Female Scripture Biography Volume I Part 20

[2]: Young's Centaur not fabulous, p. 61.

[3]: Sir William Temple's Gardens of Epicurus. Horne's Discourses, vol. I.

[4]: This subject is more fully ill.u.s.trated in the Essay prefixed to the second volume of this work.

[5]: Dr. Johnson.

[6]: Paley's Moral Philosophy, vol. i. p. 316, 8vo.

[7]: SAURIN, Discours historiques, critiques, theologiques, et moraux, sur les Evenemens le plus memorables du Vieux et du Nouveau Testament. Tom. I.

p. 41-43. 8vo.

[8]: The following quotation is ill.u.s.trative of this circ.u.mstance: "At ten minutes after ten in the morning, we had in view (says Dr. Chandler) several fine bays, and a plain full of booths, with the Turcomans sitting by the doors, under sheds resembling porticos; or by shady trees, surrounded with flocks of goats." Harmer's Observations, vol. i. p. 132.

[9]: Fleury's Manners of the ancient Israelites.

[10]: Newton's Diss. on the Prophecies, vol. i. p. 34--36.

[11]: The ancient authors, Tacitus, Pliny, Diodorus Siculus, and others, furnish abundant testimony in undesigned confirmation of the scriptural account. The following quotation is from Strabo: "There are many indications that fire has been over this country; for, about Ma.s.sada, they show rough and scorched rocks and caverns, in many places eaten in; and the earth reduced to ashes, and drops of pitch distilling from the rocks and hot streams, offensive afar off, and habitations overthrown; which render credible some reports among the inhabitants, that there were formerly thirteen cities on that spot, the princ.i.p.al of which was Sodom, so extensive, as to be sixty furlongs in circ.u.mference, but that by earthquakes, and by an eruption of fire, and by hot and bituminous waters, it became a lake as it now is, the rocks were consumed, some of the cities were swallowed up, and others abandoned by those of the inhabitants who were able to escape." _Lib xii_

Tacitus states, that the traces of fire were visible in his time "At no great distance are those fields which, as it is said, were formerly fruitful, and covered with great cities, till they were consumed by lightning, the vestiges of which remain in the parched appearance of the country, which has lost its fertility." _Hist lib v_

A modern traveller, who was recently an eyewitness of the scene, is particularly ent.i.tled to be heard on this interesting subject, even at the risk of extending this note to a disproportionate length: "The Dead Sea below, upon our left, appealed so near to us, that we thought we could have rode thither in a very short s.p.a.ce of time. Still nearer stood a mountain upon its western sh.o.r.e, resembling in its form the cone of Vesuvius, and having also a crater upon its top which was plainly discernible.

"The distance, however, is much greater than it appears to be; the magnitude of the objects beheld in this fine prospect, causing them to appear less remote than they really are. The atmosphere was remarkably clear and serene; but we saw none of those clouds of smoke which, by some writers, are said to exhale from the surface of the Lake Asphalt.i.tes, nor from any neighbouring mountain. Every thing about it was, in the highest degree, grand and awful. Its desolate, although majestic features, are well suited to the tales related concerning it by the inhabitants of the country, who all speak of it with terror, seeming to shrink from the narrative of its deceitful allurements and deadly influence. 'Beautiful fruit,' say they, 'grows upon its sh.o.r.es, which is no sooner touched, than it becomes dust and bitter ashes.' In addition to its physical horrors, the region around is said to be more perilous, owing to the ferocious tribes wandering upon the sh.o.r.es of the lake, than any other part of the Holy Land." _Clarke's Travels_, part ii. sect. i. p. 614.

[12]: The design of this work being rather practical than critical, the author conceives it generally proper to avoid subjects of doubtful disputation; and rather, in particular cases, to give the _result_ of his inquiries, than to detail the process by which it had been obtained.

On this account, he has forborne to introduce the different notions that have prevailed among the learned respecting the real nature of the punishment inflicted upon the wife of Lot, but has simply stated what is the most common, and, upon the whole, the most satisfactory opinion. It seems conformable to the words of the historian to suppose a _real conversion into a pillar of salt_, and not that Lot's wife was merely _smitten dead upon the spot_. If further information be wished, the reader is particularly referred to a French work of well-merited celebrity, and which contains on this and many subjects of Biblical criticism, much valuable and curious information--Saurin, Discours historiques, critiques, theologiques, et moraux, sur les Evenemens les plus memorables du Vieux et du Nouveau Testament. Tom, i.

