most usual manner of executing criminals among the 
 Jews was by stoning ; of this there were instances in the 
 wilderness, Lev. xxiv. 14 ; Num. xv, 35. At that time 
 there were no regular executioners of the law, but the 
 whole assembly proceeded to put the sentence into execu- 
 tion. This custom was continued, the witnesses themselves 
 casting the first stone, Deut. xvii, '7. In the time of Ste- 
 
372 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 phen the witnesses threw ofif their clothes, that they might 
 be the more active in the fatal work, committing their gar- 
 ments to the care of Saul, who afterwards was known as 
 the great apostle Paul. Here also should be noticed our 
 Lord's words to the Phaiisees, respecting the woman taken 
 in adultery, John viii, 1. 
 
 It was not unfrequent for persons of rank to execute 
 criminals and prisoners : Gideon did so, (Judg. viii, 21,) 
 and perhaps Samuel, 1 Sam, xv, 33. In other cases a mili- 
 tary officer was sent to execute the prisoner. Thus Benaiah 
 put Joab and Adonijah to death. A soldier, or one of the 
 guard of Herod, was sent to behead John the Baptist. 
 Such customs still remain in the East. If the criminal were 
 in the presence of the king they covered his face, as Ha- 
 man's, (Esth. vii, 8,) and in such cases the execution often 
 immediately followed the sentence. 
 
 In the latter days of the Jewish state, the power and 
 influence of the Romans introduced many of their laws and 
 judicial practices, especially in all cases of importance. 
 
 Upon the whole, these were far more equitable than 
 those of the absolute monarchs of the East, yet corruption 
 in many instances prevailed so far as to influence their deci- 
 sions. The principle of the Roman law was the same as 
 the English. No one could be condemned before he was 
 heard. Paul reminds Lysias of this, Acts xxii, 25 ; and 
 Felix and Festus acted upon it. But that privilege was 
 restricted to Roman citizens : others were liable to caprice 
 and punishment at the will of the magistrates. Thus Paul 
 and Silas were treated at Philippi ; and it was not until 
 the judges found they were Roman citizens, that they were 
 alarmed for having so done. Acts xvi, 37. Even from the 
 courts of the provincial governors, appeal was permitted to 
 the tribunal of the emperor, for Roman citizens, not for 
 provincials or slaves. 
 
 Where the Romans settled, there they erected their tri- 
 bunals in a permanent form. That of Pilate was raised on 
 a platform, the floor ornamented with a tesselated pave- 
 ment, formed of pieces of marble or stones of various co- 
 lors, John xix, 13. Such Roman remains have repeatedly 
 been found in Britain. Observe, Pilate made at least five 
 attempts to protect Jesus from the fury of his accusers ; but 
 while this testifies to the innocence of our blessed Lord, in 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 373 
 
 whom no fault was found, it only aggravates the conduct 
 of the Roman governor, in sacrificing the innocent. He 
 feared their accusations on account of his own evil practices, 
 and therefore he sacrificed Jesus. 
 
 The Romans allowed the nations they had subjugated to 
 retain their own tribunals, as appears not only in the case 
 of the Jewish Sanhedrim, but in that of the Areopagus at 
 Athens, (Acts xvii) and the proceedings at Ephesus, 
 Acts xix. All of these seem to have been allowed full 
 liberty in the exercise of their religions. 
 
 Among the arbitrary heathens of the East, the great ob- 
 ject or design of punishment was forgotten. The good of 
 the community was less sought than executing vengeance 
 on the individual. But the reverse was manifested in the 
 Jewish law, Deut. xiii, 11; xvii, 13; xix, 20. "And all 
 Israel shall hear and fear, and shall do no more any such 
 wickedness as this is among you." This principle led to 
 the departure from the heathen practice of punishing the 
 family with the offender ; the contrary is expressly directed, 
 Deut. xxiv, 16 ; and wherever this rule appears to be de- 
 parted from, on examination there will be found reason to 
 believe that the members had been sharers in the guilt, as 
 in the case of the family of Achan, (Josh, vii,) who must 
 have been privy to his act. 
 
 The inferior punishments were the following : — 
 
 Scourging. This was the most common. St. Paul states 
 that he had endured it five times, 2 Cor. xi, 24 ; and in his 
 day it was inflicted even in the synagogues, Matt, x, 17 ; 
 xxiii, 34; Acts xxii, 19. But the law expressly provided 
 a limit to this infliction : " Forty stripes he may give him, 
 and not exceed, lest if he should exceed, and beat him 
 above these, with many stripes, then thy brother should 
 seem vile unto thee," Deut, xxv 3 ; that is, lest he should 
 be so lacerated or injured as to be despised or contempti- 
 ble. These stripes were usually inflicted by a whip with 
 three thongs, thirteen blows making up the number to 
 thirty-nine stripes ; when more severe punishment was in- 
 tended, pieces of bone, metal, or thorns, were fixed on the 
 end of the thongs. These were called scorpions, 1 Kings 
 xii, 14. The Roman scourging by rods was far more severe, 
 always disgraceful, and sometimes mortal. Christ was thus 
 scourged, John xix, 1. Paul also was beaten with rods. 
 
374 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 Retaliation was directed in certain cases of personal in- 
 jury, Exod. xxi, 24 ; but other satisfaction was usually pro- 
 vided, if the injured person would accept it. Afterwards 
 this law was perverted by the Jews to justify personal re- 
 venge. Matt. V, 39. 
 
 Restitution was for injuries done to the property of 
 others, either unintentional or designed. In the latter case, 
 corporal punishment was sometimes added. See Lev. 
 xxiv, 18; Exod. xxi, 32-36, and xxii, 7-9. A law was 
 made in reference to damage caused by fire, Exod. xxii, 6 ; 
 this was evidently prospective, as they were then in the 
 wilderness. Fines were sometimes fixed, Deut. xxii, 19-29 ; 
 at other times they were left to the will of the judge, 
 Exod. xxi, 32. The sin and trespass-offerings, Lev. iv, and 
 vi, were also, in some respects, fines, and appHed to injuries 
 of this nature. Compensation was permitted, but forbid- 
 den where Hfe was lost, Exod. xxi, 28-30. 
 
 Imprisonment, as a punishment, was early in use among 
 the Egyptians, Gen. xxxix and xl ; but is not directed by 
 the Jewish law. The prisoner, however, was kept in cus- 
 tody until his trial, Lev. xxiv, 12 ; Num. xv, 34 ; and sub- 
 sequently this seems to have been a punishment, Jer. 
 xxxvii, 15 ; 2 Chron. xvi, 10; 1 Kings xxii, 27. In later 
 ages, John the Baptist and Peter were imprisoned, Matt, xiv, 
 and Acts xii. Debtors were prisoners, Matt, xviii, 30 ; and 
 Barabbas was kept as such, Mark xv, 6 ; but probably only 
 until trial or punishment. There was at Jerusalem a com- 
 mon prison or public jail, Acts v, 18. In the old Tes- 
 tament, names are applied to prisons. The word used 
 (Gen. xli, 15) signifies a cistern. Chains are often men- 
 tioned, Psa. cvii, 10; cxlix, 8; Jer. xl, 4; for, except 
 the dungeons, these prisons were considered to require 
 additional security. Peter was bound between two soldiers, 
 and stocks were in use. Acts xvi, 24 ; Job xiii, 27 ; xxxiii, 
 11. These stocks were often instruments of torture, like 
 those used in the bishops' prisons in the days of Popery, of 
 which the martyr Philpot could say, like the apostles in 
 former times, " God be praised that he hath thought me 
 worthy to suffer anything for his name's sake. Better it is 
 to sit in the stocks of this world, than to sit in the stocks of 
 a damnable conscience." 
 
 What rendered imprisonment most severe, was the arbi- 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 375 
 
 trary power possessed by the jailer, who, in Eastern lands, 
 is even now only responsible for the person of his prisoners. 
 He may treat them as he pleases, and this is often with great 
 harshness, unless liberal pay is given, where property or 
 wealth is supposed to exist. The horrors of the dungeon 
 are described by Jeremiah, ch. xxxvii, 16-20; and this 
 view adds force to Psa. Ixxix, 11, and cvii, 17, If the pri- 
 soners escaped, the keeper was liable to their punishment. 
 Acts xii, 1 9. This explains the alarm of the jailer. Acts xvi, 27. 
 
 Slavery was sometimes a punishment, (2 Kings iv, 1 ; 
 Exod. xxii, 3,) where restitution was required, which the 
 owner was unable to make. Severity in observing this cus- 
 tom is reproved, Neh. v, 8. 
 
 Banishment and forfeiture of property were not known 
 among the Jews until after the captivity. In earlier days, 
 when so much stress was laid upon the Jews really being 
 a separate people, the worshipers of the only true God, 
 banishment would have been worse than death, involving 
 much severity unknown to us. See 1 Sam. xxvi, 19. 
 
 Putting out the eyes, or maiming, was not allowed as a 
 punishment under the Mosaic law ; but in the arbitrary 
 reigns of evil kings it was probably introduced. It still 
 prevails in the East. Travelers have described the cruelties 
 inflicted by Achmed, called Djezzar, or the butcher, the 
 late Pasha of Acre, on his attendants, many of whom had 
 lost an eye, or ear, or an arm, others had their noses slit ; 
 nor were any means of redress open to them. Another 
 painful punishment Avas plucking the hair from the head or 
 heard. This also belonged to later times. Isa. 1, 6. 
 
 Excommunication was in fact a banishment from pri^a- 
 leges, which in case of penitence might be restored. The 
 first express mention of it is found Ezra x, 7, 8 ; Neh. 
 xiii, 5. Latterly the Jews made three distinctions in this 
 punishment. The first, Nichri, involved privations, and 
 separation from society, forbidding the culprit to approach 
 nearer than seven feet. This was the casting out of the 
 synagogue, John ix, 22 ; xvi, 2 ; Luke vi, 22 ; and remained 
 in force thirty days, unless shortened. The second, Gherem, 
 was a more severe exclusion, prohibiting the individual 
 from buying and selling, and including an anathema, that 
 is, a sentence signifying danger of death. This was awful 
 in a temporal sense, yet more so if spiritualized. Heb. vi, 8. 
 
376 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 The third description, called Maranatha, prohibited all in- 
 tercourse and communication. The name, in the Syriac 
 language, signified that the Lord would come, and that the 
 offender was to look for the day of judgment. Here Jude 
 14, 15, and 2 Thess. i, 8-10, maybe applied. The reader 
 will remember how it is said that our Lord cursed, or pro- 
 nounced sentence on, the barren fig-tree, Mark xi, 21 ; that is, 
 declared it should remain unfruitful, an emblem of the state 
 of the Jewish nation, Isa. v, 6 ; Psa, Ixxx, 12 ; Rom. xi, 20. 
 But excommunication, though at first a salutary inflic- 
 tion, became at last a terrible engine of oppression in the 
 hands of the priesthood, not only from the privations and 
 suflTerings it occasioned, but still more from the manner in 
 which it worked upon the fears and feelings. To be de- 
 voted, or accursed, delivered over to Satan, with solemn 
 imprecations and ceremonies, such as relinquishing of lights, 
 and depriving of spiritual privileges, was indeed severe. 
 The Romish priesthood, assuming power, under the Chris- 
 tian dispensation, were eager to avail themselves of it, as is 
 prophetically described. Rev. xiii, IV ; and bitter sufferings 
 were thus occasioned to the Protestants and reformers. No 
 one who reads the records of Foxe or Strype, can treat this 
 subject with indiff"erence, or wish for the restoration of such 
 proceedings as still exist where Popery is dominant, and 
 have been formerly known in England ; for, to use the words 
 of Cowper, — 
 
 " Then priests, with bulls and briefs, and shaven crowns, 
 And griping fists, and unrelenting frowns, 
 Legates and delegates with powers from hell. 
 Though heavenly in pretension, fleeced thee well ; 
 And to this hour, to keep it fresh in mind, 
 Some twigs of that old scourge are left behind." 
 
 How different from the principles of the apostles, 2 Cor. 
 i, 24 ; 1 Pet. v, 3. 
 
