BOOK II.

Page 181.—_Gaza._] From Raphia to Gaza was a distance of twenty-two miles. Gaza had been taken, after a siege of two months, by Alexander, (B. C. 332) the inhabitants reduced to slavery, and the city repeopled by a colony from the adjacent country. Arr. ii. 27. Strabo (xvi. p. 522) speaks of it as entirely abandoned; but it is evident from the history of the Maccabees (1 Macc. xi. 61. xiii. 43.) that it was still a place of strength. In Strabo’s own time indeed it was as he describes it, having been totally destroyed (B. C. 96) by Alexander Zerbina. Reland, p. 787. St. Croix, 285.

Page 184.—_Dagon._] See 1 Sam. v. 4. the last clause of which should be rendered, “only the _fish-part_ was left.” Dagon was the same divinity with Atargatis, Derceto, the Syrian Venus. See Selden de Dis Syris Synt. 3. c. 3.

Page 188.—_The stream of Besor._] 1 Sam. xxx. 10. Sephela, signifying in Hebrew hollow or level ground, was applied as a proper name to the level country along the shore from Gaza to Joppa, in which Eleutheropolis stood. It was bordered on the east by the hills of Judah. The easier road by the plain of Sephela has been so generally preferred by travellers, that, with the exception of Baumgarten, I hardly remember one who has gone by Hebron to Jerusalem. They commonly go to the north, as far as Jaffa, before they turn off.

Page 190.—_Latter rains._] The early and latter rains are frequently spoken of in Scripture. After the dry months of summer it begins to rain in Palestine in October. These are the _early_ rains (יורה). Again a considerable quantity falls in the month of March and the beginning of April; this is the מלקרש or latter rain. Buhle’s Calend. Œcon. Palestinæ. Without the former the grain would not spring, without the latter it would not swell and ripen.

Page 191.—_The sweet water of the Nile._] It was as celebrated in ancient as in modern times. “Hic quum apud Ægyptum milites vinum peterent respondit _Nilum habetis et vinum quæritis_? Si quidem tanta illius fluminis dulcedo, ut accolæ vina non quærant.” Spartianus Pesc. Niger. Hist. Aug. i. 663. with Casaubon’s note. Βυβλίνων ὀρῶν ἄπο Ἴησι σέπτον Νεῖλος εὔποτον ῥέος. Æsch. Prom. v. 837. Athenæus (ii. 67.) mentions that it used to be sent to the kings of Persia for their drinking, though their own “Choaspes’ amber stream” was so highly prized; and (ii. 45.) that Ptolemy Philadelphus, whose daughter was married to Antiochus, king of Syria, used to send her the water of the Nile. Of the estimation in which the modern Egyptians hold it, see Harmer, vol. ii. chap. ix. “It is a common saying among the Turks, that if Mahommed had drunk of it, he would have begged of God not to have died that he might always have done it.” According to Dr. Clarke (v. 283.) it is remarkably pure, and better adapted for chymical purposes than any other.

Page 196.—Sitting cross-legged, or on the hams or heels, on mats or carpets, is now the general practice at meals in the east. Harmer (ii. 66. iii. 338.) gives some reasons for supposing that it was not universal in ancient times, among the Orientals. In the older books of Scripture, as in Homer, guests are described as _sitting_ at table; Amos ii. 8. is the first passage in which mention is made of reclining. Brüning’s Antiq. p. 299. In our Saviour’s time the recumbent posture was very common, a couch or divan being used for this purpose, or cushions laid upon the floor.

Page 190.—Sandys (p. 117) thus describes this country. “We passed this day through the most fragrant and pleasant valley that ever I beheld. On the right, a ridge of high mountains, whereon stands Hebron; on the left the Mediterranean sea, bordered with continued hills, beset with variety of fruits. The champaign between them (the plain of Sephela) full of flowery hills ascending leisurely and not much surmounting their vallies, with groves of olives and other fruits dispersedly adorned.”

Page 198.—_Hebron._] See in Josephus, Ant. xii. 12. 1 Macc. vi. 65. 2 Macc. x. the account of the capture of Hebron by the Maccabees. Eusebius makes its distance from Jerusalem twenty-two miles; an Itinerary, quoted by Reland, thirty-one. Christian travellers have scarcely ever proceeded to the south of Bethlehem; and Captains Irby and Mangles and Mr. Bankes, appear to have been the first Englishmen who had visited Hebron for a long series of years. Travels, 342. It is held in high veneration by the Mahometans, as the burying-place of Abraham, and called El Khalil, _the holy_.

