A summary of Biblical antiquities : compiled for the use of Sunday-school teachers, and for the benefit of families

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A SUMMARY

BIBLICAL, ANTIQUITIES;

COMPILED FOR

THE USE OF SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS,

AND FOR

THE BENEFIT OF FAMILIES.

BY JOHN W. NEVIN,

Late Assistant Teacher in the Theological Seminary of Princeton.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOI«. II.

Revised and Corrected by the Author for the American S. S. Union.

©<

AMERICAN SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION.

PHILADELPHIA .
No. 146 CHESNUT STREET.

East, t District of Penns&Zv&iit* U wH •

BE »]f KEMEMBrfK^Li, iL-t ■•& tY*j t^hlh day of February, in
the fifty-fcurto yeai o" the Inde^enilentv ?C the United States of
America, A. D. 1830, Paul Beck, jun., Treasurer in trust for the
American Sunday-School Union, of the said District, has deposited
in this office the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as Pro-
prietor in the words following, to wit:

* A Summary of Biblical Antiquities; compiled for the Use of Sun-
day-school Teachers, and for the Benefit of Families By John
W. Nevin, late Assistant Teacher in the Theological Seminary of
Princeton. In two Volumes. Vol. [I. Revised and corrected by
the Author for the American S. S. Union."

In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, en-
titled, " an act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the
copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of
such copies, during the times therein mentioned" — and also to the
act, entitled, "an act supplementary to an act, entitled, ' an act for
the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps,
charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies du-
ring the times therein mentioned,' and extending the benefits there-
of to the arts of designing, engraving and etching historical and
other prints."

D. CALDWELL,
Clerk of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL HISTORY OF RELIGION.

Origin of the Church, 8. Its General Scheme and Relation U.
the World, 9. Its Unity, 10, and Diversities of Outward Con-
stitution withal, 12. State before the Flood, 14. Call of Abra-
ham, 14. Organization of the Jewish Church, 15. General
Plan of the Jewish State — different Sorts of Laws, 16. The
Moral Law, 18. Ceremonial Law, 19. Continuance of the
Jewish Church all its appointed time, 22. Respect which
that Dispensation had to the Gospel, 24. Hope of the Mes-
siah, 24. A General Mistake on this Point, 25. Expectation
of Elias, 27. Introduction of the Gospel — its Conflict with
Ancient Prejudices, 29.

CHAPTER II.

THE TABERNACLE.

Origin of the Tabernacle, 32. The Court of the Tabernacle,
34. The Frame and Coverings of the Sacred Tent, 35. The
Altar of Burnt-Offering, 36. The Brazen Laver, 41. The
Golden Candlestick, 43. The Table of Shew-Bread, 45.
The Altar of Incense, 46. The Ark of the Covenant, 50
The Cherubim, 51. The Shechina, 53. Meaning of the
whole Picture, 54. The Tabernacle in the Wilderness, 58
The Tabernacle in the Land of Canaan, 59.

CHAPTER III.

THE TEMPLE.

Section l.—The Holy City, 61

Origin of Jerusalem, 61. Situation, 62. Mount of Olives, 63.
The Garden of Gethsemane, 64. Valley of Hinnom, 65. Si-
loam, 65. Calvary — first Destruction of the City, 66. Ruin
by the Romans, 67. Present State, 68

3

IV CONTENTS.

Section 2.— The First Temple, 69

Preparation for it by David, 69. General Plan, 71. Dedica-
tion and Ruin, 74.

Section 3. — The Second Temple, 75

Its Building, and Defects, 76. Subsequent Glory of it — Work

of Herod, 77. The Court of the Gentiles, 78. Porches, 79.

Markets, 82. The Court of the Women, 83. The Court of

Israel, 85. The Court of the Priests, 86. The Sanctuary, 88.

The Tower of Antonia, 89. Beauty of the Second Temple,

91. Its Final Ruin, 91.

CHAPTER IV

MINISTERS OF THE TABERNACLE AND TEMPLE.

Section 1. — The Levites, 93

Their Separation, 93. Duties, 94. Porters, 95. Musicians. 95.
Nethinims, 97.

Section 2.— The Priests, 97

Origin of the Priestly Office, 79. Separation of Aaron and his
Family, 98. Duties of the Priests, and Qualifications, 99.
Division into Courses, 100. Meaning of the Priesthood, 102.

Section 3. The High-Priest, 103

Virtue of his Office, 103. Sacred Dress, 104. Succession, 104.
Urim and Thummim, 106. Signification of the High-Priest's
Office, 107.

CHAPTER V.

SACRIFICES AND OTHER RELIGIOUS OFFERINGS.

Section 1. — Different Kinds of Sacrificial Offerings in Use
among the Jews, 109

Sacrifices in use from the Fall, 109. Bloody Offerings, 110.
Four Kinds of them, viz: Burnt Offerings, 111 ; Sin Offerings.
112; Trespass Offerings, 113; Peace Offerings, 114; Cove-
nant Sacrifices, 116; Private and Public Sacrifices, 117. Sa-
crifices that were not Bloody, 120. First-Fruits, 123. The
First-Born, 124. Tythes, 125. Vow-Gifts, 127. Half-shekel
Tax, 129. Lesson derived from this Subject, 130.

CONTENTS. V

Section 2. — Sacrificial Rites 131

Laying of Hands on the Head of the Victim, 131. Slaying of
it — Sacredness of Blood, 133. Preparation for the Altar —
Waving and Heaving, 134. Fat, 135. Salt, 137. The Sacri-
ficial Pile — Disposal of the Flesh, 138.

Section 3. — Meaning and Origin of Sacrifices, . . . . 139

Reason cannot account for the Use of Bloody Sacrifices. 140.
Their Meaning according to the Bible, 140. Their Origin,
145. The idea of Atonement connected with the Use of
them, before as well as after, the time of Moses, 146. Sacri-
fices of Cain and Abel, 147. Acceptance of Sacrifices by
Fire, 149. Figurative Sacrifices, 150.

CHAPTER VI.

SACRED TIMES AND SOLEMNITIES.

Section 1. — The Daily Sacrifice, 151

Morning and Evening Services, 151. Manner of the Morning

Service, 152. The Evening Service, 157. Reverence for the

Sanctuary, 157.

Section 2.— The Sabbath, 159

Its Origin, 159. Character in the Jewish Economy, 160. Man-
ner of its Observance, 161.

Section 3. — New Moons and Feast of Trumpets, .... 163

Section 4. — The Three Great Festivals, 165

The Passover, 166. How celebrated in the Time of our Sa-
viour, 168. Paschal Families, 169. Search for Leaven, 170.
Slaying of the Lambs, 170. The Supper, 171. The Hagigah,
174. Introduction of the Harvest, 175. Meaning of the Pass-
over, 176. The Feast of Weeks, 177. The Feast of Taber-
nacles, 178. Ceremonies added to it in later Times, 179.

Section 5. — The Great Day of Atonement 182

Nature of this Solemnity, 182. Manner of its Service, 182.
Meaning of it, 183.

^JSertion 6. — Sacred Years . . 187

The Sabbatic Year, 187, The Year of Jubilee, 188. ,
a2

Tl CONTENTS.

Section 7. — Sacred Seasoiis of Human Institution, . . . 189
Annual Fast Days, 189. The Feast of Purim, 190. The Feait
of Dedication, 191.

CHAPTER VII.

MEMBERS OF THE JEWISH CHURCH.

Members by Birth, 193. Ceremonial Disqualifications for Sa-
cred Duties, 194. Removal of Uncleanness, 195. The Water
of Separation, 195. Its Typical Import, 197. Proselytes, 198.

CHAPTER VIII.

SYNAGOGUES.

Origin of Synagogues, 200. Plan of Synagogue-Houses, 202.
Officers of the Synagogue, 204. The Synagogue Worship,
207. Lessons from the Law and the Prophets, 207. Syna-
gogue Discipline, 213. Pattern of the Synagogue followed in
the Constitution of the Christian Church, 214.

CHAPTER IX.

RELIGIOUS SECTS.

Section l.—The Pharisees 217

Belief of the Pharisees, 219. Tradition of the Pharisees, 220.

Section 2.— T?te Sadducees, 226

Origin of the Sect, 227. Doctrines of the Sadducees, 228.

Section 3.— The Essenes, 231

Section 4.— The Samaritans, 237

BIBLICAL. ANTIQUITIES.

CHAPTER. I.

GENERAL HISTORY OF RELIGION.

Our first parents, before the Fall, were altogether hoiy.
The law of God was written upon their hearts, and, while
they delighted in it as perfectly good, they obeyed it in all
its length and breadth. Their religion was, in its nature,
the same with that of Heaven. According to the univer-
sal and perpetual order of the Divine Government, they
were entitled, on account of their own righteousness of
character and conduct, to the favour of their Maker, which
is happiness and life. They were not, however, placed out
of the reach of evil. They had a trial of their faithfulness
to stand, before their moral state should be rendered eter-
nally secure. In that trial they failed. The command-
ment of God, through the temptation of the Devil, was
wilfully transgressed. Thus, " by one man sin entered
into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon
all men for that all have sinned." Rom. v. 12.

The ruin was awful. The greatest calamity in the wide
universe of God, is sin. The human race was now brought
into that condition which is the most deplorable that any
mind can conceive. Struck out from the order and happi-
ness of the general creation, and cut off from all intercourse
with God, it presented only a spectacle of horror and terrific
desolation, uncheered by the smallest gleam of hope. The
state of man was the same with that into which a part of
the angels had fallen ; a state of rebellion against the
Almighty, of exclusion from peace, a state of infinite wrath,
of death without hope and without end.

But God had mercy. When no arm but his own could

7

8 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

save, he determined to help. He left the angels to perish
without relief, but stretched forth his hand to rescue sinking
man. Heb. ii. 16. A great Salvation was provided. A
wonderful arrangement had been from the beginning made
in heaven, to recover the lost. The eternal Son of God
engaged to become a sacrifice for their guilt, and the
Father consented to receive once more into favour, and by
his Spirit to restore to holiness, as many as should be willing
to accept the atonement thus wonderfully secured. And
because the nature of man's depravity was such, that not
one of all the race would ever be naturally willing to em-
brace the offer of mercy, even after such condescension
and love on the part of God, the arrangement of Divine
compassion extended yet farther. It was determined that,
in consideration of the Saviour's work, the Holy Spirit
should be sent forth into the hearts of men, to enlighten
and persuade them, so that some of them might become
willing to be saved. Thus it was made certain, that the
Redeemer should " see of the travail of his soul, and be
satisfied ;" (Is. liii. 11 ;) and that, out of the multitude of
Adam's fallen children, a portion would yet gloriously rise
from ruin and find a happy restoration to the great family
of God. Here originated the Church.

The church is a society made up of the Redeemer's
people. In its visible character, as a body regularly organ-
ized in this world, it comprehends all, who in any age pro-
fess to be his people, and externally are placed under that
constitution which he has appointed for their government
and improvement. In its invisible character, — that is, as
it appears to the eye of God, who searcheth the heart — it
embraces only those who are really and truly the people of
Christ, redeemed by his blood, and made meet by his grace
" to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light."
Many belong to the church as an outward body on earth,
who have no part in its glorious reality, as a body spiritu-
ally united to its Great Head. The institution of the church
had respect, no doubt, only to those who become truly thus
united to Christ ; its object was, by means of the truth of
God, (which it was appointed to preserve from age to age,
and to employ instfumentally for the salvation of men,) to
bring out from the darkness of the world, as many as might

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 9

be moved to comply with the Divine invitation in deed and
in truth, and so, by salutary preparation and discipline, to
gather their whole number, from the beginning to the end
of time, into one great family in heaven. But, in its actual
outward form and history, in this world, all are regarded
as being interested in its existence, who participate in its
external privileges, whether truly pious or not; because
man cannot try the heart, and God unfolds not his judg-
ment of its character before the Great Day.

In consequence of the Redeemer's undertaking, our race
was, immediately after the Fall, placed in new circum-
stances. They were fallen still, but a way of recovery was
thrown open. The wrath of the Almighty still hung sus-
pended over their heads with tremendous terror ; but for a
little time its destruction was delayed; the full bursting
forth of its fury was restrained ; and in that awful pause,
room was left for complete escape ; a refuge was provided
within reach, strong and secure, to which the criminal
might run, and be eternally safe. Thus, in the midst of
parth's moral desolation, there was to be displayed, down
to the end of time, a spectacle of returning life. Heaven
was to receive, with universal rapture, millions from the
very jaws of hell. The accomplishment of this mercy
was to be, however, only through the mediation and suffer-
ing of the Son of God. The Holy One of Heaven could
deal no longer with men directly, save as their judge and
destroyer. From the time of the Fall, therefore, no com-
munication of friendship could exist between God and man,
except through Christ. For his sake, the Infinite Judge
forbears for a while the full execution of death, and to him
is committed, in a peculiar manner, the care of our fallen
world. The Father has withdrawn himself from imme-
diate concern with it, such as he employs in his general
government. It has been given over into the hands of the
Son, in view of his mediatorial work. He has been con-
stituted Head over all things to the church. (Eph. i. 22.)
He has undertaken, and it has been left to him, to maintain
the fiill honour of God's law in the case of the human
family, while yet redemption from its curse should be
made possible for all, and multitudes should actually obtain
the deliverance. He governs the world, therefore, with

10 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

continual regard to the church, which he has determined
to gather out of its ruins, and conduct to glory. All the
kindness which the world experiences now from God,
comes through him, and is only in consequence of that new
position in which it is placed before God, by his mediatorial
undertaking. And because the world is thus given into
Ji is hands, with the trust of completely vindicating the holi-
ness of the Divine law, its final judgment will also proceed
from his authority. " The Father judgeth no man, but
hath committed all judgment unto the Son. He hath given
him authority to execute judgment, because he is the son
of man." (John v. 21 — 29. Acts xvii. 31.) As many as
refuse to embrace his mercy, he will himself sentence to
the everlasting death, which sin deserves, and God's righte-
ous law demands. Thus he will reduce all things to order,
by grace or by justice, and wind up, as it were, in unalter-
able and perfect arrangement, the affairs of this apostate
part of creation. " Then cometh the end, when he shall
have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father;
when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority
and power : For he must reign till he hath put all enemies
under his feet. And when all things shall be subdued unto
him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him
that put all things under him, that God may be all in all."
(1 Cor. xv. 24 — 28.) Thus will be accomplished that res
titution of all things, foretold by all the prophets. (Acts
iii. 21.) Then, having put an end to disorder and brought
all opposition into subjection to God, the Redeemer, God
and man in one person, shall reign in the glory of his king-
dom, as Head of the church, under the general government
of Him who is all in all, without interruption and without
end. For it is written, "He shall reign over the house
of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no
end." And again, " Unto the Son he saith, thy throne, O
God, is for ever and ever." (Luke i. 33. Heb. i. 8.)

The church then, though it has been all along despised
by the great body of our race, has ever been infinitely tho
most interesting and important institution in the world. Il
is the kingdom of Jesus Christ, proceeding under his own
direction and government to that great end of victory
and glory, which it is ordained to reach. The world de-

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 11

rives all its mercies from heaven, through its relation to
this kingdom, established in the midst of its ruin. And
because the government of the world is upon the shoulders
of Zion's King, all the changes that take place among the
nations of the earth, which are directed by his providence,
are made to help forward the interests of this same king-
dom. The world is ruled for the church. The mighty ones
of earth little dream of the designs which God has in view
to accomplish, by all the revolutions and schemes, which,
from age to age, occupy their thoughts and call fortli their
labours. Their imaginations are directed to ends of mere
temporal advantage to themselves, or their particular coun-
tries; but God employs their work, to bring about far other
ends, such as the prosperity of His own kingdom requires.
Thus, ambition, and pride, and every unhallowed passion,
which fill the world with war and change, are all made
subservient to the will of Christ, and conspire to promote
his glorious plan of mercy to the church. (Is. x. 5 — 7.) In.
the vast machinery of this world's action, unnumbered
wheels are constantly at work ; and, though to human sight
many of them seem to be acting for particular separate
purposes, the eye of God, whose wisdom has united the
universal frame, beholds all its parts contributing their ul-
timate influence to the same point, and combining their
multiplied movements to accomplish the same grand re-
sult. That result, is the advancement of the Redeemer's
kingdom to its victorious consummation. This will be
clearly seen, when the history of the earth shall have come
to its close. It may, however, be even now discovered with
striking certainty, in looking back upon the history of
ages that are past. When we read the record of what has
been done among the nations, in different ages of the
world, this great truth should be kept at all times in view.
History is studied correctly and understandingly, only
when this relation of God's general providence, in all the
changes of earth, to his will concerning the church, is se-
riously and attentively regarded. Here we find a reason
and a meaning, an order and a connexion, in the events
which it unfolds, such as cannot appear under any othir
view.

From what has been said already, it is manifest, that

12 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

the church has been, and must be, in every age, the same
body. The kingdom of Christ began to be formed just
after the fall ; and the same kingdom has been going for-
ward ever since, and will go forward till the end of the
world. The method by which fallen sinners are restored
to the family of God, has always been one and the same.
Men were saved before the coming of Christ, as well as
since that time, only by his death. " There is none other
name under heaven given among men, whereby we must
be saved," but the name of Jesus. (Acts iv. 12.) True,
the saints who lived before he came into the world, could
not have any clear knowledge of the precise way in which
atonement was to be made for sin ; but they knew and be-
lieved, that God had devised and was about to execute, a
plan, which should fully answer the purpose, and make it
possible for him to be just, while he yet justified the sinner
who embraced his offered mercy. They knew, for it was
clearly promised, that a Divine Deliverer, able to satisfy
God's law and to save men, would in the latter days appear
on earth, to take away sin and to bring in an everlasting
righteousness for as many as would trust in his name.
Being assured of this by the testimony of God, they be-
lieved it, renounced all hope of being justified with God
by their own goodness, and fixed their whole expectation
and trust upon the Great Salvation which was to be made
known in latter times. Thus Abraham, and all other holy
men of old, were justified by faith. (Rom. iv. 1 — 8. Gal.
iii. 6 — 8.) They " all died in faith, not having received
the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were per-
suaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that
they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." (Heb.
xi. 13.)

But, although the church has been substantially the
same in all ages, its measures of spiritual advantage, and
its outward constitution, have been greatly altered with
the progress of time. It has had, as it were, an infancy,
a childhood, and a full grown manhood. (Gal. iii. 23 — 25,
iv. 1 — 6.) Its light has gradually proceeded from glim-
mering feebleness, to the full splendour of rising day.
Compared with the bright revelation of the gospel, the
scriptures of the Old Testament shed only a faint light

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 13

upon the world. (2 Tim. i. 10.) They were a light,
which shined in a dark place, until the day should dawn,
and the day-star should arise. ( 2 Pet. i. 19 — 21.) Still,
however, it was a great and glorious light, sufficient to
conduct the benighted sons of men to heaven. (Ps. cxix.
105—130.)

The first revelation of mercy through Christ, was made
to our original parents just after their fall. In the midst
of the curse, which Justice pronounced, it promised, that
the Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head.
(Gen. iii. 15.) This Seed, the same with that in which the
great promise, made long after to Abraham, was to be
fulfilled, was Christ. (Gal. iii. 16.) Adam and Eve, we may
hope, being filled with godly sorrow for their guilt, believed
the gracious word of God, and were saved. Their children
were made acquainted with the great truth, and instructed
in the fear of the Lord. And so down to the flood, the
knowledge of God, and of the way of salvation by faith,
was continued among men ; and there were all the while
some who loved and obeyed the true religion. These
formed the church in those days. There was no written
Bible, to make known the will of the Most High. But
what God revealed to Adam, and others after him, was
carefully remembered, and handed down by word of mouth.
When men lived so long, it was easy to preserve know-
ledge in this way. Some holy men of those times had a
very great intimacy with God, and received many commu-
nications of instruction and favour directly from himself.
We have, however, no means of knowing very much about
the extent of religious knowledge, or the manner of re-
ligious worship, which belonged to that early age. Still,
this much we learn from the Bible : — The solemn worship
of sacrifice was common from the beginning; in which the
believer acknowledged his guilt before God, and looked
forward, with holy trust, to the satisfaction which God
himself had promised to provide. The sabbath was ob-
served, and was attended, no doubt, with rich spiritual
blessings. There was also a regular church, united in the
service of God, which secured most important privileges of
religious education, and of social worship. There was ex-
hortation too, and preaching, which tended to edify and

Vol. II. B

14 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

assist the people of God, while it warned, and left without
excuse, the ungodly around. (2 Pet. ii. 5. Jude 14, 15.)

Abel was a believer, and went to heaven. Cain despised
religion, and belonged to the Wicked One. (1 John iii. 12.)
He Was driven out, for his sin, from the presence of the
Lord, and became the father of a worldly and unbelieving
race. The church was found in the family of Seth, whom
God raised up to take Abel's place. Those who belonged
to it, were called, it seems, Children of God; while the
unbelieving were styled, Children of Men. The number of
the ungodly was soon increased greatly ; the children of
the pious were, many of them, seduced to join them. "The
sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair ;
and they took them wives of all which they chose." Cor-
ruption thus rapidly became stronger and stronger, till it
filled the earth, and Noah's family embraced the whole
church. The flood came with the wrath of the Almighty,
and buried the guilty race in destruction.

This awful event should have been remembered, to keep
men from repeating the apostacy which was its occasion.
But the posterity of Noah soon began again, with an evil
heart of unbelief, to depart from the Lord. Idolatry gra-
dually took the place of true religion. To such extent did
it prevail at length, that the very existence of the church
in the world, seemed to be brought to a termination. But
in its low estate, God interposed to recover it to new dig-
nity, and to establish it with better privileges. He selected
Abraham, the Chaldean ; communicated to him the clear
knowledge of religion, with new and more explicit pro-
mises of that Great Salvation which was to be made known
in the latter days ; and set him apart, with his posterity, to
preserve the truth amid the corruptions of the world, and to
hand it down, without interruption, until the time of Jesus
Christ. The line of Abraham's ancestors seems to have
been distinguished for piety, from the time of Noah, longer
than most other families ; but idolatry had at last cor-
rupted it as well as the rest. (Josh. xxiv. 2.) Called by
God, however, the patriarch left his country and his friends,
and came into Canaan. The Lord promised that he would
give that land to his descendants ; that they should be his
peculiar people — his church ; and that in his Seed all the

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 15

nations of the earth should be blessed. As a seal of the
covenant, into which he and his posterity were thus gra-
ciously allowed to enter, he received the sign of circum-
cision.

Isaac and Jacob were heirs of the same promises, and
distinguished with like spiritual blessings. Their religion
was committed to their descendants. Among these, its
form, and something also of its power, continued to be
known in Egypt till the time of Moses. It appears, how-
ever, to have fallen, by that time, into very general neglect.
Many of the Israelites, there is reason to believe, were
carried away with the idolatries of Egypt.

With a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, the Lord
recovered his people from oppression. He led them, by
the hand of Moses, to the foot of Sinai. There he formed a
solemn covenant with the whole nation, and gave them a
written law. The church was now made to assume a new
and more conspicuous form. It was blessed with a fuller
knowledge of the divine Will ; it was admitted to greater
privileges ; and much more effectual provision was made
for protecting its existence, and guarding its truth, in the
midst of an apostate world. The principles of true mo-
rality and religion were made clear to all, by particular
precepts of duty toward man and toward God. The man
ner in which God was to be worshipped, was carefully
prescribed. A great system of rites and ceremonies was
established ; which, while it served like a hedge to secure
the proper form and the continuance of the church, was,
at the same time, so full of important instruction, and so
framed to shadow forth spiritual and heavenly truth, that,
to every true believer it could not fail to be a source of
continual improvement in grace, and a most valuable help
to devotion.

After a long discipline in the wilderness, the chosen na-
tion was settled in Canaan, with all the advantages which
thus, by its new form, the church was appointed to enjoy
That form was intended to be continued until the time of
the gospel. Age after age, however, the measure of reli-
gious knowledge, with which it was distinguished, receiv-
ed important increase. The Bible, whose first five books
had been written by the hand of Moses, was gradually en

16 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

larged, by the addition of others equally inspired. The
light, that was shining in a dark world, grew stronger and
clearer. Prophecy multiplied its revelations, and by its
sure word pointed with more certainty and emphasis to the
glory that was to come.

The Jewish state was very peculiar. As we have seen,
when considering its manner of government, its civil and
religious institutions were closely blended together, so as to
Ibrm a single system harmoniously conspiring in all its parts
toward the same general point. The whole was designed,
in the wise plan of God, to preserve the true religion, and
prepare the way for the introduction of the full brightness of
the gospel in the fulness of time. The Jewish church was
the special object regarded, in the separation of the Israel-
ites from the rest of the world to be the peculiar people of the
Most High ; and their whole government, accordingly, was
constructed with a view to the interests of the church, and
in such a manner, as to fall in with and assist the particu-
lar constitution under which it was placed. Hence, as
already remarked, a religious design is to be discovered
running, in some measure, through the whole system, and
much of the meaning of those laws and institutions which
moulded and fixed the shape of the civil government,
is to be sought in their relation to religion, rather than in
any merely political purpose. Still, it is proper to distin-
guish the nation as a church, from the nation as a civil
community, and to distribute its institutions and laws into
two general classes — such as related more directly to reli-
gion, and such as had regard to the government of the
state as an earthly kingdom.

But the laws which related entirely to religion, were not
all of the same nature. As a church, the Jews were placed
under a two-fold system of law. They had the Moral law,
wljich rests upon all men, in every age ; and they had a
Ceremonial law, peculiar to their dispensation, and design-
ed to pass away with it.

In discoursing of divine laws, it has been common to
divide them altogether into two kinds — Natural and Po-
sitive. Natural laws, which are the same that are usually
called Moral, are such as arise necessarily from the cha-
racter of God and the nature of his moral creatures, and

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 17

which every man's conscience, if it be not completely
seared by sin, tells him, as soon as they are known to him
from the light of nature or revelation, that he is under so-
lenm obligation to obey. Positive laws are such as have
no necessary and unalterable reason in the nature of
things, but derive their authority from the particular ap-
pointment of God, made known by revelation : having no
force, except where they are thus expressly enjoined, and
being designed to continue only for a time, determined in
the purpose of the Most High ; after which, all their obli-
gation is done away. Each of the ten commandments is
a natural or moral law : the laws which required the Jews
not to eat certain animals, the laws which regulated in-
heritances among them, and others of a like sort, were
positive laws. A positive law, when it is enjoined, is no
less binding than a moral one. The obligation to obey
rests, in both cases, upon the same reason, namely, the
will of God : when that will is made known in any way,
whatever it may require, the duty of complying with it is
at all times the same, and at all times of the highest force ;
whether the requirement is perpetual and universal, or
whether it is limited to times and individuals, is an in-
quiry that does not touch at all upon the nature or the ex-
tent of its claim to be regarded and obeyed. Positive laws,
again, have been divided into Political and Ceremonial.
The laws which God gave for the government of the Jew-
ish republic, in its civil character, were of the first class ;
such were the statutes that were made concerning magis-
trates, marriages, inheritances, punishments, &c. : many
of them, as already noticed, partook at the same time of a
religious character. The laws which among the same
people prescribed the peculiar rites and forms of religious
worship, private or public, were of the latter class — cere,
monial : such were those that related to meats and wash-
ings, and sacrifices, and all the outward service of the
tabernacle or temple.

While, therefore, the Moral law, and that which has been
styled the Ceremonial, were alike altogether religious in
their character ; and so may be with propriety classed to-
gether, in distinction from the Political or Civil law ; they
were distinguished nevertheless from each other by a
fig

18 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

wide and clear difference. The one had its origin with
the beginning of creation, flowing necessarily out of its
divine plan, and being essential to, and inseparable from,
its constitution, as long as that constitution shall endure :
the other had its commencement only when the sovereign
wisdom of God revealed its appointment, and had no ne-
cessary existence in the original order of being, but was
made to answer some particular end in the general system
of God's grace ; and having accomplished this design, had
no longer any authority whatever. A moral law, accord-
ingly, includes its reason in itself; and finds its end an-
swered directly and immediately in the obedience which it
receives ; a ceremonial one, on the contrary, had its rea-
son entirely out of itself, and always contemplated some
other end than what it directly required to be done, as its
original and principal design.

The Moral Law, summarily comprehended in the ten
commandments uttered from mount Sinai, requires in all
its precept a spiritual obedience. It contemplates the
heart. It carries its authority into all duties : even such
as were ceremonial in their nature were enforced by its
power ; because when the will of God is understood,
whatever it may prescribe, the obligation to regard it
flows from the first principle of natural and unchangeable
reason ; namely that the creature should in every thing
render a willing obedience to its infinitely perfect Creator.
Thus, for an ancient Jew to eat swine's flesh, while it
brought him under the penalty of the Ceremonial law, was
an offence, also, if wilfully done, against the Moral law,
not less truly than it would have been for him to take his
Maker's name in vain, or to steal his neighbour's property.
Our Saviour teaches us, that the sum of all the Moral law
is expressed in two great precepts ; (Matt. xxii. 37 — 40.)
Love to God will secure natural obedience to all his will,
and " love worketh no ill to his neighbour ; therefore love
is the fulfilling of the law." (John xiv. 23, Rom. xiii.
8 — 10.) This law is that which Paul speaks of as being
written in the hearts of men. (Rom. ii. 15.) Man was
originally made so as to have a natural sense of its obliga-
tion, and a natural knowledge of its precepts. And al-
though, by the fall, the clearness of this knowledge has

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 19

been much obscured, it has not still been utterly taken
away ; but some vestiges of it are to be found, in every
age, among- all people. (Rom. i. 19 — 21.) It is still only by
reason of sin, that men do not all learn the glory of God from
his works, and are not all moved by their inward sense to
understand the Moral law and to make it the rule of their
conduct.

This law, we have said, never loses its force. Every
human soul is at all times under its authority. Nor will
it in any case give up the smallest part of its claim. It
requires full obedience, or tremendous punishment, such
as falling upon a creature, like man, must doom him to
everlasting misery. The law is holy, just, and good —
and whosoever offendeth in one point, is guilty of all —
for it is written, Cursed is every one that continuelh not
in all things written in the book of the law to do them —
and again,Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle
shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
(Rom. vii. 12. James ii. 10. Gal. iii. 10. Matt. v. 18.) Ac-
cording to this law, we are to be judged in the Great Day.
Reader ! have you not broken it times without number ?
How then will you appear before the judgment-seat of God ?
How will you stand in that awful trial, where a single
offence is enough to condemn you for ever ? Can it be that
you have not yet begun to look out for some way of escape
from so fearful a prospect ?

The Ceremonial Law of the Jews comprehended a vast
number of precepts. It stood in meats and drinks, and
divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them
till the time of reformation. Some of its institutions were
appointed long before the time of Moses. Such was the
institution of sacrifices, with the regulations which govern-
ed the pious in offering them, appointed in the very com-
mencement of the church, immediately after the fall. Ani-
mals were divided into clean and unclean before the flood.
(Gen. vii. 2.) As early as the time of Noah, the command-
ment was given not to eat blood. Abraham received the
appointment of circumcision. From his time, we find in
the brief history of the Bible, traces of several other impor-
tant regulations afterwards embraced in the Mosaic cere-
monial law. So that some have imagined, we should find,

20 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES,

if we had a complete account of the religious usages of that
early age, that almost all the principal rites, which their
law required the Jews to observe, existed to some extent
before, among their pious ancestors ; or at least, that ob-
servances similar to them, and evidently having the same
principle and intention, were not unknown. Moses, by the
command of God, formed for the nation a full and regular
system of ceremonial laws. Such rites as had been before
appointed and in use, he sanctioned with new authority,
and prescribed with particular care the manner and various
circumstances which were to be connected with their obser-
vance. What was partial and imperfect before, he set forth
with new, more formal and systematic, more extensive, and
more expressive arrangement. Various precepts altogether
unknown till that time, were added to complete the divine
plan. The whole, thus framed together, made one harmo-
nious scheme, conspiring in all its parts to secure the great
purpose of its appointment.

One use of the Ceremonial law was to keep the Israel-
itish nation separate and distinct from the rest of the world,
and to guard them from idolatry. To preserve the true
religion, and to prepare the way for the coming of the gos-
pel, God, in his wisdom, designed the Jewish people to be
a people dwelling alone, amid the other nations of the earth.
(Num. xxiii. 9.) The whole system of laws, civil and re-
ligious, under which they wTere placed, was such as was
adapted to secure this end. Their Ceremonial law, espe-
cially, could not fail, if regarded in any measure, to keep
them separate. It embraced many very peculiar pre-
cepts, and many that stood in direct opposition to tbe
usages and manners of other people. It could not be com-
pletely observed except in the land of Israel ; and its ope-
ration tended continually to shut out all foreign customs,
and to draw a broad line of distinction between the seed of
Abraham and every stranger. There was need of such a
security, to keep the people from becoming utterly con-
founded with the nations around them, whose idolatry they
were for a long time so ready to imitate. The safety of
the church required, that it should be burdened and shut
up with restraint, in this way. Hence, the apostle calls
the Jewish law, a Schoolmaster, which, by salutary but se-

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 21

vere care and discipline, secured the church under prope.
training-, as it w,ere, until the time when the gospel was
introduced. Its obligation imposed a sort of bondage, such
as children not yet of age were made to feel under tutors
and governors ; which ceased only when the fulness of the
Father's appointed time was come, giving way to the li-
berty of a far more glorious dispensation. (Gal. iii. 19 —
29. iv. 1—11.)

But there was another, which we are to regard as the
principal design of the Ceremonial law. It was framed
to shadow forth with figurative representation the most im-
portant spiritual truths ; so that by its serious observance,
believers who lived before the time of Christ might continu-
ally grow in knowledge and grace ; and so that it should
be afterwards, to the end of time, a most striking evidence
-of the truth of the gospel ; by the wonderful prophetic image
of gospel realities which men might discover in its whole
system. It was adapted continually to remind the ancient
Jew of the great evil of sin, and of the absolute need of
complete atonement for its guilt before it could be pardoned.
It represented strikingly the infinite holiness of God, and
the necessity of his favour. It pointed to the great Provi-
sion, which God intended to reveal in its proper time, for the
taking away of sin, and directed the eye of faith and hope
to the perfect salvation that was to come. By signs it
foretold the sufferings and death of Christ, and the whole
work of redemption which he was to accomplish ; and em-
blematically represented the great spiritual benefits that
were to be secured in consequence. Altogether it was a
grand Type of the system of grace unfolded by the gospel,
and its several parts were, in general, figurative of particu-
lar most interesting realities, comprehended in that system.
Thus we are told, the law had a shadow of good things to
come. (Heb. x. 1. Col. ii. 17.) In the epistle to the He-
brews, the apostle teaches its meaning in this way, in many
important particulars. Christ fulfilled this law by bringing
actually to pass all that it typically signified, as he fulfilled
the moral law by his life of obedience, and death of atone-
ment for sinful men. (Matt. v. 17.)

We ought, therefore, always to inquire after their spi-
ritual and typical meaning1, when we read of the various in-

22 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

stitutions of this ancient law. We ought to consider what
reference they had to Christ and the wonders of the gospel.
In this way, that part of scripture whicn treats of these
things is to be rendered most profitable for instruction
in righteousness. If it be not read thus, it is not read
aright. We are now able to see more clearly, a great deal,
than the ancient Jew could, the full signification of the
ceremonial ordinances he was commanded to observe.
Their meaning has been interpreted by events. Time, by
unfolding the accomplishment of the things they represent-
ed, enables us to understand types which were once dark,
just as it explains prophecies that were formerly as much
obscure. Types are, in fact, of the same general nature with
prophecies, only foretelling things to come in a different
way. It becomes us, therefore, to study them with the
same sort of attention, and to seek like instruction and
spiritual benefit from both. The Holy Ghost designed one
as well as the other to be so improved.

The history of the Jews, recorded briefly in the Bible,
shows them to have been a rebellious and stiff-necked peo-
ple in religion. They were ever ready to forsake the Lord,
and fall in with the idolatrous practices of the heathen
around them. Yet by the force of their law, and the oft-
repeated judgments of the Almighty, they were kept a
distinct people. For their sins they were at length carried
away, however, into distant captivity. The kingdom of
Israel, which had broken itself off from the house of David,
and offended God with most dreadful apostacy, was then
allowed to become lost among the nations. The kingdom
of Judah alone was regarded as the visible church, with
which the truth and promises of God were to remain de-
posited till the time of Christ. It embraced the tribe and
family from which the Redeemer was to rise. (Gen. xlix.
10. Ps. exxxii. 11.) It was enough, therefore, to answer
the original design of God in separating the Jewish nation,
that this portion of it, with whom were the promises, the
written law, and the sacred service of religion, should be
thenceforward preserved a separate people. Accordingly,
they were so preserved in the land of their captivity, and
after seventy years brought back again to their ancient
country. The temple was once more builded, and the wor-

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 23

ship which the law prescribed solemnly renewed. Thus
the nation and the church were continued till the great
Messiah appeared.

After the captivity, the Jews never again showed any
inclination to fall into idolatry. Other sins of the worst
kind prevailed greatly, but this they held in continual de-
testation. Their religion became, in the end, without life
and without power almost entirely ; but the letter and form
o£ it they cherished with the most scrupulous care. No
doubt, the affliction which the nation was made to suffer
by its captivity, had much to do in producing this change.
This was felt and remembered as an awful warning not to
repeat the idolatry of former times, which had occasioned
it. Its whole history, too, from the beginning to the end,
by clearly fulfilling many prophecies, and unfolding many
signal displays of divine power, afforded a demonstration
most convincing, that Jehovah was the true God, and that
besides Him there was no other. Moreover, after the return
from that captivity, new means were employed to secure
the advantage of general religious instruction. This served
to keep alive the memory of what was past, and so im-
pressed the great truths of revelation upon the minds of
all, that the evil and folly and danger of idolatry could
never be forgotten. Religious instruction was secured,
principally by the establishment of Sijnagogues and Schools.
Synagogues were a sort of churches, where the people met
by congregations through the land on every Sabbath, to
hear a portion of the scriptures read and explained, and to
join in social prayer before God. Regular schools for the
instruction of the young, under the care of distinguished
men, came also into use ; and as this instruction was con-
cerned chiefly with the knowledge of the sacred law, it
tended much to preserve it among the people.

The ancient dispensation, together with all the move-
ments of Providence in the revolutions of kingdoms and
nations in the world, looked forward to the introduction of
the gospel, and operated to prepare the way for its coming.
Since that event, all things have been conspiring toward
another point — the establishment of the Redeemer's king-
dom over the earth, and the great winding up of the work
of redemption which the Son of God has undertaken, since

24 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

the fall, to accomplish in this miserable world. The gospel
sheds light upon the whole ancient testament of the JewsT
and lifts the veil away from their wonderful institutions.
(2 Cor. iii. 14 — 18.) It ought to be remembered, that the
sum and substance of the entire Bible is Jesus Chrisi
crucified to save a lost world ; and that without this
object in view as its grand End, the whole Jewish system
of religion can have no meaning.

As we look backward many hundred years, and find the
hope of the church in a redemption long since wrought out,
so the Jew was taught to stretch his expectation forward
and to found all hope toward God upon that same redemp-
tion to be revealed at a future time. What we learn from
inspired history, was set before him by inspired prophecy
and types : in his case indeed, compared with ours, the re-
presentation was shadowy and dark, yet altogether suffi-
cient to lead the soul of the pious believer to confidence
and peace.

Prophecy, though from its nature it could not but be
wrapped to some extent in obscurity, was nevertheless very
explicit in declaring the general truth, that a Great Salva-
tion was to be disclosed in coming time, and an age of
happy and glorious privilege unfolded, far surpassing all
the previous state of the church. This testimony was strik-
ingly confirmed by the great system of types, which God
ordered for the help of faith. What was predicted in one
case with words, was prefigured in the other by shadowy
signs. A general belief, accordingly, was cherished by
the whole nation, that a far more excellent and happy state
than the one under which they lived was to be revealed at
a future period. It was universally agreed, too, that this
happy state was to be introduced by a powerful and glori-
ous Deliverer, called emphatically by the prophet Daniel,
the Messiah, or Anointed One, and spoken of repeatedly in
ether places under different names — such as the Seed of
the woman, the Seed of Abraham, Shiloh, the Branch out
of Jesse's stem, Ijimanuel, &c. Hence they were accus-
tomed to speak of the whole period of the world, as being
divided into two great ages — the first reaching from the
beginning to the time when the Messiah should appear,
and then yielding place to the second, which was to abound

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 25

with righteousness and peace. The first, in which they
lived themselves, they styled This age, or The present age ;
the other was distinguished as The age to come.

Great error, however, came to mingle itself with this
expectation which the nation cherished. The scripture re-
presentations were understood in a low and narrow sense.
The descriptions of that coming age, the latter time, when
the reign of the Messiah was to be established in glorious
and happy triumph, had been set forth by the prophets
under striking imagery of an earthly kind. The Great
Deliverer was represented under the character of a Prince,
clothed with highest majesty and power, coming to occupy
the throne of David, completely overthrowing all the ene-
mies of his people, reducing the world to subjection, and
reigning with most wise, righteous, and beneficent autho-
rity, so as to make his dominion full of all blessedness and
peace. His people, too, were spoken of as the Jewish king-
dom, and called by the names of Israel, Jacob, &c. All
this had a meaning far more lofty and excellent than was
signified by the terms employed when taken in an earthly
sense. The kingdom to be set up was spiritual ; the deli-
verance was redemption from sin ; the triumphant glory
was victory over death and hell ; the blessings of the
government were holiness and eternal life ; the people
crowned with such benefits was the church gathered out
of all nations — the true Israel comprehending all in every
place that embrace the promises of God by faith. A serious
consideration of the whole revelation of prophecy on this
point, should have led to such a spiritual interpretation of
the worldly imagery used in many cases in relation to it.
But a worldly temper perverted it into an occasion of error.
The notion of an earthly and temporal kingdom dazzled
the imagination. The Messiah, it came to be expected,
would appear with irresistible power to restore the Jewish
nation to glory — to raise it far above even its most trium-
phant state in the days of Solomon — to introduce and esta-
blish a long reign of liberty, virtue, and happiness. As the
nation sunk under the pressure of foreign power, the ex-
pectation and hope of such a deliverer was indulged with
more and more fondness.

There were always, however, some who entertained

Vol. II. C

26 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

more correct ideas on this subject. Taught by the Holy
Spirit, they directed their faith toward a higher end. They
looked for spiritual blessings, as the most desirable in the
promises of God concerning the Messiah. Such were old
Simeon, who waited for the consolation of Israel, and pious
Anna, and others in Jerusalem that looked for redemption,
to whom she spake of Christ when he was yet an infant.
(Luke ii. 25 — 38.) Yet even such appear, for the most
part, to have entertained the notion that the benefits of the
Messiah's kingdom were to be enjoyed especially by the
Jews, and that the Gentiles, in order to have part in them,
would be required to unite themselves, as proselytes, with
the Israelitish church. The imagination of a wordly do-
minion too, so generally indulged by others, was ever apt to
creep in and mingle itself to some extent with their best
conceptions. How this imagination cleaved to the minds
of Christ's disciples for a long time, may be learned from
Matt. xvi. 22. xviii. 1. xx. 20—28. Mark x. 35—37. Luke
xix. 11. xxii. 24. Our Saviour repeatedly corrected the
error, declaring that he was shortly to die a violent death,
and that all who became his true followers must expect no
earthly victories and distinctions, but persecution and tribu-
lation ; that the blessings of his kingdom were to be secured
only by giving up all the expectations of worldly happiness
which men naturally cherish, and that they far excelled all
that the Jews imagined concerning the reign of the Mes-
siah, being spiritual altogether and heavenly in their na-
ture. Still, so strong was the general notion inrtheir minds
of a kingdom to be set up on earth, that as long as he lived
it was not relinquished. Accordingly, after his death, we
hear them sorrowfully saying, we trusted that it had been
he which should have redeemed Israel ; and with his resur-
rection, we find the expectation revived in all its strength —
Lord, they said, wilt thou at this time restore again the
kingdom to Israel? (Luke xxiv. 21. Acts i. 6.) The Holy
Ghost, however, in a short time, guided them into a know-
ledge of the truth. They learned to conceive with wider
and loftier views of Christ's kingdom. Their former im-
pressions were swallowed up in the discovery of its moral
glory — its divine grandeur — its eternal blessedness.

Not only was the expectation of the Messiah universal

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 27

among' the Jews, but there was likewise a general agree-
ment about the period when he might he looked for. An-
cient prophecy had pointed to the time, as well as the place,
of his appearance. (Gen. xlix. 10. Dan. ix. 24 — 27.) It
came to pass, accordingly, that in that very age in which
our Saviour appeared on earth, the people were expecting
the promised Deliverer as just at hand. The opinion pre-
vailed, that the time was then come for all to look for the
speedy accomplishment of the sure word of prophecy
on this subject. Thus Simeon and Anna, and many more
in Jerusalem, we are told, were waiting. The Samaritans
united with the Jews in this hope, and seem on the whole
to have formed juster notions than they had of the charac-
ter of the Messiah. (John iv. 25, 29, 42.) Nor was the ex-
pectation confined to the land of Palestine. The Jews,
being scattered at that time into many foreign countries,
caused it to take root in other regions; so that there came
to be a general idea through the east, that a great prince
was about to rise out of Judea in its low estate, who should
obtain supreme dominion in the world. This fact is men-
tioned by two of the most respectable heathen historians of
those times. (Matt. ii. 1 — 12.)

It was foretold also by the Spirit, that the Messiah
should have a forerunner, to come immediately before him,
and prepare, as it were, the way for his manifestation.
Great and powerful kings in the east were accustomed,
when making a journey, to send such before them to have
the road made ready all along for their approach : so it was
represented, a voice should be heard in the wilderness of
this world, when the heavenly King was about to appear,
giving notice of his coming, and calling upon men to make
the way ready for his presence. (Is. xl. 3 — 5.) What sort
of office was signified by this figurative account of the fore-
runner, going before the Messiah, we learn from the his-
tory of the gospel. (Luke i. 76, 77. iii. 2 — 18.) In the close
of the Old Testament, the name of Elijah the prophet, was
applied to this forerunner. (Mai. iv. 5, 6.) Hence an opinion
came to prevail, that Elijah himself would actually return
from the other world, and make his appearance in this im-
portant character. It was a doctrine of the scribes, the
great interpreters of scripture, that Elias in his own person

28 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

should come immediately before the Messiah. (Matt. xvii.
10 — 13.) The Jews accordingly put the question to John
the Baptist when he appeared, after he had told them that
he was not the Christ, Art thou Elias ? They meaned by
Ehas no other than the ancient prophet of Israel himself:
John therefore assured them, he was not that holy man.
(John i. 21.) Yet he was the very person to whom that
name had been applied in prophecy — the great forerunner
of the Messiah: Jesus declared of him, This is Elias,
which was for to come, (Matt. xi. 14.) But when he was
called by that name, it was intimated only that he should
resemble Elijah in holiness, self-denial, and faithful bold-
ness— or, as an angel once explained it, that he should
come to perform his ministry in the spirit and power of
Elias. (Luke i. 17.) There were some who imagined
Jesus himself to be Elias returned to the world. (Luke
ix. 8, 19.)

In the fulness of time, the long-expected Christ, the Son
of the living God, came. But the nation knew him not ;
"he came to his own, and his own received him not."
With the Jews the promise had been deposited, and they
had given the world to understand their expectation of its
glorious accomplishment ; but the accomplishment itself
they were not able to see, while others saw, and believed,
and rejoiced in the unspeakable grace of God.

By this event, a new and far more glorious dispensation
was introduced. The old one, having answered all its pur-
pose, was commanded to pass away for ever. The ceremo-
nial law lost all its obligation, having been imposed only
till this time of reformation. (Heb. ix. 10.) The middle
wall of partition, between the Jews and other nations of the
world, was broken down : " the enmity, even the law of
commandments contained in ordinances" was abolished.
(Eph. ii. 14, 15.) All distinction between Jew and Gentile,
as to any peculiar favour of heaven, was over. One was
invited as freely as the other to join the family of God, and
take part in the rich blessings of his grace. Peace was
commanded to be preached to all — those that were far off
as well as those that were nigh.

To those who had been trained up with the notions and
feelings of Jews, this could not but seem a most wonderful

BIBLICA.L ANTIQUITIES. 29

doctrine. They had grown up with a strong impression,
which all their education tended to fix deeply in the mind,
that God had shut out all other people entirely from his re-
gard, and that the blessings of the true religion were, by
his unalterable purpose, to be confined to their own nation ;
bo that no gentile could ever be admitted to the friendship
of God, except by numbering himself with the Jews as a
proselyte to their church. When the gospel, therefore, de-
clared that all difference was taken away, and invited all
alike to embrace its benefits, many needed no other objec-
tion to lead them to reject it at once. (Acts xxii. 21, 22.)
Even those who were truly converted to receive its truth,
were slow in coming to a clear understanding of this point.
It was hard for them to feel that the door of grace stood
as widely and as freely open to the gentile, without any
respect to the law of Moses, as it did to the circumcised
Jew. (Acts x. 10—16, 28, 45. xi. 1—18.) Hence we find
it declared so often in the New Testament with a sort of
peculiar emphasis, as a thing new, wonderful, and contrary
to former prejudice, that the gospel offered its blessings to
the gentiles — to all — to the world — to the whole world,
without distinction of nation or place. (Matt, xxviii. 19.
Luke xxiv. 47, 48. Acts xiii. 46, 47. xvii. 30, 31. xxvi. 17, 18.
xxviii. 28. Rom. i. 16. iii. 29, 30. 1 Tim. ii. 4—6. Tit. ii. 11.
1 -John ii. 2.) Paul speaks of it as a glorious mystery.
(Eph.iii. 3 — 6.) — The word mystery in this case, as generally
in his epistles, means simply something that was utterly
unknown before God revealed it by the gospel — a thing that
was for a long time hidden; not implying that there was
any thing in its nature which could not be explained or
understood, as the term commonly means with us.

Neither was it easy for the converted Jew, even when he
had learned that the gospel unfolded its privileges equally
to all, either to cast off all regard himself to the system of
religion, which he had so long been accustomed to reverence
as appointed of Heaven, or to be satisfied that the Gentile
converts should be entirely free from its observances. We
are not able fully to enter into the difficulty which he
naturally felt on this point. It is not therefore strange,
that we find such persons still clinging to some of their
ancient rites in the christian church, making it a matter
c2

30 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

of conscience lo observe them. (Acts xxi. 20, 21. Rom.
chap, xv.) With feelings of this sort, it is not strange like-
wise that they should sometimes have insisted upon it as a
duty for others also, even those who had never been Jews,
not to neglect them. False teachers, from various motives
of pride or worldly policy, were very ready to take advan-
tage of this prejudice, and to spread it with all their might
in different churches ; endeavouring to persuade those who
had been Jews, that they should hold fast part of their old
religious usages, and those who were Gentiles, that they
ought to be circumcised and pay some regard to the Cere-
monial law. (Acts xv. 1, 24. Gal. ii. 3—5. vi. 12, 13.)
Hence arose, generally, the first errors in the churches.
The Galatian church was turned away almost altogether
from the truth of the gospel by this means, as we learn
from the severe letter which Paul wrote to them on account
of it. In his other epistles, we find notices of a similar
evil at work in other places also. It took, however, different
forms. A vain philosophy endeavoured to connect its new
and wild opinions with a portion of the Jewish law, and
then under this mixed character crept into the Christian
church, showing various features of error in different con-
gregations. " Men of corrupt minds and destitute of the
truth," " proud and knowing nothing, but doting about
questions and strifes of words," " unruly and vain talkers,"
" deceived" themselves, and worse " deceiving" others,
introduced these corruptions, spoiling the tranquillity of
churches, and turning men aside from true godliness. (Col.
ii. 8—23. 1 Tim. i. 3—7. iv. 1—8. vi. 3—5. 2 Tim. ii. 14—
18. 23. iii. 6—9. Tit. i. 10—16. iii.9.)

The Apostle Paul did not in every case forbid, as sin,
all compliance with Jewish observances. When they were
such as not to interfere with the spirit of the gospel, or
were not used as entering into the substance of true religion,
he suffered the conscientious scruples of weak Christians
in regard to them to be indulged. He exhorted others also,
who felt no such scruples themselves, to give way in their
practice to such prejudices of their brethren around them,
as far as the things which they respected were in their
nature indifferent. (Rom. xiv. 14 — 23.) He himself acted
on this principle, forbearing to use his Christian liberty in

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 31

all lawful cases, whenever it was likely to give offence.
(Acts xvi. 3. xviii. 18. xxi. 21 — 26. Rom. xv. 1. 1 Cor. ix.
20.) But when a disposition was discovered to rely upon
these observances as a ground of confidence toward God,
and as entering essentially into his plan of salvation, the
Apostle condemned them in the strongest terms, and would
not countenance such as clung to them, with the smallest
indulgence. To such he said, If ye be circumcised, Christ
shall profit you nothing ; for I testify to every man that is
circumcised, that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.
Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are.
justified by the law ; ye are fallen from grace. Thus ho
expostulated with the Galatians, who had been drawn aside
from the simple truth of the gospel, by false teachers, into
this ruinous error. Especially, he thought it necessary,
steadfastly to resist all compliance on the part of Gentile
Christians with the Ceremonial law. The considerations
which made it proper to allow some indulgence to the
Jewish converts, had no place with such as had not been
educated from childhood in the Jews' religion : a converted
Jew might be supposed to cleave to some of his ancient
usages, under the force of conscientious prejudice, without
falling from or abandoning the doctrine of free grace through
faith, while the observance of the same usages on the part
of a Gentile convert, who had no such natural prejudice to
entangle hisconscience, would argue a deliberate confidence
in the Jewish law as a method of obtaining favour with
God, and so give reason to fear a fatal departure from the
great fundamental truth of the gospel, that a man is jus-
tified by the faith of Jesus Christ alone, and not by the works
of the law. — The apostle, therefore, would not give place
to such as wanted to draw the Gentiles into the observance
of Jewish rites, no, not for an hour ; and he anxiously
guarded against every thing, in example as well as precept,
among Christians of this class, which might have the
smallest influence to make them think that any tiling of
this sort belonged to true religion. He thought it necessary,
accordingly, on one occasion at Antioch, to withstand
Peter to the face, and publicly to reprove him for his un-
faithfulness on this point, in the most solemn manner.
(Gal. ii. 11-14.)

CHAPTER II.

THE TABERNACLE.

The Tasernacle was made in the wilderness according
to the commandment of God. By a solemn covenant, the
Israelites had engaged to be his obedient people, and he
had taken them, as a nation, out of all the nations of the
earth, to be a holy kingdom for himself. They were to
be under his special and extraordinary care, and to be
governed in their whole civil and religious state by his
peculiar and extraordinary direction. They were to be his
church, and the whole frame of their commonwealth was to
be constructed with reference to the great interest for
which the church was established. Accordingly, the Most
High gave them a law, and agreed to dwell among them
with his continual and special presence, in a sanctuary
which he directed to be prepared for this high and solemn
use. Thus the Tabernacle had its origin.

It was required to be made, together with all its furni-
ture, from the offerings which the people might be willing
to present for the purpose. All were invited to contribute
something for an end so important ; but it was left to each
individual to act in the matter with perfectly free choice.
The offering of every man was to be given willingly with
his heart. By reason of the great readiness of the people
to offer, materials more than enough were soon collected.
Men and women united in showing their zeal, by contribu-
tions of every various sort that could be useful, till an order
had to be publicly given for them to bring no more. (Ex.
xxv. 1 — 8. xxxv. 4 — 29. xxxvi. 3 — 7.)

As the work to be accomplished needed various materials
of the most costly sort, so it called for peculiar skill to exe-
cute it in the way which its magnificent design required.
Accordingly, God raised up Bezaleel, the son of Uri, and
Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, filling them with wisdom
and understanding in all manner of workmanship, to have

32

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 33

the entire charge of the whole business. They were
qualified, with more than ordinary or merely natural ability,
to perform themselves the most difficult and curious sorts
of work, such as belonged to arts entirely different, and
also to teach others, who might be employed, under their
direction, to help forward in various ways the general
labour. (Ex. xxxi. 1 — 6. xxv. 30 — 35.)

It was not left, however, to these workmen, or even to
Moses, to contrive the form or manner of the sacred build-
ing in any respect. No pattern of earth was to be re-
garded— no device of man was to be followed, in its whole
construction and arrangement. It was to be the dwell-
ing-place of God, symbolical, in all its visible and material
order, of realities infinitely more grand and glorious; God
himself therefore devised its entire plan, and unfolded it
with most particular direction, in all its parts, to his servant
on Mount Sinai. Careful and minute instruction was given
relative to the materials to be used, the manner of work-
manship to be employed, the form and size of the building,
and every article of sacred furniture that was to belong to
it. And more than this, there was presented to the eyes of
Moses a pattern, or model, of the whole, as the Lord in-
tended it to be made and arranged, with a solemn injunc-
tion to have all finished exactly according to it. " Ac-
cording to all that I show thee," was the charge of the
Almighty, " the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern
of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it :"
and again, " Look that thou make them after their pattern,
which was showed thee in the mount." (Ex. xxv. 9 — 40.
Heb. vtii. 5.) There was no wisdom wanted in the work-
men, therefore, to contrive any part of the work to be done,
but merely to execute it according to the divine plan which
Moses was appointed to explain.

