pare also Hag. ii. 23. Jer. xxxii. 24. The Ring is mentioned in Isa. iii. 21., and also in the parable of the prodigal, where the father orders a ring for his returning son (Luke xv. 22.), and also by the apostle James. (ii. 2.)` The compliment of a royal ring was a token that the person, to whom it was given, was invested with power and honour: thus Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph's. (Gen. xli. 42.) And Ahasuerus plucked off his ring from his finger, and bestowed it on Haman (Esther iii. 10.), and afterwards on Mordecai. (viii. 2.) VII. Although the garments anciently worn by the Jews were few in number, yet their ornaments were many, especially those worn by the women. The prophet Isaiah, when reproaching the daughters of Sion with their luxury and vanity, gives us a particular account of their female ornaments. (Isa. iii. 16-24.) The most remarkable were the following : 1. The NOSE JEWELS (ver. 21.), or, as Bishop Lowth translates them, the jewels of the nostril. They were rings set with jewels, pendent from the nostrils, like ear-rings from the ears, by holes bored to receive them. Ezekiel, enumerating the common ornaments of women of the first rank, distinctly mentions the nose_jewel (Ezek. xvi. 12. marg. rendering); and in an elegant Proverb of Solomon (Prov. xi. 22.) there is a manifest allusion to this kind of ornament, which shows that it was used in his time. Nose jewels were one of the love-tokens presented to Rebecca by the servant of Abraham in the name of his master. (Gen. xxiv. 22. where the word translated ear-ring ought to have been rendered nose jewel.)2 However singular this custom may appear to us, modern travellers attest its prevalence in the East among women of all ranks.3 2. The EAR-RING was an ornament worn by the men as well as the women, as appears from Gen. xxxv. 4. and Exod. xxxii. 2.; and by other nations as well as the Jews, as is evident from Num. xxxi. 50. and Judg. viii. 24. It should seem that this ornament had been heretofore used for idolatrous purposes, since Jacob, in the injunction which he gave to his household, commanded them to put away the strange gods that were in their hands, and the ear-rings that were in their ears. (Gen. xxxv. 2. 4.) It appears that the Israelites themselves in subsequent times were not free from this superstition; for Hosea (ií. 13.) represents Jerusalem as having decked herself with ear-rings to Baalim. 3. PERFUME BOXES (in our version of Isa. iii. 20. rendered tablets) were an essential article in the toilet of a Hebrew lady. A principal part of the delicacy of the Asiatic ladies consists in the use of baths, and the richest oils and perfumes an attention to which is in some degree necessary in those hot countries. Frequent mention is made of the rich ointments of the bride in the Song of Solomon. (iv. 10, 11.) The preparation for Esther's introduction to king Ahasuerus was a course of bathing and perfuming for a whole year: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours. (Esth. ii. 12.) A diseased and loathsome habit of body, which is denounced against the women of Jerusalem— And there shall be, instead of perfume, a putrid ulcer Isa. iii. 24. Bp. LowтH's version. instead of a beautiful skin, softened and made agreeable with all that art could devise, and all that nature, so prodigal in those countries of the richest perfumes, could supply,-must have been a punishment the most severe, and the most mortifying to the delicacy of these haughty daughters of Sion. 4. The TRANSPARENT GARMENTS (in our version of Isa. iii. 23. rendered glasses) were a kind of silken dress, transparent like gauze, worn only by the most delicate women, and by such as dressed themselves more elegantly than became women of good character. This sort of garments was wards in use both among the Greeks and Romans." 5. Another female ornament was a CHAIN about the neck (Ezek. xvi. 11.), which appears to have been used also by the men, as may be inferred from Prov. i. 9. This was a general ornament in all the eastern countries: thus Pharaoh is said to have put a chain of gold about Joseph's neck (Gen. xli. 42.); and Belshazzar did the same to Daniel (Dan. v. 29.); and it is mentioned with several other things as part of the Midianitish spoil. (Num. xxxi. 50.) Further, the arms or wrists were adorned with bracelets: these are in the catalogue of the female ornaments used by the Jews (Ezek. xvi. 11.), and were part of Rebecca's present. They were also worn by men of any considerable figure, for we read of Judah's bracelets (Gen. xxxviii. 18.), and of those worn by Saul. (2 Sam. i. 10.) 6. We read in Exod. xxxviii. 