Page 199.—_Terebinth of Mamre._] Reland, p. 711, seq. has made an ample collection of passages from Josephus (Jos. B. J. iv. 9.) and other authors relative to this celebrated tree. It was alleged by some to have stood there since the creation, by others to have shot up from the staff of one of the angels entertained by Abraham. So great was the veneration paid to it that an altar stood beneath its shade, on which sacrifices used to be offered, till Constantine ordered an oratory to be erected instead of the altar. There can be no doubt that it was a tree of most venerable antiquity, the terebinth being from its longevity as much an object of reverence where it prevails, as the oak formerly in Gaul and Britain. See Harris’s Nat. Hist. of the Bible, p. 309.

Page 200.—_Does it begin to be light towards Hebron?_] “Judæi in Talmud Joma, cap. 3. et Maimonides in eum locum referunt, missum quolibet mane fuisse, qui ex summo templo ortum diei pro sacrificio offerendo observaret; cui acclamarint, ‘_Num lux usque Hebronem sit_;’ hoc est num ita lux fugaverit tenebras, ut qui ortum spectet etiam Hebronem videre possit.” Cellar. lib. iii. c. 13. p. 345. Lightfoot, i. 943. The reader must not expect to find that every trait in this account of the going up to the Passover can be warranted by quotation from Jewish authors. That it was the custom to go up in large companies on this occasion, accompanied with song and music, (Is. xxx. 29. Harmer iii. No. lxxx.) there can be no doubt. See Luke ii. 14. John vi. 4.[134] In the description of the psalms which were sung, and other circumstances by which the picture is filled up, the author has allowably indulged his imagination.

Footnote 134:

This explains the connection between the fourth and fifth verses, and may remove the suspicion of a corruption or interpolation of the fifth, alleged by Pearce, Mann, and Priestley.

Page 206.—_Bethshur_ (Josh. xv. 58.) was on the road from Jerusalem to Hebron, at the distance of twenty miles from the former. It is frequently mentioned in the books of the Maccabees and in Josephus as a fortress of great strength. Jos. Ant. xiii. 9. 1 Macc. vi. 7. In the second book of Maccabees, xi. 5. it is said to be only five stadia from Jerusalem, but this is evidently a false reading. See Reland, p. 658. Cell. iii. 13. 344.

Page 208.—_Etham._] Ἡν δὲ χωρίον τι ἄπο δύο σχόινων Ἱεροπολύμων, ὁ καλεῖται μὲν Ἠθαμ, παραδείσοις δὲ καὶ ναμάτων ἐπιῤῥοίαις ἐπιτερπὲς ὁμοῦ καὶ πλόυσιον· εις τοῦτο τὰς ἐξόδους ἀιωρούμενος ἐποιεῖτο. Jos. Ant. viii. 7. 3. speaking of Solomon. An account of the modern state of these reservoirs may be seen in Maundrell, p. 88. Pococke, ii. 42. Buckingham, 224.

Page 211.—_No beggar among you._] The reader will not suppose that these words occur in the law of Moses, in whose writings, as Michaelis observes, (Mos. Law, § 142.) the name of _beggar_ is not found, or any allusion to such a class of society: but that the spirit of his institutions excluded beggary. The laws respecting the treatment of the poor are found, Deut. xiv. 28, 29. xv. 1-11. xxiv. 19-22. xxvi. 11-15. Lev. xix. 9, 10. xxiii. 22.

Page 211.—_Tekoah._] This town, the birthplace of Amos, lay six miles to the south of Bethlehem, (Maundrell, p. 88, says nine) and on the very edge of the desert. 1 Macc. ix. 33. “Ultra nullus est viculus, ne agrestes quidem casæ, et furnorum similes, quas Afri appellant mapalia. Et quia humi arido et arenoso nihil omnino frugum gignitur, cuncta sunt plena pastoribus, ut sterilitatem terræ compensent pecorum multitudine.” Hieron. Prolog. ad Amos. Op. v. 208. “The mountains of Palestine,” observes Shaw, (p. 338) “abound with thyme, rosemary, sage, and aromatic plants of the like nature, which the bee chiefly looks after.” Bethcherem, the name of which (_villa vineæ_) implies its productiveness of grapes, is mentioned by Jeremiah, (vi. 1.) as in the vicinity of Tekoah. Hieron. in loc. Op. iv. 533.

