meet together in the house of God, within the temple; and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay thee; yea, in the night they will come to slay thee.

By the house of God, within the temple, (as it is in the text, Nehem. vi. 10,) Shemaiah certainly meant the sanctuary; and to advise Nehemiah to retreat thither, he had a good pretence, because it was both a strong and a sacred place, being defended by a guard of Levites, and, by its holiness, privileged from all rude approaches; but his real design herein might be, not only to disgrace Nehemiah, and dishearten the people, when they saw their governor's cowardice, but to prepare the way likewise for the enemies' assaulting and taking the city, when there was no leader to oppose them; to give countenance to the calumny that had been spread abroad, of his affecting to be made king, because he fled upon the report of it; and perhaps, by the assistance of some other priests, that were his confederates, either to destroy him, or to secure his person until the city was betrayed into the enemies' hands.-STACKHOUSE.

CHAPTER VII.

Ver. 1. Now it came to pass, when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the porters, and the singers, and the Levites were appointed, 2. That I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the ruler of the palace, charge over Jerusalem (for he was a faithful man, and feared God above many.)

Nehemiah, very likely, was now returning to Shushan, to give the king an account of the state of affairs in Judea; and therefore he took care to place such men in the city as he knew would faithfully secure it in his absence. Hanani is said to be his brother; but he chose his officers, not out of partial views to his own kindred, but because he knew that they would acquit themselves in their employment with a strict fidelity. Hanani had given proof of his zeal for God and his country, in his taking a tedious journey from Jerusalem to Shushan, to inform Nehemiah of the sad state of Jerusalem, and to implore his helping hand to relieve it, chap. i. And the reason why Nehemiah put such trust and confidence in Hananiah, was, because he was a man of conscience, and acted upon religious principles, which would keep him from those temptations to perfidiousness, which he might probably meet with in his absence, and against which a man destitute of the fear of God has no sufficient fence.-STACKHOUSE.

Ver. 3. And I said unto them, Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun be hot; and while they stand by, let them shut the doors, and bar them: and appoint watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every one in his watch, and every one to be over against his house.

In the hot countries of the East, they frequently travel in the night, and arrive at midnight at the place of their destination. Luke xi. 5. Mark xiii. 35. Probably they did not therefore usually shut their gates at the going down of the sun, if they did so at all through the night. Thevenot could not, however, obtain admission into Suez in the night, and was forced to wait some hours in the cold, without the walls. Doubdan, returning from the river Jordan to Jerusalem, in 1652, tells us, that when he and his companions arrived in the valley of Jehoshaphat, they were much surprised to find that the gates of the city were shut, which obliged them to lodge on the ground at the door of the sepulchre of the Blessed Virgin, to wait for the return of day, along with more than a thousand other people, who were obliged to continue there the rest of the night, as well as they. At length, about four o'clock, seeing everybody making for the city, they also set forward, with the design of entering by St. Stephen's gate; but they found it shut, and above two thousand people, who were there in waiting, without knowing the cause of all this. At first they thought it might be too early, and that it was not cus

tomary to open so soon: but an hour after a report was spread that the inhabitants had shut their gates because the peasants of the country about, had formed a design of pillaging the city in the absence of the governor and of his guards, and that as soon as he should arrive, the gates should be opened.-BURDER.

Ver. 4. Now the city was large and great, but the people were few therein, and the houses were not built.

One reason why the bulk of the Jews (who were originally pastural, and lovers of agriculture) might rather choose to live in the country than at Jerusalem, was, because it was more suited to their genius and manner of life; but at this time their enemies were so enraged to see the walls built again, and so restless in their designs to keep the city from rising to its former splendour, that it terrified many from coming to dwell there, thinking themselves more safe in the country, where their enemies had no pretence to disturb them.-STACKHOUSE.

CHAPTER VIII.