The very great care which God showed about the man-
ner in which this holy tabernacle was to be made, teaches
us that it was designed to have a meaning in all its parts
vastly more important than any mere visible and outward
use. Something far more exalted than what struck the
eye of sense, was intended in its construction. Under its
earthly and material show, there was designed to be a re-

34 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

presentation of things heavenly and spiritual, such as
should be full of instruction to the church till the end of
time. In this consideration we have unfolded a satisfac-
tory reason for that extraordinary care with which the
original plan was divinely determined, and also for the
care of the Holy Spirit, in causing so full and particular
an account of it to be preserved in the Scriptures for the
use of piety in all ages. And should not this reflection
excite us to seek an intimate and familiar acquaintance
with the ancient sanctuary ? Surely it becomes us to con-
sider all the parts of its plan with serious and careful atten-
tion, remembering at every step the heavenly origin of all,
and humbly endeavouring to penetrate through the shadow
of its earthly service into the sublime and glorious realities,
which, according to the wisdom of the Spirit, it proposes
for our solemn contemplation.

To have a right conception of the sacred dwelling-place
which the Most High caused to be made for Himself
among the Israelites in the wilderness, we must consider
the Tabernacle itself, its furniture, and its Court. Let us
attend first to the Court.

The Court of the Tabernacle was a lot of enclosed
ground which surrounded the Tabernacle, and all that was
connected with it, comprehending room enough for the ac-
commodation of all that were to be at any time directly
concerned with its religious services. It was required to
be a hundred cubits long from east to west, and fifty broad
from north to south. It was enclosed to the height of five
cubits on every side, with curtains of fine twined linen.
These were hung from brazen pillars, ranged at equal dis-
tances one from another in a row on each side, either by
being fastened to them merely by hooks of silver, or else
by means of silver rods reaching all along from one to
another. The pillars had sockets of brass to stand upon.
There were twenty of them on the north, and on the south
side, and ten in each of the end ranges, east and west
The entrance into this court was on the east end, and ex-
actly in the middle of it. It was twenty cubits wide. It
was closed by a hanging different from the other cur-
tains, " of blue, and purple, and scarlet and fine twined

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 85

linen, wrought with needlework." This was hung from
four pillars, and could be drawn up by means of cords, so
as to leave the entrance open when there was occasion to go
in or out. (Ex. xxvii. 9 — 18.)

The Tabernacle stood well toward the west end of the
Court just described, and in the middle of its breadth from
north to south, so as to face exactly the entrance upon the
east side. It was made of boards of shittim wood overlaid
with gold, and four coverings of different materials, thrown
over its whole frame, to shield it from the weather, and to
shut out completely the light of day. When set up it was
thirty cubits long, ten broad, and ten high. Like what has
been noticed of the Court, it was required always to be
placed with its length from east to west, and its entrance
was at its east. end. This end accordingly was not boarded.
The boards weie all ten cubits long, and a cubit and a half
broad, and had e<*ch two tenons fashioned on one end. In
the building, they stood upright, joined edge to edge, and
every one resting by its two tenons on two silver sockets.
Thus on each of the sides, north and south, were twenty
boards, which standing in the way now mentioned made a
wall just thirty cubits long. The west end had six boards,
and there was one besides at each of the corners of that
end, which, while they served \o connect it with the sides,
seem also to have added somewhat to its extent, so as to
make the breadth of the tabernacle ten cubits, that would
with only the six boards have made no more than nine.
Altogether then there were forty-eight boards standing
upon ninety-six sockets of silver. Every socket weighed a
talent. The boards, however, needed something to hold
them together. Bars, therefore, or poles, of shittim wood
overlaid with gold, were made to pass across them through
rings fixed on each one for the purpose, by which means
all the boards of each side, or of the end, were firmly bound
one to another. Five bars were employed in this way on
each side, and also on the end : the middle one reached
from end to end, across all the boards ; the other four were,
according to one opinion, each only half as long, two of
them together making a whole length across at the top,
and the other two a whole length across in like manner at
the bottom. Another opinion is, that all the bars wers of

36 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

fall length, and that what is said about the middle one,
means only that it was fixed in its place in a different way
from the others, being either sunk into the boards in a sort
of groove, all the way along, or else thrust through them, by
means of a bar passing clear across from one to another.
(Ex. xxvi. 15—30.)

Such was the frame of the tabernacle, presenting, when
erected, on each of its sides and its western end, a heavy
wall of shittim planks gorgeously covered over with gold,
and supported beneath on ninety-six massy sockets of sil-
ver. It left the top, as well as the end toward theea^t, en-
tirely open. But to make the sacred Tent complete, over
this frame were to be spread four great coverings, one
above another. The first was very beautiful and costly
It was composed of ten curtains of fine twined linen, and
blue, and purple, and "scarlet, made with cAerubim of cun-
ning work ;" that is, of fine twined linei into which pic-
tures of cherubim were curiously wrought with various
colours, blue, purple, and scarlet. Fach of these curtains
was twenty-eight cubits long, and £>ur broad. Five of them
were coupled together, side to sick, so as to make one large
piece, twenty-eight cubits long- and twenty broad, and so
in like manner were the otfier fire united into another
piece. Along the edge of the outermost curtain on one
side of each of these great pieces, or couplings, were made
fifty loops of blue, so p?aced, that those which belonged to
one piece answered exactly to those which were on the
other. Then fifty Aooks or clasps of gold were provided,
by which these loops might be all along linked one to an.
other, and the two pieces thus knit together into one rich
and magnificent covering. They were thrown across the
frame of the tabernacle from north to south, and hung
down on each side within a cubit of the bottom ; for, since
the frame was ten cubits high and ten wide, the measure
over it from the base of the wall on one side to its base on
the other, was just thirty cubits, that is, two cubits more
than the length of the curtains.

One of the pieces seems to have been laid across, so as to
reach from the front of the tabernacle, covering the top and
sides, as far as twenty cubits back : then the other, linked
upon it by the loops and clasps, was spread over the hinder

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 37

part, covering the top and sides in like manner from where
the first stopped, and falling down in loose folds over the
western end. Over this fine inner covering was spread
another more substantial. It was composed of eleven cur-
tains of goats' hair, each thirty cubits long and four broad.
These also were united into two large pieces, one being
made up of five, and the other of six ; and provison was
made, as in the case of the inner covering, for linking the
pieces together by loops and clasps. The clasps used in
this case, however, were made of brass, and not, as they
were in the other, of gold.

These pieces, being thrown across the tabernacle like the
others, reached down on each side to the row of silver
sockets on which the boards stood ; because they were
thirty cubits long, which, as we have just seen, was equal
to the distance from one base over to the other. The piece
that was composed of six single curtains, lay toward the
fore-part of the tabernacle, and the sixth curtain was dou-
bled in the fore-front of it, so as to hang somewhat perhaps
over the entrance. It is not easy, however, to determine
precisely how this covering was disposed, in front and on
the western end behind, so as to have its cloth which it had
more than the other, completely occupied. But in what-
ever way arranged, it spread entirely over the top, and
sides, and back part of -the frame, so as to hide the inner
covering altogether out of sight, and shield it on every part
from injury. — But still more effectually to shut out harm,
there was added a third covering of rams' skins dyed red,
and over that again a fourth one, made of the skins of some
sea-animal. Thus the whole was most perfectly defended
from the weather. (Ex. xxvi. 1 — 14.)

Across the east end, or entrance, of the tabernacle, were
ranged five pillars of shittim wood, overlaid with gold,
standing upon sockets of brass ; and from these was sus-
pended a curtain or hanging of blue and purple, and scarlet,
and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework, large
enough to cover the whole front. This was the door of the
tent. There was probably another curtain of. coarser ma-
terials hung over this fine one on the outside, to keep it
from being spoiled ; at least we may suppose it was so when
the weather was bad. (Ex. xxvi. 36, 31.)

Vol. II. D

38 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

The inside of the tabernacle was divided into two apart-
ments, by another curtain hung entirely across it from the
top to the bottom. This curtain was richly wrought with
figures of cherubim, like the fine inner covering spread
above, and was suspended upon four shittim pillars over-
laid with gold, that stood on so many weighty sockets of
silver. It was called the veil, and sometimes the second
veil, as the one which hung over the entrance had to be
passed through before coming to it. (Heb. ix. 3.) The
front apartment formed by this hanging partition, which
reached from it to the door of the tent, was twenty cubits
in length : it was called the Holy Place, and also the First
Tabernacle. The other apartment, reaching from the di-
viding veil to the western end ot* the tabernacle, was of
course completely square every way, its length, its breadth,
and its height, being each exactly ten cubits : it was called
the Most Holy Place, the Holy of holies, or the Holiest of
all, and sometimes also the second or inner tabernacle. (Ex.
xxvi. 31—33. Heb. ix. 2—6, 12, 24.)

The Furniture of the sanctuary and its court next
claims our consideration. Here we are to notice the altar
of burnt-offering and the brazen laver that stood in the
court ; the altar of incense, the candlestick, and the table
of shew-bread which belonged to the holy place ; and the
ark of the covenant, with its mercy-seat overshadowed by
the cherubim of glory, which abode in awful retirement
within the holiest of all.

1. The Altar of burnt-offering, or the Brazen Altar, stood
directly in front of the door of the tabernacle, off from it
toward the centre of the courts, so as to be in a line between
the tabernacle and the entrance of the court on the east
end. Its frame was square, and hollow within, in length
and in breadth five cubits, and in height three. The sides
were made of boards of shittim wood completely over-
spread with brass : some think, however, that they were
boarded in this way only from the middle upward, while
below they were composed of some sort of brazen net- work.
It is not altogether clear either, in what way the inside
was occupied. We are told in the Bible, that a grate of net.
work of brass was put under the compass of the altar be-
neath, so as to be even unto the midst of it. This some sup-

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 39

pose to have been hung within the hollow frame, (which
they conceive was cased with boards all the way down,)
just in the middle between the bottom and the top of it,
and that it was the sacred fire-place where the sacrifices
were to be burned : it was made full of holes, they say,
round about and below, to let the ashes fall through to the
bottom of the altar, where there was a little door on one
side by which they might be taken out to be carried away.
Another opinion is, that across the middle of the frame
there was fixed some kind of flooring, and that the whole
upper half above this was filled with earth, on which the
sacrifice-fires were kindled ; while the lower part, it is im-
agined, was altogether unoccupied, being enclosed only with
grated sides, according to the idea already mentioned,
through which in certain cases the blood of the victim was
poured under the altar. (Lev. iv. 7, 18, 25.) This opinion,
therefore, supposes the grate of brazen net-work put under
the compass of the altar beneath, to be nothing else than the
lower half of the frame itself made with grated sides, on
which the upper half, closely boarded and filled with earth,
was made to rest. There is certainly the best reason to
believe, that the sacrifices were burned upon a surface of
earth, and not upon a metal grate, from the direction in
Ex. xx. 24. We are to suppose, therefore, that such a sur-
face, on its top, the altar of burnt-offering did present, and
that its brazen frame was formed only to support and hold
together the earthy pile in which it especially consisted. —
It had four horns, one rising from each cf its corners.
These seem to have been clothed with a peculiar sacred-
ness, as in particular cases of solemn sacrifice, the priest
was required to put on every one of them some of the blood.
(Lev. iv. 25, 30. xvi. 18.) Hence it was usual for those who
fled to the altar for protection and safety, (according to an
ancient custom which caused it to be regarded as a sanc-
tuary or sacred asylum,) to lay hold upon its horns. (1
Kings i. 50—53. ii. 28—34. Ex. xxi. 14.) At the same
time, the horns added to the goodly appearance of the
whole structure, and thej' were made so strong, that ani-
mals, when about to be sacrificed, might be secured to
them with cords, as it seems they sometimes were. (Ps.
cxviii. 27.) A sloping walk of earth heaped up, wis made

40 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

to rise gradually on one side to the top of the altar, by
which persons might go upon it. (Ex. xx. 26.) Connected
with the altar were several different sorts of instruments ;
such as pans to carry away the ashes, shovels for taking
them up, basins for receiving the blood of the victims, and
flesh-hooks for turning pieces of flesh in the fire : all of
them were made of brass. (Ex. xxvii. 1 — 8.)

On this altar the fire was required to be kept ever burn
ing. A short time after it was set up, there came fire in
a miraculous manner, from the Lord, and kindled upon the
offering that was laid in order on its top. This sacred flame
was cherished with the greatest care from year to year,
and none was allowed to be brought ever afterwards from
any other quarter, to be employed in the service of the
tabernacle in any way. For presumptuously making use
of fire not taken from the altar, immediately after their
consecration to the priestly office, Nadab and Abihu were
destroyed by an awful judgment from the Almighty. (Lev.
vi. 12, 13. ix. 24. x. 1—10.)

The altar was fed with the unceasing sacrifice of life.
The place where it stood, was a place of daily slaughter.
The stain of blood was at all times fresh upon its sides.
From its summit, rose, almost without interruption, the
smoke of burning flesh ; and dark oftentimes and exceed-
ingly heavy was the cloud, with which it mounted toward
heaven. Thus it was a continual remembrancer of sin,
displaying in lively representation its awful guilt, and the
consuming wrath of Heaven which it deserves. It stood
in front of the sacred dwelling-place of God, to signify that
his holy nature could not endure sin, or allow it to pass
unpunished ; and that he never would therefore admit the
sinner to come before him in peace, without the law being
completely satisfied, and guilt atoned for by suffering equal
to its desert. At the same time, the altar was a sign of
peace and good will to men ; because while it taught that
justice must be satisfied before God could be reconciled to
the sinner, it declared also, that the satisfaction was pro-
vided without expense to man — that the necessary atone-
ment was secured — that the wrath of heaven, which, left
to light upon his own head, must crush him downward in
eternal death, had found for itself another victim ; and thus

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 41

God could be just, while he threw open a way for the guilty
to draw near to his throne and be restored to his favour.
In this way, the obstacle that shut up the way of life, and
the removal of that obstacle by infinite grace, were at once
presented to view. The blood-stained altar, with its dark co-
lumn of smoke soaring on high, was a standing monument
of -God's unyielding justice, and yet a standing memorial of
his victorious mercy ; clothed with severity and terror, yet
the significant pledge of goodness, friendship, and peace.

"This Brazen Altar," to use the words of a learned and
holy man, "was a type of Christ dying to make atone-
ment for our sins. The wood had been consumed by the
fire from heaven, if it had not been secured by the brass ;
nor could the human nature of Christ have borne the
wrath of God, if it had not been supported by a divine
power. Christ sanctified himself for his church, as their
altar, (John xvii. 19,) and by his mediation sanctifies the
daily services of his people who also have a right to eat
of this altar, (Heb. xiii. 10,) for they serve at it as spi-
ritual priests. To the horns of this altar poor sinners fly
lor refuge, when justice pursues them, and there they are
safe in the virtue of the sacrifice there offered."

2. The Brazen Laver stood between the altar of burnt
offering and the door of the tabernacle. The name which
it has in the original language of the Bible, implies that it
was round in its shape, and it is reasonable to suppose that
its pattern was followed in the general form of the much
larger one which was made for the temple afterwards, and
called a molten sea ; this, we are told, was round all about
The laver, therefore, was a circular vessel, rounded to-
ward the bottom, it seems, after the manner of an urn or a
tea-cup, so as to rest upon a single foot at its base below.
It must have been of considerable size, but we are not in-
formed what were its dimensions. It was for holding
water, which was required to be kept constantly in it, for
the priests to wash their hands and feet with, when they
went into f he tabernacle, or when they came near the
altar to minister before the Lord. This they were solemnly
charged never to neglect ; they shall toash their hands and
feet, was the injunction of God, that they die not. There
were spouts or cocks by which the water might be let
d2

42 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

out through the lower part of the vessel, as it was wanted
for use. The Jews say, that the laver stood near the en-
trance of the tabernacle, so, however, as not be directly
between it and the altar, but a little off toward the south
side. They tell us, too, that fresh water was put into it
every morning. (Ex. xxx. 18 — 21. xxxviii. 8.)

The washing of the body in the outward service of the
ancient sanctuary, was intended to teach the necessity of
inward purity in all who would draw near to him in spirit
and in truth. (Ps. xxvi. 6. lxvi. 18.) Thus the apostle ex-
horts believers to draw near to God with a true heart, in
full assurance of faith, having their hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience, and their bodies washed with pure
water. (Heb. x. 22.) So we need to be washed every day,
and are required every day to come with repentance and
faith to Christ, that we may be cleansed from guilt, and so
fitted to come before the Lord with an acceptable service.
(James iv. 8. 1 John i. 7 — 10.) More especially, the laver
was, moreover, a continual sign that the nature of man
had become polluted, and that until the pollution was en-
tirely taken away, it could find no entrance into heaven.
As on the altar the eye of faith might behold, as it were,
this inscription, without shedding of blood there is no re-
mission ; so, also, it might read upon the laver, without
holiness no man shall see the Lord. It is not enough that
sacrifice and atonement are made for sin, so as to satisfy
the law ; the soul needs at the same time to be delivered
from its deep-rooted power, to be washed from its dark-
coloured stain — to be sanctified as well as justified, and
so made meet for the inheritance of the saints in
light. A laver, therefore, as well as an altar, was planted
out before the tabernacle ; and it stood between the altar
and the sanctuary, showing that pardon through the
the Great Sacrifice is the first benefit which the believer
receives, and that this is followed by the complete sancti-
fication of his nature, before he passes into the House not
made with hands on high. Thus the lavet also was a
symbol of rich mercy. While it forcibly called to mind
the deep depravity of the soul, and presented before it the
alarming truth, that in its native character, or while one
spot of its pollution remained, it could never see God ; it

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 43

gave assurance at the same time, that this great purifica-
tion was not an object of despair, as it must have been if
left for man to accomplish by his own power, but that the
grace of God had made provision for it altogether sufficient
and sure — that a fountain for the uncleanness of sin was
wonderfully secured, by the same love that procured re-
dempiion from its guilt, in which the soul might be made
as white as if it had never been defiled with the smallest
stain. (Eph. v. 26, 27. Rev. i. 5. vii. 14.)

We are now ready fo move the curtain aside, and enter
within the holy place, the first apartment of the sanctuary.
No window, or opening of any sort was provided in the
tabernacle, to let in the light of day : but this room was
never dark. Night and day it was brightly lighted with
burning lamps. All its furniture, therefore, was clearly
exposed to view, as soon as it was entered. This consisted
of only three principal articles; the altar of incense, the
table of shew-bread, and the candlestick from which the
light proceeded. It was not allowed, however, for a com-
mon Israelite to enter into this sacred tent, and behold its
furniture : no one but a priest might pass the outer veil
and go in even so far as the first apartment.

3. The Golden Candlestick was placed on the south side
of the holy place, so as to be to the left of any person when
he came into the room by the middle of the entrance. It
was made entirely of pure gold. It consisted of a shaft or
principal stem rising upright from a suitable base, and
six branches. These branches started out at three different
points from the main stem, and turned upward with a
regular bend, so as to reach the same height with it. From
each point went out two, one directly opposite to the other,
and those above went out exactly in the same direction
with those below : thus all were in the same range, three
on one side, and three just over against them on another —
the lower ones bending round in a larger curve, and the
upper ones in a less, so as to bring all their tops to the same
height, and in the same line, at equal distances one from
another. The stem and each of the branches were adorned
with artificial bowls, knops, and flowers. The size of the
candlestick is not mentioned in the Bible, but the Jewish
tradition is, that it was as much as five feet high, and

44 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

three and a half along the top, from the outmost branch
on one side to the outmost branch on the other. Each of
these seven tops, of the branches and their common stem,
was made to terminate in a lamp. Connected with the can-
dlestick were tongs and snuff-dishes, all made of gold ; also
oil-vessels for use in filling the lamps. The tongs were
made probably after the fashion of scissors, to clip off the
snuff, when it was immediately dropped into the snuff-
dishes. (Ex. xxv. 31—39.)

The lamps were supplied with the purest olive oil; such
as was procured, not by the common way of pressing it
out, but by bruising or beating the olives while yet some-
what green, in a mortar. The priests were required to
take care that the candlestick was never without light
Every day its lamps were to be examined, and dressed, and
supplied with oil, as they might need. The Jews say,
that only three of the lamps were kept burning through the
day, but that all of them were lighted in the evening, to
burn during the night.

The light of this candlestick was symbolical of the spi-
ritual knowledge which God communicates to his people
though his word, the Bible, and by the enlightening grace
of the Holy Spirit. The law of the Lord is a glorious light
set up in the church. (Ps. xix. 8. cxix. 105, 130. Prov. vi.
23.) In it life and immortality are brought to light, and
truth revealed that guides the soul to heaven : it unfolds
the knowledge of God, and of Jesus Christ, the True Light
of a world made dark and desolate by sin. (John i. 4 — ?.
viii. 12.) But all this light shines without being compre-
hended or perceived by the natural mind of man. A
divine influence is needed to open a way for it through the
midst of the thick darkness that is in him by reason of sin,
and to introduce it fairly and effectually to his view. Such
an influence of mercy is exerted by the Holy Spirit. He
shines into the hearts of all who are saved, to give them tht,
light of the knoioledire of the glory of God in the face of
Jesus 'Christ. (1 Cor. ii. 10—12. 2 Cor. iv. 4— 6.) This
enlightening agency, the source of all true wisdom to man,
was that which was particularly signified by the candle-
stick with its seven lamps shining before the Most Holy
place. Thus we are taught by divine revelation itself, in

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 45

the Vision of John, the Apostle, " There were seven lamps
of fire burning- before the throne, which arc the seven spirits
of God." (Rev. iv. 5. i. 4.) The number seven denotes
perfection — complete sufficiency in every way, and fulness in
all respects, according to the nature of the thing spoken of.

4. The Table of Shew-bread was placed over against the
candlestick, on the north side of the apartment, so as to be
to the right of the priest when he walked up toward the
second veil. It was made of shittim wood, and was two
cubits long, a cubit broad, and a cubit and a half high. It
was overlaid with gold, and had round the edge of its top,
or leaf, an ornamental rim of gold, called its crown ; and
just under this, as it seems, the frame was compassed about
with a border, a hand-breadth broad, which was crowned
with a similar rim. It was provided with vessels for dif-
ferent kinds of service, which are called in tiie English
translation, dishes, spoons, covers, and bowls, to cover withal.
The dishes, there is reason to believe, were broad plates on
which the shew-bread was placed: what are called spoons,
seem rather to have been vessels in which incense was
kept ; (Numb. vii. 14, 20, 86;) incense we know was used
on the table : (Lev. xxiv. 7 :) what are named covers and
bovils, appear to have been two different sorts of vessels for
holding wine ; the first large, in which a continual supply
of it was kept, and the second smaller in size, which were
filled from the others, for the purpose of presenting drink-
offerings before the Lord — so their use, instead of being to
cover withal, was, it is most probable, to pour out withal,
according to the more common signification of the word.
(Ex. xxv. 23—30.)

Twelve loaves of unleavened bread were continually kept
upon the table. They were placed in two piles, one loaf
upon another, and on the top of each pile there was put a
small quantity of pure frankincense. They were called
shew-bread, or the bread of the face, because they were set
solemnly before the Presence of the Lord as it dwelt in
glory behind the second veil. Every Sabbath day, the
loaves were changed by the priests — the old ones taken
away, and the new ones put in their place. The bread
that was taken away was given to the priests to eat, and no
person else was allowed to taste it ; neither were they suf-

46 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

fered to eat it any where else except within the court of
the sanctuary : because it was most holy, it was to be eaten
only by sacred persons, and only upon holy ground. The
incense that was on the piles was still burnt ; when the
bread was changed, as an offering by fire unto the Lord,
for a memorial instead of the bread, or an acknowledgment
that all belonged to him, while the greater part was, by his
permission, consigned to the use of his servants. (Lev.
xxiv. 5 — 9.) David, on a certain occasion, when he was
an hungered together with those that were with him, and
no other bread could be procured, did not hesitate to eat
the shew-bread that had been removed from the sanctuary.
(1 Sam. xxi. 1—6. Matt. xii. 3, 4.)

" As the Ark," says one, " signified the presence of God
in his church, so this table with the twelve cakes signified
the multitude of the faithful presented unto God in his
church, as upon a pure table, continually serving him :
made by faith and holiness as fine cakes, and by the media-
tion of Christ, as by incense, made a sweet odour unto
God." Thus each loaf represented a tribe. There is reason
to believe, however, that while it may be considered to have
been a continual thankful acknowledgment of God's good-
ness in providing for his people their daily food, this per-
petual bread was more especially designed to be a symbol
of the never-failing provision which he has made in the
church for the spiritual nourishment and refreshment of
all the truly pious. In the words of the writer quoted a
short time since, it was. " a type of the spiritual provision
which is made in the church, by the gospel of Christ, for
all that are made priests to our God. In our Father's house
there is bread enough, and to spare; a loaf for every tribe.
All that attend in God's house shall be abundantly satisfied
with the goodness of it. (Ps. xxxvi. 8.) Divine consola-
tions are the continual feast of holy souls ; however, there
are those, to whom the tabic of the Lord, and the meat there-
of, because it is plain bread, is contemptible. (Mai. i. 12.)
Christ hath a table in his kingdom, at which all his saints
shall for ever eat and drink with him." (Luke xxii. 29, 30.)

5. The Altar of Incense, or the Golden Altar, was situate
between the Table and the Candlestick, so as to stand very
near to the second veil, equally distant from both sides of

BIBLICAL ANTIQTJTIES. 47

the tabernacle. " Thou shalt put it," was the direction of
the Lord, "before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony,
before the mercy-seat that is over the testimony, where
1 will meet with thee." It was a cubit long, a cubit broad,
and two cubits high ; made of shittim wood, and overlaid
with gold, not only upon every side, but also over the top ;
furnished with four horns all overlaid in like manner, and
compassed round about its upper surface with an orna-
mental crown, or border, of the same precious metal. No
flesh ever burned upon this altar; nor was it ever touched
with blood, except on the most solemn occasions ; and then
its horns alone were marked witli the crimson stain. The
smoke that rose from its top was never any other than the
smoke of burning incense. This went up every morning
and every evening, filling the sanctuary with its fragrant
cloud, and sending a refreshing odour out through all the
court and far over the country on every side for miles be-
yond. Because it was thus renewed every day, it was
called a perpetual incense before the Lord. It was not
simple frankmcense that was burnt, but a compound of this
with other sweet spices, made according to the particular
direction of God for this special purpose, and so considered
holy, such as no man was allowed to make any like unto
for common use. (Ex. xxx. 34 — 38.) The priest was
charged never to offer strange incense, that is, any other
than th<* sacred composition, upon the golden altar.

The ptous writer, from whom some remarks on the
meaning of the other altar have been lately borrowed,
observes: — " This incense-altar typified, 1. The mediation
if Christ. The brazen altar in the court was a type of
Christ dying on earth ; the golden altar in the sanctuary
was a type of Christ interceding in heaven, in the virtue
of his satisfaction. This altar was before the mercy -seat;
for Christ always appears in the presence of God for us —
he is our advocate with the Father; (1 John ii. 1;) and
his intercession is unto God of a sweet smelling savour.
2. The devotions of the Saints, whose prayers are said to
be set forth before God as incense. (Ps. cxli. 2.) As the
smoke of the incense ascended, so must our desires toward
God rise in prayer, being kindled with the fire of holy love
and other pious affections. When the priest was burning

48 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

tncense, the people were praying, (Luke i. 10,) to signify
that prayer is the true incense. This incense was offered
daily; it was a perpetual incense ; for we must pray always,
that is, we must keep up stated times for prayer every day,
morning- and evening, at least, and never omit it, but thus
pray without ceasing. The lamps were dressed or lighted
at the same time that the incense was burnt, to teach us,
that the reading of the scriptures, (which are our light and
lamp,) is a part of our daily work, and should ordinarily
accompany our prayers and praises. When we speak to
God we must hear what God saith to us; and thus the com-
munion is complete. The devotions of sanctified souls are
well-pleasing to God, of asweet-smelling savour; the prayers
of the saints are compared to sweet odours, (Rev. v. 8,) but
it is the incense which Christ adds to them that makes
them acceptable, (Rev. viii. 3,) and his blood that atones
for the guilt which cleaves to our best services. And if
the heart and life be not holy, even the incense is an abomi-
nation, and he that offers it is as if he blessed an idol."
(Is. i. 13. Ixvi. 3.)

" This altar was to be placed before the veil, on the out-
side of that partition, but before the mercy-seat, which was
within the veil. For though he that ministered at the al-
tar could not see the mercy -seat, the veil interposing, yet he
must look towards it, and direct his incense that way : to
teach us, that though we cannot with our bodily eyes see
the throne of grace, that blessed mercy-seat, for it is such a
throne of glory, that God, in compassion to us, holdelh bach
the face of it, and spreadeth a cloud upon it ; yet we must
in prayer by'faith set ourselves before it, direct our prayer
and look up."

While the incense was burning, it was customary for all
the people, as many as were standing without before the
sanctuary, to put up prayers to God, every one silently
by himself. It was understood, that the holy offering was
significant of that spiritual service of adoration and holy
desire which God should receive from every heart. It was
understood too, by the serious believer, that there was
something more signified by it : the incense, presented by
the priest, and rising pure and acceptable to God most Holy
from off the golden altar, represented to his faith prayer

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 49

made efficacious and well-pleasing- by something added to
it to bear it upward and recommend it before the throne ;
he felt that his prayers in themselves were too feeble and
impure to come up with acceptance before the Lord, and
saw with gratitude, in the symbol of the sanctuary, a divine
assurance that provision was made to remedy the defect :
the nature and manner of the provision he could not indeed
comprehend, but still he reposed confidence in its certainty,
and by grace was enabled, through the sign, to lay hold of
its consolation and benefit. It was natural, therefore, and
certainly proper, to feel that the time of the going up of the
morning and the evening incense was peculiarly suitable
to be employed in prayer, and that there was an advantage
in directing the desires of the heart toward heaven at the
very moment that the fragrant cloud was rising from the
altar ; not because the incense in itself could give value to
any prayer, much less sanctify a hypocritical one, but be-
cause it was a divinely appointed ordinance admirably
adapted to encourage and assist faith and devotion by its
typical meaning. Many pious persons accordingly, who
lived in Jerusalem, used often to go up to the temple,
(which took, we know, the place of the tabernacle,) at
these particular seasons, to put up prayers before God's
holy house while the priest was ministering at the golden
altar. Hence there was commonly a great multitude stand-
ing in the different courts of the temple at such times.
When the priest went into the holy place to perform the
service, notice was given by striking a great instrument
that sounded like a bell, and might be heard all over Jeru-
salem; and then immediately the priests that were with-
out, the Levitcs, and the whole multitude, addressed them-
selves in deep and solemn silence to the business of devo-
tion. Thus it was on that memorable occasion when
Zacharias ministered in the sanctuary, and suddenly beheld
the angel Gabriel standing close beside him on the right
side of the altar. (Luke i. 8 — 22.)

We are now prepared to look into the second apartment
of the tabernacle — the most holy place. Beyond the second
veil no mortal might ever pass but the high-priest ; and
only on one great occasion in each year, was it lawful even
for him to do so ; and then, only with the most solemn

Vol. II. E

50 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

preparation and the most reverential care. The holiest of
all was clothed with the solemnity of another world, and
filled with unearthly grandeur. The whole tabernacle was
the sanctuary of God, but here was the awful residence of
his Presence — the special dwelling-place of his visible
glory. Well might sinful man tremble to move aside the
veil, and present himself within so holy a place.

6. At the backside of the apartment, the western end of
the whole tabernacle, rested the Ark of the Covenant. It
was in form a box, a cubit and a half broad and high, and
two cubits and a half long, made of shittim wood, and co-
vered within and without with the purest gold. Like the
table of shew-bread and the golden altar, it was crowned
with an ornamental border or rim, round about its top-
Above upon it was the mercy-seal. "This was made of solid
gold of the best sort, exactly answering in length and
breadth to the ark, on which it rested as a flat cover or lid,
so as completely to close it over. On each end of it was
fixed a chervb, wrought in like manner, of pure solid gold,
rising above it, and overshadowing it with wings stretched
forth on high. The faces of these sacred figures were turned
toward each other, bending somewhat downwards towards
the mercy-seat, on which they stood. Between these che-
rubim dwelt the uncreated glory of God. " There," He
said to Moses, " I will meet with thee, and I will commune
with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two
cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony."

In this ark Moses was required to put the two tables of
stone on which the ten commandments were written with
the finger of God. These were called the testimony, be-
cause they were the testimony, or evidence and witness, of
the covenant between God and the Israelites ; whence the
ark was styled sometimes the ark of the testimony, and
sometimes the ark of the covenant. We are expressly told,
that the ark contained nothing besides these tables. (1
Kin^s viii. 9.) By the side of it, however, that is, at one
end, in a coffer it seems, made for the purpose, there was
deposited a copy of the five. books of Moses, while a golden
pot full of manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, were laid
up as memorials before it. (Ex. xvi. 32 — 34. Numb. xvii.
10. Deut. xxxi. 26.) The Apostle Paul nevertheless seems

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 51

to say, that the golden pot and the rod were m the inside
of the ark itself, with the tables of the covenant. (Heb. ix.
4.) Either we must understand him to mean simply, that
these things belonged to it, and were laid up for security
beside it ; or else we must suppose, that they were really
placed within the ark at first, but afterwards were taken
out by some presumptuous hand, and so lost, during its
captivity and unsettled condition, before it was carried into
Solomon's temple : — at which time, we are told in the pas-
sage referred to above, " there was nothing in it save the
two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb."

What was the particular form and appearance of the
cherubim over the ark, we are not told. In the first chap-
ter of Ezekiel a description is given of four living crea-
tures, as they appeared to the prophet in vision, which sup-
ported the throne of God, and bore it in majesty from place
to place. Each of them had four faces, the face of an ox,
the face of a lion, the face of an eagle, and the face of a
man; all attached to a body resembling that of a man,
which was furnished with four wings, together with hands
such as men have, under them, and stood upon feet like
those of a calf. These are called cherubim. (Ez. x. 15,20.)
Some have imagined, that the appearance which they are
represented to have had, was the common and proper ap-
pearance that belonged to all figures of cherubim ; and so,
of course, that we are to consider those which stood over
the mercy-seat to have been made after the same fashion.
But it seems more natural, from the account that is given
of these last, to suppose that they had each only a single
face ; for it is said that their faces were made to look one
toward another, which could not well be if they had more
than one a piece. No intimation is given, either, that these
had more than two wings, though it is not asserted that
they had only the one pair, and may be imagined, that,
while they stretched these before them, so as to meet over
the sacred covering of the ark, they were furnished with
others to cover the lower parts of their bodies, in token of
reverence and humility. (Is. vi. 2. Rev. iv. 8.)

It appears most probable, therefore, that the cherubim
mentioned in scripture were not, in every case, of the
same form. We are not to imagine, that in any case their

52 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

figure and appearance were such as actually belong to any
kind of existing creatures. They were mere emblems,
intended to represent something else by symbolical signs,
whether seen in vision, as they appeared to Ezekiel and to
the Apostle John, or formed by art, as they were for the
tabernacle and the temple. They appear evidently to have
been designed to represent the holy angels, who attend
continually before the throne of God, and delight to per-
form his will. Their wings signified the readiness and
swiftness with which they execute the divine commands.
Their faces, which seem always to have been one or more
of those four that have been mentioned, denoted wisdom
and power, activity and irresistible strength. Those which
Ezekiel and John saw, were full of eyes, to express the
great knowledge that belongs to the ministering spirits of
heaven, the quickness of understanding with which they
receive every intimation of God's most holy pleasure, and
the clear unerring certainty with which they instantly
move to carry it into accomplishment. (Ezek. x. 12. Rev.
iv. 6 — 8.) To present still more significantly their cha-
racters as ministering servants, and to emblem, at the
same time, the unutterable grandeur of the Divine Ma-
jesty, they were represented as bearing the Almighty
with immeasurable speed wherever it was his will to go.
In the vision of the prophet, he saw, stretched forth over
the heads of the cherubim above, the likeness of a firma-
ment as the colour of the terrible crystal ; and above upon
the firmament, was the appearance of the likeness of the
glory of Jehovah, throned in magnificent splendour The
cherubim lifted up their wings, when directed, and bore
the whole whithersoever the Spirit was to go, with move-
ment of awful sublimity ; when they went, the noise of
their wings was like the noise of great waters, as the voice
of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of a
host ! In another magnificent description of the majesty
and power of the Most High, it is said ; He rode upon a
cherub, and did fly ; yea, lie did fiy upon the wings of the
wind! (Ps. xviii. 10.)

The Glory of the Lord visibly displayed above the
mercy-seat, was in the appearance of a cloud. "The Lord
said unto Moses, speak unto Aaron, thy brother, that he

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 53

come not at all times into the holy place within the vail,
before the mercy-seat which is upon the ark ; that he die
not : for / will appear in the cloud upon the mercy-seat."
(Lev. xvi. 2.) This manifestation of the Divine Presence,
was called among- the Jews, the Shechinah. Its appearance
was attended, no doubt, with an excellent glory, of which
we can form no proper conception, and such as it was ex-
ceedingly awful for dying sinful man to look upon. Out
of this cloud, the voice of God was uttered with deep so-
lemnity, when he was consulted in behalf of the people, so
as to be heard through the vail in the Holy Place. (Numb.
vii. 89.) This was the appointed way of holding direct in-
tercourse with the Holy One of Israel ; There 1 will meet
with thee, was his declaration, and I will commune with
thee from above the mercy-seat. There is some reason to
think, that it was on this account the tabernacle was
called, at times, the Tabernacle of meeting, (translated,
also, Tabernacle of the congregation :) this name, how-
ever, may have been given to it, because it was the great
centre of worship round which the congregation was
wont to be assembled. From the situation of the glorious
Shechinah, God is spoken of as dwelling between the cheru-
bim. (Ps. lxxx. 1. xcix. 1.) Hence, also, the ark is repre-
sented as his footstool, above which he sits, enthroned, a?
it were, upon the wings of the cherubim. (1 Chron. xxviii
2. Ps. xcix. 5.)

The Holiest of all, was a figure of Heaven, where God
dwells in infinite and eternal glory ; where his throne is
established in righteousness and in judgment ; where thou-
sand thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand, all
pure and happy spirits, minister before him, and contem-
plate, with adoring wonder, the perfections of his charac-
ter, as they unfold upon their vision, with ever new
discovery, age after age, without end. Thus we are taught
by the Apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Hebrews.

As God was, in a peculiar sense, the King of the Israel-
itish nation, it may not be improper, perhaps, to look upon
the tabernacle as being, in some sort, the royal palace in
which he was pleased to dwell among the people ; from
which he issued his laws, and to which his subjects were
required to come to do him honour, presenting themselves
e2

54 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

before him with their homage and tribute. In this view,
the priests also were royal servants attending upon the
monarch, and composing his court; and all the furniture
of the sacred tent had relation to the idea of a princely
house, in which it is common to find full and rich pro-
vision made for comfort and convenience in every way.
Thus it was lighted in brilliant and expensive style, as be-
fitted a palace, and furnished with a table supplied with its
various utensils, and continually spread with provision.
This idea, however, if it be not utterly without reason or
truth, enters only secondarily, and, as it were, accidentally,
into the original design of the tabernacle. The analogy
imagined between its arrangement and service, and the
manner of an earthly royal court, is slight in every case,
and in most particulars fails altogether ; so that it is evi-
dent its whole constitution and order had regard, in the
divine plan, to something entirely different. Its great
purpose was to present, symbolically, the glorious
reality which the gospel unfolds — the mystery of mercy
into which angels desire to look, whereby God can be just,
while he justifies the' sinner, renews his intercourse of
friendship and love with a fallen rebel race, and out of the
deep pollution of guilt and the abyss of infinite ruin,
raises a multitude which no man can number, to mingle
in spotless purity with the great family of Heaven, where
in his presence there is fulness of joy and pleasure for
evermore.

It signified, that a fearful separation had taken place
between God and the human race. It represented God as
seated upon a throne of holiness, and jealous of the honour
of his perfect laws ; a being in whose sight iniquity can
never stand, and whose righteousness will by no means
clear the guilty. It represented man to be under the con-
demnation of sin — polluted, ignorant, helpless, and lost. It
was intimated, accordingly, that communion, direct, free,
and happy, with his Maker, such as is granted to pure and
unfallen spirits, was, in his case, forfeited completely ; that
sin had created a hinderance in the way of it, which no
power of his was sufficient ever to remove ; that he was
shut out from the favour of God ; that his prayer could
have no regard in Heaven ; that the presence of the Al-

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 55

mighty, if he were brought into it, could be to him only a
consuming fire, full of terror and death. The way into
the Holiest of all was barred against approach with awful
solemnity.

At the same time, it was signified, that God had, with
amazing goodness, provided a remedy for the dreadful
evil, and devised means to remove entirely the hinderance
so terrific, that rose to shut the sinner for ever from his
favour. Indeed, the nature and extent of the evil were
displayed only in the representation of the remedy ; the
picture itself was, in all respects, a picture of mercy ; of
mercy triumphant over sin and death: and it was in the
exhibition of the victory alone, that the terribleness of the
difficulty which it had to overcome was brought into view.
God was represented as seated upon the throne of grace
as wellas of holiness and justice : the ark, while it guard-
ed the tables of the eternal law, was covered with the
mercy-seat. Righteousness and mercy, it was intimated,
were met together in mysterious union, such as infinite
wisdom alone could contrive, and only infinite power
could accomplish; such as fills all Heaven with adoration
and wonder, and causes angels to bend forward, as it were,
with the most earnest interest, to contemplate its unspeak-
able glory. (1 Pet. i. 12. Rev. v. 11 — 13.) Communica-
tion was represented to be restored between the Holy One
and the ruined sinner. God could regard the prayer of
man, pardon his guilt, remove his impurity, extend to him
the" richest blessings of his grace, and in the end receive
him into his own presence in glory, as if he had never of-
fended. But all this is secured only through a most ex-
traordinary array of means, and with expense beyond all
parallel. The way to the throne is open, but not for the
guilty to rush before it in his own person: his desires may
be presented there and answered, but only as they come
recommended by the mediation of another : that mediation
is all-prevailing, but only as it is founded in full and com-
plete atonement, equal to the utmost demand of a broken
law. Thus, in the service of the tabernacle, there waa
provided a priesthood, to stand between the Most High
and the tribes of his chosen people ; and so before the
Most Holy Place there was erected an altar of perpetual

56 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

intercession ; and without, in front of the entrance of the
sanctuary, an altar of continual atonement. By blood, and
by water, and by incense, God was to be approached.
In the church of Jesus Christ, we find the great realities
themselves which were thus represented in shadowy type.
The Son of God is the glorious Mediator, who makes re-
conciliation for iniquity, by whom sinners may draw near
to Jehovah, and by whom the grace of Heaven finds its
way in overflowing streams to their dark and polluted
souls. He is able to save to the uttermost, all that come
unto God by him, because he ever lives to make interces-
sion for them ; and his intercession cannot fail to be pre-
valent, because it is founded upon an atonement of infinite
value — he has appeared on earth to take away sin by one
amazing and sufficient sacrifice, the sacrifice of Himself.
(Heb. vii. 25. ix. 26.) In the church, there is thus secured
every thing that is needful for man, in order to restore
him to fellowship with his Maker here on earth, to create
him anew in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness,
after the image in which he was originally made, and to
introduce him at last without moral spot or blemish into
the full happiness of heaven.

We have now surveyed the whole of the ancient taber-
nacle. Every person must be struck with the exceedingly
expensive style in which it was made. What an amount
of labour, what an expense of the most skilful and curious
workmanship, what an astonishing worth of the most rare
and precious materials, were joined in the erection of a
single tent ! Hereby it was signified, as it was also in
every part of the worship connected with the sanctuary,
that God is to be honoured with the most perfect service
which men have it in their power to render ; and that we
can never do too much for the honour of God, or become
extravagant in the measure of our zeal and activity for His
glory. This costliness and magnificence, however, had
also its typical meaning in correspondence with the great
design of the whole building. As the whole was an em-
blematic representation of the great mystery of redeeming
grace displayed in the church, it was fit that it should be
clothed in every part with the greatest degree of worldly
splendour and value, to signify the transcendent glory and

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 57

preciousness of this mystery, and the moral magnificence
of that church in which it is found.

After the work was all finished, it was set apart for the
service of God by a solemn ceremony of consecration. —
Moses was commanded to set all up in proper order, and to
anoint the whole with holy anointing oil. This oil was
compounded with particular care, according to the direc-
tion of God himself, and, like the sacred incense already
noticed, might never be employed for any other purpose
than that for which it was ordered to be made, nor imitated
at all by any composition for common use : thus it became
holy, and sanctified the things and persons that were
anointed with it ; that is, separated them from common
worldly service and dedicated them with solemn appro-
priation to God. (Ex. xxx. 23 — 33. xl. 9 — 11. Lev. viii.
10, 11.) We are informed, moreover, that both the taber-
nacle and all the vessels of its ministry were sprinkled with
blood. (Heb. ix. 21.) Thus they were purified and prepared
for their holy use.

In the wilderness the tabernacle always stood, where-
ever the Israelites stopped, in the midst of the camp. Im-
mediately around its court were pitched the tents of the
priests and Levites ; the priests having their place to the
east before the entrance, the family of Gershom to the west,
that of Cohath to the south, and that of Merari to the north.
Outside of these, at some distance, the other tribes encamp-
ed in four great divisions, each consisting of three tribes.
Each of these divisions had its separate standard and prin-
cipal tribe by whose name it was distinguished. On the
east was the camp of Judah, including the tribes of Judah,
Issachar, and Zebulon : on the south side, the camp of
Reuben, including the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad ;
on the west, the camp of Ephraim, including the tribes of
Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin ; on the north, the
camp of Dan, including the tribes of Dan, Asher, and
Naphtali. When the signal was given to march, the taber-
nacle was taken down, and all its parts committed to the
care of the Levites, to be carried to the next place of en-
campment. Each of the three families of the Levites had
its particular charge in this service assigned to it by the
Lord. The care of the most holy things — the sacred fur-

58 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

niture of the tabernacle and its court, were intrusted to the
sons of Kohath ; and they were required to carry the whole
upon their shoulders. For convenient carriage, the ark,
the table, and both the altars were furnished with rings,
through which staves or poles, prepared for the purpose,
were made to pass, by means of which they might be lifted
and borne. The staves which belonged to the ark were
never taken out of their rings, but remained there when the
tabernacle was set up ; those which belonged to the table
and the altars were put into their rings only when they
were to be used. In marching, the camp of Judah moved
forward first; then followed the camp of Reuben ; next
came the Levites with the several parts of the tabernacle ;
immediately after them the camp of Ephraim set forward ;
the camp ot' Dan brought up the rear. (Num. ii. 1 — 34.
iii. 17 — 38. iv. 1 — 33.) Bearing in mind the order both
of encampment and march, in which the camp of the chil-
dren of Joseph had its place always directly behind the ta-
bernacle, we may understand that introduction of the
Psalmist's prayer, — " Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel ! Thou
that leadest Joseph like a flock; Thou that dwellest be-
tween the cherubim, shine forth ! Before Fphraim, and
Benjamin, and Manasseh, stir up thy strength, and come
and save us." (Ps. Ixxx. 1, 2.)

Every encampment and removal was determined by di-
vine direction. On the day the tabernacle was reared up,
in testimony of God's presence and approbation, a cloud —
the marvellous manifestation of the divine presence which
had before led them out of Egypt — overshadowed it, and
it was filled with the glory of the Lord. By this cloud
they were afterwards, continually, in all their journeyings,
admonished when to rest, and when and whither to pro-
ceed. While it rested over the tent, the Israelites jour-
neyed not, whether it was for a shorter or longer time.
But when it was taken up, by day or by night, at once the
whole camp was in motion : the tabernacle was taken
down ; every necessary preparation was instantly made for
marching ; and onward, in whatever course the cloud con-
ducted, the tribes, in their appointed order, Began to move.
Again, when the cloud stood still, and not before, they
stopped, erected the tabernacle where it hovered on high

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 59

waiting to descend upon its sacred resting' place, and pitch-
ed their tents in regular encampment round about. By
night this mysterious cloud had the appearance of fire.
(Ex. xl. 34 — 38. Num. ix. 15 — 23.) To this glorious mani-
festation of the divine presence, overshadowing, protecting,
and guiding the tabernacle and the chosen people in the
wilderness, the prophet Isaiah beautifully alludes, in de-
scribing the happy and secure condition of the gospel
church. (Is. iv. 5, 6. Zech ii. 5.) Through the wilderness
of this world, the church, and every individual believer,
is guarded and guided by the presence of Christ and the
powerful grace of the Holy Spirit, onward to the land of
promise — the rest that remaineth for the people of God.

After the Israelites had entered into the land of Canaan,
under the command of Joshua, the tabernacle was first set
up at Gilgal. There it continued till the land was conquer-
ed. The ark, however, was separated from it, and carried
before the army in the wars of the time. As soon as the
affairs of the country were settled in peace, it was removed
from Gilgal and set up at Shiloh, a town in the tribe of
Ephraim. Here it stood till after the death of Eli, consi-
derably more than three hundred, perhaps four hundred
years. (Josh, xviii. 1. 1 Sam. i. 3, 7, 9.) Hence Shiloh
became a peculiarly sacred place, such as Jerusalem after
wards was, on account of the temples. (Jer. vii. 12 — 15.
xxvi. 6 — 9.) Here the ark abode in its place, and hither the
tribes of the Lord came up to worship. At last, however,
being carried out to the field of war, (when Israel
had been smitten before the Philistines, and vainly dream-
ed that its presence would save them, while yet they dis-
honoured the Lord himself by their sins, and repented not
of their idolatries, to give glory to his name,) it was taken
captive by the uncircumcised heathen. (1 Sam. iv. 1 — 22.)
The Philistines were soon compelled to send it into its own
country again, but it was never after restored, it seems, to
its plac in the tabernacle. In the days of Saul, the taber-
nacle was removed from Shiloh to Nob, for what reason we
are not informed. (1 Sam. xxi. 1 — 9.) In the reisrn of
David we find it again removed, and stationed at Gibeon.
(1 Chron. xxi. 29.) The ark, meanwhile, having timed
about seventy years at Kirjath-jearim, (to which pL.ce it

60 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

had been brought after its return from the land of the Phi-
listines,) was brought soon after David's settlement upon
the throne, to Jerusalem. The first attempt to bring it up
was interrupted by the unhappy death of Uzzah, in conse-
quence of which it was carried aside into the house of
Obed-edom. After three months, however, the king solemn-
ly assembled the priests, Levites, and elders of the people,
and again went to fetch it unto the royal city, with more
order and reverence than had been observed on the former
occasion. It was now carried, not on a new cart, but on the
shoulders of the Levites, as Moses commanded, according
to the word of the Lord, and so was happily brought up
the rest of the way with the high sounding noise of
music and joy. In Jerusalem, it was lodged in a tent which
David caused to be prepared there for its reception.
(1 Chron. xiii. 1 — 14. xv. 1 — 29.) There it continued till
it was carried into the temple. — The tabernacle, we are in-
formed, was, in the commencement of Solomon's reign,
found still at Gibeon. (2 Chron. i. 2 — 13.) Finally, its
sacred fabric, and all its holy vessels, were removed like-
wise to the temple, and so all its glory and its use were
transferred to this larger and still more magnificent house.

CHAPTER III.

THE TEMPLE.

The Jewish temple next claims our consideration. — Its
general plan was the same with that of the tabernacle ;
only it was larger and more splendid, and had the fixed
structure of a house, while the other was a moveable tent.
The meaning of each was the same ; the one was but a
continuation of the holy sanctuary which had its origin
with the other, and took the place of that other, accord-
ingly, as the centre of the same great system of ceremonial
worship, that was instituted at first in the wilderness.
The temple itself did not continue the same building. Its
first form perished with the great captivity ; afterwards a
new house rose in its stead. Thus there was & first, and a
second temple. Each of these is entitled to notice. Before
we take notice of either, however, it will be proper to take
a hasty survey of the city of Jerusalem in which they stood.
The holiness of the temple extended itself in some measure
over all the city. Jerusalem was not like other cities, even
of the sacred land. It was the place which the Lord had
chosen out of all the tribes, to put his name there. (Deut. xii.
5.) It was the city of God — the city of the Great King,
whose gates he loved more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
(Ps. xlviii. 1 — 14.1xxxvii. 1 — 7.) Hence it was styled em-
phatically the Holy City ; and by this name it is distin-
guished in the east to this day.

SECTION I.
THE HOLY CITY.

Jerusalem is supposed by many to have been originally
called Salem; and so it is imagined, that the ancient city
thus named, of which Melchisedek was king, was no other

Vol. II. F 61

62 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

than this, that became at a later period the capital of the
Jewish kingdom. By the Canaanites it was called Jebus.
When the land was taken by Joshua, the inhabitants of
this city, though their king was subdued, could not be ut-
terly driven out by the Israelites ; but having fortified
themselves in the strongest part of it, they continued to
dwell there for several hundred years. (Josh. xv. 63.) At
length, however, their strong hold was taken by David, and
the Jebusites were for ever cut off from Jerusalem. — The
strong hold in which they had so long defied the strength
of Israel, was on Mount Zion, which, from the time of its
capture was distinguished with the name of the City of
David. (2 Sam. v. 6—9.)

Jerusalem was situated on the boundary between the
tribes of Judah and Benjamin. It was builded over three
neighbouring hills, Zion, Moriah, and one of less elevation
than the others, named in later time, Acra. On three sides,
it was bounded by valleys, separating it from mountainous
heights that girded it round about with perpetual protec-
tion. (Ps. exxv. 1, 2.) On the north it was not provided
with the same natural security : its border on that side was
distinguished indeed as on the others, by a considerable de-
clivity, but the country beyond was more open. Hence the
city was commonly attacked by its enemies on the north
side, as an army could not approach it from any other
quaiter, without great difficulty. The whole was surround-
ed with great and strong walls, and each of the hills just
mentioned had, besides, a wall of its own. In the time of
our Saviour there was a considerable suburb formed to the
north of the town, called the New City ; this at length was
enclosed also with .walls by king Agrippa. All these walls
were fortified with numerous towers. The compass of the
whole city round about, was between four and five miles.

The most lofty of the three hills that have been men-
tioned was Zion, called also, as we have seen, the city of
David. It appears to have occupied the southern quarter of
the city. Close over against it, on the east of its northern
part, rose the hill of Moriah. Acra was situated more di-
rectly north of it. The part of the town which was built on
Mount Zion, received also the name of the Upper City,
while that which extended itself over Acra was called the

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 63

Lower City. Zion was distinguished by noble and costly
buildings ; among others the citadel of David, and the royal
palace, could not tail to attract a stranger's attention. Acra
showed the greatest number of streets and houses ; the
most considerable portion of the whole city spread its popu-
lation over this hill. Moriah, however, had more honour
than either of these hills ; on its summit was erected the
temple. It was very steep, and so small at the top ori-
ginally, as not to afford sufficient room for the sacred build-
ing and the courts that were to be connected with it. But
by means of walls, built up from the valleys at its bottom
to the same height with it, the surface above was extended,
so as at last to be about half a mile in compass.

The city was separated on the east side from the Mount
of Olives, by the deep, narrow valley of Cedron, through
which flowed the brook of the same name, mentioned in
Scripture. This brook or torrent, commences not far north-
ward of Jerusalem, and having passed along the side of it,
through the valley just mentioned, takes afterwards an
easterly direction, and finds its way into the Dead Sea. It
is completely dry, except during the rainy season, when it
gathers a dark and muddy stream from the neighbouring
hills. The valley or chasm down which it flows by the
city, has been thought to be the same that is called by the
prophet Joel, the Valley of Jehoshaphat.