Page 214.—_Ziph._] It lay eight miles eastward from Hebron. Josh. xv. 24. Reland, 1064.

Page 219.—_Valley of Rephaim._] The Rephaim, from whom this valley took its appellation, were the supposed gigantic inhabitants of Canaan, whence the valley is called by the Seventy κοιλὰς Τιτάνων, Josh. xv. 13. It stretched from mount Moriah to Bethlehem, and the road now goes through it, Maund. 87. Bethlehem itself has been so frequently described by travellers, that it is unnecessary to quote any thing from their works. Josephus gives thirty stadia for its distance from Jerusalem, somewhat less than four miles, or six sabbath-days’ journies; Eusebius and Jerome six miles, Reland, 445. 645. The course of the Kedron to the Dead Sea appears from Pococke’s description to be considerably north-east of Bethlehem, ii. 34.

Page 222.—See Maundrell, p. 87. Clarke, 4. 419. The building now called Rachel’s tomb is evidently very modern.

Page 226.—Respecting the hospitality exercised at Jerusalem at the time of the Passover, see the commentators on Matt. xxvi. 18. Surenhusius Mishna. 4. 467. “Mercede non elocabant incolæ Hierosolymis domos ad festa accedentibus, sed gratis concedebant.” Lightfoot. Among the ten wonders, the Rabbins reckon that “no man did ever say to his fellow, I have not found a bed in Jerusalem to lie in.” Lightfoot’s Works, i. 951. Hasselquist, p. 103, mentions with surprise the little inconvenience produced in Cairo by the entrance of the caravan of Mecca, containing 100,000 persons.

Page 228.—_On the tenth of the month._] Exod. xii. 3. it is commanded that the lamb should be taken on the tenth of the month, and kept till the fourteenth; but the Jewish authors are not agreed whether this referred to that Passover exclusively, or was to be a perpetual rule. See Lightfoot’s Works, i. 952.

Page 232.—_The Galileans obstructed by the Samaritans._] Josephus (Ant. xx. 5. Bell. Jud. ii. 12. 3.) relates an instance in which the Galileans, passing through Samaria, were attacked by them and several persons killed. Comp. Luke ix. 52. Samaria was the shortest way from Galilee to Jerusalem; the journey required three days, Jos. Vit. 52.

Page 234.—_Searching for leaven._] This part of the paschal ceremonies was not ordained by the Mosaic law. See the Rabbinical authorities collected by Lightfoot, Works, i. 963.

Page 237.—_The temple rose above the rest of the city._] The hill of Acra had been reduced in height by Simon, (Ant. Jud. xiii. 6. 6.) that the temple might be higher than all the surrounding buildings. This and the solidity of its construction made it an almost impregnable fortress in the war with the Romans.

Page 231.—Josephus (Bell. Jud. vi. 9.) makes a calculation of the number of persons present at the Passover from the number of lambs killed. They were 256,000; and as each was to be eaten (Exod. xii.) by not fewer than ten persons, and usually was so by more, he reckons that 2,700,000 persons must have been in Jerusalem. In Bell. Jud. ii. 14. he reckons all the inhabitants at the time of the Passover at 3,000,000.

Page 239.—_Papyrus._] The process of preparing the papyrus is here described after Pliny, N. H. xxx. 12. A drawing of the plant, on a large scale, may be seen in Hayter’s Report on the Herculaneum MSS. The book of Jesus the son of Sirach was evidently written by a Jew of Palestine, (xxiv. 10. l 25.) who had seen the high-priest Simon, son of Onias, (ch. l.) probably the second; the author may have lived a short time before the commencement of the cruelties of Epiphanes, or about 180 B. C. (Eichh. Einl. 4. 36. seq.) According to the same author, the translation was made by his grandson a little more than a century before Christ. Ib. p. 41.

Page 240.—_Travellers coming from a heathen land._] John xviii. 28. The law imposes no such purification; but it was agreeable to the spirit of the times to require it. (Acts x. 28.) Perhaps the purifications of Paul (Acts xxi. 24.) may have reference to this. The Rabbins speak of intercourse with idolaters as equal to Levitical uncleanness, from which every one must be purified before the Passover. John xi. 55.