 The crimes which were punished with loss of life, were 
 called sins unto death, or worthy of death, 1 John v, 16 ; 
 Deut. xxi, 22. Those guilty of them were called sons of 
 death, 1 Sam. xx, 31 ; xx^d, 16 ; according to the figurative 
 style which was then common. Stoning was the usual 
 mode of putting to death, where no special method was 
 enjoined, Deut. xiii, 9, 10. It is said that the criminal was 
 placed on an elevation, thrown violently down, and stoned 
 until he was crushed by the blows. The people often 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 
 
 377 
 
 showed their eagerness to stone our Saviour and his follow- 
 ers, John viii, 59 ; x, 31 ; Acts vii, 58 ; xiv, 19 ; Mark xii, 4 ; 
 Matt, xxiii, 37. 
 
 Those slain by the sword were put to death in any way 
 the executioner thought proper, often cut down, and, as it 
 were, hacked to pieces,' 1 Kings ii, 25-34. This was for 
 blood-guiltiness. The same punishment was sometimes in- 
 flicted on whole cities, or large masses of offenders ; which 
 then assumed the form of military execution, and included 
 beheading the chief offenders. 
 
 STONING TO DEATH. 
 
 Sometimes, after stoning, the body was consumed by fire. 
 Burning alive, though very ancient, was not common. 
 Judah sentenced Tamar to it as a punishment for profligacy. 
 Gen. xxxviii, 24. Cases of a similar kind are noticed in the 
 law of Moses, Lev. xx, 14 ; xxi, 9. The fiery furnace, or pit 
 of fire, used as a punishment by the Assyrian monarch, was 
 probably resorted to in order to strike awe, Dan. iii. But 
 though unusual, the sentence was not unprecedented, the 
 furnace was " wont to be heated." 
 
 Casting down from an eminence, (Luke iv, 29,) was a 
 punishment in common use among the Romans, but not so 
 with the Jews. The death of Jezebel was most likely a 
 sudden opportune thought, 2 Kings ix, 33. Death by 
 drowning is alluded to by Christ, Matt, xviii, 6. It was 
 in use among neighboring countries, from whom the Gali- 
 leans probably adopted it. It is mentioned by Josephus, 
 as having been adopted in reference to some partisans of 
 Herod, Bruising or pounding in a mortar was an Eastern 
 
378 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 punishment, whicli is still used among the Turks, and even 
 allowed as a privilege by their lawyers. It may be alluded 
 to, Prov. xxvii, 22. 
 
 Cutting asunder was less frequent among the Jews than 
 in other Oriental nations. It is mentioned, Heb. xi, 37. 
 There is a Jewish tradition that Isaiah thus perished in the 
 reign of Manasseh. Beating to death is also referred to, 
 Heb. xi, 35. Antiochus inflicted this upon many in the 
 times of the Maccabees. Among the heathens a frequent 
 punishment was exposure to wild beasts, Dan. vi. Paul 
 refers to this, 1 Cor. xv, 32 ; 2 Tim. iv, 17. 
 
 Crucifixion was a Roman punishment, most acute and 
 painful. It consisted in fastening the sufferer to two beams 
 of wood, placed transversely, by means of nails fixed in his 
 limbs. It was rendered especially hateful to the Jews, on 
 account of the exposure of the body after death. On this 
 account, the hanging on a tree was pronounced to be ac- 
 cursed, and this rendered the death of Absalom the more 
 remarkable and ignominious, 2 Sam. xviii, 9-1 7. When, as 
 in his case, stones were heaped on the body, (Josh, vii, 25,) 
 the piles were increased by passengers throwing stones, to 
 express aversion. In very marked cases, houses were de- 
 molished, and the sites used as receptacles for filth, 2 Kings 
 ix, 27 ; Dan. ii, 5 ; v, 29. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 TREATIES, COVENANTS, AND OATHS. 
 
 Many of the Jewish laws and observances were evidently 
 designed to keep them as a separate people from the hea- 
 then nations by whom they were surrounded. Thus they 
 were kept apart, especially in the period between the re- 
 turn from the captivity until the time of Christ. Since the 
 destruction of Jerusalem, though scattered among the na- 
 tions, they have remained a distinct people ; but their ad- 
 herence to the laws requiring separation has been, in truth, 
 made void by traditionary interpretations, which have ex- 
 cited and maintained in them even hatred to Christians ; not 
 only to those who, actuated by the mistaken notions of the 
 
LAWS AND POLITY 879 
 
 Church of Rome, have persecuted the Jews, but to all who 
 diflfer from themselves, whom they call by the general name 
 of Gentiles, or Goyim, a term of reproach. The oral law of 
 the Jews, in fact, in some cases, even forbids the saving the 
 life of a Gentile, and strongly contrasts with the precepts 
 and practice of inspired men, for instance, 2 Kings vi, 22 ; 
 Jer. xxix, 7; Dan. iv, 27 ; Jonah i, 12. 
 
 Some have supposed that the Jews were forbidden, as a 
 nation, to form any alliances or treaties with the Gentiles ; 
 but this is an error, there is no law in the Pentateuch that 
 forbids such alliances. They were, indeed, directed to form 
 no treaty with the Canaanites or Amalekites. These were 
 nations devoted to destruction by the Divine judgment for 
 their sins, and the Israelites were appointed as the instru- 
 ments for executing these judgments. In Deut xxiii, 7, 8, 
 they were expressly told not to abhor the Edomites or 
 Egyptians ; though they had suffered heavy wrongs from 
 both, yet the fact of consanguinity in the one case, and that 
 of original benefits in the other, were not to be forgotten. 
 There were also many express laws in favor of strangers so- 
 journing among them. Even when engaged in the actual de- 
 struction of the Canaanites, a treaty was formed with the 
 Gibeonites, though professedly Gentiles, as a matter of 
 course, on the plea that they came from a far country. 
 Josh, ix, 19. And though this treaty was formed by de- 
 ceit, the Jews were not allowed to make it void. The 
 Gibeonites and their descendants were known as a separate 
 race for many generations, and one of the offenses of Saul, 
 for which his descendants suffered, was his breach of this 
 treaty by a massacre. 
 
 In the histories of David and Solomon there are repeated 
 references to their alliances with the kings of Tyre. The 
 former sought an alliance with the king of the Ammonites, 
 (2 Sam. X, 2,) and previously had. consented to form one 
 with the King of Hamath, 2 Sam. viii, 9. The Queen of 
 Sheba came expressly to form an alhance with Solomon. 
 Repeated treaties were made with the Syrians, Chaldeans, 
 Assyrians, and Egyptians, which were censured, not because 
 they were treaties with those nations, but because they 
 were alliances formed to obtain aid in distrust of the Divine 
 power and providential care, involving disputes with other 
 nations, not mere treaties of amity formed to regulate mutual 
 
380 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 intercourse. Even the Maccabees, whose leading principle 
 was to restore the observance of the law of Moses in its 
 strictness, did not hesitate to form treaties with the Spartans, 
 Romans, and others. 
 
 The entering upon treaties and alliances was usually at- 
 tended by some symbolical action, especially in the earliest 
 times, when writing was not generally resorted to. The 
 joining of hands was common on such occasions. Pro v. xi, 21 ; 
 Ezek. xvii, 18. This is still customary among the natives 
 of India. A pillar, or heap of stones, was sometimes erected 
 as a memorial, as that of Galeed, (Gen. xxxi, 44-54,) to 
 commemorate the treaty between Laban and Jacob, as 
 chiefs of two independent tribes or families. Sometimes a 
 gift was bestowed, as well as a commemorative name given ; 
 thus, in the treaty between Abraham and Abimelech, king 
 of Gerar, the patriarch gave seven lambs, and a well was 
 named Beersheba, or the well of the oath, to commemorate 
 the solemn treaty tjien made, Gen. xxi. A similar trans- 
 action of Isaac is recorded. Gen. xxvi. The entering into a 
 solemn league or alliance was generally confirmed by a 
 sacrifice, iq which the victim was divided into parts, between 
 which the parties agreeing used to pass, Gen. xv, 10 ; Jer. 
 xxxiv, 18. 
 
 Doubtless there was a primary allusion or appeal to that 
 Almighty Being to whom the sacrifice was offered, and also 
 a reference to the Great Sacrifice. It is supposed, also, that 
 the division of the victims was a sort of imprecation upon 
 themselves, that they might suffer in like manner if they 
 broke their oaths. The heathens, also, still observe the 
 practice of slaying a victim at the time of forming a treaty 
 or covenant. Homer describes such a ceremony, with a 
 reference to the gods of the heathens; and there are, in 
 Scripture, notices of direct imprecations, ^hich in other 
 places are understood, 2 Sam. iii, 9, 35 ; 1 Kings ii, 23 ; 
 2 Kings vi, 31 ; Gen. xiv, 22 ; Ezek. xvii, 18. 
 
 Several of the passages already cited, and others, show 
 that it was usual to feast at the conclusion of an agreement 
 or a treaty. This practice, it need hardly be said, has been 
 preserved in the public entertainments usual on such occa- 
 sions in civilized nations. But a far more beautiful emblem 
 was the peace-offering, at which the people feasted in token 
 of reconciliation with God, Deut. xii, 6, 7. Thus, at the 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 381 
 
 renewal of the public worship of the Jews, after the Baby- 
 lonish captivity, Nehemiah and Ezra called upon the mass 
 of the people to eat the fat and drink the sweet, and send 
 portions unto them for whom nothing was prepared. This 
 spirit of grateful enjoyment and temperate mirth was con- 
 nected with all the Jewish festivals, of which a full descrip- 
 tion is given in Lev. xxiii. The feast of the passover, espe- 
 cially, was a type of the full atonement which Christ has 
 made for all who feed on him in their hearts by faith, with 
 thanksgiving, and are thus delivered from a worse than 
 Egyptian bondage. At that festival the blood was sprinkled 
 on the door-posts ; and often the parties making covenants 
 were sprinkled with the blood of the victims slain on that 
 occasion : this was also done to the Jewish priests, as well 
 as to the altar, on the day of their consecration. St, Paul 
 explains the gospel meaning of these observances. Heb. 
 ix, 20. 
 
 Many other Scriptural emblems of the confirmation of 
 covenants may also be traced. The rainbow (Gen, ix, 12) 
 was a token of the covenant which God has made with 
 every living creature. Isa. liv, 8, 9, shows that this may 
 be spiritualized by the people of God. 
 
 " Although in deepest gloom our sky 
 Affliction may enshroud, 
 Still faith discerns with piercing eye 
 A bow set in the cloud !" 
 
 The rite of circumcision (Gen. xvii, 9-11) was the token 
 of the covenant between God and the descendants of Abra- 
 ham. Our Lord Jesus Christ also directed that bread and 
 wine should be used in remembrance of him, Matt, xxvi, 
 26-28. The former symbohzes his body broken for us ; the 
 latter his blood shed to make atonement for the remission 
 of our sins, because, without shedding of blood there is no 
 remission of sin, Heb, ix, 20; xiii, 12. 
 
 There are instances in Scripture of the bestowing of gar- 
 ments as a token of covenant. Thus Jonathan clothed 
 David, 1 Sam. xviii, 4 ; see also Ezek. xvi, 8, 9 ; Gen. 
 xxiv, 53. Modern travelers have recorded instances of a 
 similar kind. 
 
 A covenant of salt is mentioned. Num. xviii, 19 ; 2 Chron. 
 xiii, 5. The well-known property of salt is to preserve 
 from decay ; hence it became an emblem of enduring friend- 
 
382 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 • ship or agreement. The Jews were accustomed to use salt 
 in all their sacrifices, Lev. ii, 13. This was also customary 
 with the heathens, as Virgil describes, being doubtless de- 
 rived from the Patriarchs. The eatino^ salt together was, 
 and still is considered in the East, as forming a mutual en- 
 gagement, or friendship. Thus, in referring to benefits for- 
 merly received, the expression, "The salt which he had 
 eaten," is used by an Eastern chief as striking a rebel with 
 remorse. Even the performance of the most common 
 duties of hospitality is considered to establish friendly inter- 
 course, Psa. xli, 9. 
 
 Presents were frequently bestowed as ratifications. Thus 
 Jacob sought the favor of Esau, Gen. xxxii, 20. Rabsha- 
 keh invited the Jews (2 Kings xviii, 31) to make an agree- 
 ment with him by way of a present, as the token of a treaty 
 for their safety. 
 
