of the family, and even if his sister became dissolute, and was defiled, rx body could hinder her from still being his sister." (D'Arvieux.) This is confirmed by Niebuhr. "I learnt at Basra, that a man is not allowed to kill his wife, even on account of adultery; but that her father, brother, or any of her relations, were suffered to do it without being punished, or at least paying a small sum as an atonement, because her relations had been dishonoured by her bad behaviour; but that after this satisfaction, nobody is permitted to reproach the family. They remembered examples of it in Basra and Bagdad; in this latter place, a rich merchant, a few years since, had found a young man with a relation of his, and not only hewed her in pieces on the spot, but also, by witnesses and money, caused the young man, who was the son of a respectable citizen, to be hanged the same night by the magistrates."-ROSENMULLER.

Ver. 30. And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me, to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land.

So said Jacob to Simeon and Levi. Of a man who has lost his honour, whose fame has entirely gone, it is said, "Ah! he has lost his smell-where is the sweet smell of former years?" "Alas!" says an old man, "my smell is

for ever gone."-ROBERTS. CHAP. 35. ver. 2. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, be clean, and change your garments.

and

The household of Jacob had strange gods among them, and he ordered them to put them away, and to make themselves clean, and to change their garments in token of their purity. When people have been to any unholy place, they always on returning wash their persons and change their garments. No man can go to the temple, wearing a dirty cloth: he must either put it on clean, or go himself to a tank and wash it; or put on one which is quite new. Hence, near temples, men may be seen washing their clothes, in order to prepare themselves for some ceremony. (Exodus xix. 10.) ROBERTS.

Ver. 4. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their ear-rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. The nose-jewel is another ornament peculiar to the East, which the Jewish females were accustomed to wear, and of which the Asiatic ladies are extremely fond. It is mentioned in several parts of scripture; thus the prophet Ezekiel: "And I put a jewel on thy foreheaa," or, as it should have been rendered, on thy nose. This ornament was one of the presents which the servant of Abraham gave to Rebecca, in the name of his master: "I put," said he, "the ear-ring upon her face;" more literally, I put the ring on her nose. They wore ear-rings besides; for the household of Jacob at his request, when they were preparing to go up to Bethel, gave him all the ear-rings which were in their ears, and he hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. The difference between these ornaments is clearly stated by the prophet: "I put a jewe on thy nose, and ear-rings in thine ears.' The nose-jewel, therefore, was different from the ear-ring, and actually worn by the females as an ornament in the East. This is confirmed by the testimony of Sir John Chardin, who says, "It is the custom in almost all the East, for the women to wear rings in their noses, in the left nostril, which is bored low down in the middle. These rings are of gold, and have commonly two pearls and one ruby between them, placed in the ring; I never saw a girl or young woman in Arabia, or in all Persia, who did not wear a ring after this manwer in her nostril." Some writers contend, that by the nosejewel, we are to understand rings, which women attached to their forehead, and let them fall down upon their nose; but Chardin, who certainly was a diligent observer of Eastern customs, nowhere saw this frontal ring in the East, but everywhere the ring in the nose. His testimony is supported by Dr. Russel who describes the women in some of

the villages about Aleppo, and all the Arabs and Chinganas, (a sort of gipsies,) as wearing a large ring of silver or gold, through the external cartilage of their right nostril. It is worn, by the testimony of Egmont, in the same manner by the women of Egypt. The difference in the statements of these travellers is of little importance, and may be reconciled by supposing, what is not improbable, that in some eastern countries they wear the ring in the left, and in others in the right nostril; all agree that it is worn in the nose, and not upon the forehead. Some remains of this custom have been discovered among the Indians in North America, where Clark and Lewis, in their travels to the sources of the Missouri, fell in with some tribes that wore a long tapering piece of shell, or bead, put through the cartilage of the nose.-PAXTON. Ver. 8. But Deborah, Rebecca's nurse, died, and she was buried beneath Beth-el, under an oak: and the name of it was called Allon-bachuth. Savary, speaking of the Egyptian women, and their manner of nursing their children, says, "When circumstances compel them to have recourse to a nurse, she is not looked upon as a stranger. She becomes part of the family, and passes the rest of her life in the midst of the children she has suckled. She is honoured and cherished like a second mother." So the Syrian nurse continued until her death with Rebecca, and was buried with great solemnity of mourning: since that oak was from that time distinguished by the name of the Oak of Weeping.—HAR

MER.