Page 241.—The word Jehoshaphat signifies _Jehovah judgeth_; and it is very doubtful whether in this passage any place so denominated was intended, and not rather some spot, which, by being the scene of Jehovah’s judgment, would deserve this name. “Judæi arbitrantur ultimo tempore quando Hierusalem fuerit instaurata, sævissimas gentes Gog and Magog contra Dei populum esse venturas et in valle Josaphat quæ ad orientalem portam templi sita est, esse sævituras.” Hieron. in Joel. iii. 12. There is in the valley, through which the Kedron runs, a sepulchre, which is now shown to travellers as that of Jehoshaphat, (Maund. p. 103) but without any warrant from antiquity. It appears, however, that a great many sepulchres were excavated in the rocks which form the eastern side of this valley. See Clarke, 4. 333. 349. It is still the most earnest desire of the Jews to be buried in the valley of Jehoshaphat.

Page 243.—_Five sabbath-days’ journies._] Pococke (ii. 7.) says, the ancient Jerusalem was four miles in circumference, the modern only two and a half. Hecatæus of Abdera says, the circuit of the ancient city was fifty stadia; about six miles, Jos. c. Ap. ii. 4. Various other estimates may be seen in the Essay on the Topography of Jerusalem, by D’Anville, appended to the second volume of Chateaubriand’s Travels.

Page 244.—_Topography of Jerusalem._] The reader is requested to refer to the map of D’Anville, as the best elucidation of this description of Jerusalem. The valley of Gihon, which our author describes as bordering the whole city on the western side, is not there laid down. The fountain of Gihon is said to have been the same as Siloah; (Reland, 859. Lightfoot on John, v. 2.) this fountain, which was situated near the _eastern_ end of the valley which separates the Upper from the Lower City, (the φάραγξ Τυροποῖων of Josephus) can hardly have given its name to the valley which skirted the city on the western side. According to Maundrell (p. 108) and other travellers, the name of _Mount Gihon_ is given to a place where is a reservoir, on the western side of the city: I suspect that גיחון from גחן _alveus_, may have been a generic name for a stream, which will account for its being applied to Siloah as well as to the proper Gihon on the opposite side of the city. The chief authority for the topography of Jerusalem is Joseph. Bell. Jud. v. 4. combined with various passages in the narrative of the war. Tacit. Hist. v. 11, 12. Reland, 832. seq. Cellarius, lib. iii. 13. p. 329. seq.

Page 245.—_Bezetha_] בית חדתה, Καινόπολις, or the New City, was without walls till the time of Agrippa, who began to fortify it, but desisted, fearful of exciting the jealousy of Claudius; the building was afterwards resumed and carried up to the height of twenty cubits, Jos. Bell. Jud. v. 4. 2.

Page 245.—_The city had twelve gates._] The gate of Ephraim and the Corner-gate are not mentioned, Neh. iii. Godwin (Moses and Aaron, p. 73) reckons only nine. The whole subject is involved in great obscurity. Jennings’s Jewish Antiquities, ii. 76. Lightfoot’s Harmony John v. 2. Anc. Universal History, vol. iv. 234. The ordinary population of Jerusalem is estimated by Hecatæus, Jos. c. Apion. ii. 4., at 120,000.

Page 248.—_Analogy of the city to the camp._] “Ad rationem castrorum in deserto, quod a porta Hierosolymæ ad montem ædis intercedebat spatium, id respondebat castris Israelitarum. Quod autem a porta montis ad portam Nicanoris id Levitarum respondebat castris. Et quod spatium erat citra portam atrii castra Dei representabat.” Maimonides de Ædif. Templ. xi.

Page 251.—The description of the temple, as it existed just before its destruction, will be found in Jos. Bell. Jud. v. 5. c. Ap. ii. 7. The author appears to have most nearly followed Prideaux’s account, Conn. i. 200. See also Calmet, _Temple_. Lightfoot’s Works, i. 1049. seq.

Page 252.—The sanctuary, comprising the holy and holy of holies, was called emphatically the _house_, Luke xi. 51. by Josephus ναὸς. Ern. Op. Phil. et Crit. p. 350.

Page 253.—_Chel._] The enclosure ֫חל which is here spoken of is mentioned by the Rabbinical writers, and from them introduced by Prideaux into his ichnography of the temple. See too Lightfoot, i. 1089.