The Mount of Olives spreads its dry and sandy height
immediately east of this inconstant torrent. It rises with
considerable steepness right over against the city, and is
altogether more lofty than the highest parts of it ; so that
from the summit of Olivet, the eye overlooks Jerusalem's
whole scenery of buildings and streets with perfect ease.
This mount was often honoured with the presence of the
Saviour. In his visits to Jerusalem, he was not accustomed,
it seems, to lodge in the city, but used to go out to the vil-
lage of Bethany, which was about two miles off, over on
the Mount of Olives, where he was entertained by a pious
and happy family, for which he had a particular regard.
(Matt.xxi.17.Mark xi. 11, 19. John xii. 1—3.) Bethphage
was on the same hill, not far from Bethany, near the road
that led from Jerusalem to Jericho. There the disciples
were sent for the colt, on that memorable occasion when

64 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

our Lord made his last visit to the guilty metropolis of Ju-
dea. When it was brought to him, he sat upon it, and rode
forward in triumph to the city. As he drew near, it spread
before his sight in all its magnificence and pride. But tc
the kind Redeemer it presented only a melancholy specta-
cle. He saw it polluted with the deepest defilement of
guilt — he saw the cloud of heaven's awful vengeance hung
above its splendour, ready to burst and sweep it with un-
sparing desolation — he remembered, at the same time, its
glory of many generations, its sacred privileges, its holy
name — andJie wept over it ! (Luke xix. 29 — 44.) Not long
after, from the summit of the same hill, he rose with a far
more excellent triumph, attended by rejoicing angels, and
sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in
the heavens. (Acts i. 9 — 12.) Just over from the bottom
of the more northern part of Moriah, between the Cedron
and the foot of Olivet, there is showed to the traveller an
even plat of ground, about 170 feet square, well planted
with olive trees. This, he is informed, is that garden to
which Jesus oft-times resorted with his disciples, into
which he entered the night before his death, where, in
agony, he offered up prayers and supplications, with strong
crying and tears, and where the wretched Judas betrayed
him in the dark and silent hour — the Garden of Geth-
semane. As from the top of the Mount of Olives, the eye,
directed toward the west, looks over Jerusalem, so, when
turned the other way, it ranges across a far more extensive
prospect. Before it, stretches the wilderness of Jericho ; and
downward, towards the south, the wilderness of Judea; far
forward in the view to the right, it descries the sluggish
waters of the Dead Sea, gathered over the ruin of Sodom
and Gomorrah; and away beyond Jordan, over against Je-
richo, the mountains from which Moses beheld the pro-
mised land.

On the south side of Jerusalem, starting from the valley
of Cedron and running westward, was Gehena, or the valley
of the son of Hinnom, called also, Tophet. (Jer. vii. 31,
32.) It was originally a very agreeable retreat, delightfully
shaded with trees. But it became a scene of idolatrous
abomination — a place consecrated to the dreadful worship
of Moloch. To the image of this idol-god, were offered

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 65

children in cruel sacrifice. Their own parents brought
them forward, and caused them to be placed on the arms
of the brazen statue, from which they dropped into a furnace
of fire, that was kept burning' before it, and perished with-
out pity. To drown the cries of the miserable victims,
drums of some sort, it is said, were beaten during the
sacrifices ; and as the Hebrew name for such an instru-
ment is Toph, it has been supposed by many, that the part
of the valley where this idol was worshipped, got its name
of Tophet from this circumstance. Good king Josiah,
who vigorously attempted to take away idolatry from the
land, defiled this place, we are told, " that no man might
make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to
Moloch." (2 Kings xxiii. 10.) He caused it, it seems, to
become a place for carcasses of animals to be removed to,
and where the dead bodies of malefactors were frequently
thrown. (Jer. xix. 2, 6, 11 — 14.) After the captivity, the
Jews regarded it with the greatest abhorrence, and con-
tinued to defile it still more than before in the same way,
so that it became a great and foul receptacle for all manner
of filth and dead animal matter. To prevent the pestilence
which the putrefaction of such a mass was likely to breed,
fires were kept constantly burning to consume it. Thus
loathsome, dismal, and full of burning destruction, the place
came to be considered an image of hell, and the word
Gehenna grew at last to be the common name for that
awful dwelling-place of the damned, where the worm dieth
not, and the fire is never quenched.

From the foot of Mount Zion, where Mount Moriah
stands, directly over against it, flowed the fountain of
Siloam or Shiloah. Its waters were conducted into two
large pools, the Upper and the Lower, from which they
might be conveniently used ; what were not required for
use, glided with quiet and gentle stream into the channel
of the Cedron. (Is. vii. 3. viii. 6. xxii. 9, 11. John ix. 7.)
At present, according to the account of our late Missionaries
to Palestine, " the fountain issues from a rock, twenty or
thirty feet below the surface of the ground," to which there
are steps for persons to go down. " Here it flows out
without a single murmur, and appears clear as crystal.
Prim this place, it winds its way several rods under the
f2

66 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

mountain : then it makes its appearance with gentle gurg-
ling, and forming a beautiful rill, takes its way down into
the valley towards the south-east." On the borders of this
humble streamlet, were the Gardens of the Kings, abound-
ing no doubt with shady trees and walks of pleasant beauty.
It has been imagined, that the upper pool was designed
principally for supplying these gardens with water, and
so was called also the king's pool. (Neh. ii. 14. iii. 15.)
Somewhere near this fountain, we may suppose, stood that
tower, called by its name, which fell in the days of our
Saviour, and killed eighteen persons. (Luke xiii. 4.)
There was quite a deep valley in this quarter, between the
hills of Zion and Moriab. Over it was erected a beautiful
bridge, or causeway, planted on each side with a row of
stately trees, which, while they secured the borders of the
walk, overhung it also with pleasant and refreshing shade.
This was raised originally by king Solomon, among his
other magnificent works, and led directly from the royal
palace to one of the gates of the temple-court. It was
designed to be a convenient and agreeable passage for the
king to visit the house of God, and was, accordingly, the
common way by which the monarchs of Israel went to,
and returned from, its sacred courts. (2 Chron. ix. 4.)

The city was bordered on the west by the valley of Gu
hon. It does not appear to have been very deep, and had
nothing about it, as far as we know, worthy of particular
remark. Behind it there was all along a height rising
considerably above the town, so that when a person was
coming from the west, he could see nothing of Jerusalem,
till he got on the summit of this elevation; when, all at once,
directly before him, its walls, and towers, and palaces, and
solemn temple, burst upon his sight.

A little distance out of the city, to the north-west, was
the hill called Golgotha or Calvary. It was the place ap-
pointed for the execution of malefactors. There our Lord
was crucified, though he had done no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth ; and thus that spot became the theatre
of the most astonishing and interesting transaction that
ever took place on earth.

It was a beautiful sight, to look upon Jerusalem in the
days of her ancient glory. That glory however has long

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 67

since passed away. It perished first under the desolating
power of the Chaldeans, 588 years before Christ came into
the world. Then it was that the eye of the prophet Jere-
miah ran down with rivers of water, for the destruction of
the daughter of his people. "The kings of the earth, and
all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed
that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into
the gates of Jerusalem :" but a righteous God, for the
multitude of her transgressions, gave her into the hands
of the heathen. " The Lord covered the daughter of Zion
with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto
the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his
footstool in the day of his anger !" The beauty of Israel
was the temple, and the footstool of Jehovah was the sacred
ark of the covenant over which the Shechinah abode in
glory between the cherubim. (Lam. ii. 1 — 8. iv. 12.) Yet
afterwards, the city was seen rising again upon its ruins.
The Jews endeavoured, with the greatest zeal, to restore it
to its former splendour. From age to age it received im-
provement, and went on recovering beauty and magnifi-
cence. Herod the Great, at last, just before the time of
our Saviour, brought the glory of its second state to its
highest point of perfection. He was fond of great and
splendid buildings, and wished to procure respect and
honour for himself by the noble works of art which he
caused to be finished. Vast, therefore, were the sums of
money which he expended in different ways for the em-
bellishment of Jerusalem. Thus the city came to rival,
and in some respects to excel, its former self. Again it
was a beautiful sight to stand upon Olivet, and look over
its irregular extent. But the horror of its first desolation
was now to be renewed and surpassed in a second overthrow.
The measure of iniquity was at length filled to overflowing,
by the crucifixion of the Lord of life and glory. The cry
of guilt went up to heaven with exceeding loudness. The
vengeance of the Holy One displayed itself in overwhelming
terror. Jerusalem, after a siege in which sufferings alto-
gether indescribable were endured, fell once more, utterly
crushed beneath the weight of the Roman arm. The abo-
mination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet,
was seen standing in the holy place. The sacred city was

68 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

trodden under foot of the Gentiles. The name and place
of the Jewish nation, in the midst of streaming blood, and
desolating- flames, was taken* entirely away.

Jerusalem became a city again ; but not to compare in
any sort with her former state. Oppression hindered her
growth, and war from age to age, sported with her feeble
strength. Her own children were scattered into every
corner of the earth, and strangers crowded her streets. —
For a long time now, it has been pressed under the mis-
erable government of the Turks. So much has it suffered
from the ravages of war, and so much have different spots
within and around it been altered by other means, that it
is no longer easy to trace even the most striking features
of its ancient situation. Its hills have been in some cases
lowered, and its valleys raised ; so that to the spectator
some distance off, it appears to be all situated upon one
general declivity, gently sloping from west to east. But
on a nearer view, it is perceived to be still resting on seve-
ral hills, among which the forms of Zion and Moriah are
discovered rising with principal importance. The south
wall passes over Zion, near its summit, so that a great part
of the mountain is without the city. The north wall, on
the contrary, has been made to take in, on that side, more
than was anciently enclosed, so as to bring into the north-
west part of the town what is supposed to be the hill Cal-
vary. The whole city, it is thought, contains not more
than twenty thousand inhabitants. Half of these are
Mohammedans, rather more than a fourth part Jews, and
the remainder nominal Christians of different sects, who
have lost almost entirely the truth as it is in Jesus Christ.
The streets are narrow, and most of them irregular ; the
houses generally low, with flat roofs and small grated
windows. The summit of Moriah, where once the temple
of Jehovah rose in sacred magnificence and grandeur, is
now crowned with the mosque of Omar, a distinguished
place of Mohammedan worship ; and none but a Mussul-
man may pass the wall that surrounds it, on pain of instant
death. — " After all our research," the missionaries write,
" we compare Jerusalem to a beautiful person whom we
have not seen for many years, and who has passed through
a great variety of changes and misfortunes, which have

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 69

caused the rose on her cheeks to fade, her flesh to consume
away, and her skin to become dry and withered, and have
covered her face with the wrinkles of age ; but who still re-
tains some general features, by which we recognise her as
the person who used to be the delight of the circle in which
she moved. Such is the present appearance of this Holy
City, which was once the perfection of beauty, the joy of
the whole earth."

SECTION II.
THE FIRST TEMPLE.

The idea of building a Temple for the Lord was first
excited in the mind of David. God would not allow him
however, to execute the design, because he had been a man
of war and had shed blood. It was declared to him, never-
theless, that his son who should succeed him on the throne,
would be permitted to erect the sacred building. (1 Chron.
xvii. 1 — 15.)

Still, the good king was not forbidden to bear his part in
the great work, as far as he could help forward its future
accomplishment by making preparation for it beforehand.
His piety, accordingly, displayed itself in this way in a
very interesting manner. All his life, it appears, he had
been in the habit of consecrating a very large portion of
his worldly property to the Lord, to be employed in his
service. (2 Sam. viii. 11.) But in his latter days his zeal
and activity for God grew still more conspicuous. The
temple, though he was never to see it with his own eyes,
became the object of his unceasing and most lively in-
terest. No care or expense which might contribute to its
perfection, seemed to him too great to be incurred. Great,
therefore, exceedingly, was the preparation which he
caused to be made for this end. In his trouble he prepared
for the house of the Lord an hundred thousand talents of
gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver ; and of
brass and iron without weight, by reason of abundance;
timber also and stone, hewed for use, in great quantity ; and
•

70 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

all manner of precious stones besides. And over and above
all this preparation, because he had set his affection on the
house of his God, he left, of his own proper wealth, three thou-
sand talents of gold of Ophir, and seven thousand of refined
silver, to overlay the walls of the sacred edifice withal. In
addition to the whole, the chief of the fathers and princes
of the tribes of Israel, stirred to pious liberality by the ge-
nerosity of their king, offered willingly a large sum for the
same good design. Altogether, therefore, the value of the
materials collected for the temple, before David's death,
was such as mocks calculation. (1 Chron. xxviii.2 — 5, 14 —
18. xxix. 1—9.)

Not only did the aged monarch make such a vast pre-
paration for the work, for the assistance of his son, but he
gave him also the exact, plan according to which the whole
was to be made. In all this, he was himself instructed by
the same God that revealed to Moses the pattern of the
tabernacle on mount Sinai. The sacred House, as well as
the sacred Tent, in which the Most High humbled himself
to dwell, was not left to be contrived in any sort by human
wisdom. The Lord pointed out the hill on which it should
be erected, and the very spot upon that hill where the great
altar of burnt-offering, that was to be in front of the sanc-
tuary, should stand. (1 Chron. xxi. 18, 26, 28. xxii. 1.)
Afterwards, he caused his servant, whose heart was so
much set upon the work, to understand clearly the manner
after which its several parts were to be constructed. (}•
Chron. xxviii. 11 — 19.) David carefully delivered the en-
tire plan to Solomon, committed the collected materials to
his direction, solemnly charged him to be faithful in his
great and honourable trust, exhorted the princes of Israel
to help him with all their might, and then departed, full oi
days and honour, to a better world.

Provided with such an amount of materials, Solomon
undertook to execute the important work. He added ye1
more to the preparations of his father, made arrangements
with Hiram king of Tyre for aid, set many thousand la-
bourers to work, and in the commencement of the fourth
year of his reign began to build. On mount Moriah, where
the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that
David had prepared in the threshing-floor of Oman the

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 71

Jebusite, the temple silently ascended. " The house when
it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it
was brought thither ; so that there was neither hammer,
nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it
was in building." At the end of seven years, it stood com-
plete in all its splendour — the glory of Jerusalem — the
most magnificent edifice in the world. — (1 Kings v. 1 — 18.
vi. 7, 37, 38.)

As has been already intimated, the top of Moriah was
enlarged by art, to make room enough for the courts of the
sacred house. Solomon caused a strong wall of square
stones to be raised from the bottom of it, and then filled up
the space between the wall and the side of the hill with
earth. Thus the summit was sufficiently extended.

The temple stood like the tabernacle, with its front to-
ward the east. It consisted of the Sanctuary, or sacred
house itself, and a most splendid Porch rising before it.
The Sanctuary was sixty cubits long, twenty broad, and
thirty high, and was divided into two apartments — the
Holy, and the Most Holy, Place. It was built of square
stones ; but they were not to be seen in any part ; for over
them, within and without, was a covering of cedar boards
overspread with pure gold. The Porch, extending along
the whole front of the house from north to south, and
reaching forward towards the east ten cubits, ascended far
above the rest of the building to no less a height than one
hundred and twenty cubits. By the entrance of it, were set
up two great pillars of brass, one on the right hand and the
other on the left, distinguished by the names of Jachin and
Boaz. The passage into this Porch, as it seems, was not
closed by any door, but was left continually open.

Passing across the porch, the priest entered, through
beautiful folding doors of fir, ornamented with carved
figures and covered with gold, into the first apartment of
the Sanctuary, the Holy Place. It was a stately room,
taking in the whole breadth and height of the house, and
extended forty cubits backward in length, floored, and ceil-
ed, and walled around with fir and cedar, all overlaid with
shining gold. Carved figures of various sorts adorned the
sides and ceiling, and for beauty they were garnished be-
sides with all manner of rare and precious stones. The

72 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

apartment was not without windows, though we are not
informed of their number, or manner. Its furniture was
an altar of incense, overlaid with gold, standing before the
Most Holy Place, as in the tabernacle, — ten tables overlaid
with gold, — and ten golden candlesticks. The tables and
candlesticks were ranged on the two sides, five of each on
the north, and five on the south. All the instruments and
vessels connected with them, which were many in number,
were made of pure gold. One of the tables, we may sup-
pose, was particularly designed for receiving the shew-bread.

Through another door, that closed with folds of olive-
wood, covered with gold, and ornamented as those of the
front one were, the High-priest, once in the year, entered
into the awful Holy of holies. It was twenty cubits in
length, in breadth, and in height, having the same measure
every way, and all overlaid with fine gold. There, as in the
tabernacle, the sacred ark that was made in the wilderness,
had its secluded place, holding within it the two tables of
the law, and overshadowed above by its golden cherubim.
At each end of it, between it and the side wall, Solomon
caused another cherub to stand, much larger than those on
the mercy-seat. These two cherubim were each ten cu-
bits high, made of olive-wood, and covered with gold. The
wings of each were stretched out on either side ; reaching
on one side to the wall, and on the other extending over
the ark, so as to meet in the middle clear above the other
cherubim. Over the door and the whole partition wall be-
fore-this Oracle, or most holy place where God was con-
sulted, there was hung a great veil, like that costly one
that was made for the tabernacle.

As the whole bouse was thirty cubits high, and the Holy
of holies was only twenty, it is plain there was consider-
able room above it — no less than twenty cubits of length
and breadth, and ten of height. How this was occupied, or
whether occupied at all, we are not told. It has been con-
jectured, that the materials of the tabernacle, and its sa-
cred vessels and utensils that were not used in the temple,
were laid up there to be carefully preserved.

Close against the wall of the house, in the north and
south sides and at the west end round about, there was
erected an additional structure. It consisted of three sto-

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 73

ries, each five cubits high, which seem to have been occu-
pied with chambers, having a walk or gallery running round
before them, into which they opened. On the south side,
there were winding stairs to go up from the first story to
the second, and from that to go up to the third. This
structure was close up against the walls of the sanctuary,
but its beams were not allowed to be fastened into them in
any way. From the bottom of the house, along the side of
these walls, was started an additional wall, three cubits
broad. After this rose up as high as five cubits, one third
of it stopped, and became a resting place round about for
the ends of the beams that supported the floor of the second
story of chambers. The remainder of the wall, two cubits
in breadth, went up five cubits more, and then there was
another cubit left, like the first, for a resting place, on
which the ends of the beams of the next floor might be
placed. From there, the wall, with only the breadth of one
cubit, was carried up yet five cubits more, and then stopped
altogether, furnishing a third resting place, on which were
supported the ends of the beams of the roof of the whole
structure. Thus, while the lower story of chambers was
only five cubits broad across the floor, the second was six,
and the third, seven.

The first temple was surrounded with two courts or en-
closures,— a smaller one, called the Inner Court, or the
Court of the Priests, and a larger one round this embracing
all the rest of the ground that there was to be used, which
was styled the Outer Court, and also the Great Court.
There were several gates by which the outer Court was en-
tered,— one on the east side, one on the north side, one on
the south side, and four, it seems, on the west side. The
most important of these last, was the one to which the
causeway from the royal palace led. There were several
gates, also, between the outer and inner courts, to pass
through from one to another. Around the courts, there
were various buildings, for the use of the sanctuary : some
of them furnished places of lodging for those who were
employed in the sacred duties of the place, and others
were used as depositories for different sorts of vessels and
implements, and for various articles, such as flour, salt,
wine, and oil, that.were needed for the temple service.

Vol. ii. G

74 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

The inner court corresponded, in general, with the court
of the tabernacle. Toward the middle of it, in front of the
sanctuary, stood a great Altar of burnt-offering, twenty
cubits square, and ten high. (Ezek. viii. 16. Joel ii. 17.
Matt, xxiii. 35.) It was furnished, also, with a huge brazen
Laver, called a molten sea, five cubits high, and ten from
brim to brim : this great vessel rested on the back of twelve
oxen made of the same metal. In addition to this, Solomon
caused ten other lavers, of much smaller size, to be set up
in the court, five on the north side, and five on the south.
They were placed every one upon a base, curiously wrought
and fixed upon four wheels : the whole was molten-work of
brass. Water was kept in these smaller lavers for washing
the flesh of the victims that were sacrificed. Each of them,
according to the common ejaculation of Jewish measures,
held between nine and ten barrels, while the great brazen
sea could contain about seven hundred. This last was
appropriated altogether to typical use, — it was the Fountain
for uncleanness, where the priests were required to wash,
day after day, that they might not die when they drew near
to minister before the Lord.

The description that is given of this temple in the Bible
is short, and it is not easy to understand it completely in all
its parts, by reason of our ignorance of some of the terms
employed. We must rest satisfied, therefore, with a gene-
ral notion of its manner. We are told enough, however, to
convince us that its beauty and magnificence were such as
to surpass all representation. (1 Kings, chap. vi. vii. 2
Chron. chap. iii. iv.)

It was a most interesting and solemn occasion, when,
after its completion, the temple was dedicated to the Most
High God. The elders of the nation, and a vast congrega-
tion of the people, were assembled. The ark was borne in
sacred order from Mount Zion. Sacrifices more than could
be numbered were offered before it. The priests conveyed
it then into the oracle, and set it in its place, beneath the
wings of the two stately cherubim that stood upon the floor
When they came out, an exceeding loud burst of music was
sounded from the sacred choir, swelling with the harmony
of voices and instruments, in vast concert, and rolling its
note of grand and thrilling praise all over Jerusalem. In

' BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 75

the midst of this solemnity, the cloud of Jehovah's glory took
possession of the house, as it had long before filled the ta-
bernacle, when it was first erected. Before its majesty the
priests were not able to stand, to perform their ministry. On
a brazen scaffold, before the altar, king Solomon stood and
blessed tbe people, and, falling upon his knees, with his
face toward the people, and his hands extended, poured
forth a solemn and affecting prayer to God. When he had
ended, a miraculous fire descended from heaven and con-
sumed the sacrifices that were on the altar. Thus the Lord
testified his approbation. The whole congregation bowed
with their faces to the ground, and worshipped. Then the
king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord.
Many thousand were the victims slain. (2 Chron. chap. v.
vi. vii.)

After being completely spoiled of its treasures, this beau-
tiful temple was reduced to ashes by the Babylonians. The
ruin took place about four hundred and twenty years from
the time of its building, when the nation was crushed and
carried into captivity for their many sins.

SECTION III.

THE SECOND TEMPLE.

After the return of the Jews from their captivity, accord-
ing to a decree of Cyrus the Persian king, to which he was
moved by a divine influence, the foundation of a new Tem-
ple was laid, under the direction of Zerubbabel. Soon after
its commencement, the work was stopped for fifteen years.
In the second year of the reign of Darius, God sent his
word by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, to reprove the
people for delaying to go on with the building, and to en-
courage them to carry it forward to completion. Then it
was renewed, and, in a few years, finished. We have an
account of this in the book of Ezra. Thus rose, on the ruins
of the first, the Second Temple, about 515 years before the
birth of Christ.

When the foundations of this house were laid, the old
men, who had seen the temple of Solomon, wept, because

76 MBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

they thought it would fall so far short of that in glory.
(Ezra iii. 12. Hag. ii. 3.) And, truly, there seemed to be
much reason for such an opinion. The other had been
erected in the most prosperous age of the nation, with
every advantage that wealth, the most unbounded, and art,
the most perfect, could unite : this was to be raised by a
broken remnant of the kingdom, just restored from distant
captivity to a wasted and almost deserted country. When
it was completed it seemed to labour under a still more
melancholy imperfection. It wanted those miraculous
manifestations of divine regard, which had been displayed
toward the tabernacle and the first temple, and some other
most sacred advantages which they had enjoyed. No cloud
of glorious majesty was seen taking possession of its newly
erected sanctuary : no fire descended from heaven to kindle
the sacrifice upon its altar : no Shechinah abode between
the cherubim in the Most Holy Place. Alas, there was nei-
ther ark, mercy-seat, or cherubim, found there ! They had
perished, with the two tables of the law, in the ruin of the
other temple. Thus, the oracle was without its glory. No
roice sounded from behind the veil, as in ancient times, to
acquaint the inquiring high-priest with the will of Heaven.
Silence and darkness reigned together there year after year.
Five important things, the Jews say, were wanting, in the
second state of the temple, that belonged to the first : these
were the Ark — the Urim and Thummim — the Fire from
Heaven — the Shechinah — and the Spirit of Prophecy.

Yet this was the word of God by his prophet: / will Jill
this house with glory — the glory of this latter house shall be
greater than of the former, saith the Lord of Hosts. (Hag.
ii. 6 — 9.) The outward glory of the latter house became in
the end very great ; the silver and gold of the earth belong
to the Lord, and he caused them to 'meet in vast quantity
for the decoration of his temple : but the prophecy had in
view a different and far more excellent glory. The second
temple never equalled the first in the costly magnificence
of its work, and wanted much that gave moral dignity and
sacredness to the other : but it obtained the pre-eminence,
at last, by such a manifestation of Divine Presence within its
courts as the first was never permitted to enjoy. It was
not honoured with the Cloud of Jehovah's glory, but it was

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 77

distinguished by the presence of Jesus Christ, in whom
dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily — who was God
himself manifest in the flesh ! (Mai. iii. 1. Col. ii. 9. 1
Tim. iii. 16.)

The second temple was completely builded over again by
Herod the Great. To gratify his pride, and to recommend
himself to the favour of the nation, which he was conscious
of having justly forfeited by his unheard-of cruelties, he
took it into his head to pull down the house which Zerub-
babel had erected, and to raise in its room a new one, vastly
more beautiful and magnificent. The Jews were afraid, at
first, that he was not sincere in his proposal, and might,
after taking down the old building, leave them without any ;
for he was a deceitful and malicious man. It was not,
therefore, until they saw the materials made ready for a
new one, with prodigious labour and expense, that they
were willing to let the other be removed. This was done
only seventeen years before our Saviour appeared in the
world, and in nine years and a half from that time, the
main part of the new building was completed, so as to be
fit for its regular service. Still, however, the work of beau-
tifying and adding to the general structure, continued to
be carried on many years after, even till after the Redeem-
er's death. Wherefore, the Jews were not wrong, when
they said to him, about the thirtieth year of his life, Forty
and six years was this temple in building. (John ii. 20.)
So long, at that time, was the period which had elapsed
from the laying of its foundations, and all the while it had
been receiving new improvement.

Let us now take a rapid view of the several parts of this
second temple, as it stood in the days of our Saviour, in all
its beautiful grandeur. It was, indeed, as we have just
seen, the third building erected on Moriah's sacred sum-
mit for the worship of God : but, because the temple put
up after the captivity, had never been destroyed by enemies,
like the first, and had been taken down by the Jews them-
selves, merely that it might immediately rise again, with
a more excellent form, both these buildings were very
properly spoken of as together forming, one after the other,
the same Second Temple ; which, accordingly, had its pe-
g2

7S BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

riod from the time of Zerubbabel to the destruction of the
city by the Romans

THE COURT OF THE GENTILES.

The top of Moriah, the Mountain of the Lord's House,
(which, as already noticed, was so extended by art, as to
measure about half a mile in compass, or a furlong1 square,)
was enclosed by a wall, five and twenty cubits high, built
around upon each side. This was the outer wall ; in some
parts, perhaps pretty generally all the way round, it took
its start, properly, from the base of the mountain, being no-
thing else than the wall that was built, as we have seen,
from the valleys below, in order to increase the surface
above, carried upward twenty-five cubits higher than the
summit of the hill. Prodigious, then, we may well con-
ceive, was the distance directly downward, in many places,
from the top of this wall on the outside, to its deep bottom
in the valley beneath.

This outer wall, which was built of stone, beautiful and
strong, was furnished with several gates. They were all
large, and costly in their workmanship ; having each two
great folds, covered over with precious metal, and so
heavy that they could not be opened or shut without con-
siderable effort. The most stately and costly one of all,
was on the east side — if that was, indeed, as some sup-
pose, the magnificent Eastern Gate, noticed by the Jewish
historian, Josephus. It was covered with Corinthian brass,
exceedingly splendid, and more precious than silver and
gold. A flight of many steps rose to its entrance, from the
deep valley of Cedron, below. A causeway, also, lifted
high upon arches, stretched in front of it, across the val-
ley, making a straight and level way over to the Mount
of Olives, on the other side. This gate was not situated
in the middle of the eastern wall, but considerably farther
along towards the north end, in order that it might directly
face the porch of the sanctuary, or sacred house of the
temple, which was fixed, by divine direction, to the
northern part of the enclosed square. It was called the
King's Gate, because all the eastern side of the hill to
which it belonged, had been formed, originally, by king

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 79

Solomon, with great labour and expense, by means of a
wall raised in the way that has been already noticed, from
the bottom of the valley beneath. It was called, also, it
seems, the Gate of Shushan, and had pictured upon it a
representation of the city of Shushan, the royal capital of
Persia ; in memory, according to some, of the great cap-
tivity, and so for a warning against idolat^, which was
the cause of it ; or, as others say, to keep up the recollec-
tion of the wonderful deliverance from the malice of Ha-
man, which the nation had experienced in the days of
Esther, and to bring to mind, year after year, the feast of
Purim, or of Lots, which was then established in that city,
to be a memorial from generation to generation of the
happy event. (Est. iii. viii. ix.) On the south side of the
square, there were two gates, which were called the Gates
of Huldah. On the west side there were as many as four :
one situated well toward the north, directly opposite to the
gate Shushan on the east side, which had the name of Co-
ponius, and answered to the gate called, in the time of the
first temple, Shallecheth, to which that royal causeway
already noticed led from the dwelling place of the kings
on Mount Zion ; another not far south of this, toward the
middle, called Parbar : and the two gates of Asuppim,
still farther toward the south. These last three had the
names just mentioned, in the first state of the temple. The
outer wall, on the north side, also, was provided, it is said,
with a gate, situated exactly in the middle of it.

All these gates had towers erected above them. An
open space of several cubits in extent, was left around
each, where the people were accustomed to assemble. On
either side of them within, there were buildings or houses,
standing close against the wall, two stories high, for the
porters and others to lodge in, and for depositories or stores
in which were kept various treasures, utensils, and arti-
cles for service, that belonged to the temple.

All around, along the inward side of this outer wall,
stretching from gate to gate, there were piazzas, or cover-
ed walks, most beautiful and stately to behold. These
were called Porches. Along the eastern, northern, and
western sides, they were merely double, that is, they con-
sisted of two broad covered walks, one adjoining the wall,

80 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

and the other running by the side of this one, separated
from it simply by a row of pillars ; but on the southern
side, the porch was triple, consisting of three such piazzas,
or walks. The flooring of these walks was, all along, a
smooth and solid pavement of marble of different colours;
the roof was flat, made of costly cedar, and covered with
cement to keep it from being injured by the rain ; it rested
on rows of pillars, hewn out of white marble, and so large
that three men could scarcely stretch their arms so as to
meet around them. Where the porches were only double,
they were furnished with three such rows of pillars : first,
one close up against the wall ; then, fifteen cubits over
from that, another ; and, farther out still from the wall, fif-
teen cubits more, a third. Thus the two walks formed to-
gcther a breadth of thirty cubits, divided merely by the
middle row of pillars, and overshadowed by a lofty roof.
The pillars were about twenty-five cubits high ; so that
the rooi", borne up on the three rows, was lifted to a height
equal with the top of the outer wall. Along the south side,
as there were three walks, so there were four rows of pil-
lars. The walk that was next to the wall, and the one
that was farthest out from it, were just equal in breadth
and height with the walks that stretched along the other
sides ; but the middle one of the three, was twice as high
and nearly three times as broad as any of the rest, so that
its roof was raised as much as twenty-five cubits above
the roofs of the common walks that lay along with it on
either side, and spread itself out on high at a distance of
fifty cubits from the broad and beautiful pavement be-
neath. It was a most noble piazza, and could not fail to
fill the spectator with the highest admiration, when he
walked between its gigantic pillars, and lifted up his eyes
to its ceiling of rich cedar, extended in lofty grandeur over
his head. When a person stood above, on the roof of this
middle walk, he could hardly look down into the valley on
the outside of the wall, without becoming dizzy, the distance
to the bottom of it was so fearfully great. It is said to
have been no less than five hundred cubits, or 750 feet.
This roof seems to have been that pinnacle of the temple,
to which our Saviour was brought by the Devil, and from
which the foul tempter urged him to cast himself down.

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 81

over the outer wall, into the tremendous deep below.
(Matt. iv. 5—7.)

These covered walks furnished a pleasant retreat for the
people, in warm weather, or when it was raining. They
were furnished with convenient seats along the wall, for
persons to sit upon. All the day, people might be seen
moving backwards and forwards along between the rows
of stately pillars, or resting themselves on the beautiful
benches, underneath the broad and friendly shelter that
was here provided. The porch that lay along the east side,
was called Solomon's Porch, because, as was stated a short
time ago, all this side of the hill had been raised with spe-
cial labour from the bottom of the valley, by that ancient
monarch. (John x. 23. Actsiii. 11. v. 12.)

When a stranger entered the sacred ground, through
any of the gates of the outer wall which surrounded the
whole, he beheld the House of the temple rising with lofty
magnificence, from the north-western part of the hill.
But the space was not clear all the way up to it. Going
forward a small distance, he came to another wall, enclos-
ing a considerable portion of ground that was deemed
more holy than the rest of the hill left on the outside of it.
The space between this second wall and the outer wall
already noticed, was not by any means of the same breadth
on every side. On the west and north sides it was quite
narrow, and it was not much wider on the east side ; but
to the south it took up about half of the whole hill : thus
the second wall did not enclose a square with equal sides,
buf a piece of ground somewhat more than twice as long
as it was broad, reaching across from west to east within
the northern half of the great square enclosed by the outer
one. The space between these two walls round about, was
the Court of the Gentiles.

Into this Court all persons had liberty to come, whether
they belonged to the Jewish nation or not. It was called
the Court of the Gentiles, not because it was given up par-
ticularly to the Gentiles, for their use, but because it was
the only one to which they were admitted : further than
this first court nouncircumcised person was allowed to pass.
It was in this Court of the Gentiles, that markets were
kept for the sale of incense, oil, wine, doves, lambs, oxen,

82 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

and of every thing, in short, that was wanted for the sacri-
fices of the temple. These markets appear to have had
their particular place on the east side of the court, and to-
ward the southern quarter. Here, persons coming- from a
distance, bought whatever ihey wished for the purpose of
making offerings to the Lord. In the same court the
money-changers sat, to receive Greek and Roman money,
such as was in common use, in exchange for Jewish half-
shekels, with one of which every man.was required to pay
his yearly tribute to the sanctuary. They took their sta-
tions, a short time before the Passover, in the Porches, with
tables mil of coin before them, ready to accommodate all who
wanted to exchange. In doing this, they required a small
fee to be allowed to themselves in every instance, which,
because there was so much of it to be done, made their bu-
siness quite profitable. It was very convenient, to have
markets at hand, and to have these money-changers to ap-
ply to, when persons attended at the temple ; but then it
was a great abuse to admit this sort of business into the
temple-court, for it was mere worldly business after all,
and oftentimes was carried on with unjust and avaricious
fraud. Yet the unfaithful priests not only suffered this
abuse, but encouraged it with their authority. Jesus Christ,
however, would not let it pass without chastisement. On
two several occasions, at least, as we are informed, he turn-
ed the whole company of profane dealers out of the temple,
driving their animals out with them,, and overthrowing the
tables of the money-changers. (John ii. 14 — 17. Matt. xxi.
12, 13.) When we consider, that quite a number were
engaged in this traffic, and that it was carried on accord-
ing to established usage, and still more, that it was carried
on under the approbation and authority of the priests, the
rulers of the temple — we must feel, that it was a wonder-
ful miracle which our Saviour wrought in these cases, and
that it could only be a divine power over the hearts of
men, to turn them at his pleasure, that a single, poor, and
hated individual could accomplish such a measure with-
out assistance

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

THE COURT OF THE WOMEN.

We are now ready to pass onward from the Court of the
Gentiles, into the holier ground, that was enclosed by the
second wall lately mentioned. By the sides of the gates
that were in this wall, pillars were placed, on which were
peen inscriptions in Greek and Latin, forbidding-, with large
btters, all entrance to Gentiles of every nation, and to every
person polluted by the dead.

In passing through this wall by any of its gates, persons
had to go up several steps till they found themselves on the
inside of it, as much as six cubits higher than the level of
fhe Court of the Gentiles, which had just been left. Then
there lay before them a level space ten cubits broad, at the
other side of which stood another wall, a great deal higher
and stronger than the one just passed, which was quite
low. Thus all around there was this space, ten cubits in
breadth, between these two walls, which persons had to
pass over before they got into another court. Wherever
there was a gate in the low wall, there was another just
over against it in the high one, so that those who were
passing out or in might go straight forward from one to
the other. The space between the two walls was paved with
marble. The high wall just mentioned was considerably
higher from the pavement of this space, on the outside of
it, than it was from the level of the enclosure which it sur-
rounded, on the other side ; because that enclosure was
still higher than the space immediately round it between
the walls ; and as there were several steps to come up to the
level of that space through the low wall, so there were
more steps to go onward from it, through the high wall, up
into the enclosure now mentioned.

This enclosure which, according to a statement already
made, was more than twice as long as it was broad, was
divided by a wall across it from north to south, into two
unequal parts. The part toward the east, which was some-
what smaller than the other, was exactly square : the other
part toward the west, while it had the same breadth of
course from north to south, was a little longer from west to
east. The square one was the Court of the Women. It
was so called, not because it was occupied altogether or

84 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

principally by women, but because women were not allow-
ed to go beyond it toward tbe Holy House of the temple.

The Court of the Women could be entered from the
Court of the Gentiles, by three gates ; one on the north,
one on the south, and one on the cast, each having its situ-
ation precisely in the middle of the side to which it be-
longed. The one on the east side, was directly before the
gate Shushan in the outer wall, in a line between it and
the sanctuary. This some suppose to have been much
more elegant than the rest, and to have been, in fact, that
Eastern Gate, so richly overlaid with Corinthian brass, of
which Jewish history makes mention ; and which an-
other opinion already stated, has imagined rather to have
been the same with the gate Shushan. That splendid gate,
whichsoever of these two it was, has been thought by many
to be the gate that was called Beautiful, at which the lame
man lay to ask alms of those who were going up to the
temple, as related in the first part of the Acts of the Apos-
tles. (Acts iii. 2—11.)

When a person went up by any of these gates, first
through the low wall to the level space ten cubits wide,
and then, by five more steps, through the high wall, up
into the Court of the Women, he found the whole square
paved with large slabs of marble, and surrounded with dif-
ferent structures, erected close to the wall round about, as
we have seen was the case in the outer court. In the four
corners were buildings, or chambers, for different uses ;
and between these and the gates, on the north, east, and
south sides, there were Porches. These Porches were
merely single along each side, having two rows of pillars :
they differed also from those that were in the Court of the
Gentiles, by having galleries or balconies round about,
above the lower walks, and therefore the ceiling of these
was not remarkably lofty. On the west side there was no
Porch of this sort.

This court was the place, where men, as well as women,
ordinarily performed their worship, when they appeared
at the temple without bringing sacrifices with them.
Here Peter and John used to go up with others, to pray
toward the temple of the Most High. (Acts iii. 1.) Here
it was, that the self-righteous Pharisee and broken-hearted

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 85

TPublican appeared at the same time ; the one boldly pre-
senting himself close up to the gate that led forward to the
temple, and pleading his own worthiness before a holjr God
— the other standing afar off, not daring to lift his head
toward the dwelling-place of the Lord, but smiting upon
his breast and crying, God be merciful to me a sinner !
(Luke xviii. 9 — 14.) Paul was in the same court when he
was violently seized by his countrymen, and charged, among
other things, with having brought Gentiles into that holy
place. (Acts xxi. 26 — 30.)

This court was the place of the Treasury, where the
people presented their offerings of money for the service of
the temple. Several chests or vessels called Trumpets, be-
cause they were wide at the bottom and small at the top,
were placed in some part of it, to receive the gifts : each
vessel was appointed to receive some one particular class
of them ; one, for instance, was for money offered to buy
wood for the altar ; another, for money to buy frankincense ;
and so the rest for different uses. Here our Saviour beheld
the people casting in their offerings, when the poor widow
came forward with her two mites, and cast in all that she
had; (Mark xii. 41 — 44.) In this part of the temple it
was, too, that he delivered some of his solemn and im-
pressive discourses, teaching the people, and reproving
their unbelief. (John viii. 20.)

THE COURT OF ISRAEL.

In the middle of the high wall that bounded the Court of
the Women, on the west side, was the gate called Nicanor.
Through this, after a rise of fifteen steps, each half a cubit
high, a person entered into the Court of Israel. These
steps were in the half-circle form. On either side of the
lowest one, there was a door in the wall, facing the Court
of the Women, which opened into a chamber cut out under
the level of the Court of Israel above. In these two rooms
the Levites deposited their musical instruments. Still,
when they had done using them each day in the service of
the temple, they came down the fifteen steps, turning to
the right or to the left, and laid them away here till they
were again wanted.

Besides the gate of Nicanor, there were six other gates,

Vol. n. H

86 BIBLICA2, ANTIQUITIES.

three on the northern, and three on the southern side, by*
which the Court of Israel might be entered. These of
course let persons into it directly from the Court of the
Gentiles : on the east it was necessary to come into the
Court of the Women first, and then from that into this third
one, and this was the most common way by which it was
entered ; but on the north and south, those who went out or
came in had nothing to pass through between this court and
the outer one, but the two walls already noticed, one high
and the other low, with the level space of ten cubits' breadth
that lay between them round about. Around against the
wall, in this third enclosure, there were several houses or
chambers standing, as in the courts already noticed, for
different sorts of use connected with the service of the tem-
ple, and covered walks also along the four sides, from one
gate to another, reaching farther out from the wall than
the buildings just mentioned, so as to have still room enough,
where any of these happened to stand, for persons to pass
along in front of them.

This broad covered walk all around appears, indeed, not
so truly to have been a walk along the sides of what was
strictly the Court of Israel, as it was itself the whole extent
of that court. The space within, surrounded by this walk,
seems to have been all comprehended in what was properly
another court, about two cubits and a half higher than the
pavement of the walk, and separated from it by a low rail-
ing. Into this wide walk, or Court of Israel, common Israel-
ites were allowed to come, to attend on particular services
of religion, and from it they could look, without difficulty,
over the elegant railing just mentioned, toward the holy
House of the temple, and see all that was done in the court
within.

THE COURT OF THE PRIESTS.

This court within was the Court of the Priests. It had
in it the beautiful building of the Sanctuary, with the Altar
of burnt-offering, and the Laver standing in front of it
Here the Priests with the Levitss performed their daily
service. Besides these, no other Israelite might even pass
the railing that surrounded it, except when he came forward
solemnly to lay his hands upon the head of a victim that

BIBLICAL A.NTIQUITIES. 87

he offered for sacrifice, or to kill it, or to wave some part
of it before the Lord.

Along1 the eastern end of this court, facing the front of the
sanctuary, there was a breadth of eleven cubits, covered
with a roof, like the walks already more than once noticed.
Thus when a person went up through the gate of Nicanor,
towards the House of the temple, he passed first across the
covered space of the Court of Israel, lately considered, and
then, rising four steps through the low railing that fenced
in the Court of the Priests, found himself in this second
covered space, of which we now speak, with the broad and
lofty front of the temple Porch full before him. Along the
back side of this space, just before the railing, a breadth of
two cubits and a half was appropriated to the Levites that
conducted the music in the solemn service of the Sanctuary.
Here, in a row along from the entrance in the middle to
the corner of the court on each side, they stood at the ap-
pointed times with their various instruments in their
hands, playing and singing with a loud voice to the praise
of the Most High God. The rest of this covered space, be-
fore the narrow range set apart for the use just mentioned,
was for the accommodation of the priests, when any of them
were not called to be employed in service elsewhere in the
court. There were no seats, however, provided for them
to sit upon and rest themselves : it was not considered law-
ful for persons to sit at all, either in the Court of the Priests
or in the Court of Israel, around it ; reverence towards God,
and regard for the holiness of these places, were required
to be continually manifested by standing on the feet.

The Altar of burnt-offering, that stood in this court, was
much larger than the one that belonged to the first temple.
It had its situation, however, on the same spot — the one
that had been anciently pointed out by divine direction to
David. (1 Chron. xxi. 18.) This being the spot where the
Ultar was to be built, it was necessary that the House of
the temple should be erected near it ; and that was the rea-
son that it was situated so much toward the north-western
corner of the hill. Between the altar and the entrance of
the sanctuary, somewhat off toward the south side, stood
the Laver. The second temple, like the tabernacle, was
furnished with only one.

88 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

THE SANCTUARY.

The Sanctuary, or Temple, strictly so called, as it stood
in the days of our Saviour, was larger in its dimensions
than the building erected by Solomon, but constructed after
the same general plan. The beauty and costliness of its
workmanship were very great. The walls were builded
with stones of white marble, beautiful and exceedingly
large.

In front, toward the east, the Porch attracted the admi-
ration of every beholder. It was, it seems, of the same
height with that of the first temple, but a great deal broad-
er, and twice as wide ; having a breadth of no less than a
hundred cubits from north to south, and a width of twenty
across through it from east to west. The entrance into it,
on the front side, was seventy cubits high and twenty-five
broad, and stood always open, without a door of any sort.

The Sanctuary itself, behind the Porch, was twenty cu-
bits broad, from wall to wall, sixty in length, and sixty in
height Around it, on the north and south sides, and at
the western end, there was a structure of three stories, after
the fashion of that which was attached to the temple of
Solomon, as it has been described in the account of that
edifice. Here were a number of chambers all around in
each story, with galleries in front of them, along the out-
side wall of the structure round about, by which persons,
coming out from them, might walk along to the stairs that
led down from one story to another, and so go out by some
one of the doors below.

The Holy Place, in this Sanctuary, which was entered
after crossing the Porch, was forty cubits long, twenty
broad, and sixty high. It had in it an Altar of Incense,
one Candlestick, and one Table for the shew-bread, after
the manner of the ancient tabernacle. The Most Holy
Place, measuring twenty cubits every way, wanted that
which was the perpetual glory of the first temple — the Ark,
overshadowed with its cherubim, above which the Divine
presence condescended to dwell. The Jews tell us, that a
box, or coffer, resembling it in form, was made to supply
its place ; but this had nothing of that peculiar and extra-
ordinary sacredness which distinguished the original depo-

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 89

sitory of the Tables of the Law ; and therefore the ark has
been properly reckoned as one of the five things that were
wanting in the second state of the temple. The Holy Place
and the Holy of holies, in the last temple, had no wall across
between them, but were separated, as in the tabernacle,
simply by means of a veil, very costly, and remarkably
thick and strong: the Jews say that it was not a single
curtain that was employed for this purpose, but two of like
texture, one being hung before the other a little distance
from it. When our Saviour died, the whole was rent in
twain from the top to the bottom ! (Matt, xxvii.51.) Hereby
it was signified, that in the death of Christ the ancient Ce-
remonial System was brought to an end ; that the darkness
of the Jewish dispensation was to pass away in the clear
revelation of the Gospel ; and especially that the way into
the holiest of all was now made completely open by his
blood, for all believers to draw near to the mercy-seat of
God, with holy liberty and confidence. (Heb. ix. 8. x. 19 —
22.) The veil that separates man from his Maker, is guilt
calling for wrath ; and nothing can avail to rend the awful
curtain but the death of Jesus Christ.

The bottom of the house of the temple was six cubits
higher than the level of the Court of the priests around it.
Thus, as there was a continual rise from one court to
another, this holiest, highest spot, on which the Sanctuary
stood, was as much as twenty-four cubits and a half above
the level of that which was first entered — the Court of
the Gentiles.

THE TOWER OF ANTONIA.

There was another building on this sacred hill that
deserves particular notice. It stood on the outside of the
Court of the Gentiles, joining the wall on the north, near
to its western corner. It was builded originally by John
Hyrcanus, the Jewish prince, a little more than a hundred
years before the birth of Christ, and was used by himself
and his successors as a palace, while at the same time it
had all the strength and fortification of a castle. It was a
square building, measuring two furlongs in compass, that
is, as much as three hundred feet along each side. Here
the sacred garments of the High-priests were kept, to be
h2

90 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

taken out only on the solemn occasions that called for their
use. Herod, with his other works of building-, caused this
also to put on new splendour and strength, and gave it a
new name, calling it, in honour of the Roman prince
Antony, Antonia. It was forty cubits high, and had at
each of its corners a tower rising a number of cubits higher ;
the one at the south-east corner rose in this way as many
as thirty, so that from it might easily be seen all that was
done in any of the several courts of the temple. In this
strong castle the Romans placed a garrison of soldiers, by
which they had the whole hill completely under their power,
and were enabled to hold the city in awe of their authority.
This was considered especially important, as tumults and
insurrections were ever likely to be excited, among the vast
multitudes that were gathered to the temple at particular
limes. From the corner tower just mentioned, any dis-
turbance might be at once perceived by the sentinel who
was stationed there to keep watch, and immediately soldiers
could be sent to quell it. There was a passage from the
castle directly into the Court of the Gentiles, through the
outer wall, by which they could enter the sacred enclosure
at a moment's warning.

In this way, that tumult was restrained which was raised
in the temple against the Apostle Paul. The Jews dragged
him out of the Court of the Women into the Court of the
Gentiles, (which was considered less holy, and was spoken
of sometimes as being out of the temple — the name temple
being used with a wider or narrower meaning at different
times ;) and here they purposed to kill him. The chief
captain of the Roman band, however, receiving notice of
the disorder, very soon appeared on the spot with a number
of soldiers, and took him out of their hands, commanding
him to be carried into the castle. When he came upon the
stairs that led up into it, he was permitted to address the
multitude below, till they interrupted him at last with loud
and angry cries, when he was taken out of their sight and
lodged within the walls of this magnificent fortress. (Acts
xxi. 26 — 40. xxii. 1 — 24J — Some have thought, that the
commander of the Roman garrison in this castle, is the
officer intended by the title Captain of the temple, used
more than once in the New Testament : but it seems more

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 91

satisfactory to understand by that title, as hinted in a
former part of this work, the chief of the Levites and
priests who kept guard around and ^ithin the temple.
(Acts iv. 1.)

It was a noble sight to look over the summit of Moriah,
crowned as we have now surveyed it with all the grandeur
and beauty of the temple with its different courts. The
Jewish historian Josephus, speaks of it as exceeding all
description. The vast stones of polished marble, the stupen-
dous pillars, the broad and lofty porches, the gates shining
with the most precious metals, the towering front of the
sanctuary — all united to fill the beholder with the highest
admiration. Seen at a distance, by those who were ap-
proaching the city, it appeared, it is said, like a mountain
covered with snow ; for all over, except where broad plates
of gold or silver dazzled the eye, it glistened with the white-
ness of wrought marble. He that never saw Jerusalem in
her glory, say the ancient Jewish Doctors, never saw a
lovely city ; and he that never saw the sanctuary, with its
buildings, never saw the most noble fabric under the sun.

It was not without reason, therefore, that the disciples
of the Saviour on a certain occasion commended with ad-
miration in his presence the grand and beautiful appearance
of the temple. As he went out of it on the east side going
over to the Mount of Olives, they directed his attention to
the rich and splendid style in which it was builded and
adorned : Master, said one of them, see what manner of
stones and what buildings are here ! Jesus saw all this ;
but he looked upon it as a sight of mere earthly glory that
was very soon to pass away. Seest thou these great build-
ings ? he replied : there shall not be left one stone upon
another, that shall not be thrown down. (Mark xiii. 1, 2.)

And so it came to pass in less than forty years after.
The whole perished in the awful destruction of the city by
the Romans. Titus, the Roman general, wished to save
it ; but the violence of war was too strong to be restrained
in its progress. It carried its torch to the sacred pile, and
wrapped all the glory of Moriah in wild and terrific flames.
This melancholy ruin of the second temple is said to have
been accomplished in the same month of the year, and on

92 BIBLICA.L ANTIQUITIES.

the same day of that month, which, more than six hundred
years before, had witnessed the destruction of the first one
by tiie Babylonians. After the flames had done their work,
the walls were utterly demolished to the bottom, and the
whole ground on which they stood ploughed up, according
to the Roman custom ; so that, as Christ had foretold, not 'i
single stone was left in its place. (Micah iii. 12.)

Here ended, for ever, the glory of the Jewish temple. It
was never again to rise on its ruins, as before. Its whole
meaning and use were over. The dispensation to which
it belonged was brought to a close. The time was come,
when neither at Jerusalem, nor at any other particular
place, the Father was to be worshipped with such outward
service as was required under the law. (John iv. 21 — 24.)
The purpose of the Most High, therefore, forbade all res-
toration of the ancient sanctuary. An attempt, indeed,
was made to restore it, about three hundred years after its
last destruction, which seemed to have, as far as human
calculation could reach, the greatest prospect of success ;
but God crushed it at the very start. The Roman Empe-
ror, Julian, (who had pretended, in early life, to be a Chris-
tian, but afterwards, when he came to the throne, turned
to be a pagan idolater, bitterly opposed to the truth of the
gospel, and so got the name of Apostate,) gave the Jews
permission to rebuild their temple, and renew their long
neglected worship. They set about the work with alacrity
and high hope. But very soon they were compelled to stop.
While the workmen were clearing awTay the rubbish, in
order to lay the foundations, great balls of fire, dreadful to
behold, bursting forth from the ground with terrible noise,
and repeated earthquakes, full of strangeness and horror,
caused every person to fly from the place, and so put an
end to the work. Thus wonderfully, as we are assured by
the most satisfactory testimony of history, did God blow
upon and blast the design that was formed to counteract
his holy will.

CHAPTER IV.

MINISTERS OP THE TABERNACLE AND
TEMPLE.

God separated the tribe of Levi from all the other tribes,
to attend upon the services of the sanctuary. They were
taken in room of the first-born. (Num. iii. 5 — 13. 40 — 51.
viii. 16 — 19.) They were not allowed, accordingly, to have
any inheritance to themselves as a tribe among the others
which composed the nation. The family of Aaron was
taken out of this sacred tribe, and consecrated to the priest-
hood, to which the care of the most holy duties, and the
privilege of the nearest approaches to the Divine Majesty,
were confined. The rest of the Levites were appointed to
attend to duties less solemn.

SECTION I.

THE LEVITES.

The Levites were solemnly set apart to their ministry
in the following way. — 1. Having washed and shaved the
whole body, they presented themselves before the taberna-
cle with two young bullocks, one for a burnt offering, the
the other for a sin offering. 2. They were sprinkled with
water of purifying by Moses. 3. The leading men of the
whole nation laid their hands upon them, and by this cere-
mony offered them to God as substitutes for themselves, and
in the room of their first-born. 4. Aaron offered them be-
fore the Lord, or, as it is literally expressed in the Hebrew,
waved them for a wave-offering, before the Lord ; perhaps
by causing them to fall down before God towards his holy
Tabernaele, or as others have supposed, by requiring them
to walk solemnly around the altar, in token of their dedi-
cation to the Lord, as living sacrifices for his use. 5. They

93

94 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

placed their hands upon the heads of the bullocks, which
were then offered to make an atonement for them. (Num.
viii. 5 — 22.) By these ceremonial signs was represented
the perpetual consecration of the Levites, in place of the
first-born of all the Israelites, to the service of the Sanctua-
ry ; the purity which God seeks in all who come near to
serve him ; the necessity there is, that for this end all such
as belong to the family of Adam, should be cleansed, as it
were with water and by blood, by the sprinkling of the
blood of Jesus Christ, and through the sanctifying power of
the Holy Ghost.

In the wilderness, the Levites had the charge of carry,
ing the tabernacle, with all its vessels, from place to place.
In this business, each of the three great families into which
they were divided, had its particular department of duty
assigned by God himself. In the land of Canaan, they were
relieved, of course, from all this service. Only a part of
them were needed to attend about the Sanctuary. The
rest, scattered in their several cities through the land, seem
to have been employed, as we have already seen, in vari-
ous ways, for the promotion of piety and knowledge in the
nation ; unless where they forgot their character, and lost
the spirit of their office in the spirit of the world. That
part of them which attended at the tabernacle or temple,
were required to see that they wrere kept clean, and to have
continually on hand all supplies, such as wine, oil, incense,
&c, that were needed for the sanctuary service. The
music of the temple, was committed to their care, many of
them were employed as porters, and in later times, it be-
came their business, also, to slay the victims that were
brought to the altar. — At first, they began to wait upon the
service of the tabernacle at the age of twenty-five, and were
not admitted to their full ministration before the age of
thirty, continuing their service till they reached their
fiftieth year. (Num. iv. 3. viii. 24.) Afterward, however,
under the temple, they began to attend upon some duties
of their ministry as early as the age of twenty. (1 Chron.
xxiii. 24—32.)

David divided the Levites into four great classes. The
first class, consisting of 24,000, were appointed to assist
the priests — to set forward the work of the house of the Lord.

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 95

The second, of 6,000 were made officers and judges through
the land. The third, amounting to 4,000 were porters. The
fourth, amounting to 4,000 also, were musicians. (I Chron.
xxiii. 3 — 5.) Those that were appointed to minister at the
temple, were divided into courses or smaller classes, which
followed one another in turn, each performing service for a
week at a time ; thus only a small part of the whole number
were present at once.

