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was to take an oath of cursing, it is said that the priest shall Eunuch, though probably reading to himself, and not parwrite the curses in a book, and blot them out with the bitter ticularly designing to be heard by his attendants, would water. It appears that these maledictions were written with read loud enough to be understood by a person at some disa kind of ink prepared for the purpose, without any calx of tance." iron or other material that could make a permanent dye; and were then washed off the parchment into the water which the woman was obliged to drink: so that she drank the very words of the execration. The ink used in the East is almost all of this kind; a wet sponge will completely obliterate the finest of their writings. The ink was carried in an implement, termed by our translators an inkhorn, which was stuck into the girdle (Ezek. ix. 2, 3.), as it still is in the Levant.2

:

Epistles or Letters, which are included under the same Hebrew word with Books (viz. DD, SеPHER), are very rarely mentioned in the earlier ages of antiquity. The first notice of an epistle in the Sacred Writings occurs in 2 Sam. xi. 14. but afterwards they are more frequently mentioned. In the East, letters are to this day commonly sent unsealed: but, when they are sent to persons of distinction, they are placed in a valuable purse, which is tied, closed over with clay or wax, and then stamped with a signet. The same practice obtained in ancient times. See Isa. viii. 6. xxix. 11. (marginal rendering), Neh. vi. 5. Job xxxviii. 14. The book which was shown to the apostle John (Rev. v. 1. vi. 1, 2, &c.). was sealed with seven seals, which unusual number seems to have been affixed, in order to intimate the great importance and secrecy of the matters therein contained. The most ancient epistles begin and end without either salutation or farewell; but under the Persian monarchy it was very prolix. It is given in an abridged form in Ezra iv. 7-10. and v. 7. The apostles, in their epistles, used the salutation customary among the Greeks, but they omitted the usual farewell (p) at the close, and adopted a benediction more conformable to the spirit of the Gospel of Christ. When Paul dictated his letters (as he most frequently did), he wrote the benediction at the close with his own hand. See an instance in 2 Thess. iii. 17.2

Books being written on parchment and similar flexible materials, were rolled round a stick or cylinder; and if they were very long, round two cylinders, from the two extremities. Usually, the writing was only on the inside. The writing on Ezekiel's roll (Ezek. ii. 9, 10.) being on both sides, indicated that the prophecy would be long. The reader unrolled the book to the place which he wanted, avantuĝas To BibnIev, and rolled it up again, when he had read it, TuğUS TO BISA (Luke iv. 17-20.); whence the name (MeGilLaH), a volume, or thing rolled up. (Psal. xl. 7. Isa. xxxiv. 4. Ezek. ii. 9. 2 Kings xix. 14. Ezra vi. 2.) The leaves thus rolled round the stick, and bound with a string, could be easily sealed. (Isa. xxix. 11. Dan. xii. 4. Rev. v. 1. vi. 7.) Those books which were inscribed on tablets of wood, lead, brass, or ivory, were connected together by rings at the back, through which a rod was passed to carry them by. In Palestine, when persons are reading privately in a book, "they usually go on, reading aloud with a kind of singing voice, moving their heads and bodies in time, and making a monotonous cadence at regular intervals, -thus giving emphasis; although not such an emphasis, pliant to the sense, as would please an English ear. Very often they seem to read without perceiving the sense; and to be pleased with themselves, merely because they can go through the mechanical act of reading in any way." This practice may enable us to "understand how it was that Philip should hear at what passage in Isaiah the Ethiopian Eunuch was reading, before he was invited to come up and sit with him in the chariot. (Acts viii. 30, 31.) The

1 Harmer's Observations, vol. iii. p. 127. Dr. A. Clarke on Num. v. 23. Emerson's Letters from the Egean, vol. ii. p. 64. "This implement is one of considerable antiquity; it is common throughout the Levant, and we inet with it often in the houses of the Greeks. To one end of a long brass tube for holding pens is attached the little case containing the moist ened sepia used for ink, which is closed with a lid and snap, and the whole stuck with much importance in the girdle. This is, without doubt, the instrument borne by the individual, whom Ezekiel mentions as one man clothed in linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side. (Ezek. ix. 2.)" Ibid. p. 64. note. 3 Jahn's Archæol. Hebr. by Mr. Upham, $$ 88, 89. Pareau, Antiq. Hebr' pp. 426-428. In the monastery of Megaspelaion, in Greece, the Rev. Mr. Hartley observed two beautiful rolls of the same description with that mentioned in Ezek. ii. 9, 10., and containing the Liturgies of St. Chrysostom and that

attributed by the Greeks to St. James. "You began to read by unfolding, and you continued to read and unfold, till at last you arrived at the stick to which the roll was attached. Then you turned the parchment round, and continued to read on the other side of the roll; folding it gradually up, until you completed the Liturgy. Thus it was written within and without." Hartley's Researches in Greece, p. 238.

2. Though the art of CARVING or ENGRAVING was not invented by the Hebrews, yet that it was cultivated to a considerable extent is evident not only from the cherubim which were deposited first in the tabernacle and afterwards in Solomon's temple, but from-the lions, which were on each side of his throne (1 Kings x. 20.), and from the description which Isaiah (xliv. 13-17.) has given us of the manner in which idols were manufactured.