 In later days, the terms of treaties were expressly re- 
 corded in writing. This was still more the case after the 
 captivity. Josephus speaks of the brazen tablets used by 
 the Romans. Solemn adjurations were added. In the 
 covenants between Jehovah and his people, it is expressly 
 declared (Heb. vi, 13) that because he could swear by no 
 greater, he swore by himself. The party making the oath 
 raised the hand towards heaven. Thus Abraham speaks 
 of lifting up his hand, (Gen. xiv, 22, 23,) in the first book 
 of Scripture ; and in the last book (Rev. x, 5) the mighty 
 angel is thus described. The form of putting the hand 
 under the thigh of a superior, (Gen. xxiv, 2,) may probably 
 have given rise to the feudal custom of putting the hands 
 between the knees. There were similar observances in mat- 
 ters of common life, but these need not be noticed here. 
 
 In solemn trials, before a judge, the oath was taken by 
 the judge or officer, repeating it in form, and the person to 
 whom it was put answering. Amen, Amen, so let it be, or 
 Thou hast said it, or other words of like import. Num. v, 
 19-22 ; 1 Kings ii, 16 ; Deut. xxvii, 15, 16. At other 
 times only the judge or presiding party solemnly adjured. 
 Num. v, 22 ; Matt, xxvi, 64. A false oath was a grievous 
 crime, especially denounced by the ninth commandment. 
 Even where the breach was less direct, a trespass-offering 
 was required. Lev. v, 4 ; vi, 3; xix, 12. Here every at- 
 tempt to avoid the constraining power of a solemn oath was 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 388 
 
 included. In later times the Jews adopted many evasions 
 in order to get rid of this powerful engagement, or to turn 
 it to their own advantage ; and their rabbins, like the Romish 
 priesthood, assumed the power of absolving or dispens- 
 ing from its solemn obligations. But the original view, 
 even from patriarchal usage, is fully described by Balaam, 
 Num. xxxiii, 19. It is indeed a solemn thing to make an 
 oath, and the levity with which it is often done cannot be 
 too much condemned. It is in fact an act of religious wor- 
 ship, or reverence, to which our Lord himself, as man, 
 submitted. Matt, xxvi, 64. Paul also gave an example of 
 it more than once, Rom. ix, 1 ; 2 Cor. i, 23. There were 
 other adjurations of a lower grade, common chiefly among 
 the heathens. Gen. xlii, 16:1 Sam. xvii, 55 ; xxv, 26-; 
 2 Sam. xi, 11. "By your life," or " On my head," and 
 other similar expressions, are still common in the East. A 
 still lower form was that used in Sol. Song ii, 7, " By the 
 beasts of the field." All these expressions tended to lighten 
 the solemn obligations of an oath, and to lessen the abhor- 
 rence of perjury. Our blessed Lord swept them all away. 
 Matt. V, 34 ; xxiii, 26 ; Jas. v, 12. 
 
 These details have led from the main subject, — that the 
 Jews did form treaties with other nations, and that these 
 were not forbidden or sinful, if they only extended to lawful 
 intercourse, or the preservation of national rights and privi- 
 leges. The most prosperous days of the Jews were days 
 of peace, and peace cannot exist among nations without ex- 
 press treaties, the terms of which have been either directly 
 negotiated, or are clearly understood. The treaties of Solo- 
 mon with Tyre and Egypt are not censured, and they evi- 
 dently were commercial treaties, proceeding on specified 
 terms. Unless such a practice had been allowed, the Jews 
 would have been in the condition of the Arabs, — their 
 hand against every man, and every man's hand against 
 them, Gen. xvi, 12 ; but this never was the design of the 
 Almighty, and doubtless the alliances of the Jews with 
 other nations were in some cases overruled by God for the 
 promotion of true religion. The wisest and best of the 
 ancient heathens had some correct notions respecting God, 
 which must have been derived either from patriarchal tra- 
 ditions, or from intercourse with the Hebrew nation. This 
 was especially the case between their return from the 
 
384 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 Babylonish captivity and the date of the birth of Christ, 
 at which time there was a general expectation throughout 
 the world of the coming of some illustrious prince. At 
 the time of the advent of the Saviour there was outward 
 peace at least throughout the earth, the Roman empire 
 having more or less subdued beneath its sway all the na- 
 tions of the known world, which rendered it comparatively 
 easy to preach the gospel among them. The Greek prose- 
 lytes, who came to worship at Jerusalem, had heard of the 
 fame of Jesus, John xii, 19-21 ; and the dispersion of the 
 Jews in distant lands, which prevented many of them from 
 the strict observance of the ceremonial laws, was hkely to 
 prepare them for learning of the better and more perfect 
 righteousness, which was to be brought in by the Mediator 
 of the New Covenant, or Testament, Heb. vii, 22 ; viii, 6. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 WARFARE. — MILITARY AFFAIRS. 
 
 The reader will not expect to find much in this work 
 about wars and military proceedings ; but there are some 
 allusions to those subjects in the Bible which must not be 
 passed by. In the Books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, 
 and Chronicles, there are many accounts of battles and war- 
 fare. We find, in general, that those who are described as 
 good characters stood upon their own defense, while the 
 kings who first attacked others were bad characters. Of 
 course, we do not here refer to the conquest of Canaan by 
 Joshua. We are expressly told that the inhabitants of that 
 land were exceedingly wicked, and that God saw it need- 
 ful they should be destroyed, and the Israelites were the 
 executioners of this just sentence, Gen. xv, 16; Exod. 
 xxxiv, 10-17 ; Lev. xx, 23 ; Deut. xii, 29-31 ; Josh, xxiv, 11. 
 We may observe, that, when attacked by their enemies, 
 the true followers of the Lord, while they exerted them- 
 selves, did not trust in an arm of flesh. They looked to the 
 Lord of hosts earnestly in prayer, for a blessing on their 
 arms. Thus Moses, when the Israelites were attacked by 
 the Amalekites, Exod. xvii, 11 ; David, 1 Sam. xvii, 37 ; 
 2 Sam. V, 19; Abijah, 2 Chron. xiii, 5, 12, 14; Asa, 
 2*Chron. xiv, 11; Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. xx ; Hezekiah, 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 
 
 385 
 
 EASTERN SOLDIERS, 
 
 2 Kings xix. Other instances might be mentioned ; Ezra 
 viii, 21-23, must not be forgotten. 
 
 The walls of Jerusalem are spoken of in many places. In 
 the Book of Nehemiah we read of the care that was taken 
 to repair them after the return from the captivity. The walls 
 of Babylon were sixty miles in circuit, nearly ninety feet 
 broad, and three hundred and fifty feet high. Not a decided 
 trace can now be found of these immense masses. Fortified 
 towns were attacked by battering-rams, and other engines 
 of war, (2 Sam. xx, 15,) or by building forts to shelter the 
 besiegers, 2 Kings xxv, 1. Fortified towers are often men- 
 tioned in Scripture, Judg. ix, 51. There also were towers 
 in their vineyards and gardens, to defend the property 
 against robbers, Isa. v, 2 ; Mat?t. xxi, 33 ; Cant, vii, 4. 
 Such are now found in the East. The tops of craggy 
 rocks were often fortified, Gen. xxv, 16 ; Judg. xx, 47 ; 
 1 Sam. xiv, 4. The strongholds were rocks, or more fre- 
 quently caves, 1 Sam. xxiii, 29 ; xxiv, 2, 3. Flying to 
 hills and mountains for refuge is often mentioned in 
 Scripture. 
 
 Our readers will remember, that gunpowder was not dis- 
 covered till a few hundred years ago ; consequently, fire-arms 
 and cannon were not known in ancient warfare. The mis- 
 17 
 
386 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 sile weapons then used were darts and javelins, thrown by 
 the hand or by engines : also bows and arrows, and stones, 
 thrown by . slings or machines. Those used by Uzziah, 
 (2 Chron. xxvi, 15,) must have been similar. Arrows are 
 very often mentioned in Scripture. As for slings, the 
 reader will at once remember David's encounter with Go- 
 liath, (1 Sam. xvii,) and how God enabled David to prevail, 
 with a few smooth pebbles gathered from the brook. But 
 sometimes stones were hurled by the hand, as those among 
 David's men, mentioned 1 Chron. xii, 2. 
 
 The numbers of the armies mentioned in the Bible often 
 seem to be very large ; but in the East there are a great 
 many servants and other followers to an army : the num- 
 bers mentioned probably include these. Also, in those 
 days, every man able to bear arms went forth to war when 
 required. Of the miseries caused by war there are many 
 striking descriptions in the Bible; perhaps none stronger 
 than that which speaks of the interference of Oded (2 Chron. 
 xxviii) in behalf of the people of Judah when taken captive ; 
 see also Deut. xxviii, 49-58. 
 
 Though the Bible contains many accounts of war and 
 battles, they are given in a very different manner from the 
 accounts of poets or common historians. There is nothing 
 to make war attractive, or sufficient to cast a glare over the 
 deeds of the conquerors. War, indeed, cannot be too much 
 abhorred by the real followers of Christ. Remember the 
 words of our Lord, Matt, xxvi, 52, " They that take the 
 sword shall perish with the sword." 
 
 In ancient times, the warriors wore armor made of plates 
 of metal. We read of the armor of the Philistine, and of 
 Saul, 1 Sam. xvii. But the most particular and important 
 reference to armor is Eph. vi, 11-17. The apostle there 
 speaks of the warfare in -^hich the Christian has to engage 
 against the enemies of his soul. He describes each piece 
 of armor separately, and applies it to some Christian quali- 
 fication or grace. Thus the girdle is to be truth ; the breast- 
 plate, righteousness ; the shoes, or defenses for the legs, the 
 gospel of peace ; the helmet, the hope of salvation. But 
 above, or over all, the necessity for the shield of faith is 
 described, as the means wherewith to quench the fiery darts 
 of the wicked one — the temptations and doubts of Satan. 
 The only weapon of offense appointed for the Christian is 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 
 
 387 
 
 the sword of the Spirit, " which is the word of God." 
 Now these things show us the defenses to be used by the 
 followers of Christ, and the only weapon they should em- 
 ploy to attack their adversaries — The Bible. A soldier 
 who was not skilled in the use of his sword, was very easily 
 overcome in ancient times ; so we shall do little against the 
 enemies of our souls, or the adversaries of the truth, unless 
 we are well versed in the Scriptures. In this respect every 
 Christian should be "a man of war from his youth." 
 
 The panoply, or complete armor, copied from an ancient 
 Greek vase, is here represented. See Eph. vi, 13. 
 
 The insufficiency of all human means, of armies or armor, 
 is shown in the case of Goliath, slain with a pebble from 
 the brook ; the army of Midian and others, as grass-hoppers 
 for multitude, " without number," (Judg. vi, 5,) overcome 
 by three hundred men with pitchers, torches, and trumpets ; 
 all the host of the Syrians flying at a mere noise, 2 Kings 
 vii, 6 ; and especially the destruction of 186,000 men in one 
 night, by the angel of the Lord, without a blow from any 
 mortal hand, 2 Kings xix, 36. ^ 
 
388 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 The Jewish poHty and laws respecting warfare were pe- 
 culiar to themselves, and, as well as their other institutions, 
 indicated that they were under the Divine government. 
 The object and manner of their warfare were expressly di- 
 rected, and not left to the mere will of their ruler. This is 
 the more remarkable, as their nation of old was brave, and 
 distinguished for courage and military power; though on 
 their first deliverance from Egypt they were fearful and 
 cowardly, and needed repeated encouragements, Num. 
 xxxii, 7 ; Deut. i, 29 ; Psa. xliv, 3. Still, their great an- 
 cestor, Abraham, stands in history as the chief hero in the 
 first contest upon record, and his conduct in that contest 
 was thoroughly disinterested, Gen. xiv ; — a sufficient reply 
 to those enemies of the Jewish state, who declare that no 
 act of generosity is recorded to have been performed by any 
 of their race. 
 
