eighty houses are occupied by Christians, and one hundred and fifty by Turks, but the largest portion (amounting to two hundred) is tenanted by Jews of all nations, who come here to spend the rest of their days. On the north side of the town, not far from the lake, there is a Greek church, the architecture of which exhibits much of the character of those sacred edifices which were erected by the Emperess Helena : it is said to occupy the identical spot on which stood the house of the apostle Peter, who, previously to his becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ, had been a fisherman on the lake. To the south of Tiberias lie the celebrated hot baths, the water of which contains a strong solution of muriate of soda, (common salt,) with a considerable intermixture of iron and sulphur; it emits a powerful sulphureous smell. A thermometer placed in different spots where the water gushes out, rose to the various heights of 131, 132, 138, and 139 degrees of Fahrenheit; in the bath, where it cools after standing some time, its temperature was 110. An humble building is erected over the bath, containing mean apartments, on one side for men, on the other for women: it is much frequented as a cure for almost every complaint, particularly by the Jews, who have a great veneration for a Roman sepulchre excavated in a cliff near the spot, which they imagine to be the tomb of Jacob. About a mile from the town, and exactly in front of the lake, is a chain of rocks, in which are distinctly seen cavities or grottoes that have resisted the ravages of time. These are uniformly represented to travellers as the places referred to in the gospel history, which were the resort of miserable and fierce demoniacs, upon one of whom Jesus Christ wrought a miraculous and instantaneous cure: (Matt. viii. 28. Mark v. 2, 3. Luke viii. 37.) The Sea of Galilee, which is seen in the background of our engraving, derives its name from its situation on the eastern borders of the province of Galilee; it was anciently called the Sea of Chinnerets, or Chinneroth, (Numb. xxxiv. 11. Josh. xii. 3,) from its vicinity to the town of that name. In 1 Mac. xi. 67, it is called the Water of Gennesar, and in Luke v. 1, the Lake of Gennesaret, from the neighbouring land of that name. Its most common appellation is the Sea of Tiberias, from the contiguous town of Tiberias, which has been described in the preceding paragraphs.' This capacious lake is from twelve to fifteen miles in length, and from six to nine miles in breadth; along the shore its depth varies, and in some parts it may be sixty feet. The water is perfectly fresh, and it is used by the inhabitants of Tiberias to drink, and for every culinary purpose. The waters of the northern part of this lake abound with delicious fish. It is remarkable that there is not a single boat of any description on the Sea of Tiberias at present, although it is evident from the gospel history that it was much navigated in the time of Jesus Christ. The fish are caught partly by the fishermen going into the water up to their aist, and throwing in a hand-net, and partly with casting-nets from the beach; the consequence is, that a very small quantity only is taken in comparison of what might be obtained if boats were employed. This accounts for the circumstance of fish being so dear at Tiberias, as to be sold at the same price per pound as meat. Viewed from a height, the water looks, amid the surrounding mountains, like an immense reservoir; and from the northern part being covered with volcanic remains, it has been conjectured that this lake was at one period the crater of a volcano. It has been compared by travellers to Loch Lomond, in Scotland; and, like the Lake of Windermere, in Westmoreland, it is often greatly agitated by winds. A strong current marks the passage of the Jordan through this lake; and when this is opposed by contrary winds, which blow here with the force of a hurricane from the southeast, sweeping into the lake from the mountains, a boisterous sea is instantly raised, which the small vessels of the country (such as were anciently in use) were ill qualified to resist. Such a tempest is described in Matt. viii. 24-26, which was miraculously calmed by Jesus Christ with a word. The broad and extended surface of this lake, "covering the bottom of a profound valley, surrounded by lofty and precipitous eminences, when added to the impression under which every Christian pilgrim approaches, gives to it a character of unparalleled dignity." HORNE. Depart lence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. In eastern language it is common to apply the word brother or sister to those relations who have no right to it in England. Thus, cousins are called "brothers;" i. e. the sons of brothers are called brothers; but a daughter, though she would be called sister by her cousins, yet her children would not be addressed in the same way, but "machān,” i. e. cousin, would be their proper title. The name sister, which Abraham gave to his wife, is still given to the same degree of relationship. Gen. xx. 12. "She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother."-ROB ERTS. Ver. 38. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. It is said of divine sages, of great gooroos, "Ah! in their heads are kept the rivers of life, or life-giving rivers." The figure in reference to them is, I doubt not, taken from Siva, as the Ganges is said to flow from his head.-ROBERTS. CHAPTER IX. Ver. 2. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? The Hindoos and Ceylonese very commonly attribute their misfortunes to the transgressions of a former state of existence. I remember being rather struck with the seriousness of a cripple, who attributed his condition to the unknown fault of his former life. His conjecture was, that he had broken the leg of a fowl. Offerings are made with a view to an honourable or happy birth at the nex transmigration.-CALLAWAY. Ver. 7. And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is, by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way, therefore, and washed, and came seeing. The following description of the fountain of Siloam is from the journal of Messrs. Fisk and King, under date of April 28, 1823. (Missionary Herald, 1824, p. 66.) "Near the southeast corner of the city, at the foot of Zion and Moriah, is the pool of Siloah, (Neh. 3. 15,) whose waters flow with a gentle murmur from under the holy mountain of Zion, or rather from under Ophel, having Zion on the west, and Moriah on the north. The very fountain issues ground, to which we descended by two flights of steps. from a rock, twenty or thirty feet below the surface of the Here it flows out without a single murmur, and appears clear as crystal. From this place it winds its way several rods under the mountain, then makes its appearance with gentle gurgling, and, forming a beautiful rill, takes its way down into the valley, towards the southeast. We drank of the water both at the fountain and from the stream, and found it soft, of a sweetish taste, and pleasant. The fountain is called in scripture the 'pool of Siloam.' It was to this that the blind man went and washed, and came seeing." -BUSH. CHAPTER X. Ver. 1. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that en tereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. In summer, the flocks were enclosed in folds, to which allusion is frequently made in the sacred volume. The fold of Polyphemus, the far-famed Sicilian shepherd, was a spacious cave, where his cattle, his sheep, and goats re posed. In Persia the shepherds frequently drive their flock.s into caverns at night, and enclose them by heaping up walls of loose stones. But the more common sheepfold was an enclosure in the manner of a building, and constructed of stone and hurdles, or fenced with reeds. It had a large Ver. 3. His brethren, therefore, said unto him, door, or entrance, for admitting the flock, which was closed CHAPTER VII. with hur lles; and to facilitate the tithing, which was done in the fold, they struck out a little door, so small, that two lambs could not escape together. To this entrance, which is still used in the East, our Lord alludes in this declaration: "He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber."-PAXTON. Ver. 3. To him the porter openeth: and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 4. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. 5. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. See on Is. 40. 11. Having had my attention directed last night to the words, "The sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name," I asked my man if it was usual in Greece to give names to the sheep. He informed me that it was, and that the sheep obeyed the shepherd when he called them by their names. This morning I had an opportunity of verifying the truth of this remark. Passing by a flock of sheep, I asked the shepherd the same question which I had put to my servant, and he gave me the same answer. I then bade him to call one of his sheep. He did so, and it instantly left its pasturage and its companions, and ran up to the hand of the shepherd with signs of pleasure, and with a prompt obedience. It is also true of the sheep in this country, that a stranger they will not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers. The shepherd told me that many of his sheep were still wild; that they had not yet learned their names; but that by teaching they would all learn them.-HARTLEY'S JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN GREECE. Ver. 5. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. The oriental shepherd marches before his flock to the field, with his rod in his hand and his dog by his side; and they are so perfectly disciplined, that they follow him wherever he chooses to lead them. To facilitate the management of his charge, he gives names to his sheep, which answer to them, as dogs and horses answer to theirs in these parts of the world. The shepherds of Egypt select a ram to lead the flock, and suspend a bell from his neck that they may follow him with greater ease and certainty.— PAXTON. Ver. 11. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 12. But he that is a hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep. 13. The hireling fleeth, because he is a hireling, and careth not for the sheep. and producing olive and fig-trees, vines, beans, and corn, which, over the whole country, are now ready for harvest. The tomb supposed to be that of Lazarus is a cave in the rock, to which we descended by twenty-six rude steps. At the bottom of these, in a small chamber, we saw a smal door in the ground; we descended by two large steps, and stooping through a low passage, about five feet long, entered the tomb, which is not hewed out of the rock, but built with large stones, and arched: I found it to be seven feet four inches, by eight feet two inches and a half, and ten feet high it is in its original rude state, and belongs to the Catholics, who say mass in it occasionally. In the tomb are two small windows, opening to holes in the rock.TURNER. : Ver. 17. Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already. It was customary among the Jews to go to the sepulchres of their deceased friends, and visit them for three days, for so long they supposed that their spirits hovered about them; but when once they perceived that their visage began to change, as it would in three days in these countries, all hopes of a return to life were then at an end. After a revolution of humours, which in seventy-two hours is completed, the body tends naturally to putrefaction; and therefore Martha had reason to say, that her brother's body (which appears by the context to have been laid in the sepulchre the same day that he died) would now on the fourth day become offensive.-STACKHOUSE. Ver. 19. And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. The general time of mourning for deceased relations, both among Jews and Gentiles, was seven days. During these days of mourning their friends and neighbours visited them, in order that by their presence and conversation they might assist them in bearing their loss. Many therefore in so populous a part of the country must have been going to and coming from the sisters, while the days of their mourning for Lazarus lasted. The concourse too would be the greater as it was the time of the passover. Besides, a vast multitude now attended Jesus on his journey. This great miracle therefore must have had many witnesses.-MACKNIGHT. Ver. 31. The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily, and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. Authors that speak of the eastern people's visiting the tombs of their relations, almost always attribute this to the though not so frequently as the other sex, who are more women; the men, however, sometimes visit them too, susceptible of the tender emotions of grief, and think that propriety requires it of them; whereas the men commonly think that such strong expressions of sorrow would misbecome them. We find that some male friends came from Jerusalem to condole with Mary and Martha on account of the death of their brother Lazarus, who, when they supposed that her rising up and going out of the house was with a view to repair to his grave to weep, "followed her, say Being wakeful at night, I occasionlly heard noises from the hills, which our attendants said proceeded from wolves. The watchful shepherds shouted, and the sheep probably escaped. I was forcibly reminded of the "good shepherd;"ing, She goeth unto the grave to weep there." It is no won were the flock near our tent to be forsaken by the shepherd for a single night, it would be scattered and devoured.REV. R. ANDERSON'S TOUR IN GREECE. CHAPTER XI. Ver. 1. Now certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. Bethany is a miserable village, containing between forty and fifty wretched stone huts, and inhabited solely by Arabs. It stands on a rocky mountain, well cultivated, | der that they thought her rising up in haste was to go to. the grave to weep, for Chardin informs us, that the mourning in the East does not consist in wearing black clothes, which they call an infernal dress, but in great outcries, in sitting motionless, in being slightly dressed in a brown or pale habit, in refusing to take any nourishment for eight days running, as if they were determined to live no longer. Her starting up then with a sudden motion, who, it was expected, would have sat still without stirring at all, and her going out of the house, made them conclude that it must be to go to the grave to weep there, though, according to the modern Persian ceremonial, it wanted five or six days of the usual time for going to weep at the grave: but the Jews possibly might repair thither sooner than the Persians do.-HARMER. Ver. 38. Jesus, therefore, again groaning in himself, cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it, 39. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, said unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh; for he hath been dead four days. The Jewish tombs, like those of Macri, have entrances, which were originally closed with a large and broad stone rolled to the door, which it was not lawful, in the opinion of a Jew, to displace. They were adorned with inscriptions and emblematical devices, alluding to particular transactions in the lives of the persons that lie there entombed. Thus the place where the dust of Joshua reposed, was called Timnath-heres, because the image of the sun was engraved on his sepulchre, in memory of his arresting that luminary in his career, till he had gained a complete victory over the confederate kings. Such significant devices were common in the East. Cicero says, the tomb of Archimedes was distinguished by the figure of a sphere and a cylinder.-PAXTON. Ver. 44. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, 'Loose him, and let him go. As the Jews did not make use of coffins, they placed their dead separately in niches, or little cells, cut into the sides of the caves, or rooms, which they had hewed out of the rock. This form of the Jewish sepulchre suggests an easy solution of a difficulty in the resurrection of Lazarus. The sacred historian states, that when our Lord cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth, he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes." Upon this circumstance, the enemies of revelation seize with avidity, and demand with an air of triumph, How he should come out of a grave, who was bound hand and foot with graveclothes? But the answer is easy: the evangelist does not mean that Lazarus walked out of the sepulchre, but only that he sat up, then putting his legs over the edge of his niche or cell, slid down and stood upright upon the floor; all which he might easily do, notwithstanding his arms were bound close to his body, and his legs were tied straight together, by means of the shroud and rollers with which he was swathed. Hence, when he was come forth, Jesus ordered his relations to loose him and let him go; a circumstance plainly importing the historian's admission that Lazarus could not walk till he was unbound.-PAXTON. [This interpretation, though plausible and ingenious, does not well accord with the letter of the text. From this it is not easy to avoid the impression, that in some way he came forth from the inner part to the outer opening of the cave, enveloped in his grave-clothes. As to the impossibility of his walking when thus impeded, we may safely admit, that if his limbs were thus entirely confined, he was conveyed to the door of the cave, by the same Almighty power by which he was raised from the dead.-BUSH.] home at the Vudeya-koli," i. e. the morning cock. The people attach a high value to those birds which crow with the greatest regularity; and some of them keep the time with astonishing precision.-ROBERTS. CHAPTER XVII. Ver. 5. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Our Lord is undoubtedly here praying to be glorified with his mediatorial glory. But this was not the glory prior to the creation he did not exist as mediator, and therewhich he had with the Father before the world was, for phrase, "which I had with thee before the world was," fore could not enjoy a mediator's glory. Consequently the probably means, "which I had in the divine purpose, which thou didst ordain and destine that I should have in the ages to come." By a similar diction, Christ is termed "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." But he was not actually slain from the foundation of the world, but only in the divine purpose. So here, Christ prays to be put in possession of that honour and glory which the Father from eternity had decreed should redound to him, in virtue of his assuming the office of Messiah, and being constituted Head and Lord of the New Testament dispensation. At anticipative eye.—BUSH. this glory he looks, not with a retrospective, but with an CHAPTER XVIII. Ver. 3. Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns, and torches, and weapons. Norden, among other particulars, has given some account of the lamps and lanterns that they make use of commonly at Cairo. "The lamp is of the palm-tree wood, of the height of twenty-three inches, and made in a very gross manner. The glass, that hangs in the middle, is half filled with water and has oil on the top, about three fingers in depth. The wick is preserved dry at the bottom of the glass, where they have contrived a place for it, and ascends through a pipe. These lamps do not give much light, yet they are very commodious, because they are transported easily from one place to another. With regard to the lanterns, they have pretty nearly the figure of a cage, and are made of reeds. It is a collection of five or six glasses, like to that of the lamp which has been just described. They suspend them by cords in the middle of the streets, when there is any great festival at Cairo, and they put painted paper in the place of the reeds." Were these the lanterns that those who came to take Jesus made use of? or were they such lamps as these that Christ referred to in the parable of the virgins? or are we rather to suppose that these lanterns are appropriated to the Egyptian illuminations, and that Pococke's account of the lanterns of this country will give us a better idea of those that were anciently made use of at Jerusalem? Speaking they rarely make use of tents, but lie in the open air, havof the travelling of the people of Egypt, he says, "by night ing large lanterns made like a pocket paper lantern, the bottom and top being of copper tinned over, and instead of paper they are made with linen, which is extended by hoops of wire, so that when it is put together it serves as a candlestick, &c. and they have a contrivance to hang it up abroad by means of three staves."-HARMER. CHAPTER XIX. Ver. 2. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe. There still exists a plant in Palestine, known among botanists by the name of the "Thorn of Christ," supposed to be the shrub which afforded the crown worn by the Saviour at his crucifixion. It has many small sharp prickles, well adapted to give pain; and as the leaves greatly resemble those of ivy, it is not improbable that the enemies of Messiah chose it, from its similarity to a plant with which em perors and generals were accustomed to be crowned; and thence, that there might be calumny, insult, and derision, meditated in the very act of punishment, "The mockery of reed and robe, and crown Of platted thorns upon his temple pressed."-RUSSEL. Ver. 5. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! On quitting the church we proceeded to the Mount of Olives; our road lay through the Via-dolorosa, so called from its having been the passage by which Christ was conducted from the place of his imprisonment to Mount Calvary. The outer walls of what was once the residence of Pilate, are comprehended in this street. The original entrance to the palace is blocked up, and the present access is at one of the angles of the court. The portal was formerly in the centre, and approached by a flight of steps, which were removed some centuries ago to Rome, and are now in a small chapel near the church of San Giovanni di Laterano. Very little of this structure is still extant; but the Franciscan monks imagine they have actually traced out the dungeon in which our Saviour was incarcerated, as well as the hall where Cesar's officer proceeded to give judgment. The place where the Messiah was scourged is now a ruined court, on the opposite side of the street; and not far from thence, but in a direction nearer to Mount Calvary, is the arch which the Latin friars designate "Il arco d'ecce homo," from the expression of Pilate, as recorded by St. John xix. 5; upon an eminence between the pillars which support the curvature, the Roman governor exhibited this illustrious victim to his deluded countrymen. Between this place and the scene of his crucifixion, Christ is said to have fainted under the weight of the cross. Tradition relates, that he sunk beneath its pressure three times; and the different stages are supposed to have been actually noted; they are severally designated by two columns, and an indenture in the wall.-Jolliffe. Ver. 23. Then the soldiers, when they had crucitied Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part, and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. The dress of the Arabs, in this part of the Holy Land, and indeed throughout all Syria, is simple and uniform; it consists of a blue shirt, descending below the knees, the legs and feet being exposed, or the latter sometimes covered with the ancient cothurnus, or buskin. A cloak is worn of very coarse and heavy camel's-hair cloth, almost universally decorated with broad black and white stripes, passing vertically down the back; this is of one square piece, with holes for the arms; it has a seam down the back; made without this seam, it is considered of greater value. Here, then, we perhaps behold the form and materials of our Saviour's garment, for which the soldiers cast lots, being "without seam, woven from the top throughout." It was the most ancient dress of the inhabitants of this country.CLARKE. Ver. 39 And there came also Nicodemus, (which at the first came to Jesus by night,) and brought mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight. The Old Testament historian entirely justifies the account which the evangelist gives of the quantity of spices with which the sacred body of Christ was swathed. The Jews object to the quantity used on that occasion, as unnecessarily profuse, and even incredible; but it appears from their own writings, that spices were used at such times in great abundance. In the Talmud, it is said, that no less than eighty pounds of spices were consumed at the funeral of Rabbi Gamaliel the elder. And at the funeral of Herod, if we may believe the account of their most celebrated historian, the procession was followed by five hundred of his domestics carrying spices. Why then should it be reckoned incredible that Nicodemus brought of myrrh and aloes about a hundred pounds weight, to embalm the body of Jesus?— ΡΑΧΤΟΝ. CHAPTER XXI. Ver. 5. Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. Thus did the risen Saviour address himself to his disciples. In this way, also, do spiritual guides, and men of learning, and aged men, address their disciples or dependants. In the Scanda Purana, it is said, "Sooran asked Käsipan what he should do? to which he replied, Children, I will mention one thing as a security for you, which is, to perform glorious austerity." Again, in the same work, "Thus proceeding, Singu Maggam, who was to him as his own life, following Velly, took him into his hall, and seated him, and heartily welcomed him with good words, and asked, Children, what are you come for ?"-ROBERTS. Ver. 7. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved, saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now, when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea. The fishermen in the East, when engaged in their vocation, are generally naked, excepting a small strip of cloth round their loins; so that, without any inconvenience, they can cast themselves into the sea.-ROBERTS. Ver. 18. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldst: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldst not. It was customary in the ancient combats for the vanquished person to stretch out his hands to the conqueror, signifying that he declined the battle, yielded the victory, and submitted to the direction of the victor. So, Turnus in Virgil: "Vicisti et victum tendere palmas Ausonii videre."-En. lib. xii. 1. 936. "You have overcome, and the Ausonians have seen thy vanquisned foe stretch forth his suppliant hands." To this custom our Lord alludes in his prediction to Peter: "When thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee." The aged apostle was to stretch out his hands as a token of submission to that power under which he would fall and perish.