3. By whomsoever PAINTING was invented, this art appears to have made some progress in the more advanced periods of the Jewish polity. In Ezek. xxiii. 14, 15. mention is made of men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to. Jeremiah mentions apartments which were painted with vermilion. (xxii. 14.) But as all pictures were forbidden by the Mosaic law, as well as images (Lev. xxvi. 1. Num. xxxiii. 52.), it is most probable that these pictures were copied by the Jews from some of their heathen neighbours, after they had been corrupted by intercourse with them.

4. The art of MUSIC was cultivated with great ardour by the Hebrews, who did not confine it to sacred purposes, but introduced it upon all special and solemn occasions, such as entertaining their friends, public festivals, and the like: thus Laban tells Jacob that if he had known of his leaving him, he would have sent him away with mirth and with songs, with tabret and with harp. (Gen. xxxi. 27.) Isaiah says, that the harp and the viol, the tabret and pipe, are in their feasts (Isa. v. 12.); and, to express the cessation of these feasts, he says, the mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. (Isa. xxiv. 8.) It was also the custom at the coronation of kings. (2 Chron. xxiii. 13.) And it was the usual manner of expressing their mirth upon their receiving good tidings of victory, and upon the triumphal returns of their generals, as may be seen in Judg. xi. 31. and 1 Sam. xviii. 6. That music and dancing were used among the Jews at their feasts in latter ages, may be inferred from the parable of the prodigal son. (Luke xv. 25.) Besides their sacred music, the Hebrew monarchs had their private music. Asaph was master of David's royal band of musicians. It appears that in the temple-service female musicians were admitted as well as males, and that in general they were the daughters of Levites. Heman had fourteen sons and three daughters who were skilled in music; and Ezra, when enumerating those who returned with him from the Babylonish captivity, reckons two hundred singing men and singing women. The Chaldee paraphrast on Eccles. ii. 8., where Solomon says that he had men singers and women singers, understands it of singing women of the temple.

In the tabernacle and the temple, the Levites (both men and women) were the lawful musicians; but on other occasions the Jews were at liberty to use any musical instruments, with the exception of the silver trumpets, which were to be sounded only by the priests, on certain solemn and public occasions. (Num. x. 1-10.)

The invention of musical instruments is ascribed to Jubal. (Gen. iv. 21.) The following are the principal MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS mentioned in the Sacred Writings :6

(1.) Pulsatile Instruments.-These were three in number, viz. The tabret, the cymbal, and the sistrum.

i. The Tabret, Tabor, or Timbrel, n (тuPH), was composed of a circular hoop, either of wood or brass, which was covered with a piece of skin tensely drawn and hung round with small bells. It was held in the left hand, and beaten to notes of music with the right. After the passage of the Red Sea, Miriam the sister of Moses took a timbrel, and began to play and dance with the women (Exod. xv. 20.): in like manner the daughter of Jephthah came to meet her father with timbrels and dances, after he had discomfited and subdued the Ammonites. (Judg. xi. 34.) The ladies ment. The earliest notice of the tabret occurs in Gen. in the East, to this day, dance to the sound of this instruXxxi. 27.

of two large and broad plates of brass, of a convex form; ii. The Cymbal, xx (TseLTSEL), Psal. cl. 5. consisted

5 Jowett's Christian Researches in Syria, p. 121.

For some remarks on the titles of certain Psalms, which are supposed to have been derived either from musical instruments or the tunes to which they were sung, see part i. chap. iii. sect. ii. § vi. infra.

which, being struck against each other, made a hollow ring-it a part of their worship which they paid to the golden calf. ing sound. They form, in our days, a part of every military band.

iii. The Sistrum, yay (MеNAUNOIM), which in our version of 2 Sam. vi. 5. is misrendered cornets, was a rod of iron bent into an oval or oblong shape, or square at two corners and curved at the others, and furnished with a number of moveable rings; so that, when shaken or struck with another rod of iron, it emitted the sound desired.

(2.) Wind Instruments.-Six of these are mentioned in the Scriptures, viz. The organ, the flute and hautboy, dulcimer, horn, and trumpet.

i. The Organ, ay (OGEB), is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament, and its invention is ascribed to Jubal in Gen. iv. 21.; but it cannot have been like our modern organs. It is supposed to have been a kind of flute, at first composed of one or two, but afterwards of about seven pipes, made of reeds of unequal length and thickness, which were joined together. It corresponded most nearly to the up or pipe of Pan among the Greeks.

ii. iii. Then (CHALIL), and the ap (NеKев), which our translators have rendered pipes, are supposed to have been the flute and hautboy.

iv. The ED (SUMPUNJаH), or Dulcimer (Dan. iii. 5.), was a wind instrument made of reeds; by the Syrians called Sambonjah, by the Greeks Zauburn, and by the Italians Zam

pogna.

v. The Horn or Crooked Trumpet was a very ancient instrument, made of the horns of oxen cut off at the smaller extremity. In progress of time ram's horns were used for the same purpose. It was chiefly used in war.

vi. The form of the straight Trumpet is well known: it was used by the priests (Num. x. 8. 1 Chron. xv. 24.) both on extraordinary occasions (Num. x. 10.), and also in the daily service of the temple. (2 Chron. vii. 6. xxix. 26.) In time of peace, when the people or the rulers were to be convened together, this trumpet was blown softly: but when the camps were to move forward, or the people were to march to war, it was sounded with a deeper note.