 The warfare of the n^ation, m its early age, was imder- 
 taken by them as executioners of the Divine justice on the 
 smful nations of Canaan, whose atrocities were such as to 
 call for their destruction. By this war they gained pos- 
 session of the land given to their forefathers, but which had 
 been usurped by the Canaanites, who were originally from 
 the borders of the Red Sea. The account of their proceed- 
 ings occupies the books of Joshua and Judges, but the 
 conflict continued until the days of David, (Acts vii, 45,) 
 whose conquests subdued the Philistines, with other ene- 
 mies, who, though not of the number of the devoted na- 
 tions, had encroached on the land, and sometimes occupied 
 it as conquerors. 
 
 In reference to these enemies, as the Moabites, Philis- 
 tines, Ammonites, and Syrians, war was never to be under- 
 taken from the mere desire of conquest, or dominion ; 
 though, when the time came, the Israelites might enlarge 
 their coasts to the hmits specified Exod. xxiii, 31 ; Num. 
 xxxiv, 3 ; which they came the nearest to in the reigns of 
 David and Solomon, 1 Kings iv, 21-24. These nations 
 might give occasion for hostilities ; when that came to pass, 
 the Israelites would proceed according to the rules recorded, 
 Deut. XX. In the first place, they were to offer terms of 
 peace, and to allow the nations to become tributary to 
 them, — or if this were refused, and a contest followed, the 
 jnen might be slain, but women and children were to be 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 389 
 
 spared, contrary to the barbarous usages then general. 
 Even this appears cruel ; but whoever recollects the events 
 of the last European war, and particularly the conduct of 
 the French armies in Spain and in Portugal, will remember 
 that, on many occasions, the most atrocious cruelties were 
 exercised on all persons without distinction. The general 
 character of the Jewish warfare is shown by the direction 
 that even in sieges unnecessary waste was to be avoided, 
 and that fruit-trees were to be spared, Deut. xx, 19, 20. 
 There were, however, instances of an opposite kind, 
 1 Chron. xx, 1 ; 2 Kings iii, 18. 
 
 The whole of the able-bodied men, from twenty to fifty 
 years of age, were liable to military service, when called 
 upon, even including the priests and Levites, Num. i, 3. 
 At the present day, in many parts of Europe, the people 
 assemble for war when called upon ; the practice in Europe, 
 in feudal times, was similar. This' accounts for the large 
 armies assembled at a short notice. All were liable to 
 serve, but when all were not wanted, a part were selected. 
 There are several instances of this, as Judg. iv, 10 ; vi, 35. 
 One of the most remarkable narrations, is that of the relief 
 of Jabesh Gilead, (1 Sam. xi, 7,) with the army which Saul 
 summoned. 
 
 Of course, these large bodies, though soon arranged 
 under leaders and captains, were little more than tumultuary 
 bodies, each man bringing his arms and provisions. Jesse 
 supplied these for his sons, 1 Sam. xvii, 17. The time 
 for being embodied was seldom long, and there were vari- 
 ous exemptions granted, — to those who had built a new 
 house, and had not dedicated it ; to those who had planted 
 vines and olives, but not eaten of their produce ; and to 
 those who had betrothed a wife, but had not yet taken her 
 home, and also for the first year after marriage, Deut. 
 XX, 5-9. Even cowards were permitted to retire, which 
 shows the peculiar character of the government. These 
 enactments were more favorable to the Jews than the cus- 
 toms of the heathens, which are alluded to by Homer. In 
 the case of Gideon, they reduced his army from 32,000 to 
 10,000, Judg. vii, 3. Afterwards a still further reduction 
 was made, that the power of Jehovah might be still more 
 remarkably manifested, and the courage and ardor of his 
 followers put to the proof. Lapping water from the hollow 
 
390 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 of the hand was considered a mark of sobriety and prompti- 
 tude. It is still common in Africa. 
 
 With the kings began the practice of a standing army, 
 1 Sam. xiii, 1. Saul had such a force, consisting of 3000 
 men. David had a body called the Cherethites and Pele- 
 thites, respecting whom little is known ; the Chaldee para- 
 phrast terms them archers and slingers, 1 Chron. xviii, 1*7. 
 They continued faithful, even in the time of Absalom's 
 rebellion. David also regulated a mihtary force on the 
 principle of a national militia, consisting of twelve bodies of 
 24,000 men each, who were on duty for a month alter- 
 nately, 1 Chron. xxvii, 1-15. His numbering the people 
 was probably a military enrollment. Ch. xxi, 5. 
 
 Subsequently a more regular force was kept on foot. 
 Jehoshaphat had garrisons in his fenced or fortified cities, 
 
 1 Chron. xvii, 12-19. There were officers or captains of 
 tens, fifties, hundreds, ^nd thousands, 1 Chron. xii, 14, 20 ; 
 xiii, 1 ; xxviii, 1 ; 2 Kings i, 9, 11, 13 ; 2 Chron. xxv, 5. 
 They appear to have worn some insignia of their rank, as a 
 military girdle, 2 Sam. xviii, 11. There was a captain of 
 the host, and this post was filled by Abner under Saul, 
 Joab under David, Amasa under Absalom, and again under 
 David. The authority of this officer was great, as appears 
 from the manner in which Joab repeatedly domineered over 
 David, and the mention of his authority in 2 Kings iv, 13. 
 
 There are many instances of David exposing his own 
 person in battle, until his people objected to it, 2 Sam. xxi, 
 lY. All were foot-soldiers, until Solomon introduced horses 
 from Egypt, which has always been famous for its cavalry, 
 
 2 Chron. ix, 25 ; 1 Kings x, 28, 29. Afterwards chariots 
 were introduced, in which the kings and others rode, 
 1 Kmgs xxi, 35 ; 2 Kings ix, 25 ; 2 Chron. xxxv, 24. These 
 had been previously used by the Egyptians, Canaanites, 
 and others, Exod. xiv, 9; Judg. iv, 3 ; Josh, xvii, 18. These 
 chariots of iron were frequently armed with scythes, and 
 were sometimes of disservice in war. David destroyed many 
 that he took, 2 Sam. viii, 4. Light-armed troops, with 
 slings, javelins, or bows, or spearmen with swords and 
 spears, formed the greater part of the army. After the 
 first shock, in ancient times, every battle became a multi- 
 tude of single combats. Some remarkable instances are 
 particularly recorded, 1 Sam. xxi, 21 ; xxiii, 20-22. In 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 391 
 
 later times, under the Maccabees, the military customs of 
 the Jews assimilated more and more to those of other na- 
 tions. The horrors of heathen, and even of Jewish wars, 
 need not here be enlarged upon. The religion of Christ is 
 directly opposed to such practices ; yet while evil principles 
 prevail abroad, nations are obliged to adopt some system 
 of defense. But wars of aggression are detestable, and it is 
 to be regretted that the minds of youth are too much fami- 
 liarized to their details. Truly has the poet said of mere 
 ambitious conquerors, 
 
 " The hero scourges not his age alone, 
 His curse to late posterity is known ; 
 He slays his thousands with his living breath, 
 His tens of thousands by his fame in death. 
 The steel of Brutus struck not Caesar dead ; 
 Caesar in other lands hath raised his head, 
 And fought, of friends and foes, on many a plain 
 His millions, captured, fugitive, and slain." 
 
 The victories of Israel of old were celebrated with praise 
 and thanksgiving, yet the soldiers were reminded of the 
 nature of blood-guiltiness. Num. xxxi, 19. There was a 
 general distribution of the spoil, verse 27 ; Josh, xxii, 8 ; 
 1 Sam. XXX, 4. The mode of commencing warfare varied 
 according to circumstances. Sometimes a challenge was 
 sent, 2 Kings xiv, 8 ; xviii, 20. Full particulars are given 
 as to that in which Jephthah engaged, Judg. xi. 
 
 There are many allusions to warfare in the New Testa- 
 ment, but the contest therein described is of a spiritual 
 nature ; see 2 Tim. ii, 3, 4 ; iv, V ; 2 Cor. x, 4. Our Lord 
 appeared to Joshua as captain of the Lord's host, in order 
 to animate him to his work ; and Christians in all ages may 
 say with confidence, 
 
 '* Now let my soul arise 
 
 And tread the tempter down ; 
 My Captain leads me forth 
 
 To conquest and a crown ! 
 A feeble saint shall win the day. 
 Though death and hell obstruct the way !" 
 
392 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 CHAPTER XYII. 
 
 EXPENSES OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 No community or society of men can exist without pro- 
 vision being made to defray the expenses of the govern- 
 ment of that part of the community who have to give up 
 their time and devote their labor for the general benefit. 
 There may be individuals who^ being already in possession 
 of enough for their support, are ready to devote some por- 
 tion of their time, without remuneration from others, but 
 these instances are necessarily rare ; and such persons being 
 of course more free from responsibility and interference, it 
 is very seldom that their services are more efficient or less 
 expensive in the end, than those that are regularly given 
 in return for a remuneration. These principles apply to 
 the condition of the Jewish state ; and it will be seen that 
 these affairs were arranged with the same wisdom that 
 directed every part of their polity, and were equally calcu- 
 lated to promote mercy, justice, and truth. 
 
 The main principle of the Jewish government, as already 
 remarked, was the Theocracy, or the Most High being con- 
 sidered as their Ruler. The tribe of Levi were selected as 
 his officers ; and their time being given up to the public 
 service, (Deut. xxxiii, 10,) it was necessary that they should 
 be provided for at the public charge ; but this was directed 
 with merciful consideration, not with the arbitrary exactions 
 of heathen rulers. Every Jewish family was placed in 
 possession of a portion of land, from whence they derived 
 support. The produce would be according to the blessing 
 of their heavenly King upon their labors — a portion was 
 fairly and equitably to be rendered to his service. With 
 this view, the Jew was to pay the first-fruits and the tenths 
 of his increase, Mai. iii, 8. 
 
 This contribution included not only the first-fruits, but 
 the first-born of animals, Exod. xxii, 29 ; Num. xviii, 12, 13 ; 
 Deut. xxvi, 2. These are repeatedly mentioned in Jewish 
 history, for instance, 2 Chron xxxi, 5 ; and were renewed 
 after the captivity, Neh. x, 35, 36. The amount to be con- 
 tributed is not specified by the law ; the Talmud states it 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 393 
 
 was the fortieth part, or even the thirtieth from the Hberal ; 
 while the avaricious gave only the fiftieth. The larger ob- 
 lation was said to be made with a good eye ; the other was 
 called an oblation with an evil eye. Some think that our 
 Lord referred to this, Matt, xx, 15. The first-born of men 
 and animals of the unclean sorts were redeemed by the 
 offering of a lamb instead of the latter, and by certain arti- 
 cles for the use of the Levites, instead of the former, 
 Exod. xiii, 13 ; Deut. xviii, 4 ; Num. xviii, 15, 16. 
 
 Fruits were to be offered when they were finest, from 
 the feast of Pentecost to that of Dedication; Deut. xxvi, 
 1-11, refers to the ceremonies used on that occasion. The 
 harvest in Judea begins in our spring-time, but it was not 
 to be gathered until the new sheaf had been offered after 
 the passover, nor might bread be made until the new loaves 
 were offered on the day of Pentecost. This was thought to 
 sanctify the produce, and seems to be alluded to Rom. 
 xi, 16. In later times, the presentation was a solemn 
 ceremony — the Sanhedrim sent certain priests to the corn- 
 filds near Jerusalem, who reaped a ham^ful of the first ripe 
 com. This corn was then carried with pomp and rejoicing 
 to the temple. In 1 Cor. xv, 20, there is a beautiful allu- 
 sion to this ceremony, where St. Paul, speaking of the 
 resurrection of Christ, is inspired from thence to prove the 
 certainty of the general resurrection. " Now is Christ risen 
 from the dead, and is become the first-fruits of them that 
 slept." The first-fruits being reaped, and solemnly pre- 
 sented in the temple, clearly proved that there was a har- 
 vest ready to be reaped ; so a risen Saviour proves that 
 there is a resurrection, and at the appointed time and order 
 all shall be raised up. 
 
