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has given a particular account of this coronation. The constant change of name by the popes on their election to the pontificate is perhaps quite good an illustration. A formal change of the name given in infancy does not now often take place, except on a change of religion, probably because the common names have in a great degree ceased to be significant and characterizing, being mostly taken from those borne by eminent men, as Ibrahim, Ishmael, Mohammed, Ali, &c. But changes are frequent in the characterizing or fanciful epithets given or taken in addition, and which, in the absence of a system of sirnames like our own, serve better to distinguish individuals than the proper name, and often acquire greater prominence in practical use. It will be useful to understand this distinction, which we have never seen clearly stated. One example will illustrate this point. Saoud, the famous Wahabee chief, had a magnificent pair of mustachios, whence he was commonly called Abou Schowáreb, the "Father of Mustachios," by which he was as often addressed personally as by his proper name, and which therefore operated in some degree as a change of name. If he had lost his mustachios, some other characteristic would doubtless have been found to distinguish him from other persons of the name of Saoud. Oriental history affords instances in which the added epithet has completely superseded the

proper name.

10. "Every man child among you shall be circumcised." This command was re-enforced by the law of Moses, and has been carefully observed by the Jews to the present time. It is impossible to ascertain whether such a rite existed in the world before this command. But Herodotus speaks of it as a custom ancient even in his time, and which existed in several nations, particularly the Egyptians and Ethiopians. It does not appear, however, that it was general among the Egyptians, but that it was confined to the priesthood and to particular professions. Much controversy has turned upon the point whether the Egyptians or Hebrews first observed the rite; but we cannot enter into it here. Bochart and others think that the Egyptians got it from the Arabians, who certainly practised circumcision, doubtless deriving the custom from Ishmael. But, even among the Arabians, the observance of the rite does not seem to have been considered essential and obligatory until it was made so by the law of Mohammed, since which time its diffusion has been coextensive with that of the Mohammedan faith, and is a practice scarcely less rigidly enforced by Moslems than by Jews. It is, however, a custom not confined to oriental nations. As Burder notes in his 'Oriental Literature,' the Spaniards found a sort of circumcision prevalent in Mexico; it has also been practised in the Australian islands and continent, and was found by Captain Cook to exist in the Friendly Islands. According to the direction in verse 12, the Jews perform the ceremony on the eighth day from the birth of the child; but as Ishmael was thirteen years old when circumcised (verse 25), the Mohammedans usually postpone it to that age. To the Jews it stands much in the same relation as baptism to Christians, and the child then receives its name. According to Calmet, a godfather and godmother are appointed for the occasion, the former of whom holds the infant during the ceremony, and the latter carries it to the synagogue and home again. It may, however, be done at home if the parents like. The law gives no particular directions as to the operator: the father may do it if he pleases; we see a mother performing it in Exodus iv. 25. But the operation is usually performed by some experienced person; and it is considered a great honour to be a circumciser (mohel). If the child seems unable to bear the operation on the eighth day, it may be deferred; and if the child happens to die before that day, it seems that the operation is sometimes performed after death. The circumcision of a child is an occasion of rejoicing both among Jews and Mohammedans.

CHAPTER XVIII.

1 Abraham entertaineth three angels. 9 Sarah is reproved for laughing at the strange promise. 17 The destruction of Sodom is revealed to Abraham: 23 Abraham maketh intercession for the men thereof.

AND the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tentdoor in the heat of the day;

2And he lift up his eyes and looked, and lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,

three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.

7 And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.

8 And he took butter and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.

9 And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? and he said, Behold, in the tent.

10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And

3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray | Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was thee, from thy servant:

4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under

the tree.

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behind him.

11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also ?

13 And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?

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At the time appointed I will return unto | cry of it, which is come unto me; and if thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

15 Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay, but thou didst laugh.

16 And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.

I will know.

22 And the men turned their faces 1 thence, and went toward Sodom; but A ham stood yet before the Lord.

23 And Abraham drew near, and s Wilt thou also destroy the righteous the wicked?

17 And the Lord said, Shall I hide from | within the city: wilt thou also destroy, Abraham that thing which I do;

18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his houshold after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

20 And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;

24 Peradventure there be fifty righte not spare the place for the fifty righte that are therein?

25 That be far from thee to do a this manner, to slay the righteous with wicked: and that the righteous should as the wicked, that be far from thee: S not the Judge of all the earth do right?

