Hagar and Keturah; by these he had other children, whom he distinguished from Isaac: for it is said, he gave them gifts, and sent them away while he yet lived. (Gen. xxv. 5, 6.) .

No formalities appear to have been used by the Jews -at least none were enjoined to them by Moses-in joining man and wife together. Mutual consent, followed by consummation, was deemed sufficient. The manner in which a daughter was demanded in marriage, is described in the case of Shechem, who asked Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, in marriage; (Gen. xxxiv. 6-12 ;) and the nature of the contract, together with the mode of solemnizing the marriage, is described in Gen. xxiv. 50, 51. 57. 67. There was indeed, a previous espousal, or betrothing, which was a solemn promise of marriage, made by the man and woman, each to the other, at such a distance of time as they agreed upon. This was sometimes done by writing, sometimes by the delivery of a piece of silver to the bride, in presence of witnesses, as a pledge of their mutual engagements. After such espousal was made, (which was generally when the parties were young,) the woman continued with her parents several months, if not some years, (at least till she was arrived at the age of twelve,) before she was brought home, and her marriage consummated. That it was the practice to betroth the bride sometime before the consummation of the marriage, is evident from Deut. xx. 7. Thus we find, that Samson's wife remained with her parents a considerable time after the espousal. (Judg. xiv. 8.) If, during the time between the espousal and the marriage, the bride was guilty of any criminal correspondence with another person, contrary to the fidelity she owed to her bridegroom, she was treated as an adulteress. Among the Jews, and generally throughout the East, marriage was considered as a sort of purchase, which the man made of the woman he desired to marry; and therefore, in contracting marriages, as the wife brought a portion to the husband, so the husband was obliged to give her or her parents money, or presents, in lieu of this portion. See instances in Gen. xxxiv. 12, xxix. 18. 1 Sam xviii. 25. The nuptial solemnity, was celebrated with great festivity and splendour. The para

ble of the ten virgins in Matt. xxv. gives a good idea of the customs practised on these occasions.

Marriage was dissolved among the Jews by divorce as well as by death. Our Saviour tells us that Moses suffered this only because of the hardness of their heart, but from the beginning it was not so, (Matt. xix. 8,) meaning that they were accustomed to this abuse; and to prevent greater evils, such as murders, adulteries, &c., he permitted it; and he expressly limited the permission of divorce to the single case of adultery. (Matt. v. 31, 32.) Nor was this limitation unnecessary: for at that time it was common for the Jews, to dissolve this sacred union, upon verv slight and trivial pretensions.

CHAPTER IV.

BIRTH, EDUCATION, ETC. OF CHILDREN.

In the East, child-birth is, to this day, an event of but little difficulty, and mothers were originally the only assistants of their daughters, any further aid being deemed unnecessary, though midwives were sometimes employed. (Exod. i. 19. Gen, xxxv. 17, xxxviii. 28.) The birth of a son was celebrated as a festival, which was solemnized in succeeding years with renewed demonstrations of joy, especially those of sovereign princes. (Gen. xl. 20. Job i. 4. Matt. xiv. 6.) The birth of a son, or daughter, rendered the mother ceremonially unclean for a certain period.

On the eighth day after his birth, the son was circumcised, and received a name. The first-born son, enjoyed peculiar privileges. He received a double portion of the estate he was the high priest of the whole family; and he enjoyed an authority over those who were younger, similar to that possessed by a father. The sons remained till the fifth year in the care of the women; after which, the father took charge of them, and instructed them, or caused them to be instructed, in the arts and duties of life, and in the law of Moses. (Deut. vi. 20-25, xi. 19.) The daughters rarely went out, unless sent for a specific purpose. Where there were no children, adoption-or the

taking of a stranger into a family, in order to make him a part of it, acknowledging him as a son and heir to the estate-was practised. The elder Hebrews, indeed, do not appear to have had recourse to adoption, because Moses is silent concerning it in his laws. It was, however, common in the time of Jesus Christ; and St. Paul has many beautiful allusions to it in his epistles.

CHAPTER V.

ON THE CONDITION OF SLAVES, AND THE CUSTOMS RELATING TO THEM, MENTIONED, OR ALLUDED TO IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.

SLAVERY is of very remote antiquity. It existed before the flood: (Gen. ix. 25:) and when Moses gave his laws to the Jews, finding it already established, though he could not abolish it, yet he enacted various salutary laws and regulations.

Slaves were acquired in various ways, viz.: 1. By Captivity; (Gen. xiv. 14. Deut. xx. 14, xxi. 10, 11 ;) 2. By Debt, when persons, being poor, were sold for payment of their debts; (2 Kings iv. 1. Matt. xviii. 25 ;) 3. By committing a Theft, without the power of making restitution; (Exod. xxii. 2, 3. Neh. v. 4, 5;) and 4. By Birth, when persons were born of married slaves, These are termed born in the house, (Gen. xiv. 14, xv. 3, xvii. 23, xxi. 10,) home-born, (Jer. ii. 14,) and the sons, or children of handmaids. (Psal. lxxxvi. 16, cxvi. 16.)

