ate;" a delicious and cooling beverage to the parched inhabitant of the equatorial regions; or perhaps she means a species of wine made of pomegranate juice, which we learn from Chardin, is drank in considerable quantities in the East, and particularly in Persia. Which of these is really intended, it is not easy to determine. Liquors of this kind are still very common in the East. Sherbet, which is a syrup, chiefly that of lemons mixed with water, is used by persons of all ranks.

"I think," says Mr. Harmer in a note, "it is highly probable, that in the time of remote antiquity, pomegranate juice was used in those countries where lemon juice is now used, with their meat, and in their drinks; and, that it was not till afterward, that lemons came among them. I know not how else to account for the mention of pomegranates, in describing the fruitfulness of the Holy Land: they would not now, I think, occur in such descriptions; the juice of lemons and oranges have at present almost superseded the use of that of pomegranates." But the opinion of this respectable writer, is opposed by no less an authority than Dr. Russel, who spent many years in Syria, and wrote the natural history of that country. According to that able historian, lemons have by no means superseded the pomegranate ; the latter is more easily preserved through the winter, and is often in cookery preferred to the lemon. In describing the fruitfulness of a country, the pomegranate would be mentioned; and it is diligently cultivated even where lemons are plenty. What Chardin calls Roubnar, he would not understand to be wine; Rab-al-nar is the inspissated juice of the pomegranate, or the juice of grapes preserved with sugar.-PAXTON.

Ver. 32. The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof.

Of a very unhealthy place it is said, "That evil country eats up all the people." "We cannot remain in these parts, the land is eating us up." I go to that place! never! it will eat me up." Of England it is said, in reference to her victories, "She has eaten up all countries."-ROBERTS. CHAPTER XIV.

Ver. 9. Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land: for they are bread for us their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us; fear them not. Hebrew, "shadow." A poor man says of his rich friend, "He is my shadow;" i. e. he is my defence. "My shadow is gone;" meaning, he has lost his defence. "Alas! those poor people have lost their shadow."— Roberts.

Literally, their shadow, a metaphor highly expressive of protection and support in the sultry eastern countries. The Arabs and Persians have the same word to denote the same thing: using these expressions, "May the shadow of thy prosperity be extended." May the shadow of thy prosperity be spread over the heads of thy well-wishers.""

"May thy protection never be removed from my head;
May God extend thy shadow eternally."

CHAPTER XVIII.

Ver. 16. And those that are to be redeemed, from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.

following manner. According to Leo of Modena, this was performed in the When the child is thirty days old, the father sends for one of the descendants of Aaron; several persons being assembled on the occasion, the father brings a cup, containing several pieces of gold and silver coin. The priest then takes the child into his arms, and addressing himself to the mother, says, "Is this thy son?" Mother. "Yes." Priest. "Hast thou never had another child, male or female, a miscarriage or untimely birth?" Mother. "No." Priest. "This being the case, this child, as first-born, belongs to me." Then turning to the father, he says, "If it be thy desire to have this child, thou must redeem it." Father. "I present thee with this gold and silver for this purpose." Priest. "Thou dost wish, therefore, to redeem the child?" Father. "I do wish so to do." The priest then turning himself to the assembly, says, "Very well: this child, as first-born, is mine, as it is written in Bemidbar, Numb. xviii. 16, Thou shall redeem the first-born of a month old for five shekels; but I shall content myself with this in exchange." He then takes two gold crowns, or thereabouts, and returns the child to his parents.-BURDER. Ver. 19. All the heave-offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD unto thee, and to thy seed with thee.

Among other descriptions of a covenant, there is one which demands explanation, Numb. xviii. 19, "The offerings I have given to thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever; it is a covenant of salt, for ever, before the Lord." 2 Chr. xiii. 5, "Ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David, for ever, to him, and to his sons, by a covenant of salt ?" It is very properly, as we suppose, suggested, in answer to the inquiry, What means this covenant of salt? that salt preserves from decay and putrefaction; it maintains a firmness and durability. There is a kind of salt so hard, that it is used as money, and passes from hand to hand no more injured than a stone would be, says Mr. Bruce. Salt may therefore very properly be made an emblem of perpetuity.

But the covenant of salt seems to refer to an agreement made, in which salt was used as a token of confirmation. We shall give an instance from Baron du Tott. "He, (Moldovanji Pacha,) was desirous of an acquaintance with me, and seeming to regret that his business would not permit him to stay long, he departed, promising in a short time to return. I had already attended him half way down the staircase, when stopping, and turning briskly to one of my domestics who followed me, 'Bring me directly,' said

CHAPTER XVII.