8. of the women's LOOKING GLASSES, which were not made of what is now called glass, but of polished brass, otherwise these Jewish women could not have contributed them towards the making of the brazen laver, as is there mentioned. In later times, mirrors were made of other polished metal, which at best could only reflect a very obscure and imperfect image. Hence St. Paul, in a very apt and beautiful simile, describes the defective and limited knowledge of the present state by that opaque and dim representation of objects, which those mirrors exhibited. Now we see di iTorrgov by means of a mirror, darkly; not through a glass, as in our version of 1 Cor. xiii. 12.; for telescopes, as every one knows, are a very late invention. 7. To the articles of apparel above enumerated may be added FEET RINGS. (Isa. iii. 8. in our version rendered TINKLING ORNAMENTS about the feet.) Most of these articles of female apparel are still in use in the East. The East Indian women, who accompanied the Indo-Anglican army from India to Egypt, wore large rings in their noses, and silver cinctures about their ankles and wrists, their faces being painted above the eyebrows. In Persia and Arabia, also, it is well known that the women paint their faces and wear gold and silver rings about their ankles, which are full of little bells that tinkle as they walk or trip along. Cingalese children often wear rings about their ankles; Malabar and Moor children wear rings, hung about with hollow balls, which tinkle as they run. The licensed prostitutes whom Dr. Richardson saw at Gheneh (a large commercial town of Upper Egypt) were attired in a similar manner. 8. As large black eyes are greatly esteemed in the East, the oriental women have recourse to artificial means, in order to impart a dark and majestic shade to the eyes. Dr. Shaw informs us, that none of the Moorish ladies think themselves completely dressed, until they have tinged their eyelids with al-ka-hol, that is, with stibium, or the powder of lead ore. As this process is performed "by first dipping into this powder a small wooden bodkin of the thickness of a quill, and then drawing it afterwards through the eyelids, over the ball of the eye, we have a lively image of what the prophet Jeremiah (ív. 30.) may be supposed to mean by renting the eyes (not as we render it, with painting, but) with D, lead ore. The sooty colour which in this manner is communicated to the eyes is thought to add a wonderful gracefulness to persons of all complexions. The practice of it, no doubt, is of great antiquity for, besides the instances already noticed, we find, that when Jezebel is said to have painted her face (2 Kings ix. 30.), the original words are ya can, i. e. she adjusted, or set off, her eyes with the powder of lead ore. So likewise Ezek. xxiii. 40, is to be understood. Keren-happuch, i. e. the horn of pouk or lead ore, the name of Job's The 'Eropov, or metallic mirror, is mentioned by the author of the apocryphal book of the Wisdom of Solomon (vii. 26.); who, speaking of Wisdom, says that she is the brightness of the everlasting light and image of his goodness. The author, also, of the book of Ecclesiasticus, ΕΣΟΠΤΡΟΝ καλιδωτον the unspotted MIRROR of the power of God and the after-exhorting to put no trust in an enemy, says, Though he humble himself and go crouching, yet take good heed and beware of him; and thou shalt be unto him ὡς εκμεμαχης ΕΣΟΠΤΡΟΝ, as if thou hadst wiped a MIRROR, and thou shalt know that his RUST hath not altogether been wiped away. (Ecclus. xii. 11.) The mention of rust in this place manifestly indicates the metallic composition of the mirror; which is frequently mentioned in the ancient classic writers. See particularly Anacreon, Ode xi. 3. and xx. 5, 6. Dr. A. Clarke, on 1 Cor. xiii. 12. 1 Schroeder has treated at great length on the various articles of female apparel mentioned in Isa. iii. 16-24. in his Commentarius PhilologicoCriticus de Vestitu Mulierum Hebræaum. Lug. Bat. 1735. 4to. 2 Bp. Lowth on Isaiah, vol. ii. p. 47. Ibid. vol. ii. p. 48. Harmer's Observations, vol. iv. pp. 316-320. In the East Indies, a small jewel, in form resembling a rose, ornaments one nostril of even the poorest Malabar woman. Callaway's Oriental Observations, p. 48. It is probable that the ear-rings, or jewels, worn by Jacob's household, had been consecrated to superstitious purposes, and worn, perhaps, as a kind of amulet. It appears that rings, whether on the ears or nose, were first superstitiously worn in honour of false gods, and probably of the sun, whose circular form they might be designed to represent. Maimonides mentions rings and vessels of this kind, with the image of the sun, moon, &c. impressed on them. These superstitious objects were concealed by Jacob in a place known only to himself. Grotius on Gen. Xxxv. 4. Calmet's Dictionary, vol. ii. voce Ring. Bp. Lowth's Isaiah, vol. ii. pp. 49, 50. • Ibid. p. 49. Dr. Clarke's Travels, vol. v. p. 320. 8vo. edit. Morier's Second Journey in Persia, p. 145. Ward's History, &c. of the Hindoos, vol. ii. pp. 329. 