Ver. 10. Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our LORD: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

The eastern princes, and the eastern people, not only invite their friends to feasts, but it is their custom to send a portion of the banquet to those that cannot well come to it, especially their relations, and those in a state of mourning. This sending of portions to those for whom nothing was prepared, has been understood by those commentators I have consulted, to mean the poor; sending portions, however, to one another, is expressly distinguished in Esth. ix. 22, from gifts to the poor. There would not have been the shadow of a difficulty in this, had the historian been speaking of a private feast, but he is describing a national festival, where every one was supposed to be equally concerned those, then, for whom nothing was prepared, it should seem, means those that were in a state of mourning. Mourning for private calamities being here supposed to take place of rejoicing for public concerns. But it is not only to those that are in a state of mourning that provisions are sometimes sent; others are honoured by princes in the same manner, who could not conveniently attend to the royal table, or to whom it was supposed not to be convenient. D'Arvieux to eat with him, he complaisantly desired him So when the grand emir found it incommoded Monsieur to take his own time for eating, and sent him what he liked from his kitchen, and at the time he chose. And thus, when King David would needs suppose, for secret reasons, too well known to himself, that it would be inconvenient for Uriah to continue at the royal palace, and therefore dismissed him to his own house, "there followed him a mess of meat from the king." 2 Sam. xi. 8, 10.-HARMER.

Ver. 37. And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

These people attribute all their losses and afflictions to their SINS. Has a man lost his wife or child, he says, " Enparatin-nemityam, for the sake of my sins, this evil has come upon me." "Why, friend, do you live in this strange land?" "Because of my sins." No people can refer more to SIN as the source of their misery, and yet none appear more anxious to commit it. "The sins of my ancestors, the sins of my ancestors, are in this habitation," says the old sinner, who wishes to escape the sight of his own.-ROBERTS.

CHAPTER XIII.

Ver. 15. In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine-presses on the sabbath, and bringing

in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath-day and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals.

In peaceful times, the press in which the grapes and olives were trodden, was constructed in the vineyard: but in time of war and danger, it was removed into the nearest city. This precaution the restored captives were reduced to take for their safety, at the time they were visited by Nehemiah. In a state of great weakness themselves, without an efficient government or means of defence, they were exposed to the hostile machinations of numerous and powerful enemies. For this reason, many of the Jews brought their grapes from the vineyards, and trod them in Jerusalem, the only place of safety which the desolated country afforded. "In those days," said Nehemiah, "saw I in Judah, some treading wine-presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; and also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath-day." Had these wine-presses been at a distance from Jerusalem, Nehemiah, who so strictly observed the precept of resting on that day, would not have seen the violation of which he complains.

Our translators, in Mr. Harmer's opinion, seem to have been guilty of an oversight in the interpretation of this verse, which plainly supposes, that sheaves of corn were brought into Jerusalem at the very time men were treading the wine-presses. This, he observes, is a strange anachronism, since the harvest there was finished in or before the third month, and the vintage was not till the seventh. But, it may be replied in favour of our translators, that by Mr. Harmer's own admission, they have at present a species of corn in the East, which is not ripe till the end of summer; which made Rauwolf say, it was the time of harvest when he arrived at Joppa, on the thirteenth of September. But if they have such a species of corn now, it is more than probable they had it then; for the customs and management of the Orientals suffer almost no alteration from the lapse of time, and change of circumstances. If this be admitted, the difficulty vanishes: and there is nothing incongruous or absurd in supposing that Nehemiah might see his countrymen bringing this late grain in sheaves from the field, to tread it out in the city, for fear of their numerous and malicious foes, who might have set upon them, had they not taken this precaution, as the Arabs frequently do on the present inhabitants, and seized the heaps on the barn-floor. Mr. Harmer translates the Hebrew term, parcels of grapes; but as the word signifies a heap of any thing, it may with equal propriety be rendered parcels or sheaves of corn, especially as grapes are mentioned afterward. It is true, our author makes them dried grapes, but for the word dried he has no authority from the original text; there is no good reason, therefore, to find fault with our translators in this instance.-PAXTON.