Page 254.—Of the multitude of persons from all countries of the dispersion who came up to Jerusalem at the Passover, see Acts ii. 9. Ἡν τῶν Ιουδαίων φύλη ἐις πᾶσαν πόλιν ἤδη παρεληλύθει, καὶ τόπον ὀυκ ἔστι ραδίως εὑρεῖν τῆς οἰκουμένης, ὁς ὁυ παραδεδεκται τοῦτο τὸ φῦλον, μηδ’ ἐπικρατεῖται ὑπ’ ἀυτοῦ. Strabo ap. Jos. Ant. xiv. 7.

Page 256.—The law enjoins that the Passover shall be killed, בין הערבים Exod. xii. 6. _between the evenings_, an expression which by comparison with Num. xxviii. 4. where the same phrase is used of the time of the evening sacrifice, (three P. M. according to Josephus, Ant. xiv. 4. 3.) appears clearly to have meant generally the latter part of the day. It has been much disputed what the _evenings_ here mentioned are. The Greeks divided the decline of day into two evenings, one answering to what we call afternoon; the other, the time about sunset. The Jewish writers also distinguish between מנחה גדולה, _the great evening_, beginning half an hour after mid-day; and קטנה _the lesser evening_, beginning in the middle of the tenth hour or half past three P. M. Fascic. Hist. and Phil. Sacr. vi. 426. It appears from Josephus, (Bell. Jud. vi. 9.) that the paschal lambs were killed between the ninth and the eleventh hour, i. e. from three o’clock till five. In Deut. xvi. 6. the command is to sacrifice the passover at sunset; and hence the Karaite Jews, who reject all Rabbinical traditions, kill it at twilight, and eat it after dark. See Jennings’s Jew. Ant. ii. 181. Lightfoot’s Works, i. 955. Ikenii. Diss. ix-xii. Of the ceremonies used in killing the paschal lamb, see Lightfoot, i. 957. and the Tract _Pesachim_, in Surenhus. Mischn. T. ii. 134. seq.

Page 257.—_The father of the family killed the paschal lamb._] Ἐν τῇ ἑορτη οὐχ οἱ μὲν ἰδίωται προσάγουσι τῷ βωμῷ τὰ ἱερεῖα, θύουσι δε οἱ ἱερεῖς, ἄλλα νομοῦ προστάξει συμπᾶν τὸ ἔθνος ἱερᾶται κατὰ μέρος ἑκάστου τὰς ὑπὲρ ἀυτοῦ θυσίας ἀναγόντος τότε καὶ χειρουργοῦντος. Philo. Vit. Mos. p. 686. So the Mishna; “Mactat Israelita, excipit sanguinem sacerdos.” Surenh. ii. 153.

Page 258.—_The priests blew the trumpet._] The trumpet here spoken of, and elsewhere, was the חצוצר (_tuba_.) Joseph. Ant. xiii. 12. 6. straight and of metal, opposed to the שופר (_cornu._) Vitringa, Syn. i. 203. The trumpets are represented on the Jewish coins, and on the triumphal arch of Titus.

Page 259.—_Roasting in deep ovens._] See Pococke’s description of the ovens now used in Palestine, ii. 40.

Page 260.—_Fifteenth of the month Nisan._] The Jewish ecclesiastical year began with the month Nisan or Abib, (the month of the ears of corn.) Exod. xii. 2. As the Jews reckoned by lunar years, Nisan, beginning with the first new moon after the vernal equinox, would sometimes fall in the end of March, sometimes in April; and hence it is impossible to assign any of the Jewish months exactly to corresponding months of the Roman calendar. The Passover was always to be accompanied by the offering of the first-fruits, or the new barley; and as this would not, ordinarily, be ripe before the middle of April, (Shaw p. 335) an additional month was intercalated, whenever the difference between the solar and lunar year had become so great, that this part of the law could not be complied with. See Michaelis Mos. Law, § 199. De mensibus Hebræorum. Comm. xi.

The Jewish months followed in this order; the times assigned to them in our calendar must be understood with the limitation above-mentioned.

1. Nisan, or Abib 30 days, March and April. 2. Jiar, or Siv 29 April and May. 3. Sivan 30 May and June. 4. Tammus 29 June and July. 5. Abh 30 July and August. 6. Elul 29 August and September. 7. Tisri, or Ethanim 30 September and October. 8. Marchesvan (or Bul) 30 and 29 October and November. 9. Kisleu 29 and 30 November and December. 10. Tebheth 29 December and January. 11. Shebat 30 January and February. 12. Adar 29 and 30 February and March.