[13]: This appears to have been the ancient mode of concluding an agreement, or solemn covenant. Josephus says, that if two persons bound themselves mutually by an oath, they put their hand upon each other's thigh. Grotius states, that anciently they wore the sword upon the thigh, so that to swear by putting the hand upon the thigh, was intimating, "I am willing to be pierced through by this sword if I break my promise."

[14]: "Sir J. Chardin observed this difference in the East between wells of living water, and reservoirs of rain water; that these last have frequently, especially in the Indies, a flight of steps down into the water, that as the water diminishes, people may still take it up with their hands, whereas he hardly ever observed a well furnished with those steps through all the East. He concludes from this circ.u.mstance, that the place from whence Rebekah took up water was a reservoir of rain water.

This is the account that he gives us in his sixth MS. volume, and it explains very clearly what is meant by Rebekah's _going down_ to the well, Gen. xxiv. 16." HARMER'S Observations, vol. ii. p. 184, 185, _note_.

[15]: HENRY in loc.

[16]: "We do not find that their (the Israelites') marriages were attended with any religious ceremony, except the prayers of the father of the family and the standers by, to entreat the blessing of G.o.d: we have examples of it in the marriage of Rebekah with Isaac, of Ruth with Boaz, and of Sara with Tobias. We do not see that there were any sacrifices offered upon the occasion, or that they went to the temple, or sent for the priests; all was transacted betwixt the relations and friends, so that it was no move than a civil contract." _Fleury's Manners of the ancient Israelite_, Part ii. chap. 10.

[17]: Most commentators attribute a higher principle to the partiality of Rebekah; they imagine that it was founded upon the prophecies, choosing him whom the Lord had chosen: but I can perceive no good reason for this opinion.

[18]: "For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and _Miriam_." Mic. vi. 4.

[19]: Hieron, in Trad. Heb. ad 1 Kings 3. Calmet's Preface to Ruth, and Ch.

iv. 22.

[20]: Gray's Key to the Old Testament.

[21]: Comp. HARMER'S Observations, vol. i. p. 78, 79.

[22]: There is something inimitably beautiful in this ancient practice, and in language of their mutual address, which is preserved in the inspired narrative, "And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee." Ch. ii. 4.

[23]: Clarke's Travels, Part II, Sect, ii. p, 302.

[24]: Comp. Harmer's Observations, p. 232-237.

[25]: It has been thought probable, that from the expression "Is not the Lord gone out before thee?" some angelic messenger or visible appearance, similar to that of the Shekinah, prompted the words and animated the zeal of Deborah. The Targum favours this sentiment: "Is not the angel of the Lord gone out before thee to prosper thee?"

[26]: Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews.

[27]: The historical reference appears to be to the narrative in the twentieth chapter of Numbers, in which the refusal of Edom to allow the children of Israel to go through their borders is recorded. Some extraordinary circ.u.mstances seem referred to, not mentioned in the sacred page, but possibly transmitted by tradition to the times of Deborah. Sen is a mountain of Idumea. The language is highly figurative, and denotes earthquakes and storms. "The mountains melted," that is, part of their surface was carried down, by the force of excessive torrents of rain.

[28]: The a.s.s derives its name from a Hebrew word signifying _redness_, the usual colour of this animal, but some are white. The word translated white is _zechorot_, and may, perhaps refer to the _zebra_, which the Ethiopians call _zechora_, and which is generally considered as one of the most beautiful of living creatures. It is sometimes called the wild a.s.s.

[29]: "Dr. Shaw mentions a beautiful rill in Barbary, which is received into a large basin, called _shrub we krub,_ (drink and away,) there being great danger of meeting there with rogues and a.s.sa.s.sins. If such places are proper for the lurking of murderers in times of peace, they must be proper for the lying in ambush in times of war; a circ.u.mstance that Deborah takes notice of in her song, Judges v. 11." Harmer.

[30]: _Gates_ were anciently the places where they held their courts of judicature. In the towers there were very s.p.a.cious and handsome state-rooms.