The business of the porters, was to open in the morn-
ing and shut at night, the gates of the outer court; to at-
tend them through the day, in order to prevent any thing
contrary to the purity or peace of the temple ; to have
charge of the treasure-chambers near the gates ; and to
keep watch at different places through the night. The
Jews tell us, that there were altogether, about the temple,
twenty-four stations occupied every night by guards ;
three of them in the Court of Israel, were guarded by
priests, and the rest by Levites. Each of these guards,
which consisted of several men, had its chief or command-
er ; hence we read of the captains of the temple. (Luke
xxii. 4. 52.) There was one with still higher authority,
set over all the guards as their ruler, who is called in a
more eminent sense, the Captain of the temple. (Acts v.
24.) This last, perhaps, was the same with the Man of
the Mountain of the House, whose business we are told it
was to walk round every night and see the guards at every
station were not neglecting their duty. If he found any
asleep, he immediately struck him, and might set fire to his
garments, as at times he did not hesitate to do. Some
have thought, that there is allusion to this usage of the
temple iu Rev. xvi. 15.

The musicians, by their courses, had an important part
to perform in the daily service of the Sanctuary. Each
course had its leader placed over it, called the Chief Musi-
cian ; which name we find in the titles of many of the
psalms. Part of them sung with their voices, and the rest
played on various instruments, standing all along in a row
across the east end of the Court of the Priests, as we have
noticed in the last chapter, with their faces toward the
broad and lofty front of the temple. The time for the per-
formance of this sacred exercise was when the solemn

96 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

sacrifice was kindled upon the altar. " When the burnt-
offering began, the song of the Lord began also with the
trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king
of Israel : and all the congregation worshipped, and the
singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded-" (2Chron. xxix.
25 — 28.) On common days, accordingly, the service of
solemn-sounding praise was performed twice — namely,
when the morning and the evening sacrifice ascended from
the altar. On extraordinary days, when other public sacri-
fices were appointed, the musicians were called of course
to additional duty.

According to the Jews, a particular psalm was appointed
for each day of the week, to be regularly sung with its or-
dinary daily service, morning and evening. Thus, the
24th psalm was assigned to the first day, (our Sunday) —
because, say they, on the first day of the creation-week God
possessed the world as its maker, and so gave it to be for
a possession to man : the 48th psalm was assigned to the
second day, (our Monday,) — because on that day the Lord
divided the waters and reigned over them : the 82d to the
third day — because on that day the earth appeared, esta-
blished by the wisdom of the Most High, and placed under
his righteous government : the 94th to the fourth day — be-
cause on that day He made the sun, moon, and stars, and
so will take vengeance on all that worship them : the 81st
to the fifth day — because of the variety of creatures made
on that day to praise his name : the 93d to the sixth day —
because on that day he finished his works, and made man
who can understand the glory of the Creator. On the Sab-
bath, our Saturday, (they sang the 92d psalm, which is enti-
tled A Song for the Sabbath day. On extraordinary occasions,
other psalms were sung. With additional sacrifices of the
Sabbath, Num. xxviii. 9, 10,) they sang the two songs of
Moses ; the one in Deut. xxxii. with the first offering, (or
more properly, only a part of it each Sabbath,) and the one
in Exod. xv., with the second offering, which was burned
in the afternoon before the regular evening sacrifice. —
Each psalm was divided into three parts ; and still, in sing
ing, a considerable pause was made between the first and
the second, and between the second and the third. The
signal for commencing the song was given by the sound

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 97

of the trumpets. These were not used in^he musical band
of the Levites, but only by the priests ; certain of whom
were stationed on the southwest side of the altar, to sound
with them on these occasions. At the proper time, thrty
made the well-known sounding of three successive blast?,
(the first and last long and unbroken, while the middle one
was brought out in a sort of flourish, with breakings and
quaverings,) when instantly the whole band of voices,
harps, psalteries, and cymbals, raised on higli the loud an-
them of praise. Having gone through the first part of the
psalm, the music was silent. During the pause, the trum-
pets sounded again, and the people were expected to wor-
ship in silent reverence. So it was also during the next
pause, when the second part of the psalm was finished ;
after which, the music started a third time and concluded
the service. — Such, if we may believe the tradition of the
Jews, was the general manner of the temple music.

The Levites were not required to perform themselves
the more servile kind of employments about the Sanctuary,
such as bringing water, splitting wood, &c. They were
allowed servants for these labours. These seem to have
been originally, such as were devoted to service of this sort
by parents, masters, or their own religious choice. (Lev.
xxvii. 1 — 8.) Afterward the number was greatly increased
by the subjection of the Gibeonites and others to this busi-
ness. (Josh. ix. 21 — 27.) More were added in the age of
David and Solomon. (Ezra viii. 20.) — These servants were
called Nethinims, that is, given or devoted ones.

SECTION II.

THE PKIE5T3.

The priestly office had its origin with the earliest times.
Sacrifices, as we shall hereafter s?e, were appointed of
God directly after the fall, and so accordingly there were
priests, whose business it was to offer them. (Heb. v. 1.)
At first, fathers were the priests of their own families.
Such were Noah, Abraham, Job, <tc. As patriarchal estab-
lishments grew to be large communities, their heads seem

Vol. II. I

yy BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

to have exercised* at least in many cases, a sort of priestly
office for the whole, as well as a royal one. We read in the
Bible of one ancient priest before the time of Moses, of
peculiarly interesting' character. He was king of Salem,
and invested at the same time with the highest dignity of
the sacred office ; so that even Abraham, though he was
priest in his own family, and honoured with the most re-
markable favour of God, acknowledged in him a higher
and more especially sacred minister of the Most High
God. (Gen. xiv. 18—20. Heb. vii. 1—10.) He was con.
stituted a wonderful type of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the
Apostle fully teaches us in his epistle to the Hebrews. (Ps.
ex. 4.) — With the institution of the Jewish Ceremonial
Economy, God confined the priesthood to a particular
family.

All the male descendants of Aaron were Priests : the
first-born of the whole family, in continual succession, ac-
cording to the regular order of earlier times sustained the
still more important dignit)7 of High-Priest. We have an
account of the manner in which they were consecrated to
their office in Ex. xxix. I — 35. and Lev. viii. 1 — 36. The
ceremonies were solemn and expressive, and for ever
separated the family of the priests from all the rest of the
nation. I. They were washed, and then clothed with
their holy garments, to signify that they needed to be
cleansed from sin, and clad with righteousness for their
work. — 2. Aaron, the High-priest, was anointed with oil.
(Ps. exxxiii. 2.) — 3. A sin-offering was offered to make
atonement for them. (Lev. viii. 14) — 4. A burnt-offering
followed, in token of their dedication to God, which could
not be acceptable till sin was atoned for. — 5. A sacrifice
of consecration was next necessary — having, in some sort,
the nature of a peace-offering : by the significant cere-
mony of putting a little of the blood on their ears, the
thumbs of their right hands, and the great toes of then
right feet, it was intimated that their whole powers were
to be considered as consecrated to God : part of the blood
was mingled with holy oil and sprinkled over them, by
which they and their garments were hallowed : part of
the flesh, together with part of the bread provided for the
occasion, was waved by the priests themselves, and given

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 99

to God on the altar ; the rest, except the breast, which was
given to Moses, became their own share, and was to be
eaten on the same day in the holy court of the Sanctuary.
— 6. They were to abide in the court seven days without
going from it by day or by night, and every day a new
sin-offering was to bleed at the altar, for atonement.

When employed in their sacred duties, the priests were
required to wear a particular dress. An account of the
holy garments which God directed to be made for their
use, we have in the 28th chapter of Exodus. Those which
the common priests were required to wear, are hardly
more than mentioned, toward the end of the chapter ; so
that we can learn little about them from scripture, except
that they were, on the whole, very beautiful and rich.
Reverence, it was supposed, could not allow the use of
sandals or shoes in the performance of their holy minis-
try. Accordingly, they served with naked feet at all
times ; though the cold marble pavement of the temple
rendered such exposure often injurious to health.

The duties of the priests at the sanctuary comprehended
all the more solemn services of its worship, and such as,
by reason of their direct and immediate reference to God,
constituted the true life and substance of that worship.
They had charge of the altar and its fire, and presented
upon it the sacrificial offerings ; all the ministry that was
done in the Holy Place was theirs, &c. To them was
intrusted the superintendence of the whole sanctuary,
with all its service: all was ordered under their care and
direction : it was their business to see that the sacred sys-
tem of worship which God had appointed, was carried for-
ward in all its parts with decent and solemn action from
day to day. — The age at which they entered upon their
office was the same as in the case of the Levites.

To be qualified for discharging the priestly office, it
was necessary, not only that a man could clearly show
his descent from Aaron, (Ezra ii. 62,) but that he should
also be free from bodily defects. (Lev. xxi. 17 — 24.) The
meaning of this last requirement is plain. In the out-
ward ceremonial arrangement by which the old dispensa-
tion shadowed forth things spiritual and heavenly, free-
dom from bodily imperfection represented that mora}

tOO BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

soundness which is needed in such as draw near to the
Holy One, and without which no man in the end shall
see the Lord. (Heb. xii. 14.) So, in other respects, the
priestly character was to be guarded with more than com-
mon care from every thing that might seem to detract
from its worldly honour, or to stain it with the smallest
outward defilement, in signification of the spiritual dig-
nity and purity which should characterize all who come
nigh to God. (Lev. xxi. 1 — 9. xxii. 1 — 13.) In later times,
it became the business of the Sanhedrim to examine can-
didates for the holy office, and determine their fitness for
it in all respects. If they could not bring sufficient evi-
dence of their descent from Aaron, they were clothed in
black, covered with a black veil, and sent home in dis-
grace. If they had such evidence, they were then ex-
amined as to their freedom from blemishes. Such as
were found defective in this trial, were excluded from
serving in the court of the priests ; but that they might
have some service to perform at the temple, they ^vere
put to the business of examining the wood that was pro-
vided for the altar, in order to detect any pieces that
might have worms in them, which were considered unfit
for the sacred fire. The wood was deposited for this pur-
pose in the building that occupied the nbrth-east corner of
the Court of the Women : here these blemished priests at-
tended from day to day, carefully searching every stick, to
be sure that none polluted with a worm was carried to the
altar. — Thus human authority added its uncommanded
ceremonies to the original institution of God, disfiguring it,
in this case, as in a thousand others, with vain and foolish
superstition.

The piiests wTere forbidden to drink any wine or any
strong drink when employed in the service of the sanc-
tuary, lest they should become guilty of irreverence, and
so provoke the anger of God. Nadab and Abihu, it seems,
owed their crime, and their ruin, to an undue use of such
liquor. (Lev. x. 1 — 11.)

In the time of David, the whole number of priests,
which had then become very considerable, was divided
into twenty-four classes, or courses, which were required
to attend at the sanctuary in succession, each for a week

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 101

at a time. (1 Chron. xxiv. 1 — 18.) Thus only a twenty-
fourth part were employed, at once, in the service of God's
House, and each part was called to engage in this employ-
ment only once in about six months. The change of one
class for another, week after week, always took place on
the Sabbath ; on that day still, the courses, both of the
priests and the Levites that had served their week, went
out, and the next in order came in, to take their turn for
the week to come. (2 Chron. xxiii. 4 — 8. 2 Kings xi.
5 — 7.) Each course had its own chief, and embraced
within itself a particular great family of the general stock.
At the return from the Babylonish captivity, as many as
twenty of the original courses or families were found to be
without representatives : only four, the Jews tell us, were
represented among the priests that came back, so far as
genealogical inquiry could ascertain. A new distribution,
therefore, was necessary, in order to revive the old plan of
twenty-four classes. Each of the four families that re-
turned was divided, for this purpose, into six parts, which
became so many new courses for the service of the second
temple. To these new courses the names of the old ones
were assigned by lot, and so they were numbered accord-
ing to the original order of their first appointment. Thus
the twenty-four ancient classes were revived in form and in
name, though so many of them had been lost in reality.
The ancient course of Abijah, which was the eighth in
order, had been so lost with the captivity ; but a new one
had, in this way, taken its place and name, and this was
that course of Abia to which Zacharias, the father of John
the Baptist, belonged. (Luke i. 5.)

The various daily services to be attended to, were distri-
buted among the several priests of each course, by loU
Thus it fell upon one to kill the sacrifice ; upon another to
sprinkle the blood; upon another to dress the lamps, Sfc.
According to this custom of the priests' office, it was the lot
of Zacharias, while he ministered before God, in the order
of his course, on the occasion mentioned in the gospel, to
burn incense on the golden altar, in the Holy Place. As
the number belonging to each course grew to be large, it
seems that when one performed its week of service, all its
members were not required to minister every day ; but a

102 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

portion of them on one day, another portion on the next,
&c., according to their families.

The whole Aaronick priesthood was a ceremonial insti-
stution, shadowing', in solemn and expressive type, the
mediatorial character of the Lord Jesus Christ. Its mean-
ing was not properly in itself, but in this great and glorious
reality, of which it was the unsubstantial image. Accord-
ingly, when Christ came, the ancient priesthood was brought
to an end, as having accomplished all its purpose : the
image yielded to the reality — the shadow to the substance.
The priestly office is not wanting in the new dispensation
introduced by the gospel. On the contrary it is found here
in its highest dignity, and in its only true worth ; not com-
mitted to a great family, and handed down from fathers to
sons, as under the law, but gathered and consecrated, with
unchangeable perfection, in one person. Jesus combines
in himself, in the fullest reality, all that the Levitical priest-
hood represented. It was established in the Ceremonial
System, to be a mediating ministry between God and the
church : it intimated that men, in themselves, are unfit to
draw near to their Maker, and that he cannot regard them
with any favour, or extend to them any blessing, except
through some mediatorial agency interposing with sufficient
merit on their behalf. All this agency is realized in Christ
He is fully qualified to act for men, in things pertaining to
God ; and, through him, God is abundantly willing to com-
municate to the most unworthy of our family, the richest
blessings of his grace. In every respect the church is
blessed, in him, with such a priesthood as her wants demand.

Figuratively, or by way of metaphor, Christians are
called priests. In the Old Testament, the whole Jewish
nation, because it was so distinguished in religious advan-
tages from the rest of the world, and brought so near to
God, in comparison with other people, is thus styled a king-
dom of priests. (Ex. xix. 6.) So, in the New Testament,
believers in Christ are said to be a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, &c, (1 Pet. ii. 9,) made
kings, and priests unto God, by the Lord Jesus Christ.
(Rev. i. 6.) Through his redeeming mercy, they are icash-
ed and clothed in robes of righteousness; consecrated by
blood, and by the holy anointing of God's Spirit; separated

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 103

from the world that lieth in sin, and permitted to come very
near to the Lord in all spiritual services ; qualified to offer
acceptable sacrifices of prayer, and praise, and sincere
obedience, and to feed upon the holy provisions of God's
house, and to enter within the Holy Place, and to approach,
with sacred liberty, even to the mercy-seat, in the Holiest of
all. (Heb. x. 19—22. 1 Pet. ii. 5.) Still, however, Christians
are in all these respects only like priests, not priests in
reality. Their privileges and services have their whole
reason and value only in the priesthood of Christ. There is
no other true priesthood in the church but this, of the All-
sufficient Mediator, now passed into the heavens, and set
on the right hand of the throne of the majesty on high.

SECTION III.

THE HIGH PRIEST.

The office of the High Priest claims a separate considera-
tion. It embodied in itself all the attributes and all the
meaning of the priesthood, in their highest perfection. The
multitude of duties that belonged to the priestly office in
the Jewish Ceremonial System, made it necessary to have
a number of priests ; but to show that it was still considered
one single and undivided thing, the whole ministry was
united and bound together in subordinate relation to one
representative Head. This Head was the High-priest. He
was the centre and soul of the entire priesthood, compre-
hending its most essential agency exclusively in himself,
and gathering, as it were, into one simple whole, all the
action of its several inferior parts.

We have seen how he was consecrated. His sacred dress
was still more costly and beautiful than that of the other
priests, and is more particularly described in the divine
volume. (Ex. xxviii. 2 — 39.) The Robe and Ephod have
been already noticed, in the first part of this work ; chap,
v. sec. 1. The last was exceedingly splendid, and full of
curious ornament. On each shoulder of it was fixed an
onyx stone, having graven upon it the names of six of the

104 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

tribes of Israel ; so as to have together all of them thus
inscribed, to be borne before the Lord, for a memorial upon
the High-priest. The broidered coat was a richly wrought
tunic, which sort of garment has also been noticed, in the
same section, as being the one that was commonly worn
by all persons next to the skin. The Breast-plate was a
square piece, measuring only a span each way, composed
of the same sort of highly ornamented stuff as that of the
ephod, and made double, in such a way, perhaps, as to form
a sort of bag or pouch in the inside. On one side of it wa9
set four rows of precious stones, each row having three,
and no two of all being alike, on every one of which was
engraved the name of one of the twelve tribes. This was
fastened to the front part of the ephod, with the side that
was set with stones, outward ; and thus the names of the
children of Israel were carried by the High-priest upon
his breast, as well as upon his shoulders, for a memorial
before the Lord, when he went into the Holy Place. In
this way it was signified, that he was the mediatorial re-
presentative of the whole church ; that all its access to God,
and acceptance with him, was in and throagh his person,
and that he continually acted for its universal body, in all
his official ministrations. The Mitre was made of fine linen,
folded many times round, and finished with peculiar ele-
gance and taste. Upon the front of it was fixed a plate of
pure gold, bearing upon it the expressive inscription, Holi-
ness to the Lord. The robe covered the tunic ; and the
ephod, as far as it reached down from the shoulders, was
girded over the robe, outmost of all. (Ex. xxxix. 1 — 31.)

Thus splendid was the whole official dress which the
High-priest wore on ordinary occasions. But on the great
day of atonement, when he entered into the Holiest of all,
he clothed himself with other garments, made altogether
of linen, strikingly plain and simple. (Lev. xvi. 4. 23.)

As the High-priest was the most important, by far, of all
the priests, and included in himself the highest and mosi
essential dignity of the priestly office, he was required to
guard himself with yet more care than the rest of his fami-
ly, from every thing like degradation or defilement, in the
smallest degree. (Lev. xxi. 10 — 15.) His office was origi-
nally held for life, according to the divine intention. But

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 105

in later times, after the captivity, it came to be oftentimes
violently taken away from one, and given to another, with-
out regard to the ancient usage. The right of birth too,
which, under the first temple, confined the office to the line
of the first born, was in this latter age trampled under foot.
Wicked men sought the distinction in the most corrupt
manner. Money and shameful intrigue were employed to
get possession of it. More than once, the way to the Aaron-
ick mitre, as oftentimes the way to a royal crown has been,
was through murder itself; while the wearer displayed
upon his forehead, engraven in gold, that signature, Holi-
ness to the Lord, the guilt of blood polluted his soul with its
foulest stain. Thus the office came to be held by the worst
of men, following each other in quick succession, and piety
had no place where it ought to have been found in its high-
est perfection. Such unholy men were the High-priests
that lived in the time of our Saviour. Such was that Caia-
phas, who presided in the Sanhedrim, when it tried and
condemned the Lord of glory. The place had been occu-
pied some years before by flnnas ; on which account he is
styled High-priest, in the history of Christ's crucifixion,
although at that time he did not actually hold the office,
having .been put out of it to make room for another. Be-
tween him and Caiaphas, though both were living at the
same time, there had been, in fact, no less than two other
persons clothed for a little time with the dignity.

The High-priest might, at any time, if he chose, perform
the sacred duties which were commonly discharged by the
other priests. He was accustomed, the Jewish writers say,
to offer a meat-offering of fine flour every day, half of it in
the morning, and half of it in the evening, at his own ex-
pense ; for so the law, in their view, was supposed to
require, and not merely that he should present such an of-
fering on the day of his consecration. His most solemn
work, however, was performed on the most solemn of all
the days of the year — the Great Day of atonement, which
will come under consideration hereafter : the duties he had
to discharge on that day, were such as no common priest
could ever attempt to do. It was, moreover, particularly
his business to consult God, when the interests of the people
made it proper, by Urim and Thummim.

106 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

It has been much inquired, what we are to understand
by the Urim and Thummim, and how, by means of it, the
will of God was discovered when sought in this way.
Various conjectures, and some of them very foolish, have
been imagined by learned men upon the subject. The
account of it is thus given in the sacred volume : " Thou
shalt put in the breast-plate of judgment, the Urim and
Thummim ; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when
he goeth in before the Lord : and Aaron shall bear the
judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before
the Lord, continually." (Ex. xxviii. 30.) The words Urim
and Thummim signify, literally, Lights and Perfections :
but as we are not furnished with any description of the
thing itself so called, we must necessarily remain in the
dark on this point. Whatever it was, it was immediately
connected with the solemn consultation of the Divine will ;
and by its heavenly appointment, it included in it a con-
tinual assurance, that when God was inquired of on any
suitable occasion in this way, his answer might be con-
fidently expected. Some have thought, therefore, that we
are to understand by it, merely a divine virtue imparted to
the breast. plate of the High-priest, whereby it was, as it
were, consecrated to its use, and became an effectual means
of discovering the will of the Lord ; and that thus the
breast-plate itself might well be called Urim. The lan-
guage of the Bible, however, seems rather to intimate that
some visible thing was added to the breast-plate, as the sign
and pledge of this virtue which it was to possess. In either
case, these names would denote the clear and perfect man-
ner in which God made known his will, when consulted by
this method. Counsel was asked of God by Urim and
Thummim, only in difficult and important cases. The
High-priest, clad in his sacred robes, with the breast-plate
on his breast, presented himself in the Holy Place, and
proposed the inquiry. The voice of the Most High sounded
in distinct answers, as it seems, from between the cherubim
behind the veil. Thus repeatedly, we are informed, counsel
was sought and obtained in the time of the tabernacle.
Even when the ark was away from its sacred tent, the
priest, girded with his wonderful ephod, often stood before
it, and had the will of the Lord made known in answer to

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 107

his inquiries. (Judg. i. 1, 2. xx. 18, 23, 28. 1 Sam. xxii.
10. xxiii. 9 — 13. xxviii. 6.) We have no account of God
being consulted in this way in the time of the temple.

As we have seen already, the High-priest was intrusted
with the most important power as a judge, not only in
sacred matters, but in questions also of a merely civil kind.
He sustained, too, a chief rank in the royal court, as a
counsellor, to whom the king was expected to have recourse
in every great interest of the state.

We read in 2 Kings xxv. 18, and Jer. lii. 24, of a Second
priest as well as a chief one. This seems to have been one
appointed to assist the chief or High-priest, in the general
oversightof the Sanctuary, and in cases of unexpected neces-
sity, to take his place, even in the most solemn duties. Ashe
might be suddenly unfitted for his peculiar work, by sick-
ness or defilement, and yet it was of the most vital import-
ance that on the great day of Atonement, especially, that
work should not be omitted, it was certainly altogether
expedient to have such a substitute, qualified in such emer-
gencies to take upon himself the whole character of High-
priest, in his stead, and so to accomplish the holy services,
of the season in their proper place. The Jewish writers
of later times, make frequent mention of such an assistant
and substitute (when necessary) of the High-priest. They
call him the Sagnn,

We have seen that the whole priesthood was iustituted
of God, to represent, in shadowy type, the mediatorial cha-
racter of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. To him the priestly
office had regard from the beginning. It was only in its
relation to him, that it had any meaning whatever. Hence,
it is plain, the High-priest in the Jewish economy, was,
more than any other single priest, a figure of this Great
Mediator that was to come. As he was the sovil of the
entire priesthood, and comprehended in himself, in a certain
sense, the universal office, (though necessity required a
distribution of its manifold duties among many secondary
ministers, and reserved for him exclusively, only such as
were mort vital and essential in their nature,) he of course
embodied, in his official person, the largest measure, bv
far, of that typical significancv that has been mentioned.
This will appear with peculiarly striking evidence, when

108 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

we come hereafter to consider the solemn services which
he was required to perform on the day of atonement. The
Apostle, in his epistle to the Hebrews, dwells at large upon
the priestly character of Christ, and shows how infinitely
it exceeded, in dignity and glory, all that had belonged, in
the earthly pattern of heavenly things, to the Aaronick
High-priest. He shows that the Holy Ghost had long be-
fore taught, that the Levitical priesthood was not sufficient
to secure the great ends, to which the priestly office, in its
nature, has regard, and that it was, therefore, to be con-
tinued but for a season, after which it should give place to
one that would possess in reality, all the power that this had
only represented in shadow. A new priesthood, it had been
signified, was to be introduced after the order of Mclchi-
sedek ; and the priestly character of that man had been so
ordered, in the wise providence of God, as to evince sym-
bolically that this new priesthood of which it was thus the
mystical pattern, should have incomparably more excellence
than that which distinguished the Jewish state. The
priests under the law were made without an oath; but this
one who was after the order of Melchisedek with an oath,
by which solemnity on the part of God, his office was
showed to be far more important than theirs. They were
many, not being suffered to continue by reason of death ;
but this man, because he continueth ever, hath an un-
changeable priesthood. They had infirmity and sin of
their own ; he is altogether holy, harmless and undefiled.
(Heb. vii. 1 — 28.) Yet, though so glorious in his nature,
he was not unqualified to feel for those on whose behalf he
has undertaken to act. To be fit for his work, he clothed
himself with the nature of man, so as to become familiar
with all its infirmities and miseries, only without sin.
Thus he was qualified to represent that nature in his me-
diatorial agency, and at the same time to sympathise with
it in its weaknesses and sorrows. In that he himself hath
suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are
tempted, and can be touched in all points with the feeeling
of their infirmities. (Heb. ii. 14 — 18. iv. 14 — 16. v. 1 — 9.)

CHAPTER V.

SACRIFICES AND OTHER RELIGIOUS
OFFERINGS.

A sacrifice has been defined to be something- that is
offered immediately to God in such a way as to be con-
sttrned or changed into some other form. Thus, animals
were sacrificed when they were presented to God by being
solemnly killed, and either altogether, or in part, burned
upon some sort of altar ; and so was wine, when it was offered
by being solemnly poured out. The Jewish law prescribed
many sacrifices, as well as various other religious offerings.

SECTION I.

DIFFERENT KINDS OF SACRED OFFERINGS IN USE
AMONG THE JEWS.

Sacred offerings of different kinds were common long
before the age of Moses, even from the earliest period of
the world. Every one that has ever read the Bible, knows
that sacrifices were in use directly after the fall, and all
along down to the time when the Jewish church was sepa-
rated from the rest of the world. We read of altars and
priests. We have notices of different kinds of sacrifices.
(Gen. iv. 3, 4. viii. 20. xxxi. 54.) We read of clean and
uncMan animals. (Gen. vii.2.) We read also of first-
lings and tythes being consecrated to God. (Gen. iv. 4.
xiv. 20. xxviii. 22.) In the establishment of the Jewish
econorn}r, however, a more regular and extensive system
of sacrifices and religious offerings was instituted. The
number of them was increased ; the different kinds of them
more carefully distinguished ;% and the whole manner of
them prescribed with particular and solemn direction.
Some of the sacrifices appointed bv the Jewish law were
Vol. II. K 109

110 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

bloody, requiring the death of animals : others were not so,
consisting of cakes, meal, wine, &c.

BLOODY OFFERINGS.

The only animals that might be used in sacrifice, were
those of the ox-kind, sheep, goats, turtle doves, and young
pigeons. They were to be in all respects free from blemish
or defect, because God ought to be served with the best of-
ferings that man can bring. If we withhold from him our
highest regard, and worship him only with a sort of half-
way religion, devoting our chief time, care and thought
to the world, while with little or no feeling we content our-
selves with just so many outward duties of piety as are
needed to keep a sleepy conscience quiet, we do but insult
the greatest and best of all beings, and provoke his sore
displeasure. " Cursed be the deceiver," saith the Lord of
Hosts, " which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and
sacrifieth unto the Lord ^corrupt thing!" (Mai. i. 8, 13, 14.)
For one particular class of sacrifices male victims alone
were allowed, except in the case of birds, where the dis-
tinction was not regarded. Except in the case of birds also,
the victims were required to be not less than eight days,
nor more than three years, old. The sheep and goats that
were sacrificed were commonly a year old ; the bullocks
three years. Wild beasts were not offered in sacrifice :
hence that expression, to intimate that no religious sacred-
ness was to be imagined in the slaying of animals in cer-
tain cases ; Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten so shalt
thou eat them ; the unclean and the clean shall eat of them
alike. (Deut. xii. 15, 21, 22.)

According to the law of Moses, sacrifices could not be
offered upon the altar, except by the priests ; nor at any
other place than in the Court of God's Sanctuary, the ta-
bernacle first, and afterwards the temple. (Deut. xii. 5 — 28.)

Animal-sacrifices were of four general kinds : viz. Burnt
Offerings, Sin Offerings, Trespass Offerings and Peace
Offerings. We have a particular account of these in the
first seven chapters of Leviticus. The three kinds first
mentioned had an expiatory virtue ; that is, they made
atonement for those that offered them. The Peace offerftigs
were more particularly sacrifices expressive of gratitude

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. Ill

and praise for mercies received, or of supplication for mer-
cies desired. Burnt offering's, however, were not exclu-
sively expiatory in their character, but had in them also a
meaning1 of thankful and adoring worship presented to the
Most high : and in the nature of every class on the other
hand, we are to suppose that some regard was had to the
guilt of sin, which called for the shedding of blood, before
man could be accepted with God in any service. Blood
poured out in sacrifice of any sort, could have no mean-
ing other than that of atonement. It was solemnly conse-
crated by the Lord to be an expiation for the soul, and ac-
cordingly never flowed about the altar, without a design
of calling to remembrance the existence of sin, and sym-
bolically washing away its evil. (Lev. xvii. 1 — 14.)

1. Burnt Offerings. These are sometimes styled holo-
causts, that is, offerings wholly burned, because all the
flesh of the victims employed in them was consumed by
the fire upon the altar. The animals used for them might
not be, except in the case of birds, any other than males.
The sacrifices that were in use before the time of Moses
seem to have been most generally of this sort. They ap-
pear to have been expressive of religious worship in its
widest nature ; so as to be employed in it with equal pro-
priety, when it was exercised in the way of praising God
for his past mercies, or in the way of imploring his favour
and blessing, or of deprecating his displeasure, for time to
come. They were offered to God as the Maker, Preserver,
and Governor of the Universe, worthy of all honour and
adoration : and were designed to recommend those that
presented them to his holy regard, and to make their ser-
vices of praise or prayer acceptable in his sight, which, by
reason of sin they could not be, without the shedding of
blood. Such offerings are said in the law to make atone-
ment for the person that presented them ; but no particular
cases of sin are mentioned for which they are to be brought
to the altar. They seem to have had reference, in this re-
spect, to the general sinfulness of heart and life, of which
a man ought to be conscious in his own bosom, and for
which he should continually feel that he needs to have his
soul purged by sacrifice. We have an account of the man-
tier uf the burnt offering sacrifice in the first chapter of

112 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

Leviticus. There we are informed, how the offerer was
required to bring his victim to the front of the Sanctuary,
beside the brazen altar, and solemnly to lay his hand upon
its head, and then to kill it before the Lord; how the priests
were to take the blood in a proper vessel, and sprinkle it
round about upon the altar ; how all the parts of it, after
the skin was taken off, were laid in order upon the wood
and fire of the sacred hearth ; and how the whole was con-
sumed, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the
Lord.

2. Sin Offerings. These were altogether expiatory,
and were to be presented for particular cases of transgres-
sion. We have an account of the manner of them in the
fourth chapter of Leviticus. The victims used for them
were different, according to the character of the offerer.
A bullock was appointed for the purpose, when atonement
was to be made for the High-priest or for the people in ge-
neral ; a male goat, when a civil magistrate was the of-
fender ; and a female one or a lamb, when the guilty person
was a common individual of the nation. If the person hap-
pened to be so poor that he could not furnish a kid or a
lamb, he was required to bring to the altar two turtle
doves, or two young pigeons ; one of which was made a
burnt offering, and the other a sin offering. If he was too
poor even for this, he was still not excused ; but had to
present an offering for his sin of mere flour, unaccompa-
nied with oil or incense. The victim was presented and
slain in the same manner as in the case of burnt offerings.
Its parts, however, were disposed of differently. When it
was offered for the High-Priest, or for the whole congrega-
tion, the ministering priest was required to carry some of
the blood into the Holy Place, there to sprinkle it with his
finger seven times solemnly, toward the veil of the Holy of
holies, and to stain with it the horns of the golden altar of
incense ; after which, he returned and poured out all the
rest of it at the bottom of the other altar without. Then
the fat of the animal onlv, was consumed in the sacrificial
fire, while all its other parts were borne forth without the
camp, to an appointed place, and there burned together. But
when the sin offering was presented by the ruler, or by one
of the common people, the ceremonies were not equally

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 113

solemn. The blood then was not carried into the Holy
Place ; it was enough to stain the horns of the brazen altar
with it, before pouring- it out. The flesh too, after the fat
was consumed, was not carried without the camp and
burned, but was given to the priests to be eaten in the
Court of the Sanctuary. The eating of it was a religious
duty that might not be neglected. What it signified, we
learn from Lev. x. 16 — 20.

3. Trespass Offerings. Of these we have account in
the fifth and sixth chapters of Leviticus. Like the sin of-
ferings, which they resembled in many particulars, they
were altogether expiatory, and might not be offered at any
time a man chose of his own free will to bring one, as was
allowed and encouraged in the case of burnt offerings and
peace offerings, but were to be presented only for particular
offences ; and when these offences occurred they could not
be withheld, without exposing the offender to the punish-
ment of wilful transgression. They were never offered for
the whole congregation, as we have seen the sin offerings
sometimes were, but merely for single individuals. The
common victim used was a ram. The ceremonies of sacri-
fice were the same with those that were observed in the
common cases of sin offerings ; only the blood was sprin-
kled round about upon the altar, and no mention is made
of its being put on the horns of it. The flesh was to be
eaten by the priests.

What was the general distinction between offences that
called for sin offerings, and those that called for trespass
offerings, has been much disputed among learned men,
and seems to be, on the whole, beyond satisfactory deter-
mination. Some have thought, that trespass offerings
were to be made in cases where there was a suspicion, but
not a clear certainty, that an offence had been committed ;
and sin offerings, in cases where, though at first the offence
was unknown, it was afterwards understood. Sins, ac-
cording to some, were offences of a more serious character ;
trespasses, such as were of lighter evil. One of the most
learned men the world ever produced, has told us, that
trespasses in this case were offences of commission, such
as violated the law by doing what it forbade to be done ;
and that sins, on the other hand, were offences of omis-

114 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

sion, such as left undone what the law required to be per-
formed. Another equally learned, has assured us, that it
was just the other way ; that the sins were the faults of
commission, and the trespasses such as consisted in omis-
sion. Both opinions seem to be without foundation, as
well as those that have been mentioned first. Another
opinion is, that under the name of trespasses, were com-
prehended cases of two general kinds ; viz. sucli as found
a man's conscience in doubt whether he had not commit-
ted an offence, which, if certainly known, would have called
for a sin offering; and such as were offences of that nature,
that they injured a man's neighbour : while sins, or those
faults that required sin-offerings, are supposed to have
been such transgressions of the law as did not directly
affect a fellow-being, but had the whole reason of their
unlawfulness in their contrariety to the pleasure of God, and
which, being done in ignorance, or without thought, were
afterwards clearly discovered to conscience. Lastly, it
has been supposed by others, that no general distinction
between these two classes of offences is to be inquired
after ; that the distribution of particular offences to one
and to the other, was made arbitrarily, or in compliance
with the common usage of speech, concerning the reason
of which it must be idle to seek information ; and that,
therefore, we are to rest satisfied with the statement, as
we find it in the Bible, that certain delinquencies which
are mentioned, were reckoned as belonging to one class,
and certain others to the other, without attempting to dis-
cover any specific difference of nature that may satisfac-
torily account for the arrangement.

4. Peace Offerings. The manner of these is told in
the third chapter of Leviticus. The animals used for
them were bullocks, heifers, rams, ewes, or goats : birds
were not sacrificed in this way. Peace offerings, as we
learn from Lev. vii. 11 — 20, wer9 presented, either in
thankfulness for some special mercy received, or in the
way of supplication for some special mercy desired.
Sometimes, when a person was in distress, he accompa-
nied his prayers to God for help with a vow, that he would
afterwards present an offering, if preserved or prospered ■
and sometimes, of a man's free will he presented his of-

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 115

fering beforehand, together with his prayers for divine
help or blessing. Hence arose the distinction of vow offer-
ings and voluntary offerings, though both of these had in
them the nature of supplication-sacrifices, and so differed
from the other class of peace-offerings that were designed
to express gratitude for favours already enjoyed. — In the
case of these offerings, the person that presented the vic-
tim, as in the other cases already considered, brought it to
the altar, and laid his hand upon its head with solemn
ceremony before the Lord. It was not slain, however,
to the north of the altar, as the victims offered in the
other sacrifices were, but to the south of it. After it was
killed, the priest sprinkled the altar round about with its
blood, and placed its fat upon the sacred fire, to be a sacri-
fice of sweet savour unto the Lord : which being done, the
flesh was divided between the priest and the offerer — the
priest received for his part the breast and the right shoul-
der, and the offerer had all the rest. The meat was not
allowed, however, to be carried away and laid up for com-
mon use, but was required to be all eaten on the same day
that it was offered, or, at farthest, on the day after ; and if
any part of it happened to be left till the third day, it was
to be burned. Thus, in these peace-offerings, a communion
of friendship was celebrated between God and his people,
and he himself, as it were, and his ministers, and those
that worship him in this way, partook together of the
same sacred feast. At the same time, as already inti-
mated, the death of the victim, after the solemn laying of
hands upon its head, and the sprinkling of its blood upon
the altar, called to remembrance the guilt of those who
aspired to this sacred and precious privilege, and express-
ively signified, that without atonement God never can hold
friendly intercourse in any way with sinful, fallen man.

The number of peace-offerings sacrificed every year
was very great. In addition to those that were presented
without obligation, as piety or formality led individuals,
from time to time, to come before the Lord in this way, a
vast multitude were made necessary by the law. From
Deut. xii. 17, 18, xv.19 — 23. and xiv. 22,23, itappears, that
not only the tithes of every farmer's agricultural produce,
with a portion of its several Jirst fruits, but the firstlings

116 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

also of his whole flock and herd, were to he consecrated to
God as peace offerings, and solemnly feasted upon year by
year ; only when the animals happened to have blemishes
in them, they were considered unfit for sacrifice, and
might be used in the common way, for food, at home ; in
all other cases, they were either to be taken themselves tc
the place of God's Sanctuary, or turned into monev, which
should then be laid out for other victims in their stead, arid
so entirely consumed according to the manner of thanks,
giving sacrifices. In these sacred feasts, not only the fa-
milies of those to whom the offerings belonged, servants
and all, were to participate, but it was enjoined also, thai
others, who were without portion of their own, should be
remembered, and invited to take part in their joyous cele-
bration. The hospitality thus recommended and com-
manded, was powerfully enforced, at the same time, by
the consideration, that all the provision made for these
entertainments, which was most liberal, was to be con-
sumed on tbeir several occasions, and could not, after
the second day, be used at all : thus even those that in
other cases were niggardly and inhospitable, could not
well refuse to be generous and friendly enough in their
peace-offering feasts. How much these feasts of friend-
ship must have tended to promote good feelings among the
people, and to secure proper regard to the lower classes of
society, and such as were shut out from its more fortunate
advantages, tke servant, the poor, the orphan, the widow,
and the stranger, it is needless to suggest.

Under the general class of sacrifices of which we are
now speaking, are properly to be reckoned those by
means of which it was usual to ratify and confirm Cove-
nants. These, indeed, were attended with some ceremo-
nies peculiar to themselves, but had in them, on the whole,
the nature of peace-offerings. The custom of confirming
covenants in this way, had its origin very far back in an-
tiquity. The manner of the solemnity, it seems, was for
the persons who wished to enter into covenant, to slay and
divide the victim, or victims, employed ; to place the partr:
opposite each other ; and then to pass through between
them, using, at the same time, we may suppose, som<
torm of words suited to the transaction. The division of

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 117

the victim expressed, symbolically, the punishment which
ought to fall upon him who should afterwards violate tiie
agreement, while the offering of it in sacrifice to God was,
in fact, calling upon him to witness what was engaged,
and to take vengeance in future on either of the parties
that might prove false to it ; thus laying conscience under
the obligation of a most solemn oath. Part of the flesh, it
is to be supposed, was afterwards converted into a feast, of
which both parties partook together, in token of friendly
agreement and confidence. It was in conformity with
human usage in this thing, that God condescended to con-
firm his covenant with Abraham in the remarkable man-
ner that is recorded in Gen. xv. 8 — 17, causing a flame
and a smoke, as the sign of his own presence, to pass in
vision between the parts of the victims prepared for the
occasion. We have notice of these Covenant sacrifices
also in Jer. xxxiv. 18, 19 ; where it is intimated, that the
ceremony just mentioned, was used in a solemn covenant
entered into by Zedekiah and the people of Jerusalem be-
fore the Lord. They cut the calf in twain it is said, and
passed bcticeen the parts thereof. From this case, thus in-
cidentally noticed, it would seem that other covenants
among the Jews were confirmed in like manner, although
it is not expressly mentioned in the Bible, when other
cases are spoken of. It is clear, however, that sacrifices
were habitually made use of on such occasions. (Gen.
xxxi. 53, 54. 1 Sam. xi. 15. Ps. 1. 5.) In the great cove-
nant which God made with the Israelites at the foot of
Mount Sinai, Moses sprinkled the people with the blood of
the sacrifices. (Ex. xxiv. 3—8. Heb. ix. 18—23.)

The sacrifice of the Passover lamb seems to have had in
it also much of the nature of a peace offering. It had, how-
ever, a peculiar character belonging to itself. A more par
ticular consideration of it will come in our way hereafter

As we have already had occasion to notice, some sacri-
fices were offered by single individuals for their own ad-
vantage, and others were offered in behalf of the nation as
a whole. Those of the first sort, if the case in Lev. xvi. 6,
be excepted, were not regulated by times and seasons : but
were presented, either freely at any time a man's heart
moved him to render such worship to God, or in conformity

118 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

with the requirement of the law, when persons were
brought into certain circumstances, which, according to
the divine will called for particular offerings, in the way
either of atonement for sin, or of thankful acknowledgment
of the Lord's mercy. Of such offerings as were presented
freely, various notices are found throughout the Bible ; of
the others that were required from individuals in particular
circumstances, besides the cases stated in the 4th, 5th, and
6th chapters of Leviticus, we have instances in Lev. xii. 6,
8. xiv. 10—31. xv. 14, 15, 29, 30. xix. 21. Numb. vi. 10—
21. — The other general class of offerings, viz. such as were
made in behalf of the whole nation, were all, except the
particular cases noticed in Lev. iv. 13, 14. Numb. xv. 22 —
26. and xix. 5 — 10, assigned to certain times, and had thei"
regular periods when they were to be performed. Such
were the daily morning and evening sacrifices ; (Ex. xxix.
38 — 41.) the Sabbath-day sacrifices ; the new moon sacri-
fices, and the sacrifices that belonged to those three great
festivals. For an account of all these, see the 28th and 29th
chapters of Numbers. — The paschal lambs, sacrificed in
vast multitudes on the first day of the feast of unleavened
bread, were offered severally in behalf of single families or
6mall companies. The victim required to be slain in cases
of uncertain murder, was sacrificed in behalf of a particu-
lar city or town. (Deut. xxi. 1 — 9.) This case, as well as
the case of the red heifer to which reference has just now
been made, was not in all respects a regular sacrificial of-
fering, inasmuch as the victim was not brought to the altar
and there killed ; both heifers, however, had in them the
nature of expiatory sacrifices.

The regular stated sacrifices which the law required to
be offered for the whole nation, in the course of each year,
were as follow: viz. 1. On every day, two lambs ; amount
ing altogether to at least 730.^-2. On every Sabbath, two
additional lambs; making altogether 104. — 3. On the firsl
day of every month, two bullocks, one ram, seven lambs,
and one goat ; amounting in the year to at least 24 bullocks,
12 ram*, 84 lambs, and 12 goats. — 4. On each of the seven
days of the feast of unleavened bread, the same as in the
case of every new moon just stated, (Numb, xxviii. 19 —
25.) and besides, an additional lamb on the second da)- with

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 119

the sheaf of first-fruits ; (Lev. xxiii. 12.) making altogether
14 hullocks, 7 rams, 50 Iambs, and 7 goats. — 5. On the day
of Pentecost, the same also as for each new moon, (Numb.
xxviii. 26 — 31,) and besides, with the two wave loaves,
seven lambs, one bullock, two rams, and a goat, together
with two other lambs for a sacrifice of peace offering ; (Lev.
xxiii. 18, 19 ;) making altogether 3 bullocks, 3 rams, 16
lambs, and 2 goats. — 6. On the feast of trumpets, one bul
lock, one ram, seven lambs, and a goat. — 7. On the great
day of Atonement, the same, (Numb. xxix. 7 — 11,) and be-
sides a ram and a goat when the High-priest performed his
awful duty of entering the Most Holy Place, (Lev. xvi. 5,)
making together, 1 bullock, 2 rams, 7 lambs, and 2 goats.
— 8. On each of the eight days of the feast of the taberna-
cles a number of different victims, equal altogether to 71
bullocks, 15 rams, 105 lambs, and 8 goats. (Numb. xxix.
12 — 38.) — Let us now put the whole together, thus :

1. Daily Sacrifices for 365 days,

2. Sacrifices for 52 Sabbaths,

3. Sacrifices for 12 New Moons,

4. Sacrifices for the Passover,

5. Sacrifices for Pentecost,

6. Sacrifices for the feast of trumpets,

7. Sacrifices for the day of Atonement,

8. Sacrifices for the feast of tabernacles, 71

114 40 1103 32

Thus, many were the victims whose blood was shed each
vear, in the stated services of the sanctuary, for the whole
congregation. The goats, in all these cases, were sin offer-
ings ; and the other animals, except in the one instance
noticed in the statement, burnt offerings. The blood of
all these victims, however, formed only a small part of the
whole quantity that was poured forth in the sacred court,
)rear after year, from the sacrifices that were there pre-
sented before the Lord. The largest stream by far flowed
from the various victims that were led to the altar as pri-
vate offer in gs.

B.

R.

L.

G.

—

—

730

—

—

—

104

—

24

12

84

12

14

7

50

7

3

3

16

2

1

1

7

1

1

2

7

o

71

15

105

8

120 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

SACRIFICES THAT WERE NOT BLOODY.

Bloodless sacrifices, it has been already stated, consisted
in meal, cakes, wine, &c. Of this class were the Meat
Offerings, and the Drink Offerings that were in many
cases required to accompany them. The latter were never
presented separately from the first, and in all common
cases both were found joined to other sacrifices of the
bloody sort. There were, however, some bloodless sacri-
fices that were offered by themselves without animal victims.
We may, for the sake of order, distribute all into three
classes, as follow.

1. Prescribed meat offerings accompanied with drink qf~
ferings. When united in this way, they were always at-
tached to particular bloody sacrifices. In Numb. xv. 1 —
12, we have a statement of the different proportions of
flour, oil, and wine, that were required to be used in such
cases for different victims. It seems, that the animal sa-
crifices which God designed to be accompanied with such
offering's as we are speaking of, were all peace offerings,
and all hunt offerings of the flock or herd, whether for
inditiduals or for the whole congregation. (Numb. xv. 3;
and chap, xxviii. 20.) Birds were not so accompanied,
except in one case where they were substituted for other
animals. (Lev. xiv. 31.) Sin offerings and trespass offer-
ings of every kind were not to be attended even with any
thing of the sort ; unless it be supposed, that in the single
case of the leper's purification sacrifice, mentioned in Lev
xiv. 10 — 20, such an offering, consisting of a tenth-deal of
flour with a proportion of oil and wine, was designed for
each of the three victims used on the occasion, out of that
general meat offering which is there noticed : that the case
was thus, we are assured by the Jewish writers ; but it seems
natural and easy enough to consider all that meat offering
as a. single one of peculiar character, intended particularly
to accompany the burnt offering victim alone.

2. Meat offerings voluntarily added to other sacrifices.
The offerings of the first class just considered were made
necessary, in the cases that have been mentioned, and were
accurately determined as to quantity by the law ; but these
which Ave are now to notice, were such as individuals were

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 121

led of their own free will to present at the altar, with their
bloody offerings, over and above what was absolutely re-
quired ; or, at least, such as, although they were directed
to be presented in certain cases, were nevertheless left to
be determined, as to their form and their amount by the of-
ferers themselves. Of this sort are to be reckoned ail those
that ara spoken of in the second chapter of Leviticus.
From Leviticus vii. 12, 13, we learn that sacrifices of this
sort were to be added to all peace offerings for thanksgiving.
No mention is made of wine being joined to them : though
no doubt it was often used with victims along with which
they were brought to the altar ; only, however, as belong-
ing to those other meat offerings that have been already
noticed, which might be presented at the same time, and
not as having any thing to do directly with these that are .
now in question. Meat offerings of the first class were all
of unbaked flour mingled with oil ; but these under con-
sideration might be either thus unbaked or baked in various
ways, and sometimes consisted of various fruits of the earth
without any preparation A portion of the first-fruits,
together with a tenth part of all the increase of the field was
to be every year employed in this way. (Deut. xiv. 22 —
29. xxvi. 1—11.)

3. Independent meat offerings. This class comprehends
those few bloodless sacrifices that were appointed to be
offered, as it were, upon their own account, without being
attached to any of the bloody class, or indebted to them for
the occasions on which they were to be presented. These
were either for the whole congregation, or for particular
individuals. — Of the first sort were, 1st. The twelve loaves
of shew-bread, set forth before the Lord in the Holy Place,
2nd. The sheaf of barley offered on the second day of the
Passover. (Lev. xxiii. 10.) 3d. The two loaves of the first-
fruits, offered on the day of Pentecost. (Lev. xxiii. 17.)
With these Last, victims were indeed sacrificed; but they
field only a secondary place in the solemnities ; while the
6heaf in one case, and the loaves in the other, were of chief
and independent consequence. — Of the second sort, such as
were offered for individuals, were, 1st. The offering of
jealousy, of which we have an account in Numb. v. 15, 1 8,
25. 26, that was to have with it neither oil nor incense. 2d.

Vol. a. L

122 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

The poor man's sin offering, mentioned in Lev. v. 11, that
was to be offered in like manner, without oil or incense,
when a man was notable to provide for himself even a pair
of doves or pigeons. 3d. The priestly meat offering, which
Aaron and his sons, it is said, were to present in the day
of their anointing. (Lev. vi. 20 — 23.) Jewish tradition tells
us that this last was twofold ; being required of every priest
when he first entered upon his sacred office, and being re-
quired besides of the High-priest every day during all the
time of his ministry; but this does not clearly appear from
the scriptures.

Every meat offering was required to be seasoned with
salt, and might not, on any account, have in it a particle of
honey, nor yet, in all common cases, a particle of leaven.
The two loaves offered on»the day of Pentecost, were leaven-
ed, and we read that leavened bread was brought also with
sacrifices of thanksgiving, together with the unleavened
cakes and wafers; (Lev. vii. 13 ;) but no part of such offer-
ings could be presented upon the altar ; the universal statute
was, that no leaven, nor any honey, was to be burned in any
offering of the Lord made by fire. (Lev. ii. 11.) The shew-
bread was accompanied with incense without oil ; the pre-
scribed meat offering, to which wine was joined, had oil
without incense ; the poor man's sin offering, the offering
of jealousy, and the sheaf of first-fruits, had neither one nor
the other ; while all the rest were enriched with both. —
The incense, in every case, was all burned upon the altar ;
in the case of the meat offering presented by a priest, and
as it seems, on the whole, in the case of all those of the first
class, such as were prescribed and accompanied with wine,
the whole was in like manner given to the fire; but in other
cases, only a part of the flour, or bread and oil, was burned,
as a memorial for all, while the remainder was appropriated
to the priests, as a gift from the Lord. The wine, when it
was used, was solemnly poured out at the bottum of the
altar.

In the general class of sacrifices of the bloodless sort,
is to be reckoned also, besides those that have been styled
rne.at offerings, the sacred incense that was offered every
morning and every evening on the golden altar, and once

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 123

in the year presented upon a censer filled with coals, within
the Holiest of all.

FIRST-FRUITS, FIRST-BORN, TITHES, VOW-GIFTS, &C.

Besides those to which the name of sacrifice has been
particularly appropriated, such as we have been hitherto
considering, there were other sacred offerings appointed in
the Jewish system that claim oui**attention. The most im-
portant of them were of four principal kinds.

1. First-fruits. The first sheaf of barley, on the second
day of the Passover, and the first loaves of Pentecost, were
presented to God as offerings for the whole nation. But
besides these, offerings of all sorts of first-fruits were re-
quired to be made, year after year, by individuals ; first-
fruits of the harvest and the vintage, from the threshing
floor, the wine-press, the oil-press, and the honey-crowded
hive, from the first baked bread of the new crop also, and
from the fleecy treasures gathered at every time of shear-
ing from the flock. (Ex. xxiii. 19. Numb. xv. 19 — 21.)
These were not presented at the altar, but were assigned
by God, to whom they were consecrated, for the use of his
ministers, the priests. (Numb, xviii. 11 — 13.) How much
should be given in these cases, the law left each person to
decide for himself. The Jewish Doctors of later times,
however, gave it as their judgment, that the smallest pro-
portion which a man might conscientiously allow, was a
sixtieth part of the whole produce from which it was taken.

In Deut. xviii. 3, we find the following statute : This
shall be the priests'1 due from the people, from them that offer
a sacrifice, lohether it be ox or sheep: — they shall give unto
the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maio
The word here translated, offer a sacrifice, has at times a
more general meaning, and is used to signify the slaying
of animals, for common use, in cases where nothing of a
sacred nature was designed. It was understood accord-
ingly ; and, as it would seem, correctly understood, that
such an extent of meaning belonged to it in this present
case ; and so it was the practice throughout the nation, as
we are informed, on good authority, still to appropriate the
parts that have been mentioned, to the priests, whenever,
on any occasion, animals were killed at home only for the

124 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

purpose of ordinary food. This gift may be looked upon as
a sort of first-fruits of every man's meat, before it might be
used for the table. It was not necessary, however, that this
should be carried away to the sanctuary ; it was enough if
it was given to some one of the priests in any place ; and,
accordingly, every individual used to give it to any one who
lived near him, as convenience or personal regard deter-
mined his inclination. *

2. The first-borv. Ever after the awful night in which
the Lord, for the deliverance of his people, smote all the
first-born cf Egypt with death, all those of Israel that were
males, in commemoration of that event, and in acknow-
ledgment of the mercy that overwhelmed them not at that
time with the same desolation, were consecrated to be, in a
peculiar manner, the property of God. (Ex. xiii. 2, 12 — 15.)
When the Levites were separated, for the service of the
sanctuary, they were substituted, as far as their number
reached, lor the first-born males of the whole people of that
generation, and the cattle which they then owned, for all
the firstlings of the cattle belonging to the nation ; and thus,
at the same time, the priestly office, which originally was
the rinrht of the first-born, was transferred and confined to
this tribe. As on that occasion, however, the number of
the first-born was found to be somewhat larger than that
of the Levites, it was required that the 273 persons that
were thus left without substitutes, should be redeemed by
the payment of a certain price in money for every one.
(Numb. iii. 12, 13, 40 — 51.) So, ever after, all the first-born
of man were required to be redeemed in like manner ; and
the redemption money became a part of the sacred revenue
appointed for the support of the priests. (Numb, xviii. 15,
16.) A child could not be redeemed before it was a month
old, and generally was not, until the time when its mother's
purification offering was to be presented, which, in the case
of sons, was at the end of forty days. Thus, when the infant
Jesus was brought for the first time to the temple, two duties
enjoined by the law were attended to ; the mother's sacri-
fice was offered, and the child was redeemed. (Luke ii.
22 — 24.) The first-born of such beasts as might be used
in sacrifice, were to be yielded to the Lord, without the
liberty of redemption ; and after their blood and fat were

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 125

given to the altar, their flesh was all appropriated to the
priests. (Numb, xviii. 17, 18.) The first-born of other ani-
mals, such as it was unlawful to sacrifice, might be redeem-
ed ; though a man was not obliged to redeem them, as in
the case of a first-born son. If they were not redeemed,
they might be sold or destroyed. (Ex. xiii. 13. Lev. xxvii.27.)

3. Tithes. A tenth part of all the produce of every Is-
raelitish farmer, was to be consecrated, in addition to the
tribute already noticed, to the support of the national re-
ligion. These tithes were appropriated to the Levites, as
their salary, who in their turn were required to give a tenth
of all that they thus received, to the priests. (Numb, xviii,
21 — 32.) In the case of the fruits of the earth, the owner
might redeem the tithe that was due, by adding a fifth
part to what was considered its proper value ; whereby, we
may suppose, he might save himself the trouble of trans-
porting the articles to the place where they were to be re-
ceived. In the case of cattle, the same privilege was not
allowed. Animals were tithed by being made to pass one
by one, out of some enclosure, before a person appointed to
number them, who held in his hand a rod, with which he
touched every tenth one as it came along in its order, and
thus designated it for the Levites : hence the expression to
pass under the rod, applied to cattle that underwent tithing.
No animal thus designated might be changed for another ;
if a man was found guilty of making such an exchange, he
forfeited both. (Lev. xxvii. 30 — 33. Jer. xxxiii. 13.) Re-
ligious tithes were in use long before the time of Moses;
as we may learn from Abraham's homage to Melchisedek,
and from Jacob's vow on his way to Padan-Aram. They
were in use also among almost all nations, in those early
times, as we are taught by ancient history.