(3.) Stringed Instruments.-These were the harp and the psaltery.

i. The Harp, (KiNOUR), Seems to have resembled that in modern use: it was the most ancient of all musical instruments. (Gen. iv. 21.) It had ten strings, and was played by David with the hand (1 Sam. xvi. 23.); but Josephus says, that it was played upon or struck with a plectrum.

(Exod. xxxii. 19.) The Amalekites danced after their vic tory at Ziklag (1 Sam. xxx. 16.), and Job makes it part of the character of the prosperous wicked (that is, of those who, placing all their happiness in the enjoyments of sense, forget God and religion), that their children dance. (Job xxi. 11.) The dancing of the profligate Herodias's daughter pleased Herod so highly, that he promised to give her whatever she asked, and accordingly, at her desire, and in compliment to her, he commanded John the Baptist to be beheaded in prison. (Matt. xiv. 6-8.) Most probably it resembled the voluptuous performances of the dancing girls who still exhibit in the East.5

I.

SECTION III.

ON THE LITERATURE AND SCIENCES OF THE HEBREWS.

Schools. On the schools of the prophets in particular.—II. Appellation given to the Jewish doctors or teachers.-III. Their method of teaching.-IV. Studies of the Jews.-1. History.-2. Poetry.-3. Oratory.-4. Ethics.-5. Physics. -6. Arithmetic.-7. Mathematics.-8. Astronomy.-9. Astrology.-10. Surveying.-11. Mechanic Arts.-12. Geography.

1. SCHOOLS have ever been considered among polished nations as the chief support of states: in them are formed the people at large: and there are taught religion, laws, the ministers of religion, judges, and magistrates, as well as history, and all those sciences, the knowledge of which is of the greatest importance to the well-being of nations, and to the comfort of private life. The Jewish writers pretend that from the earliest ages there have been schools; and that, before the Deluge, they were under the direction of the patriarchs: but these notions have long since been deservedly rejected for want of authority.

Although the Hebrews confined their pursuits to agriculconclude that they were a nation of ignorant rustics. Of that ture and the management of cattle, yet we have no reason to which most concerns man to know, their religious and moral duties,-they could not be ignorant, since the father of every family was bound to teach the laws of Moses to his children. ii. The Psaltery (NCBEL), obtained its name from its evidence of the existence of any schools, strictly so called, (Deut. xxxii. 6. Pṣal. lxxvii. 5.) We have, however, no resemblance to a bottle or flagon: it is first mentioned in the earlier than the time of Samuel: and as the Scriptures do Psalms of David, and the invention of it is ascribed to the not mention the schools of the prophets, before him who was Phoenicians. In Psal. xxxiii. 2. and exliv. 9. it is called a both a judge and a prophet in Israel, we may venture to asfen-stringed instrument, but in Psal. xcii. 3. it is distinguish-cribe those schools to him. It is not improbable that the ed from the latter. Josephus says, that it had twelve almost total cessation of the spirit of prophecy under the sounds (or strings), and was struck or played upon by the ministry of Eli, and the degeneracy of the priesthood, first fingers.4 occasioned the institution of these seminaries, for the better education of those who were to succeed in the sacred ministry. From 1 Sam. x. 5. 10. xix. 20. 2 Kings ii. 5. and xxii. 14., it appears that the schools of the prophets were first erected in the cities of the Levites; which for the more convenient instruction of the people were dispersed through the several tribes of Israel. In these places convenient edifices were built for the abode of the prophets and their disciples, who were thence termed the Sons of the Prophets; over whom presided some venerable and divinely-inspired prophet, who is called their father. (2 Kings ii. 12.) Samuel was one, and, perhaps, the first of those fathers (1 Sam. xix. 20.), and Elijah was another (2 Kings ii. 12.), who was succeeded by Elisha in this office. (2 Kings vi. 1.) The sons of the prophets lived together in a society or community (2 Kings iv. 38.); they were instructed in the knowledge of the law, and of the principles of their religion, as well as in the sacred. art of psalmody, or (as it is termed in 1 Sam. x. 5. and 1 Chron. xxv. 1. 7.) prophesying with harps, psalteries, and cymbals. At the conclusion of their lectures and religious exercises, they were accustomed to eat together with their masters. Calmet is of opinion that these schools subsisted until the Babylonish captivity: and it should seem that the captives resorted to such establishments, to hear the prophets, when there were any, in the places where they resided. Ezekiel relates various conversations which he had with the elders of Israel who came to consult him: the people also assembled about him, apparently for the purpose of hearing

Effects the most astonishing are attributed in the Scriptures to the Hebrew music, of the nature of which we know but very little. Several examples are recorded, in the sacred history, of the power and charms of music to sweeten the temper, to compose and allay the passions of the mind, to revive the drooping spirits, and to dissipate melancholy. It had this effect on Saul, when David played to him on his harp. (1 Sam. xvi. 16. 23.) And when Elisha was desired by Jehoshaphat to tell him what his success against the king of Moab would be, the prophet required a minstrel to be brought unto him; and when he played, it is said that the hand of the Lord came upon him (2 Kings iii. 15.); not that the gift of prophecy was the natural effect of music, but the meaning is, that music disposed the organs, the humours, and in short the whole mind and spirit of the prophet, to receive these supernatural impressions.