[31]: The Vulgate reads, _in the country of Merom,_ alluding to the place where Joshua fought a former king of Canaan. The waters of Merom are supposed to be the same as Kishon. Comp. Josh. xi. 5 Ps. lx.x.xiii 9.

[32]: There is a remarkable alliteration here in the original Hebrew, [Hebrew: _middaharoth daharoth_.] Some have supposed it a poetical imitation of the sound of the trampling of horses, and compare this pa.s.sage with the celebrated line of Virgil--"Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quat.i.t ungula campum." VIRG. aen. viii. v. 595.

[33]: Comp. HARMER'S Observations, volume i. pp. 216 and 445.

[34]: It has often been inquired, on what principle this action of Jael, which is so apparently repugnant to the laws of honourable warfare, and even of common humanity, could be so eulogized by Deborah. The Kenites and the Canaanites were in alliance, and besides, the rights of hospitality have always been most scrupulously regarded, especially in the early ages of the world. To these considerations the ingenious Saurin replies, that in order to judge of this affair, it would be necessary to know the nature of the treaty between Heber and the Canaanites; because, according to Puffendorf, if two agreements cannot be performed, of which the one was made _with_ and the other _without_ an oath, the latter ought to yield to the former; and we cannot tell but this latter might be the nature of the agreement between the Kenites and the Canaanites. He conceives also, that a justification of Jael's conduct might be found in the character of Sisera, pleading that we are not required to keep good faith, or to show lenity to those execrable persons who only avail themselves of our regard to these virtues, to violate them in their conduct to others, to falsify their promises, and carry blood and carnage wherever they go. Under this impression, he prays that Providence may never raise up among us Jabins or Siseras; but if the justice of G.o.d should see fit to employ such scourges for our correction, that his mercy would send Jaels to effect our deliverance. Comp. SAURIN Discours Historiques, tom iii. _La defaite de Jabin et de Sizera_, p. 318-322.

I confess this reasoning is not quite satisfactory; nor indeed will any reasoning upon this remarkable transaction be so, till we allow that there were circ.u.mstances which the Spirit of G.o.d has not seen fit to disclose, and that Jael most probably acted under the influence of some divine intimation. Long was it the revealed will of G.o.d that the Canaanites should be exterminated, and Israel had been criminally negligent of his commands. It must, doubtless, be admitted, that the general authority which they had received, independent even of any acts of oppression, was paramount to every other consideration, and sufficient to justify the most implacable hostility.

[35]: Ill.u.s.trations may be found in Saurin, "Discours Historiques, Critiques, Theologiques, et Moreaux, sur les Evenemens les plus memorables du Vieux et du Nouveau Testament." Tom. iv. p. 14-20, 8vo.

[36]: The Septuagint rendering of David's message to Nabal explains the rapaciousness of the Arabs, and the forbearance of David. "Behold, I have heard that thy shepherds are now shearing for thee; they were with us in the wilderness, and we have not _hindered_ them, ??? ape????sae?, nor have we _commanded_ them ??? e?ete??ae?a all the days of their being in Carmel." "This," says Harmer, "is translating like people perfectly well acquainted with the management of the Arab emirs, whose manners David, though he lived in the wilderness as they did, had not adopted. One of them at the head of six hundred men, would have _commanded,_ from time to time, some provisions, or other present from Nabal's servants, for permitting them to feed in quiet; and would have driven them away from the watering-place upon any dislike. He had not done either."

_Observations_, vol. i. p. 173.

[37]: Young's Centaur, p. 119.

[38]: JOSEPHUS, Book viii. ch. 5,

[39]: Voyage up the Red Sea, and Route through the Desarts of Thebais.

[40]: Harmer's Observations, vol. iv. p. 192, 193.

[41]: From the _Arabian Anthologia_, quoted by SCHULTENS.

[42]: Shaw's Travels, p. 214-317, quoted in Harmer's Observations, vol. i.

p. 251.

[43]: Comp. Harmer's Observations, vol. ii. p. 503.

[44]: Plutarch's Life of Pyrrhus.

[45]: Epitaph in Bunhill Fields burying-ground on a child that died at the age of nine months. The writer of these pages knows not the author, or whether these lines have ever appeared in any other place than on the stone whence he has transcribed them.