We have already had occasion to state, that the law re-
quired a tenth part of every husbandman's agricultural pro-
duce, and a portion of its first-fruits aiso, together with the
firstlings of his flock and herd, to be devoted to God as
peace offerings, and so turned into sacred feasts for the
entertainment of the owner himself, with his family and
others recommended to his hospitality. This we are
clearly taught in Deut. xii. 17 — 19. xiv. 22 — 29. and xv.
19 — 22. But how are we to reconcile this with the posi-
l2

126 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

tive and explicit declarations found in other places, as we
have just seen, that the tithes, firstlings, and first-fruits,
were to be given to the Levites and priests ? Could they be
thus appropriated, and yet feasted upon by those that pre-
sented them ? There seems to be no way of getting clear
of this difficulty, but by inferring that there was a double
appropriation of each of these sorts of offerings — the first
for the use of the priests and Levites, and the second for
sacrifices of thanksgiving to be celebrated in the way that
has been noticed, by the owners themselves. Thus we are
to suppose, that the Jewish law required second tithes, se-
cond firstlings, (if we may be allowed the term,) and se-
cond first-fruits. That we are not told any thing expressly
about the appointment of these, as distinct from those of
the first class, but are made acquainted with their existence
merely in the notice that is given of their nature and use,
may be accounted for by supposing that they were in com-
mon use before the time of Moses, and did not need, there-
fore, to be formally distinguished. They are spoken of as
being well known; and in no danger, accordingly, of being
confounded at that time with the other sort, that were in-
stituted for the support of religion, and so exalted to hold
a rank of importance above them. What wre are thus taught
indirectly from the law itself, we find confirmed by later
testimony more explicit. In the apocryphal book of Tobit,
mention is made of two sacred tithes : " The first tenth
part of all increase," says the writer, describing his own
piety, " I gave to the sons of Aaron, who ministered at Je-
rusalem : another tenth part I sold away, and went and
spent it every year at Jerusalem." (Tobit i. 7.) Jewish
tradition, however, allows such a double tithe to have had
place only in the case of the increase of the fields; while it
affirms that the tithe of animals, which was single, was not
given to the Levites at all for their use, but employed alto-
gether in those peace-offering feasts that have been men-
tioned. And, indeed, there is no intimation in the law of
more than a single tithe of cattle : but it seems most rea-
sonable to suppose, that this, if it was the only one, was
consecrated to the Levites, and that these offering-feasts
found no victims in this way ; especially, since in the enu-
meration of the offerings to be used for the feasts, we meef

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 127

with no mention of such animal-tithes, where it would
seem, if the Jewish notion on this subject were correct,
they ought not to have been left without notice. It appears,
that every third year the people might, instead of carrying
their second tithes to the sanctuary, make a feast of them
at their own houses ; unless we suppose, with some, that
the tithe which was required to be thus consumed at home
each third year, was really a third one, which on every
such year was to be paid, over and above the two regular
tenths that have just been noticed. In the latter part of the
26th chapter of Deuteronomy, we have an account of a par-
ticular solemnity that was to be observed on these occasions.
The beautiful and impressive form with which the second
sort of first-fruits was required to be presented before the
Lord, is described in the first part of the same chapter. —
In addition to the regular small portion of first-fruits which
was consecrated in this way, to be used in the joyful peace-
offering entertainments, the law directed that the whole
produce of all manner of fruit-trees, after the three years
during which it was considered uncircumcised, and might
not be used at all, were over, should be in the fourth year
devoted to religious use, in like manner. It was to be holy,
it is said, to praise the Lord withal. (Lev. xix. 23 — 25.)

4. Vow-gifts. A vow is a solemn voluntary promise to
God, either to do or abstain from doing something, or to
give something, for his service and honour. Such religious
engagements were not rare among the Jews. Of the first
sort, we have an instance in the vow of Nazaritism, an ac-
count of which may be found in the sixth chapter of Num-
bers. Those of the second sort, such as bound persons to
make some kind of sacred gift, more particularly claim our
attention at present. We have already seen, that one class
of peace offerings, noticed in the law, were such as men
presented in consequence of vows made to the Lord in sea-
sons of danger or distress. But these were only a part of
what it was in some degree customary to consecrate to God
in this general way. A man might thus sanctify to him at
any time, not only common property of every sort, houses,
lands, money, animals clean or unclean, &c. but servants
also, and children, and even his own person. Animals so
consecrated, that were fit for sacrifice, became victims for

128 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

the altar ; those that could not be so used were sold, if not
redeemed by the original owners themselves. Human per-
sons became servants about the tabernacle or temple; with
the privilege of being redeemed, however, when it was de-
sired to embrace it. Other things in like manner, were
rendered in this way holy to the Lord, to be employed for
the support of religion, unless at any time recovered by re-
demption according to certain regulations. (Lev. xxvii. 1 —
27.) The vow of an unmarried daughter, was not allowed
to have force, if her father disapproved of it when it was
made; so also that of a wife, if in like manner opposed by
her husband. (Numb. xxx. 1 — 16.) In Matt. xv. 3 — 6, and
Mark vii. 11, we have notice of a wretched abuse that was
sometimes made of sacred vows in later times. An un-
principled man would say to his parents, "Be it Corban,or
a consecrated gift, whatsoever you shall receive of me !"
and then, the Pharisees taught, he was not only not required
to give them any help, but could not do it without sin ; be-
cause after such a vow, any present that he might ever
make them, although it was not holy or consecrated to the
Lord before, immediately became so by the very act, and
consequently would bring upon him the guilt of sacrilege as
well as perjury, by being disposed of in this way. Such
a manner of binding themselves in relation to certain
things, by indirectly imprecating guilt of this sort upon
their heads, if they failed to regard what they vowed, was
not uncommon among the Jews, as we learn from other
sources. Thus one would say, for instance, ' Let all the
wine I ever drink be consecrated!' or, 'Consecrated be
whatever of such a thing I ever taste !" and thus he laid
himself under a curse, as it were, not to drink or taste in
either case, because the moment he might do so the things
became holy, and so unlawful to be so used. It was as if a
man should say among us, ' The Lord destroy me, if I do
this or that !' So foolish and wicked was the imprecation
with which a man insulted his father or mother, in the case
which our Saviour notices, in direct opposition to God's
holy law.

There was one sort of consecration, of an awful charac-
ter, from which there could be no redemption in any case.
It was called by the Jews Cherem. Enemies were in some

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 129

cases devoted, as it has been termed, in this way; and when
they were so, they were to be pursued with the most un-
relenting1 destruction, and their property treated in most
cases as an accursed thing, which it was not lawful to make
common use of. (Numb. xxi. 1 — 3. Josh. vi. 17 — 19. vii. 1.)
From Lev. xxvii. 28, 29, we learn that a man might devote
any sort of property that he owned with a vow of this nature,
as well as with the more common one already noticed.
What is there said about human beings thus devoted, viz.
that they were to be put to death, is supposed to refer al-
together to the case of such as were national enemies,
which has just been stated ; or such as drew upon them-
selves this curse by such guilt as is noticed in the 13th
chapter of Deuteronomy. If Jephthah, therefore, in conse-
quence of his rash vow, thought himself bound by this law
to destroy his innocent daughter, as it seems to such ex-
tremity he actually did proceed, he must be considered to
have misunderstood its meaning. (Judges xi. 30 — 39.)

5. The half-shekel tax. In Ex. xxx. 11 — 16, a statute
is recorded, which required every male Israelite over the
age of twenty, whether rich or poor, to pay at that time
half a shekel for the service of the sanctuary. It is not
clear, that it was intended this should ever again be con-
tributed ; much less, that such a tax should be rendered to
the sanctuary every year. Such, however, was the inter-
pretation put upon the law after the captivity. Every Jew,
it was taught, was bound to pay a yearly tribute of half a
shekel for the use of the temple; and it was insisted upon,
besides, that it should be paid in Jewish coin. Hence arose
a regular system of care for the collection of this sacred
revenue. The money changers, of whom we read, that were
accustomed to sit in the outer court of the temple, a short
time each year before the Passover, were men whose busi-
ness it was to receive this tribute, and to accommodate, at
the same time, with Jewish half shekels, such as wanted to
exchange other money for them. (Matt. xxi. 12.) It seems
to have been this same tribute that was demanded of our
Saviour in Capernaum ; which he intimated to Peter he
was not properly under obligation to pay, inasmuch as he
was the Son of that God to whom it was to be rendered.
(Matt. xvii. 24—27.)

130 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

From the general survey of the various sacred offerings
which has now been taken, it appears, that it was no small
portion of their worldly substance which the Jews were re-
quired to consecrate to religious uses. Part of these offer-
ing.-, indeed, were not altogether removed from the personal
use of those that gave them; still, they were employed in
a way that would not have been pursued if religion had not
so ordered, and in a way that in a great measure deprived
the offerers of all their real value in a worldly point of
view, so that they had in them truly the nature of gifts
presented to the Lord. But besides these, as we have seen,
the Jew was called upon by his religion to render year by
year a large tribute in the way of tithes, firstlings, &c. that
went altogether to the support of the national worship; and
was expected, moreover, to consecrate to God, in addition to
all this, more or less of his property, in some way or other,
of free and self-moving liberality. Thus the Lord reminded
his people, that their earthly possessions were His ; and that
when his glory was to be promoted, they should be ready
to part with them in any measure, having all assurance
that no employment of wealth can be more reasonable or
well-directed than that which is made in his service, ac-
cording to his will, whatever may be the way in which it
is appointed to be used, and whatever the degree of li-
berality that is called for.

Many who now call themselves the people of God would
think it altogether unreasonable, if they were called upon
to contribute such an amount of their property to religious
purposes as was given in this way by the ancient Jews.
And yet it is certainly not easy to find a satisfactory reason,
why the Lord's people, at the present time, should be ex-
pected to be less ready and liberal in service of this sort
for the advancement of his glory, than the Lord's people
were required to be in former times. It cannot be said,
that there is less room or less call for such liberality in his
service, since the passing away of that worldly outward
economy under which the ancient church was placed.
For, although it be not wanted in fact for the support of a
costly ceremonial worship, it is still needed, we all know,
for the building- up of Christ's spiritual kingdom in the
earth. This latter was designed to be typically displayed

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 131

in the Jewish state, and comprehends in it the substantial
realities which the other but represented in airy shadow.
How then can we suppose, that the church of old was
bound to give more for the support of the Jewish religion —
the way in which God then was pleased, in infinite wisdom,
to have his name glorified and his truth honoured ; than
the church of these latter days is bound to give for the en-
largement of her boundaries and the salvation of the world
— the way in which God is now to be glorified, and which
he has appointed for the accomplishment of that great work
of mercy that he is carrying forward in the earth ? The
gospel has not, like the Jewish law, prescribed how much
every individual shall contribute of his substance to the
treasury of God, who giveth us all things richly to enjoy ;
but, while it urges the general duty, leaves every one to
determine for himself his own particular measure. It
seeks a spiritual service, such as is prompted by a willing
heart, and not rendered with reluctance or by constraint :
only, it reminds us, that " He which soweth sparingly shall
reap also sparingly, and he which soweth bountifully shall
reap also bountifully ;" while it sots before us a dark, and
lost, and dying world which our etibrts may help, and then,
with weeping look and hand directed towards distant Cal-
vary, exclaims, " Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your salceshe became
poor, that ye through his poverty might he rich .'" (2 Cor.
viii. °. be. 6, 7. Acts xx. 35.)

SECTION II.
SACRIFICIAL RITES.

Certain ceremonies and usages that were observed in
the offering of sacrifices, claim a more particular notice
than it was proper to bestow upon them in the general
view of sacred offerings that has been taken in the preced-
ing section.

1. Those who presented victims at the altar were ac-
CUStomed, as we have seen, to lay their hands upon their
heads, before they were slain. When offerings were re-

132 EIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

quired to make atonement for the sins of the whole con-
gregation, this ceremony was performed by some of the
elders or rulers as their representatives. By this symbolic
act, the animal was substituted in the place of the offerer,
and solemnly devoted to God as a sacrifice for his altar.
Accordingly, it was the practice to accompany it with some
sort of prayer or confession suited to this idea. In fact,
the ceremony of laying on hands in all cases, as well when
it was to commend its objects to the mercy of God, (Gen.
xlviii. 14. Matt. xix. 15,) or to set them apart to some par-
ticular office, (Numb, xxvii. 18 — 23. Acts xiii. 3,) as when
it was to devote them to death, (Lev. xxiv. 14,) seems to
have been as a matter of course associated with the notion
of some address to the Most High ; insomuch that when
the first was enjoined or spoken of, the other was always
understood to belong to it, even when it was not mentioned.
In the case before us, when a sin offering or trespass of-
fering was presented, the offender, with his hands between
the horns of the victim and his eyes directed toward the
front of the Sanctuary, made solemn confession of the
particular transgression for which it was brought forward,
and besought God, in his mercy, to receive its sacrifice as
an atonement for his guilt, in room of that destruction
which it was thus intimated might justly fall upon his own
head. When a burnt offering was presented, a more gene-
ral confession of sinful short-coming in the obedience thaf
God's law demanded, seems to have been common. It is
probable also, though we are not so told explicitly, that the
address to God had in it on certain occasions, a supplication
more especially for some other blessing than the forgive-
ness of sin, or a thankful acknowledgment for some good-
ness already experienced, according to the particular nature
and design of the sacrifice that was offered. Especially
may we suppose this would be the manner in the case of
peace offerings, which were often presented with a par-
ticular reference to some single end of this sort. At the
same time, however, even in such cases there might have
oeen mention made of sin, with a petition for pardoning
mercy, in view of the life that was going to be poured out
in sacrifice to the Holy One. — According to Jewish tradi
tion, confession was made over victims offered to make

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 133

expiation for sin by individual offenders, in some such
form as this: " O Lord, I have sinned ! I have transgressed!
[have rebelled! This have I done: — (and then he named
the particular offence for which he sought forgiveness.)
But now I repent ; and may this victim be my expiation .'"

2. Victims were slain immediately after the ceremony
just noticed. Those that were presented for the whole
congregation were required from the first to be killed by
the priests or Levites. In other cases, it was originally
the custom for the offerers themselves to perform the work ;
but afterwards, the Levites, being more expert at such
business than others, had it yielded altogether into their
hands. The animals, we are told by the Jews, were fas-
tened by the neck or feet to certain strong rings, fixed firmly
to the pavement of the temple-court, beside the altar, for
convenient slaughter. Life was then taken by cutting the
throat with a single stroke of the knife, so deep that all
the blood might flow out of the body. This, as it streamed
from the dying victim, was carefully received into a sacred
vessel kept for the purpose, to be made use of according
to law.

3. The blood, as we have seen, was differently disposed
of in sacrifices of different kinds. In a fsw peculiarly
solemn cases, some ef it was carried within the Sanctuary,
and sprinkled toward the mercy-seat, and placed upon the
horns of the golden altar. In other instances, it was all
employed about the altar of burnt offeiing. From the
bottom of this altar, in the temple, there was a subterrane-
ous passage, it is said, by which it was carried away into
the brook of Cedron. — The sprinkling and pouring out of
the blood formed a most material and essential part of the
sacrificial service. Because, as we are tcld, it was the
blood, which is represented to be in an especi:<l manner
the seat of life, that made atonement for the soul ; and this
application of the blood to the altar, in any particular case,
was that especially which had in it the virtue of expiation
included in the sacrifice.

On account of its use in this respect, blood was made
most solemnly sacred. Not only in the case of sacrifices,
but in every other case also, it was prohibited with the
greatest care from being tasted as food or regarded as u

Vol. ii. M

134 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

common thing ; so that the most dreadful punishment was
denounced against the man who should dare to transgress
the divine commandment respecting it. Nor was it merely
with the establishment of the Jewish economy, that this
prohibition had place. It was spoken to Noah, the second
lather of the whole human race, immediately after the
flood, when permission to use animal food at all was first
granted ; so that from the beginning of time man had not
been allowed to eat blood. Nor does it appear to have been
merely for a ceremonial reason, that the statute was thus
early clothed with obligation. The only reason assigned
at first was that the life was in the blood. (Gen. ix. 4.)
Hence many have, not without cause, adopted the conclu-
sion, that the original prohibition was intended to have
force among all men till the end of time, as a memorial
that life, even in its humblest character, is sacred, and that
man has no right to destroy it in any case except as God,
the author of it, has been pleased to give him explicit per-
mission. This idea is supposed to receive great confirma-
tion from the celebrated decree of that Christian council,
held in the earliest age of the gospel at Jerusalem, of which
we have an account in the 15th chapter of Acts. Others,
however, reject this notion, and consider the prohibition of
blood to have had respect from the beginning only to the
ceremonial use to which it was, on account of its vital
nature, consecrated in the institution of sacrifices, and
which accordingly was brought to an end, with other
shadows of the ancient economy, in the death of Jesus
Christ. Whether it is lawful for a Christian or any person
at the present time to eat blood, is therefore a disputed
question. In such a case then, it is at any rate wise not to
taste it. It may be, that the use of it is not unlawful, but
it is certainly safer on the whole to act as if it were clearly
ascertained to be otherwise ; especially, since the article is
tn itself so pernicious to health, and so uninviting naturally
to a sound taste, that it is truly marvellous how, through a
process of strange and artificial preparation, it should, in
some parts of our country, have found toleration, and even
right friendly reception in civilized entertainments.

4. The blood being disposed of, the animal was rapidly
stripped of its skin, and cut in pieces, and as far as it was

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 135

to be consumed upon the altar, made ready for the fire. In
the second temple, there were tables of marble, and pillars
with hooks fixed in them for hanging victims upon, which
afforded every convenience for this business. The skins
were all given to the priests. The animal was cut up, not
carelessly, but neatly, and according to rule. Certain parts
were required to be carefully washed, that no sort of filth
might be allowed to come upon the altar.

5. We read of particular parts of slain victims, as well
as of whole offerings, at other times, both such as were
bloody and such as were not, being presented to God with
certain peculiar ceremonies, denominated heaving and
waving. It is not clear what, precisely, these ceremonies
were, or whether there was really any material difference
between them. Some suppose, that the one was a lifting
up of the offering, and the other merely a letting down
of it again ; so that every heave offering necessarily
became a wave offering. The Jews tell us, that to heave an
offering was to lift it upwards, and that to wave it was to
pass it this way and that way toward the four quarters of
the world ; all which solemn ceremony was designed to
signify that it was thus presented to Him who fills the uni-
verse with his presence — the Maker and Possessor of hea-
ven and earth with all their fulness. In a few instances,
animals were subjected to this rite before they were kill-
ed. (Lev. xiv. 24. xxiii. 20.) More commonly, it was
performed with some particular parts, after they were cut
up ; especially, with the breast and right shoulder, in all
cases of peace offering sacrifices, which were appropriated
for the use of the priests by a continual statute. Bloodless
offerings, also, were at times presented with the same ce-
remony. (Ex. xxix. 22 — 28.)

6. All fat, in sacrifices of every sort, that could be con-
veniently separated from the flesh of victims, was required
to be burned upon the altar. Thus, we find direction still
given, however other parts of the victim mignt be disposed
of, that those portions which were either altogether or prin-
cipally composed of this substance, should be made an
offering by fire unto the Lord. These being' the richest
portions, it was thus intimated, as it was in other require-
ments already noticed, that God ought to receive in all our

136 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

worship, the best service which it is in our power to ren-
der. Hence, fat became, in something of the same man-
ner as blood, a sacred substance ; so that it was declared
unlawful to eat those parts that have been referred to, in the
case of any animal of the different classes from which the
altar derived its victims, even when it was killed at home
for common use. (Lev. vii. 23 — 25.)

Destitute as it was, besides, of all the advantages of but-
ter or pork in any shape, this prohibition of all manner of
fat, whether of the flock or of the herd, would have left the
Jewish cookery in a sad predicament, had it not all been
more than compensated for by the excellent oil of olive:j
which the country yielded in such rich abundance. In
these latter days, many of the scattered family of Abraham,
who dwell in other countries, where the olive of their an-
cient land is not known, have found themselves subjected
to no inconsiderable inconvenience on this score. Butter,
they maintain, was not only not in use among their an-
cestors for the preparation of food, as it was in Egypt and
other countries, but actually forbidden, as much as hog's
lard and the other fat that has been mentioned, by the di-
vine law. In this extremity, they have been compelled to
put up altogether with such fat as can be procured from
animals that were not reckoned in this prohibition, and are
yet of that number that were considered clean ; among
which they number the goose, though its claim to the lat-
ter distinction is not entirely out of the reach of dispute,
and have made it, accordingly, their most substantial re-
source for this purpose, using its fat in the room of butter,
for want of the favourite oil of their fathers. The law that
has been supposed to forbid the use of butter, it may be
remarked here, by the way, is the following : Thou shall
not seeth a kid in its mother's milk. Nor is this interpre-
tation without strong reason in its favour, however unnatu-
ral it may seem at first glance. It is not without counte-
nance from the usage of eastern language, that the phrase,
a kid's mother, is understood to mean, universally, a goat
that gives milk, without reference to any particular case ;
or, that what is spoken particularly of one class of animals,
is considered to include a general precept, having force in
regard 1o others also, that gave similar room for its appli-

BIRIJCAL ANTIQUITIES. 137

cation. Thus, the milk of a kid's mother is interpreted to
mean any sort of milk, and of course any thing produced
from milk, as all butter is ; while the flesh of a kid means
any sort of flesh ; so that, altogether, out of the sententious
statute, Thou shalt not seeth a kid in its mother's milk,
is derived this very practical signification, Thou shalt not
dress meat with butter. However this interpretation may
be received, it is clear, that the law gave no encourage-
ment to the use of butter, but by prescribing oil in all meat
offerings which were used in sacred entertainments, indi-
rectly discountenanced it.

7. With all thine offerings, it was commanded in the
law, thou shall offer salt. (Lev. ii. 13.) This statute, the
Jews tell us, was so strictly regarded, that nothing came
unsalted to the altar, but the wine of the drink offering, the
blood sprinkled, and the wood that was used for the fire.
Salt for this purpose, used to be kept always at the temple,
provided at the public charge, so that it was not expected
to be furnished by those who presented the offerings. It
was customary, we are told, to salt the parts of victims that
were to be burned, generally on the rise that went up to the
altar, but in some cases, on the top of it. To the usage
of salting sacrifices, our Saviour refers in Mark ix. 49.
Especially was it enjoined, that this article should be found
with every meat offering As it was the symbol of friend-
ship, it was altogether fit that it should not be wanting in
the sacred entertainments, where men were admitted, as it
were, to participate with God on the most intimate terms.
Because of its significance in this respect, it was denomi-
nated the salt of the covenant.

8. The wood was always placed in order, and set on fire
.first. Care having been taken to have it thus in readiness,
the several parts of the sacrifice that were to be consumed,
after the preparatory steps that have been noticed, were
placed upon the burning pile. In the case of holocausts,
or burnt offerings, as we have seen, the whole victim, ex-
cept the skin, was thus destroyed : in other cases, only
certain portions of it.

9. The altar having received its share, in those cases
where the whole was not given to it, there were three
different ways in which the remainder of the flesh, ac-

m2

138 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

cording to the nature of the sacrifice, was required to be
disposed of. 1st. It was in some instances to be carried
out of the camp, or out of Jerusalem, which, in the times
of the temple, answered to the ancient camp in the wilder-
ness, and burned as a polluted thing-. The bodies of those
beasts, whose blood was carried into the Sanctuary, were
all borne forth, and destroyed in this way. 2d. It was, in
certain cases, to be eaten by the priests. Thus, all was
appointed to be used in the case of common sin offerings,
or trespass offerings, in which the blood was not taken
into the Sanctuary, and also in the case of the two lambs
offered on the day of Pentecost, as peace offerings for the
whole congregation; and particular portions, viz: — the
breast and the right shoulder, in the case of all peace of-
ferings presented by individuals. In the cases first stated,
it was considered especially holy, and might not be eaten
any where out of the court of the Sanctuary, and only by
such of the priestly family as were males. (Numb, xviii.
9, 10.) But the flesh allotted to the priests from common
peace-offerings, like that which fell to them in the way of
firstling dues, might be eaten, it seems, any where in Je-
rusalem, and by all that properly belonged to their house-
holds, if only they were free, at the time, from ceremonial
uncleanness — a thing that was required in every person
that tasted, in any case, food that was made sacred by be-
ing presented at the altar. (Lev. xxii. 2—16. vii. 20, 21.)
3d. Whatever of the flesh of the sacrifices was not disposed
of in the ways that have been already mentioned, was ap-
propriated to the use of the offerers themselves, and might
be eaten in the sacred entertainments, in which it was ex-
pected to be all employed within less than two days, by all
classes of persons that were clean, and in any part of Je-
rusalem. Thus, all the flesh not claimed by the altar, ex-
cept the breast and right shoulder, which fell to the priests,
was made use of in the case of every common peace offer-
ing. In these offering-feasts, as already intimated, a sort
of sacred communion was instituted between God and his
worshippers. The entertainment was furnished by him
from the provisions of his House; and as with men, social
feasts are always indicative of friendly feeling among
those who unite in them, and in ancient times, especially,

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 139

were used as signs and pledges of mutual good will and
confidence between such as entered with each other into
covenants of peace. (Gen. xxvi. 28 — 30. xxxi. 44 — 46. Josh,
ix. 14, 15.) So those who were thus permitted to partake,
as it were, of the Lord's table, in receiving entertainment
from the altar, were supposed to enjoy the privilege of his
friendship and peculiar favour, and to be, by this sign, in
holy covenant with him, if not guilty of cold and false
hypocrisy in their own hearts. (IWal. i. 7, 12.) The Apos-
tle argues with the Corinthians against the use of meat
that had been consecrated in sacrifice to idols, from this
well-known principle ; showing, that, as under the Jewish
law they who ate of the sacrifices were partakers of God's
altar, so those who joined in the offering-feasts of the hea-
then around them, might properly be said to have fellow-
ship, in so doing, with devils. (1 Cor. x. 18, 20.)

SECTION III.
MEANING AND ORIGIN OF SACRIFICES.

It must be felt by every person who seriously thinks
upon the subject, that the use of sacrifices, which entered
so extensively into the whole system of religious worship
in ancient times, had in it something strange and difficult
to be understood on the principles of mere natural reason.
Offerings of the bloodless sort, indeed, might be imagined,
without much objection, to have taken their origin from
the suggestion of nature itself, and to have been reasonable
expressions of thankful piety, to which men would be led
under its influence in the most direct and easy manner.
Thus it might be considered not altogether wonderful or
unnatural, that they should have been moved solemnly to
present to God, at times, some portion of the fruits of the
earth secured by their labour, as Cain did, by way of ac-
knowledging him to be the Author andGiverof all blessings,
or to testify gratitude for special favours received from his
hand. But, in the case of the Jews and of the pious pa-
triarchs noticed in the Bible, offerings of this sort made but
a small and secondary part of the general system of sa-

140 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

crifices. All the more striking and distinguished features
of that system, were portrayed with blood. The slaying
and consuming of animal victims, entered essentially and
primarily into its whole constitution, and formed both the
basis and the principal body of all its peculiar structure.
Here it is, that we are met with mystery in the institution,
such as mere nature cannot help us to comprehend. What
should lead men to suppose that God would be pleased with
the slaughter of unoffending animals, in his worship ?
What connexion was there between this apparently cruel
destruction of life, and the divine favour ? or how could it
express a pious temper in the person who thus sought to
honour his Maker, or conciliate his friendship ? And still
more, how is it to be accounted for, that God did, in fact,
approve of this bloody service, and make it an essential
part of the only true religion, for so long a period of ages ?
Are we to imagine, that the Holy One could find satisfac-
tion in the sufferings of his harmless creatures ? Could he
be pleased, in itself, with the blood of bullocks or of goats,
or be soothed into complacency by the savour of theii
burning flesh ?

To these last inquiries, all reason and natural sense an-
swer, No. Nor can it be, with any propriety, imagined
that men should ever, of their own accord, have taken up
the notion, that such service could, in itself, seem agree-
able to the Creator of heaven and earth. How, then, the
question remains, did the notion of bloody sacrifices come
into existence ? and where shall we find a satisfactory rea-
son for the fact, that such a strange and unnatural wor-
ship was really acceptable to the Most High ? The Bible
explains all this mystery. It teaches us the true meaning
of this service, and so guides us to the discovery of its sa-
cred origin. Let us attend to the instruction it imparls on
these interesting points.

1. The meaning of sacrifices. The scriptures inform
us, that the shedding of blood, in this ancient institution,
had regard altogether to sin. Such a service was suited
only to the worship of a guilty race, and never, in any
case, left this consideration out of sight. Had men never
fallen, it could never have had any meaning in their re-
ligious worship ; and would never, accordingly, have found

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 141

place in it. But the fall altered all their relation to God.
It was no longer possible for the creature to come directly
before the Creator, as when innocent and pure, with ac-
ceptable homage or supplication. Guilt hung a dark and
impenetrable curtain between the soul and the favour of
its God, and shut out the voice, alike of prayer and praise,
in deep and hopeless despair. No worship of man could
be accepted, until this awful hinderance was taken out of
the way. God, however, in his mercy, devised a plan for
its removal. The plan was to secure complete satisfaction
to his holy law, by suffering its vengeance to fall some-
where else, (where it could be rightly received,) than
upon the rebellious themselves — by vicarious sacrifice — by
an adequate atonement, rendered through the shedding of
blood, without which there could be no remission. Here,
then, we have unfolded the general meaning of bloody
sacrifices, and the general reason why the Most High re-
garded them with approbation, and required them from
his worshippers. The whole system had reference to the
guilt of sin, and its necessary expiation. Blood, the sym-
bol of animal life, was consecrated, by a divine appropria-
tion, to this single holy use, and, in all its flowing at the
altar, was expressive of atonement for the soul.

But could the blood of bulls and goats take away sin 1
Had it, in itself, the smallest efficacy to make atonement
for guilt, and satisfy the holy law of God ? The Apostle
assures us, that such a thing was not possible ; (Heb. x.
1 — 4;) and, if he had not told us so, the smallest reflection
might convince us, that such sacrifices, however multi-
plied, could never puree away the conscience of sin, and
restore tranquillity or holy confidence to the guilty soul.
We must not, for a moment, imagine, therefore, that an
offering of this sort, in any case, did ever, of itself, make
the smallest satisfaction for the offence of any sin, in the
sight of the Most Holy. When we read of atonement
being made in this way for particular sins, under the old
dispensation, we are to understand, that while it actually
availed, in consequence of the divine appointment, to sa-
tisfy the requirement of the ceremonial, and in certain
cases of the civil, law, it answered the claim of the moral
law onlv in shadow, having nothing whatever, in itself.

142 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

suited to its nature, but merely setting forth in typical re-
presentation, a far more excellent sacrifice to come. The
Ceremonial system was altogether, as we have seen, a
shadowy exhibition of the Great Gospel Reality ; without
substance, or value, or meaning, when looked upon wholly
in itself, but full of expressive and instructive power when
contemplated in its relation to this mystery of Grace. It
had, accordingly, if we may be allowed the expression, a
class of shadowy sins, among other things, for the more per-
fect illustration of its shadowy atonement. The ceremonia?
law imposed an obligation of its own, distinct from that of
the moral law, and might be violated, so as to bring its
condemnation upon a man, while no true guilt, such as
arises only from an offence against the latter, was con-
tracted. This ceremonial guilt, as it may be termed,
might be entirely taken away, by the ceremonial means
appointed for the purpose. The guilt and the removal of
it, were alike symbolical ; although, at the same time, not
to make use of the means for this removal, could not fail
to bring upon the soul the stain of real guilt, inasmuch
as it then became disobedience to God, and so a transgres-
sion of the moral law. So, in particular cases, the re-
quirement of the civil law, viewed entirely apart from
moral duty, was completely satisfied by the same sort of
means. Thus, a representation was given of the
true atonement, by which alone, true sins were to be taken
away. In some other cases, however, there was no claim
of any law answered by these sacrificial offerings. They
were presented altogether on account of moral transgres-
sions, without regard to any of a merely ceremonial or
civil sort ; and then, of course, they accomplished nothing
at all in themselves : only, they pointed to an all-sufficien?
sacrifice that was to be revealed ; and when offered by the
truly pious, were acceptable to God, as containing m them
an acknowledgment of guilt, and a renunciation of every
other ground of hope for pardon and righteousness, but the
great Provision which he himself had promised to make
known in the latter days, for the purpose.

Such was the only value of the ancient sacrifices. They
never purged the worshippers of God from the conscience
of sins, and were therefore continually offered up, year after

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 143

year, making continually new remembrance of guilt. To
rely upon them, therefore, as taking away the guilt of sin,
even when true repentance accompanied them, was to lean
upon a broken reed,* and still more presumptuous was it to
do so, when no such repentance was felt at all. Yet to this
degree of presumption were the Jews ever prone to be
tarried. They were apt to fall into the notion, that these
sacrifices were in themselves, without regard to something
else, highly acceptable to God, and that he could not refuse
to be pleased with them, even when presented by the wick-
ed. Hence we hear the Lord expostulating with them :
Tu what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto rne?
I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed
beasts ; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs,
or of he-goats, $c (Is. i. 11—14. Ps. 1. 7—14.) And all
along it was taught, that to obey was better than sacrifice,
and to hearken to the Lord's voice better than the fat of
rams. (1 Sam. xv. 22. Hosea vi. 6.) Without such a dis-
position, it was not possible that the Lord could accept the
service of any worshipper, though he appeared in his pre-
sence with thousands of rams, or ten thousands of rivers
of oil; nor yet, at the same time, even with this disposi-
tion, could such expensive offerings, or the still more pre-
cious offering of a first-born son itself, have the smallest
efficacy in their nature, to remove the guilt of transgression.
(Micah vi. 6 — 8.) Just as now, to belong to the church and
partake of the Lord's supper, are things that can be of no
avail without a heart ready to obey the will of God, and,
even where there is such a readiness, cannot in themselves
and on their own account, procure saving benefit to the soul,
but merely help to direct it to the Great Original Resource
of Grace, and serve as channels through which its streams
may be received.

What the ancient sacrifices only represented in empty
shadow, Jesus Christ, by the Sacrifice of Himself, actually
accomplished. This we are expressly taught in the epistle
to the Hebrews. As the whole priestly office had respect
to the mediatorial character of our Saviour, and never
had any other than a shadowy, unsubstantial character,
except in him, as has been before remarked ; so also
die entire scheme of sacrificial worship, had reference to

144 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

his atoning death, which was in fact the only true and effi-
cacious sacrifice ever made ; while all before it were mere
pictures of its precious reality. Thus he was himself, at
the same time, priest and victim. The typical priests be-
fore him stood daily ministering, and offering oftentimes
the same sacrifices, which could never take away sins ; but
this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever
sat down on the right hand of God. (Heb. vii. 27. x. 11, 12.)
In this sacrifice there was value enough to make full expia-
tion for all the sins of the whole world ; and to as many as
embrace its advantage, by faith, it will be found till the end
of time, completely availing to remove the heaviest pressure
of guilt, and to deliver them from its deepest condemnation,
into a state of peace and reconciliation with a Holy God.
Because the death of Jesus Christ was thus truly an atoning
sacrifice, he is called the Lamb of God which taketh away
the sin of the world. (John i. 29.) And in vision he appear-
ed to the beloved disciple as a Lamb that had been slain :
(Rev. v. 6 :) his blood also, which we are told cleanseth from
all sin, is represented to be like that of a lamb, without
blemish and without spot. (1 Pet. i. 19. 1 John i. 7.) We
find his death, accordingly, all along spoken of as being on
account of sin, and to make satisfaction for its guilt — sin
that was not his own, but which he consented to bear in the
room of his people, and to take away on their behalf, by
becoming a sin offering for them, and pouring out his soul
beneath the awful pressure of infinite justice. Besides the
53d chapter of Isaiah, the following passages may be con-
sulted on this point : viz. Matt. xx. 28. xxvi. 28. Rom. iii.
25, 26. viii. 3. 2 Cor. v. 21. Eph. v. 2. 1 Pet. ii. 24. iii. 18
The death of atonement, then, which the Son of God died
for our redemption, was that to which all sacrifices, from
the earliest times, had respect as their great termination,
and without which they would have been as destitute of
reason, as they were, in their very nature, of all actual value-
in the sight of Heaven. If holy men of old made an accepta-
ble use of them, in drawing near to God, it was only by
looking ihrough them to this all-perfect and sufficient sacri-
fice which they prefigured. This great sacrifice, accord-
ingly, being offered up in due time, all that were before i

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 145

were completely done away, and all that ancient sort of
worship went for ever out of use.

2. The origin of sacrifices. Having thus discovered the
true meaning of sacrifices, we cannot hesitate in deciding
the question, whether they were of divine, or of merely
human origin. It is in fact decided already. For if the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ was the only one that ever had any
proper and substantial reality, and all others were entirely
unmeaning, except as faint images and pictures of this, it
is manifest that the whole system must have been derived
altogether from the appointment of God. As the original
idea of atonement by blood, which in the fulness of time
became realized in the death of the Son of God, was con-
ceived from the beginning in the divine mind alone, so we
are to trace back to the same source the entire plan of that
preparatory representation by which it was held up for the
encouragement and assistance of faith, in unsubstantial
type, so many ages before its actual development. The
great Pattern Sacrifice being altogether of heavenly device,
and in its glorious nature a mystery, completely hidden
from human knowledge till revealed in its own season, it
would be absurd to suppose that other sacrifices before it,
which answered so strikingly as shadows to its wonderful
reality, and viewed in any other light, had no meaningvor
reason whatever, might have come into use notwithstand-
ing, through mere human fancy, and without any regard
at first to the end which afterwards they were made to
respect.

However, therefore, some have imagined that the use of
sacrifices originated at first from men themselves, without
any divine direction, and have attempted to show how they
might have been led to adopt the strange and unnatural
service ; it is clear, that as reason finds such a supposition
attended with much difficulty, and feels dissatisfied with
every explanation brought for its relief, so the whole re-
presentation of the Bible urges us to embrace a different
sentiment. True, we are not told explicitly that God direct-
ed men in the beginning to worship him in this way : but
the nature and design of the service are declared, and are
found to be such as to forbid all thought of its having sprung
from any other source than the express appointment of the

Vol. ii. N

146 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

Most High. And what is thus indirectly discovered, with
almost irresistible evidence, is still l'arther confirmed by the
historical account, as far as it reaches, which we have of
ancient sacrifices All along, before the age of Moses, we
find them constantly employed by the people of God, as an
essential part of true religion, and honoured and accepted,
and in certain cases ordered, of the Lord himself, as being
not mere indifferent rites, but acts of piety of the first im-
portance, and peculiarly well pleasing in his sight : all
which would be strange indeed, if they had originally start-
ed out of human will-worship, and had no respect at all in
their design at that time to the Great Sacrifice to come,
(as on such a supposition it must be believed,) but were
used altogether according to some different view that led at
first to the practice of them, which view must necessarily
be considered at the same time to have been mistaken and
false. But we are not left with the mere information that
these early sacrifices were in use, to imagine that they
might have been offered with a view altogether different
from what was most particularly contemplated afterwards
in those that were prescribed by the Jewish law. We have
satisfactory evidence, that before, as well as after, the intro-
duction of that law, the shedding of blood in sacrifice was
regarded as an expiatory rite, having reference to guilt, and
signifying that without atonement there could be no for-
giveness or divine favour bestowed upon the sinner. That
such was the fact, is abundantly manifest from the notion
found to have been entertained among heathen nations in
every age, that the anger of Heaven was to be appeased by
bloody sacrifices, and that they could avail to do away the
offensive guilt of injury and crime ; for these heathen sacri-
fices, that have been common in every quarter of the world,
were not borrowed in any measure from those of the Jews,
but had their origin much farther back from those that were
in use in the earliest times, when the family of man was
not yet multiplied into different nations, or scattered over
the face of the earth. Besides all this, too, we are expressly
informed that the Patriarch Job, who was accustomed to
worship God with these ancient sacrifices, offered them
with a special reference to sin ; and that the Lord himself
required burnt offerings from his three friends, to make

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 147

expiation for their offence, and to turn away his wrath, that
was kindled against them. (Job i. 5. xlii. 7 — 9.) It being
clear, therefore, that while sacrifices, before the time of
Moses, were held to be an essential part of religious worship,
they were regarded to be such, especially on account of
their expiatory meaning, the same by which they were so
remarkably distinguished under the law, — we are furnish-
ed with very conclusive evidence that they were suggested
and enjoined from the first, by no other than that God
who formed the design of the True Atonement, before the
foundation of the world, and employed them so extensively
and systematically, to shadow forth its mystery in the Cere-
monial system of the Jews.

This conclusion, as far as it rests on historical grounds,
becomes still clearer, when we go backward, under the
guidance of revelation, and find this service in use, not
merely before the flood, (as appears from the distinction of
animals thus early into clean and unclean, and also by
Noah's sacrifice when he came out of the ark, that was so
acceptable to the Lord,) but in the family of Adam himself,
in the earliest age of the earth. We read of Cain and Abel
offering sacrifices ; and it is so mentioned as to leave the
impression that such worship was not a new thing in this
case : it had been practised undoubtedly before that, if not
by these brothers themselves, yet at least by their father.
But can it for a moment be imagined, that Adam should,
of his own accord, have conceived the notion, directly after
the fall, that God would be pleased with having the blood
of peaceful animals poured out before him in solemn of-
fering, when as yet, the liberty of using their flesh in any
way for food, had not been granted? Are we not rather, in
order to account for his practice in this respect, driven to
the conclusion, that God himself, immediately after his ruin,
when He revealed even then the promise of the New Cove-
nant, appointed sacrifice to be a standing pledge of its grace,
and the special means by which faith should be enabled to
lay hold upon its blessings, until the fulness of time should
come for the full manifestation of that great Real Atone-
ment, on which the whole plan of mercy was to be builded
and secured ? Thus, while the institution became a con-
tinual monument of guilt and death, introduced by sin, ever

148 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

calling them into remembrance, it was ordained to be at
the same time a sure sign of salvation and life — a sacra-
mental memorial, as one has expressed it, showing forth
the Lord's death until he came, by the believing use of
which, the full benefit of that death might be secured to the
soul. In this way our first father, it seems, was instructed
to exercise his faith and find spiritual encouragement, when
there was yet none but himself and his guilty partner in
the world. It has been supposed, with much probability,
that the animals whose skins were employed at first to
make garments for them, were slain and offered up as sa-
crifices by the direction of God. What was thus required
to be observed by the first man, as a necessary part of accept-
able religious worship, was appointed at the same time to
be observed by his posterity, and it became his duty ac-
cordingly, to acquaint his immediate descendants with its
meaning and obligation, so as to have the use of it handed
down from generation to generation. Thus it was made a
solemn duty to worship the Lord by this method — to make
penitent acknowledgment of sinfulness and desert of death
in the symbolic substitution of an unoffending victim to
bleed at the altar, and to show at the same time a believing
confidence in the divine plan for taking away guilt, though
it was not yet understood, by looking in this way, with sim-
ple obedience, for reconciliation and acceptance.

To make use of sacrifice, then, according to the com-
mandment of God, and with the temper that has just been
mentioned, was in any case an evidence of piety and faith.
Thus did Abel bring an offering of the best of his flock,
and presented it as a bloody sacrifice to the Lord : and
hence he is commended to our notice as an example of faith,
by which, it is said, his sacrifice was more acceptable on
this occasion than that of his brother Cain. (Heb. xi. 4.)
This faith clearly supposes a divine appointment, to which
it had respect, and in the end of which it had full con-
fidence, showing both by a simple obedience to the direction
that had been given, in the whole manner of its service.
Cain, on the other hand, evinced no such faith : he offered a
sacrifice, but there was something in the service that was
wrong — not in conformity with the divine direction, and
accordingly it was not accepted. Now if we inquire

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 149

wherein this want of faith particularly was found, it seems
by no means an unlikely answer that has been given, that
it was in refusing to offer a bloody sacrifice, as God had re-
quired, and thus disregarding all the high and solemn de-
signs for which the institution was appointed. He seems to
have followed his own reason, rather than the command-
ment of heaven, and, because he could discern no propriety
in the slaying of an animal as an act of religious worship,
to have persuaded himself that an offering without blood
was the most suitable to be presented to a God who was in-
finitely merciful and good. Thus he made no account of
his own sinfulness, and slighted the blood of atonement,
presumptuously pretending to come before the Holy One,
as if he had never offended, and the way had been free of
all hinderance to the throne of mercy.

It has been generally believed, that the way in which
God discovered his acceptance of Abel's sacrifice, was by
causing fire to descend in a miraculous manner, and con-
sume it, while that of Cain received no such mark of re-
gard. It is clear that some open and striking sign of his
approbation was given, that was easy to be understood ;
and it must be acknowledged altogether probable, that it
was no other than this, which was in certain cases made
such a token, we know, in later times. Thus the Lord tes-
tified of his gifts, and showed himself well pleased with the
piety that presented them, while those of Cain were left
without approbation and without notice. We find in sub-
sequent history, repeated instances, in which the divine
acceptance of sacrifices was testified in this same way.
Thus the Lord answered David and Elijah, and thus he fur-
nished the altar with holy fire, directly after the consecra-
tion of the tabernacle first, and afterwards of the temple.
(Lev. ix. 24. Judg. vi. 21. 1 Kings xviii. 38. 1 Chron. xxi.
26. 2 Chron. vii. I.) Whence it is reasonable to suppose,
that the same token was given also in other cases, where
God is said to have accepted the service, though it is not
expressly mentioned; and it is by no means unlikely, that
all along from the beginning, such displays of heavenly ap-
probation were often granted, for the encouragement of
faith, and to put honour upon the divine institution of
Sacrifice.

n2

150 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

As God's people are sometimes figuratively not properly,
represented to be priests, so the various kinds of spiritual
service with which they honour him, are not unfrequently,
in the same figurative way, spoken of as sacrifices. As
among the Jews, offerings of this sort entered so very ex-
tensively into their whole system of worship, and were in
their nature expressive of different pious feelings, unac-
companied by which they had no worth, it was altogether
natural, that the language of piety should borrow from
their use, a great number of images, and mingle in its ha-
bitual phraseology, a great variety of terms derived from
the altar and its solemn rites. Thus, accordingly, we find
it all through the sacred volume. The Psalms especially,
and the writings of the prophets, abound with this sort of
imagery and allusion. We meet with it also repeatedly in
the New Testament : we are urged to present our bodies
a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, to offer
continually the sacrifice of praise, &c. ; so we hear Paul
speaking of his ministry among the Gentiles as a priestly
work, and of their conversion as an offering, rendered
through his instrumentality, to the Lord ; and again, of his
life being poured out as a drink-offering upon the sacrifice
and service of their faith. (Rom. xii. 1. xv. 16. Phil. ii. 17.
2 Tim. iv. 6. Heb. xiii. 15, 16. 1 Peter ii. 5.)

CHAPTER VI.

SACRED TI3VEES A7STD SOLEMNITIES.

As certain places were more hely than others, in the
Jewish economy, and were honoured with special regard,
so there were certain hours and days and seasons, con-
sidered in like manner more sacred than other times, and
distinguished accordingly by particular religious ob-
servances. These now call for our notice, and will lead us
to contemplate in order the regular public worship of the
Sanctuary ; as this, of course, was determined to such stated
times from year to year.

SECTION I.
THE DAILY SERVICE.

There was a regular public service required to be per-
formed every morning and every evening. Each altar was
to smoke so often, at least, with its appropriate offering,
presented in behalf of the whole nation. (Ex. xxix. 38 — 42.
xxx. 7, 8.) The hours at which these sacrifices were regu-
larly performed, came naturally to be considered as some-
what sacred and appropriate in a peculiar manner for the
business of devotion.

The law prescribed no precise time for the service of the
morning, but directed that the offering of the second lamb
should take place between the two evenings. It is not clear,
however, whether the first evening began originally, ac-
cording to the way of reckoning that was used in later
ages, sometime before the going down of the sun, and with
it, gave place to the second ; or whether it only commenced
itself at sunset, and yielded to the other at dusk. Of the
particular manner, moreover, of either service before the
captivity, we have no account. In later times, though con

151

152 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

formed as far aa there was knowledge, to ancient usage, il
was no doubt in many respects different from what it had
originally been, especially by reason of various vain cere-
monies added to it, such as were so abundantly multiplied
during the second temple, in every part of the national
religion. The Daily Service, as it was thus found in the
age of our Saviour, is described with sufficient fulness in
the Jewish writings, according to the very ancient tradi-
tion of their ancestors. The following is a brief summarj'
of the account of it that has been collected from this
quarter.

The priests who were on duty at the temple, had their
chief place of residence, when not immediately engaged in
their public work, in the north-west corner of the Court of
Israel. Here was a very large building, having a great
room in the middle of it, with four others of less size, that
opened into this, and were placed around it, one at each
corner. This central hall was styled the House of burning,
because a fire was kept constantly in it, m cold weather, by
which the priests might warm themselves during the day,
when chilled in their work, and be kept comfortable
through the night. Here the principal one of their three
particular guards or watches, was continually stationed.
Such as were not required to continue awake in this ser-
vice, sought sleep for themselves on benches round about
the room, or, if they were of the younger class, on the
naked floor itself. Having thus passed the night, they were
required to have themselves in readiness here, very early
in the morning, for going forth, according to order, to en-
gage in the business of the day. This readiness consisted
in being bathed, and dressed in their sacred garments. No
one, it was held, might go into the Court where he was to
serve, until he had washed his whole body in water ; and,
accordingly, they had several rooms fitted up as bathing
places for this purpose. After this first washing, it was
not commonly necessary to wash again during the da}r,
more than the hands and the feet : that, however, was to
be done every time any one came into the Court of the
priests, after having gone out, no matter how frequently
this might be.

Thus ready, they waited till one styled the President came,

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 153

according to his office, to lead them forth, and assign them
their duties. When he was come, they all passed together
out into the Court, with candles in their hands, and ihcre
dividing themselves into two companies, began solemnly to
move round the temple, half taking to the right, and the
other half to the left. Having met on the opposite side,
the inquiry was made, Is all safe and well ? and the answer
returned, Yes, all is well ; and then immediately the pas-
try-man, who had his chamber in that quarter, was called
upon to wet ready the cakes for the high-priest's daily
meat-offering. After this, they all withdrew to a particu-
lar room, in a building of considerable size, that stood at
the south-east corner of the court, for the purpose of having
it determined by lot, who should perform the first duties of
the day. This was done by the president.

The first lot designated the one who should cleanse the
altar of burnt-offering ; and as soon as it was made known,
he went out and set about his work. His particular part,
however, was merely to make a beginning in this ser-
vice, which was regarded as an honourable privilege, and
not by himself to carry it through ; as soon as he had so
done, other priests came to his assistance, and separating
any pieces that might be left of the last day's evening sa-
crifice, to the one side, scraped together the ashes, and had
them in a short time carried away, so as to leave the altar
fit for new employment. These ashes were borne to a
place without the city, where the wind could not easily
scatter them, and no person might ever put them to any use
whatever. The cleansing of the altar in this way was be-
gun, on common days, at the dawn of day ; but during the
three great festivals, much sooner, and on the day of atone-
ment, as early as midnight itself. The work was concluded
by putting- the fire in order, and placing in it any pieces
that were left of the last offered victim, so as to have them
completely consumed.

This first service over, the priests withdrew again to the
room where the lot was given, and had a second class of
duties distributed among thirteen of their number. One
of these duties was to kill the morning victim ; another, to
sprinkle its blood ; a third, to dress the altar of incense, &c.
Half of them were merely to carry certain particular por-

154 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

tions of the sacrifice, after the lamb was slain and cut up,
to the rise of the altar, where it was usual to lay them
down to be salted. There were two more lots, a little after
this ; one for the service of presenting the incense in the
Holy Place, and the other for that of taking up the pieces
of the sacrifice where they were first laid down, and bear*
ing them to the top of the altar to be burned.

The lamb was slain as soon as it was fairly day. It was
considered a matter of importance, however, that it should
never be killed earlier than this, and care was taken to have
it well ascertained beforehand, that day-light was truly
come. Go, (the President was accustomed to say,) and see
whether it be time to kill the sacrifice. Some one immedi-
ately went up to the top of one of the buildings about the
court, and when he saw it to be decidedly day, gave the
word aloud, It is fair day. — But is the heaven bright all up
to Hebron ? (the President would ask.) Yes. Go then, (he
would say,) and bring the lamb out of the lamb-room. The
lamb-room was one of those that were in the great build-
ing that has been mentioned, at the north-west corner of
the court, in the middle hall of which, most of the priests
were accustomed to pass the night. There were always as
many as six lambs kept in it, ready for sacrifice. When
the victim was brought to the altar, although it had been
well examined before, it was again diligently searched all
over with the light of candles, to be sure that it was per-
fectly free from imperfection and blemish. Those whose
business it was, then proceeded to kill it, and dispose of it
according to the common manner of sacrifice. In the
meantime, the gates of the court had been thrown open,
the trumpets sounded to call the Levites and others to their
attendance, and the front door of the temple itself solemnly
unfolded. It was just as this last thing was done, that the
person who had to kill the victim, having every thing
ready, applied the instrument of death to its throat. While
the work of sprinkling the blood, cutting up the flesh, and
carrying it to the altar, then went rapidly forward without,
the two men on whom it had fallen to dress the golden altar
and the candlestick, were found at their business in the
Holy Place. All that he did who cleansed this altar, was
merely to brush off the ashes and coals that were on it,

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 155

into a golden dish kept for the purpose, which he then left
standing by its side. The priest who dressed the lamps,
examined them, lighted such as were gone out, supplied
them with oil, &c.

All these duties being accomplished, the whole company
of priests betook themselves again to the room of lots, and
there united in offering up a short prayer to God, rehearsing
the ten commandments, and saying over the Shema, as it
was styled — a religious form consisting of certain passages
of the law, which was regarded as particularly sacred, and
necessary to be repeated on a variety of occasions. The
Shema was so called because that was the word with which
it always began, meaning in English, Hear ; for the passage
that was first said over, was Deut. vi. 4 — 9, which begins,
" Hear, O Israel," &c. And the other passages that belong-
ed to it, were Deut. xi. 13 — 21, and Numb. xv. 37 — 41.
Not only were the priests in the temple required to say over
this Shema, but every Jew, it was held, was bound to do
the same thing, wherever he might be, every morning and
every evening. This service over, in the case before us, the
lot was once more employed to determine the persons that
should perform the next duties, when they immediately re-
turned to the court of the sanctuary, to carry forward the
morning work.

Then, while the pieces of the slaughtered lamb lay duly
salted upon the rise of the altar, and ready to be carried to
its top, the offering of incense was solemnly presented in
the Holy Place. Two persons were always employed to
perform the duty : one took in his hand a silver dish, in
which was a censer full of frankincense, and the other
carried, in a proper vessel, some burning coals from the
summit of the brazen altar, and thus together they passed
into the temple. Before they entered, however, they caused
the great sounding instrument, that was provided for the
purpose, to ring its loud note of warning, which directly
brought the priests that might be out of the court, and any
of the Levite musicians that happened to be away, to their
proper places, and, at the same time, gave all the people
notice, that they should be ready to put up their prayers
with the incense that was to be offered. The two priests,
also, who had been in a short time before, to dress the can-

156 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

dlcstick and the altar, now went in a second time, just be-
fore the other two that have been mentioned : but they came
out directly again, bringing with them their vessels of
service, which they had the first time left standing in the
Holy Place ; and quickly after them, the one who took in
the censer of coals, having placed them upon the altar, came
out in like manner, leaving his companion, who had to offer
the incense, alone in the sacred apartment. There he wait-
ed, till the President without called to him, with a loud
voice, Offer : at which signal he caused the incense to kindle
upon the golden hearth ; when, all at once, the sanctuary
was filled with its cloud, and its fragrant odour diffused
itself all over the consecrated hill, while the multitude
without united in solemn, silent prayer ; and oftentimes, no
doubt, there went up from hearts, like those of Simeon and
Anna, the breathings of true and fervent devotion, more
acceptable to the Almighty, far, than all the sweetest tri-
bute of the altar.