26 And the LORD said, If I find in Sod fifty righteous within the city, then I spare all the place for their sakes.

27 And Abraham answered and sa Behold now, I have taken upon me to spe unto the Lord, which am but dust a

the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.

29 And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake.

30 And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.

31 And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake.

32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.

33 And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham : and Abraham returned unto his place.

Verse 1. " He sat in the tent-door in the heat of the day."-It is pleasing to follow out the details of the interesting picture of patriarchal manners which this chapter offers. The annotators on this chapter seem to have had in view the single tent of Abraham, with flocks and herds feeding around. But there must have been many tents for his numerous dependents and servants; while the bulk of his cattle were probably at pasture many miles distant. Among the Bedouin tribes it is the duty of the chief or sheikh to entertain strangers, and as the custom requires them to stop at the first tent they reach, the sheikh's tent is usually pitched so as to be the first in that direction from which strangers most commonly arrive. This custom would account for Abraham's being the first to perceive the strangers as he sat in the shade of his tent-door to enjoy any air that might be stirring, while the heat of the day rendered the interior of the tent too close and sultry to be conveniently occupied. In the heat of the day the external shade of the tent is much more cool and pleasant than the interior.

2. " Ran to meet them." This and other passages in the Bible may be illustrated by the gradations of Persian etiquette. When a Persian is visited by a very superior person he crosses the open court of his house, and receives him at the street-door; if decidedly superior, but not greatly so, he rises hastily and advances to receive his visiter at the entrance of the room; if the visiter be an equal, he simply rises from his seat on his entrance; and if an inferior, he only makes the motion of rising.

"Bowed himself toward the ground." - This posture is frequently mentioned as being used in the presence of superiors, and is no doubt the same as that of David, who "stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself" before Saul (1 Sam. xxiv. 8). Mr. Morier is probably right in supposing that this form of obeisance is the same which the Persians of the present day use in approaching their king. It consists in bowing so as to bring the upper part of the body at right angles with the lower, the hands resting on the knees, and the legs somewhat asunder.

4. "Wash your feet." -Water for the feet is a necessary and most grateful part of hospitality in the East. Where the people wear sandals, which are intended only to protect the soles, the feet soon become foul and parched; and to have the feet and ancles bathed is the most gratifying of refreshments after that of quenc quenching thirst. The office is usually performed by servants. Mr. Roberts mentions, that in passing through Hindoo villages ages it is common to see this office performed performed for the weary traveller. In the sandy deserts of Arabia and the bordering rdering countries no covering for the feet can prevent the necessity for this refreshment at the end of a day's journey. ey. The fine impalpable sand or dust penetrates all things, and, with the perspiration, produces an itching and feverish irritation, which, next to the quenching of his thirst, it is the first wish of a traveller to allay; and to uncover his feet, and to get water to wash them, is a prime object of attention. If sandals only are used, or the feet are entirely without defence, it becomes still more necessary to wash them after a journey.

