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No. 452. xv. 25. Now his elder son was in the field, and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing.] To express the joy which the return of the prodigal afforded his father, music and dancing was provided as a part of the entertainment. This expression does not however denote the dancing of the family and guests, but that of a company of persons hired on this occasion for that very purpose. Such a practice prevailed in some places to express peculiar honour to a friend, or joy upon any special occasion. Major Rooke, in his travels from India through Arabia Felix, relates an occurrence which will illustrate this part of the parable. "Hadje Cassim, who is a Turk, and one of the richest merchants in Cairo, had interceded on my behalf with Ibrahim Bey, at the instance of his son, who had been on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and came from Judda in the same ship with me. The fa ther, in celebration of his son's return, gave a most magnificent fête on the evening of the day of my captivity, and as soon as I was released, sent to invite me to partake of it, and I accordingly went. His company was very numerous, consisting of three or four hundred Turks, who were all sitting on sophas and benches, smoking their long pipes. The room in which they were assembled was a spacious and lofty hall, in the centre of which was a band of music, composed of five Turkish instruments, and some vocal performers: as there were no ladies in the assembly, you may suppose it was not the most lively party in the world, but being new to me, was for that reason entertaining." (p. 194.)

No. 453. xv. 29. A kid.] Kids are considered as a delicacy. Hariri, a celebrated writer of Mesopotamia, describing a person's breaking in upon a great pretender to mortification, says, he found him with one of his disciples, entertaining themselves with much satisfac

tion with bread made of the finest flour, with a ROASTED KID, and a vessel of wine before them. This shews in what light we are to consider the complaint made by the elder brother of the prodigal son, and also the gratification proposed to be sent to Tamar, (Gen. xxxviii. 16.) and the present made by Samson to his intended bride, (Judges xv. 1.) HARMER, vol. iv. p. 164.

No. 454.-xvi. 22. Abraham's bosom.] This expression alludes to the posture used by the Jews at table. This was reclining on couches after the manner of the Romans, the upper part of the body resting upon the left elbow, and the lower lying at length upon the couch. When two or three reclined on the same couch, some say the worthiest or most honourable person lay first; Lightfoot says, in the middle; the next in dignity lay with his head reclining on the breast or bosom of the first, as John is said to have done on the bosom of Jesus at supper; (John xiii. 23.) and hence is borrowed the phrase of Abraham's bosom, as denoting the state of celestial happiness. Abraham being esteemed the most honourable person, and the father of the Jewish nation, to be in his bosom signifies, in allusion to the order in which guests were placed at an entertainment, the highest state of felicity next to that of Abraham himself.

No. 455. xviii. 5. Weary me.] The word uTwTIKEN properly signifies to beat on the face, and particularly under the eye, so as to make the parts black and blue. Here it has a metaphorical meaning, and signifies to give great pain, such as arises from severe beating The meaning therefore is, that the uneasy feelings which this widow raised in the judge's breast, by the moving representation which she gave of her distress, affected him to such a degree that he could not bear it, but to

get rid of them resolved to do her justice. The passage understood in this sense has a peculiar advantage, as it throws a beautiful light on our Lord's argument, (ver. 6, 7.) and lays a proper foundation for the conclusion which it contains. (MACKNIGHT's Harmony, vol. ii. p. 78.)

No. 456.-xx. 18. Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.] Here is an allusion to the two different ways of stoning among the Jews, the former by throwing a person down upon a great stone, and the other by letting a stone fall upon him.

WHITBY, in loc.

No. 457.-xxi. 5. And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts.] Hanging up such avalyμala, or consecrated gifts, was common in most of the ancient temples. Tacitus speaks of the immense opulence of the temple of Jerusalem. (Histor. lib. 5. § 8.) Amongst other of its treasures, there was a golden table given by Pompey, and several golden vines of exquisite workmanship, as well as immense size: for Josephus tells us that they had clusters, avdpoμnneis, as tall as a man, which some of them thought referred to God's representing the Jewish nation under the emblem of a vine. (Isaiah v. 1, 7.) Josephus likewise asserts, that the marble of the temple was so white, that it appeared to one at a distance like a mountain of snow, and the gilding of several of its external parts, which he there mentions, must, especially when the sun shone upon it, render it a most splendid and beautiful spectaclé. DODDRIDGE, in loc.

No. 458.-xxii. 64. Blindfolded him.] This usage of Christ refers to that sport so ordinary among children,

called uuda, in which it is the manner first to blindfold, then to strike, (ver. 63.) then to ask who gave the blow, and not to let the person go till he named the right man who had struck him. It was used on this occasion to reproach our blessed Lord, and expose him to ridicule. HAMMOND, in loc,

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ADOPTION was very generally practised in the East, and is therefore frequently alluded to in the scriptures. A son might be adopted for a special purpose, such as the raising up of an heir by the daughter of the adopter, &c. after which he could, if he pleased, return to his original family. In this case, if he had a child in this second relation to his own family, he would be the father of two families, each totally distinct from the other in name, property, rank, and connections. A person who was never married might adopt a son, and that sonbeing married, his children would become the children of his adopter, bear his name, and inherit his estate.

The following are the laws of Athens on this subject, stated by Sir William Jones, in his Introduction to the Pleadings of Isaus, the famous Athenian barrister.

Adopted sons shall not devise the property acquired by adoption, but if they leave legitimate sons, they may return to their natural family; if they do not return, the estates shall go to the heirs of the persons who adopted them."

"The adopted son (if there be any) and the after born sons to the person who adopted him, shall be coheirs of the estate; but no adoption by a man who has legitimate sons then born shall be valid."

"An adopted son could not himself adopt another, he must either leave a legitimate son, or the estate he received from his adopting father must revert to his adopting father's natural heirs. There cannot be two adopted sons at the same time."

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