 The tenths were a further contribution, under the theo- 
 cracy, a fixed amount given for the support of that govern- 
 ment, and were generally collected from all the fruits of 
 the earth, but were chiefly composed of com, wine, and oil. 
 Lev. xxvii, 30; Deut. xiv, 22, 23; Num. xviii, 21; Neh. 
 xiii, 5, 10. These were tendered every year, according to 
 their produce, and given to the Levites in their cities, but 
 not in the Sabbatical year, which was a year of rest. The 
 owner also gave a second tithe, which was carried up to 
 Jemsalem and eaten in the temple. Here let the reader 
 pause a moment, and reflect on the directions given to re- 
 17* 
 
394 
 
 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 EASTERN GLEANERS. 
 
 ligious inquirers as to seeking instruction from the Levites, 
 Deut. xvii, 9. 
 
 Although the Levites were thus employed in the service 
 of God, and many of them acted as judges or officers of 
 justice, (2 Chron. xix, 8,) yet the time of the whole body 
 was not so fully taken up as that of the descendants of 
 Aaron, who were the priests. The Levites had lands ad- 
 joining the cities allotted to them, which they cultivated in 
 order to assist their maintenance ; and from the tithes they 
 received they paid a tenth part to the priests, who were 
 supported by these and other offerings. 
 
 The Israelites also paid a portion to the poor, Deut. 
 xiv, 29 ; xxvi, 12, 13 ; and the perpetuity of this obligation 
 is intimated in Scripture, " The poor ye have always with 
 you." This contribution might be increased, and was in 
 some degree left to the will of the donor, Deut. xv, 10; 
 Lev. XX v, 35. In every field, a corner was to be left for 
 the needy. Lev. xix, 9, 10; Deut. xxiv, 19; likewise such 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 895 
 
 ears of corn or other produce as might be dropped — even 
 sheaves forgotten were to be left for them. 
 
 The interesting history of Ruth gleaning in the fields of 
 Boaz will at once be brought to the mind of the reader. 
 Without dwelling on the minute fanciful interpretations of 
 some authors, it may be remarked that the time of harvest 
 is an emblem of the Gospel day, which calls for earnest and 
 diligent improvement, Jer. viii, 20 ; Prov. x, 5. 
 
 The field tithes generally might be redeemed by the ad- 
 dition of a fifth part to their estimated value, Lev. xxvii, 
 32, 33 ; but all substitution of the tithes of the cattle was 
 forbidden. The consciences of the people, as T. H. Home 
 says, were the means appointed for collecting the tithes. 
 But, in later years, the Pharisees made void many points of 
 the law which referi*ed to judgment, mercy, and faith, even 
 while paying scrupulously their tithes of garden herb^, mint, 
 anise, or cummin. But the Divine law must be taken as a 
 whole, or else we say and do not, and our spirit is contrary 
 to that of our Lord and Master. The payment of tenths 
 was prior to the Jewish polity ; an earlier transaction of 
 this kind took place between Abraham and Melchizedek, 
 Gen. xiv, 22. Jacob also vowed to give to God the tenth 
 of all that he might acquire in Haran, Gen. xxviii, 22. In 
 chap. XXXV, 14, the performance of this vow seems to be 
 recorded, but not the precise manner in which it was ap- 
 plied. Similar customs are mentioned by Herodotus and 
 other heathen authors, as having existed in Egypt and else- 
 where, being doubtless of patriarchal origin. 
 
 The sacrifices were also regarded as contributions, 1 Sam. 
 i, 24 ; ii, 29. A part of these were the offerings regularly 
 required by the law, and were provided by the whole body 
 of the nation, but others were brought by individuals. These 
 were sometimes expressions of repentance and acknowledg- 
 ment for off"enses, both voluntary and involuntary, and these 
 stood in the place of fines. Others expressed joy and 
 thankfulness for mercies received, as in the case of lepers, 
 or women after child-birth. And in these cases they were 
 adapted to the means of all classes, from the valuable and 
 costly offerings of the rich, to the pigeons or handfuls of 
 flour brought by the poor, Lev. v, 7-11 ; xii, 8. 
 
 Although the revenue of the theocracy was thus provided, 
 yet the erection of the tabernacle, and afterwards that of 
 
896 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 the temple, was furnished by free-will offerings. In the 
 first case, there were none but the mass of the people to 
 contribute, yet their gifts were more than sufficient, in 
 the latter instance, again, the people came forward wil- 
 lingly, 1 Chron. xxix, 9. Their monarch had given them 
 an example of liberality, and much that he gave was the 
 spoil that he had taken from the enemies of the Lord. The 
 chiefs and leaders also manifested a similar spirit. The 
 reader will remember the mingled feelings of joy and sor- 
 row with which the foundations of the second temple were 
 laid : " Many of the priests and Levites, and chiefs of the 
 fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, 
 when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, 
 wept with a loud voice ; and many shouted aloud for joy," 
 Ezra iii, 10-12; likewise the difficulties that attended its 
 progress, as related by Ezra and Nehemiah, with the en- 
 couragement that was given by the prophet Haggai, ii, 3. 
 But for the regular requirements of the ritual, a stated pro- 
 vision was made. 
 
 Other payments were also called for. Half a shekel was 
 required from every male of twenty years old and upwards, 
 when the census or number of the children of Israel was 
 taken, Exod. xxx, 13 ; xxxviii, 26. It was but a small sum, 
 weighing about 5 dwts., and equal to 28 cents of our money ; 
 but it is supposed to have been the sum which our blessed 
 Lord paid by means of a miracle, Matt, xvii, 27 ; and it is 
 possible that this duty was neglected by David, 2 Sam. xxiv. 
 
 After the Babylonish captivity, (Neh. x, 32,) an annual 
 payment was made, consisting of a third of a shekel ; but, 
 in later times, the law of Moses was strictly enforced on 
 every Jew, whether in his own land or at a distance. 
 Voluntary offerings were also made, as that of the poor 
 widow who brought only two mites, and received the marked 
 commendation of our blessed Lord, Mark xii, 44. In those 
 days the money-changers carried on considerable traffic, 
 perhaps changing Jewish money for the coins of Greek 
 and Roman rulers, even within the inclosure of the temple. 
 Matt, xxi, 12. The passing money which had been coined • 
 by heathen sovereigns was considered a grievance. Matt. 
 xxii, 11. In a former period, it appears from Josephus, 
 that the privilege of coining money was highly valued by 
 the high priest Simon ; nor would this appear strange when 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 397 
 
 it is remembered that the Gentile princes frequently marked 
 their money with titles that they had assumed, which were 
 of an idolatrous character. 
 
 The Jews, in modern times, have been remarkable for the 
 readiness with which they have contributed to the support 
 of the poor of their own people, and the expenses con- 
 nected with their religious institutions. Poor youths, who 
 are students of the Hebrew law, are supplied with their 
 maintenance, as a free gift, from the families in the neighbor- 
 hood in rotation, if they are more numerous than wealthy, 
 which often happens. Many other charities might here be 
 dwelt upon, but, alas ! the motive from which they spring 
 is a false one. The Rabbinical Jews, like the Papists, look 
 upon alms-deeds as meriting the favor of God ; and the 
 word in the Old Testament, which means righteousness or 
 justice, is applied by them to acts of this description, Gen. 
 xviii, 19. All the Jews settled in Palestine at the present 
 time, except a very few who have property of their own, 
 are supported by the free contributions of their brethren. 
 
 The Jews are also careful to settle any differences or 
 cases of discipline among tlie members of their own body, 
 as far as it is possible, by the officers of every synagogue. 
 When these efforts fail, the offender is responsible to the 
 public magistrates of the land in which he dwells, and must 
 take his trial hke other subjects ; but, in most cases, the 
 bonds of brotherly union, rather than those of restraint, 
 form a sufficient check upon their conduct. 
 
 In the early days of the Hebrews, they had put some of 
 the Canaanites under tribute, Josh, xvi, 10 ; xvii, 13 ; 
 Judg. i, 20, 33. Other imposts were laid on the people of 
 Israel by the authority of their kings ; of this they had been 
 warned. David's revenue was partly gathered from tribu- 
 tary nations, 2 Sam. viii. Of Solomon's there is a more 
 particular account, 1 Kings iv. His twelve purveyorships, 
 and other exactions, probably alienated the people, though 
 their peaceful state increased their wealth. Such has been 
 the case in other lands at different times. In their more 
 disastrous times, the Jews were required to pay tribute to 
 their conquerors, 2 Kings xxiii, 33 ; xxiv, 13. They had 
 been forewarned of this sad change, Deut. xxviii, 12, 13, 44. 
 
 Upon their return from Babylon they were tributary to 
 Persia, (Ezra iv, 13,) and then to Syria, until they gained 
 
398 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 liberty for a wliile under the Maccabees; but they were 
 again subdued by the Romans, Luke ii, 1-5. Having be- 
 come a Roman province, an annual sum of a denarius, as a 
 head tax, and other burdens, as land-taxes, or duties on the 
 exporting and importing of goods, were exacted from them. 
 These were paid in Roman coin. 
 
 Various insurrections arose from the popular discontent 
 about these measures ; two of which^ under Theudas and 
 Judas of Galilee are mentioned Acts v, 36, 37. The Pha- 
 risees objected to pay taxes to a heathen government, and 
 thus sought to make themselves popular, w^hile the Hero- 
 dians supported the ruling power ; both united in attempt- 
 ing to draw our Lord into a difficulty, and he wisely framed 
 his answer to instruct them both. Matt, xxii, 21. To pre- 
 vent his professed followers from being drawn aside by 
 either of these errors, both Paul and Peter inculcate the 
 paying tribute as a Christian duty, Rom. xiii, 7 ; 1 Pet. ii, 13. 
 Under whatever government the true believer in Jesus lives, 
 he will seek to lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godli- 
 ness and honesty. This is required both in the Old and 
 New Testament, Ezra vi, 10 ; Jer. xxix, V ; 1 Tim. ii, 1-5. 
 There is nothing in the Bible which encourages anything 
 like opposition to the civil laws under which we hve, and 
 whatever may have been said to excuse or defend unlawful 
 attempts after gain, as, for instance, poaching and smug- 
 gling, these are found to prepare the way for acts of still 
 grosser sin, and to bring on the ruin and disgrace which is 
 ever found in seeking fellowship with the ungodly. Here 
 may be applied the cautions of the wise man, Prov. i, 10 ; 
 iv, 14 ; xxiv, 21. 
 
 The taxes imposed by the Roman government were col- 
 lected by the publicans, who are so often mentioned in the 
 gospel history, as in Luke iii, 12, 13. In many cases, their 
 rapacity made them hateful, and their connection with the 
 Gentile rulers made them infamous, so that the Pharisees 
 refused to hold any intercourse with them, Mark ii, 15, 16 ; 
 Luke xviii, 10, 11. These opposite characters, one the 
 highest in the pubHc esteem, the other the lowest and most 
 degraded, are contrasted in the well-known parable spoken 
 by the gracious Saviour. The history of Zaccheus will also 
 be remembered, Luke xix, 1-10, and that of Matthew, 
 Matt, ix, 9. 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 899 
 
 Tax-gatherers are never popular. In the East they are 
 especially hateful, and in many instances, this may be traced 
 to their unjust oppressions. Forbes has given a lively pic- 
 ture of the distress that prevailed in a district of Hindostan, 
 where the men of each class in society tried to enrich them- 
 selves at the expense of those below them, and the little 
 farmers Avho plundered the peasants were in their turn 
 seized by the superior rulers. In lands like these, the words 
 of Prov. xxviii, 3 may be applied, — 
 
 " A poor man that oppresseth the poor 
 Is like a sweeping rain which leaveth no food." 
 
 The same writer also alludes to the heavy burdens ex- 
 torted as gifts from the distressed peasantry, both in India 
 and in the Turkish empire, where poultry, butter, fruit, and 
 vegetables are required in abundance, without payment, by 
 the officers of princes, from those who are scarcely able to 
 supply themselves with the common necessaries of hfe. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 SECTS AND ORDERS OF MEN. 
 