(4.) DANCING was an ordinary concomitant of music among the Jews. Sometimes it was used on a religious account: thus Miriam with her women glorified God (after the deliverance from the Egyptians), in dances as well as songs (Exod. xv. 20.), and David danced after the ark. (2 Sam. vi. 16.) It was a thing common at the Jewish feasts (Judg. xxi. 19. 21.) and in public triumphs (Judg. xi. 34), and at all seasons of mirth and rejoicing. (Psal. xxx. 11. Jer. xxxi. 4. 13. Luke xv. 25.) The idolatrous Jews made

Josephus, Ant. Jud. lib. vii. c. 12.

2 Ant. Jud. lib. vii. c. 12.

a Ibid.

4 Calmet, Dissertation sur les Instrumens de Musique des Hebreux, prefixed to his Commentary on the Psalms. Jahn, Archæologia Biblica, $$ 94 -96. Brown's Antiquities of the Jews, vol. i. pp. 315-321.

Carne's Letters from the East, p. 165. Pareau, Antiq. Hebr. p. 431 Home's Hist. of the Jews, vol. ii. pp. 339, 310.

him and being instructed by him; but they were not very careful to reduce his instructions to practice. (Ezek. viii. I. xiv. 1. xx. 1.) It is not improbable that from the schools of the prophets God chose such persons as he deemed fit to exercise the prophetic office, and to make known his will to the people. The greater prophets employed these scholars or young prophets to carry prophetic messages. In 2 Kings ix. 1., Elisha sent one of the sons of the prophets to anoint Jehu king of Israel: and in 1 Kings xx. 15., the young prophet, who was sent to reprove Ahab for sparing Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, is by the Chaldee paraphrast called one of the sons or disciples of the prophets. Hence Amos relates it as an unusual circumstance, that he was no prophet, not one of those distinguished men who presided over these seminaries, -neither a prophet's son, educated from his youth in the schools of the prophets; but that he was an herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit, who did not pursue the studies and mode of living peculiar to the prophets, when the LORD took him as he was following the flock, and commanded him to go and prophesy unto his people Israel. (Amos vii. 14, 15.) To the schools of the prophets succeeded the synagogues; but it appears that in the time of Jesus Christ eminent Jewish doctors had their separate schools; as Gamaliel, the preceptor of St. Paul, and probably also Tyrannus.

II. Various APPELLATIONS were anciently given to learned men. Among the Hebrews they were denominated (HaKaмIM), as among the Greeks they were called apa, that is, wise men. In the time of Christ, the common appellative for men of that description was pares, in the Hebrew DID (SOPHER), a scribe. They were addressed by the honorary title of Rabbi 27, 27 (Rab, RɑBBI), that is, great or master. The Jews, in imitation of the Greeks, had their seven wise men, who were called Rabboni, a. Gamaliel was one of the number. They called themselves the children of wisdom; expressions which correspond very nearly to the Greek pops. (Matt. xi. 19. Luke vii. 35.) The heads of sects were called fathers (Matt. xxiii. 9.), and the disciples, on (TALMUDIM), were denominated sons or children. The Jewish teachers, at least some of them, had private lecture-rooms, but they also taught and disputed in synagogues, in temples, and, in fact, wherever they could find an audience. The method of these teachers was the same with that which prevailed among the Greeks. Any disciple who chose might propose questions, upon which it was the duty of the teachers to remark and give their opinions. (Luke ii. 46.) The teachers were not invested with their functions by any formal act of the church or of the civil authority; they were selfconstituted. They received no other salary than some voluntary present from the disciples, which was called an honorary, Tien, HONORARIUM. (1 Tim. v. 17.) They acquired a subsistence in the main by the exercise of some art or handicraft. According to the Talmudists they were bound to hold no conversation with women, and to refuse to sit at table with the lower class of people. (John iv. 27. Matt. ix. 11.) The subjects on which they taught were numerous, commonly intricate, and of no great consequence; of which there are abundant examples in the Talmud.3

III. After the Jews became divided into the two great

Calmet, Dissertation sur les Ecoles des Hebreux, Dissert. tom. i. pp. 372-376., and Dictionary, voce Schools. Stillingfleet's Origines Sacræ, pp. 92-101. 8th edition, Basnage's Hist. of the Jews, pp. 410, 411. Witsii Mis cellanea Sacra, lib. i. c. 10. § 10. p. 79. Bp. Story's Essay concerning the Nature of the Priesthood, pp. 39-42.

"It was anciently the custom of preceptors to address their pupils by the title of sons: thus, the disciples of the prophets are called the sons of the prophets. (1 Kings xx. 35. 2 Kings ii. 3. iv. 38.) St. Paul styles Timothy his son. (1 Tim. i. 2. 2 Tim. i. 2.) St. John styles those, to whom his first epistle was sent, his children (ii. 1. v. 21.); and thus the royal sage (Prov. 1. 8.) addresses his young hearers, exhorting them not to contemn the advice and admonition of their parents; because obedience to parents is a duty, second only in importance to obedience to God." Holden's Transla tion of Proverbs, p. 88.