When an intercalary month was necessary, it was added after Adar, and called _Veadar_. Only four of the months, Abib, Exod. xiii. 4. Siv, 1 Kings vi. 37. Ethanim, 1 Kings viii. 2. Bul, 1 Kings viii. 38., are mentioned by name before the captivity. The civil year began with Tisri, at the autumnal equinox. Wähner, Ant. Heb. ii. 15.

Page 261.—_Ceremonies of eating the Passover._] The laws of Moses respecting this rite are found Exod. xii. 1-20. 43-49. Deut. xvi. 1-8. Exod. xxxiv. 25. Lightfoot (Works, i. 959. seq.) has collected the passages from the Rabbinical writings, which describe the manner of eating it so fully, that it is unnecessary to do more than refer to him for all that is here related. See also Maimonides de Sol. Pasch. Fasc. Hist. Sacr. vii. 837. What our author says of their standing around the table, appears doubtful: the Israelites ate their first Passover, undoubtedly, in this way; but in our Saviour’s time they appear to have used the ordinary recumbent posture, and this is agreeable to the accounts of the Rabbins.

Page 262.—_The divan._] This is a raised platform, about four feet wide and six inches high, from the floor in the houses of Aleppo, according to Russel, (p. 27) running round the head and sides of the room, close to the wall, on which mats and cushions are spread. It serves as the ordinary seat of the Orientals, instead of our chairs.

Page 263.—_The table in the east is low._] Mariti (ii. 144.) describes a table at which he dined, as raised about a hand’s breadth from the floor, and two feet broad.

Page 272.—_Hyrcanus unites in himself the three offices_ _of the Messiah, prophet, prince, and priest._] Josephus (Bell. J. i. 2. 8. &c.) gives several instances of the prophetic inspiration of Hyrcanus, Ant. xiii. 10. 7. 12. 1.

Page 273.—_First watch of the night._] According to the original division of time among the Jews, there were only three watches in the night. See Judges vii. 19. They afterwards borrowed from the Romans the division into four watches. Matth. xiv. 25. Mark xiii. 35. See Lewis, Hebrew Republic, Book vii. chap. 2. The water-clock, or clepsydra, was invented by Ctesibius, (Vitruv. ix. 9. Athen. lib. iv, p. 174) a native of Alexandria, in the reign of Ptolemy Physcon. In earlier times the dial appears to have been the only measurer of time among the Hebrews.

Page 274.—_Great Hallel._] “Quarto epoto poculo, nihil amplius tota nocte libare præter nisi aquam licebat, nisi quis vellet super quintum poculum cantare ilium eximium hymnum qui incipit _confitemini dominum_ (Psalm cxxxvi.) et pertinet ad usque _super flumina Babylonis_.” (Psalm cxxxvii.) Maim. de Sol. Pasch. Fascic. Hist. et Phil. Sacr. vii. 897.

Page 275.—_Soon after midnight._] Τῶν ἀζύμων τῆς εορτῆς ἀγομένης, ἐκ μέσης νυκτὸς ἐν ἔθει ἤν τοῖς ἱερεῦσι ἀνοιγνύναι τοῦ ἱερου τοὺς πυλῶνας. Jos. Ant. xviii. 2.

Page 276.—_Usual morning sacrifice._] Exod. xxx. 7. 9. xxix. 38-46. Numb. xxviii. 1-8. The special offering for the Passover, Numb. xxviii. 16-25.

Page 277.—_Garments of the high-priest._] See Exod. xxviii. xxxix. 1. 39. Jos. Bell. Jud. v. 57.

Page 282.—_Music of the Levites._] According to Josephus, Ant. vii. 12. 3. the instruments of the Levites were a ten-stringed instrument, called _Cinyra_, struck with the plectrum; a twelve-stringed, _Nabla_, played with the fingers; and cymbals. The Rabbins say (Lightfoot, i. 921.) that a flute, or hautboy, was used on particular days, of which the Passover was one.

Page 284.—_Gesture of the high-priest in blessing._] See Vitringa, Lib. de Syn. iii. 2. 20. p. 1119. Lightfoot, i. 947.

Page 285.—_A thank-offering._] Thank-offerings, freewill-offerings, and offerings for vows, went under the general denomination of peace-offerings. The laws respecting them are found Lev. iii. vii. 11-34. xix. 5-8. xxii. 17-33. The thank-offering was to be wholly consumed on the same day; the freewill-offering on the same or the following day.