Ver. 6. And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. 7. And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. 8. And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron, for the house of Levi, was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded

almonds.

See on Jer. 1. 11, 12.

fancy, than at the haste which was made to obey him. What he requested was brought; when, taking a little salt between his fingers, and putting it with a mysterious air on a bit of bread, he ate it with a devout gravity, assuring me that I might now rely on him. I soon procured an explanation of this significant ceremony; but this same man, when become vizier, was tempted to violate this oath thus taken in my favour. Yet if this solemn contract be not always religiously observed, it serves, at least, to moderate the spirit of vengeance so natural to the Turks." The Ba

ron adds in a note: "The Turks think it the blackest ingratitude, to forget the man from whom we have received food: which is signified by the bread and salt in this ceremony."-(Baron du Tott, part i. page 214.) The Barol alludes to this incident in part in. page 36. Moldovanji Pacha, being ordered to obey the Baron, was not pleased at it. "I did not imagine I ought to put any great confidence in the mysterious COVENANT of the bread and salt, by which this man had formerly vowed inviolable friendship to

me." Yet he "dissembled his discontent," and "his peevishness only showed itself in his first letters to the Porte." It will now, we suppose, appear credible, that the phrase "a covenant of salt" alludes to some custom in ancient times; and without meaning to symbolize very deeply, we take the liberty of asking, whether the precept, Lev. ii. 13, "With all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt," may have any ref erence to ideas of a similar nature? Did the custom of feasting at a covenant-making include the same? according to the sentiment of the Turks hinted at in the Baron's note. We ought to notice the readiness of the Baron's domestics, in proof that they, knowing the usages of their country, well understood what was about to take place. Also, that this covenant is usually punctually observed, and where it is not punctually observed, yet it has a restraining influence on the party who has made it; and his non-observance of it disgraces him.

We proceed to give a remarkable instance of the power of this covenant of salt over the mind: it seems to imply a something attributed to salt, which it is very difficult for us completely to explain, but which is not the less real on that account: "Jacoub ben Laith, the founder of a dynasty of Persian princes called the Saffarides, rising, like many others of the ancestors of the princes of the East, from a very low state to royal power, being in his first setting out in the use of arms, no better than a freebooter or robber, is yet said to have maintained some regard to decency in his depredations, and never to have entirely stripped those that he robbed, always leaving them something to soften their affliction. Among other exploits that are recorded of him, he is said to have broken into the palace of the prince of that country, and having collected a very large booty, which he was on the point of carrying away, he found his foot kicked something which made him stumble; he imagined it might be something of value, and putting it to his mouth, the better to distinguish what it was, his tongue soon informed him it was a lump of salt. Upon this, according to the morality, or rather superstition, of the country, where the people considered salt as a symbol and pledge of hospitality, he was so touched, that he left all his booty, retiring without taking away any thing with him. The next morning, the risk they had run of losing many valuable things being perceived, great was the surprise, and strict the inquiry, what could be the occasion of their being left. At length Jacoub was found to be the person concerned; who having given an account, very sincerely, of the whole transaction to the prince, he gained his esteem so effectually, that it might be said, with truth, that it was his regard for salt that laid the foundation of his after fortune. The prince employing him as a man of courage and genius in many enterprises, and finding him successful in all of them, he raised him, by little and little, to the chief posts among his troops; so that, at that prince's death, he found himself possessed of the command în chief, and had such interest in their affections, that they preferred his interests to those of the children of the deceased prince, and he became absolute master of that province, from whence he afterward spread his conquests far and wide." (D'Herbelot, Bibl. Orient. p. 466. Also, Harmer's Obs.)-TAYLOR IN CALMET.

CHAPTER XX.

Ver. 19. And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by the highway; and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I w... pay for it: I will only (without doing any thing else) go through on my feet.

The scarcity of water, and the great labour and expense of digging away so much earth, in order to reach it, render a well extremely valuable. As the water is often sold at a very high price, a number of good wells yield to the proprietor a large revenue. Pitts was obliged to purchase water at sixpence a gallon; a fact which illustrates the force of the offer made by Moses to Edom; "If I, and my Cattle, drink of thy water, then will I pay for it." It is properly mentioned as a very aggravating circumstance in the overthrow of Jerusalem, that the ruthless conqueror forced the Jews to purchase with money, the water of their own wells and the wood of their own trees: "We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto

us."

Even a cup of cold water cannot always be obtained in Syria, without paying a certain price. It is partly on this account our Lord promises, "Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of those little ones, a cup of cold water, in the name of a disciple, should in no wise lose his reward" -PAXTON.