333. Callaway's Oriental Observations, pp. 47, 48. "This is the only place in Egypt where we saw the women of the town decked out in all their finery. They were of all nations and of all complexions, and regularly licensed, as in many parts of Europe, to exercise their profession. Some of them were highly painted, and gorgeously attired with costly necklaces, rings in their noses and in their ears, and bracelets on their wrists and arms. They sat at the doors of the houses, and called on the passengers as they went by, in the same manner as we read in the book of Proverbs." [vii. 6-23] (Richardson's Travels, vol. i. p. 260.) The same custom was observed by Pitts, a century before, at Cairo. See his account of the Mahometans, p. 99. youngest daughter, was relative to this custom or practice." The modern Persian, Egyptian, and Arab women, continue the practice of tinging their eyelashes and eyelids.2 as a token of mourning for Joseph (Gen. xxxvii. 34.), signifying thereby that since he had lost his beloved son he considered himself as reduced to the meanest and lowest condition of life. It was a particular injunction of the Mosaic law that the women shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, nei- IX. A prodigious number of sumptuous and magnificent ther shall a man put on a woman's garment. (Deut. xxii. 5.) habits was in ancient times regarded as a necessary and inThis precaution was very necessary against the abuses which dispensable part of their treasures. Horace, speaking of are the usual consequences of such disguises. For a woman Lucullus (who had pillaged Asia, and first introduced Asiatic drest in a man's clothes will not be restrained so readily by refinements among the Romans), says, that, some persons that modesty which is the peculiar ornament of her sex; and having waited upon him to request the loan of a hundred suits a man drest in a woman's habit may without fear and shame out of his wardrobe for the Roman stage, he exclaimed-" A go into companies where, without this disguise, shame and hundred suits! how is it possible for me to furnish such a Fear would hinder his admittance, and prevent his appearing. number? However, I will look over them and send you what In hot countries, like a considerable part of Palestine, | I have.”—After some time, he writes a note, and tells them travellers inform us, that the greatest difference imaginable he had FIVE THOUSAND, to the whole or part of which they subsists between the complexions of the women. Those of were welcome.1 any condition seldom go abroad, and are ever accustomed to be shaded from the sun, with the greatest attention. Their skin is, consequently, fair and beautiful. But women in the lower ranks of life, especially in the country, being from the nature of their employments more exposed to the scorching rays of the sun, are, in their complexions, remarkably tawny and swarthy. Under such circumstances, a high value would, of course, be set, by the eastern ladies, upon the fairness of their complexions, as a distinguishing mark of their superior quality, no less than as an enhancement of their beauty. We perceive, therefore, how natural was the bride's self-abasing reflection in Cant. i. 5, 6. respecting her tawny complexion (caused by exposure to servile employments), among the fair daughters of Jerusalem; who, as attendants on a royal marriage (we may suppose), were of the highest -rank.3 VIII. To change habits and wash one's clothes were ceremonies used by the Jews, in order to dispose them for some holy action which required particular purity. Jacob, after his return from Mesopotamia, required his household to change their garments, and go with him to sacrifice at Bethel. (Gen. xxxv. 2, 3.) Moses commanded the people to prepare themselves for the reception of the law by purifying and washing their clothes. (Exod. xix. 10.) On the other hand, the RENDING OF One's CLOTHES is an expression frequently used in Scripture, as a token of the highest grief. Reuben, to denote his great sorrow for Joseph, rent his clothes (Gen. xxxvii. 29.); Jacob did the like (ver. 34.); and Ezra, to express the concern and uneasiness of his mind, and the apprehensions he entertained of the divine displeasure, on account of the people's unlawful marriages, is said to rend his garments and his mantle (Ezra ix. 3.); that is, both his inner and upper garment: this was also an expression of indignation and holy zeal; the high-priest rent his clothes, pretending that our Saviour had spoken blasphemy. (Matt. xxvi. 65.) And so did the apostles, when the people intended to pay them divine honours. (Acts xiv. 14.) The garments of mourners among the Jews were chiefly sackcloth and haircloth. The last sort was the usual clothing of the prophets, for they were continual penitents by profession; and therefore Zechariah speaks of the rough garments of the false prophets, which they also wore to deceive. (Zech. xiii. 4.) Jacob was the first we read of that put sackcloth on his loins, 1 Dr. Shaw's Travels, vol. i. p. 413. Harmer's Observations, vol. iv. p. 334. Shaw's Travels, vol. i. p. 414. Morier's Second Journey, pp. 61. 