A sort of academical degree was conferred on the pupils in the Jewish seminaries, which, after the destruction of Jerusalem, were established at Babylon and Tiberias, and of which Basnage has given a copious account in his History of the Jews, book v. c. 5. pp. 410-414. (London, 1708. folio.) The circumstances attending the conferring of this degree are described by Maimonides (Jadchazaka, lib. vi. 4) as follows:-1. The candidate for the degree was examined, both in respect to his moral character and his literary acquisitions. 2. Having undergone this examination with approba. tion, the disciple then ascended an elevated seat. Matt. xxiii. 2. 3. A writing tablet was presented to him, to signify, that he should write down his acquisitions, since they might escape from his memory, and, without being written down, be lost. 4. A key was presented, to signify that he might now open to others the treasures of knowledge. (Luke xi. 52.) 5. Hands were laid upon him; a custom derived from Num. xxvii. 18. 6. A certain power or authority was conferred upon him, probably to be exercised over his own disciples. 7. Finally, he was saluted in the school of Tibe. rias, with the title of Rabbi, , in the school of Babylon, with that of Master, (Jahn's Archæologia Biblica, by Mr Uoham. 105.) OL. II. A 2

sects of Sadducees and Pharisees, each sect had its separate school. The METHOD OF TEACHING in these schools may be easily collected from the Gospels and Acts. The Doctors or Teachers generally sat. Thus our Lord sat down previously to delivering his sermon on the mount (Matt. v. 1.); as Gamaliel also did in his school. (Acts xxii. 3.) Sometimes, however, the Jewish teachers, like the Greek philosophers, were accustomed to have their disciples around them, wherever they went, and to discourse, as occasion arose, on things either human or divine. In this way our Lord delivered some of his most interesting instructions to his apostles. Allusions to this practice occur in Matt. iv. 20. x. 38. xvi. 24. Mark i. 18. xvi. 24. The Pupils generally sat below their preceptors. St. Paul tells the Jews that he sat or studied at the feet of Gamaliel. (Acts xxii. 3.) Philo relates that the children of the Essenes sat at the feet of their masters, who interpreted the law, and explained its figurative sense, after the manner of the ancient philosophers. The author of the commentary on the first Epistle to the Corinthians, published under the name of St. Ambrose, says, on ch. xiv., that the Jewish rabbins sat on elevated chairs; while scholars who had made the greatest proficiency sat on benches just below them, and the junior pupils sat on the ground on hassocks. But in the Talmud, it is stated that the masters sat down while the scholars stood.5

IV. The Jews did not become distinguished for their intellectual acquirements before the time of David, and especially of Solomon, who is said to have surpassed all others in wisdom; a circumstance which was the ground of the many visits which were paid to him by distinguished foreigners. (1 Kings v. 9-12.) His example, which was truly an illustrious one, was, beyond question, imitated by other kings. The literature of the Hebrews was limited chiefly, to religion, the history of their nation, poetry, philosophy, ethics, and natural history; on which last subject Solomon wrote many treatises, no longer extant. The Hebrews made but little progress in science and literature after the time of Solomon. During their captivity, it is true, they acquired many foreign notions, with which they had not been previously acquainted: and they, subsequently, borrowed much, both of truth and of falsehood, from the philosophy of the Greeks. The author of the book of Wisdom, with some others cof the Jewish writers, has made pretty good use of the Greek philosophy. It is clear, notwithstanding this, that the Jews after the captivity fell below their ancestors in respect to History; as the published annals of that period are not of a kindred character with those of the primitive ages of their country.

1. That the art of HISTORICAL WRITING was anciently much cultivated in the East, the Bible itself is an ample testimony; for it not only relates the prominent events, from the creation down to the fifth century before Christ, but speaks of many historical books, which have now perished; and also of many monuments erected in commemoration of remarkable achievements, and furnished with appropriate inscriptions. The Babylonians, also, the Assyrians, the Persians, and Tyrians, had their historical annals. Among the Egyp tians there was a separate order, viz. the priests, one part of whose duty it was to write the history of their country. In the primitive ages the task of composing annals fell in most nations upon the priests, but at a later period the king had his own secretaries, whose special business it was to record the royal sayings and achievements. The prophets among the Hebrews recorded the events of their own times, and, in the earliest periods, the genealogists interwove many historical events with their accounts of the succession of families. Indeed, it should not be forgotten, that ancient history generally partakes more of a genealogical than a chronological character. Hence the Hebrew phrase for genealogies in (TOLDOTH) is used also for history (Gen. vi. 9. x. 1.); and hence no epoch more ancient than that of Nabonnassar is any where found. In the Bible, however, this defect, in regard to a regular chronological system, is in a manner compensated by the insertion in various places of definite periods of time, and by chronological genealogies. In giving a coneise account of the genealogy of a person, the Hebrews, as well as the Arabs, took the liberty to omit, according to their own pleasure, one or more generations. (Ruth iv. 18-22. Ezra vii. 1-5. Matt. i. 8.) It was considered so much of an honour to have a name and a place in these family annals, that the Hebrews, from their first existence as a nation, had public genealogists, denominated, (SHOTER, SHOTERIM).