Though the conveniences they have in the wine countries for pressing their grapes, were frequently in peaceful times in their vineyards, yet in times of apprehension these conveniences were often in the cities themselves. Greece, to the present day, is frequently alarmed, and always under apprehension from corsairs: accordingly we find, that though the plantations of olive-trees belonging to Athens are large, and at some distance from thence, yet the mills for grinding and pressing the olives are in that town; and this, though, according to his description, the great olive-grove, or wood of these trees, as Dr. Richard Chandler calls it, watered by the Cephissus, is about three miles from the city, and has been computed as at least six miles long. The same reason that can induce men to fetch their olives from a distance into their towns, must operate more or less forcibly with regard to their grapes. This was, in particular, the state of things at the time Nehemiah visited the children of the captivity. They had many enemies about them, and those very spiteful; and they themselves were very weak. For this reason, many of them trod their grapes in Jerusalem itself: "In those days saw I in Judah some

treading wine-presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; and also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath-day.'" Had these wine-presses been at a distance from Jerusalem, he that so strictly observed the precept of resting that day would not have seen that violation of it. They appear, by that circumstance, as well as by the other particulars mentioned there, to have been within the walls of Jerusalem. The words of Nehemiah are to be understood as signifying, "In those days saw 1 in Judah some treading wine-presses on the sabbath, and bringing in parcels of grapes for that purpose in baskets, which they had laden on asses, and also jars of wine, pressed elsewhere, dried grapes and figs, and all manner of burdens of victuals, which they sold on the sabbath:" the squeezing the grapes for wine, and drying them for raisins, being, it seems, at least frequently attended to at one and the same time. So when Dr. Chandler set out from Smyrna to visit Greece, in the end of August, the vintage was just begun, "the black grapes being spread on the ground in beds, exposed to the sun to dry for raisins; while in another part, the juice was expressed for wine, a man, with feet and legs bare, treading the fruit in a kind of cistern, with a hole or vent near the bottom, and a vessel beneath it to receive the liquor." (Travels in Greece.)

If the same custom obtained in Judea then, which it seems is practised in Greece now, and that the vintage was just then finishing, Nehemiah must have been particularly galled; for it seems they finish their vintage with dancing, and therefore I presume with songs, and probably music. For speaking of the Greek dances, of which some are supposed of very remote antiquity, and of one in particular, called the crane, he says, "the peasants perform it yearly in the street of the French convent, where he and his companions lodged at that time, at the conclusion of the vintage; joining hands, and preceding their mules and their asses, which are laden with grapes in panniers, in a very curved and intricate figure; the leader waving a handkerchief, which has been imagined to denote the clew given by Ariadne;" the dance being supposed to have been invented by Theseus, upon his escape from the labyrinth.

Singing seems to have been practised by the Jews in their vineyards, and shouting when they trod the grapes, from what we read, Isaiah xvi. 10: but whether dancing too, and whether they carried their profanation of the sabbath this length, in the time of Nehemiah, we are not informed. Some may have supposed that the words of Jeremiah, ch. xxxi. 4, 5, refer to the joy expressed by the Jews in the time of vintage: "Again, I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel; thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry. Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and eat them as common_things." Vines and dancing are here joined together.—BURDER.

Ver. 25. And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.

In Judea, the punishment of infamy consisted chiefly in cutting off the hair of evil-doers: yet it is thought that pain was added to disgrace, and that they tore off the hair with violence, as if they were plucking a bird alive. This is the genuine signification of the Hebrew word used by Nehemiah in describing his conduct towards those Jews who had violated the law by taking strange wives: "And I contended with them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair." This kind of punishment was common in Persia. King Artaxerxes, instead of plucking off the hair of such of his generals as had been guilty of a fault, obliged them to lay aside the tiara. The Emperor Domitian caused the hair and beard of the philosopher Apollonius to be shaved.-PAXTON.

CHAPTER I.

Ver. 5. And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace; 6. Where were white, green, and blue hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black marble.