Page 286.—_Ceremonies with which the first sheaf was cut._] See Lightfoot, i. 969. Reland, Ant. Heb. 466. The climate of the valley of the Jordan is much warmer than that of Jerusalem. Justin, xxxvi. 3. Shaw, 335. Jos. B. Jud. iv. 8, 3. The law for the offering of the first-fruits is found Lev. xxiii. 9-14.

Page 292.—_The offering of the appearance before Jehovah._] It was grounded on Exod. xxiii. 15. “None shall appear before me empty-handed.” It was called _Corban Raajah_. ראיה. See Lightfoot, i. 968. It was a voluntary offering, no penalty being annexed to the omission. The general law of burnt-offerings is found Lev. i. 1-13. vi. 8-13. vii. 8.

Page 294.-_-Schools of the prophets._] See Vitringa Syn. lib. i. p. 2. chap. 6, 7.

Page 295.—_Synagogue._] See Calmet, sub. voc. Vitringa, i. 1. 8. Lightfoot’s Works, i. 610.

Page 296.— _Any one who chose might teach._] Lightfoot (i. 612.) denies this liberty of teaching; and supposes that our Saviour, though not an appointed preacher, was allowed to speak from the fame of his miracles: but throughout this author’s account of the synagogue, he seems to have had in view the controversies on church discipline of his own time, and to have leant to a rigorous exclusion of all but ordained teachers. But the invitation to Paul and Barnabas at Antioch, in Pisidia, (Acts iii. 15.) where they were strangers, proves that the account given in the text is correct.

Page 302.—_Approach of the sabbath._] The interval time between three o’clock on Friday afternoon and six, when the sabbath began, was called the _Parasceue_ of the sabbath. Augustus exempted the Jews from appearing in a court of justice after three o’clock P. M. on Friday. Lewis, iv. c. 16. Of the six blasts of the trumpet, see Reland, Ant. Heb. 520.

Page 303.—The custom of the Jews to celebrate their sabbath by the lighting of lamps, was remarked in ancient times by the heathens. See the Scholiast on Pers. v. 180. Respecting the lighting of the sabbath-lamp by the mother of the family, see Vitringa, Syn. i. 195. Of the sabbath-psalm, see Lightfoot, i. 923.

Page 304.—_To take a family meal was the first thing done._] The Romans very falsely supposed that the Jews fasted on their sabbath. Sueton. Oct. 76. Justin, 36. 2.

Page 310.—_Additional sacrifice for the sabbath._] See Numb. xxviii. 9, 10.

Page 312.—_Not fewer than 100,000 men._] Some idea may be formed of the vast multitudes assembled in the temple at the great solemnities, by what Josephus says, Ant. xx. 4. 3. Bell. Jud. ii. 12. 1. that on one occasion 10,000, on another 20,000 men were trodden to death in the gates, when they were endeavouring to escape from an apprehended attack of the Romans.

Page 312.—_The thirteen chests._] Respecting the Gazophylacia, or treasure chests in the temple, see Lightfoot, i. 1095. This was the tax demanded of our Lord, Matth. xvii. 24. The law of Moses does not appear to have contemplated an annual capitation tax; this meaning was given to it after the captivity. Mich Mos. Law, § 173.

Cyrene abounded with Jews, who had been settled there by Ptolemy Lagi. Jos. Ant. xii. 1. Ap. ii. 4. Prid. An. 307. Wetstein on Matth. xxvii. 31. In the reign of Trajan, they massacred above 200,000 of the inhabitants of Cyrene, and possessed themselves for a time of the country.

Page 314.—_Jewish shekel._] When Antiochus, the son of Demetrius, granted to Simon the principality of Judea, (b. c. 140) he conceded to him the right of coining money, a prerogative of sovereignty most jealously guarded. 1 Macc. xv. 6. Καὶ ἐπέτρεψά σοι ποιῆσαι κόμμα ἴδιον, νόμισμα τῇ χώρᾳ σου. Simon availed himself of this permission; and many coins have come down to our time, bearing his name, with the device and inscription mentioned in the text. As the legends of all these coins are in the old Hebrew character, which, from being used in the Samaritan Pentateuch, was called Samaritan, many learned men were disposed to deny their genuineness; as Basnage, History of the Jews, vi. 24. Reland, and Wise, in his Catalogue of the Medals of the Bodleian. Within the last fifty years, a severe attack was made upon them by the celebrated Orientalist, O. G. Tychsen.[135] They were defended by Bayer, archdeacon of Valencia;[136] and the result of the controversy has completely established their genuineness. See Rasche, Lexicon Rei Numariæ, T. iv. P. 2, p. 1720; Eckhel. Doctr. Num. Vet. iii. 455. Hence the important fact is established, that the Jews continued to use the old Hebrew character, till within a century of our Saviour’s birth.[137]

Footnote 135:

Unächtheit der Jüdischen Münzen, Rostock, 1779.