6. "Knead it and make cakes upon the hearth."-It seems very strange to us that in such an establishment as that of the patriarch there was not ready baked bread for the strangers. But the fact is, that in the East, to this day, so much bread and no more than will suffice for the household is baked daily, as the common bread will not keep good longer than a day in a warm climate. They also prefer bread when it is new. In the East, it is only in large towns that there are bakers by trade. In villages and camps every family bakes its own bread; and while journeying in the East we always found that, except in towns, the women of the families which entertained us always went to work immediately after our arrival, kneading the dough and baking "cakes," generally in spacious round or oblong plates of thin and soft bread, which were ready in an astonishingly short time. We have often watched the various processes with great interest, and traced the analogies they afforded to the usages recorded in the Bible. As we shall have occasion to describe these processes in'notes to the various passages which refer to them, we shall only now notice that which is supposed to be here intended, and which is still in use among the Arabs and other people of the East. It is done by kindling a fire upon the ground or hearth: when the ground is sufficiently heated the fire is removed and the dough placed, and being covered with the hot ashes and embers is soon baked, although not so rapidly as by some other processes, the cakes being thicker and not so wide as those in most common use. Another process resembles this, except that, instead of the bare hearth, a circle of small stones is arranged, and these being heated, the paste is spread over them, and then overlaid with hot cinders. This is thinner than the former, and is only used by the Arabs for their morning meal. Sarah's process was probably the first mentioned. It may seem extraordinary to see a lady of such distinction as Sarah, the wife of a powerful chief, occupied in this menial service. But even now this duty devolves on the women of every household; and among those who dwell in tents, the wife of the proudest chief is not above superintending the preparation of the bread, or even kneading and baking it with her own hands. Tamar, the daughter of a king, seems to have acquired distinction as a good baker of bread (see 2 Sam. xiii. 5-10); and there are few of the heavy duties which fall upon the women of the East which they are more anxious to do well, and get credit for, than this. It is among the very first of an eastern female's accomplishments. The other duties of the kitchen still often devolve upon the wives, even in families of distinction. When Dr. Richardson was at Jerusalem 7. " A calf tender and good." - Here again the European reader is struck no less at the want of preparation th the apparent rapidity with which the materials of a good feast were supplied. The dough was to be kneaded a bread baked; and the meat had not only to be dressed but killed. The fact is, the Orientals consume a very quantity of animal food; and the nomades, with their ample flocks and herds, less than other Orientals. In ou journeys meat was never to be found ready killed, except in large towns, and then only in the mornings. The probably not a morsel of meat in Abraham's camp, in any shape whatever. The usages of the Aeneze Ara stated by Burckhardt, in his 'Notes on the Bedouins,' strikingly illustrate this entertainment prepared by Ab for his visitants; and we know that, with some unimportant differences, the statement applies generally to other tribes. Their usual fare (called ayesh) consists of flour made into a paste, and boiled with sour camel's milk. T their daily and universal dish; and the richest sheikh would think it disgraceful to order his wife to prepar other dish merely to please his own palate. The Arabs never indulge in animal food and other luxuries but occasion of some great festival, or on the arrival of a stranger. If the guest is a common person, bread is bake served up with the ayesh; if the guest is a person of some small consequence, coffee is prepared for him, and the dish called behatta (rice or flour boiled with sweet camel's milk), or that called ftéta (baked paste, knead thoroughly with butter); but for a man of some rank, a kid or lamb is killed. When this happens, the lamb is with bourgoul (wheat dried in the sun after having been boiled) and camel's milk; and served up in a large w dish, around the edge of which the meat is placed. A wooden bowl, containing the melted fat of the animal, and pressed down in the midst of the boiled wheat; and every morsel is dipped into this melted fat before it is lowed. A bowl of camel's milk is frequently handed round after a meal. Now in this account of the Arab m entertaining a stranger we have all the circumstances of Abraham's entertainment, if we change his "calf sheep, lamb, or kid. Here are the bread newly baked, the butter and the milk. If we should suppose tha process of boiling the choice parts of the calf was too long for the present occasion, we may conclude the choice parts were cut up into small bits, and, being run upon small spits or skewers, broiled over the fire = being a mode very common in the East of preparing a hasty meal of animal food. We have not supposed the animal was dressed and served up entire, as that would have required more time than the haste of prep a meal for merely passing strangers would allow. But amongst the Arabs, and indeed other eastern people not unusual at their entertainments to serve up a lamb or kid that has been roasted or baked whole in a hole ground, which, after being heated and having received the carcase, is covered over with stones. It is less now in the East to kill a calf than it seems to have been in the times of the Bible. The Arabs, Turks, and think it monstrous extravagance to kill an animal which becomes so large and valuable when full grown. This sideration seems to magnify Abraham's liberality in being so ready to kill a calf for the strangers. It seems rather revolting that the meat should be dressed and eaten so immediately after being killed. But it is sti custom in the East to dress meat very soon after the animal has been killed, and very often before the warmth of li departed from it: and in a journey we have ourselves often eaten boiled mutton in less than two hours after the had been killed; and broiled mutton in a much shorter time. The custom doubtless originated in the heat climate, which precluded meat from being kept long; and, as a custom, came to be applied in seasons and re where the originating cause did not immediately operate. Mr. Roberts, in a remark on I Sam. xxviii. 24, 25, obs that in India the natives affect to be disgusted with the English for keeping fowls six or eight hours before the cooked, and say we are fond of eating chettareyche, i. e. dead flesh. He adds, "There are some Englishmen become so accustomed to these things, that they have the chicken grilled, and on their table, which a quarter hour before was playing in the yard."