In the houses of the fashionable and the gay, the lower part of the walls is adorned with rich hangings of velvet or damask, tinged with the liveliest colours, suspended on hooks, or taken down at pleasure. A correct idea of their richness and splendour may be formed from the description which the inspired writer has given of the hangings in the royal garden at Shushan, the ancient capital of Persia: "Where were white, green, and blue hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble." The upper part of the walls is adorned with the most ingenious wreathings and devices, in stucco and fret-work. The ceiling is generally of wainscot, painted with great art, or else thrown into a variety of panels, with gilded mouldings. In the days of Jeremiah the prophet, when the profusion and luxury of all ranks in Judea were at their height, their chambers were ceiled with fragrant and costly wood, and painted with the richest colours. Of this extravagance, the indignant seer loudly complains: "Wo unto him that saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows: and it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion." The floors of these splendid apartments were laid with painted tiles, or slabs of the most beautiful marble. A pavement of this kind is mentioned in the book of Esther: at the sumptuous entertainment which Ahasuerus made for the princes and nobles of his vast empire, "the beds," or couches, upon which they reclined, "were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black marble." Plaster of terrace is often used for the same purpose; and the floor is always covered with carpets, which are, for the most part, of the richest materials. Upon these carpets, a range of narrow beds, or mattresses, is often placed along the sides of the wall, with velvet or damask bolsters, for the greater ease and convenience of the company. To these luxurious indulgences the prophets occasionally seem to allude: Ezekiel was commanded to pronounce a ΠΟ to the women that sew pillows to all arm-holes;" and Amos denounces the judgments of his God against them "that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall."-PAXTON.

To give some idea of the grandeur of this feast, we may remark, that in eastern countries their houses are built round a court, in which, upon extraordinary occasions, company is entertained, being strewed with mats and carpets. And as the court lies open to the sky, it is usual, in the summer, to have it sheltered from the heat of the sun, by a large awning or veil, which being extended upon ropes reaching across the court, from one side of the top of the house to the other, may be folded or unfolded at pleasure. The Psalmist seems to allude to some covering of this kind, Ps. 104. 2: "Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain." Is. 40. 2. (Shaw's Travels, p. 247.) Now the Persian king entertained the whole city of Shushan, great and small, for seven days together, in the court of the garden of the king's palace. In that garden we must suppose a

very spacious area, probably containing many acres, curiously paved, and having lofty columns of marble, erected in rows at proper distances; to the tops of those columns were fixed rings of silver, through which they drew purple cords of fine linen, across from row to row, and from pillar to pillar; and over those cords they spread large sheets of delicate calico, possibly painted with blue, which would make a very splendid and beautiful sky over all the court, and a delightful shade to all the guests. Instead of mats and carpets, they had beds, or couches, of gold and silver, to sit upon, and were served with wine in vessels of gold. This is probably the idea we are to entertain of the furniture of this gorgeous banquet.-TAYLOR'S CONCORD

ANCE.

Dr. Russel does not represent the pavement of the courts as all mosaic work, and equally adorned, but he tells us, that it is usually that part that lies between the fountain and the arched alcove on the south side, that is thus beautified, supposing that there is but one alcove in a court; however, it should seem in some other parts of the East, there are several of these alcoves opening into the court. Maundrell, who calls them duans, in his account of the houses of Damascus, says expressly, that they have generally several on all sides of the court, "being placed at such different points, that at one or other of them you may always have either the shade or the sun, which you please." Are not these alcoves, or duans, of which, according to this, there might be several in the court of the palace of Ahasuerus, what the sacred writer means by the beds adorned with silver and gold? Esth. i. 6. I shall elsewhere show, that the bed where Esther was sitting, and on which Haman threw himself, must more resemble the modern oriental duans, or divans, than the beds on which the Romans reclined at their entertainments; and consequently it is more natural to understand those beds of these alcoves, or duans, richly adorned with gold and silver, while on the lower variegated pavements carpets were also laid, for the reception of those that could not find a place in these duans; on which pavements, Dr. Shaw tells us, they are wont, in Barbary, when much company is to be entertained, to strew mats and carpets.-HARMER.

Ver. 9. Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to King Ahasuerus.

The women are not permitted to associate with the other sex at an eastern banquet; but they are allowed to entertain one another in their own apartments. When Ahasuerus, the king of Persia, treated all the people of his capital with a splendid feast, Vashti, the queen, we are informed, "made a banquet for the women in the royal house, which belonged to King Ahasuerus." This, observes Chardin, is the custom of all the East; the women have their feasts at the same time, but apart from the men. And Maillet informs us, in his letters, that the same custom is. observed in Egypt. This is undoubtedly the reason that the prophet distinctly mentions "the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride;" he means that the noise of nuptial mirth was heard in different apartments. The personal voices of the newly married pair cannot be understood, but the noisy mirth which a marriage feast commonly excites; for in Syria, and probably in all the surrounding countries, the bride is condemned to absolute silence, and fixed by remorseless etiquette to the spot where she has been seated. When the banquet was finished, and the guests had removed, the poor came in and ate up the fragments, so that nothing was lost. This custom will account for the command to the servants, in the parable of the supper, "Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed,

and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways, and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled." These poor and destitute persons were called to the entertainment only before the time when, according to the custom of the country, they were expected to attend.-PAXTON.