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Not only the Hebrews, but, if we may credit Herodotus also on the sabbath in the synagogues, which had been and Diodorus Siculus, the Egyptians also assigned a certain recently erected, in order to make the people understand period to a generation. According to their estimation, three what was read. These interpreters learnt the Hebrew langenerations made an hundred years. In the time of Abraham, guage at the schools. The teachers of these schools, who, however, when men lived to a greater age, an hundred years for the two generations preceding the time of Christ, had made a generation. This is clear from Gen. xv. 13. 16., and maintained some acquaintance with the Greek philosophy, from the circumstance, that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dwelt were not satisfied with a simple interpretation of the Hebrew two hundred and fifteen years in the land of Canaan, and yet idiom, as it stood, but shaped the interpretation so as to there were only two generations. render it conformable to their philosophy. Thus arose contentions, which gave occasion for the various sects of Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. In the time of our Saviour, divisions had arisen among the Pharisees themselves. No less than eighteen nice questions, if we may believe the Jewish Rabbins, were contested, at that period, between the schools of Hillel and Shammai. One of which questions was an inquiry, "What cause was sufficient for a bill of divorce?" If the Shammai and Hillel of the Talmud are the same with the learned men mentioned in Josephus, viz. Sameas and Pollio, who flourished thirty-four years before Christ, then Shammai or Sameas is undoubtedly the same with the Simeon who is mentioned in Luke ii. 25. 34., and his son Gamaliel, so celebrated in the Talmud, is the same with the Gamaliel mentioned in Acts v. 34. xxii. 3.

The study of history among the Jews was chiefly confined to the affairs of their own nation. Much information, however, may be obtained from their historical and other writings, for the better understanding the states of other foreign nations with which they became very closely connected: and the most ancient historical documents of the Hebrews throw more light upon the origin of nations, and the invention and progress of the arts, than any other writings that are extant. 2. POETRY had its origin in the first ages of the world, when undisciplined feelings and a lively imagination naturally supplied strong expressions, gave an expressive moduJation to the voice, and motion to the limbs. Hence poetry, music, and dancing, were in all probability contemporaneous in their origin. As the nature and genius of the poetry of the Hebrews has already been discussed at some length in the first volume of this work, it is sufficient here to remark, that the effusions of the inspired Hebrew muse infinitely surpass in grandeur, sublimity, beauty, and pathos, all the most celebrated productions of Greece and Rome. Not to repeat unnecessarily the observations already offered on this topic, we may here briefly remark, that the eucharistic song of Moses, composed on the deliverance of the Israelites and their miraculous passage of the Red Sea (Exod. xv. 1-19.), is an admirable hymn, full of strong and lively images. The song of Deborah and Barak (Judg. v.), and that of Hannah the mother of Samuel (1 Sam. ii. 1.), have many excellent flights, and some noble and sublime raptures. David's lamentation on the death of Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam. i. 19.) is an incomparable elegy. The gratulatory hymn (Isa. xii.) and Hezekiah's song of praise (Isa. xxviii.) are worthy of every one's attention. The prayer of Habakkuk (iii.) contains a sublime description of the divine majesty. Besides these single hymns, we have the book of Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticles, and Lamentations; all of which are composed by different poets, according to the usage of those times. The Psalms are a great storehouse of heavenly devotion, full of affecting and sublime thoughts, and with a variety of expressions, admirably calculated to excite a thankful remembrance of God's mercies, and for moving the passions of joy and grief, indignation and hatred. They consist mostly of pious and affectionate prayers, holy meditations, and exalted strains of praise and thanksgiving. The allusions are beautiful, the expressions tender and moving, and the piety of the authors is singularly remarkable. The Proverbs of Solomon are a divine collection of many admirable sentences of morality, wonderfully adapted to instruct us in our duty to God and man. The book of Ecclesiastes teaches us, in a very lively manner, the insufficiency of all earthly enjoyments to make a man happy. The Canticles or Song of Solomon, under the parable of a man's affection to his spouse, in very tender yet elegant expressions, shows us the ardent love of Christ to his church and people; and the Lamentations of Jeremiah contain a very mournful account of the state of Jerusalem, as destroyed by the Chaldeans.

3. ORATORY does not appear to have been cultivated by the Hebrews; although the sacred writers, following the impulse of their genius, have left such specimens in their writings, as the most distinguished orators might imitate with advantage. Want of eloquence was objected as a defect against the apostle Paul (1 Cor. i. 17.), who, notwithstanding, possessed a highly cultivated mind, and was by no means deficient in strong natural eloquence.

4. Traces of ETHICS, that is, of the system of prevailing moral opinions, may be found in the book of Job, in the 37th, 39th, and 63d Psalms, also in the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, but chiefly in the apocryphal book of Wisdom, and the writings of the son of Sirach. During the captivity, the Jews acquired many new notions, and appropriated them, as occasion offered, to their own purposes. They at length became acquainted with the philosophy of the Greeks, which makes its appearance abundantly in the book of Wisdom. After the captivity, the language in which the sacred books were written was no longer vernacular. Hence arose the need of an interpreter on the sabbatic year, a time when the whole law was read; and

5. PHYSICS, or NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, has secured but little attention in the East; but a knowledge of the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, or the science of NATURAL HISTORY, was always much more an object of interest. Whatever knowledge of this science the Hebrews subsequently had, they most probably derived partly from the Canaanitish merchants, partly from the Egyptians, and other nations with whom they had intercourse. The book of Job evinces that its author possessed an intimate knowledge of the works of nature. The agricultural and pastoral habits of the Hebrews were favourable to the acquisition of this science; and how much they loved it will be evident to any one who peruses the productions of the sacred poets, especially those of David. But no one among the Hebrews could ever be compared to King Solomon; who spake of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon, even to the hyssop that springeth out of the wall, and also of beasts and of fowl, and of creeping things and of fishes. (1 Kings iv. 33.) The numerous images which our Saviour derived from the works of nature, attest how deeply he had contemplated them.

