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No. 695.--xxxii. 2. From the ears of your wives, of your sons.] Men wore these ornaments in the eastern countries, as well as women; as we find in the story of the Ishmaelite and Midianite soldiers, Judges, viii. 24. and Pliny, In oriente quidem et viris aurum eo loci, &c. In the East it is esteemed an ornament for men to wear gold in that place : speaking of their ears. See Bochart Hieroz. p. i. 1. 1. c. 344

No. 696.-xxxii. 6. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.] It is highly probable that at this feast they sacrificed after the manner of the Egyptians. Herodotus gives an account of a solemn, feast which the people of Egypt celebrated at Bubastis in honour of the goddess Diana: to her, he says, they offer many sacrifices, and while the victim is burning they dance and play a hundred tricks, and drink more wine than in the whole year besides. For they convene thither about seven hundred thousand men and women, besides children. Aaron's feast of the golden calf seems to have been in imitation of this.

No. 697.-xxxiii. 5. Therefore now put off thine ornaments from thee.] The Septuagint gives this as a translation of these words: now therefore put off your robes of glorys and your ornamen's. It was customary to put off their upper garments in times of deep mourning; and it is still practiced in the East. "A few days after this we came to a place called Rabbock, about four days sail on this side Mecca, where all the hagges (pilgrims), excepting those of the female sex enter into hirrawem or ihram, i. e. they take off all their clothes, covering themselves with two hirrawems, or large white cotton wrappers; one they put about their middle, which reaches down to their ankles ;

with the other they cover the upper part of the body, except the head ; and they wear no other thing on their bodies but these wrappers, only a pair of gimgameca, or thin-soled shoes, like sandals, the over leather of which covers only the toes, their insteps being all naked. In this manner, like humble penitents, they go from Rabbock till they come to Mecca, to approach the temple; many times enduring the scorching heat of the sun, till the very skin is burnt off their back and arms, and their heads swelled to a very great degree." Pitt's Travels, p. 115. HARMERS vol. iv. p. 402..

No. 698.-xxxiii. 6. And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.] The denunciation of divine anger was the reason why the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments. A similar indication of fear is observable in the general practice of the Romans. A day was fixed for the trial of the accused person. In the mean time he changed his dress; laid aside every kind of ornament; let his hair and beard grow ; and in this mean garb went round and solicited the favour of the people. ADAM'S Roman Antiquities, p. 87.

No 699.-xxxiv. 15. And thou eat of his sacrifice.] To eat part of what was offered in sacrifice appears to have been a very ancient and general practice. Juvenal particularly alludes to it in the following passage :

Moris erat quondam festis servare diebus,
Et natalitium cognatis ponere lardum,

Accedente novâ, si quam dabat hostia, carne.

Sat, xi. 83.

But heretofore 'twas thought a sumptuous treat,
On birth-days, festivals, or days of state,

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A salt, dry flitch of bacon to prepare ;

If they had fresh meat, 'twas delicious fare,
Which rarely happened: and 'twas highly priz'd,

If ought were left of what they sacrific'd."

DRYDEN.

No. 700.-xxxviii. 8. The women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle.] A laver of brass was made of the mirrors of the women who thus assembled. Some have derived this from a custom of the Egyptian women, who used to go to the temple with a looking-glass in one hand, and a timbrel in the other. Vid. CYRIL de Adorati one in Spiritu et Virtute, tom. i. 1. 2. p. 64.

No. 701.-LEVITICUS ii. 1.

When any will offer a meat-offering unto the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour.

FLOUR of the finest sort formed a part of the sacrifical offerings not only of the Jews but of the Greeks likewise. Thus Homer represents Eumæus as acting.

Then on the board display'd

The ready meal before Ulysses laid,

With flour imbrown'd.

This flour, says Dacier, was made of parched corn. When the ancients fed upon any thing that had not been offered in sacrifice, they sprinkled it with flour, which was used instead of the hallowed barley, with which they consecrated their victims. Since some honours were paid to the gods in all their feasts, this sprinkling of the flour by Eumæus was a religious act. Flour was sometimes used by the Greeks as a substitute for animals in their hecatombs. They invented a method of imposing upon the gods by offering one animal only, and for the remainder substitu→ ting little images of paste.

No. 702.-ii. 1. And he shall pour oil upon it.] This was done to give the offering a grateful relish, according to Maimonides. The heathens used oil in their sacrifices, only not mixed with flour; but poured upon the flesh of the beast that was sacrificed, to make it burn the better upon the altar. So Virgil:

Pingué superque oleum fundens ardentibus extis.

Æn. vi. 254.

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Frankincense was also put thereon. This was to make a sweet odour in the court of the tabernacle, which otherwise would have been offensive by reason of the flesh which was daily burned there. This was common also in the sacrifices of the Gentiles, as appears by a passage in Ovid:

Da mihi thura, puer, pingues facientia flammas,
Quodque pio fusum stridat in igne merum.

L. v. de Tristibus, Eleg. v. 11.

No. 703.-vi. 13. It shall never go out.] This circumstance was so famous, that it was imitated by the Gentiles, who thought it ominous to have their sacred fire go out; and therefore appointed persons to watch and keep it perpetually burning. The great business of the vestal virgins at Rome was to look after what was called the eternal fire; imagining that the extinction of it purpor ted the destruction of the city. The Greeks also pre served an inextinguishable fire at Delphi; so did the Persians, and many other people. See Bochart Hieroz. p. i, lib. 2. cap. 35. and Oriental Customs, No. 51. the Persians took great care to preserve a continual fire. Q. Curtius, giving an account of the march of Darius's army, says, the fire which they called eternal was carried before them on silver altars; the Magi came after it, singing hymns after the Persian manner; and three hundred and sixtyfive youths clothed in scarlet followed, according to the number of the days in the year,

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> No. 704. vii. 8. The priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt-offering which he bath offered.] It is probable that Adam himself offered the first sacrifice, and had the skin given him by God, to make garments for himself and his wife. In conformity to this, the priests

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