 After the spirit of prophecy ceased, various religious 
 sects sprang up among the Jews. The most important 
 was the sect of the Pharisees, so called from their pre- 
 tending to more than ordinary sanctity and strictness in re- 
 ligion. This, for the most part, was but outward show, as 
 is evident from the words of our Lord, Matt, xxiii, 25-28, 
 where he compares the Pharisees to whited sepulchres, and 
 expressly says, " Ye outwardly appear righteous unto men, 
 but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." Josephus 
 describes the Pharisees as assuming to be more pious and 
 devout than others, and to interpret the law with greater 
 accuracy. The precise date of the origin of this sect is not 
 known, but the Pharisees soon obtained vast reputation and 
 power. About eighty years before Christ, king Alexander 
 Janneus, when on his death-bed, advised his wife to conci- 
 liate the Pharisees, since that would be the way to secure 
 the affections of the nation for herself and her children ; for 
 
400 
 
 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 SCRIBES ANT) PHARISEES. 
 
 whether they spoke truly or falsely, or reported good or evil 
 of any one, they would be behoved by the people. She 
 followed his advice, and the Pharisees supported her autho- 
 rity and interest. The influence they possessed, and even 
 the censures passed upon them by our blessed Lord, show 
 that they were outwardly what would be called respect- 
 able and devout characters, commanding respect by their 
 profession and general demeanor. The words of our Lord 
 to his disciples were, that their righteousness must exceed 
 (surpass) that of the Pharisees. The appellation was then 
 accounted honorable ; it was a sort of proverbial saying, 
 that if but two persons entered heaven, one of them would 
 be a Pharisee. 
 
 The main feature of their errors was, that they set up 
 what they called the traditions of the elders, and repre- 
 sented them to be of the same authority as the Divine law ; 
 thus in reality making the commandment of God of none 
 effect by their traditions, as our Lord declared. Matt, xv, 6. 
 By explaining the law according to these traditions, they 
 easily perverted it to their own views, although directly 
 opposed to the Divine will. This is fully exemplified by 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 401 
 
 their rules respecting the Sabbath, already noticed. These 
 traditions were not regularly committed to writing till the 
 second century after Christ, when they were embodied in 
 the work called the Mishna, from which several quotations 
 have been before made. 
 
 The Pharisees, in effect, placed the whole of rehgion in 
 outward ceremonial observances, and had no desire for that 
 purity of heart, without which none shall see God, Matt. 
 V, 8. They indulged in pride and malice, and all sorts of 
 spiritual wickedness ; this often naturally led to secret 
 hcentiousness in practice. A striking proof is recorded, 
 John viii, 9 ; every one of the Pharisaical accusers became 
 a self-condemned criminal, on hearing the heart-searching 
 appeal of our blessed Lord. Their outward displays of 
 piety and charity were literally what our Lord condemns ; 
 they prayed standing at the corners where streets met, 
 and where they might be observed by the passengers in 
 each ; and they caused trumpets to be sounded to give 
 pubhc notice of the distribution of their alms. Matt, vi, 2-5. 
 
 In their dress the Pharisees also affected many pecu- 
 liarities. The phylacteries, or pieces of parchment with 
 texts inscribed thereon, worn upon their foreheads, or on 
 their arms, were made broader than among the other Jews. 
 This practice was founded upon a mistaken literal interpre- 
 tation of Deut. vi, 8, which directs to bind the law for a 
 sign on their hands, and to let it be as frontlets betwixt 
 their eyes ; evidently a metaphorical charge to remember 
 the Divine word, and to meditate thereon. They also 
 enlarged the borders of their garments. Matt, xxviii, 5 ; 
 they made the fringes or tassels particularly large. These 
 fringes the Jews were commanded to wear, to distinguish 
 them from other nations. Num. xv, 38, 39. One of their 
 rabbis, in commenting upon this passage, says, " When 
 any man is clothed with a fringe, and goeth out therewith 
 to the door of his habitation, he is safe ; God rejoices, the 
 destroying angel departs, and that man shall be secured 
 from all hurt and destruction !" This may suffice as a 
 specimen of the lying glosses and traditions of the Pha- 
 risees. Many others of a similar kind are related by 
 Lightfoot and Gill. It is unnecessary to enlarge upon the 
 errors and blasphemies of this sect. We can easily con- 
 ceive that such men must have been opposed to our Lord 
 
402 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 and his doctrines. They disapproved of the religion of the 
 heart taught by our Lord, on account of the spirituaUty of 
 its nature, the universahty of its requirements, and the 
 purity of its principles. Having set their carnal hearts 
 upon worldly glory and temporal deliverance, they scorned 
 the miracles and doctrines which were directed to the 
 healing of the bodies and souls of men, and they ceased 
 not to persecute the Messiah, till they brought him before 
 their sanhedrim, and upon false evidence condemned him 
 as an impostor and blasphemer. 
 
 One extreme commonly leads to the opposite ; those who 
 fall into either, often equally depart from the truth. Thus 
 the Sadducees were as careless and profligate in their out- 
 ward conduct as the Pharisees were over-strict. They 
 equally rejected the pure, self-denying doctrines of Christ, 
 and joined their enemies, the Pharisees, in persecuting and 
 putting to death the Lord of life and glory. Our Lord 
 cautioned his disciples equally against the doctrines of 
 both, Matt, xvi, 6-12. The Sadducees, like many other 
 sects, owed their origin to a perversion of that which is 
 right and good. Sochaeus, a man of authority, about 250 
 years before Christ, impressed upon the minds of his scho- 
 lars, that they should serve God purely from love and 
 gratitude to him, not from an interested desire of reward, 
 or a servile dread of punishment. One of his followers, 
 named Sadoc, not rightly understanding this doctrine, 
 taught that there was no future state of rewards and pun- 
 ishments. The Sadducees in the time of our Saviour were 
 not a numerous sect, but they were rich and powerful. 
 Their tenets were, in effect, those of the careless worldhngs 
 of every age, seeking after present pleasures by indulging 
 the lusts of the flesh, and driving away the thoughts of 
 eternity. Yes : there is many a Christian Sadducee ! We 
 need not go far to find those who deny Christ by their 
 works and doctrines, while they call themselves by his 
 name ; to say nothing of the sensual and bigoted infidel, 
 who is a Sadducee in doctrine as well as in practice. The 
 Sadducees much resembled the heathen epicurean philoso- 
 phers. They joined the Pharisees in rejecting the spiritual 
 kingdom of our Lord, because they desired to share the 
 worldly glory of an earthly monarch. They did not believe 
 in the resurrection, nor in the separate existence of the soul ; 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 403 
 
 they contended for free-will, so as to deny any particular 
 interference of Divine providence. We need not further 
 notice their impious blasphemies. 
 
 The Herodians were a political rather than a religious 
 party. They were so called because they were wilHng to 
 agree with Herod, in submitting to a foreign and heathen 
 power, and in some respects to adopt heathen customs and 
 idolatrous practices. By the "leaven of Herod," (Mark 
 viii, 15,) probably is intended a willingness, from worldly 
 policy, to participate in anything wrong. This party, it is 
 supposed, were mostly Sadducees. 
 
 The EssENEs are not directly named in the New Testa- 
 ment, but are thought to be referred to in some passages, 
 as Col. ii, 18-23, and are noticed by Philo and by Josephus. 
 They were free both from the hypocrisy of the Pharisees 
 and the open profligacy of the Sadducees. They rejected 
 the traditions, and were more strict as to moral conduct 
 than as to ceremonial observances. They offered gifts at 
 the temple, but not saciifices. They lived in a state of 
 equality, and only followed agriculture, or such mechanical 
 arts as were of a peaceful nature. None of them would be 
 concerned in acts of violence or warfare, nor would they 
 make weapons of war. But these laudable and good prin- 
 ciples were carried out into a blamable austerity ; and their 
 doctrines were mixed with many superstitions, which are 
 reproved by the apostle in the passage above-mentioned. 
 They also were imbued with spiritual pride, though of a 
 different character from that of the Pharisees. The Thera- 
 peutee were a branch of the Essenes, who resided in Egypt, 
 and were still more rigid in their observances, strictly avoid- 
 ing intercourse with other men. 
 
 The Scribes were an order of learned men. The name 
 is not that of a sect, but of an office. They were of the 
 tribe of Levi, and their professed business was to write 
 copies of the law. But it is thought that some scribes for 
 civil purposes were of other tribes, mostly of Simeon. Be- 
 fore the invention of printing, the employment of a scribe 
 was honorable and profitable. The scribes were also ex- 
 positors of the law. When prophecy had ceased, they took 
 upon themselves to interpret difficulties in the sacred books. 
 Hence they assumed considerable authority, and possessed 
 great power in a nation still professing to be regulated ac- 
 
404 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 cording to the letter of the Divine law. Our Lord includes 
 them with the Pharisees, (Matt, xxiii, 2,) as sitting in Mo- 
 ses' seat, assuming the authority of the legislator to them- 
 selves, but binding heavy burdens, and laying them on 
 men's shoulders, teaching the commandments of men, jang- 
 ling and disputing about verbal interpretations and trivial 
 matters, instead of explaining and urging the Divine pre- 
 cepts. 
 
 The office of scribe among the modern Jews is important. 
 As the copies of the Scriptures used in their public wor- 
 ship must be written, not printed, there is employment for 
 them ; and the following account of one of these copyists, 
 by Henderson, shows the absurd and superstitious obser- 
 vances required to be practiced by these men ; which, under 
 pretense of preserving accuracy, and promoting respect to 
 the Divine word, has done much to prevent its circulation. 
 While at Dubno, in Russia, Dr. Henderson wished to ob- 
 tain some Hebrew manuscripts, and was conducted to the 
 house of a sepher or scribe. On the table before him was 
 an open roll, from which he was copying ; parchment and 
 writing implements were lying about. He gave a minute 
 account of the rules he was required to observe, which are 
 the same now as 1,300 years ago, when they were pre- 
 scribed in the Talmud. The skins used must be those of 
 clean animals, and prepared only by Jews. When cut even, 
 and sewed together by thongs of the same material, they 
 are divided into columns, the breadth of which must not 
 exceed half their length. Before the scribe begins, and 
 after every interruption, he must compose his mind, that 
 he may write under a due impression of the sanctity of the 
 words he is transcribing. He must copy with the utmost 
 exactness; if any letter be wrongly placed, or wrongly 
 shaped in the original, he must copy the blunder. Any of 
 his faults may be corrected if amended within thirty days, 
 but not afterwards ; if altered subsequently, the copy is 
 stigmatized as "posel,"or forbidden. When writing the 
 name of Jehovah, the scribe must not leave off till it is 
 finished, even though a king should enter the room, nor 
 may he begin it with a fresh dip of ink ; he must supply his 
 pen when writing the first letter of the preceding word. 
 This scribe exhibited the nppearance of a man worn down 
 by the observance of these and other minute rules. For a 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 405 
 
 copy of the law written fairly, he asked about ten pounds. 
 To the intrinsic value and spiritual beauty of the law of the 
 Lord he appeared totally insensible. The outward beauty 
 of these transcripts of the Pentateuch sometimes is very 
 great: the letters appear as uniform and regular as if 
 printed ; and this exactness, though carried to such an ex- 
 tent as often to be frivolous, has been the means of keep- 
 ing the Divine law pure and unaltered through more than 
 thirty centuries. 
 
 The Lawyers and Doctors of the Law were the same 
 as the scribes. The titles, Rab, Rabbi, or Rabban, signified 
 great, or master, and were given to learned men among 
 the Jews. In later times, they were conferred as degrees 
 are in our universities, and with much ceremony. A key was 
 delivered as a symbol of the power and authority conferred, 
 and the rabbi wore it as a badge of this honor ; also a book 
 of tablets was given to him, symbolical of diligence in his 
 studies. Rabban was the highest of these titles : it was 
 regularly ascribed to only seven of the principal Jewish 
 doctors, one of whom was Gamaliel. Rabboni, the title by 
 which Mary called our risen Lord, (John xx, 16,) signified 
 the same. To omit the title of rabbi, was the grossest af- 
 front to any one on whom it had been conferred. Our 
 Lord forbade his disciples to use it, that they might not 
 assume to themselves power over the consciences of men, 
 or set up for infallible guides, Matt, xxiii, 8. 
 
 The Rulers were chief priests, and of course from the 
 tribe of Levi. The Elders were chiefs of other tribes. 
 