Ver. 19. And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Beth-lehem. 20. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave. that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day.

The following account from the recent and valuable Travels in Palestine, by Mr. Buckingham, on the subject of Rachel's tomb, will be found highly interesting. "In the way, on the right, at a litt distance from the road, is hewn the reputed tomb of Rachel, to which we turned off, to enter. This may be near the spot of Rachel's interment, as it is not far from Ephrath, and may correspond Moses, who says, in describing her death in childbirth of well enough with the place assigned for her sepulchre by Benjamin, and Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem; and Jacob set a pillar upon her grave, that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day.' Gen. xxxv. 19. Instead of a pillar, the spot is now covered by a Mohammedan building, resembling in its exterior the tombs of saints and scheiks in Arabia and Egypt, being small, square, and surmounted by a dome. We entered it on the south side by an aperture, through which it was difficult to crawl, as it has no doorway; and found on the inside a square mass of masonry in the centre, built up from the floor nearly to the roof, and of such a size as to leave barely a narrow passage for walking around it. It is plastered with white stucco on the outer surface, and is sufficiently large and high to enclose within it any ancient pillar that might have been found on the grave of Rachel. This central mass is certainly different from any thing that I have ever observed in Arabian tombs; and it struck me on the spot, as by no means improbable, that its intention might have originally been to enclose either a pillar, or fragment of one, which tradition had pointed out as the pillar of Rachel's grave; and that as the place is held in equal veneration by Jews, by Christians, and by Mohammedans, the last, as lords of the country, might have subsequently built the present structure over it in their own style, and plastered the high souare pillar within. Around the interior face of the walls, is an arched recess on each side, and over every part of the stucco are written and engraved a profusion of names in Hebrew, Arabic, and Roman characters; the first execu ted in curious devices, as if a sort of abracadabra." P. 216. -BURDER. (See Engraving.)

CHAP. 36. ver. 6. And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of his house.

The Margin has, for persons, "souls." Has a man gone to a distant place, it is said, "Viravan, and all the souls of his house, have gone to the far country." "Have you heard that the old man and thirty souls have gone on a pilgrim66 age ?" Sir, I can never get rich, because I have fifteen souls who daily look to me for their rice."-ROBERTS.

Ver. 24. And these are the children of Zibeon; both Ajah, and Anah: this was that Anah that found the mules in the wilderness, as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father.