Females, in the East, never have their feasts in the same room as the men, because it would be highly indecorous towards their LORDS, and they would not be able to go to those lengths of merriment, as when alone. On meeting, they embrace, and SMELL each other; and after they are seated, comes the betel-leaf, the chunam, and the areca-nuts. Have their LORDS given them any new jewels or robes; they are soon mentioned, as a proof of the favour they are in; and after they have finished their food, shroots and scandal become the order of the day.-ROBERTS.

It may be taken as a general rule, that wherever our translators have inserted a number of words in italic, they have been embarrassed to make sense of the passage; and some have been inclined to think, that in proportion to the number of words inserted, is the probability of their having missed the true import of the place. Without adopting this notion, we may venture to ask the reader, whether he has been satisfied with the ideas communicated in the first chapter of Esther?" The king made a feast to all the people that were present at Shushan, the palace; both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace; where were white, green, and blue hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen, and purple, to silver rings and pillars of marble; the beds were of gold, and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black marble." What are we to understand by all this? hangings fastened to silver rings, to pillars of marble? cords made of fine linen? beds of gold and silver, laid on the pavement? &c. Commentators give very little information on this passage: and it is much better to trust at once to ourselves, than to transcribe their conjectures. The first thing observable is the canopy covering the court: it was of white canvass, (carpas, DD:) the braces of it were blue, (b) that is, the cords, &c. used to support this canopy, and to keep it in its place, properly extended, &c. over head. Secondly, in the court below were pavilions, platforms, or railed divisions [the word chebeli () signifies the railed deck of a ship] of linen [or, hung with linen] and of aragaman, [calico? fine cotton upon railings of silver pillars-smaller pillars (galili, silvered over, and columns of white marble; and the divan cushions were embroidered with gold and silver: these were placed upon mustabys of porphyry (red marble) and white marble, and round-spotted marble, and marble with wandering, irregular veins. To justify this description, we shall first consider the canopy; the reader will judge of its probability and use by the following quo

tations:

"Among the ruins remaining at Persepolis, is a court, containing many lofty pillars: one may even presume that these columns did not support any architrave, as Sir John Chardin has observed, but we may venture to suppose, that a covering of tapestry, or linen, was drawn over them, to intercept the perpendicular projection of the sunbeams. It is also probable that the tract of ground where most of the columns stand, was originally a court before the palace, like that which was before the king's house at Susa, mentioned Esther, chap. v. and through which a flow of fresh air was admitted into the apartments." (Le Bruyn.) This idea of Le Bruyn, formed almost on the spot, supports our suggestion of a canopy covering the court. It is confirmed also by the custom of India. We have been told by a gentleman from whom we requested information on this subject, that "at the festival of Durma Rajah, in Calcutta, the great court of a very large house is overspread with a covering made of canvass, lined with calico; and this lining is ornamented with broad stripes, of various colours, in which (in India, observe) green predominates. On occasion of this festival, which is held only once in three years, the master of the house gives wine and cake, and other refreshments, to the English gentlemen and ladies who wish to see the ceremonies; he also gives payment, as well as hospitality, to those who perform them." That such a covering would be necessary in hot climates we may easily

suppose; nor is the supposition enfeebled by remarking, that the coliseum, or Flavian amphitheatre, at Rome, has still remaining on its walls the marks of the masts, or scaffoldings, which were erected when that immense area was covered with an awning, as it was during the shows exhibited there to the Roman public. The word rendered brace (N) signifies to catch, to lay hold of, to connect; it may be thought that these braces went from side to side of the house; were fastened to proper projections, high in the sides of the building; and, passing under the white canvass, blue braces must have had an ornamental effect. In the lower part of the court the preparations consisted in what may be called a railed platform on a mustaby: what these were the reader will understand, by an extract from Dr. Russel's History of Aleppo.