6. ARITHMETIC.-The more simple methods of arithmetical calculation are spoken of in the Pentateuch, as if they were well known. The merchants of that early period must, for their own convenience, have been possessed of some method of operating by numbers.

7. MATHEMATICS.-By this term we understand Geometry, Mensuration, Navigation, &c. As far as a knowledge of them was absolutely required by the condition and employments of the people, we may well suppose that knowledge to have actually existed; although no express mention is made of these sciences.

8. ASTRONOMY.-The interests of agriculture and navigation required some knowledge of astronomy. An evidence that an attempt was made at a very early period to regulate the year by the annual revolution of the sun, may be found in the fact, that the Jewish months were divided into thirty days each. (See Gen. vii. 11. viii. 4.) In Astronomy, the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Phoenicians exhibited great superiority. We are informed there were magicians or enchanters in Egypt (Exod. vii. 11. Lev. xx. 27. xix. 31. Deut. xviii. 20.), denominated in Hebrew on, because they computed eclipses of the sun and moon, and pretended to the people, that they produced them by the efficacy of their own enchantments. Astronomy does not appear to have been much cultivated by the Hebrews: the laws of Moses, indeed, by no means favoured this science, as the neighbouring heathen nations worshipped the host of heaven; hence the sacred writers rarely mention any of the constellations by name. See Job ix. 9. xxxviii. 31, 32. Isa. xiii. 10. Amos v. 8. 2 Kings xxiii. 5.

9. ASTROLOGY.-It is by no means surprising that the Hebrews did not devote greater attention to astronomy, since the study of astrology, which was intimately connected with that of astronomy, and was very highly estimated among the neighbouring nations (Isa. xlvii. 9. Jer. xxvii. 9. 1. 35. Dan. ii. 13. 48.), was interdicted to the Hebrews. (Deut. xviii. 10. Lev. xx. 27.) Daniel, indeed, studied the art of astrology at Babylon, but he did not practise it. (Dan. i. 20. ii. 2.) The astrologers (and those wise men mentioned in Matt. ii. 1. et seq. appear to have been such) divided the heavens into apartinents or habitations, to each one of which

apartments they assigned a ruler or president. This fact | viz. one along the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, from developes the origin of the word Bassoon, baby, or the Lord of the (celestial) dwelling. (Matt. x. 25. xii. 24. 27. Mark iii. 22. Luke xí. 15–19.)

Gaza to Pelusium, which was about three days' journey; and the other from Gaza to the Elanitic branch of the Arabian Gulf, which now passes near Mount Sinai, and requires 10. Measures of length are mentioned in Gen. vi. 15, 16. nearly a month to complete it. Although chariots were not A knowledge of the method of measuring lands is implied unknown to the ancient inhabitants of the East, yet they in the account given in Gen. xlvii. 20-27. Mention is made, chiefly transported their merchandise across the desert on in the books of Job and Joshua, of a line or rope for the pur- camels, a hardy race of animals, admirably adapted by nature pose of taking measurements, p, an. It was brought by for this purpose: and lest they should be plundered by robthe Hebrews out of Egypt, where, according to the unani- bers, the merchants used to travel in large bodies (as they mous testimony of antiquity, SURVEYING first had its origin, now do), which are called caravans; or in smaller compaand, in consequence of the inundations of the Nile, was car-nies termed kafilés or kaflés. (Job vi. 18, 19. Gen. xxxvii. ried to the greatest height. It was here, as we may well 25. Isa. xxi. 13.) conclude, that the Hebrews acquired so much knowledge of the principles of that science, as to enable them, with the aid of the measuring line above mentioned, to partition and set off geographically the whole land of Canaan. The weights used in weighing solid bodies (Gen. xxiii. 15, 16.), provided they were similar to each other in form, imply a knowledge of the rudiments of stereometry.

12. GEOGRAPHY.-Geographical notices occur so frequently In the Bible, that it is not necessary to say much on this point; but see Gen. x. 1-30. xii. 4-15. xiv. 1—16. xxviii. 2-9. xlix. 13, &c. Perhaps, however, it deserves to be repeated, that in the time of Joshua, the whole of Palestine was subjected to a geographical division. (Josh. xviii. 9.) It is evident, then, from their geographical knowledge, as well as from other circumstances already mentioned, that there must have existed among the Hebrews the rudiments, if nothing more, of geographical science.