he was as a physician consulted about the complaints of the ladies of a Turk of high consideration called Omar

8. "Butter." The continual mention of butter as an independent dish, and as a proverbial sign of plenty, is calcu to astonish an European reader. The word, as used in the Bible, implies butter and cream in various states of sistence. Annotators have discussed whether, in the present instance, the meat was dished up with butter, or tha latter formed an independent dish. It might well be both, or either, if we judge from present Arab usages, furnish ample illustrations of the extraordinary use of butter among the Hebrews. The butter is usually made the milk of sheep or goats, and is used to an excess which it seems amazing that the human stomach can bear. Arab food, considered well prepared, swims in butter, and large quantities are swallowed independently in a sol liquid state. Burckhardt mentions that those who can afford such a luxury swallow every morning a large cup of butter before breakfast; and even snuff a good quantity up their nostrils. Some tribes welcome a gue pouring a cup of melted butter on his head. Our way of spreading butter thinly on bread seems the heig absurdity to them, and indeed to other Asiatics. When they do eat it with bread at all, it is in the way which taught us by a Bedouin, who observing us sitting on the ground and refreshing ourselves with buttered bread dates, looked compassionately on our ignorance of the true use of butter, and to give us a valuable lesson on the ject, commenced breaking off a thin bit of bread, about the size of a crown piece, and heaping thereon as large a of butter as it would support, threw it into his mouth with great satisfaction. He pursued this instruction unt rapid progress towards the bottom of our butter skin obliged us to declare ourselves sufficiently instructed. B hardt, in allusion to the extraordinary use of butter among the Arabs, observes, "the continual motion and exerc which they employ themselves, strengthen their powers of digestion, and for the same reason an Arab will liv months together on the smallest allowance; and then, if an opportunity should offer, he will devour at one sittin flesh of half a lamb, without any injury to his health." This in some degree accounts for the extraordinary tity of food which here and elsewhere we find prepared for a very few persons; or a better reason perhaps is four the existing practice throughout Western Asia of producing at entertainments from five to ten times the quanti food which the invited guests can consume, the residue going to feast the women and the host of servants and de dents which men of consideration support. It is the same in camps, where a great number of hungry Ara Tartars get some benefit from the feast which their sheikh or some wealthy person provides for a stranger.

"Milk."-Milk, in its various forms, constitutes a principal article of diet among the Arabs and other pas tribes; and also enters largely as an ingredient into the composition of their prepared dishes. Many tribes live al exclusively on dates and milk meals. Butter has been mentioned, and cheese will claim a future notice. When turage is good, sweet milk is handed round after an Arab meal. They also make much use of butter-milk; and tions, is mentioned as a principal article of diet in a Hebrew household. The milk of goats is perhaps there mentioned as being of the best quality. It is decidedly so considered in the East. The Arabs drink camels' milk (see note on ch. xxxii. 15.); but all their butter and cheese is made with the milk of goats and sheep, which are milked by the women every morning before daybreak. Cows' milk, where it is to be had, is held in comparatively little esteem, and is, in fact, much inferior to that which our own cows produce; perhaps because these animals cannot thrive well upon the wild and often scanty pastures of those regions.

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CHAPTER XIX.

1. Lot entertaineth two angels. 4 The vicious Sodomites are stricken with blindness. 12 Lot is sent for safety into the mountains. 18 He obtaineth leave to go into Zoar. 24 Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed. 26 Lot's wife is a pit lar of salt. 30 Lot dwelleth in a cave. 31 The incestuous original of Moab and Ammon.

And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.

3 And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.

4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter :

5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

t

6 And Lot went out at the door unto

them, and shut the door after him,

7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.

8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

9 And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.

10 But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and

11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

12 And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides ? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place :

13 For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.

14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here lest thou be consumed in the 'iniquity of the city.

16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

18 And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:

19 Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:

20 Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.

21 And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.

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