 The Samaritans were a sect or division of the Israelites, 
 formed by the union of the idolatrous colonies, planted in 
 Israel by the Assyrian conquerors, with the inhabitants of 
 the land. See 2 Kings xvii, 24-41, where their origin, as 
 well as the idols they worshiped, are particularly mentioned. 
 After the captivity, Nehemiah began a reform, see chap, v, 
 when some of the Jews, who had married heathen wives, 
 went to the Samaritans and settled among them. One of 
 these was Manasseh, a son of the high priest, who per- 
 suaded the Samaritans to renounce many of their idolatries, 
 and built a temple on Mount Gerizim, where rites were 
 celebrated resembling the worship at Jerusalem. In the 
 days of our Lord, the hatred between the Jews and Sama- 
 ritans was at its height. They had no dealings with each 
 
406 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 other, John iv, 9. They opposed each other when passing 
 through their respective countries, (Luke ix, 52, 53,) and 
 the title of " Samaritan " was applied to our Lord by the 
 Jews, as including or implying all that was bad, John 
 viii, 48, 
 
 The Galileans were a political faction in Galilee, who 
 resisted the Roman power, and sought religious liberty by 
 force of arms, in the time of Augustus. The Zealots and 
 SicARii, or murderers, (Acts xxi, 38,) were similar bodies 
 of political enthusiasts, shortly before the destruction of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 The Karaites are a sect among the modem Jews who 
 require particular notice. They reject the vain traditions 
 of the Pharisees, and aim at keeping closely to the letter of 
 the Mosaic law. Some writers think that they existed in the 
 time of our Lord, and that the scribe mentioned Mark xii, 28, 
 was of this class. The Scottish missionaries to the Jews, in 
 1839, made many inquiries respecting these Karaites, and 
 found that a word from them is trusted more than the bond 
 of another Jew. Many of them are found in Turkey and 
 the East, and a colony of 4,000 of them have long been 
 settled in the Russian Crimea, where they are peaceably 
 employed in agriculture. It is said that they have no en- 
 mity to the followers of Jesus, and are probably descended 
 from some of the ten tribes, who took no part in the cruci- 
 fixion of Christ. Their chief rabbi, or priest, is always con- 
 sidered to be a cohen, that is, a lineal descendant of the 
 house of Aaron. On one occasion, when the emperor of 
 Russia wished them to serve as soldiers, they obtained ex- 
 emption, as bemg some of his best subjects, to whose charge 
 no crime had been laid during six hundred years. In Po- 
 land it is said that no Karaite has deserved pimishment 
 during four centuries. Their name, which means textualists, 
 was at first a term of reproach, but they now regard it as 
 an honor, and call themselves the children of the Bible. 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 407 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 The laws and polity of the Jewish nation show the wisdom, 
 happiness, and safety of attending to the Divine commands ; 
 also the folly, misery, and punishment of disobedience; 
 and thus they afford a lesson to every individual, family, 
 and community. The history of the Jews, since their dis- 
 persion, as well as their present condition, adds much to 
 the impressiveness of the admonition. They are unable to 
 observe the first part of the ceremonial law, while destitute 
 of a temple and a priesthood ; yet, not discerning the more 
 excellent way, (2 Cor. iii, 15,) and obstinately rejecting the 
 truth as it is in Jesus, they still keep up its repulsive and 
 prohibitory observances, and unite with them many vain 
 traditions and commandments of men. Yet these have 
 been made the means of preserving them as a distinct and 
 separate people, in a state that is a standing miracle, left 
 in mercy to convince men of the truth of Scripture, and 
 conveying undeniable outward and visible evidence to all 
 those who are not influenced by spiritual considerations. 
 This is the more remarkable, as every tribe among their op- 
 pressors and conquerors has long since mingled with the 
 mass of nations ; the Jewgialone exist as a distinct people, 
 unchanged in their habits, and the Persians, who restored 
 them to their own land, still continue to exist as a nation. 
 Thousands and millions of the Jewish race have from time 
 to time been absorbed among the Gentiles, have ceased to 
 be Jews : thus, it is evident that the separation of the body 
 of the people is owing to the perpetual interposition of the 
 Divine providence in fulfillment of the prophecies of Scrip- 
 ture, and not from any physical or natural circumstances 
 preventing them from being mixed with others, when t^eir 
 distinguishing customs and habits as a people are laid 
 aside. Who that rightly considers this fact, can for a mo- 
 ment hesitate to give full credence to those prophecies 
 which declare the happiness of this people, when they shall 
 at length look on Him whom they have pierced ? 
 
 The sufferings of the Jews as a nation, through many 
 succeeding centuries, fully show that the word of God is 
 perfectly true and faithful, both in its threatenings and its 
 
408 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 promises. It is a savor of death unto death, or of life 
 unto life. The principles by which the Israelites of the 
 present day are actuated, show how bhndly those err who 
 regard only the letter and not the spirit of the best and 
 wisest institutions ; and how speedily the first must be mis- 
 taken and forsaken, if the latter be not kept continually in 
 view, while, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, they 
 are going about to establish their own righteousness. Yet, 
 the Jewish principles, in their present distorted and man- 
 gled state, retain much that is instructive, much that is 
 valuable ; they show how glorious the fabric once was which 
 now is so great, so impressive, even in its ruins. All is now 
 cold and Ufeless, like some ancient time-worn mansion, 
 which only shows what its former glories have been ; the 
 full tide of life which once animated its now deserted walls 
 and crumbling towers, has been withdrawn. No longer it 
 aflFords a refuge for the wanderer, a shelter for the helpless, 
 a defense for the oppressed ; though the lines of its outward 
 walls remain the same, it is only an abode for wild animals, 
 a dwelling-place for the birds and beasts of the field, and 
 even the noisome and unclean remain there undisturbed : 
 " Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation." 
 
 Vitringa has truly remarked, " In the land of Canaan, 
 where the Israelites dwelt, as in the land and garden of the 
 Lord, there were two trees, of li^ and death, the latter of 
 which it was the part of wisdom to shun. Moses declares 
 (Deut. XXX, 15) that he had set before them good and evil, 
 hfe and death. The cause of death was the idolatry, with 
 its carnal delights and impure lusts, which prevailed among 
 the heathen of that period. To these the mind of the 
 Israelites was prone ; and, indeed, the impiety, the profane 
 thoughts of God, the self-righteousness derived from acts 
 of a carnal worship of God under the old dispensation, 
 ancL other things of a like kind, which exposed the Israelites 
 to tne danger of death, bore a resemblance to the tree of 
 death or of knowledge, which things were opposed to a tree 
 of life, that is, a compliance in faith with the commands of 
 God, such a compliance proving the possession of life 
 derived from Christ, who is its sole author under every 
 dispensation. But the Israelites stood not in this state of 
 prosperity and happiness ; they suffered themselves to be 
 seduced by the devil, first into the practice of idolatry, to- 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 409 
 
 gether -with the filthy superstitions of the surrounding hea- 
 then, and their flagitious practices, all which were gratifying 
 to the flesh; and then into a state of hypocritical self- 
 righteousness, founded on privileges and works of a carnal 
 nature, while they renounced the righteousness of God, 
 and Him who is the true cause of eternal life, even Christ 
 Jesus. They were therefore cast out, by the avenging hand 
 of God, from his land, and deprived of those privileges 
 which they had heretofore enjoyed in the land of Canaan. 
 
 " The case of the New Testament Church is much the 
 same. The whole earth (might have) become a paradise 
 after the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith of Christ. 
 The desert was then transformed into the garden of the 
 Lord. In that garden, Christ Jesus is proposed to all the 
 posterity of Adam, as the cause of life to all who believe in 
 him, and observe his commandments. On the contrary, the 
 posterity of Adam were cautioned to abstain from the fruit 
 of the tree of death, which here denotes, in the first place, 
 those carnal pleasures and gratifications which are inconsis- 
 tent with faith in Christ. It also denotes those destructive 
 heresies, that damnable superstition, the idolatry and carnal 
 worship which, contrary to the very nature of the new 
 dispensation, were introduced into the Church by false 
 prophets, the adversaries of the true kingdom of Christ, 
 whom we are accustomed to call by the name of antichrist. 
 Of these, whosoever eateth dies, according to the style of 
 Scripture, the second death, and by the avenging hand of 
 God is expelled from his Paradise." 
 
 As a conclusion to this account of the Law and Polity of 
 the Jews, a few remarks from the pen of a well-known 
 Christian minister may be added, concerning the connection 
 between the Law and the Gospel. " The law being unal- 
 terable, and all men having broken it, and there being no 
 provision made in the law for the pardon of the least trans- 
 gression, but a punishment threatened to the least, they are 
 therefore guilty before God. The gospel sets forth to the 
 convinced sinner, salvation from guilt and punishment, 
 by giving him freely as perfect a righteousness as the law 
 demands. It invites him to receive the righteousness of 
 Christ, against which the utmost rigor of the law can 
 make no objection, because it is the righteousness of God, — 
 a divine, infinite, and absolutely perfect righteousness. 
 18 
 
410 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 When this righteousness is imputed to the sinner, he is 
 pardoned, the law ceases to accuse, conscience no longer 
 condemns, he has peace with God, and the love of God 
 reigns in his heart. With respect then to the sinner, justi- 
 fication and acceptance before God, the Law and the Gos- 
 pel ought to be distinguished in these respects. 
 
 " According to the law, salvation is by works ; according 
 to the gospel, it is by grace. The law says, Do this ; but 
 the gospel says, Beheve this, and thou shalt be saved. 
 
 " The law threatens to punish the sinner for the first of- 
 fense ; but the gospel offers him pardon for many oflfenses. 
 
 " The law leaves him under guilt and condemnation ; the 
 gospel invites him to receive pardon and salvation. 
 
 " The law sentences him to death ; the gospel offers him 
 justification to life. By the law he is a guilty sinner; by 
 the gospel he may be made a glorious saint. If he die 
 under the guilt of the broken law, hell will be his everlast- 
 ing portion ; if he die a partaker of the grace of the gospel, 
 heaven will be his eternal inheritance. 
 
 " But if the law and the gospel are distinct in these and 
 several other respects, some persons may think the law is 
 totally repealed by the gospel : for they cannot see where- 
 fore serveth the law, unless it be to justify a sinner. The 
 moral law is unalterable. It cannot change, any more than 
 God can change. To this day it stands in full force, and 
 not one tittle is repealed. It is still the revelation of God's 
 most holy mind and will concerning the obedience which 
 he requires of his creatures. And if they disobey, the law 
 immediately passes sentence and condemns them to death. 
 While they continue careless and secure in sin, they consi- 
 der not the law as the ministration of death and condemna- 
 tion, and none of them see it in this light until the Holy 
 Spirit awakens them. It is by his preaching of the law to 
 their consciences, that they are alarmed with fearful appre- 
 hensions of their guilt and danger. He brings them to see 
 the exceeding sinfulness of sinning against the holy, just, 
 and good law of God, and convinces them that the broken 
 law can never make them legally righteous. This puts 
 them upon seeking such a righteousness as the law requires, 
 and disposes them to receive gladly the righteousness of the 
 Lord Christ, for he is now the end of the law for righteous- 
 ness to every one that believeth. 
 
LAWS AND POLITY. 411 
 
 " Thus the Holy Spirit convinces sinners that the law is 
 not repealed by the gospel, and when he gives them the 
 righteousness which is of God by faith, and they have justi- 
 fication to life freely by grace, does he teach them to make 
 void the law by faith ? God forbid ! Yea, they estabhsh 
 the law, for they consent unto it that it is good. They 
 delight in the law of God after the inward man, and they 
 keep it in their outward hfe and conversation. It is the 
 rule of their holy walking. They are free from the law, as 
 to its condemning, killing power, but they are under the 
 law to Christ. They know that if the law had not been 
 unalterable, and of indispensable obligation, Christ had 
 lived and died in vain. And he did not come to give his 
 people liberty to break the unalterable law ; that would be 
 a contradiction in terms : but he came to establish the law, 
 by restoring its honor and dignity, by his obedience to its 
 precepts, and his suffering its pains and penalties, and then 
 making it honorable in the confession of convinced sinners, 
 and in the lives of his redeemed people." 
 