How little do the people of England understand feelingly those passages of scripture which speak of want of water, of paying for that necessary fluid, and of the strife for such a valuable article as a well! So we read, " Abraham reproved Abimelech, because of a well of water, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away." Gen. xxi. 25. So, chap. xxvi. 20: "The herdsmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdsmen; and he called the well Esek, contention."-To what extremities contention about a sup ply of water may proceed, we learn from the following ex tracts:-" Our course lay along shore, betwixt the main land and a chain of little islands, with which, as likewis with rocks and shoals, the sea abounds in this part; and for that reason, it is the practice with all these vessels to anchor every evening: we generally brought up close to the shore, and the land-breeze springing up about midnight, wafted to us the perfumes of Arabia, with which it was strongly impregnated, and very fragrant; the latter part of it carried us off in the morning, and continued till eight, when it generally fell calm for two or three hours, and after that the northerly wind set in, after obliging us to anchor under the lee of the land by noon; it happened that one morning, when we had been driven by stress of weather into a small bay, called Birk Bay, the country around it being inhabited by the Budoes, [Bedoweens] the Noquedah sent his people on shore to get water, for which it is alway customary to pay."

This extract, especially illustrates the passage, Num.xx 17, 19;-" We will not drink of the water of the wells :if I, and my cattle, drink of thy water, then will I pay for it."-This is always expected; and though Edom might in friendship have let his brother Israel drink gratis, had he recollected their consanguinity, yet Israel did not insist on such accommodation. How strange would it sound in England, if a person in travelling, should propose to pay for drinking water from the wells by the road-side! Never theless, still stronger is the expression, Lam. v. 4; “We have drank our own water for money:" we bought it of our foreign rulers; although we were the natural proprietor of the wells which furnished it.-TAYLOR IN CALMET.

Ver. 22. And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto mount Hor. 23. And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, 24. Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah. 25. Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and

bring them up unto mount Hor: 26. And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there. 27. And Moses did as the LORD commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. 28. And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.

The evidence already adduced leaves unquestionable the possibility that excavations in rocks may continue unimpaired for many ages. That monuments so extremely ancient as the days of Moses and Aaron should still bear their testimony to facts of other times, is too wonderful to be received without due circumspection.-If they were referred to buildings, to structures erected by human power, they would be something more than dubious: but this

hesitation does not apply to chambers cut in rocks, or on the sides of rocky mountains: if the identity of such places can be established, their antiquity need occasion no difficulty; if the tomb of Aaron be not the tomb of any other person, it may be admitted to all the honours of the distant age to which it is ascribed. The rock and the mountain originated with the world, and will endure to the end of time. At least, it is proper that what is said of the tomb of Aaron, should find its place in a work like the present.

Our travellers left Petra, and taking a south-westerly direction, arrived at the foot of Mount Hor, by three o'clock in the afternoon. They climbed the rugged ascent, and found "a crippled Arab hermit, about eighty years of age, the one half of which time he had spent on the top of the mountain, living on the donations of the few Mohammedan pilgrims who resort thither, and the charity of the native shepherds, who supply him with water and milk. He conducied us into the small white building, crowned by a cupola, that contains the tomb of Aaron. The monument is of stone, about three feet high, and the venerable Arab, having lighted a lamp, led us down some steps to a chamber below, hewn out of the rock, but containing nothing extraordinary. Against the walls of the upper apartment, where stood the tomb, were suspended beads, bits of cloth and leather, votive offerings left by the devotees; on one side, let into the wall, we were shown a dark looking stone, that was reputed to possess considerable virtues in the cure of diseases, and to have formerly served as a seat to the prophet."-TAYLOR IN CALMET.

CHAPTER XXI.

Ver. 6. And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

The seraph, to a biblical student, is one of the most interesting creatures that has yet fallen under our notice. It bears the name of an order among the hosts of heaven, whom Isaiah beheld in vision, placed above the throne of Jehovah in the temple; the brazen figure of this serpent, is supposed to be a type of our blessed Redeemer, who was for our salvation lifted up upon the cross, as the serpent was elevated in the camp of Israel, for the preservation of that people. It is the only species of serpent which the almighty Creator has provided with wings, by means of which, instead of creeping or leaping, it rises from the ground, and, leaning upon the extremity of its tail, moves with great velocity. It is a native of Egypt, and the deserts of Arabia; and receives its name from the Hebrew verb saraph, which signifies to burn, in allusion to the violent inflammation which its poison produces, or rather its fiery colour, which the brazen serpent was intended to represent. Bochart is of opinion, that the seraph is the same as the hydrus, or, as Cicero calls it, the serpent of the waters. For, in the book of Isaiah, the land of Egypt is called the region from whence come the viper and flying seraph, or burning serpent. Elian says, they come from the deserts of Libya and Arabia, to inhabit the streams of the Nile; and that they have the form of the hydrus.