III. Although the land of Canaan was, from its abundant produce, admirably adapted to commerce, yet Moses enacted no laws in favour of trade; because the Hebrews, being specially set apart for the preservation of true religion, could not be dispersed among idolatrous nations without being in danger of becoming contaminated with their abominable worship. He therefore only inculcated the strictest justice 11. THE MECHANIC ARTS.-No express mention is made in weights and measures (Lev. xix. 36, 37. Deut. xxv. 13, of the mechanic arts; but that a knowledge of them, not- 14.); and left the rest to future ages and governors. It is withstanding, existed, may be inferred from the erection of obvious, however, that the three great festivals of the Jews, Noah's ark, and the tower of Babel; from the use of balances who were bound to present themselves before Jehovah thrice in the time of Abraham; also from what is said of the Egyp-in the year, would give occasion for much domestic traffic, tian chariots, in Gen. xli. 43. xlv. 19. 1. 9. and Exod. xiv. which the individuals of the twelve tribes would carry on 6, 7.; and from the instruments used by the Egyptians in with each other either for money or produce. From Judg. irrigating their lands. (Deut. xi. 10.) It is implied in the v. 17. it should seem that the tribes of Dan and Asher had mention of these, and subsequently of many other instru- some commercial dealings with the neighbouring maritime ments, that other instruments still, not expressly named, but nations; but the earliest direct notice contained in the Scripwhich were, of course, necessary for the formation of those tures of the commerce of the Hebrews does not occur before which are named, were in existence. the reign of David. This wise and valiant prince, by many victories, not only enlarged the boundaries of his empire, but also subdued the kingdom of Edom (which he reduced into a province), and made himself master of the two ports of Elath and Ezion-geber on the Red Sea. Part of the wealth acquired by his conquests he employed in purchasing cedar-timber from Hiram I. king of Tyre, with whom he maintained a friendly correspondence as long as he lived; and he also hired Tyrian masons and carpenters for carrying on his works.2 This prince collected, for the building of the temple, upwards of eight hundred millions of our money, according to Dr. Arbuthnot's calculations. On the death of David, Solomon his successor cultivated the arts of peace, and was thereby enabled to indulge his taste for magnificence and luxury, more than his father could possibly do. Being blest with a larger share of wisdom than ever before fell to the lot of any man, he directed his talents for business to the improvement of foreign commerce, which had not been expressly prohibited by Moses. He employed the vast wealth amassed by his father in works of architecture, and in strengthening and beautifying his kingdom. The celebrated temple at Jerusalem, the fortifications of that capital, and many entire cities (among which was the famous Tadmor or Palmyra), were built by him. Finding his own subjects but little qualified for such undertakings, he applied to Hiram II. king of Tyre, the son of his father's friend Hiram, who furnished him with cedar and fir (or cypress) timber, and large stones, all properly cut and prepared for building; which the Tyrians carried by water to the most convenient landing-place in Solomon's dominions. Hiram II. also sent a great number of workmen to assist and instruct Solomon's people, none of whom had skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians (1 Kings v. 5, 6.), as the Israelites then called the Tyrians, from their having been originally a colony from Sidon. Solomon, in return, furnished the Tyrians with corn, wine, and oil; and he even received a balance in gold. (1 Kings v. 9-11. 2 Chron. ii. 10.) It is not improbable, however, that the gold was the stipulated price for Solomon's cession of twenty towns to the Tyrians; which Hiram, not liking them, afterwards returned to him. (1 Kings ix. 12, 13.)

SECTION IV.

ON THE COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION OF THE HEBREWS.

Commerce of the Midianites, Egyptians, and Phenicians.-
II. Mode of transporting goods.-III. Commerce of the
Hebrews, particularly under Solomon and his successors.-
IV. Notice of ancient shipping.-V. Money, weights, and

measures.

I. THE Scriptures do not afford us any example of trade, more ancient than those caravans of Ishmaelites and Midianites, to whom Joseph was perfidiously sold by his brethren. These men were on their return from Gilead, with their camels laden with spices, and other rich articles of merchandise, which they were carrying into Egypt; where, doubtless, they produced a great return, from the quantities consumed in that country for embalming the bodies of the dead. From their purchasing Joseph, and selling him to Potiphar, it is evident that their traffic was not confined to the commodities furnished by Gilead. But the most distinguished merchants of ancient times were the Phoenicians, who bought the choicest productions of the East, which they exported to Africa and Europe, whence they took in return silver and other articles of merchandise, which they again circulated in the East. Their first metropolis was Sidon, and afterwards Tyre, founded about 250 years before the building of Solomon's temple, or 1251 before the Christian era; and wherever they went, they appear to have established peaceful commercial settlements, mutually beneficial to themselves and to the natives of the country visited by them. The commerce of Tyre is particularly described in Isa. xxiii. and Ezek. xxvii. xxviii.

II. The commerce of the East appears to have been chiefly carried on by land: hence ships are but rarely mentioned in the Old Testament before the times of David and Solomon. There were two principal routes from Palestine to Egypt; 1 Jahn's Archæologia Biblica, by Upham, 55 98--100. 104. 106. Pareau, Antiquitas Hebraica, pp. 432-438.

The great intercourse of trade and friendship, which Solomon had with the first commercial people in the western world, inspired him with a strong desire to participate in the advantages of trade. His father's conquests, as we have already seen, had extended his territories to the Red Sea or the Arabian Gulf, and had given him the possession of a good harbour, whence ships might be despatched to the rich countries of the south and east. But, his own subjects being

lib. ix.), says that David built ships in Arabia, in which he sent men skilled 2 Eupolemus, an ancient writer quoted by Eusebius (De Præp. Evang. in mines and metals to the island of Ophir. Some modern authors, improving upon this rather suspicious authority, have ascribed to David the honour of being the founder of the great East Indian commerce. Tables of Ancient Coins, pp. 35. 209.

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