 Blessed be God, that this way of recovery is provided 
 for transgressors through the exceeding love of our Lord 
 and Saviour Jesus Christ toward man : " Not by works of 
 righteousness which we have done, but according to his 
 mercy he saves us, by the washing of regeneration, and 
 renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he has shed on us 
 abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour," working in 
 us those good fruits which are well pleasing in his sight. 
 How grateful should we be for the clear light of the Scrip- 
 tures, by which these truths are made mantfest to the sinful 
 children of Adam ! 
 
INDEX 
 
 Adoption, 130. 
 
 Adultery forbidden, 337. 
 
 Agriculture, 64. 
 
 Altar for burnt-offerings, 160. 
 
 Altar for incense, 162. 
 
 Altar, large, built under Herod, 
 
 173. 
 Altars, or places of worship, 152. 
 Amusements, on public, 120. 
 Ark of the Covenant, 162. 
 Armies of the Jews described, 
 
 390. 
 Armor, complete, described, 387. 
 Arts, the fine, 91. 
 Astronomy, 95. 
 Atonement, the great day of, 216. 
 
 Beasts, distinguished as clean and 
 unclean, 148, 293. 
 
 Bible, the value of, 141,276, 346. 
 
 Birds' nests, the dam not taken 
 with, 346. 
 
 Blasphemy forbidden, 321. 
 
 Blood, the eating of, forbidden, 
 281. 
 
 Bondage in Egypt, deliverance 
 from, 354. 
 
 Books, 108. 
 
 BoiTowed articles, laws respect- 
 ing, 341. 
 
 Bottles, 20. 
 
 Bread, 40. 
 
 Buildings for public worship, 236. 
 
 Burial-places, 138. 
 
 Burnt-offerings, 147. 
 
 Canaan, the Israelites settled in, 
 
 356. 
 Candlestick, the Jewish, 118, 161. 
 Carriages, 56. 
 Captivity in Babylon, referred to, 
 
 361. 
 Cattle and Agriculture, 61. 
 
 Ceremonial law, remarks on the, 
 
 229 291. 
 Children, 123, 130, 198. 
 Cherethites and Pelethites, 390. 
 Circumcision, 223. 
 Commandments, considered in 
 
 their order, 320-346. 
 Corban, the vow respecting, 
 
 302. 
 Covenant made by God with 
 
 Noah, 351, 381. 
 with Israel as a nation. 
 
 354. 
 
 Covenants between different par- 
 ties, 382. 
 
 Courts of justice described, 366. 
 
 Courts of the Temple described, 
 168. 
 
 Covetousness forbidden by Grod, 
 344. 
 
 Creator, the, is the Sovereign 
 Disposer of all things, 350. 
 
 Crucifixion, a Roman punishment, 
 378. 
 
 Cultivation of the land, 64. 
 
 Cutting asunder, an Eastern pu- 
 nishment, 378. 
 
 Daily service of the temple, 195. 
 Dancing, 117, 119. 
 Dawn, watching for the, 196. 
 Dead bodies, customs as to, 134, 
 
 226. 
 Death, inflicted as a punishment, 
 
 377. 
 Debts, laws relating to, 340. 
 Dedication, the feast of, 221. 
 Depai'ted spirits, 226. 
 Dining in the East, 48. 
 Diseases mentioned in Scripture, 
 
 132. 
 Doctors of the law, 405. 
 Dress and ornaments, 22. 
 
 / 
 
414 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Dress of the Jewish priests, 191. 
 Drink-offerings, 149, 206. 
 
 Eating, mode of, 48. 
 
 Elders of the Jews, who they 
 
 were, 356. 
 Engraving, 29, 104. 
 Essen es, a Jewish sect, the, 403. 
 Excommunication, 376. 
 Expenses of government, 393. 
 
 False witness, the sin of, 343. 
 Fasts, public and private, 249. 
 Fathers, the authority of, 331. 
 Females, treatment of, among the 
 
 Jews, 283, 364. 
 Festivals, the three Jewish, 207. 
 Fire from heaven, 164. 
 First-born to be offered to God, 
 
 393. 
 First-fruits, the laws respecting, 
 
 212. 
 Food, 40, 48, 69. 
 Fortifications of Jerusalem, 385. 
 Fringes worn by the Pharisees, 
 
 235. 
 Fuel, 44. 
 
 Funerals, Eastern, 134. 
 Furniture, 18. 
 
 Galileans, a political faction, 406. 
 
 Games, ancient, 120. 
 
 Garments of the Jewish priests, 
 190. 
 
 of the sexes not to be 
 
 changed, 298. 
 
 Gate of the city, 366. 
 
 Gleaning, laws respecting, 395. 
 
 Gospel, the, and the law, con- 
 trasted, 409. 
 
 Harvest, 69. 
 
 Heifer, the ashes of the, 227. 
 Herod, the government of, 363. 
 Herodians, their character, 403. 
 Hieroglyphics, or picture-writing, 
 
 99. 
 High priest, his office and dignity, 
 
 190. 
 Hirelings not to be defrauded, 
 
 284, 342. 
 Holy of holies, the, 162. 
 
 Holy place, the, 161. 
 Houses, 11. 
 
 Idolatry, 92, 321, 324. 
 
 of the Zabians, the most 
 
 ancient, 298. 
 Impurity forbidden, 281. 
 Inheritances, laws respecting, 
 
 283. 
 Ink, 111. 
 
 Jews, the modem, their degraded 
 
 state, 365. 
 Jubilee, the year of, 310. 
 Judges, the appointment of, 356. 
 Justice, the administration of, 366. 
 
 Karaite Jews, settled in the Cri- 
 mea, 241, 406. 
 
 Kids, a law as to seething, 228, 
 296. 
 
 Kings, the appointment of, 356. 
 
 , the courts of Eastern mon- 
 
 archs described, 360. 
 
 Lamp, the Sabbath, 257. 
 Lamps, used in the East, 19, 127. 
 Land, cultivation of, 65. 
 Laver, the brazen, or molten sea, 
 
 175. 
 Law, the written, 102, 276. 
 Law, the, is not repealed by the 
 
 Gospel, 409. 
 Laws of Britain, remarks upon, 
 
 347.— Lawyers, 405. 
 Leprosy, laws respecting, 228. 
 Levites, the, 185. 
 
 Maccabees, the government of, 
 
 362. 
 Magistrates and their authority, 
 
 331. 
 Manslaughter, laws respecting, 
 
 280, 333. 
 Manufactures, 77. 
 Marriages, 126. 
 Masters and servants, duties of, 
 
 288. 
 Meat-offerings, 149, 205. 
 Medicine, 132. 
 Men-stealers, the punishment of, 
 
 339. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 415 
 
 Mercy-seat, described, 162. 
 Military affairs, 385. 
 Mishna, the, formation of, 363. 
 Moloch, the worship of, 294. 
 Money used among the Jews, 
 
 85, 396. 
 Moon, the new, observance of, 
 
 261. 
 Mosque on the site of the Jewish 
 
 temple, 182. 
 Mount Moriah, description of, 166. 
 Mountain, the, man of, his office, 
 
 199. 
 Murder punishable with death, 
 
 333. 
 Murder, uncertain, the law as to, 
 
 335- 
 Music, 117, 197. 
 
 Natural history, 94. 
 
 Oaths, the obligations of, 383. 
 Officers among the Israelites, 356. 
 Olives, Mount of, 75. 
 Olympic Games, reference to, 120. 
 
 Parchment used for writing, 110. 
 Parents and children, their duties, 
 
 326, 331. 
 Passover, the Jewish, described, 
 
 209. 
 Patriarchal government, 351. 
 Peace between different nations, 
 
 384. 
 Peace-offerings described, 204. 
 Pentecost, the feast of, 213. 
 Perjury, the evils of, 373, 383. 
 Pharisees, their character, 400. 
 Philosophy, 95. 
 Phylacteries, 401. 
 Physicians, 132. 
 Picture-writing, or hieroglyphics, 
 
 99. 
 Pledges, directions respecting, 
 
 284, 342. 
 Ploughing, 66. 
 Poetiy, 112. 
 
 Polity of the Jews, the, 351. 
 Poor provided for by the Jewdsh 
 
 law, 311, 340. 
 Prayer and praise, 157, 232. 
 Prisons in Eastern lands, 375. 
 
 Priests, their duties and dignities, 
 188, 195. 
 
 Prophets, some account of the, 
 263. 
 
 Psalms, the book of, i-eferred to, 
 114, 197. 
 
 Public worship, or synagogue ser- 
 vices, 234. 
 
 Punishments, capital^remarks on, 
 347. 
 
 370. 
 
 374. 
 
 in Eastern nations, 
 
 , various sorts of, 374. 
 Purifications, laws respecting,252, 
 
 306. 
 Purim, or lots, the feast of, 221. 
 
 Races, ancient, 120. 
 
 Records, or archives, preserved in 
 
 Jerusalem, 369. 
 Restitution required, 339. 
 Revenues of the Jewish elders, 
 
 393. 
 Rising, early, 37. 
 Rolls, or ancient manuscripts, 108. 
 Rulers in every city, 356. 
 , the, 405. 
 
 Sabbath, laws respecting, 255, 
 327. 
 
 , the observance of, 97, 
 
 255. 
 
 Sabbatical year, the, 261, 308. 
 
 Sacrifices, 143, 201. 
 
 Sadducees, 402. 
 
 Salt offered with all sacrifices, 
 222. 
 
 Salutations, 31. 
 
 Samaritans, 405. 
 
 Sanhedrim, the court of the, 363, 
 367. 
 
 Scape-goat, the, a type of Christ, 
 219. 
 
 Schools, 123, 244. 
 
 Scribes, 403. 
 
 Sects and orders of men, 399. 
 
 Seventy elders appointed, 367. 
 
 Shepherds, Eastern, 63. 
 
 Shekinah, the, or the Divine pre- 
 sence, 164. 
 
416 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 89. 
 
 Sicarii, the, 406. 
 Silk, 80. 
 
 Sin-offerings described, 203. 
 Slaves, 83, 285, 290. 
 Sowing, 67. 
 Spiritual worship, 232. 
 Stealing forbidden, 339. 
 Streets, 16. 
 Supper, the last, 2 1 1. 
 Synagogue punishments, 245, 
 370. 
 
 services, 238. 
 
 Tabernacle, the Jewish, 155, 157. 
 
 ' , utensils of, 160. 
 
 , the feast of, 214. 
 
 Table with the show-bread, 161. 
 
 Talmud, the Jewish, 404. 
 
 Taxes raised among the Jews, 
 398. 
 
 Tax-gatherers always unpopular, 
 399. 
 
 Temple, the, built by Solomon, 
 166, 172. 
 
 , rebuilt by Herod, 177. 
 
 Tents, 9. 
 
 Theft, punishment of, 339. 
 
 Threshing, 70. 
 
 Tiberias the seat of the Jew- 
 ish Council in modem times, 
 363. 
 
 Time, division of, 96, 
 
 Tithes collected among the Jews, 
 395. 
 
 Trades, 77, 87. 
 
 Traveling, 85. 
 
 Treaties made between different 
 
 nations, 379. 
 Trumpets, the feast of, 261. 
 Tyre, commerce with, 86. 
 
 Usury, law respecting, 340. 
 
 Veil of the temple, the, 160. 
 
 Vineyards, 72. 
 
 Visiting, 34. 
 
 Vitringa, remarks of, 408. 
 
 Vows, the laws relating to, 301. 
 
 Wars of the Jewish nation, 385. 
 
 Washings common in Eastern 
 counti-ies, 51, 253. 
 
 Washing feet, 59, 395. 
 
 Water and other drink, 45. 
 
 Water, the bitter, ti'ial by, 338. 
 
 Weaving, 78. 
 
 Weeks obsei-ved in all ages, 97. 
 
 Weights or stones, 84. 
 
 Widows, their causes to be plead- 
 ed, 370. 
 
 Wine, 47, 73. 
 
 Windows, none in the tabernacle, 
 161. 
 
 Witnesses, laws as to, 344, 370. 
 
 Word of God, the neglect of the, 
 364. 
 
 Worship in the Jewish syna- 
 gogues, 236. 
 
 Writmg, the art of, 99. 
 
 Written law, the, 102, 276. 
 
 Zabians, their idolatry, 298. 
 Zealots, the, mentioned, 406. 
 
 
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