No. 681.—xvii. 16. Because the Lord hath sworn. Saurin (Dissertations, vol. i. p. 433.) says, that the Hebrew of this text is equivocal: it signifies literally, because the hand on the throne of God, war of God against Amalek from generation to generation: and from Patrick he observes that it is pretended, that to put the hand upon the throne was in some countries a ceremony that attended a solemn oath, as laying it on the altar was in other places. This was as much as our laying the hand on the Bible, a principal external character of an oath: whence Juvenal (Sat. xiii. 89.) says, atheists do intrepidos altaria tangere, touch the altars boldly without trembling; that is, make no conscience of an oath. No. 682.-xviii. 12. The elders of Israel.] Not only fathers, but all old men, had great authority among the Israelites and all the people of antiquity, They every where, in the beginning, chose judges for private affairs, and counsellors for the public, out of the oldest men. Thence came the name of senate and fathers at Rome, and that great respect for old age which they borrowed from the Lacedæmonians. soon as the Hebrews began to be formed into a people they were governed by old men. As No. 683.-xx. 5. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.] This part of the divine law is doubtless founded in wisdom and equity, though to many persons it may have appeared harsh and severe. The principle of it has however been extended by some modern legislators. The venot (part ii. p. 161.) says, that the punishment of the third and fourth generation does not always satisfy the king of Persia. "All the pearls that weigh half a medical or more, that are fished up at Bahreim, belong to the king; who, nevertheless, makes a liberal present to the fisherman who brings him such: but also, if any of them fail to do it, and sell such a pearl out of his dominions, were it even at the world's end, the king is soon acquainted with it, and to be revenged, he puts to death the whole family and all the kindred of the fisherman, even to the seventh generation, both males and females. Menu has also incorporated this principle in his laws. See Sir W. Jones's Works. No. 684.-xx. 12. That thy days may be long in the land.] As disobedience to parents is, by the law of Moses, threatened to be punished with death, so on the contrary, long life is promised to the obedient; and that in their own country, which God had peculiarly enriched with abundance of blessings. Heathens also gave the very same encouragement, saying, that such children should be dear to the gods, both living and dying. So Euripides. It was also one of their promises, thou shalt live long, if thou nourish thy ancient parents. Whence children are called by Xenophon гɛροβοσκοι. PATRICK, in loc. No. 685.-xx. 24. An altar of earth shalt thou make unto me.] This command certainly imports, that the altars of the Lord were to be as plain and simple as possible. They were to be made either of sods and turfs of earth, which were easily prepared in most places, whilst they stayed in the wilderness, or of rough and unpolished stone, if they came into rocky places, where no sods were to be obtained; that there might be no occasion to grave any image upon them. Such altars, Tertullian observes (Apolog. c. 25.) were among the ancient Romans in the days of Numa; when, as they had no sumptuous temples, nor images, so they had only temeraria de cespite altaria, altars hastily huddled up of earth, without any art. PATRICK, in loc. No. 686. xxi. 6. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him for ever.] This Jewish custom was borrowed by other nations, particularly by the Arabians, as appears from a passage of Petronius Arbiter, (Satyricon, p. 364.) where he introduces one Giton expressing himself in these terms. Circumcide nos, ut Judæi videamur; et pertunde aures, ut imitemur Arabes. Juvenal puts the following expressions in the mouth of Libertinus. -Quamvis Natus ad Euphratem, molles quod in aure fenestræ Sat. i. 103. No. 687.-xxiii. 12. On the seventh day thou shalt rest; that thine ox and thine ass may rest.] We should here observe the great clemency of God, who by this law requires some goodness and mercy to be exercised even to brute animals, that he might remove men the farther from cruelty to each other. The slaughter of a ploughing ox was prohibited by a law common to the Phrygians, Cyprians, and Romans, as we find recorded by Varro, Pliny, and others. The Athenians made a decree, that a mule worn out by labour and age, and which used to accompany other mules drawing burthens, should be fed at the public expence. Ludit herboso pecus omne campo, Cum tibi nonæ redeunt Decembres: Festus in pratis vacat otioso Cum bove pagus. Hor. 1. iii. Od. xviii. ad Faunum, 9. When the nones of December, sacred to you, re turn, all our flocks sport in the grassy fields: and the whole village, celebrating your festival, divert themselves in the meadows with the ox, who that day is allowed to rest. See also Tibullus, 1. ii. El. i. 5. Juv. Sat. vi. 536. POPHAM on Pentateuch. No. 688.--xxiii. 16. The feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.] The same custom prevailed among the Gentiles, who, at the end of the year, when they gathered in their fruits, offered solemn sacrifices, with thanks to God for his blessings. Aristotle (Ethic. lib. viii.) says, that the ancient sacrifices and assemblies were after the gathering in of the fruits, being designed for an oblation of the first-fruits unto God. No. 689.-xxiv. 11. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand.] It is usually said that God laid not his hand in a way of terror, or anger, on these nobles on account of their intrusion: but in the Monthly Magazine for January, 1804, is the following description of the appearance at court of the Mogul's officers, who partake of his bounty or rewards. "Those officers of the districts, whose time has expired, or who have been recalled from similar stations, repair to the imperial presence, and receive the reward, good or evil, of their administration. When they are admitted into the presence, or retire from thence, if their rank and merit be eminent, they are called near to his majesty's person, and allowed the honour of placing their heads below his sacred foot. The emperor lays his hand on the back of a person, on whom he means to bestow an extraordinary mark of favour. Others from a distance receive tokens of kindness, by the motion of the imperial brow or eyes." Now if the nobles of Is rael were not admitted to the same nearness of approach to the deity as Moses and Aaron, perhaps this phrase should be taken directly contrary to what it has been. He laid not his hand in a way of special favour, nevertheless they saw God, and did eat and drink in his presence. This sense of laying on the hand is supported by a passage in BELL's Travels to Persia, p. 103. "The minister received the credentials, and laid them before the shah, who touched them with his hand, as a mark of respect. This part of the ceremony had been very difficult to adjust: for the ambassador insisted on delivering his letters into the shah's own hands. The Persian ministers on the other hand affirmed, that their king never received letters directly from the ambassadors of the greatest emperors on earth." Theological Magazine, vol. iv. p. 140. No. 690.—xxv. 10. They shall make an ark.] We meet with imitations of this divinely instituted emblem among several heathen nations, both in ancient and modern times. Thus Tacitus (de Mor. German. cap. 40.) informs us, that "the inhabitants of the north of Germany, our Saxon ancestors, in general, worshipped Herthum, that is, the mother earth, and believed her to interpose in the affairs of men, and to visit nations : that to her, within a sacred grove, in a certain island of the ocean, a vehicle, covered with a vestment, was consecrated, and allowed to be touched by the priest alone, who perceived when the goddess entered into this her secret place, and with profound veneration attended her vehicle, which was drawn by cows. While the goddess was on her progress, days of rejoicing were kept in every place which she vouchsafed to visit. They engaged in no war, they meddled not with arms, they locked up their weapons: peace and quietness: |