The Hebrews ascribe the invention of mules to Anah, the son of Zibeon, whose daughter, Aholibamah, was given in marriage to Esau. "This was that Anah, that found the mules in the wilderness, as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father." In this text, Moses evidently censures the misguided and preposterous industry of Anah, who, not satisfied with the numerous flocks and herds which the bounty of Providence had bestowed on his family, or, perhaps, actuated by impure and licentious motives, contrived a new and spurious breed of animals unknown to nature, and contrary to the laws which regulate her operations. Whatever might be the motive, the conduct of this Horite prince was certainly criminal. We cannot, on any other supposition, account for the peculiar and emphatical phrase which Moses employs: "This was that Anah, that found the mules in the wilderness." In opposition to this idea, Bochart contends, that if Anah had found out the method of procreating mules, the sacred historian would not have said he found them; because the verb (ND) matsa, among the Hebrews, does not signify to invent, but to find something already in existence. Nor to strengthen this conjecture, is it sufficient, that Anah is said at the time to have tended the asses of Zibeon his father; for mules are not procreated of asses only, but of an ass and a mare, or of a horse and a female ass. But of horses or wild asses, by whose union with the domestic ass a mule is generated, no mention is made in this passage. In addition to these arguments, our author insists on the improbability, that the method of generating mules was discovered in Idumea at that early period; because, the use of these animals does not seem to have become common in Judea, till the reign of David, about five hundred years after the death of Anah. No mention is made of mules in the flocks and herds of Abraham, of Isaac, of Job, and other shepherd princes of the East. In the various enumerations, horses, camels, asses, oxen, sheep, and goats, are expressly mentioned, but in relation to mules, the profoundest silence is uniformly observed; hence, Bochart argues, that the origin of mules is involved in great uncertainty. But the assertion of that celebrated writer, that the Hebrew verb (ND) matsa, signifies only to find, not to invent, is incorrect. In Leigh's Critica Sacra, it signifies also to procure for himself by labour and industry; and in Parkhurst, the seventh sense is, to obtain, to procure. According to these respectable authors, the text may be rendered, This was that Anah, who, by labour and industry, procured for himself mules in the wilderness, which is quite consistent with the common exposition. If Anah did not invent the method of procreating mules, but only found them already existing, what can the sacred writer mean by the emphatical phrase, He, Anah; or, as in our version, This was that Anah? What was so remarkable or important in a person merely finding a knot of mules in the wilderness, that Moses should reckon it necessary to use such emphatical terms? And what reason can be given, that he takes not the smallest notice of those who found horses, or camels, or asses in the wilderness, although some individual must have found and reduced them to a state of servitude? Something unusual and peculiar is certainly intended in the phrase which Moses employs: and what can that be, but the invention of a new breed of animals. The want of mules in the numerous herds of the patriarchs, and the late period at which they came into general use among the Jews, will not prove that Anah was not the inventer of that spurious breed, but only, that it was not in much request till the reign of David. That the procreation of mules was actually discouraged among the holy people, we have the highest authority for asserting. The God of Israel, who is a God of order and not of confusion, enacted a law, which he introduces with more than usual solemnity, not indeed to prohibit the use

of mules when procreated, but the rearing of them: "Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind." The mules which David and the nobles of his kingdom rode, were therefore, in all probability, imported from other countries where they abounded, long before the time of that illustrious monarch. Bochart offers another interpretation, which he thinks ought to be preferred; that the original term which our translators render mules, is in reality the name of a people, probably the same as the gigantic Emim, mentioned in the fourteenth chapter of Genesis. The Samaritan Pentateuch, accordingly reads here, (D) the Emim; and the Targum in Genesis, renders the term by (2) giants; and Aquila and Symmachus retain the Hebrew name, Emim; so, that the passage should be rendered: This is that Anah, who found, or lighted upon, the Emin in the desert. The verb (NSD) matsa, when spoken of enemies, is used for lighting upon them, or even attacking them suddenly: several examples of which, are quoted by Parkhurst. Thus, Anah is said to have found the Emím, or to have fallen upon them, or attacked them suddenly. By this daring exploit, which was greatly celebrated at the time it happened, whether he discomfited these gigantic enemies by his valour, or eluded the snare they had prepared for him b his address, he transmitted his fame to succeeding generations; and by this criterion the historian distinguishes him from others of the same name.-PAXTON.