Slaves received both food and clothing, for the most part of the meanest quality, but whatever property they acquired, belonged to their lords: hence, they are said to be worth double the value of a hired servant. (Deut. xv. 18.) They formed marriages at the will of their master, but their children were slaves, who, though they could not call him a father, (Gal. iv. 6. Rom. viii. 15,) yet they were attached and faithful to him as to a father; on which account, the patriarchs trusted them with arms. (Gen. xiv. 14, xxxii. 6, xxxiii. 1.) Their duty was to execute their lord's commands, and they were, for the most part, employed in tending cattle, or in rural affairs: and though the lot of some of them was sufficiently hard,

yet under a mild and humane master, it was tolerable. (Job xiii. 13.) When the eastern people have no male issue, they frequently (as in Barbary) marry their daughters to their slaves: so Sheshan did, who gave his daughter to his Egyptian servant [slave] Jarha. (See 1 Chron. ii. 34, 35.) Various regulations were made by Moses to ensure the humane treatment of slaves; among which the three following, are particularly worthy of notice; 1. Hebrew slaves were to continue in slavery only till the year of jubilee, when they might return to liberty, and their masters could not detain them against their wills. If they were desirous of continuing with their master, they were to be brought to the judges; before whom they were to make a declaration, that, for this time, they disclaimed the privilege of the law: and they had their ears bored through with an awl, against the door-posts of their master's house, after which, they had no longer any power of recovering their liberty until the next year of jubi lee, after forty-nine years. (Exod. xxi. 5, 6.) 2. If a Hebrew by birth, was sold to a stranger, or alien, dwelling in the vicinity of the land of Israel, his relations were to redeem him, and such slave was to make good the purchase money, if he were able, paying in proportion to the number of years that remained, until the year of jubilee. (Lev. xxv. 47-55.) 3. Lastly, if a slave of another nation fled to the Hebrews, he was to be received hospitably, and on no account to be given up to his master. (Deut. xxiii. 15, 16.)

Although Moses inculcated the duty of humane treatment towards slaves, and enforced his statutes by various strong sanctions, yet it appears from Jer. xxxiv. 8— 22, that their condition was sometimes very wretched; and, in later times, among the Greeks and Romans, it was, in general, truly miserable. Being for the most part captives taken in war, they were bought and sold like beasts of burden; and were at the mercy of their owners, who had an absolute right over their lives, and who branded them, in order to mark their property. To the practice of buying, purchasing, and branding slaves, St. Paul has several fine allusions. See particularly, I Cor. vi. 20, vii. 23, and Gal. vi. 17. The confinement of slaves in mines, appears to be referred to in Matt. viii,

12, and xxii. 13, and crucifixion was a punishment almost exclusively reserved for them: whence St. Paul takes occasion to illustrate the love of Christ for fallen man, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame and ignominy of such a death.

CHAPTER VI.

DOMESTIC CUSTOMS AND USAGES OF THE JEWS.

VARIOUS are the modes of address and politeness, which custom has established in different nations. The ordinary formulæ of salutation were-The Lord be with thee !The Lord bless thee !—and Blessed be thou of the Lord! but the most common salutation was, Peace (that is, may all manner of prosperity) be with thee! (Ruth ii. 4. Judg. xix. 20. 1 Sam. xxv. 6. 2 Sam. xx. 9. Psal. cxxix. 8.) In the later period of the Jewish polity, much time appears to have been spent in the rigid observance of these ceremonious forms: which are alluded to in Matt. x. 12. See also 2 Kings iv. 29.

Respect was shown to persons on meeting, by the salutation of Peace be with you! and laying the right hand upon the bosom: but if the person addressed was of the highest rank, they bowed to the earth. Thus, Jacob bowed to the ground seven times until he came near to his brother Esau. (Gen. xxxiii. 3.) Sometimes they kissed the hem of the person's garment, and even the dust on which he had to tread. (Zech. viii. 23. Luke viii. 44. Acts x. 26. Psal. lxxii. 9.) Near relations and intimate acquaintances kissed each other's hands, head, neck, beard. (which on such occasions, only, could be touched without affront,) or shoulders. (Gen. xxxiii. 4, xlv. 14. 2 Sam. xx. 9. Luke xv. 20. Acts xx. 17.)

Whenever the common people approached their prince, or any person of superior rank, it was customary for them to prostrate themselves before them. The allusions to this practice, in the Old and New Testaments, are very numerous; as well as to the making of presents to supe riors. (See particularly Matt. ii 11.)