Footnote 136:

De Numis Hebræo-Samaritanis, Valentiæ, 1781.

Footnote 137:

Possibly much later; for in the rebellion of the Jews under Trajan, they placed their own Maccabæan stamp over the imperial coin; so that the two impressions are still visible, mixed together. These inscriptions are also in the Samaritan character. Eckhel, iii. 472.

Josephus (Ant. iii. 8. 2.) says, that the Hebrew shekel was equal to the Attic tetradrachm; and Philo indirectly agrees with him: but he has reckoned it too high; for, according to the accurate experiments of Barthelemy, (Eckhel, Proleg. cap. ix.) the greatest weight of a shekel is 271¾ grains; the average of the Attic tetradrachms, 320 grains. Jerome has more accurately stated the value of the shekel at twenty oboli: as the Attic drachma contains six oboli, the shekel will be equal to 3⅓ drachmas. Eckhel, iii. 464. The Attic drachma and Roman denarius were worth about seven pence. Besides the rod of Aaron, the Hebrew shekels exhibit a palm or vine branch, a view of the temple, a citron and a bundle of boughs, and two trumpets. (Num. x. 2.) It may be observed, that the coins with inscriptions in what is now called the Hebrew, or Chaldee character, are recent forgeries.

Page 316.—Of the discouragement of foreign commerce by Moses, (Jos. c. Ap. i. 12.) see Michaelis, Mos. Law, § 39. He has, at the same time, shown how much the Jewish festivals tended to encourage internal commerce, § 198. The caravan of Mecca is always accompanied by a large body of merchants. Hasselquist, p. 82. What is said in the text of the dislike of the Greeks to commerce, must be restricted to the heroic times, or to nations which, like Sparta, retained the manners and notions of those times. Ionia, Corinth, Athens, and other Grecian states, were active in commercial pursuits.

END OF VOL. I.

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London: Printed by A. Applegath, Stamford-street.

Footnotes

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Transcriber’s Note

There a number of minor errors in the ‘Notes and Illustrations’ at the end of the text.

On p. 344, the phrase noted on p. 90 actually occurs on the following page.

On p. 354, the endnote referencing p. 190 seems misplaced in the list, occurring between references to p. 196 and p. 198. The locale being described on p. 190 is not mentioned by name, but the description from Sandys (p. 117), which describes an area below Hebron, would seem to agree. There seems to be no reasonable referent on pp. 196-198.

Likewise, on p. 359, the reference to p. 231 correct, but is misplaced.

These notes remain in their printed positions.

The brief Hebrew phrases cannot always be exactly confirmed by modern sources. They have been retained as printed, using those sources only to confirm those characters which seem ambiguous.

The printer frequently misplaced the circumflex in words containing the εῖ diphthong, using it on the epsilon rather than the iota. The circumflex is used only on the second letter, and has been corrected here, with no further comment.

Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original. The following issues should be noted, along with the resolutions.

61.19 Abram the son of[ ]Terah Inserted.

113.4 the epigrams and scolia of Solomon.[”] Added.

128.2 to the neighbour[bour]hood of the river Chebar Redundant.

130.4 and the Levites in their occupations.[”/’] Replaced.

140.33 in the day of his anger.[”] Added.

151.7 for the house of God at Jerusalem.[’] Added.

151.21 both gold and silver.[’”] Removed.

167.23 and sacrifi[c]ed to the idol Inserted.

178.16 “Amen!” exclaimed Helon.[”] Removed.

191.14 [“]Thou lookest down upon our land Added,

207.7 exactly as with the child.[”] Added.

209.19 “A garden enclosed is my sister, my Replaced. spouse[:/;]”

214.11 They [past] by a company of men _sic_

273.10 “It will be a happy day,” said Helon,[”] Removed.

289.2 without finding any resting[ ]place. Inserted.

348.12 inscribed on the high-priest[’]s tiara Inserted.

358.4 from whom this valley took it[s] appellation Added.