So soon as this offering of incense and prayer was con-
cluded, the person whose lot it was to lay the pieces of the
lamb upon the' altar top, with as much despatch as possible,
committed them to the sacred fire. Then, while the dark
smoke ascended toward heaven, some of the priests, espe-
cially those who had just been in the Holy Place, took their
station upon the flight of steps that led up to the entrance
of the Porch ; and, lifting their hands on high, solemnly
blessed the people ; one of them, (who, as it would seem
from Luke i. 21, 22, was always the same that offered the
incense,) taking the lead, and pronouncing the words first,
and the others falling in and saying them over all along just
after him, so as to make together one united benediction.
The form of words which they used, was the one so beauti-
ful and expressive, that is found in Numb. vi. 24 — 26 ; and
in answer to it, as soon as it was uttered, the people return-
ed aloud, Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, from
everlasting to everlasting ! After this blessing, the meat
offering of the whole congregation was presented, then that
of the High Priest, and last of all, the regular drink offer-
ing ; when, immediately, the Levites lifted on high their
song of sounding praise, after the manner that has been
already described, and so concluded the morning worship.

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 157

[t was not till about the third hour, or the middle of the
forenoon, that' the whole service was thus finished, and
hence the Jews were not accustomed to eat or drink before
that time of day, holding it improper to do so, until after
this stated season of sacrifices and prayer was over. (Acts
ii. 15.)

The Evening Service began about the ninth hour, or the
middle of the afternoon. (Acts iii. 1.) It differed only in
some few points, of no importance, from that of the morn-
ing1, and- needs not, therefore, 'any separate consideration.
Generally, the particular duties were performed, severally,
by the same persons that did them in the morning, so that
no new casting of lots was required.

These were the stated services of every day ; whatever
other duties might be required on some other extraordinary
days, these were not allowed in any case to be omitted.
Between the sacred seasons of the morning and the evening
worship, there was no particular regular course of employ-
ment in the temple : yet the interval was not unoccupied
with acts of religion ; it was then, that other common sacri-
fices, presented by individuals, were brought forward, from
time to time, to the altar, of whatever sort they might be.

Ye shall reverence my sanctuary, was a holy command-
ment of the Lord himself, and all-reasonable it cerfainly
was, that so solemn a place, especially in the time of public
worship, should not be profaned by impious or thoughtless
folly. The Jews did not, therefore, at any time, manifest
a too careful regard to this point, however solicitous they
showed themselves, in a certain way, to have it secured in
the smallest things. But their zeal was not sound or con-
sistent withal. It became, in some particulars, trifling and
superstitious, while in others, it showed a marvellous indif-
ference to the whole honour of God's House ; here, as in
many other cases, it strained out a gnat, and swallowed a
camel. Thus, it was held unlawful to go out of the Court
of Israel by the same gate that one came in by; or to retire,
when their worship was over, any other way than walking
backwards, lest it should seem disrespectful to the altar and
the sanctuary, to turn the back upon them ; while yet, all
manner of worldly traffic was allowed to be carried on in
the outer court, without scruple or shame. In their care,

Vol. ii. 0

158 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

too, of outward forms, they lost, in general, all concern about
the inward temper, which God especially regards. Still,
much of this attention to outward carriage and appearance
was altogether highly becoming, since true reverence to-
ward God requires this, as well as a right spirit in the soul,
and it is not to be doubted, that the want of it must be truly
offensive in his sight. No person was allowed to enter the
ground of the temple with a staff in his hand, or with his
scrip on, or with money in his purse, as if he were coming
to a place of worldly business-; neither might he go in with
dust on his feet, but must wash or wipe them beforehand ;
nor might he spit upon the sacred pavement any where,
nor might he pass across it, when going to some other
place, because it happened to be the nearest way ; all which
things would have been disrespectful. Nor was any light
or careless behaviour, such as laughing, scoffing, or idle
talking, allowed to be indulged, as being unseemly and irre-
verent, in such a place : but those who came to worship
were required to go to the proper place, with leisure and
sober step, and there to stand during the service, each with
his feet close together, his face turned toward the sanctua-
ry, his eyes bended downward to the ground, and his hands
laid one over the other upon his breast, having no liberty,
in any case, to sit down, or lean, or throw his body into any
careless posture whatever. — What a pity it is that such a
regard to reverence, in outward carriage, is found in so
small a measure in most Christian churches ! How little
sense, alas, do the great multitude of those that visit the
sanctuary now, seem to have of God's presence, even in his
own house, as they come, with light and careless movement,
into its solemn courts, and as they attend, with all manner
of outward indifference upon its sacred services — bearing
on all their looks the image of a worldly spirit, and in their
whole deportment, showing more regard to themselves than
to their Maker! Especially, what a spectacle of irreverence
is olten displayed in the time of prayer : what roving of the
eye, indicative of roving thought within — what show of list-
less languor and weariness, that denotes a mind empty of
all interest in the business of the place — what unseemliness
of posture and manner, such as sitting without necessity,
leaning this way and that way, lolling in every self-indnl-

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 159

gent attitude, changing positions with continual impatience,
&c, all evincing the little impression that is felt of the
high solemnity and importance of the duty, and the little
apprehension that is entertained of the presence and the
majesty, and the infinite glory of the Being that is wor-
shipped, before whom the seraphim are represented as stand-
ing, with their faces and their feet covered, as they cry, in
continual adoration, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of
Hosts.

SECTION II.

THE SABBATH.

The origin of the Sabbath is known to every one that
has read the three first verses of the second chapter of Ge-
nesis, or learned to repeat the fourth commandment. It
did not take its rise, like other sacred days and seasons,
that are soon to be mentioned, with the Jewish system of
worship, that was to pass away; nor was it instituted for
any ceremonial reason, such as we have seen had place in
the case of sacrifices, and of the priestly office from their
earliest appointment. Nay, so remote was its nature from
any such character as this, that it was originally set
apart for the use of beings altogether innocent and holy ;
for the seventh day was sanctified, or declared more holy
than other days, before our first parents were become sinful
and lost : even in paradise, where all days were so full of
the worship of God, this of the Sabbath was to be distin-
guished as peculiarly sacred, and to be observed as a con-
tinual memorial of his goodness and power displayed in
the great work of creation.

We have no express mention made of it again, in the
history of the time that followed before and after the flood,
till the age of Moses; (Ex. xvi. 22 — 30;) which is not to
be wondered at, when we consider how very brief that
history is. There is, nevertheless, sufficient evidence, that
it was not forgotten among the people of God, nor altogether
among those that departed from the true religion. Noah,

160 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

we find, reckoned time by periods of seven days , and from
him some tradition of the Sabbath and of the week passed
down among the various tribes and nations of his descend
ants, in every part of the world, as has been more par-
ticularly mentioned already, when taking- notice of the
ancient manner of dividing- time, in a former part of this
work.

When God formed his covenant with the Israelitish
nation, the ancient appointment of the Sabbath was so-
lemnly called to remembrance, and clothed with fresh
authority. Jehovah himself, from the midst of the awful
darkness, uttered the commandment, in the hearing of all
the people. (Ex. xx. 8 — 11.) It was still uttered, too, as
in the beginning, not as a precept designed for a single
dispensation merely, but as a statute of universal and per-
petual obligation : it was given as one of the ten command-
ments, which comprehended the whole moral law, and were
proclaimed to the ancient church, as the original and fun-
damental rule of God's moral Government, that was never
to be lost sight of, while the world should stand.

At the same time, however, the Sabbath was made to
bear something of a peculiar character, also, in the Jewish
economy, such as it had not before, and was not designed
to retain afterwards. It was invested with a certain cere-
monial sacredness, in addition to that which it had of a
purely moral sort. At least, it was required to be kept
with a peculiar kind of outward observance, that belonged
only to that system of carnal ordinances which was im-
posed on the Israelitish church till the time of reformation.
Hence, the apostle reckons the Jewish Sabbath among
other ceremonial institutions, that were, he says a shadow
of things to come. (Col. ii. 16, 17.) Still, the original
and more essential nature of this institution was never suf-
fered to pass out of sight; but may be found to have been,
all along, distinctly recognized, in the peculiarly solemn
authority with which its obligation was enforced, and in
the moral and spiritual character of the observance with
which it was enjoined to be kept, as well as of the reasons
still assigned fox its sacredness. (Ex. xxxi. 13 — 17. Lev.
xix. 30. Is. lviii. 13. Jer. xvii. 21—27.) To the Israelites,
it was urged as an additional motive for them to remember

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 161

the rest of the Sabbath, according' to its ancient appoint-
ment, that the Lord, whose day it was, had redeemed them,
in his mercy and by his mighty power, from the bondage
of Egypt. (Deut. v. 15.) And because it was given from
the beginning, to be a memorial of God's sovereignty, as
the Creator and Governor of the world, and was designed
to be religiously observed, in pious acknowledgment of
this supreme dominion, it was regarded as a sign of the
covenant that was formed between him and their nation,
which had been taken out of the idolatrous world, to be his
peculiar people; and hence, accordingly, when they ne-
glected the Sabbath, it was considered to be a profane
violation of the covenant itself, and a rejection of the origi-
nal sovereign authority of God, that had in it the nature
of idolatry outright. (Ex. xxxi. 13—17. Ezek. xx. 20.)
The punishment for profaning the Sabbath day, like that
of idolatry, was nothing less than death. (Ex. xxxv. 2.
Numb. xv. 32—36.)

The law required a rigid observance of the sacred day.
All the common employments of life, lawful on other days,
were forbidden to be attended to on this. It was unlawful
even to make a fire ; and a man, on one occasion, was put
to death for gathering sticks, during its time of rest. The
Jews, however, carried their regard to its outward obser-
vance in this way, in later times, to a superstitious length.
While they honoured it with little or no genuine regard in
their spirits, they affected a most scrupulous care of offend-
ing against the letter of the commandment, in their actions :
and yet, even in this care, they showed great inconsistency,
sometimes straining out a gnat, and at other times swallow-
ing a camel. The Pharisees, especially in the days of our
Saviour, laid claim to great conscientiousness on this
point, and often found fault with him for disregarding, ac-
cording to their notion, the sacredness of God's day ;
though, all the while, it was not difficult to be perceived,
that their hatred to Jesus, far more than their zeal for the
Sabbath, called forth their censures and complaints. Our
Lord exposed their malevolence and inconsistency, and
taught the true nature of the sacred day. (Matt. xii. 1 —
15. Luke xiii. 10—17. John v. 16. vii. 22, 23. ix. 14, 16.)
In the sanctuary, there was no rest on the Sabbath from
o2

162 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

the labour of other days ; but, on the contrary, an increase
of work. Besides the daily offerings, two other victims
were required still to smoke on that day, upon the altar :
(Numb, xxviii. 9, 10,) and regularly, as we have seen, the
old shew-bread was to be removed, and a new supply put in
its place. Thus, the priests in the temple profaned the
Sabbath, or spent it in work, and yet were blameless. (Matt.
xii. 5.) It was meet that the public service of God should
not be diminished, but increased upon his own day.

It was usual to make some preparation for the Sabbath
toward the close of the sixth day. (Mark xv. 42.) Ac-
cording to the Jews, it was customary to cease from la-
bour on that day, at the time of the Evening Sacrifice ; and
from that hour till the sun went down, all busied them-
selves to get completely ready for the holy season that was
at hand. Victuals were prepared, (for there might be no
cooking on the Sabbath,) and all things attended to that
were needful for orderly and decent appearance, such as
washing the face, hands, and feet, trimming the beard, &c.
that the day of rest might be entered upon without confu-
sion, and in a manner of reverence and respect. A little
before sunset, the Sabbath candle was lighted in each
house, in token of gladness at the approach of God's day.
At dark, they spread upon the table, from the provisions
previously made ready, a supper, rather better than com-
mon ; when the master of the family, taking a cup of
wine in his hand, repeated the words in Gen. ii. 1 — 3,
blessed God over the wine, said over a form of words to
hallow the Sabbath, and raising the cup to his lips, drank
off its contents ; after which, the rest of the family did the
same ; and then, having washed their hands, they all join-
ed in the domestic meal. Thus began the observance of
the seventh day. On the next morning, they resorted to
their synagogues : or if they lived at Jerusalem, and felt
an inclination to attend the temple, they might go and
worship there. After breakfast, they either went to some
school of divinity, to hear the traditions of the elders ex-
plained, or employed the time in religious duties at home,
till the hour of taking dinner. About the middle of the
afternoon, they again betook themselves to the synagogue
or the temple, for worship. The day was afterwards closed

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 163

with something1 of the same sort of ceremony with which it
had been introduced. In this way, if we may believe Jewish
tradition, the Sabbath was kept under the second temple.

How the Sabbath was spent before the captivity, when
there were no synagogues, we are not informed. Those
who lived nigh the Sanctuary, might attend its worship.
Parents might instruct their children in the knowledge of
the law, as, no doubt, many did with care, regarding the
Lord's repeated injunction. It seems, also, to have been
common to visit the prophets on that day, to receive their
instruction and counsel. (2 Kings iv. 23.)

Our Saviour, who was Lord of the Sabbath, caused it to
be changed from the seventh to the first day of the week,
that it might be, till the end of time, a memorial of his re-
surrection from the dead ; while, being still unaltered in
its essential nature, it should continue to answer, also, as
before, all the purpose of its original institution.

SECTION III.

NEW MOONS AND FEAST *OF TRUMPETS.

Every New Moon, or the first day of every month, was
distinguished by a certain degree of sacredness, from
other ordinary days. From Amos viii. 5, wye learn that it
was not considered lawful to transact worldly business on
such days : When rcill the New Moon be gone, the wicked
are represented as saying, that we may sell corn ? and the
Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat ? Like the Sabbath,
also, they were deemed fit times for visiting the prophets
to receive instruction, and these holy men, it seems,
were accustomed to appropriate them regularly to the sa-
cred employment of giving direction and counsel to all, of
every class, that were disposed to seek it from their lips.
(2 Kings iv. 23.) At the Sanctuary, the New Moons
were observed with particular sacrifices, over and above
the daily sacrifices ; viz. two bullocks, a ram, and seven
lambs, with their meat offering and drink offering, for a
public holocaust or whole burnt offering, and a goat, be-
sides, for a sin offering. (Numb, xxviii. 11 — 15.) These

164 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

sacrifices were attended with the blowing of the sacred
silver trumpets. (Numb. x. 10.)

There was one New Moon, however, distinguished in
point of importance, above all the rest. This was the first
day of the seventh month, Tishri, and so, of course, the
first day of the civil year, which always, as we have seen,
commenced with that month. It was more sacred than
other New Moons, being especially set apart as a Sabbath
or day of rest from all common work ; for the law did not
forbid such work in the case of the others, although it was
considered to have made it, to a certain extent, at least,
improper and wrong, as has just been stated, by the reli-
gious regard with which it distinguished them, in other
respects. The return of this day, which ushered in the
ancient year, was required to be announced and proclaim-
ed with a special blowing of trumpets ; whence it was
called '•'■the day of trumpet blowing" and also '■'■the memo-
rial of blowing of trumpets." It was honoured at the
Sanctuary, by peculiar offerings : the law prescribing for
it, in addition to the sacrifices presented on other New
Moons, a bullock, a ram, and seven lambs, for a burnt
offering, and a second,goat, as it would seem, for a sin of-
fering. (Lev. xxiii. 24. Numb. xxix. 1 — 6.)

Thus, the months and the year were sanctified, as it
were, by having the Jirst-fruits of their time still conse-
crated to the Lord : thus, the Israelite was continually re-
minded that his days, as well as his cattle and his crop,
were all given to him from his Maker, and could not be
employed too unreservedly in his service and for his glory.
It were well, if the recollection of this fact could be ha-
bitually pressed upon the soul, in every age. It were well,
if Christians could be brought to feel, as they ought, that
they are, in every respect, but stewards for God, under
obligations to use all that they have in the way that may
be most for his praise, and for the advancement of his
kingdom; and, that if they are not themselves their own,
but are bound to glorify God with body and with spirit, as
altogether his, it must be strangely inconsistent to look
upon their property, or their time, as less absolutely sacred
for his use, (even if these things were not essentially join-
ed together,) or to waste or misapply them, or to withhold

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 165

them from his service, without a feeling of responsibility,
or a single serious thought of the reckoning, that is surely
to take place with every servant, for the manner in which
he 6hall have improved each single talent given him to
occupy — not for himself, but for his Lord. (Matt. xxv.
14_30.)

These New Moons differed from the Sabbath, in having
only a ceremonial sacredness, while that, as we have seen,
was, in its original institution, altogether of moral charac-
ter. With the close of the Jewish dispensation, accord-
ingly, they lost all their distinction in this respect : ('Gal. iv.
10. Col. ii. 16 :) whereas, the Sabbath, to this day, retains
the whole of its essential nature, and the full measure of
its earliest authority. Still, there can be no impropriety in
setting apart such days, even now, for particular religious
employment, as being naturally suited for profitable use in
this way, if it be done voluntarily, for the sake of pious im-
provement, and not through any superstition. And cer-
tainly a special propriety there is, that the first day of the
year should be observed publicly and privately, after such
a manner. How much more becoming and rational, thus
to recognise the fiig hi of time, so big with awful interest,
than to celebrate its memorial with the shout of revelry,
the boisterous laugh of folly, or the light extravagance of
festivity and mirth!

SECTION IV.
THE THREE GREAT FESTIVALS.
Three times every year, all the males of the Jewish na-
tion, who were of sufficient age, were required to make their
appearance at the Sanctuary, (the tabernacle at first, and
afterwards the temple,) for the solemn worship of God.
" Three times Fn a year," was the commandment, " shall
all thy males appear before the Lord thy God, in the place
which he shall choose ; in the feast of unleavened bread,
and in the feast cf -weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles ;
and they shall not appear before the Lord, empty ; every
man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of

163 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

the Lord thy God, which he hath given thee." (Ex. xxiii.
14 — 17. Deut. xvi. 16, 17.) The feast of weeks lasted only
for one day ; the feast of unleavened bread continued as
many as seven, and that of tabernacles, eight, though only
the first and last, in each case, were considered specially
sacred, being set apart from all common work, except such
as was needed for the preparation of food. (Ex. xii. 16.)

It was on these occasions, that the second sort of first
fruits, firstlings, and tithes, noticed in the last chapter,
were presented before the Lord, and then converted, accord-
ing to his direction, into offering-feasts of sacred gratitude
and joy. Free-will offerings, also, were presented more
abundantly at these times, than through all the year besides,
and made use of in the same way ; for those who lived at
a distance, still kept such offerings, till they wore called to
attend some one of the festivals, and then brought all their
different gifts together to the House of God. Thus, all
came furnished with presents, and no one appeared before
the Lord empty; so that the most liberal provision was se-
cured for the religious entertainments, with which the
feasts were celebrated. These entertainments, it is to be
remembered, were required to be widely social, and to be
made free, especially to the destitute and the unfortunate.
In this way, the people rejoiced together in the presence
of their God, acknowledging his wonderful mercies, and
showing forth his praise ; while, at the same time, they
were drawn with kindly regard toward each other, and led
to mingle their hearts in general benevolence and friend-
ship, as forming altogether, only a single happy family,
and having all a common interest in the kind care of the
same bountiful and compassionate Father. During these
festivals, also, the public service of the Sanctuary was in-
creased with additional offerings, over and above the daily
sacrifices, presented each day, in the name of the whole
congregation. Thus, with public and private sacrifices to-
gether, the altar found no rest, and the flowing of blood
was not stayed from morning to night.

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 167

THE PASSOVER.

The feast of unleavened bread, was so called, because,
while it lasted, no leaven, whatever, was allowed to be
made use of, but unleavened bread alone, was eaten by all
the people. It was called, also, the Passover, because it was
instituted in memory of that night of mercy, when the
Lord passed over the families of his people, while he car-
ried the terror of death into every household of Egypt. We
have a full account of its original appointment, in Exod. xii.
1 — 28. In some circumstances, indeed, that first celebra-
tion which was required in Egypt, was not imitated in
those that were observed afterwards; but in all essential
point*, the example of it was ever after followed. The fes-
tival lasted from the 15th to the 21st of the month Abib or
Nisan, the first of the sacred year. It always fell, accord-
ingly, in the time of our month April, though it came in
some years several days sooner than it did in others, as we
have seen, when considering the Jewish manner of reckon-
ing time. Sometimes, the 14th of the month was termed
the first day of unleavened bread, because on that day, be-
fore evening, all leaven was carefully removed from the
houses, by way of preparation for the festival week.

The principal solemnity of the season, was the sacred
supper with which it was introduced ; and this, more es-
pecially and properly, was that which had the name of the
Passover ; the rest of the feast being called so from it, on
account of its primary importance. This supper was re-
quired to be prepared by every family, unless in cases
where they were small, when two might join and prepare
it together. Nor were any who might be found uncon-
nected with families, allowed to neglect it: such had either
to find admission into some domestic society for the occa-
sion, or to form themselves into companies of proper size,
and so keep the feast by themselves. Each supper, it was
directed, should consist of a whole lamb or kid, a male of
the first year, without blemish, roasted whole, (that is
without being cut up after it was butchered and dressed,)
and served up with unleavened bread, and a salad of bitter
herbs. The victims were to be selected on the 10th day of
the month, and slain on the evening of the 14th, a short

163 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

time before the 15th began to be reckoned; with the com-
mencement of which, at night, the passover suppers were
made ready and eaten. In the case of the first celebration
of the feast, the lamb of each family or company, was
killed at home, and its blood sprinkled upon the posts of the
door; but afterwards, they were all required to be slain at
the Sanctuary, and the blood and fat, as in the case of other
sacrifices, appropriated to the altar. (Deut. xvi. 1 — 7.) The
people were ordered to eat the first passover in haste, with
their loins girded, and in a condition of full readiness for
an immediate journey : this manner, however, which ex-
pressed the quick and sudden departure which they were
compelled to make out of Egypt, seems not to have been
observed in succeeding time, at least not in the latter age
of the nation. If any of the flesh of these sacrifices was
not eaten on the night of the feast, it was to be burned the
next morning.

Various ceremonies were attached to the celebration of
the Passover, in latter times, of which no mention is made
in the ancient law. The following is a brief account of the
manner in which it was observed in the time of our Saviour,
according to the tradition of the Jews,

Individuals might bring their lambs with them to Jeru-
salem : but it was more common to purchase them at the
temple itself, from the priests, who always had a large sup-
ply of suitable ones, ready to be disposed of on the occasion ;
being accustomed, it would seem, to select with care before-
hand, (probably on the 10th day of the month,) from the
general market which they encouraged to be held in the
outer court at these seasons, such as were every way free
from blemish, and to have them in readiness for as many as
wanted to buy, so that they might have more security, in
getting their victims, that they were altogether sound and
perfect, as the law required, than they could have, if left to
look for them themselves in the market, after they had
arrived at the city. It was a regulation, that no lamb
should be used for less than ten persons : each family,
therefore, or company, was required to have at least that
number of members; generally they had more, and some-
times as many as twenty. They were all determined and
fixed before the victims were brought to be slain.

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 169

Women were not directly bound to appear, as the males
were, at any of the three Great Festivals ; yet it was held,
that indirectly the law made it their duty to attend, as far as
circumstances might allow : especially were they under
obligation, it was maintained, to be present at the Passover,
inasmuch as it was written, " The whole assembly of the
congregation of Israel shall kill it. (Ex. xii. 6.) They were
accustomed, therefore, to come up to the feast regularly, in
its season, with their husbands or fathers. Thus, whole
families attended together, and most of the paschal socie-
ties were composed of one or more of them, husbands,
wives, children, and servants, united to celebrate the sacred
supper. In other cases, the companies were formed as con-
venience or inclination directed.

It is easy to conclude, that every room in Jerusalem that
was large enough would be wanted on these occasions, to
accommodate the vast multitude that assembled to keep the
feast. The Jews have a tradition, that the houses of the
city were all at such times regarded as common property,
and were opened to admit as many as they cculd conve-
niently receive, without any charge whatever; so that
strangers, when they came up from any part of the nation,
might make use of any one they pleased that had room for
them, free of all expense, and as a matter of right. Some
have thought, that the inquiry of our Lord's disciples,
" Where wilt thou that we prepare the passover?" proceed-
ed upon the fact of such an usage ; and intimates, that it
might have been made ready any where he thought proper ;
and hence, also, it is to be accounted for, they imagine, that
the man to whom they were directed, so readily gave them
the use of his guest-chamber as soon as they asked for it.
(Mark xiv. 12 — 16.) The tradition, however, like various
other pretty stories that are told about the holy city, seems
to have but a feeble claim to credit : and certainly it is not
needed to explain the case now referred to; since the ques-
tion of the disciples does not necessarily imply any such
thing as it affirms ; and it was as easy for our Saviour to
control the mind of the man whose guest-chamber he
wanted, even if we suppose him to have been altogether
unacquainted with him, as it was for him to make the own-
ers of the colt content when it was said to them, The Mas-

Vol. ii. P

170 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

ter hath need of him, or to rule the spirits of the powerful
and the proud, as well as the affronted feelings of a com-
pany of unprincipled rogues, when twice he overturned the
tables of the money-changers, and drove from the temple
those that profaned it with their worldly traffic.

Exceedingly great care was taken to have every particle
of leaven cleared from the houses, before the time of the
passover began. The law on this subject was very strict,
and to make sure a proper observance of it, the most dili-
gent pains were considered necessary. As early as the
beginning of the 14th day, that is, the night before the feast,
there was a general search made all over every house with
lighted candles, not leaving unexamined the smallest cor-
ner or hole where it was possible for leaven in any shape
to be lodged. The next morning before noon, all that
could be found was carefully burned, or thrown into the
water, or scattered to the wind ; and every one, as he thus
put it away, was accustomed to repeat the established form
of execution, " All the leaven that is within ?ny possession,
which I have seen or lohich I have not seen, which I have
cast out or which I have not cast out, be it as though it were
not ! be it as the dust of the earth .'" Thus was every house
purged for the celebration of the passover ; and after this it
was not considered proper, even so much as to make use of
the word leaven, lest the thought of it should pollute the
mind. The unleavened bread, which was now prepared
for use, was baked in the form of thin cakes, full of holes,
to keep them from the slightest fermentation, unseasoned
with salt, and made only with water, without any sort of
oil : in some cases, the higher class of the people had them
enriched with sugar and eggs, though even such bread was
not allowed on the first day of the feast, but only on those
that followed.

The lambs were all slain, as other sacrifices, in the Court
of the priests. It was a great work to kill and dress so
many as were necessary for the occasion, and required a
considerable part of the afternoon of the 14th day for its
execution. Th^ Evening Sacrifice accordingly, on that day,
was offered before the middle of the afternoon, and the rest
of the day, from thtU time to the end of it, was occupied
altogether with this preparation for the passover. Though

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 171

only one person of each family or society entered into the
court with the lamb that belonged to it, it needs not to be
remarked, that it was still impossible for all these to go in
at once. They were accordingly divided into three large
companies, which were admitted one at a time in succes-
sion. When one of these companies had entered, the gates
were closed, and immediately the owners of the lambs, or
those who brought them in, began to assist each other in
killing them, taking off their skins, and removing the en-
trails and fat. The blood was handed to the priests, to be
sprinkled on the altar and poured out at its bottom, and the
common portions of fat, to be burned upon its lop ; these
standing all along in rows from the slaughtering places to
the altar, and passing the articles from one to another con-
tinually to where it stood. Meanwhile, the Levites sang
over, once, twice, or three times, the 113th, 114th, 115th,
116th, 117th, and 118th Psalms. These were denominated,
when taken together, the Hallel, or hymn of praise, and
sometimes the Lesser Hallel, to distinguish it from another
that was in use, styled the Greater Hallel. As soon as the
first company had their work done, they went out, and the
second took their place, going over the same business in the
same style : so in their turn, the third one filled the court ;
after which it was all washed over with water, as we may
well suppose it needed to be, after such an immense slaugh-
ter. (2 Chron. xxxv. 1— 19.*)

The lambs thus butchered were carried away to the se-
veral houses where they were to be eaten, and immediately
made ready for roasting, by being thrust through from one
end to the other, by a wooden spit or stake, and so placed
before a large fire. According to the commandment, each
was allowed to be thus exposed, till it was roasted in a per
fectly thorough manner. Soon after it became dark, that
is, with the commencement of the 15th day, the passover-
table was spread, and surrounded by its little company, in
all the houses of Jerusalem.

The supper commenced with the ceremony of drinking
a small cup of wrine mingled with water, after having given
thanks over it to God the Giver of all blessings. Every
one had a separate cup poured out, but only one uttered
the thanksgiving in the name of all. This was the Jirst cup

172 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

Then followed the washing of hands, after the manner of
the purifying of the Jews, accompanied with another short
form of thanksgiving to God. The table having been till
this time unfurnished, was now supplied with its provisions,
viz. the cakes of unleavened bread, the bitter salad, the lamb
roasted whole, with its legs, heart, liver &c, and besides,
some other meat prepared from the flesh of common peace-
offerings, that had been presented during the day, and a
dish of thick sauce, composed of dates, figs, raisins, vine-
gar, &c.

The table thus furnished, the leading person, and all thfe
rest after*him, took a small quantity of the salad, with an-
other thanksgiving, and ate it. After which, immediately,
all the dishes were removed from the table, and a second
cup of wine placed before each of the company, as at first.
This strange way of beginning the meal was designed to
excite the curiosity of the children, that they might be led
to inquire what it meaned, according to what is said in
Ex. xii. 26. When the inquiry was made, (for if there was
no child present, the wife or some other person brought it
forward,) the person who presided began, and told how
their fathers had all been servants in Egypt, and how with
many signs and wonders the Lord had redeemed them
from their cruel bondage, and brought them forth from the
place of their oppression, with a mighty hand and an out-
stretched arm. As he concluded the interesting story of
Jehovah's mercies, the dishes that had been removed were
again placed upon the table ; whereupon he said, This is
the passover which we eat, because that the Lord passed
over the houses of our fathers in Egypt; and then holding
up the salad, and after it the unleavened bread, he stated
their design, viz. that the one represented the bitterness of
the Egyptian bondage, and the other the sudden redemp-
tion which the Lord wrought on their behalf, when he
smote the first-born of their oppressors, so that they urged
his people to depart without delay. Then he repeated the
113th and 114th Psalms, and closed with this prayer;
" Blessed be thou, O Lord our God, King Everlasting ! who
hast redeemed us, and redeemed our fathers out of Egypt,
and brought us to this night to eat unleavened bread and
bitter herbs :" which being uttered, all the company drank

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 173

the wine that had been standing for some time before them.
This was the Second cup.

Another washing of the hands now took place, when the
person who presided, taking up the unleavened bread, brake
one of the cakes in two, again gave thanks to God, and
then with the rest began to eat ; each first making use of
a piece of the bread, with some of the salad, and the thick
sauce, then partaking of the peace offering meat, and last
of all of the paschal lamb, with a separate thanksgiving,
still pronounced before each dish. Every one was required
to eat at least as much of the lamb as was equal to the size
of an olive. The meal thus over, they all washed again,
according to the usage of common meals, and then united
in drinking another cup of wine and water. This was
the third cup, and was called, by way of distinction,
" the cup of blessing,'''' because while it stood before them
ready to be drunk, the leader was accustomed to return
thanks over it in a particular manner, for the blessing of
the sacred supper, and for all the goodness of the Lord.
There was yet another cup made ready a little time after,
just before the company rose from the table. It was de-
nominated the cup of the Hallel ; because it was the cus-
tom to repeat, in connexion with it, the principal part of
the hymn of Lesser Hallel : for as it was begun by the
rehearsal of its first two psalms, the 113th and the 114th,
over the second cup, (as we have seen,) so it was now fin-
ished by being carried on through the following four. In
all common cases, this fourth cup closed the celebration of
the feast. It was held to be a duty absolutely incumbent
upon all who took part in the supper, men or women, old
or young, rich or poor, to make use of all the four cups that
have been mentioned.

In the account of the institution of the Lord's Supper,
Luke xxii. 15 — 20, mention is made of two different cups,
which appear to have been the last two of the four that have
now been noticed. Having given thanks over the third
one, and refused to drink it himself, our Saviour took some
of the bread that was left of the feast, and gave thanks,
and brake it, in representation of his broken body, and
then made use of the cup after supper, or the fourth one,
to represent, in like manner, the shedding of his blood :

174 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

after which, as Matthew tells us, they sang a hymn, and so
finished the solemn entertainment. Others, however, sup-
pose, that the third cup was the one which was used in the
appointment of this holy sacrament ; because they think it
clear, from its being said that while they were eating Jesus
took bread and brake it for this purpose, that it must have
been done before the use of that cup, and not after it, as the
other opinion presumes.

The day thus entered upon with the paschal supper was
holy : till the going down of the next sun, it was not law-
ful to attend to any common work. At the same time it
abounded with sacrifices : every male, the Jews tell us,
was under obligation to appear in the temple-court, during
the course of it, with a burnt offering and a double peace
offering. These particular peace offerings were called the
Hagigah, and were considered to be altogether more im-
portant than the common peace offerings that it was usual
to present on other days of the festival. Hence the feast
in which they were on that day employed, according to
the manner of such sacrifices, seems to have been some-
times styled simply by itself, the passover ; though that
name properly belonged only to the paschal supper of the
evening before. Thus, in John xviii. 28, we are told, that
the Jews went not into Pilate's judgment-hall, lest they
should be defiled ; but that they might eat the passover :
while, at the same time, it is clearly stated in the gospel
history, that the celebration of the true passover supper
had taken place the preceding night. In this way, also,
John xix. 14, may be explained; unless it be supposed, that
the preparation of the Passover mentioned there, means
simply the Passover preparation day, or that particular pre-
paration day, (as every Friday, or day before the Sabbath,
was called,) which fell in the week of the Passover. It is
certain, that from the first, other sacrifices, besides those
of the paschal lambs, were required at the paschal solemnity,
which are spoken of also, as making a part of the Passover
with them. (Deut. xvi. 2. 2 Chron. xxxv. 7, 8.) These,
according to the Jewish notion, were all along made use
of as peace offerings for the Hagigah, or sacred feast that
took place on the morrow after the celebration of the
paschal supper. It must be acknowledged, indeed, that

BIBLICA.L ANTIQUITIES. 175

there is no direct evidence that this Hagigah was ever de-
nominated by itself the Passover ; and that the most natural
way of understanding the language of John in the passage
just noticed, would be as referring to the supper commonly
so called. Not a few, accordingly, and these not lightly
learned, have maintained, that our Saviour celebrated the
passover a day sooner than the usual time. But this notion,
whatever plausibility it may seem at first glance to derive
from these passages, and John xiii. 1, inasmuch as it is
confirmed by no other tolerable evidence whatever, and is
accompanied with all manner of difficulty, ought not to be
deemed worthy of much respect. The first day of the
Passover was, it is true, a most unsuitable time for the
confusion and care of a public trial and execution, having,
in a good measure, the same holiness as the Sabbath itself;
but envy and malice overleap every consideration of this
sort ; and it was not hard for Jewish zeal to forget all its
affected rigour, when an opportunity was found to destroy
the hated Prophet of Galilee.

On the second day of the Passover, or the morrow after
the Sabbath, (as its first day was called,) a sheaf of barley
was waved before the Lord, as an offering of the first-
fruits of the harvest, in the name of the whole people : a
ceremony which was required to be accompanied with a
special sacrifice, and that was necessary to introduce the
harvest of every year. (Lev. xxiii. 10 — 14.) On every
day of the paschal week, besides all the peace offerings
and other sacrifices of individuals, there were regular
public sacrifices peculiar to the festival, over and above the
daily sacrifice. (Numb, xxviii. 16 — 25.)

The Passover, it is plain, might begin on any day of the
week, being regulated altogether by the moon. When the
14th day of the month happened to be the regular Sabbath,
the great work of killing the lambs was still performed as
if it had been a common day ; for sanctuary work was
held to be no profanation, in any case, of its sacred rest.
In a case of this sort, however, it was not allowed to carry
the lambs home till the Sabbath was over ; the people
waited with them in the courts of the temple until it gave
place, toward dark, to the second day of the week. Pre-
sumptuously to neglect the passover, in its season, brought

176 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

most dangerous guilt upon the soul; but if uncleanness, or
other unavoidable cause prevented any one from keeping
it at the proper time, he might keep it in the month follow
ing and be accepted. (Numb. ix. 6 — 13.)

The sacrifice of the passover had a special reference to
the death of Christ. This the gospel teaches us, when it
says in the Scripture, A bone of him shall not he broken,
which w?„s spoken so carefully concerning the paschal
lamb, hid its fulfilment when the soldiers brake not the
legs or the Saviour upon the cross. (Ex. xii. 46. John xix.
36.) The same thing the Apostle Paul teaches, when he
expressly calls Christ our passover sacrificed for us, and
represents the happy condition into which Christians are
brought by his death, as a passover feast (not occasional
and transient like those of the Jews, but of perpetual con-
tinuance,) which ought to be kept, not with the leaven of
malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth. (1 Cor. v. 7, 8.) The whole transac-
tion of the first passover in Egypt strikingly prefigured the
saving efficacy of the Redeemer's sufferings. The sprink-
ling of blood upon the door-posts, was only a picture of the
atoning blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God applied to the
sinner's soul : as that was made essential to deliverance
and safety, when the angel of destruction passed through
the land ; so this is needed to secure a far greater redemp-
tion, availing, wherever it is found, to save from hell itself;
while where it is not found, there can be no escape from
eternal wrath ; it is only the sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ, that can ever turn away the sword of infinite
justice from the guilty spirit, or shield it from the touch
of harm when the Lord arises to his holy and terrible judg-
ment. (Heb. xii. 24. 1 Peter i. 2.) In every succeeding
Passover, there was a memorial of this same transaction
in Egypt; and so, of course, an ultimate reference to the
Great Redemption, of which that transaction was ordered
to be so expressively an image and type : thus, while the
institution looked backward, it looked at the same time yet
more significantly forward, showing forth the Lord's death
before it took place, as the Christian sacrament of the Sup-
per has been appointed to do ever since. There was in it
not only a symbolic prefiguration of the ransom secured

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 177

by this death of the Saviour, but a signal also of all the
living' benefit which his people continually derive from him
by faith, in consequence of his amazing sacrifice ; inas-
much as while the blood of the paschal lamb was sprinkled
to make atonement, its flesh was converted into a solemn
peace-offering feast, in token of friendly covenant with God,
and joyful participation of. his grace, which are secured
only by that believing reception* of Christ which he him-
self speaks of when he says, Except ye eat the flesh of the
Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
(John vi. 51—56.)

THE FEAST OF WEEKS.

The feast of iceeks was celebrated at the close of harvest,
as a festival of thanks for its blessings. It was required to
be always observed at the end of seven weeks from the
second day of the Passover, on which the sheaf of first-fruits
was offered, as an introduction to the harvest, and lasted
only for one day. It was because its return was determined
by reckoning a week of weeks in this way, that it was de-
nominated the feast of weeks ; as it was called also Pente-
cost, or the fiftieth day, because this reckoning of weeks
comprehended, of course, a period of forty-nine days. As it
celebrated the goodness of God, in giving the fruits of har-
vest, (whence it was named sometimes the feast of harvest,)
it was distinguished by a first-fruit offering of two loaves
of the new flour, presented in the name of the whole con-
gregation. This offering was accompanied with several
bloody sacrifices ; and there was, besides, a great public
offering of such sacrifices prescribed for the day, which had
no connexion with this, all over and above the regular daily
service. (Lev. xxiii. 15 — 20. Numb, xxviii. 26 — 31.) There
were at the same time many private free-will offerings pre-
sented on the occasion, and converted into sacred entertain-
ments. (Deut. xvi. 9 — 12.) During the public sacrifices that
have been mentioned, it was usual, the Jews tell us, to sing
over the Hallel.

As the Passover was instituted in commemoration of the
wonderful night of redemption, in which the Israelites left
Egypt, so it has been imagined that the Pentecost was de-
signed to be a memorial of the giving of the law from

178 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

Mount Sinai, which appears to have been just about fifty
days later. Of such a design, however, we have no intima-
tion in the Bible.

The da}' of Pentecost has been rendered especially memo-
rable, in Christian history, by the remarkable event of which
we have an account in the second chapter of Acts. By
selecting such an occasion for the descent of the Holy Ghost
upon his disciples, our Lord caused this unanswerable vin-
dication of his truth and power, to have the most extensive
notoriety; for always, at that time, there were dwelling at
Jerusalem, Jews, devout men, out of every nation under hea-
ven, gathered for the celebration of the joyful solemnity.

THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES.

The third great annual festival prescribed by the law,
was called the feast of Tabernacles ; because, during its
solemnity, the people were required to dwell in booths, or
temporary habitations, constructed of the boughs of trees,
such as were made use of in the journey through the wilder-
ness, in memory of which it was appointed to be kept. It
was celebrated from the 15th to the 23d of the seventh
month, Tishri, with which the civil year had its commence-
ment ; the first and the last, as in the case of the Passover,
being considered more particularly sacred and important.
Besides the design just noticed, viz. to be a memorial of the
journey through the wilderness, its appointment had re-
spect to the season of vintage and gathering of fruits, at the
close of which it was observed ; so that it was intended at
the same time to be a festival of thanks for these, or rathe?
for all the produce of the year now gathered from the field,
as the feast of weeks was for harvest, which is spoken of
as the first-fruits of all. Hence it is called the feast of in-
gathering. (Ex. xxiii. 16. Lev. xxiii. 34 — 44. Nehem. viii.
14—18.)

A great number of public sacrifices were required to be
offered during this festival ; an account of which may be
found in Numb. xxix. 12 — 38. The season was also distin-
guished, as the other great festivals were, with private
peace-offerings of various sorts, in dailv abundance. (DeuL
xvi. 13—15.)

Under the second temple, certain peculiar ceremonies

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 179

were introduced into the celebration of the feast of taberna-
cles, in addition to those that belonged to it, originally, by
divine appointment. The Jews pretend, indeed, that inti-
mations of their use, before the captivity, are found in the
Old Testament; but what they show for such, have no
appearance of the sort, except by fanciful interpretation.
Such were these that follow.

1. In the law it was commanded — Ye shall take you, on*
the first day, the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm
trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook ;
and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.
(Lev. xxiii. 40.) These boughs, the Sadducees rightly main-
tained, were designed to be employed in making booths :
but the Pharisees insisted they were designed to be carried
by every individual, in his hand, in token of joy ; and they
farther asserted, that, by the expression translated, the
boughs of goodly trees, (which means, literally, the fruit of
goodly trees,) was to be understood nothing else than apples
of the citron tree, which, accordingly, were appointed to be
carried in the same manner. This was established, there-
fore, as the common usage. On the first day of the feast,
every person provided himself with a small bunch of
branches of palm, and willow, and myrtle, and was seen
carrying it about, wherever he went, all the day long. On
the following days it was not thus constantly carried, but
only when individuals went up to the temple: each day,
however, all were required to visit the temple, with their
bunches in their right hands, and every one a citron in his
left, and thus pass around the altar, crying aloud, Hosan-
na, (which means, save now .') and repeating also the whole
25th verse of Psalm cxviii., whik; all the time the sacred
trumpets were sounding without restraint. On the seventh
day this ceremony was repeated seven times, in memory of
the conquest of Jericho.

2. There was a still more remarkable rite, which con-
sisted in the drawing of water, and solemnly pouring it out
upon the altar. Every morning, duiing the feast, when
the parts of the morning sacrifice were laid upon the altar,
one of the priests went to the fountain of Siloam, and filled
a golden vessel, which he carried in his hand, with its
water. This he then brought into the court, and, having

180 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

first mingled it with some wine, poured it out, as a drink-
offering', on the top of the altar. And still, as this ceremony
was performed each day, the Levites began their music,
and sung over the Hallel; while at times, especially when
the 118th Psalm was sung, the people all shook the branches
which they held in their hands, to express the warm assent
of their feelings to the sentiments breathed in the sacred
nymn. The meaning of the ceremony is not clear : some
of those who mention it, say it was significant of the bless-
ing of rain, which was thus invoked from God ; others tell
us, it was a sign merely of the joy that belonged to the occa-
sion ; others, that it was a symbol of the out-pouring of the
Holy Spirit, according to what is said in Is. xii. 3. With
joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation, which,
it is pretended, was spoken in allusion to the usage in ques-
tion, and so evinces, at once, its antiquity and its sense.

3. Every night, we are told, there was a most extraordi-
nary exhibition of joy, styled the rejoicing for the drawing
of water. When the water was offered, in the morning, the
solemnity of the worship then on hand would not admit
the extravagance of this ceremony ; so it was put off till all
the service of the day was over, when it began, without
moderation, and occupied quite a considerable portion of
the night. The scene of it, was the Court of the Women,
which, for the occasion, was furnished with great lights,
mounted upon four huge candlesticks that overtopped all
the surrounding walls in height. Here, while the women
occupied the balconies round about, above, as spectators,
the Levites, taking their station on the steps that led up
into the Court of Israel, at the west end, began to unite their
instruments and voices, in loud music, and a general dance
was started all over the square. It was, withal, a wild and
tumultuous dance, without order, dignity, or grace; every
one brandishing in his hand a flaming torch, leaping and
capering with all his might, and measuring the worthiness
of his service by its extravagance and excess. What made
the exhibition still more extraordinary in its appearance,
was the high and grave character of the persons that were
accustomed to engage in it ; for it was not the common
people that joined in this dance, but only those that were
of some rank and importance, such as the members of the

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 181

Sanhedrim, rulers of the synagogues, doctors of the law, &c.
It was not until the night was far spent, that the strange
confusion came to an end ; and then only to be renewed
with like extravagance, on the next evening, (unless when
it was particularly holy, as the eve that began the Sabbath,)
as long as the feast lasted. He that never saw the rejoicing
of the draioing of water, runs a Jewish saying, never saw
rejoicing in all his life.

Some have thought, that the whole manner in which our
Saviour was met, the last time he came up to Jerusalem,
was borrowed from the usage, that has been noticed, of
carrying branches in the hand, and shouting Hosanna, in
the temple, on the feast of tabernacles ; and that the use of
the ceremony, at this time, was designed to intimate, that
what the prayer in Psalm cxviii. 25, then so much used,
had respect to, viz. the coming of the Messiah, was now
truly accomplished ; and that Jesus of Nazareth was no
other than this glorious personage, the Son of David, the
Redeemer of Israel, that should come into the world :
whence it was cried, at the same time, in the language
that begins the next verse of the same Psalm — Blessed is
he that cometh in the name of the Lord I (Matt. xxi. 8, 9,
15. John xii. 12, 13.) The use of palm branches on this
occasion, as well as all the show of honour that was made,
seems rather to have been taken from the general ancient
manner of celebrating triumphs, or public entries of kings
into cities ; but there can be no doubt, that the minds of
the people were carried, at the same time, by natural asso-
ciation, to the usage so familiar, of their great feast, and
that their acclamations, accordingly, were really derived
from that quarter. A reference to the ceremony of draw-
ing and pouring out water also, is discovered in the gospel
history : our Lord, it seems evident, had allusion to it,
when, on the last day of the feast, he stood in the temple,
and cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and
drink ! He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said,
out of his belly shall flow rivers of living \vater. It was in this
way, he was continually in the habit of taking advantage
of earthly objects and circumstances around him, to draw
attention to spiritual truths, and to convey the most salu-
tary instruction in a clear and impressive manner ; in the

Vol. II. Q

182 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

case before us, we are told, that he spake of the Spirit, which
they that believe on him should receive. (John vii. 37 —39.)

SECTION V.

THE GREAT DAY OF ATONEMENT.

There was no day in all the year, so important and so-
lemn, in the Ceremonial System, as the 10th of Tishri,
which fell, of course, not quite a week before the feast of
tabernacles. This was the Day of Atonement, when guilt
was called to remembrance in such a way as it was at no
other time, and a service of expiation performed in behalf
of the whole nation, altogether extraordinary and peculiar.
It was required to be observed, therefore, not merely as a
Sabbath of complete rest, but as a day of rigid fasting also,
and general humiliation or affliction of soul, on account of
sin. The atonement that was made, had respect to all the
sins of all the people, from the highest to the lowest, com-
mitted throughout the preceding year ; and was designed
to clear away, as it were, by one general expiation, the
vast array of guilt that was still left, after all the ordinary
offerings for sin, resting with awful weight upon the na-
tion. It comprehended in itself, in fact, the vitality and
chief essence of the whole system of ceremonial expiation,
and required for its accomplishment, accordingly, the ser-
vice of the High-priest himself, in whom was concentrated
the virtue of the entire priesthood, and an entrance with
blood into the Holy of holies, where all the life and glory
of the Sanctuary were appointed to reside.

We have a full account of the manner of this atonement
in the 16th chapter of Leviticus. We are there told how
the High-priest was required to make himself ready, by
washing, and putting on his plain linen garments, in place
of the richer apparel he usually wore ; how he came before
the Sanctuary with a bullock, as a sin offering for himself
and his family, and two goats for the whole congregation ;
how he selected one of the goats by lot, for a sin offering,
and set apart the other for a scape-goat into the wilder-
ness; how he killed the bullock for himself, and after-

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 183

wards the goat for the people ; how he first carried a cen-
ser of coals, with some incense, into the Most Holy Place,
and there caused a fragrant cloud instantly to spread over
the mercy-seat, and fill the apartment; how lie then
brought the blood of the bullock, and the blood of the goat,
into the same awful place, and sprinkled them upon the
mercy-seat, and seven times upon the floor in front of it ;
how, when he came out into the Holy Place, he applied
them also to the horns of the golden altar, and sprinkled
them upon it seven times ; how he afterwards placed his
hands upon the head of the living goat, confessed over it
all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their
transgressions in all their sins, and then sent it away,
thus loaded, as it were, with the people's guilt, into the
wilderness ; and how, after all was over, he again washed
himself in the Holy Place, put on his splendid dress, and
offered a burnt-offering for himself and for the people,
while the whole bodies of the bullock and the goat, wmose
blood had been carried into the Sanctuary, were sent away
to be burned without the camp, as altogether polluted and
unclean.

It was an awful thing to come before the throne of God,
as the High-priest did this day ; and no doubt the duty
was often performed with fear and trembling. The great-
est care was needful, to attend to every part of the service
in a proper manner, and with becoming reverence, lest the
anger of the Lord should suddenly display itself, to crush
him with destruction. It was necessary that he should be
free, at the time, from every sort of ceremonial defilement ;
and it became his duty, accordingly, to guard himself with
the utmost diligence, from every kind of contamination,
for some time beforehand. In later times, if the Jews are
to be believed, he used to retire from his own house, a
whole week before the solemnity taking up his residence,
for that time, altogether in a chamber of the temple, that
he might the better be in readiness for his great duty ; for
which he was accustomed to prepare himself by practice,
in various ways, and by reading over, or having read to
him, repeatedly, the order and manner of the service he
would have to go through.

In the law, it is said, that the scape-goat should be let

184 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

go in the wilderness, to carry clear away, as it were, the
iniquity that was laid upon it, and it would seem that it
was always allowed to escape with life ; but under the
second temple, a different interpretation of the direction
gained place, and it came to be held essential that the
animal should be destroyed. This was always done, ac-
cordingly, by precipitating it from a certain rock, about
twelve miles off from Jerusalem, to which it was led
away directly from the temple. The rock was very lofty
and steep, so that when the unhappy beast came to the
bottom, it was dashed to pieces.

There were particular public sacrifices prescribed for
the day of atonement, besides those that were connected
with the great expiation. (Numb. xxix. 8 — 11.) These, the
Jews say, were offered directly after the regular morning
sacrifice, before that solemn service commenced. They tell
us, too, that no one but the High-priest might do any of the
priestly work that belonged to these or to any other offer-
ings of this day ; but that he was required to perform him-
self, in his rich dress, all the morning service, and all that
was connected with these additional offerings ; then to
change his garments, and go through the work of atone-
ment ; and afterwards, in his common apparel again, having
first offered the two burnt offering rams, one for himself and
the other for the people, to conclude all with the duties of
the evening sacrifice.

The great annual atonement, embodying in itself, as we
have seen, the essential virtue of the whole Jewish system
of expiatory sacrifices, was, of course, the most perfect
picture which the ceremonial dispensation had, of the true
Atonement that was afterwards to appear. The whole in-
stitution of sacrifice was a shadowy representation of the
Redeemer's death, and the whole priestly service had re-
spect to his mediatorial work ; they presented, in common
cases, however, only some particular features of these mys-
teries in any single view, without bringing the scattered
sketches at any time together, or supplying, even in this
separate way, all that were wanting for filling up the ge-
neral representation. But, in the case before us, there was,
as it were, an orderly and complete concentration of typical
images, into a single, full, and striking exhibition of the

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 185

whole at once ; such as, the more narrowly it is contem-
plated, cannot fail to excite the higher admiration, and to
display the more convincingly, in all its colouring, the in-
imitable touches of a divine pencil.

Here was a symbolic representation of Christ's voluntary
sacrifice for the sins of the world, and of his all-prevailing
intercession in the presence of the Father, by which his
people are made partakers of righteousness and eternal life.
The Most Holy Place was a figure of heaven, where God
dwells in eternal glory. As the High-priest entered into
the one to intercede with incense for the Israelitish nation,
so Jesus has ascended into the other, to intercede for the
whole congregation of his church, gathered out of all the
kingdoms of the world. But as the intercession, in the first
case, could not be admitted, except as it came recommended
by blood of expiation, previously shed, so, also, without
shedding of blood, there could be no such intercession of
any avail, in the second ; wherefore, our Lord appeared not
before the infinite Majesty on high, for this purpose, till he
had first offered an adequate sacrifice, on the merit of
which he might found his mediation. He gave his blood
for the remission of sins, and then presented himself in the
presence of God, with the atonement, as it were in his
hands, to make reconciliation with it for guilt, and to plead
its virtue in favour of all who apply to him for life. In
the typical transaction, there was not, indeed, an entire
correspondence throughout, with the mystery it represented :
it was not possible, in the nature of things, that it should be
so. Thus, in the type, the High-priest and the victim were
altogether distinct, while in the true transaction, they were
found in one and the same person ; Christ was himself the
sacrifice and the priest : he offered himself, of his own ac-
cord, as a victim for sin, (as he says in John x. 17, 18, and
in that plea of his prayer for his disciples, " For their sakes
J sanctify myself f) endured, in his own person, all the suf-
fering of an expiatory death ; and then passed, in the power
of an all-sufficient High priest, into the Holy of holies on
high, to sprinkle the mercy seat, as it were, with his own
blood, and obtain eternal redemption for his church. In the
type, moreover, there was, besides the offering for the peo-
ple, a separate sacrifice for the High priest and his family,
<i2

186 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

inasmuch as he himself was encumbered with personal
guilt, and needed atonement for his own sins, before he
could come acceptably before God, to make intercession for
the people : but the sacrifice of Christ was single, and had
respect, altogether, to the sins of his people — he, himself,
being holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.
In the type, at the same time, besides the sin-offering sacri-
fice, there was a scape-goat appointed, to bear away, sym-
bolically, the sins of the nation : both these figures, how-
ever, were answered at once in the death of Jesus Christ.
They presented only two different aspects of the general
nature of the atonement it accomplished; the one shadow-
ing the transaction itself and its influence in heaven ; while
the other expressed, in significant emblem, its full efficacy to
purge the conscience from all guilt, and to remove the
transgressions of all that make application for its benefit, so
that they shall not be remembered in the way of judgment
any more for ever.

The Apostle Paul dwells upon this subject in his epistle
to the Hebrews ; representing the whole priestly office, and
the whole sacrificial system, as typical of the mystery of
redemption, but more particularly directing attention to the
great service of the High-priest on the day of atonement, as
that which comprehended in itself, more especially, its most
perfect and expressive image. Christ being come, he tells
us, an High Priest of good things to come ; by a greater and
more perfect tabernacle, not made ivith hands, that is to say,
not of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves,
but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us. For Christ, he
adds in another place, is not entered into the holy places
made icith hands, which are the figures of the true ; but into
heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the High-priest
entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;
for then ?nust he often have suffered since the foundation of
the world: but now once,inthe end of the world, hath he ap-
peared,to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Heb.
be. 11, 12, 24—26.)

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 187

SECTION VI.
SACRED YEARS.