145. The eyes of the wife of a Greek priest, whom Mr. Rae Wilson saw at Tiberias, were stained with black powder. (Travels in the Holy Land, &c. vol. ii. p. 17.) "The Palmyrene women...... are the finest looking women of all the Arab tribes of Syria. Like other Orientals of their sex, they dye the tips of the fingers and the palins of their hands red, and wear gold rings in their ears: and the jet-black dye of the hennah for the eyelashes is never forgotten; they imagine, and, perhaps, with truth, that its blackness gives the eye an additional languor and interest." Carne's Letters from the East, p. 592. Fry's Translation of the Song of Soloinon, p. 36. This circumstance of amassing and ostentatiously displaying in wardrobes numerous and superb suits, as indispensa ble to the idea of wealth, and forming a principal part of the opulence of those times, will elucidate several passages of Scripture. The patriarch Job, speaking of riches in his time, says,-Though they heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay. (Job xxvii. 16.) Joseph gave his brethren changes of raiment, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment. (Gen. xlv. 22.). Naaman carried for a present to the prophet Elisha ten changes of raiment, that is, according to Calmet, ten tunics and ten upper garments. (2 Kings v. 5.) In allusion to this custom our Lord, when describing the short duration and perishing nature of earthly treasures, represents them as subject to the depredations of moths. Lay not up for yourselves TREASURES on earth, where moth and rust do corrupt. (Matt. vi. 19.) The illustrious apostle of the Gentiles, when appealing to the integrity and fidelity with which he had discharged his sacred office, said,—I have coveted no man's gold, or silver, or Apparel. (Acts xx. 33.) The apostle James, likewise (just in the same manner as the Greek and Roman writers, when they are particularizing the opulence of those times), specifies gold, silver, and garments, as the constituents of riches:Go to now, ye rich men; weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your gold and silver is cankered, and your GARMENTS are moth-eaten. (James v. 1. 3. 2.) The fashion of hoarding up splendid dresses still subsists in Palestine. It appears from Psal. xlv. 8. that the wardrobes of the East were plentifully perfumed with aromatics; and in Cant. iv. 11. the fragrant odour of the bride's garments is compared to the odour of Lebanon. With robes thus perfumed Rebecca furnished her son Jacob, when she sent him to obtain by stratagem his father's blessing. And he (Isaac) smelled the smell (or fragrance) of his raiment and blessed him, and said, See! the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed. (Gen. xxvii. 27.) In process of time, this exquisite fragrance was figuratively applied to the moral qualities of the mind; of which we have an example in the Song of Solomon, i. 3. Like the fragrance of thine own sweet perfumes • Presenting garments is one of the modes of complimenting persons in the East. See several illustrative instances in Burder's Oriental Literature, vol. i. pp. 93, 94. Harwood's Introd. vol. ii. pp. 247, 248. * Dr. Good's Sacred Idyls, p. 122. In p. 123. he has quoted the following passage from Moschus, in which the same idea occurs with singular exact του αμβροτος οδη ness: Idyl. B. 91. Τέλοθι και λειμωνος εκπινυτο λαρον αύτμήν, CHAPTER III. JEWISH CUSTOMS RELATING TO MARRIAGE. 1. Marriage accounted a sacred Obligation by the Jews.-I. Polygamy tolerated.—Condition of Concubines.—III. Nuptiat Contract, and Espousals.-IV. Nuptial Ceremonies.-V. Divorces. ance. I. MARRIAGE was considered by the Jews as a matter of the strictest obligation. They understood literally and as a precept these words uttered to our first parents, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. (Gen. i. 28.) Their continual expectation of the coming of the Messiah added great weight to this obligation. Every one lived in the hopes that this blessing should attend their posterity; and therefore they thought themselves bound to further the expectance of him, by adding to the race of mankind, of whose seed he was to be born, and whose happiness he was to promote, by that temporal kingdom for which they looked upon his appearHence celibacy was esteemed a great reproach in Israel; for, besides that they thought no one could live a single life without great danger of sin, they esteemed it a counteracting of the divine counsels in the