"Part of the principal court is planted with trees, and flowering shrubs; the rest is paved. At the south end is a square basin of water, with jetsd'eaux, and close to it, upon a stone mustaby, is built a small pavilion: or the mustaby being only railed in, an open divan is occasionally formed on it. [Note, a mustaby is a stone platform, raised about two or three feet above the pavement of the court.] This being some steps higher than the basin, a small fountain is usually placed in the middle of the divan, the mosaic pavement round which being constantly wetted by the jet d'eau, displays a variety of splendid colours, and the water, as it runs to the basin through marble channels, which are rough at bottom, produces a pleasing murmur. Where the size of the court admits of a larger shrubbery, temporary divans are placed in the grove, or arbours are formed of slight latticed frames, covered by the vine, the rose, or the jasmine; the rose shooting to a most luxuriant height, when in full flower, is elegantly picturesque. Facing the basin, on the south side of the court, is a wide, lofty, arched alcove, about eighteen inches higher than the pavement, and entirely open to the court. It is painted in the same manner as the apartments, but the roof is finished in plain or gilt stucco; and the floor round a small fountain is paved with marble of sundry colours, with a jet d'eau in the middle. A large divan is here prepared, but being intended for the summer, chints and Cairo mats are employed instead of cloth, velvet, and carpets. It is called, by way of distinction, The Divan, and by its north aspect, and a sloping painted shed projecting over the arch, being protected from the sun, it offers a delicious situation in the hot months. The sound, not less than the sight, of the jetsd'eaux, is extremely refreshing; and if there be a breath of air stirring, it arrives scented by the Arabian jasmine, the henna, and other fragrant plants, growing in the shrubbery, or ranged in pots round the basin. There is usually on each side of the alcove a small room, or cabinet, neatly fitted up, and serving for retirement. These rooms are called kubbe, whence probably the Spaniards derived their al coba, which is rendered by some other nations in Europe, alcove." In another part Dr. Russel gives a print of a mustaby, with sundry musicians sitting on it, on which he observes, "The front of the stone mustaby is fitted with marble of different colours. Part of the court is paved in mosaic, in the manner represented in the print." This print "shows, in miniature, the inner court of a great house. The doors of the kaah, and part of the cupola, appear in front; on the side, the high arched alcove, or divan, with the shed above; the marble facing of the mustaby, the mosaic pavement between that and the basin, and the fountain playing."

This account of Dr. Russel's harmonizes perfectly with the history in Esther, and we have only to imagine that the railings, or smaller pillars of the divan, on the mustaby in the palace of Ahasuerus, were of silver, (silver-gilt,) while the larger, called columns, placed at the corners, or elsewhere, were of marble; the flat part of the mustaby also being overspread with carpets, &c. on which, next the railings, were cushions richly embroidered, for the purpose of being leaned against. These things, mentioned in the scripture narration, if placed according to the doctor's account, enable us to comprehend the whole of the Bible description, and justify every word in it. That the last three words describe three different kinds of marble, of which the mustaby of Ahasuerus was composed, is evident from the signification of their roots. And as to the linen which was appended to the railings, with its accompanying aragaman, we may ask, if this word signifies purple, what was

the subject of it, silk, worsted, or cotton? Was it the chints of Dr. Russel? or was it of the diaper kind, that is, figured linen? or was it calico? which, on the whole, we think it was.-TAYLOR in Calmet.

Ver. 11. To bring Vashti the queen before the king, with the crown royal, to show the people and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on.

The Persians, on festival occasions, used to produce their women in public. To this purpose Herodotus relates a story of seven Persians being sent to Amyntas, a Grecian prince, who received them hospitably, and gave them a splendid entertainment. When, after the entertainment, they began to drink, one of the Persians thus addressed Amyntas: "Prince of Macedonia, it is a custom with us Persians, whenever we have a public entertainment, to introduce our concubines and young wives." On this principle Ahasuerus gave command to bring his queen Vashti into the public assembly.-BURDER.

Ver. 12. But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him.