The Sabbatic Year. Still more to impress the minds
of his people with the great truth, that their time, as well
as their property, was not their own ; and to carry out still
more completely, the ceremonial scheme, God set apart
every seventh year, also, in addition to the days that have
been already noticed, to be, in some measure, sacred and
free from the labours of other years. It was not required,
indeed, that it should be all kept after the manner of a Sab-
bath, or solemn festival, by a continual attendance upon re-
ligious duties. We hear of no extraordinary public sacri-
fices appointed for it, and the people seem to have been left
to occupy the time in a worldly or religious way, according
to their own choice, about as much as in ordinary years.
The land, however, enjoyed a complete rest: the fields were
not allowed to be tilled, nor the vineyards to be dressed ; and
whatever they yielded without culture, was required to be
regarded as common, for all to make use of as they needed,
without being reaped or gathered. (Lev. xxv. 2 — 7. Ex.
xxiii. 11.) The inquiry might naturally suggest itself, how
the nation could be secure from the distress of poverty and
famine, in the observance of such an institution ; but God,
himself, silenced fear on this account: If ye shall say,
What shall we eat the seventh year ? behold, we shall not
sow, ?ior gather in our increase : Then I will command my
blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth
fruit for three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and
eat yet of old fruit, until the ninth year. (Lev. xxv. 20 — 22.)
As no produce was gathered from the soil, it was made a
law, also, that no debts should be collected during the Sab.
batical year : and it was, at the same time, solemnly en-
joined, that no person should be moved by this considera-
tion, to refuse lending to such as were in want, when it
was at hand. The year was called, on this account, the
year of release. Some have entertained the opinion, that this
release required not merely, that debts should be allowed to
lie over, without being exacted, till the eighth year, but that
they should be altogether cancelled and never again called

188 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

for: which, however, as it seems not easy in itself to be re-
ceived, so it cannot be positively established from the Ian-
guage of the law. (Deut. xv. 1 — 11.) The Sabbatical year,
we must believe, had its beginning with Tishri, the first
month of the civil year, when the produce of the land was
all gathered in, and before the time of sowing for another
crop.

During the feast of tabernacles this year, the whole law
was to be publicly read over at the Sanctuary. How im-
portant such a regulation was, when copies of the sacred
writings were, of necessity, extremely scarce, needs not to
be observed. (Deut. xxxi. 10 — 13.)

The Year of Jubilee. There was another year of pe-
culiar and extraordinary character, appointed to be ob-
served, in the Jewish economy. Its return was still at
the end of every seventh sabbatical year, that is, only once
in 50 years. The law directed that it should commence
on the great day of atonement, and that it should then be
ushered in with the sounding of trumpets, through all the
land.

This Year of Jubilee, as it was called, was to be, in all
respects, as much as the common sabbatical jears, a year
of rest to the land, in which there might be neither seed
time, harvest, or vintage. It enjoyed, however, additional
distinctions, exclusively its own. It was a year of restitu-
tion, when the whole state of society was to be, in some
measure, re-organized, and brought back, as far as possible,
to its original posture. It was ordained, that on every re-
turn of the Jubilee, all servants of Hebrew origin, should
obtain their freedom ; and that inheritances, which had
been sold or given up, in the way of mortgage or pledge for
debts, and not previously redeemed, should return, all over
the land, to the families to which they at first belonged. A
particular account of these regulations, and of the manner
in which they were to be understood and regarded, as well
as of the institution of the year of Jubilee in general, is
found in the 25th chapter of Leviticus.

We may well conceive, that the return of the Jubilee
would be hailed through the land, not merely with the
Bound of trumpets, but with much gladness of heart and
general manifestation of joy. It commenced, we may sup-

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 189

pose, on the evening of the day of atonement, after its
great solemnities were over; and so brought with it, as it
were, a proclamation of peace and forgiveness, in answer
to the deep humiliation, and the expiation so awful, with
which the season had been distinguished. And truly, an
interesting spectacle it must have been, and such as might
well excite the most pleasant emotions, even in those who
had no direct personal concern in the privileges of the time,
to behold the gladsome change that was all at once accom-
plished throughout the nation ; when the bond and the poor
found themselves restored to freedom and a home ; when
the unfortunate were raised from distress, and brought
back, each to his ancient patrimony, and the dwelling place
of his fathers ; when the obscure were seen suddenly rising
into notice and importance ; and when the whole face of the
community, in short, was moulded by an almost instanta-
neous transformation, into something of the same general
semblance of order and arrangement that it carried fifty
years before. The whole formed a lively emblem of the
joyful blessings, holy and spiritual, that are brought to
men by the gospel of Jesus Christ, wherever it is received
by faith ; and hence, accordingly, it is said of the Messiah
in prophecy, with allusion to the proclamation of the Jubi-
lee, that he should come to preach or proclaim the accept-
able year of the Lord. (Isa. lxi. 2. Luke iv. 19.)

SECTION VII.

SACRED SEASONS OF HUMAN INSTITUTION.

To the sacred times which God himself appointed in the
law, to be remembered and observed by his people, there
were added, in later ages, some others, that rested, as far as
we know any thing about them, on mere human authority.
These remain to be briefly noticed.

Annual Fast-days. From the beginning, the Jewish
nation was accustomed to observe public fasts, on occasions
of general calamity or danger ; yet they had not, in the
earlier periods of their history, any stated yearly day for

190 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

fasting, except the great day of atonement, that has been
already considered. During the captivity, however, no less
than four additional days of this sort were established,
which continued to be observed in all subsequent times.
These were, first, The fast of the fourth month, in memory
of the capture of Jerusalem. (Jer. lii. 6, 7.) Second, The
fast of the fifth month, in memory of the burning of the
temple. (Jer. lii. 12, 13.) Third, The fast of the seventh
month, in memory of the death of Gedaliah. (Jer. xli. 1 —
4.) Fourth, The fast of the tenth month, in memory of the
commencement of the attack upon Jerusalem. (Jer. lii. 4.)
Mention is made of all these in the book of Zechariah, vii.
3, 5. viii. 19.

The feast of purim. This festival, as we have the ac-
count of its origin in Esther ix. 17 — 32, was instituted to
keep up the memory of that great deliverance which the
Jews had from the wicked plot of Haman, in the days of
Mordecai and Esther. It was celebrated about the middle
of Adar, the twelfth, and regularly, the last month of the
year, and had its name from the word Pur, which means a
lot, because Haman had made use of the lot, in some way
of idolatrous superstition, to determine the time when the
massacre of the Jewish nation might be undertaken with
the best success. (Esther iii. 6, 7.) Two days, viz. the
14th and 15th of the month, were set apart to be observed;
though it was usual to confine the principal celebration to
the first, while it became the practice to keep a preparatory
fast on the 13th, in memory of that in Shushan, on ac-
count of the decree that had gone forth for the destruction
of the nation. The manner of celebrating this festival be-
came, in time, very extravagant and licentious, and so it
has continued to be down to this day. A principal service
has been, to read over all the book of Esther, in the syna-
gogues, and for all present, even the children, at every
mention of the name of Haman, to clap with their hands,
and stamp with their feet, and strike with mallets upon the
benches, in token of deep abhorrence, crying out at the
same time, Let his memory perish ! The part of the time
that is not required to be spent in the synagogue, is occu-
pied with all manner of festivity and mirth ; which it has
not been unusual to*carry to a length not merely of ridicu-

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 191

lous folly, but of downright intemperance, indecency, and
outrageous revelry.

The feast of dedication. This feast was instituted by
Judas Maccabeus, not more than 164 years before Christ,
to be a memorial of the new dedication of the Sanctuary,
that then took place, after it had been profaned by that
wicked wretch Antiochus Epiphanes. This monarch had
set himself, with all his might, to crush the Jewish reli-
gion, and introduce idolatry in its room. He ordered the
service of the temple to cease ; Sabbaths and festivals to be
entirely neglected ; altars, groves, and chapels of idols to be
set up through the land ; sacrifices of swine and other un-
clean beasts to be offered, and incense to be burned at the
doors of houses, and in the streets ; the whole law, in
short, to be disregarded, and the whole Sanctuary polluted;
thus requiring the people to "make their souls abominable,
with all manner of uncleanness and profanation, to the end
they might forget the law, and change all the ordinances."
The Bible was hunted with diabolical persecution, to be
torn in pieces and burned ; and it was made an awful law,
that whosoever was found with the sacred volume in his
possession should be put to death. Among other things,
the tyrant himself " entered proudly into the Sanctuary,
and took away the golden altar, and the candlestick of light,
and all the vessels thereof, and the table of shew-bread,"
with every precious vessel of the place, and carried them
otf into his own land ; and afterwards he proceeded so far in
his malice and profanity as to cause an image of Jupiter,
the chief god of the heathen, to be placed in the temple, the
Sanctuary itself, and its courts to be sprinkled with broth
of swine's flesh, and a sow to be offered in sacrifice upon
the altar of burnt offering. At length, however, God gave
his people deliverance. Judas Maccabeus prevailed over
the oppressor in war; liberty was recovered to the land;
the worship of God was rescued from restraint and perse-
cution. Whereupon, immediately, it was held necessary
to make a public purification of the Sanctuary, and to dedi-
cate it anew, as having been stripped of its sanctity by
the wickedness of the heathen. New holy vessels "were
made for its service, and a new altar also erected, in room
of the old one, which it was thought best to pull down, lest

192 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

it should be a reproach to them, because the heathen haq
denied it. Then was it dedicated with appropriate sacri-
fices, and with songs, and with instruments of music, all
the people rejoicing and praising the God of heaven. The
solemnity was continued for eight days ; and it was at the
same time ordained, that a festival of so many days should
afterwards be celebrated from year to year, with mirth and
gladness, in commemoration of the interesting and joyful
occasion. Ever since accordingly, such a festival has been
observed among the Jews. The dedication of the altar took
place on the 25th of the ninth month, which answered in
part to our December, and so the feast came to have its
commencement ever after, still with that day, falling of
course in the season of winter. (John x. 22.) An account
of the profanation of the temple may be found in the first
chapter of the first book of the Maccabees ; and in the latter
part of the fourth chapter of the same, is contained a his-
tory of the dedication now mentioned, and a notice withal,
of the original institution of this festival to which it gave

CHAPTER VII.

MEMBERS OF THE JEWISH CHURCH.

Having considered the Sanctuary, its ministers, and its
service, it now becomes us to take some notice of the church
at large ; to glance at the manner of its organization, and
the principles that were appointed to unite andVegulate its
general system.

The Jewish church had its origin in the person of the
patriarch Abraham. From the midst of a world rapidly
falling into the deep darkness of idolatry, God called him
to become the Head of a chosen people, with whom his
truth and promises might be deposited and preserved, till
the fulness of time should come for the introduction of the
gospel ; and entered, accordingly, into a gracious covenant
with him, to be, not only his God, but the God, also, of his
seed after him, and to take them for a peculiar nation, con-
secrated to himself, out of all the families of the earth.
That it might be a continual sign and seal of this covenant,
he instituted the rite of circumcision, and required it to be
observed with the greatest care. It became, therefore, a
perpetual regulation, never to be dispensed with, that every
male child among the Jews, arrived at the age of eight
days, whether born in an Israelitish house, or bought with
money of any stranger, should be circumcised. (Gen. xvii.
7 — 14.) The covenant thus solemnly entered into with
Abraham, was afterwards renewed with his posterity at
Mount Sinai. (Ex. xix. 3 — 8.)

Every descendant of Abraham, then, was a member of
the Jewish church : his birth made him heir to all its pri-
vileges, and subjected him to all its authority. He had no
liberty ever to withdraw himself from the relation, if he
might even have been inclined to do so. Hence, the whole
nation was comprehended within the pale of the visible
church, and was spoken of as a holy people — a. kingdom of
priests, in covenant with God, and interested in his SDecial

Vol. II. R 193

194 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

favour and care The whole nation, accordingly, carried
the sign of God's covenant in their flesh, and all its mem-
bers were required to confirm their assent to it, year after
year, by solemnly observing the passover supper, and the
various other institutions which the law ordained ; while
they were, at the same time, considered equally partakers
of all its earthly advantages, and equally concerned in all
the public worship of the Sanctuary with which it was
connected.

Still, there were certain qualifications of a ceremonial
kind, required, in order to a full and free participation, at
any time, of the outward privileges of the church. When
these were wanting, individuals were removed, in some
measure, from the advantageous state which the rest of
the community enjoyed in this respect : they were not at
once excluded, indeed, from their relation to God, as mem-
bers of his visible family, but only shut out for a time,
from the common liberty of its society ; yet, if the dis-
qualification under which they laboured, was wilfully
allowed to continue, when it might be put out of the way,
it caused them to be, in the end, entirely cut off from the
sacred household, and from the commonwealth of Israel,
as transgressors of Jehovah's covenant, and despisers of its
glorious promises. To have part in the outward privileges
of the church, or to engage acceptably in its outward wor-
ship, it was necessary, not only that a man should first of
all have submitted to the rite of circumcision, but that he
should be, at the time itself, ceremonially clean. Hereby,
in that shadowy and symbolical system, it was signified,
that moral purity is the first thing required for drawing
near, acceptably, to the Most High, in any spiritual service,
and that without holiness, no one can ever see the Lord in
peace, or find admission into the happy family of Heaven.

Ceremonial uncleanness was contracted in a variety of
ways, as may be seen by reading the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th,
and 15th chapters of Leviticus. Its necessary duralion
also varied in different cases ; in some instances, continuing
only till sunset ; in others, for a whole week ; and in a few
others for a still longer period. While it lasted, it was at-
tended with considerable inconvenience; for it not only
shut out the subject of it from the privileges of the Sane-

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 195

tuary, but cut him off, at the same time, from all free in-
tercourse with liis friends and neighbours ; since, for any
other person to touch one that was thus defiled, was to make
himself in like manner unclean ; and he was bound, there-
fore, to let his condition be known, and to keep clear of his
acquaintances. The most distressing of all defilements,
was that which the leprosy gave rise to. We have been
called to notice already, how the unhappy victim of this
disease, in addition to all the sufferings directly occasioned
by his malady, was required to separate himself from
society altogether, and to live a solitary outcast in the midst
of the community, (unless he found some like himself,
with whom to associate in melancholy fellowship,) all the
days that his plague lasted upon him.

Uncleanness, however, though in most cases made ne-
cessary only for a limited and short period, did not, in any
case, pass away of itself, without some ceremony of purifi-
cation, undergone by the persons on w horn it rested. In
most cases, all that was required of such a person was to
bathe his body and wash his clothes in water. In other
instances, when the degree of defilement was considered
to be greater, a more solemn purification was demanded.
Thus, when one had become unclean by the touch of a
dead bod^r, or a sepulcnre, or a single bone of any dead
person, in which case the defilement could not be removed
till a week was past, it was necessary that he should get
Borne person that was clean, to sprinkle him, on the third
and seventh days, by means of a bunch of hyssop, with
Bacred water of separation ; after which, on the last day ;
he bathed and washed his clothes, as in ordinary cases, and
so became clean at evening. (Numb. xix. 11 — 22.) The
purification of persons recovered from the leprosy, was ac-
complished with a form of rites altogether peculiar, of
which we have an account in the 14th chapter of Leviticus.

The water of separation, just mentioned, was pure fresh
water, mixed in a vessel with some of the ashes of a red
heifer, burned with particular solemnity for the purpose.
An account of the singular manner in which it was burned,
may be found in the first part of the 19th chapter of Num-
bers. A supply of these ashes was always kept on hand,
for the use of such as might need them for purification ;

196 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

for still, as the quantity furnished by one victim came near
to be exhausted, an additional stock was provided, by select-
ing a new one and destroying it in the appointed way. As
very little of the ashes was needed to make the water of
separation in any case, the quantity supplied by one heifer
lasted a great number of years; so that, according to the
Jews, there were only eight burned for the purpose, dur-
ing the whole time of the second temple. They tell us,
also, that the one burned in the time of Moses, without
any other, served the people as long as till the captivity ■
but in this, their tradition is not entitled to any credit. — As
the service of burning the red heifer returned so seldom, i!
naturally came to be regarded as a solemnity of great
interest ; and in later times, accordingly, was burned with
no small share of the general incumbrance of unmeaning
and superstitious ceremonies, which tradition then con.
trived to hang, with so much industry and zeal, about the
whole ancient system of worship. In the fir|J; place, the
most scrupulous care was employed in making choice of
the animal ; for it was held, that if only two hairs could be
found upon it of white or black colour, it could not be fit
for this use. Then the priest who was to burn it, was shut
up seven days beforehand, lest he might surfer some defile-
ment by touching a grave or a dead body : for the purpose
of preventing which, also, when he passed with a company
of elders and other priests, from the temple to the place of
killing the victim, a great causeway was raised upon arches,
clear across the valley of Cedron, from the eastern gate of
the outer court, in such a way that no grave could possibly
hide in secret under the ground and so pollute the proces-
sion, as it moved over it to the spot of its destination. This
spot, which was arched underneath in like manner for the
same purpose, was on the Mount of Olives, directly over
against the front of the temple. When the company
arrived there with the heifer, the person who had the prin-
cipal service to perform, was required to bathe himself in
a chamber erected there for the purpose ; while the other
priests made ready the wood, tied the animal, and laid it
upon the pile. The person just mentioned then came for-
ward, applied the instrument of death to its throat with his
right hand, received the blood into a vessel in his left, and

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 197

immediately sprinkled it, with solemn silence, seven times,
toward the front of the Sanctuary. The next thing was
to set fire to the pile, and to throw into it, as it was burn-
ing-, some cedar wood, some hyssop, and some scarlet wool ;
first showing each of the articles, however, to the company
around, and saying of it three times over in succession,
This is cedar wood, or hyssop, or scarlet wool, as the case
might be ; to which, in each case, they with great gravity
replied, Well, well, well. After the burning was finished,
the ashes were carefully collected, pounded, sifted, and
laid up for use.

The red heifer, though not presented directly at the altar,
had in it, notwithstanding, the nature of an offering for
sin; as is manifest from the use that was required to be
made of its blood, and from the fact that, like the bodies of
those beasts whose blood was carried into the sanctuary, it
polluted those who were concerned with the burning of it, as
being itself a polluted thing, by reason of the guilt of the
people that was supposed to be laid upon it. Its ashes,
therefore, had a purifying efficacy, on the same principle
that made Mood to be regarded, in other cases, as making
atonement for the soul: they comprehended, as it were, the
essential virtues of the expiatory death, by which they had
been procured ; and, when applied to the unclean, were
designed to signify, properly, an application of the merit
of that death, as having, in its nature, power to cleanse
them from defilement. Thus the whole institution pointed,
with peculiar emphasis, to the death of Jesus Christ, and
expressively represented its availing virtue to purge away
the guilt of all sin from the conscience, as well as to pro-
cure complete deliverance from its pollution and power.
The Apostle Paul, accordingly, teaches us, that its shadowy
and symbolical efficacy, like that of the sin offerings, pre-
sented on the great day of atonement, found the actual
reality, of which it was the figure, only in the blood of
Calvary : for as the sprinkling of the water of separation
upon such as were defiled, rendered them ceremonially
clean, and so fitted them to come before God, in the solemn
service of the sanctuary, from which they had been shut
out ; so this blood, wherever its virtue is applied, cleanses
the soul from real guilt, and qualifies it to approach tho
k2

198 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

living God, in an acceptable manner, with a service alto-
gether spiritual, for which, until thus purged, it is found
totally unfit, and can have no liberty whatever. " If the
blood of bulls and of goats," the apostle argues, " and the
ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the
purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of
Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself with-
out spot to God, purge your conscience from dead vjorks to
serve the living God .'"

PROSELYTES.

To be descended regularly from Abraham, the father of
the chosen race, was accounted a distinction of the highest
sort, and such as elevated every person to whom it belong-
ed, far above all others of the human family. (John viii.
33—59. 2 Cor. xl 22. Philip, iii. 5.) Still, the Gentiles, who
were destitute of this advantage, were not utterly shut out
from the possibility of becoming united with the Jewish
church, and obtaining a part in its sacred privileges. By
renouncing idolatry, and every false religion, and consent-
ing to embrace the faith, and follow the worship of Israel,
they might find admission into the holy family, and become
adopted, with all their posterity, into the same highly fa-
voured state that its other members enjoyed, in virtue of
their descent from its original head. Such as at any time
made use of the opportunity thus afforded, were called pro-
selytes.

There were some Gentiles who became convinced that
the Jewish religion was true, and renounced all idolatry for
the worship of the one living and true God of the Bible, and
yet were not willing to take upon themselves the right of
circumcision. These were not, of course, received as full
members of the Israelitish church, and might not have part
in its more important privileges ; still they were regarded
with considerable favour, and were spoken of as pious per-
sons. They were accustomed to frequent the synagogues
in company with circumcised Israelites, and used often to
visit the temple, also ; they were not bound, of course, to
bring their sacrifices there, when they wished to offer any ;
but as they were allowed to do so, they generally embraced
the privilege, and had them presented at the altar of the

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 199

6anctuary. They were not suffered, however, to offer sacri-
fices there of any other sort than burnt offerings ; and it
scarce needs to be mentioned, that they could not accom-
pany their victims into the court where the altar stood, but
were under the necessity of having them presented, alto-
gether, through the priests. This class of persons, we are
told, were denominated Proselytes of the Gate.

Such as came fully into the Jewish commonwealth and
church, by submitting to the rite of circumcision, and
taking upon themselves the obligation of the whole cere-
monial law, were called Proselytes of righteousness. These
were completely grafted into the Israelitish stock, and min-
gled with the original branches, in the full and lasting par-
ticipation of all its advantages. In latter times, the Jews,
especially the Pharisees, exerted themselves with much zeal
to bring other persons to embrace their religion ; though,
according to the declaration of our Saviour, it was to no
good purpose.*

* The former editions of this book have contained a more full dis-
cussion of this subject than is here presented. It has been abridged
by the committee of publication, for reasons which they doubt not
would be entirely satisfactory.

CHAPTER VIII.

SYNAGOGUES.

Sacrifices could be offered no where else than at the
sanctuary, the great centre of the whole Ceremonial Set-
vice; but other exercises of religious worship might be per-
formed in any place. The law, however, did not prescribe
any other manner of public worship, than that of the taber-
nacle and temple, and we are not informed that any regu-
lar meetings of the people for social prayer and praise, and
for the purpose of receiving religious instruction, were in
use, at any time, before the captivity. There were schools
of the prophets, indeed, where young men were trained up
with every advantage of this sort, for the service of God ;
and it was not uncommon, it seems, for persons that de-
sired such a benefit, to betake themselves, on Sabbaths and
new moons, to places where prophets resided, that they
might be instructed from their lips; but all this brought
only a small portion of the community under the direct in-
fluence of such religious privileges, and fell far short of any
thing like a general system of regular meetings through
the nation, of the sort that has been mentioned. Some have
been confident that such a system of regular weekly social
worship, was actually in use, and have pretended to bring
evidence for their opinion from the Bible ; but the evidence
they produce is not satisfactory, and we are left at last to a
mere conjecture, in support of the notion; that is, we find
it, whether it be false or true, without historical notice.
But of the state of things in this respect, under the second
temple, we are not thus ignorant. After the captivity, so-
cial meetings, held weekly, for religious worship, became
common all over the land. They were styled Synagogues.

Of the origin of Synagogues, we have in history no ac-
count. They seem, however, to have come into use, if not
at an earlier period, at least immediately after the nation
returned from its captivity. One opinion on the subject

200

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 201

is, that Ezra, acting under the direction of God, caused
them to be established for the purpose of securing among
the people generally, a familiar acquaintance with the
law, thus guarding them in the most effectual manner
against the evil of idolatry ; for Ezra had a commission
from Heaven, to restore the Jewish church, and re-organize
its worship, after the confusion into which it had been
thrown by the captivity, so that he has always been re-
garded by the Jews as another Moses, and styled, accord-
ingly, The second Founder of the Law. There can be no
doubt that the institution, in whatever way it originated,
was admirably adapted to answer the end that has been
mentioned, and that it did actually operate with the most
salutary influence, in this way, during all the period of the
second temple.

The word Synagogue means, properly, a meeting or
congregation ; it came naturally, however, to be used also
as the name of the place or house where a congregation
was wont to assemble. At first, synagogue-meetings ap-
pear to have been held either in the open air, or in private
houses ; but after some time, the idea of erecting buildings
of a public kind, expressly for such use, was conceived and
carried into practice. These soon rose wherever, in any
country, a settlement of Jews was found, as well as over
all their own land. Originally, we are told, it was usual
to erect them in fields, some distance off from other houses ;
but afterwards they were put up in cities ; and it was re-
quired that they should always stand in the highest places,
and should exceed in height all the houses about them.
To build a Synagogue, was considered a deed of piety,
greatly acceptable in the eye of God, as to build a church
has often been esteemed in Christian countries. Hence it
is not to be wondered at, that they were exceedingly mul-
tiplied in some places, far more than the necessity of the
people called for. Jewish tradition assures us that there
were no less than four hundred and eighty of them, in the
single city of Jerusalem : a lying statement we may well
suppose ; but such, as in its exaggeration leaves no room to
doubt that the number must have been very great. Any
person, a Gentile as well as a Jew, might build a Syna-
gogue ; for the holiness of the place was supposed to result

202 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

altogether from its consecration, after it was put up, without
being affected at all by any previous circumstances. (Luke
vii. 4, 5.) This consecration was merely by prayer, with
very little ceremony or formality.

We are told by Jewish tradition, that the general form
of Synagogues was always the same. They consisted, in
some measure, of two parts: one of which was called the
temple, and was designed to have some correspondence
with the Most Holy Place of the Sanctuary, being, like it,
retired in the back part of the building, and furnished also
with an ark or chest, made after the model of the ark of the
covenant, in which was kept a copy of the law for the ser-
vice of the place ; the other, which occupied the principal
body of the house, was appropriated for the use of the peo-
ple, when they assembled for worship, and was provided
accordingly, with ranges of seats or pews, for their accom-
modation. Before the place where the ark was kept, and
toward the middle of the Synagogue, was erected a low
pulpit or platform, with a desk in front, where the law
was read and expounded before the congregation. A few
seats were placed behind this pulpit, on which those that
were called elders were accustomed to sit, with their backs
turned towards the ark, and their faces directed toward
the rest of the people, who were all arranged round about
in front of the reader, facing the end of the building in
which the sacred chest of the law had its retreat. Those
seats which were farthest up toward the pulpit, and the
place where the ark was deposited, particularly the seats
on which the elders sat, seem to have been the chief seats
of the Synagogue, which it was considered honourable to
occupy, and which, we are told, the hypocritical Pharisees
were accustomed so much to covet on that account. (Matt,
xxiii. 6.) The women, it is said, did not sit among the
men, but in a sort of balcony or gallery that was raised
along one side, from which they could see into the body of
the house, and hear all the service of the place without be-
ing themselves much exposed to view.

There is a different plan of building Synagogues in use,
at the present day, in the East, more completely accom-
modated to the manner of the ancient temple at Jerusa-
lem. They are made to consist of a court with porches

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 203

round about; a chapel in the middle of it (answering to
the Sanctuary in the Court of the Israelites,) which is
supported simply upon four columns, and has within it the
desk on which the law is spread out and read ; and a co-
vered hall near this last, furnished with seats, for the
people to occupy when the weather happens to be stormy
or cold. It has been imagined by some, that the ancient
Synagogues were constructed upon this plan ; but since
the New Testament leaves us without any hint to deter
mine the matter, it becomes us rather to acquiesce in the
general tradition upon the subject, and to adopt as correct,
the representation already given.

It was a rule, we are told, that no place might have a
Synagogue erected in it, unless it contained at least as
many as ten persons of some learning and respectability,
who were in such easy worldly circumstances that they
could always have leisure to take care of its affairs, and
devote some attention to the study of the law. A congre-
gation, it was supposed, might not consist of any number
smaller than this ; though there was no limit, other than
covenience, to the greatness it might have; and in this
way, accordingly, it was secured, that so many, at least,
should be found in every assembly gathered for religious
worship: for it was the duty of the ten men selected for
the purpose, to take care that their Synagogue should
never suffer a defect in its service in this respect. These
select men seem always to have sustained the dignity of
elders, (which title had respect not so much to their age,
as to their gravity and authority,) and to have had their
place, accordingly, on the seats that were fixed behind the
pulpit. There is another opinion, however, respecting
these ten men of leisure, as they were called, not without
considerable reason in its favour, which represents them to
have been only common persons hired to be always pre-
sent at the Synagogue, when worship was to be performed,
that there might be a certainty of having, at all times, a
sufficient congregation for the purpose. It is a Jewish
saying, that the Divine Majesty will not dwell among less
than ten, that is, that God will not meet graciously with a
less number assembled for public worship ; and he is re-
presented as turning away in anger from a Synagogue

204 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

that should happen to be found without that complement :
but our Saviour inculcated a very different doctrine, for
the encouragement of tbe pious in every age ; If two of
you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they
shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is
in heaven : for where two or three are gathered together
in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matt, xviii.
19, 20.)

Every Synagogue had its officers, appointed to manage
its government, and conduct its religious services. The
supreme direction of its affairs was committed to the care
of a council of elders, and one styled the ruler of the Syna-
gogue, who sustained among them the place of a President.
These elders were persons of respectable and influential
character in society, and such as had more than ordinary
acquaintance with the law, so as to be qualified to take
part with their President, and assist him with their coun-
sel, in the government of the congregation. It seems, that,
on account of their authority in this way, they also, at
times, were called rulers of the Synagogue, though the
title properly belonged only to the officer just mentioned,
who was placed at their head. (Acts xiii. 15.) — Then, be-
sides its presiding ruler and its company of elders, each
Synagogue had its deacons, or collectors of alms, whose
business it was to receive the charitable contributions of
the congregation from week to week, and distribute them
among the poor, as they might happen to be found in need
of such assistance. It was usual, we are told, to have al-
ways three persons appointed to manage this business ;
who, although they acquired some considerable authority
from the nature of their charge, were yet completely under
the control of the superior officers just noticed, and could
never dispose of the alms that were put into their hands in
any way which these might refuse to sanction with their
approbation. — There were also certain ministers, or attend-
ants, of a still more subordinate character, who had parti-
cular employment assigned to them connected with the
general care of the Synagogue and its service ; one espe-
cially, whose business it was to take the book of the law
out of the chest in which it was kept, and give it to the
person who was called upon to read, and afterwards to re-

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 205

ceive it from him again and restore it to its place; who
was intrusted, moreover, as it seems, with the charge of
having the house in order for worship, took care that it
should be swept, when necessary, and kept clean, anti still
opened the doors and closed them before and after the times
of meeting. (Luke iv. 20.)

It was the duty of the ruler of the Synagogue to preside
in all its meetings, and to superintend and direct the whole
of its worship. It was not considered necessary, however,
that he should himself, or that some one of the elders asso-
ciated with him should always take the lead personally in
every religious exercise; though the whole right of doing
this was vested altogether in their body ; and the exercise
of it, accordingly, as well as its responsibility, seemed na-
turally to devolve upon them alone : it was held to be suf-
ficient, notwithstanding, if it proceeded merely under their
immediate direction and oversight; so that other persons
might, by their order or permission, perform such service
with perfect propriety : and hence it was actually the cus-
tom, to have it performed, to a considerable extent, in this
way altogether. Thus in every meeting, different indi-
viduals, who had nothing to do with the direction and go-
vernment of the Synagogue, used to take part in conduct-
ing its public exercises of worship, under the eye of the
president and elders. One of these exercises was to lead in
tli e prayers of the congregation ; another, to read a par-
ticular portion of the Scriptures; another, to address the
people. The person who performed the first mentioned
service used to be denominated the angel of the Synagogue,
that is, its delegate, or representative, appointed to address
the throne of God in the name, and on the behalf, of the
whole assembly. It was usual to have some one appointed to
officiate in this character with Wgular and stated duty ; and
it was a maxim at the same time, that the individual se-
lected for the purpose should be one of the greatest dignity
and worth, eminent above most others in the congregation
for wisdom and virtue, and, if possible, clothed with the
venerable solemnity of age and the experience of a multi-
tude of days. In some cases, however, the angel of the
Synagogue was constituted merely for a single occasion,
and the person chosen to officiate sustained the character

Vol. ii. S

206 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

no longer than the particular service lasted which he was
called upon to perform. The other exercises that have
been mentioned were not appropriated, in any case, as
stated services, to any particular individuals to the ex-
clusion of others ; but different persons were in the habit
of officiating on different occasions, as they were invited to
come forward by the president, either to read or to speak,
or as they received his approbation when they presented
themselves of their own accord for the purpose, and he
found no reason to deny them the liberty. The privilege of
addressing the people, however, was considered much more
important than that of reading, and was, accordingly, al-
lowed with much less freedom : it was, in fact as it appears,
confined in a considerable measure to those who had the
supreme direction, the president either exercising the right
himself, or yielding place only to some one of the company
of elders of which he was the head ; and so far as it was
not thus confined, (for it was still not uncommon to allow
it to persons who held no office in the Synagogue,) it seems
to have been a principle that no one should be suffered to
teach in this way who was not in a more than ordinary
degree versed in the knowledge of the law, and so entitled to
rank among the icise men, as such used to be styled, by
way of distinction from the common unlettered multitude.

As those who ruled the Synagogue, and superintended its
regular service, wTere called presbyters or elders, so they
were denominated, (especially, as it would seem, the presi-
dent and such of the others as were accustomed to take
part in teaching,) by a figure familiar to the east, pastors,
or shepherds ; and had the title also of bishops, or, to use a
different word of the same meaning, overseers, in reference
to the watchful care and authority which it was their duty
to employ in the government of the congregation for its
general welfare and the right order of its public worship.

We find no express mention in the New Testament of
public worship in the Synagogues, on any other day of the
week than the Sabbath. Jewish tradition, however, asserts
that it was common anciently, as well as in more modern
times, to have it regularly celebrated also on the second and
fifth days, (our Monday and Thursday,) and on all festival
days besides, such as new moon, &c. We are told too. that

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 207

it was usual to assemble on these days as many as three
several times, viz. in the morning, in the afternoon, and at
night : but on the week days the service was short, con-
sisting chiefly of prayers, with the reading of only a small
portion of the scriptures; and on the Sabbath, the princi-
pal service was that of the morning, when there was a full
reading of scripture, and an address made to the congrega-
tion ; while the afternoon and evening meetings were occu-
pied more particularly with prayers and singing. Prayer
presented in public worship, was held to be more acceptable
than prayer offered up in private ; so that as many as made
any pretensions to piety were still disposed to resort to the
Synagogues, on its meeting-days, for the performance of
their morning and evening devotions, just, as it was cusfo-
mar}' for serious persons who lived near the temple to go
up to its courts at the times of the daily sacrifices. And it
appears, that the Synagogue was considered an advanta-
geous place for individuals to present their stated prayers
even on days when there was no public service to be at-
tended ; as we read that the Pharisees, to make an ostenta-
tious show of religion, loved to repeat their private pray-
ers standing in these churches; which at other times they
did not scruple to do even in the most public places of the
streets, pretending that when the seasons for this duty ar-
rived, their consciences would not allow them to neglect it
a moment, wherever they might be found, but all, in fact, to
be seen of men and to obtain the praise of uncommon god-
liness among the multitude of the world. (Matt. vi. 5.)

When the congregation was collected together for wor-
ship on the morning of the Sabbath, the angel of the Syna-
gogue began the services of the occasion with an ascription
of glory to God, and a regular address of prayer toward his
holy throne. Then the portion of the law which belonged
to that day was read, and the reading of it closed with
another doxology chanted to the praise of the Most High;
after which followea the reading of the appointed portion
from the prophets. Next came the address to the people,
and afterwards another prayer, which concluded the exer-
cises of the meeting. Such appears to have been the general
order observed in the ancient service of the Synagogue, as
well as it can be o-athered from the occasional hints of the

208 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

New Testament compared with the manifold traditions of
the Jews ; which, it is to be presumed, comprehend much
correct information relative to the whole original manner
of the institution, though it be so confounded with rubbish
derived from more modern usage, as to be in no small de-
gree difficult to be ascertained.

At the close of the prayers the whole congregation were
accustomed to say, Amen, in token of their concurrence
with him that uttered them, in the feelings of thankfulness
or supplication which they expressed. So did they respond,
also, when the priest pronounced the solemn benediction,
according to the form in Numb. vi. 24 — 26. It was usual,
we are told, when this was to be pronounced, for all the
priests that were in the house, if there happened to be more
than one, to take their station on the pulpit, and repeat it
after the manner that was practised in the daily service of
the Sanctuary. If there was no priest present, the angel
of the Synagogue used to repeat it, still introducing it in
some such way as this: Our God and the God of our fa-
thers bless us now with that three-fold benediction appointed
in the law to be pronounced by the sons of Aaron, according
as it is said, " The Lord bless thee, &.c " The people,
however, were instructed to withhold in such a case their
customary response of Amen. So goes the tradition ; and
it adds that this pronouncing of the benediction was toward
the end of the principal prayer, though not altogether at the
close of it.

It was the custom to have the whole law, that is, the five
books of Moses, read over in the Synagogues, every year.
Hence, for the sake of convenience and certainty, it was
all divided into fifty-four sections, as nearly equal in length
as they could be made without serious injury to the sense,
which were appointed to be read in regular succession, one
every week, till the whole was gone over. It was thought
proper to have as many as fifty-four, because the longest years
consisted of that number of weeks, and it was desired to leave
no Sabbath in such a case without its particular portion; but
as the common years were made up of fewer weeks, they
used in the course of these to join certain shorter sections,
so as to make one out of two, in order to bring the reading
regularly out with the end of the year ; for it was held ab-

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 209

Bolutely necessary to have the whole read over, without any
omission, before it was commenced in course again, as it
still was on the first Sabbath after the feast of taberna.cles.
The copy of the law used for this purpose, which, like all
books of ancient time, was in the form of a roll, was written
witli great care, and generally with much elegance. It was
not usual, we are told, for a single person to read over the
whole section for any day, in the Synagogue : but several
individuals, according to the Jewish representation exactly
seven, were called upon to read in succession ; whence it
became the practice to have each of the sections divided
again into several smaller portions for their accommoda-
tion. Any male person, who was not a servant, a tatter-
demalion, or a fool, and was able to read with ease and
distinct utterance, might be invited to bear a part in the
exercise : only it was the custom to call upon some of the
more honourable individuals present in the congregation,
to take the lead in reading the first two or three portions
of the section : particularly it was thought proper to have
the first portion read by a priest, if any was in the house,
and the second by a Levite. It is not clear, however, that
this particular manner, though found prevailing at a later
period, was all observed in this part of the Synagogue ser-
vice in the time of our Saviour.

The reading of the prophets, which followed the reading
of the law, was not practised in the synagogues from their
first institution, but had the origin of its use in the time of
Antiochus Epiphanes. We have already, not long since,
had occasion to mention the persecution which that wicked
monster waged against the worship and the truth of the God
of Israel. The rolls of the sacred law of Moses, whenever
they could be discovered, were destroyed, and the punish-
ment of death was denounced against every individual
with whom a copy of it should be found. In this predica-
ment, those of the nation who still adhered to the religion
of their fathers, wore led to make choice of particular por-
tions out of some of the other books of scripture, (which, be-
cause they had not been in common use, like the books of
Moses, in the public worship of the people, had not fallen
under the same tyrannic condemnation,) and substitute them
in room of the ordinary lessons from the law, in the ser-
s 2

210 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

vice of the synagogue. In this way a new set of lessons
was introduced, which ever afterwards continued in use ;
for although when the storm of that persecution had rolled
away, the original reading of the law was restored as it
had been in the beginning, it was still thought proper not
to lay aside these other portions of scripture, but to have
them read also, in regular order as before, so that it became
a perpetual rule to have two lessons, one out of the law,
and one from the prophets, repeated in this way every
Sabbath. The Jews reckoned, in that class of their sacred
books which they denominated the prophets, not only such
as are actually prophetical in their character, but the chief
of those, also, which are merely historical, such as Joshua,
Judges, Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles : whence the second
series of lessons comprehended portions from these last, as
well as from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Sfc : And these
were not connected in any sort of order with each other,
but had been selected independently, just as they were
thought to have some particular correspondence with the sec-
lions of the law, to which they answered in the order of their
course. As they were quite short, in comparison with the
other lessons, they were not divided in the same way for
several readers, but each used to be read altogether by a
single person.

As the Jews, after the captivity, made use of a language
materially different from that of their ancestors, in which
their sacred books were written, it became necessary still to
have the lessons of the Synagogue interpreted, as they were
read, into the common tongue. It seems that even in the
time of Ezra, immediately on the return of the nation to
their own country, something of this sort was found neces-
sary, when that holy man caused the law to be publicly
read in the hearing of the people. (Neh. viii. 8.) In later
times, however, especially from the age of the Maccabees,
it became still more needful, and was secured, as it ap-
pears, with more systematic arrangement. There is rea-
son to believe, that the idea of distributing the scriptures
into verses was conceived, and put into practice, originally,
for the sake of convenience and order in the interpretation
of the Synagogue lessons. As it was necessary for the
reader to pause every few moments, till the interpreter be-

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 211

side him turned what he read into the common tongue, it
was natural to think of breaking the whole into little por-
tions of suitable length, so that he might not be at a loss
where to stop, or so liable to interrupt and confound the
sense by injudicious division, as he must have been, if left
in every case to cut it up according to his own pleasure :
and when verses were thus introduced into the sacred rolls
of the synagogue, it was not strange that they should, in
time, become established throughout the whole Jewish
Bible, as we have them handed down to our own time, and
still every where in use. The ancient tradition of the Jews
is, that these, as well as the fifty-four greater sections into
vyhich the law was divided, had their origin from no less
a source, than the inspired authority of Ezra himself. The
chapters into which we find all the Bible now distributed,
it may be here remarked, were invented more than 1200
years after the time of our Saviour, and the verses of the
New Testament at a period considerably later still. Nor
was it again, until some time after the whole Bible was
thus divided and sub-divided, that the plan of separating
the verses into distinct little paragraphs, as they are now
found in our common copies of the sacred volume, came
into practice; the original plan having been, to let them still
follow each other, like common sentences in other writings,
in regular order according to the sense, (as all Hebrew
Bibles are still printed,) and to place all the figures, when
the practice of numbering them was adopted, down along
die margin, altogether out of the text itself. And truly it
is much to be lamented, that God's holy word should ever
have been allowed to be so cut up and broken into pieces,
as it has now come to be in our common Bibles, by having
the chapters and verses all completely separated through-
out; as if the Spirit that inspired it, had given it for use in
that style — whereas, the whole has been the contrivance
of man, and tends only to darken the meaning of the sacred
page from beginning to end.

Much of our Saviour's teaching was performed in the
Synagogues. We are told that " he went about all the
cities and villages, teaching in their Synagogues, and
preaching the gospel of the kingdom." It appears, that be-
fore he entered upon his public ministry, while he lived as

212 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

a common man in the town of Nazareth, he regularly at
tended the Synagogue of the place, as one of its members,
and used often to bear part as a reader in its stated ser-
vices : and we find him, directly after he had assumed
his official character, clothed with the power of the Holy
Ghost, addressing the same congregation as a preacher',
in which capacity he continued afterwards to give instruc-
tion in these Jewish churches all over Galilee, and in other
parts of Judea, wherever he came. (Luke iv. 14 — 44.) As
it is not to be supposed that he taught in this way, in any
case, without the consent of the rulers of the Synagogues,
if not by their express invitation, it has seemed strange to
some, that a person so much disliked as he was, by the re-
ligious leaders of his country, should have been suffered,
to such an extent, to enjoy this great advantage for the
dissemination of his doctrine among the people : but we are
to remember, that he was not only a Jew himself, of fair
and unblemished character, and strictly attentive to all the
requirements of the law, but a man at the same time, of
acknowledged wisdom and deep skill in the knowledge of
religion, who had full claim to the title of Rabbi or Doctor •
and that he was a prophet withal, " mighty in deed and
word before God, and all the people," held in honour and
glorified by the general multitude, notwithstanding the
humble style in which he lived, and the weight of reproach
that was flung upon him by the great and the learned of
the land : so that there was no reason or room whatever,
to hinder him from speaking in the Synagogues ; and those
who had the direction of them, even if they had been other-
wise disposed in their own hearts, could not refuse to al-
low the privilege, where the right was so universally ac-
knowledged, out of the respect which they were constrained
to exercise toward popular sentiment. The apostles, who
were also endowed with the highest ability to teach, made
use of the same opportunity for preaching to the people ;
and for a time, the Gospel uttered its loudest sound, week
after week, from the pulpit of the Synagogue : but it soon
became too offensive to Jewish prejudice and pride, to be
quietly endured, and was, accordingly, expelled, to seek
for itself a separate accommodation, in some different quar-
ter. We have on record, a full exhortation delivered on one

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 213

occasion by Paul, in the Synagogue of Antioch, in Pisidia,
which niay give us some idea of the style in which he
was accustomed to improve such opportunity for pro-
claiming the glorious doctrines of {.lie cross. (Acts xiii.
14—41.)

It has been already intimated, that it was the business
of those who had the supreme direction of the Synagogue,
not only to superintend and direct its public worship, but to
exercise some sort of government, also, over the congrega-
tion that belonged to it. They were invested with authority
to take cognizance of particular offences and inflict dis-
cipline upon such of their society as were found guilty of
them. They might employ, it seems, private reproof and
public rebuke; and when the offence was held particularly
grievous, or these milder means proved unavailing to bring
the offender to repentance and amendment, the more ter-
rible penalty of excommunication was at their disposal.
This, we are told, might be either partial, in which case
the person on whom it fell was cut off from the liberty of
free intercourse with every person out of his own family,
for the space of thirty days, though he was still allowed to
enter the Synagogue, provided became not within four cubits
of any body that was in it; and this was the lesser excom-
munication: or it was complete, excluding him from all the
privileges of the Synagogues, entirely, and cutting him 01T
as a heathen man, from the worshipping assemblies of his
people ; and then it was denominated the greater excom-
munication. The design of each was to produce in the of-
fender, humiliation and sorrow for his conduct, and to bring
about a reformation of temper and practice, in whatever re-
spect he had been found guilty ; whence it was common to
inflict the heavier sentence, only after the other had been
made use of once or twice, without accomplishing its pur-
pose. It is not clear that these two sorts of excommunica-
tion were e.o distinctly recognized in the time of our Saviour,
as they came to be at a later period ; but we have sufficient
notice that the punishment itself was in general use, and,
as it seems, under its most severe form, so as to be held in
universal dread by the people. The malice of our Saviour's
enemies took advantage of the power which was thus lodged
in then hands, to hinder the influence of his doctrine: they

214 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

agreed, and caused it to be understood, that if an)r man did
confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the Syna-
gogue ; and many, we are told, even such as stood high in
society, were deterred, by this consideration, from making
such a confession, though they were convinced of his true
character ; for they loved the praise of men more than the
praise of God. (John ix. 22, 34. xii.42,43.The rulers of the
synagogue had power to inflict, also, when it was deemed
proper, the punishment of scourging, which, as we have
already seen, might consist of any number of stripes under
forty, but was in no case allowed to exceed that amount.
Though full enough of severity and shame, it was not reck-
oned so disgraceful or terrible, by any means, as excom-
munication. Our Saviour warned his disciples to expect
the one as well as the other. (Matt. x. 17. John xvi. 2.)

The Jewish Synagogue is entitled to our careful atten-
tion, on its own account, as an institution full of wisdom
in all its general arrangement, to which the true religion
has been greatly indebted in ancient time : but it derives a
still stronger claim upon our interests and regard, from the
consideration, that our Lord was pleased to have it used as
a model or pattern, in the original constitution of the Chris-
tian Church ; so that both in its service and in its govern-
ment, as all who have thoroughly examined the matter are
agreed, the latter became a lively image of the former ; and
though in certain respects altered, of course, to a somewhat
different aspect, was made to exhibit, on the whole, the ge-
neral outline of its features, with clear and striking resem-
blance. Hence, a familiar acquaintance with the order and
usages of the Synagogue, cannot fail to contribute much to
a right understanding of what we find written in the New
Testament relative to the manner of the early churches ;
and even the most general information on the subject sheds
light, in this way, on such points, and is adapted to guard
the mind from error, and help it to a fair conception of truth,
when it attempts to interpret the language of revelation
concerning them. As the Synagogues had their presidents,
their companies of elders, and their deacons, so had the
churches ; and as an evidence that the officers of one were
considered as corresponding in every respect with those of
the other, we find the names, as well as the general powers,

BIDLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 215

with which they were distinguished in the Jewish congre-
gations, faithfully appropriated to them in the assemblies
of the Christians. (Acts vi. 1—6. xx. 17, 28. Philip, i. 1.
1 Tim. iii. 1—13. v. 17. Tit. i. 5, 7. Heb. xiii. 7, 17. 1 Pet.
v. 1 — 4.) We find, too, as far as we have any information
on the subject, the same mode of worship, in a great de-
gree, with that of the Synagogues, practised in the early
churches ; only those who had the direction of it, in the lat-
ter case, were not accustomed to employ other persons to
take the lead in religious exercises, under their eye, and in
their stead, in the same way as the rulers of the Synagogues
used to do ; but in almost all cases exercised, themselves, in
this respect, the right, for the use of which they were re-
sponsible. Thus there was no such a person in the churches
as the angel of the Synagogue, who, without any official
character, was employed to go before the congregation in
their prayers: the presiding elder, or bishop, himself, dis-
charged this duty, as well as that of addressing the people
with religious instruction ; on which account, as it seems,
lie was sometimes distinguished by the appellation of the
angel of the Church * as we find the bishops of the seven
churches of Asia, severally denominated in the second and
third chapters of the book of Revelation. It may be re-
marked, also, that the Lord's Supper, which was regularly
celebrated in the Christian churches every week, was an
institution altogether peculiar to their worship, to which
there was nothing that corresponded, in any way whatever,
in the services of the Synagogue.

*"The only question respecting these angels, or bishops of the
Churches, is. whether they were pasters of single churches, or dio-
cesan bishops, who superintended all the churches within a certain
district, an 1 who were superior, by their otnee, to presbyters. We are
not disposed to enter into a discussion of this controverted! point. It
manifi stly does not relate to tV vital principles of Christianity. Let
every Man investigate this subject for himself, and be fully persuaded
in his own mind. And let not the sweet bond of brotherly love be
severed by differences of opinion respecting points of external order
and government."

CHAPTER IX.

RELIGIOUS SECTS.

The Jews, before the time of Christ, had become very
extensively dispersed. Various causes had contributed to
scatter them into every country of the civilized world, and
they did not fail to make proselytes to their religion wher-
ever they happened to reside. Thus God was pleased, in
his sovereign wisdom, to prepare the way for the dissemi-
nation of the light of the gospel, among all nations; for, not
only was some knowledge of the first principles of all true
religion diffused abroad by this means, but an opening was
secured for the introduction of Christianity into ever)' part
of the Roman empire ; since, in every important place to
which the Apostles came, they found those that professed
the Jewish religion ; and being Jews themselves, were
always allowed at first to preach in the Synagogues. These
Jews, dispersed among the Gentiles, (John vii. 35,) care-
fully preserved themselves, wherever they dwelt, separate
from other people, and still continued to cherish, with reli-
gious fidelity, their connexion with the temple of Jerusalem ;
not only paying for its use the yearly half-shekel tax, as
regularly as their brethren in Palestine, but making it their
practice, also, to visit it personally, for the celebration of
their great festivals, as often as circumstances would allow;
or, when this could not be done, to send gifts by the hands
of others. (Acts ii. 5 — 11.) In Egypt, indeed, where a great
number of them resided, they had erected, about 150 years
before the time of our Saviour, a new temple, exactly after
the plan of that which was at Jerusalem, and established in
it a separate system of public worship, under the care of
Levites and regular priests of the family of Aaron, justify-
ing the measure by a wrong interpretation of Isaiah xix.
18, 19 ; but still the superiority of the temple at Jerusalem
was acknowledged, and the privilege of being connected
with it, by no means relinquished ; so that the Jews of Pales-

216

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 217

tine, although somewhat dissatisfied at first, were eoiitent
in the end to wink at the irregularity, and keep up still a
friendly correspondence with this important branch of their
church. Such Jews as spoke the Greek language were
called Hellenists, or Grecians. These were found not only in
Greece, through Asia Minor, and in Egypt, but in various
other countries of the Roman empire, (so extensive was the
use of that language become,) and even to some extent, as
we learn from Acts vi. 1, in Palestine itself. (Acts ix. 29.
xi. 20.) The whole church, though joined together in gene-
ral harmony as a single body, when its relation to the rest
of the world was in question, was, nevertheless, not free
from sectarian divisions and disputes. Three regular sects
arose under the second temple, and continued to flourish till
the destruction of the state, which differed widely in their
religious sentiments, and charged one another with the
most serious errors — which, in each several case, no doubt
was done not without reason. The precise time when they
took their rise is not known ; but we are assured that they
were all flourishing in the age of the Maccabees, 150 years
before Christ, and must refer their origin, therefore, to a
more remote period. We will now proceed to give some
account of the principles and character of each of them, in
order, after which it will be proper to notice, also, the Sa-
maritans, whose religious faith and worship, being derived
altogether from the Jewish church, give them a natural
claim to our attention in connexion with the Jewish sects.

SECTION I.
THE PHARISEES.

The Pharisees borrowed their name from a word which
means to separate, because they affected to be more strictly
religious than other people, and to be distinguished from
the common multitude, not only for their superior acquaint-
ance with the divine will, but also by reason of their pecu-
liar interest in the friendship and favour of God.

They believed, we are told, in the existence of angels,
Vol. II. T

218 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

and in the resurrection of the dead. (Acts xxiii. 8, 9.) At
the same time, we learn, that they held the doctrine of the
transmigration of souls, so important in certain systems of
heathen philosophy, which pretends that they pass after
death into other bodies, and so, completely forgetful of all
their former condition, continue to act a part upon the
theatre of life, while the frames in which they once resided
lie mouldering in the dust. They held it not, however, in
the same broad extent with which it has been received in
these systems : they did not admit that a human soul might
ever pass into the body of a dumb animal, so as to put any
person in danger of destroying his grandfather, when ha
might venture to kill a calf or a chicken ; and they did not
allow that all souls were appointed to re-appear in succes-
sive lives after this fashion. It was considered a privilege,
it seems, which only the comparatively righteous were al-
lowed to enjoy, after being rewarded for a time in their
separate state, while the spirits of the wicked were doomed
to go away into everlasting torments. It has been sup-
posed, that there is a reference to this sentiment in that
question which was put to our Saviour by his disciples,
concerning the blind man, of whom we have an account in
the ninth chapter of the gospel of John — Master, who did
sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? for it
is not easy to understand how the birth of any one could
be imagined to be thus unfortunate on account of his own
sinfulness, unless under the idea of a previous life enjoyed
by the soul in some other body. How this doctrine of
transmigration was made to accommodate itself to the doc-
trine of the resurrection, which it has just been intimated
was entertained by the same sect, is not by any means
clear. Some have thought, that they were not really dif-
ferent doctrines at all, but that the resurrection which the
Pharisees taught, was nothing more than this transmigra-
tion itself, which brought such as were not notoriously
wicked once more back among the inhabitants of the earth.
Perhaps there was some diversity of sentiment among
themselves in relation to the future fate of souls; in which
case it might be that opinions which were never held
actually at the same time in all their length and breadth
by the same persons, but were only different notions of dift

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 279

ferent classes belonging to the general body, have been im-
properly joined together as entering alike into the common
faith of the whole sect.

The Pharisees have been charged with holding the doc-
trine of fate. But the doctrine of fate is, that all things
take place by such a continual and inflexible necessity as
leaves no room for the action of free causes, and makes it
certain that an event will come to pass, as it does in the
end come to pass, whether preparatory means, which in
fact bring about its result, be put into previous operation or
not — an absurd doctrine that carries its destruction in its
own bosom ; whereas, the great Jewish historian assures
us that this sect, while they held the absolute and unalter-
able certainty of all things according to the eternal deter-
mination of God, yet insisted that the will of man was free,
and that its influence in the great machinery of action
which fills the world, mighty and constant as it is, pro-
ceeds with unrestrained and continual liberty. On this
point, therefore, though these notions of theirs have seemed
to some as incompatible as the two doctrines of transmi-
gration and the resurrection, the Pharisees appear to have
entertained, in the main, the same sentiment that is taught
in the New Testament, and the only one which sound rea-
son can approve. Admitting the self-evident proposition,
that nothing can occur except in accordance with the plan
of Infinite Wisdom, which stretches design through all the
system of creation, and explores at one glance from be-
ginning to end, the whole order of its innumerable changes,
they embraced at the same time, the clear dictate of uni-
versal consciousness, that every man chooses or refuses in
all he does according to his own pleasure, without any
other constraint whatever, so as to be altogether account-
able for every thing that is wrong ; rightly concluding,
that it is as easy for God to make events certain which de-
pend on human will without interfering with its freedom,
as it is for him to make certain those that depend on the
ODcrations of the material world without hindering- their
regular and natural order ; since we must allow, unless we
would represent man to be the empty plaything of chance,
that there is as much order and laic in the manner of all
the changes that take place in his mind, as there is in the

220 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

endless succession of changes which follow each other as
causes and effects in the system of mere matter, though the
nature of these laws and the way of their action be differ-
ent in either case, according to the different quality of the
subjects, viz. mind and matter, to which they respectively
belong.