[But for this interpretation there is no evidence in history, and we shall exhibit as more plausible, though by no means conclusive, the opinion of Mr. Bryant, (Observations upon some Passages in Scripture, p. 26.) There is reason to think, that the nature of these thirsty regions above mentioned is alluded to in the history of Anah, who was of the family of Seir the Horite, into which Esau had married. "And these are the children of Zibeon" (the son of Seir)" both Aiah and Anah: this was that Anah, who found mules in the wilderness, as he fed the asses of Zibeon, his father." Gen. chap. xxxvi. ver. 24. Why the word, Yamim, is here rendered mules, I know not; and why in some other versions it is expressed giants. It manifestly denotes waters; and is so translated in the Syriac version; and by aquas calidas in the Vulgate. The translations of Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus, retain the original word, which they express in Greek characters lapery, or tapety, as if it were a proper name. The word, I make no doubt, was in common use among the Edomites, and Horites of Mount Seir. It is the same as of the scriptures, and as the word Hammim, by which baths and waters are denoted at this day by the Arabians, Persians, and other nations in the east. The account given in scripture is short, and was well understood by the persons to whom it is addressed, and undoubtedly related to water. The circumstance mentioned must have been of conse quence, otherwise there would have been no necessity to specify the person, by whom it was effected. We should therefore read, that instead of mules Anah found out water in the wilderness: but to what does the history amount? Every known spring must have had somebody to have discovered it; so that Anah, if this be all, did no more than hundreds had done before. But to me there seems to be something of more importance in the account than at first appears; and for that reason the name of the person is recorded, as being of moment to those who lived in the vicinity of Edom, and were acquainted with the rites of Midian. It is to be observed, that the sacred writer, in speaking of Anah's first discovery of these waters, does not inform us, when, or where, he was feeding his father's asses; but only that the event took place, as he was feeding them. This may be found of some moment. I imagine, that the latent purport of the history is this. As Anah was attending these animals, in the desert, he observed that faculty with which they were endued, of snuffing the moisture of the air, and being by these means led to latent waters. Accordingly, either by the intimation of those which he fed, or by the traces of the wild brood, he was brought to the knowledge of those resources. And as thos animals, which had been beneficial. were entitled in many countries to a particular regard, so these among others met with uncommon reverence among the Horites of Mount Hor, and the people of Seir: for they were looked upon as the instruments of Heaven, towards the finding out in those barren wilds the greatest blessing. Hence

arose a town, and temple, where the divinity was worshipped under this emblem. They stood in a valley beneath Mount Hor, which was a part of the mountains Kiddim, upon the skirts of Edom. Thus, as I have before mentioned, what was natural sagacity, they looked upon as a supernatural impulse, an intimation from Heaven. And the animal, like the Apis and Mnevis in Egypt, was esteemed a living emblem of the Deity, and oracular. From the situation of Petora, which was very recluse, the place being almost surrounded by high mountains, we may suppose, that the water was first found out in the manner above: in consequence of which the animal was looked upon as an oracle, and accordingly reverenced. And when the false prophet proved disobedient, and was going to utter his curses against God's people, he was terrified by an angel, and rebuked by the beast he strode. Instead of that divine energy, which it was at times supposed to enjoy, and for which at Petora it was in an idolatrous manner reverenced, God gave the ass a human voice, a far superior and more surprising gift. Hence his power was shown above that of the gods of Edom and Midian; and the miracle was well calculated, in respect to the person on whose account it was exhibited. That the history did not relate either to mules, or to the Emims, but on the contrary, to water and fountains, may be seen in the name of the person. This was my, Anah, directly from ry, Ain, a fountain; and is analogous to Пnyatos in Greek, and Fontanus, or Fonteius, in Latin. It is what the Greeks called 2 μετονομασία, and was bestowed in consequence of the discovery; and is applicable to nothing else.]—B.

CHAP. 37. ver. 3. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.

Rauwolf says, "that Turks of rank at Aleppo dress their sons, when they are a little grown, and can walk, in loose coats of a fine texture, in which various colours are woven, and which look very handsome."--ROSENMULLER. The margin has, instead of colours, "pieces;" and it is probable the coat was patch-work of different colours. For beautiful or favourite children, precisely the same thing is done at this day. Crimson, and purple, and other colours, are often tastefully sewed together. Sometimes children of the Mohammedans have their jackets embroidered with gold and silk of various colours. A child being clothed in a garment of many colours, it is believed that neither tongues nor evil spirits will injure him, because the attention is taken from the beauty of the person, to that of the garment. Children seldom wear them after they are eight years of age; though it must have been the custom among the ancients referred to in the Bible to wear them longer, as we read of Tamar having " a garment of divers colours upon her; for with such robes were the king's daughters that were virgins apparelled."-ROBERTS.