The existence of winged serpents is attested by many writers of modern times. A kind of snakes were discovered among the Pyrenees, from whose sides proceeded cartilages in the form of wings; and Scaliger mentions a peasant who killed a serpent of the same species which attacked him, and presented it to the king of France. Le Blanc, as quoted by Bochart, says, at the head of the lake Chiamay, are extensive woods and vast marshes, which it is very dangerous to approach, because they are infested by very large serpents, which, raised from the ground on wings resembling those of bats, and leaning on the extremity of their tails, move with great rapidity. They exist, it is reported, about these places in so great numbers, that they have almost laid waste the neighbouring province. And, in the same work, Le Blanc affirms that he has seen some of them of immense size, which, when hungry, rushed impetuously on sheep and other tame animals. But the original term op Moopheph, does not always signify flying with wings; it often expresses vibration, swinging backward and forward, a tremulous motion, a fluttering; and this is precisely the motion of a serpent, when he springs from one tree to another. Niebuhr mentions a sort of serpents at Bassorah, which they call Heie thiare. "They

commonly keep upon the date trees; and as it would be la. borious for them to come down from a very high tree, in order to ascend another, they twist themselves by the tail to a branch of the former, which making a spring by the motion they give it, throws them to the branches of the second. Hence it is, that the modern Arabs call them flying serpents, Heie thiare. Admiral Anson also speaks of the flying serpents, that he met with at the island of Quibo; but, which were without wings." From this account it may be inferred, that the flying serpent mentioned in the prophet, was of that species of serpents which, from their swift darting motion, the Greeks call Acontias, and the Romans, Jaculus. The seraph is classed by the Hebrews, among those animals which emit an offensive odour; which corresponds with the character given of the hydrus by the poet: graviter spirantibus hydris." This circumstance is confirmed by Elian, who states, that in Corcyra, the hydræ turn upon their pursuers, and exhale from their lungs an air so noisome, that they are compelled to desist from the attack. It is an obvious objection to these arguments, that the hydræ are produced, and reared in marshy places; not in burning and thirsty deserts, where the people of Israel murmured because they could find no water. But, although that people might find no water to drink, it will not follow, that the desert contained no marshy place, or muddy pool, where the hydræ might lurk. Besides, it is well known, that when water fails, these serpents do not perish, but become chersydri, that is, seraphim or burners. Elian says they live a long time in the parched wilderness, and lie in wait for all kinds of animals. These chersydri, it is extremely probable, were the serpents which bit the rebellious Israelites: and in this state they were more terrible instruments of divine vengeance; for, exasperated by the want of water, and the intense heat of the season, they injected a deadlier poison, and occasioned to the miserable sufferer more agonizing torments. The time of the year when Jehovah sent these serpents among his people, proves that this is no vain conjecture. According to Nicander, the hydræ become chersydri, and beset the path of the traveller about the dog days. Now, Aaron died on the first day of the fifth month, that is, the month Abib, which corresponds with the nineteenth day of July. The Israelites mourned for him thirty days; immediately after which, they fought a battle with Arad, the Canaanite, and destroyed his country: then recommencing their journey, they murmured for want of water, and the serpents were sent. This, then, must have happened about the end of August; the season when the hydræ become seraphim, and inflict the most cruel wounds. Nor is it a fact, that the frightful solitudes which Israel traversed, were totally destitute of water; for, in their fourth journey they came to the river Arnon; in the fifth, to Beer, a well greatly celebrated in scripture; and soon after the death of Aaron, they arrived at a region watered by numerous streams. In these irriguous places, which were at no great distance from the camp of Israel, the hydræ might be produced, and sent to chastise the rebellious tribes. The words of Moses also seem to countenance the idea, that the hydræ employed on this occasion, were not generated on the spot, but sent from a distance: "And the Lord sent fiery serpents, or seraphim, among the people." From these words it is natural to conclude, that they came from that "land of rivers," through which the congregation had lately passed. Nor will this be reckoned too long a journey, when it is recollected that they travelled from both the Libyan and Arabian deserts, to the streams of the Nile. They inflicted on this memorable occasion, an appropriate chastisement on the perverse tribes. That rebellious people had opened their mouth against the heavens; they had sharpened their tongues like serpents; and the poison of asps was under their lips therefore they were made to suffer, by the burning poison of a creature which they so nearly resembled. -PAXTON.

:

Ver. 18. The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves. And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah.

Michaelis observes on this passage, that Moses seems to have promised the Israelites that they would discover in this neighbourhood, and that by ordinary human industry