A primary article in the creed of the Pharisees, and one
that became a most frightful source of evil in their charac-
ter and conduct, was, that in addition to the written law
found in the Bible, and for the purpose of explaining and
completing its otherwise dark and defective system, God
had given also an oral law, to be handed down, without be-
ing committed to writing, by mere tradition, from genera-
tion to generation ; and that this, accordingly, had full as
much obligation upon men as the other, and was to bz
deemed in fact even more important, inasmuch as without
it the whole law, it was maintained, would have been with •
out light, without order, and comparatively without use. It
is needless to say, that the traditions of which this law con-
sisted, were altogether of human authority , and that they
had not all taken their rise at once, but were introduced
gradually from the usages and opinions of different ages,
still gathering new accession to their mass as it rolled for-
ward, till it acquired that monstrous size which it had in
the end. It seems to have been only about a hundred years
before the time of Christ, that they came to be regarded as
of such high importance, that the written law itself was
less in honour and regard ; and the neglect of them was
counted impious as the worst infidelity. Th* traditionary
law, however, claimed for itself, of course, a far more
honourable history, and since it aspired to equal authority
with the true law of God given of old to Moses in the wil-
derness, referred its origin to the same antiquity, and to the
same high and holy source. The Lord, it pretended, had
uttered it all in the ear of his servant on Mount Sinai, that
it might serve to interpret and explain the other law which
was committed to writing. Then Moses, when he came
down into his tent had repeated it all over, first to Aaron
alone, next to his two sons in his presence, then to the
seventy elders, and lastly, while all these still listened, to
the whole assembled congregation of Israel ; so that when

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 221

he went out, Aaron, having heard it four times recited,
was able to say it over in his turn, then his sons, after he
withdrew, could repeat it again ; and on the departure of
these, the seventy elders found no difficulty in rehearsing
the whole still another time before the people — by which
means every body gave it four hearings, and was able to go
home and repeat it tolerably well to his family, while the
priests and elders had it so fixed in their minds that it was
not possible for a particle of it to be lost. Afterwards,
Moses again carefully said it over, just before he died, to
Joshua. Joshua delivered it to the care of the elders. The
elders handed it down to the prophets. The prophets left it
finally to the charge of the wise doctors who flourished
under the second temple, and so it came down in all the
perfection of its original revelation to the latest period of
the Jewish state. Thus the oral law made out its goodly
title to respect and veneration, and presumptuously chal-
lenged for itself a right to control at pleasure the meaning
of God's written word. The Pharisees discovered great
zeal in the support of its claims, and employed it in many
cases to counteract the true spirit of the Bible, actually
making the word of God, as our Saviour said, of no effect
by their traditions. (Mark vii. 1 — 13.) These traditions led
them to observe a multitude of uncommanded ceremonies,
as foolish oftentimes as they were useless, and loaded their
religion with a weight of formality and superstition under
which it was hardly possible for a single right principle of
piety to avoid being crushed and destroyed altogether.

Thus the washing of hands before meals, which had a
very good reason for its practice in the manner that they
were anciently made use of in eating, was converted at
length into a solemn religious duty, and the omission of it
was looked upon as a crime of the most offensive sort, that
merited no less a punishment than death itself. So other
washings, as of cups, and pots, and tables, came to be esta-
blished as sacred duties. In similar style, they added other
precepts, without end, to the divine law ; and clothed indif-
ferent or unmeaning practices with the highest solemnity
of religion.

In all this zeal which they showed in favour of the tradi-
tions of the elders, the Pharisees affected a character of ex-
t2

222 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

traordinary piety ; such as was not content to conform
itself merely to the letter of the law, but sought, for its di-
rection, a higher and more difficult rule. They measured
the worth of their religion by the multitude of its outward
observances, however empty and idle most of them might
be, and fancied themselves more righteous than others in
proportion as they outstripped them in the mere show of
devotion ; though beneath it might be nothing but hyyocrisy
and pride. It was not strange, accordingly, that hypocrisy
and pride should actually characterize the sect, and that,
since they looked upon mere external rites and appearances,
such as strike the attention of the world, as having in them-
selves the nature of righteousness and highest merit, they
should indulge the most selfish passions, always so conge-
nial to the human heart, even while they seemed to others
and to themselves to be continual patterns of the most ri-
gorous piety. The religion which they used, though in
many respects it was severe and hard to be complied with,
had nevertheless two attractions which would have made it
welcome to the carnal mind, if it had been attended with
yet far more difficulty : it was in its whole nature ostenta-
tious, and adapted to secure worldly admiration for the
gratification of pride ; and it was at the same time highly
self-righteous, elevating the man to whom it belonged, ac-
cording to its own representation, to the highest degree of
earthly holiness ; and giving him assurance, on account of
his merit in this respect, of the most unbounded favour of
God — all, too, without any restraint upon the inward man,
which might still rankle with all manner of corruption like
the cavern of a whited sepulchre, and without any regard
to the weightier matters of the law, such as judgment,
mercy, and faith, which might still be disregarded with
contempt, and wantonly trampled under foot. It is not to be
wondered at, therefore, that the Pharisees — though they
distinguished themselves from others as more excellent and
holy than they, and were looked upon by the world as the
most righteous of the earth — though they made many long
prayers in the Synagogues and in the streets — though they
fasted with a sad countenance on the second and fifth days
of every week — though they washed with the most scru-
pulous care day after day, and were so afraid of being con-

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 223

taminated, that 1 hey would not so much as eat with Gentiles
and those whom they counted sinners, such as puhlicans
and harlots — though they paid tithes of all they possessed,
so carefully that not even the smallest garden herbs, mint,
anise, and cummin, were neglected — though they affected
the most rigid respect to the sabbath, and to every form of
worship in the temple and the synagogue — though they
made the border-fringes of their garments large and their
phylacteries broad in token of their piety — and though they
professed the greatest veneration for the ancient prophets,
and builded the tombs and garnished the sepulchres of the
righteous dead — it is not to be wondered at, I say, that the
Pharisees, with all this show of religion, were full of the
most worldly spirit, and under the dominion of the most
shameful principles — that they prayed and fasted and did
ull their deeds of piety to be seen of men— that they
courted every sort of distinction, the uppermost rooms at
feasts, the chief seats in the synagogue, and respectful
greetings and titles of honour in public places — that they
neglected in a great measure altogether the practice of the
highest moral virtues — and that many of them indulged all
manner of secret iniquity in their hearts, and under the
cloak of extraordinary piety were full of the vilest extortion
and excess ; — while yet, all the time, they were blinded to
the hollow worthlessness ot" their character, and really im-
agined, that, on, account of their multiplied duties of out-
ward religion, and the strictness of their formality, they
stood high in the favour of Heaven as truly as they pro-
cured for themselves the admiration and applause of men.
(Matt. vi. 1, 2, 5, 16. xii. 1—14. xiii. 1—14. xxiii. 1—31.
Luke xviii. 9 — 14.) We are not to suppose, however, that
all who belonged to the sect were thus egregiously incon-
sistent and hypocritical; though the general body was un-
doubtedly corrupt, there were not wanting in it persons of
truly excellent and upright character, whose principles of
virtue were laid noon a deeper foundation, and whose mo-
rality acknowledged a more enlightened and comprehen-
sive rule.

Though we are told that those of them who occupied
he seat of Moses, and undertook to explain the duties of
religion, used to inculcate a more difficult and laborious

224 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

lesson than they were willing- themselves to practise,
binding heavy burdens on other men's shoulders to which
they refused to apply one of their own fingers, (Matt. xxiiL
2 — 4,) it is yet certain, that, according to their own system
of righteousness, which made the reality and merit of
religion to consist especially in outward observances, the
Pharisees, as a sect, were remarkably strict and severe.
They are styled by the apostle Paul, the most straitest sect
of the Jewish religion ; (Acts xxvi. 5;) and the occasional
notices, that are scattered through the gospels, of their
minute and careful attention to the wearisome and bur-
densome forms of their own superstition, are enough to
convince us that the character which they had in this re-
spect, was not without reason in their general manner of
life. That they had much of a certain sort of righteous-
ness, which, though false and hollow in the eye of God,
was nevertheless wrought out with exceedingly great care
and pains, far surpassing the common diligence of men in
this matter, is intimated also in that declaration of our
Lord ; I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall
exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye
shall in no case enter into the kingdom of Heaven. (Matt.
v. 20.) The reputation and influence which they acquired
by reason of this eminent character for religion, was very
great, and made them altogether the most powerful party
in the state — an advantage which their pride and ambition
were ever prone to abuse, and which was actually employ-
ed, from time to time, only to disturb the order and tran-
quillity of the country.

But while the religion of this sect professed to take for
itself the strictest rule, and affected to do even more than
the letter of the written law required, it not only gave in-
dulgence to the worst feelings and passions of the heart,
as we have already noticed, but proceeded also to pervert
the true meaning of the word of God, and to erect a differ-
ent standard of morality, less at variance with the natural
temper of the human mind. Thus, as it added to the
truth of Heaven in one quarter, it secretly took away from
it in another; loading it with the dreams of a self-righ-
teous superstition, while it sought to strip it of its native
spirituality and power, in order that it might seem to ac-

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 225

cord completely with that defective and carnal, though
highly imposing scheme of piety which they held up to the
admiration of the world. In some cases, they perverted
the spirit of Scripture, by exalting mere civil statutes into
the place of?noral rules, or insisting, that whatever the law
of Moses allowed must needs be in its own nature right
and safe, under all circumstances; not making a proper
discrimination between principles of public government,
and principles of private morality; and forgetting that with-
out a continual miracle exerted to control the minds of
men, some things must be permitted, on account of the
hardness of the people's hearts, in the constitution of every
civil society, which are not in themselves proper, nor may
at all be adopted as safe maxims for individual conduct.
In this way, they derived some countenance from the
Bible to maxims that were selfish and unjust, and contrary
to the whole general tenor of the Scriptures. (Matt. v.
31 — 42. xix. 3 — 9.) At other times, they adhered too
closely to the very letter of the law, or rather attached to
the letter too narrow a sense, which was altogether at va-
riance with its true spirit. Thus they limited the obliga-
tion of the law, which required them to love every man his
neighbour, to the narrow compass of their own friends
around them, or at least their own people, and considered
themselves at liberty to despise others, and to hate their
enemies, as much as they pleased. (Matt. v. 43, 44. Luke
x. 29 — 37.) By attaching, also, an undue importance to
ceremonial precepts and outioard observances, or looking
upon them as if they comprehended the greatest piety in
their mere forms, they lost sight, in many cases, of true
morality; and brought themselves to be indifferent about
that spiritual service which the Lord requires in all who
worship him, and without which the most diligent and la-
borious show of religion can have no worth whatever in
his sight. In this way they verified, in a remarkable
manner, the old proverb which we find applied to them by
our Saviour : Blind guides ! which strain out a gnat, and
sicallow a camel! They made clean the outside of the
cup and the platter, but gave themselves no concern
about the much more serious defilement that lodged with-
in ; so that, while it was counted a sin of dark enormity to

226 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

neglect an appointed washing of the hands, anger and
malice, and every impure affection were allowed and in-
dulged with little or no sense of their offensive nature ;
and it was even taught, that the commandments of God
had respect only to the grosser forms of the evils they
condemned, as if the secret workings of the soul came not
equally under the eye of the Almighty, or the fountains of
iniquity might have less odiousness in his sight than the
streams that carried their pollution abroad. (Matt. v. 21 —
24. 27—30. xii. 7. xv. 1—14. Luke vi. 7—11.)

Though all the Pharisees maintained a general feeling
of regard for each other, as members of one and the same
sect, they were not at the same time without differences of
sentiment and practice among themselves, such as divided
them into various subordinate parties. Tradition tells us,
that there were as many as seven regular classes of them,
which were distinguished from each other with no incon-
siderable unlikeness, and aimed at very various degrees of
perfection. Mention has already been made, in a different
part of this work, of the Galileans, who sprung, in a great
measure, out of this sect about the twelfth year of our Sa-
viour's life : they became a separate sect, distinguished more
for their notions about government, or rather for their vio-
lence in urging into practice the general notion of the Pha-
risees on this subject, than for any thing else.

SECTION II.

THE SADDUCEES.

According to the common account of its origin, this sect
took its rise between two and three hundred years before
the birth of Jesus Christ. It derived its name, it is said,
from one Sadoc, a disciple of one of the most celebrated
teachers of the age, who fell into, what became afterwards,
its principal error, by mistaking, or abusing, the sense of a
particular doctrine inculcated by his master. That distin-
guished man had taught, that the service of God, and the
practice of virtue, ought to be disinterested, as being in

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 227

their own nature excellent and reasonable, in the highest
degree ; and that it was not proper, accordingly, to employ
mercenary considerations, as he represented them, the fear
of future punishment, or the hope of future reward, as mo-
tives to persuade men to a life of piety. He did not say,
however, or mean, at all, that rewards and punishments
were not to be expected in a future state : but Sadoc, and
another of his scholars, carried out his doctrine to the full
point of this pernicious consequence, and publicly main-
tained, in their subsequent career, that the idea of a world
to come was a dream, and that the soul was destined to
sink into an eternal sleep, with the ruin of the body — if soul
it might be called, which was not allowed fo have any inde-
pendent existence, or to be capable of separation from the
material organization to which it belonged. Contrary as
the infidel sentiment was to the word of God, it did not fail
to find some considerable reception, and to perpetuate itself
as a principal article in the creed of a distinct and important
sect, even while the Scriptures were as universally as ever
acknowledged to be of divine original and authority : for
what inconsistency and extravagance will not the human
mind, in its depravity, consent to, for the purpose of covering
from its sight the awfulness of truth, and shielding its im-
penitent slumbers from interruption, within the dark and
thickly embowered refuges of error ? The wealthy, the ho-
nourable, and the fashionable of the world, who, in every
age, are tempted to seek for themselves an easy and gen-
teel religion, that will agree to tolerate with widest libe-
rality the manners and spirit of the earth, and to administer
withal encouragement and quiet to the unregencrate con-
science, gazing forward upon the future — were not dis-
pleased, of course, with the doctrine of Sadoc ; and still as
the number of his followers multiplied, and acquired to
themselves some name and reputation among men, it
assumed, in their eyes, a more reasonable and engaging
aspect, and was found to bring upon their hearts arguments
irresistible in its favour, till at length the wealthy, the
great, and the fashionable of the land, were, in a large mea-
sure, gathered into the sect of the Sadducees.

Because of the worldly importance, therefore, of most of
its members, though in point of numbers it bore no com-

22S BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

parison with that of the Pharisees, it was a sect of consi-
derable importance in the state. It does not appear, how-
ever, that they took, generally, much part in the public
affairs of the nation : the Pharisees had an influence among1
the people, which always secured to their sect the chief
authority in the government, and against which it was vain
to contend ; and, at the same time, the Sadducees seem to
have been, to a considerable extent, of the opinion, that life
might be enjoyed, on the whole, full as well, if not better,
in the easy luxury of a private condition, crowded with all
manner of worldly pleasures, as amid the cares of office and
the drudgery of public service. Still, they were not ex-
cluded by any means, nor did they withdraw themselves,
altogether, from places of trust and power : some of their
number occupied, at times, the highest offices in the state ;
yea, more than once, the mitre of the High Priest itself was
allowed to encircle the brow of an infidel Sadducee ! In such
cases, however, they were under the necessity of comply-
ing, in a great measure, with the views and wishes of the
Pharisees, since they would not otherwise have been tole-
rated by the people.

We find the great error of the sect noticed in the New
Testament : they maintained, we are told, that there is no
resurrection, neither angel nor spirit. (Matt. xxii. 23. Acts
xxiii. 8.) From other authority we learn, that they erred
also on the subject of the overruling providence of God:
they thought that the doctrine of the Pharisees, which re-
presented all events to be certain, as much before they come
to pass as they are afterwards, according to the wise and
eternal determination of Him who contrived, constructed,
and continually sustains, the vast machinery of the uni-
verse, was not compatible with that freedom of will and
antion, of which every moral being is' conscious ; and they
professed to believe, accordingly, that no such certainty
exists ; but that the affairs of the world, at least as far as
they are connected, directly or indirectly, with the actions
of men, proceed in a way of liberty so absolute, as to be
entirely uninfluenced by divine will, and utterly independ-
ent of divine direction. Thus, in their zeal to escape the bug-
bear of fatal necessity, and while they attempted to commit
the reins of every man's destiny, as much as possible, into

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 229

his own hands, they thrust God, in their doctrine, from the
throne of the universe, divested him in part of his glorious
perfections, and delivered the whole order of the world to the
government of chance — if order, that might be called, which
reason or rule could have none, but must, according to the
idea of its highest perfection, unfold its series of events
from day to day, altogether without determinate principle,
and unconstrained by a single fixed or systematic influence.

If, in the points that have been mentioned, the creed of
the Sadducees was sadly erroneous, when compared with
that of the Pharisees, it was greatly to be preferred to it in
the respect which it showed for the written word of God.
It rejected altogether the authority of that oral law, of
which the Pharisees made so wicked a use, and rightly in-
sisted that the Scriptures, of themselves, were abundantly
sufficient to direct the faith and practice of men ; that they
ought to be received as the only infallible revelation of God's
will; and that to allow any tradition whatever an equal
sacredness, was presumptuous and profane. It has been
suspected by some, that while it thus laudably trampled
under foot the traditions of the elders, it covered the merit
of that zeal with shame as great, by proceeding yet farther
to disclaim a large part of the Bible itself; refusing to ac-
knowledge as the word of God, any thing more than the
pentateuch, or five books of Moses, after the manner of the
Samaritans, with whom Sadoc, it is said, took refuge for a
time, to escape the displeasure of his own country m-en, when
he first began to publish his doctrine. This idea, it must
be acknowledged, seems to have no small weight of proba-
bility in its favour, from the consideration that there is such
clear contradiction to the leading sentiment of the Sadducee
sect, in other parts of Scripture, as it is hard to see how
they could get along with it at all, unless by rejecting the
whole; and it appears, moreover, to derive indirect con-
firmation from the fact, that our Saviour, when he urged
the authority of God's word against their doctrine, on a
certain occasion, drew his argument only from the penta-
teuch, when he might have brought more direct and expli-
cit testimony, as it would seem, from other portions of
revelation, if all the Jewish Bible had been received by those
whom he undertook to convince of error. (Matt. xxii. 31,

Vol. II. U

230 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

32.) Still, it is an idea unsupported by an)' positive evidence
whatever ; and, more than this, it is pretty clearly disco-
vered to be erroneous, from the use that is found, out of the
Jewish writings, to have been made, in controversy with
(he Sadducees, of other books of the Old Testament, besides
those of Moses, and even by the sect itself, in support of its
own opinions, while no charge of rejecting any part of re-
flation is ever urged against them.

The Sadducees are represented to have been characterized
in general, by a selfish and unsociable spirit. Without
much sectarian interest to knit them in friendly union
among themselves, they felt still less regard for other
members of the community ; and as, according to their
system, the man who secured for himself the greatest
amount of personal enjoyment in this present world, was
supposed to make the best use of life, they appear to have
contracted the sympathies of their nature within a narrow
compass, and to have made it their great concern to fill
their own houses with comfort and pleasure, and to shut
out from them the sound of sorrow, deliberately closing
their hearts against all the gentle powers of charity, and
leaving all the rest of the world to their fortune, evil or
happy, with cold and careless indifference. The poor, and
especially the unfortunate, were excluded from their fa-
vourable regard : they overlooked them with unfeeling
neglect. It may be, however, that calumny has flung a
darker colouring over the picture of the Sadducee charac-
ter, in this respect, than the original ever gave reason for.

The sect of the Sadducees, it seems, did not retain much
of its importance long after the destruction of the temple
and the state. It shrunk at last into insignificance, and
expired ; while that of the Pharisees continually diffused
and strengthened the authority of its creed, till in the end,
though its name has passed out of use, its sentiments have
become the most unanimous faith of the whole Jewish people.
There is still, however, a little sect — a very little one — that
dares to dissent from the general body, and reject, like the
Sadducees of old, the whole system of traditions, acknow-
ledging only the written word to be of supreme and divine
authority, in every question of religious faith or practice.
It has been imagined by some, that it ought to be regarded

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 231

as the feeble remnant of the ancient sect of Sadoc itself,
still struggling to sustain itself after so many centuries, amid
the triumphs of its rival; but since it disclaims altogether
the Sadducee infidelity, admitting the existence of angels,
and allowing the reality of a future state, there seems to
be no good reason to derive it from so foul an original.
The sect of the Cardites (for so they are called) has been
in existence more than a thousand years, all along bearing
witness for the true word of God, against the overwhelming
influence of the Kabbinists as the party that embraces the
Pharisee doctrine of traditions, has come to be denomi-
nated, and endeavouring to retain, in their little body, some
image of the ancient faith of Israel, amid the melancholy
rubbish of superstition and corruption that is gathered
upon the ruins of their national religion.

SECTION III.
THE ESSENES.

The Essenes are not noticed in the New Testament : for
although their sect was in as flourishing a state in the days
of our Saviour, as it ever was at any time, yet their manner
of life separated them in a great measure from the scenes
of his ministry, and cut them off from all connexion with
the interesting events of his history. All our knowledge of
this remarkable class of Jews, accordingly, is derived
from other sources ; not, however, threugh the streams of
uncertain tradition, as in some other cases we are compel-
led to derive information from the distant region of anti-
quity, but by the testimony of authentic history, conveyed
in sure and regular channels over all the intervening waste
of time.

The Essenes lived together in separate societies of their
own, withdrawing themselves altogether from public cares,
refusing to participate in the general employments and
interests of the world, and adopting for their habitual use, a
system of principles and maimers so utterly diverse from
all the common plan of life around them, that it became

232 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

completely impracticable for them to mingle in any free
intercourse with the rest of the nation : they constituted, in
short, an order of monks ; were led, by religious feeling,
to tear themselves away from the whirlpool of society, so
full of danger to the soul, and so fatal to almost all that
move within its sweep, and to work out in retirement, with
rigorous diligence, the great and arduous preparation for a
world to come, for which, supremely, the trial of human
life is allowed to every child of Adam. They considered
the business of piety so important, that it called for the
continual, and as far as possible for the exclusive, care of
every person that hoped to secure its blessings ; and they
looked upon the world, at the same time, as so contrary, in
all its influence, to the spirit of devotion — and upon the
constitution of the human heart, as so disposed through
moral derangement to yield to this influence, and so almost
inevitably liable to lead to ruin and death, when allowed to
proceed in any measure according to its natural operation,
— that it seemed to them the wisest and the only safe
course, to seek security by flying, as far as it was in their
power, from the vantage-ground of the enemy, and by
making it the painful toil of life to extinguish or eradicate,
by self-denial and mortification of the body, the treacherous
principles of evil that lodged in their own bosoms. It was
the same way of thinking, which, in later times, carried
many a Christian hermit away from the tumult of society,
to take up his lonely dwelling in the wilderness or the
mountain cave, and in the end erected the monastery and
the nunnery in every district of the church.

It has been conjectured, that this third Jewish sect had
its origin in Egypt, where so large a body of the nation
came to be settled under the second temple : an idea that
gathers some plausibility from the consideration, that the
climate of that country has always been peculiarly adapted
to create and cherish such a temper of mind as disposes
persons to the sort of feeling, and the manner of life, that
monkery requires. At any rate, a very considerable pro-
portion of the sect, which altogether, of course, was quite
small, was found in Egypt ; and it was that part of it, too.
which carried to the most rigorous extreme, the principles
of its constitution. They had some little societies also

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 233

in other countries, into which the Jews were dispersed :
but still their chief strength was at last in Palestine itself,
where, we are told, about four thousand of them resided,
principally upon the western shore of the Dead sea. These
last were in several respects less rigid than their brethren
of Egypt, not thinking it necessary to retire so completely
from the midst of ordinary life, and not caring to cut
themselves off, to the same extent, from its common pur-
suits. Hence the sect consisted properly of two classes of
members, viz. the practical Essenes, who were found for
the most part in Palestine ; and the contemplative Essenes,
who had their residence especially in Egypt. The name
Essenes, was appropriated, in a great measure, altogether
to the practical class in Judea, while those in Egypt were
styled Therapeutce ; the last name, however, is only the
first one translated into Greek, and both mean Physi-
cians ; a title which the sect assumed, not so much on ac-
count of any acquaintance with the art of healing bodily
diseases, which some of them might have had, as because
they made the health of the soul their great care, and pro-
fessed to cure its infinitely more dangerous maladies.

The Essenes of Palestine, although they deemed it ad-
visable to keep at a distance from large cities, had no ob-
jection to living in towns and villages, and were accustom-
ed not only to pay some attention to agriculture, but to
practise certain arts also, taking care only to avoid such
as contribute in any way to the purposes of war and mis-
chief. They held all their property in common, living,
wherever they were found, in societies by themselves,
uniting the fruits of their labour in one stock, and all re-
ceiving out of it whatever they needed for the support and
comfort of life. Their wants, at the same time, were not
such as were very difficult to be supplied: their clothing
was all of the plainest kind, and no one thought of having
more than a single suit at once, which he wore till it was
worn out : their food was at all times simple in the extreme,
a piece of bread and a plate of soup being the ordinary
portion of every individual, at their principal meal : their
houses were humble, and altogether withoutornament: their
whole manner of life, in short, was after the most frugal
and unrefined style ; for it was their opinion, that only the
u 2

234 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

real wants of nature should be regarded in the provision
that is made for the accommodation of our bodies in this
world ; and that every sort of luxury and pleasure of mere
sense, being suited only to strengthen the baser principles
of our nature, and to hinder the soul in its attempt to
emancipate itself from the dominion of the flesh, ought to
be dreaded and avoided with the most anxious care. Com-
merce, accordingly, as designed to minister only to the un-
natural and unreasonable appetites of men, they considered
altogether an unlawful employment. They made no use
of wine : they held war to be in all cases sinful, and every
art also that was designed to be subservient to its interests;
yet when they travelled, they thought it not improper to
carry weapons, in order to protect themselves from the rob-
bers that abounded through the country : they held slavery
under any form to be contrary to nature and reason ; they
did not approve of oaths, and made no use of them, except
when they became members of the society; on which occa-
sion, having previously lived on trial for the space of two
years, every one who joined them was required to bind
himself in the most solemn manner to love and worship
God, to deal justly with all men, to abstain from doing
harm to any creature, &c. ; and yet they were remarkable
for their strict regard to truth in all the concerns of life ;
insomuch that the word of an Essene was allowed by all
that had any knowledge of them, to be worth full as much
as the oath of another man. They did not think it wrong
to marry, and some of them, accordingly, consented to
make the experiment of wedlock ; but it was considered to
have so much hazard in it, that a single state was esteemed
to be more desirable. In their religious duties, they were
remarkably strict and regular : in the morning, they never
uttered a word about common business before the rising of
the sun, (the sun never found any of them in bed of course,)
but occupied themselves till that time with their prayers :
after this duty of devotion, they all went to their several
employments : about eleven o'clock, they left their work,
washed themselves with cold water, retired for a while to
their several cells, or apartments, and then assembled in
their dining room to partake of their plain meal of bread
and soup ; the afternoon called them again to their work,

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 235

and when it was over, brought them a second time round
their common table, spread with a supper of the most fru-
gal sort, after which each withdrew to attend to his evening
prayers : at the commencement and the close of every
meal, a short prayer was addressed to God, as the author
of the blessing. The Sabbath they kept so carefully that
they would not so much as move a dish in the house during
the whole of it, lest it should be a violation of its holy rest ;
and besides attending to private religious duties, they regu-
larly met on that day for public worship in Synagogues
which they had of their own, where the Scriptures were
read, and explained by such among them as by reason of
age and understanding were best qualified for the task.
When any member was found guilty of gross crime, or
unfaithful to his profession, they cut him off entirely from
their society.

The Therapeutae of Egypt differed from the Essenes of
Palestine, only in being more rigidly severe in their man-
ner of life. They withdrew from the midst of the common
world altogether, and gave themselves up almost entirely
to solitude and contemplation. Those who joined them did
not bring their property along with them, and put it into the
common stock, as was usual with the Essenes, but leaving
it all to their friends, whom they felt it their duty utterly
to forsake, they came into the society unburdened with a
particle of its care. Marriage was not in use among them
at all. Their diet was merely coarse bread and salt, ac-
companied sometimes with a little hyssop, and the only
drink they ever allowed themselves, was water ; nor did
they indulge themselves with even this scanty fare, except
in the most sparing manner, making it their daily practice
not to taste any food before sun-set, because they thought
the day should all be appropriated to the cultivation of the
soul, by meditation and study, and that the night alone
ought to be employed in satisfying the necessities of the
body — and little enough even of that was needed for this
purpose, in their self-denying and abstemious manner of
life ; some of them, it is said, used to become so absorbed
in their contemplations, and so engrossed with their pursuit
of wisdom, that they forgot to take their food even at the
close of the day, and at times for as much as three whole

236 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

days together — yea, in some instances, a whole week was
passed almost without eating at all — so wonderfully did the
entertainment with which the mind was fed in the ban-
queting house of Philosophy, enable them to dispense with
the grosser aliment that is appointed to invigorate and
sustain our animal nature ! The women — for there were
such belonging to the society — never came into company
with the men, (who themselves, in fact, lived every one
separate from the rest almost all the week,) except on the
Sabbath, when they assembled with them in the Syna-
gogue, though in a distinct part of the house, cut off by a
wall of some height from that which the rest of the con-
gregation occupied ; and also at the common table which
it was the custom to spread on the evening of that sacred
day for their whole company to partake together. In their
worship, they made much of hymns, and on certain occa-
sions joined in sacred dances.

The whole sect agreed with the Pharisees in their belief
of the existence of spirits and the immortality of the hu-
man soul, and seem also to have entertained the same
general idea of God's sovereign providence in the govern-
ment of the world. They denied, however, the resurrec-
tion of the body ; and as they looked upon it as the chief
hinderance to virtue and wisdom in this present state, and
made it, accordingly, their great care to mortify all its na-
tural appetites, while lodged in its fleshly prison, it did not
seem to them desirable at all to have it recovered from its
ruins ; or rather the thought of shutting up the emancipated
spirit a second time within its walls, was utterly at va-
riance with their whole notion of the blessedness of that
future state to which they looked forward. They did not
receive, it seems, the traditionary law of the Pharisees ;
but, while they acknowledged the written word of God to
be the only infallible rule of religion, they made use of a
fanciful sort of interpretation in explaining it, which sub-
jected it, after all, to the authority of human opinions, and
opened a door for the introduction of all manner of error :
they held that the Scriptures, besides the direct and natural
sense of their language, have a deeper and more import-
ant meaning, mystically buried in that first one, which
alone constitutes the true heavenly wisdom of their pages,

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 237

and merits the continual study of all that aspire after the
perfection to which they are appointed to guide the soul;
and this meaning-, accordingly, their teachers pretended
to search out and bring forward, in their use of the sacred
volume, turning it all into allegory, and so constraining it
to speak, under the powerful control of fancy, whatever
mystic sense they pleased. They did not bring sacrifices
to the temple, as the law required ; and the Therapeutse, it
seems, disapproved of bloody sacrifices altogether ; the
Essenes of Palestine, however, admitted the propriety of
such offerings, and used to present them, from time to
time, in a solemn manner, among themselves; but with pe-
culiar rites, altogether different from those which the law
appointed. They were presented, it appears, on the occa-
sions of their great solemnities, in the night, after the day
had first been observed as a. fast, and were always wholly
burned, together with much honey and wine. It is not im-
probable, that the strange rites which they made use of,
occasioned their separation from the temple ; since, even if
they had been disposed to offer sacrifices in their way at
that place, it would have been wrong for the priests to give
them permission.

SECTION IV.

THE SAMARITANS.

The Samaritans, though accounted as little better than
idolators outright, by the Jews, and though actually cut
off from the sacred commonwealth of Israel, may, never-
theless, be looked upon as, in some sense, a Jewish sect;
since they not only had their origin, in some degree, from
the holy stock, but received the law of Moses as the rule
of all their religion, and looked forward to the hopes of the
Jewish church, with all the confidence that was cherished
by any of its tribes.

We have an account of their origin, in the 17th chapter
of the second book of Kings. The king of Assyria, ac-
cording to the cruel policy of that ancient age, carried the
great body of the ten tribes away into a distant land, and

238 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

settled their country with a colony of heathen strangers —
a mixed multitude from Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and Sephar-
vaim, on the other side of the Euphrates. These gradually
amalgamated with each other, and with such of the Israel-
ites as were still left in the land, so as to form a single
people, who came to be called, from the name of their
principal city, Samaritans. At first, they worshipped only
the false gods of their native countries, but being chastis-
ed by the Lord in a remarkable way, they' were led to de-
sire some knowledge of the God of Israel, and the manner
of his worship, and gladly received to instruct them, one
of the captive priests of Israel, whom the Assyrian king
sent back from Babylon, for the purpose : but they had no
idea still, of giving up entirely their old idols ; they fool-
ishly thought, that every country had its particular gods ;
that the God of Israel was only one of the multitude among
whom the earth was divided ; and that, although it was un-
safe to neglect him altogether in his own territory, there
could be no impropriety, having now learned the manner
of his worship, and being careful to show him respect and
fear according to his appointed way, in showing honour, at
the same time, to other deities, and in mingling with their
new religion, as they might please, the miserable idolatry
of their fathers ; so they feared the Lord, after their own
notion, and served their idol gods at the same time. la
time, however, a more correct notion of religion began to
gain ground ; and at length, after the Jewish captivity,
idolatry disappeared from among them altogether.

When the Jews, on their return, began to rebuild their
temple, the Samaritans sought to associate themselves
with them in the work ; but that people would not con-
sent at all to the proposal, perceiving that they were ac-
tuated by no good motives in urging it, and that, notwith-
standing their fair professions, they had still little regard
for the true religion, and were still in love with their idola-
try. This refusal filled the Samaritans with rage, and led
them to use every means in their power to hinder the
building of the temple ; in which attempts they were so
successful, that the work was interrupted directly after its
commencement, with a delay of full fifteen years. (Ezra,
4th, 5th, and 6th chapters.) The minds of the Jews were,

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 239

of course, greatly embittered against them by this opposi-
tion, and the enmity was still more increased by the ma-
licious arts which they afterwards employed to prevent
Nehemiah from restoring the walls of Jerusalem. (Neh.
4th and 6th chapters.)

When Nehemiah undertook to reform the abuses that
existed among the Jews, and among other things, required
them to put away their strange wives, Manasseh, the son
of the High-priest who had married a daughter of San-
ballat, prince of the Samaritans, refused to comply with
the order, and being compelled to quit his own "people,
sought refuge with his father-in-law. (Neh. xiii.28.) San-
ballat, taking that advantage of the circumstances which
he thought would be most offensive to the Jews, obtained
permission from the Persian monarch, erected a new tem-
ple on mount Gerizim, and constituted his son-in-law the
father of its priesthood. Thus a regular system of national
worship, corresponding in all respects to that of the true
people of God, was established, and every vestige of the
former idolatry became obliterated from the land. After
this, it was usual for such Jews as became exposed to
punishment in their own country, for violating its laws, or
were excommunicated for their offences from religious and
social privileges, to betake themselves, for security or re-
lief, to the Samaritans, among whom they were received
without difficulty. In this way, the jealousy and enmity
of the two people, instead of wearing away with time,
gathered continually fresh encouragement and renewed
vigour. During the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes —
that enemy of all righteousness and truth— the Samaritans,
caring more for their worldly advantage than for their re-
ligion, secured themselves from the desolating storm, by
abandoning, altogether, their national worship: they com-
plied with all the wishes of the tyrant, consecrated their
temple to Jupiter, the chief of the heathen gods, and lent
their aid in the war that was carried on against the Jews,
to reduca them to the same apostacy. (1 Maccabees iii. 10.)
After the persecution was over, they returned again to the
religion of Moses; but their polluted Sanctuary was not
allowed to stand much longer : John Hyrcanus, the tri-
umphant Jewish prince, about 130 years before the time

240 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

of Christ, turned his arms against their country, subdued
it completely, and destroyed, in anger, that proud temple
of Sanballat.

All this, of course, had no tendency to remove the old
hatred which each of the countries cherished for the other ;
it struck its root still deeper, and flourished in yet greater
and more active luxuriance. So bitter and rancorous did
the mutual enmity become, that all intercourse between
the two nations was brought to an end — the Jews had no
dealings with the Samaritans — and it was even counted
somewhat unsafe for persons, of either country, to travel
through the territories of the other ; or at least it was found
so extremely inconvenient, by reason of the inhospitable
treatment they were sure to meet with, that it was gene
rally preferred to avoid it, though at the expense of making
a considerable circuit out of the direct way ; whence it
was usual for the Jews, in going from Galilee to Jerusa-
lem, or the contrary, to cross the Jordan, and pass along
through Gilead, on the east side, rather than go through
Samaria, which lay directly between. We ought not to
be surprised, therefore, at the question of the Samaritan
woman, whom our Lord, oppressed with weariness and
thirst, asked to give him some water, at Jacob's well :
How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which
am a woman of Samaria ? (John iv. 4 — 9.) Nor should it
seem strange, that, when Jesus, on another occasion,
passing through that country, sent messengers before him
to a certain village, to secure entertainment for the night,
the inhabitants utterly refused to receive him, because his
face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. (Luke ix,
51 — 56.) It appears, however, that the same prejudice
was not cherished to such an extent among all the Samari-
tans ; for we are told that he went to another village,
where the people seem to have made no objection to his
presence ; and it was the common custom of our Saviour
to pass through their country with his disciples, in his
journeys to and from Jerusalem ; so that he must have
still been able to procure among them such accommoda-
tions as his humble style of life required. There is reason
to believe, in fact, that there was, at this time, altogether
more of bitterness and malignity on the part of the Jews

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 241

than on that of the Samaritans, in the mutual hatred of the
two people, (John viii. 48,) and that the Samaritan en-
mity, though it was deeply settled, did not, nevertheless,
so thoroughly as the Jewish, crush every sentiment of
generous humanity under its weight : this our Lord seems
to intimate in that parable which he employed, on a cer-
tain occasion, to answer the inquiry, Who is my neigh-
bour ? (Luke x. 31 — 37.) The readiness with whicn the
inhabitants of Sychar, as we have account in the 4th chap-
ter of John, laid aside all prejudice, honestly attended to
the doctrine of Christ, and yielded to the evidence with
which it was accompanied, is truly worthy of our admira-
tion : and it ought to be remembered, that, when ten lepers
were, on one occasion, all healed at once, while obeying
the direction of the Saviour, the only one of all their num-
ber who came back with an overflowing heart, to express
his gratitude, and to give glory to God for the amazing
benefit, was a Samaritan. (Luke xvii. 12 — 19.)

The Samaritans still continued, after the destruction of
their temple, to worship on Mount Gerizim, and to insist as
strenuously as ever, that no other place in the world had so
good a claim to this distinction. For they had been accus-
tomed, since the days of Sanballat, to challenge for the
place of their Sanctuary, the highest measure of sacred-
ness : they were not content to sustain its title to reverence
on any thing short of a divine consecration, nor disposed
at all to seek any compromise with the pretensions of Mo-
riah ; but allowing with the Jews themselves, that God had
made choice of only one place for his public worship, and
that no other, accordingly, ought ever to be acknowledged,
they boldly maintained that their own Gerizim had been,
from the first, distinguished with the honour of this choice ,
and that the contrary claim which Jerusalem urged in fa-
vour of her celebrated hill, was altogether unfounded and
false. Here, they contended, altars were erected, and sa-
crifices offered, by Abraham and Jacob, (Gen. xii. 6, 7.
xxxiii.18 — 20,) and on this account, they said, the hill was
afterwards appointed by God himself, to be the place of
blessing, when the Israelites entered the promised land,
and they were required to build an altar upon it, and to
present burnt-offerings and peace-offerings there, before the

Vol. II.

242 BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES.

Lord — by which direction, it was affirmed, God clearly sig-
nified that he had chosen Mount Gerizim to be the place
where, according to his promise, he would set his name, and
actually consecrated it by a solemn appointment, to be the
seat of his worship in all future time. The great objection
to this argument is, that when we consult the 27th chap-
ter of Deuteronomy, in which we have the divine direction
relative to this matter recorded, we find the altar was or-
dered to be set up, not on Gerizim, but on Mount Ebal,
which stood directly over against it, (with the citv of She-
chem, Sichem, or Sychar, in the valley between,) and was
appointed to be on the same occasion, the hill of cursing.
But in the Samaritan Bible — and they maintain their argu-
ment, of course, on no other authority — the difficulty is not
found ; for instead of the word Ebal, in the fourth verse, it
reads Gerizim, and thus at once alters the whole case. It
seems, that the controversy about the place of worship, was
never allowed to sleep, but was that, which, at all times,
most naturally presented itself, when the quarrel that ex-
isted between the two nations came under consideration;
and we find, accordingly, that the woman of Sychar, when
she perceived that Jesus was a prophet, and then wished to
give the conversation a turn, that might seem to be religious,
while it should not continue the disturbance which she be-
gan to feel in her conscience, without ceremony brought
forward this subject of dispute : Our fathers loorshipped
in this mountain, said she, pointing to Gerizim close at
hand, and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where men
ought to worship. Our Saviour, while he assured her that
the true church and worship of God were found among the
Jews, directed her attention to that new dispensation which
he was about to introduce, in which the pomp and form of
the Ceremonial system should pass altogether away, and
worship would be deemed acceptable, not at all as it should
rise from Jerusalem, or the summit of Gerizim, or any other
particular place, but only as it should carry on high the
spiritual service of the heart, in whatever part of the world
it might be found.

It may seem strange to some, that the Samaritans should
have considered the whole controversy about the place of
worship, decided in the single passage of Deuteronomy

BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 243

just mentioned, and should not have felt themselves con-
founded at all, by various other passages of scripture, that
clearly decide the question in favour of the Jews : but it is
to be recollected, that their Bible comprehended no more
than the five books of Moses, and they paid no respect, ac-
cordingly, to any testimony whatever, that might be
brought forward from other parts of the sacred volume.

There is still a very small remnant of the Samaritan
race found in their ancient country. Their principal resi-
dence is in that same valley, at the foot of the sacred moun-
tain, in which, of old, the city of Shechem or Sichem, de-
nominated in later times, Sychar, (by the Jews, perhaps, in
malignant derision — for Sychar means drunken,) had its
beautiful retreat ; and in that same city, too, though greatly
altered for the worse, like the whole face of Palestine, from
its ancient state, and divested entirely of its original appel-
lation, instead of which it now bears the name of Na polos e,
or Nublous. Though reduced to insignificance, for their
whole number, it is said, does not exceed forty, they still
preserve themselves separate from the rest of the world
around them, and adhere with the greatest constancy and
zeal, to the faith of their fathers ; inveterate as ever in their
opposition to the Jews, and jealous as of old, for the honour
of Gerizim, on which they have a Synagogue, or rather a
sort of a temple, of long standing, and which they still insist
is the place where men ought to worship; though they
have not themselves been allowed, of late years, by their
Turkish masters, to visit its summit for that purpose.

APPENDIX.

List of the Principal Writers who have treated on the Anti-
quities, Chronology, Geography, and other Historical cir-
cumstances of the Scriptures.

The Antiquities of the Hebrew Republic. By Thomas
Lewis M. A. 8vo. 4 vols. London, 1724-5.

This is a laborious compilation, from the most distin-
guished writers, whether Jews or Christians, on the man-
ners and laws of the Hebrews.

The most elaborate system of Jewish antiquities, per-
haps, that is extant, is Godwin's Moses and Aaron ; a small
quarto volume, now rather scarce : it was formerly in great
request, as a text book, and passed through many editions:
the latest, we believe, is that of 1678. Numerous other
treatises on Hebrew antiquities are to be found in the 34th
volume of Ugolini's Thesaurus Antiquitatum Hebraearum.

Jewish, Oriental, and Classical Antiquities ; containing
Illustrations of the Scriptures, and Classical Records, from
Oriental Sources, By the Rev. Daniel' Guildford Wait, LL.
B. F. A. S. Vol. I. Cambridge, 1823, 8vo.

The object of this elaborate work is to illustrate Biblical
and Classical Antiquities from the oriental writings. This
first volume is exclusively devoted to a demonstration of
the coincidence which subsists between these different de-
partments of study; and that coincidence the author has
satisfactorily shown by various examples. The subsequent
volumes are announced to contain disquisitions on detached
subjects, and elucidations of the text, and assertions of those
Greek writers who have treated of Eastern History, or

244

APPENDIX. 245

alluded to eastern customs. Mr. Wait has long been known
to biblical students as the author of numerous valuable arti-
cles on sacred criticism, which have appeared in different
volumes of the Classical Journal.

Various abridgements of sacred antiquities have been
written by different authors : of these the following are the
most valuable.

The Manners of the Ancient Israelites, containing an
account of their peculiar customs, ceremonies, laws, polity,
religion, sects, arts, and trades, &c. &c. By Claude Fleury,
8vo. London, 1809.

For this third and best edition, the public are indebted to
Dr. Adam Clarke, who has enlarged the original work with
much valuable information, from the principal writers on
Jewish Antiquities. The Abbe Fleury's work was trans-
lated many years since by Mr. Farnworth. The late ex-
cellent bishop of Norwich, (Dr. Home,) has recommended
it in the following terms : " This little book contains a con-
cise, pleasing, and just account of the manners, customs,
laws, policy, and religion of the Israelites. It is an excel-
lent introduction to the reading of the Old Testament, and
should be put into the hands of every young person."

Jewish Antiquities, or a Course of Lectures on the Three
first books of Godwin's Moses and Aaron. To which is
annexed a Dissertation on the Hebrew Language. By Lavid
Jennings, D. D. 8 vo. 2 vols. London, 1766; Perth, 1808,
and London, 1823, in one volume, 8vo.

This work has long held a distinguished character for its
accuracy and learning, and has been often reprinted. " The
Treatises of Mr. Lowman on the Ritual (8vo. London,
1748,) and on the Civil Government of the Hebrews, (8vo.
London, 1740,) may properly accompany these works."

Jahn's Biblical Archaeology, an elaborate compendium
of biblical antiquities, abridged from the author's larger
work, on the same subject, in the German language, (in
four large 8vo. volumes,) and arranged under the three di-
visions of domestic, political, and ecclesiastical antiquities.

H 2

246 APPENDIX.

At the end of the volume are upwards of sixty pages of
questions, framed upon the preceding part of the work ; the
answers to which are to be given by students. A faithful
English translation of " Jahn's Biblical Archaeology," was
published at Andover, (Massachusetts,) in 1823, by T. C.
Upham (assistant teacher of Hebrew and Greek in the Theo-
logical Seminary at that place,) with valuable additions and
corrections, partly the result of a collation of Jahn's Latin
work, with the original German treatise, and partly derived
from other sources.

The Antiquities of the Jews, carefully compiled from au-
thentic sources, and their customs illustrated, by modern
travels. By W. Brown, D. D. London, 1820, 2 vols. 8vo.

Illustrations of the Holy Scriptures, in three parts. By
the Rev. George Paxton. Edinburgh, 1819, 2 vols. 8vo. Re-
printed at Philadelphia, 1821, 2 vols. 8vo.

Scripture Costume, exhibited in a series of engravings,
representing the principal personages mentioned in the
sacred writings. Drawn under the superintendence of the
late Benjamin West, Esq., P. R. A., by R. Satchwell ; with
Biographical Sketches and Historical Remarks on the Man-
ners and Customs of Eastern Nations. London, 1819. Ele-
phant, 4to.

Observations on divers passages of Scripture, placing

many of them in a light altogether new, by means

of circumstances mentioned in books of voyages and travels
into the east. By the Rev. Thomas Harmer. London, 1816,
4 vols. 8vo. best edition.

As books of voyages and travels are, for the most part,
voluminous, the late reverend and learned Thomas Harmer
formed the design, which he happily executed, of perusing
the works of oriental travellers, with the view of extracting
from them whatever might illustrate the rites and customs
mentioned in the Scriptures. His researches form four vo-
lumes in 8vo., and were published at different times, towards
the close of the last century. The best edition is that above
noticed, and is edited by Dr. Adam Clarke, who has newly

APPENDIX. 247

arranged the whole, and made many important additions
and corrections. In this work numerous passages of Scrip-
ture are placed in a light altogether new ; the meanings of
others, which are not discoverable by the methods com-
monly used by interpreters, are satisfactorily ascertained ;
and many probable conjectures are offered to the Biblical
student.

The Oriental Guide to the Interpretation of the Holy
Scriptures. Two Discourses preached at Christ Church,
Newgate street, with Illustrative Notes, and an Appendix,
containing a general and descriptive catalogue of the best
writers on the subject. By the Rev. Samuel Burder, A. M.
London, 1823, 8vo.

*

Oriental Customs ; or an Illustration of the Sacred Scrip-
tures, by an explanatory application of the customs and
manners of the eastern nations. By the Rev. S. Burder,
6th edition, 1822. 2 vols 8vo.

This is an useful abridgment of Harmer's Observations,
with many valuable additions from recent voyagers and
travellers, arranged in the order of the books, chapters, and
verses of the Bible. It was translated into German by Dr.
E. F. C. Rosenmiiller, (5 vols. 8vo. Leipsic, 1819,) with ma-
terial corrections, and much new matter. Such of these as
were additions to the articles contained in the " Oriental
Customs," have been translated and inserted in the 6ixth
edition above noticed. But those articles which are entirely
new, being founded on texts not before brought under Mr.
Burder's consideration, are translated and inserted in —

Oriental Literature, applied to the Illustration of the Sa-
cred Scriptures ; especially with reference to Antiquities,
Traditions, and Manners, collected from the most celebrated
writers and travellers, both ancient and modern; designed
as a Sequel to Oriental Customs. By the Rev. Samuel
Burder, A. M. London, 1822, 2 vols. 8vo.

The Eastern Mirror ; an Illustration of the Sacred Scrip-
tures in which the customs of oriental nations are clearly

248 APPENDIX.

developed, by the writings of the most celebrated travellers
By the Rev. W. Fowler. 8vo. Exeter, 1814.

An abridgment of Harmer's Observations, and the earlier
editions of Burder's Oriental Customs, with a few unim-
portant additions.

*** The mode of illustrating Scripture from oriental voyages and
travels, first applied by Harnier, has been successfully followed by the
laborious editor of the " Fragments," annexed to the quarto editions
of Calmet's Dictionary of the Bible, and also by Mr. Vansittart in his
" Observations on Select Places of the Old Testament, founded on a
perusal of Parsons'Travels from Aleppo to Bagdad." 8vo. Oxford and
London, IdLJ.

On the Divisions occurring in the Bible.

The Old Testament resolves itself into two grand divi-
sions— the Canonical and Apocryphal books : the former
were written under the guidance of divine inspiration; are
part of the rule of faith and conduct of Christians ; and have
ever been undisputed as regards their authority: the latter
are of no divine authority, and are only useful as historical
documents. The books of the Maccabees are of considerable
value, as helping to fill up thchistory of that interval of time
which elapsed between the ceasing of prophecy and the
advent of the Messiah. It is to be regretted that some of
the Apocryphal books contain gross and palpable perver-
sions of truth, and some details of an indelicate nature.

The Jewish church divided the canonical books into three
classes, under which form they weTe generally referred to
and quoted. These were denominated the law — the pro
phets — and the hagiographa, or Holy writings. The Law
contained the five books of Moses, frequently called the
Pentateuch, i. e. the Jive Books. The prophets comprised
the whole of the writings now termed prophetical — from
Isaiah to Malachi inclusively — and also the books of Job,
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra,
Nehemiah, and Esther ; these books having been either
written or revised by prophets — probably the former. The
hagiographa included the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,

APPENDIX. 249

and the Song of Solomon. It is probable that our Saviour
alluded to this division of the Old Testament when he said,
"All things must be fulfilled which are written in the law
of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concern-
ing me ;" (Luke xxiv. 44 ;) for the Psalms standing first in
this collection of books, gave its name to the division.

Since the completion of the canon of the entire Scrip-
tures, the general or principal division adopted is that of
the Old and New Testament. The books included under
each of these divisions are too familiar to every reader to
need repetition here. It must be observed, however, that
the order of the books, as placed in bur translation, is not
according to the times in which they were written, or the
course of the history to which they relate. The several
books stand as unconnected and independent documents.

The division into chapter and verse is a modern inven-
tion, which it is to be regretted should ever have assumed a
higher character than convenient divisions for the purposes
of reference and quotation. They should be totally disre-
garded in reading the Bible.

Of the Books of the New Testament.

The books of the New Testament are divisible into three
classes — Historical, Doctrinal, and Prophetical. The
first embraces the four gospels and the Acts of the Apos-
tles; the second includes the Apostolic Epistles; and the
last, the book of Revelation. We do not mean, however,
that either of these classes excludes the subjects of the other :
like all the other sacred books, those of the New Testament
are of a mixed nature, and contain history, prophecy, and
doctrine.

In the second and third centuries the New Testament
was divided into two parts — the Gospels and the Epistles,
or Gospels and Apostles. Other divisions have obtained in
subsequent ages, with which it is unnecessary to trouble
the reader.

The New Testament is called in the Greek, h kainh
aia©hkh, e Kaine Diatheke. the New Testament or Cove.

250 APPENDIX.

nant, a title which was early borrowed by the Church from
the Scriptures, (Matt. xxvi. 28; Gal. iii. 17; Heb. viii. 8;
ix. 15, 20,) and authorized by the Apostle Paul, 2 Cor. iii.
14. The word j»*s>ix>i, in these passages, denotes a cove-
nant ; and in this view, The New Covenant signifies, " A
book containing the terms of the new covenant between
God and man." But, according to the meaning of the pri-
mitive church, which adopted this title, it is not altogether
improperly rendered New Testament ; as being that where-
in the Christian's inheritance is sealed to him as a son and
heir of God, and wherein the death of Christ as a testator
(Heb. ix. 16, 17) is related at large, and applied to our bene-
fit. As this title implies that in the Gospel unspeakable
gifts are bequeathed to us, antecedent to all conditions re-
quired of us ; the title of Testament may be retained,
though that of Covenant is more exact and proper.

The term Gospel, which is more generally applied to
the writings of the four Evangelists, comprising a history
of the transactions of our Lord Jesus Christ, is not unfre-
quently used in a more extended sense, as including tho
whole of the New Testament Scriptures, and also that sys-
tem of grace and mercy which they unfold. This word,
which exactly answers to the Greek term, Zu»yyexicvt is
derived from the Saxon words, God (Good) and spel (speech
or tidings,) and is evidently intended to denote the good
message, or the " glad tidings of great joy," which God
has sent to all mankind, " preaching peace by Jesus Christ,
who is Lord of all, Acts x. 36.

Concerning the order of the New Testament books, bibli-
cal writers are by no means agreed. The following table
is compiled from Mr. Townsend's Chronological Arrange-
ment, where the conflicting opinions of chronologists have
been considered and decided upon with great care and
judgment :

APPENDIX.

251

Book.

Gospel of Mat-
thew
Mark

Acts of the Apos-
tles
Epistle to the

Galatians
First to the Thes-

salonians
Second to the

Thessalonians
Epistle to Titus
First to the Cor.
First Epistle to

Timothv
Second Epistle to

the Coiinth.
Epistle to the

Romans

— to the Ephes.

— to the Philip.

— to the Colos.

— to Philemon

— of James

Epistle to the He-
brews

Gospel of St.
Luke

Second Epistle to

Timothy
First Epistle of

Peter

Second Epistle of
Peter

Epistle of Jude

Book of Revela

tion
Three Epistles of

John
Gospel according

to John

Author.

Matthew
Mark

Luke
Paul

Paul
Luke

Paul
Peter

Jude
John

Place at which
it was writ-
ten.

For whose use
primarily in-
tended.

Judea

Rome and Je.
rusalem

Thessalonica
Corinth

Nicopolis
Ephesus

Macedonia

Philippi

Corinth
Rome

James : Jerusalem

Italy
Achaia

Jews in Judea
Gentile Chris
tians

A. D.

37
44

Italy or Rome

Probably
Syria

Asia Minor

Jewish Chris
tians

Jews

Gentile con-
verts

Jews and Gen
tile converts

Jewish & Gen-
tile Chris-
tians of the
Dispersion

General

51

52
53
56

56 or 57
58

61

62

64

65 or 66

66

06
96 to 106

252 APPENDIX.

That all the books which convey to us the history of
events under the New Testament, were written and imme-
diately published by persons contemporary with the events,
is most fully proved by the testimony of an unbroken se-
ries of authors, reaching from the days of the Evangelists
to the present times ; by the concurrent belief of Christians
of all denominations ; and by the unreserved confession of
avowed enemies to the Gospel. In this point of view the
writings of the ancient Fathers of the Christian Church are
invaluable. They contain not only frequent references and
allusions to the books of the New Testament, but also such
numerous professed quotations from them, that it is de-
monstrably certain, that these books existed in their pre-
sent state a few years after the conclusion of our Saviour's
ministry. No unbeliever in the Apostolic age, in the age
immediately subsequent to it, or indeed in any age what-
ever, was ever able to disprove the facts recorded in these
books ; and it does not appear that in the early times any
such attempt was made. The facts therefore related in the
New Testament, must be admitted to have really happened ;
and these abundantly prove the divine mission of Christ,
and the sacred origin and authority of the Christian reli-
gion.

THE END.