Ver. 10. Shall I, and thy mother, and thy brethren,

indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth.

The Hebrew word here translated bow down, (by Luther, anbelen, i. e. worship,) means the manner customary in all Asia of testifying respect to kings and princes, by falling on the knee, and stooping till the forehead touches the ground. Ovington says, "The mark of respect which is paid to kings in the East approaches very near to adoration. The manner of saluting the Great Mogul is, to touch with the hand first the earth, then the breast, and then to lift it above, which is repeated three times in succession as you approach him."-BURDER.

Ver. 24. And tney took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it,

What is here meant by a pit is an empty cistern or reservoir dug in the ground, in which the rain-water is col.ected, of which there are many in the Arabian deserts. Rauwolf, in the account of his Journey through the Desert of Mesopotamia, says, "That the camels, besides other

This ceremony is very ancient, and is frequently men. tioned in scripture. Levi (Rites and Ceremonies of the Jews, p. 174) says, it was performed in the following manner: "they take a knife, and holding the blade downward, do give the upper garment a cut on the right side, and then rend it a hand's-breadth. This is done for the five following relations, brother, sister, son, or daughter, or wife; but for father or mother, the rent is on the left side, and in all the garments, as coat, waistcoat, &c."-BURDER.

CHAP. 38. ver. 14. And she put her widow's garments off from her, and covered her with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath: for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.

The habit of eastern females was also suited to their station; and women of all ages and conditions, appeared in dresses of the same fashion; only a married woman wore a veil upon her head, in token of subjection; and a widow had a garment which indicated her widowed state. The daughters of a king, and ladies of high rank, who were virgins, wore a garment of many colours, reaching, as is supposed, to the heels or ankles, with long sleeves down to the wrists, which had a border at the bottom, and a facing at the hands, of a colour different from the garment: it was likewise embroidered with flowers, which in ancient times, was reckoned both splendid and beautiful. Before the Jews were carried captives to Babylon, their wives and daughters had arrived at the greatest degree of extravagance in dress. The prophet Isaiah gives a long list of the vestments, trinkets, and ornaments in use among the ladies of Israel, in that remote age; the greater part of which, it is extremely difficult to describe. A common prostitute among the Jews was known, as well by the peculiar vesture she wore, as by having no covering upon her head, and her eyebrows painted with stibium, which dilated the hair, and made the eyes look black and beautiful. In the days of Jacob, the harlot seemed to have been distinguished by her veil, and by wrapping herself in some peculiar manner; for these are the circumstances that induced Judah to consider Tamar his daughter-in-law as a woman of this character. When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot, because she had covered her face. It may be justly inferred from this passage, that modest women did not constantly wear a veil in those days. Rebecca, indeed, put a veil upon her face when she met Isaac in the field: but it was a part of the marriage ceremony to deliver the bride covered with a veil, from head to foot; and Rebecca, in this instance, only followed the established custom of her country. Had it been the practice of modest women in that age to cover their faces, in the presence of the other sex, she would not have needed to veil herself when her future husband met her in the field. She seems to have had no veil when Abraham's servant accosted her at the well; nor, for any thing that can be discovered, was Rachel veiled at her first interview with Jacob; or if they did ap pear in veils, these prevented not a part of the face from being seen. The practice of wearing veils, except at the marriage ceremony, must, therefore, be referred to a later period, and was perhaps not introduced till after the lapse of several ages. These observations may serve to illustrate the address of Abimelech to Sarah: "Behold, he is to thee à covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee; and with all other." Sarah, you have not been used to wear the veil constantly when at home, as a person of your beauty and accomplishments should do, and by that circumstance we were tempted; but now I insist that you wear a covering, which, by concealing your beautiful countenance, may prevent such desires; and henceforth be correct, (as the word may be rendered, that is, circumspect,) and do