When a person is speaking to you, on almost any subject, he keeps saying every moment, "Be not angry, my lord;" or, Let not your anger burn." Judah said to Joseph, "Let not thine anger burn." "Go not near that man; his anger is on fire."` 'Well, well, what is the matter with that fellow?" "Not much; some one has put the torch to his anger." 66 Go, throw some water on that fire, or it will not soon be out."-ROBERTS.

After these presents followed eleven caroches (coaches) full of young maidens, slaues to serue the bride: these caroches were couered and shut, and either of them attended by eunuchs, Moores: after these followed twentyeight virgins' slaues, attired in cloth of gold, and accompanied by twenty-eight blacke eunuchs all on horsebacke, and richly clad. After which were seen two hundred and forty mules, loaden with tents of tapestrie, cloath of gold, sattin, veluet, with the ground of gold, with many cushions, which are the chaires the ladies of Turkie use, with many other rich and sumptuous moueables. (Knolles's History of the Turks.)—Burder.

Ver. 11. And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women's house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her.

The apartments of the women are counted sacred and inviolable, over all the East; it is even a crime to inquire what passes within the walls of the harem, or house of the women. Hence, it is extremely difficult to be informed of the transactions in those sequestered habitations; and a man, says Chardin, may walk a hundred days, one after another, by the house where the women are, and yet know no more what is done there than at the farther end of Tartary. This sufficiently explains the reason of Mordecai's conduct, who "walked every day before the court of the women's house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her."- PAXTON.

CHAPTER III.

Ver. 7. In the first month, (that is the month Nisan,) in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus,

they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman, from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is the month Adar.

It was customary in the East, by casting lots into an urn,

to inquire what days would be fortunate, and what not, to undertake any business in. According to this superstitious practice, Haman endeavoured to find out what time in the year was most favourable to the Jews, and what most unlucky. First he inquired what month was most unfortunate, and found the month Adar, which was the last month in the year, answerable to our February. There was no festival during this month, nor was it sanctified by any peculiar rites. Then he inquired the day, and found the thirteenth day was not auspicious to them, ver. 13. Some think there were as many lots as there were days in the year, and for every day he drew a lot; but found none to his mind, till he came to the last month of all, and to the middle of it. Now this whole business was governed by providence, by which these lots were directed, and not by the Persian gods, to fall in the last month of the year; whereby almost a whole year intervened between the design and its execution, and gave time for Mordecai to acquaint Esther with it, and for her to intercede with the king for the reversing, or suspending his decree, and disappointing the conspiracy.-PATRICK.

Ver. 10. And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy.

This he did both as a token of affection and honour. With the Persians, for a king to give a ring to any one, was a token and bond of the greatest love and friendship imaginable. It may be this was given to Haman to seal with it the letters that were or should be written, giving orders for the destruction of the Jews. Among the Romans, in aftertimes, when any one was put into the equestrian order, a ring was given to him, for originally none but knights were allowed to wear them. It was sometimes used in appointing a successor in the kingdom: as when Alexander was dying, he took his ring from off his finger, and gave it to Perdiccas, by which it was understood that he was to

succeed him.-BURDER.

CHAPTER V.

Ver. 6. And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.

The time of drinking wine in the East, is at the beginning, not at the close of entertainments, as it is with us. Sir John Chardin has corrected an error of a French commentator, as to this point, in his manuscript note on Esther v. 6. It seems the commentator had supposed the banquet of wine meant the dessert, because this is our custom in the West; but he observes, "that the eastern people, on the contrary, drink and discourse before eating, and that after the rest is served up, the feast is quickly over, they eating very fast, and every one presently withdrawing. They conduct matters thus at the royal table, and at those of their great men." Dr. Castell, in his Lexicon, seems to have been guilty of the same fault, by a quotation annexed to

that note.

Chardin's account agrees with that of Olearius, who tells us, that when the ambassadors he attended were at the Persian court, "at a solemn entertainment, the floor of the hall was covered with a cotton cloth, which was covered with all sorts of fruits and sweetmeats, in basins of gold. That with them was served up excellent Shiras wine. That after an hour's time, the sweetmeats were removed, to make way for the more substantial part of the entertainment, such as rice, boiled and roasted mutton, fowl, game, &c. That after having been at table an hour and a half, warm water was brought, in a ewer of gold, for washing; and grace being said, they began to retire without speaking a word, according to the custom of the country, as also did