-PAX TON. THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. CHAPTER I. Ver. 26. And they gave forth their lots and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. The account which Grotius gives of the manner in which lots were cast, seems very probable and satisfactory. He says, they put their lots into two urns, one of which contained the names of Joseph and Matthias, and the other a blank, and the word apostle. In drawing these out of the urns, the blank came up with the name of Joseph, and the lot on which was written the word apostle came up with the name of Matthias. This being in answer to their prayers, they concluded that Matthias was the man whom the Lord had chosen to the apostleship.-BURDER. CHAPTER IV. Ver. 1. And, as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them. There was a garrison placed in the tower of Antonia, for the guard of the temple. This tower stood in the northeast corner of the wall, which parted the mountain of the house from the city. It was built by Hyrcanus the Asmonean, the high-priest. There he himself dwelt, and there be laid up the holy garments of the priesthood, whenever he put them off, having finished the service of the temple. Herod repaired this tower at a great expense, and named it Antonia, in honour of Antony. It was used as the depository of the priest's garments, till the removal of Archelaus from his kingdom, and the confiscation of his estate. The tower then came into the hands of the Romans, and was kept as a garrison by them. The highpriest's garments were then kept there under their power, till Vitellius restored them to the Jews. The captain here spoken off was the commander of the company who had the keeping of the castle.-LIGHTfoot. Ver. 34. Neither was there any among them that lacked for as many as were possessors of lands or houses, sold them, and brought the prices of he things that were sold, 35. And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. When a person takes a present or an offering to a priest, or a spiritual guide, or to a distinguished scholar, he does not give it into the hands of his superior, but places it at his feet. It is called the patha-käniki, i. e. the feet-offering. Ananias and Sapphira also brought a part of the price of the land," and laid it at the apostles' feet."-ROB ERTS. The bier used by the Turks at Aleppo, says Russel, is a kind of coffin, much in the form of ours, only the lid rises with a ledge in the middle. Christians, according to the same author, are carried to the grave in an open bier of the same kind as that used by the people of Nain. But the Jews seem to have conveyed their dead bodies to their funerals without any support, as may be inferred from the history of Ananias and his wife Sapphira: “And the "oung men arose, wound him up, and carried him out and uried him." With equal despatch they carried forth Sap phira, and buried her by her husband. No hint is given of a bier in either case.-PAXTON. CHAPTER VIII. Ver. 40. But Philip was found at Azotus; and, passing through, he preached in all the cities, till he came to Cesarea. The present state of Azotus is thus described by Dr. Wittman:-" Pursuing our route through a delightful country, we came to Ashdod, called by the Greeks Azotus, and under that name mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, a.town of great antiquity, provided with two small entrance gates. In passing through this place we saw several fragments of columns, capitals, cornices, &c., of marble. Towards the centre is a handsome mosque, with a minaret. By the Arab inhabitants Ashdod is called Mezdel. Two miles to the south, on a hill, is a ruin, having in its centre a lofty column still standing entire. The delightful verdure of the surrounding plains, together with a great abundance of fine old olive-trees, rendered the scene charmingly picturesque. In the villages, tobacco, fruits, and vegetables are cultivated abundantly by the inhabitants; and the fertile and extensive plains yield an ample produce of corn. At this time the wheat was just coming into ear, the harvest taking place so early as towards the latter end of April or beginning of May."-BURDER. CHAPTER IX. Ver. 5. And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. See on Judg. 3. 31. Ver. 11. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas, for one called Saul of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth. Tarsus, the place of Saul's nativity, was at that time the most celebrated school in the world, and, for polite literature, far surpassed Athens and Alexandria. Strabo, who lived in that age, gives the following account of it: "The inhabitants of this place cherish such a passion for philosophy, and all the various branches of polite letters, that they have greatly excelled Athens and Alexandria, and every other place in which there are schools and academies for philosophy and erudition. But Tarsus differs in this, that those who here devote themselves to the study of literature, are all natives of that country: there are not many from for eign parts who reside here. Nor do the natives of the coun try continue here for life, but they go abroad to finish their studies, and when they have perfected themselves they choose to live in other places. There are but few who return home." He also says, that "Rome can best witness the great number of learned men, the natives of this city; for it is full of literati from Tarsus and Alexandria."BURDER. Ver. 34. And Peter said unto him, Eneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed. And he arose immediately. Mattresses, or something of that kind, were used for sleeping upon. The Israelites formerly lay upon carpets. (Amos ii. 8.) Russel says the "beds consist of a mattress |