promise, that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent. On this account it was that Jephthah's daughter deplored her virginity, because she thus deprived her father of the hopes which he might entertain from heirs descended from her, by whom his name might survive in Israel, and, consequently, of his expectation of having the Messiah to come of his seed, which was the general desire of all the Israelitish women. For the same reason also sterility was regarded among the Jews (as it is to this day among the modern Egyptians) as one of the greatest misfortunes that could befall any woman, insomuch that to have a child, though the woman immediately died thereupon, was accounted a less affliction than to have none at all; and to this purpose we may observe, that the midwife comforts Rachel in her labour (even though she knew her to be at the point of death) in these terms, Fear not, for thou shalt bear this son also. (Gen. xxxv. 17.) From this expectation proceeded their exactness in causing the brother of a husband, who died without issue, to marry the widow he left behind, and the disgrace that attended his refusing so to do; for, as the eldest son of such a marriage became the adopted child of the deceased, that child and the posterity flowing from him were, by a fiction of law, considered as the real offspring and heirs of the deceased brother. This explains the words of Isaiah, that seven women should take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach. (Isa. iv. 1.) This was the reason also why the Jews commonly married very young. The age prescribed to men by the Rabbins was eighteen years. A virgin was ordinarily married at the age of puberty, that is, twelve years complete, whence her husband is called the guide of her youth (Prov. ii. 17.), and the husband of her youth (Joel i. 8.); and the not giving of maidens in marriage is in Psal. Ixxviii. 63. represented as one of the effects of the divine anger towards Israel. In like manner, among the Hindoos, the delaying of the marriage of daughters is to this day regarded as a great calamity and disgrace.2 II. From the first institution of marriage it is evident that God gave but one woman to one man; and if it be a true, as it is a common, observation, that there are every where more males than females born in the world, it follows that those men certainly act contrary to the laws both of God and nature who have more than one wife at the same time. But though God, as supreme lawgiver, had a power to dispense with his own laws, and actually did so with the Jews for the The most importunate applicants to Dr. Richardson for medical advice were those who consulted him on account of sterility, which in Egypt (he Bays) is still considered the greatest of all evils. "The unfortunate couple believe that they are bewitched, or under the curse of heaven, which they fancy the physician has the power to remove. It is in vain that he declares the insufficiency of the healing art to take away their reproach. The parties hang round, dunning and importuning him for the love of God, to prescribe for them, that they may have children like other people. Give me children, or I die,' said the fretful Sarah to her husband; 'Give me child ren, or I curse you,' say the barren Egyptians to their physicians." Dr. Richardson's Travels along the Mediterranean, &c. vol. ii. p. 106. A nearly similar scene is described by Mr. R. R. Madden, who travelled in the East between the years 1824 and 1827. Travels in Turkey, &c. vol. ii. p. 51. 2 Ward's History, &c. of the Hindoos, vol. ii. p. 327. Maurice's Indian Antiquities, vol. vil. p. 329. Home's History of the Jews, vol. ii. pp. 350, 351. more speedy peopling of the world, yet it is certain there is no such toleration under the Christian dispensation, and, therefore, their example is no rule at this day. The first who violated this primitive law of marriage was Lamech, who took unto him two wives. (Gen. iv. 19.) Afterwards we read that Abraham had concubines. (Gen. xxv. 6.) And his practice was followed by the other patriarchs, which at last grew to a most scandalous excess in Solomon's and Rehoboam's days. The word concubine in most Latin authors, and even with us at this day, signifies a woman, who, though she be not married to a man, yet lives with him as his wife; but in the Sacred Writings it is understood in another sense. There it means a lawful wife, but of a lower order and of an inferior rank to the mistress of the family; and, therefore, she had equal right to the marriage-bed with the chief wife; and her issue was reputed legitimate in opposition to bas tards : but in all other respects these concubines were inferior to the primary wife: for they had no authority in the family, nor any share in household government. If they had been servants in the family before they came to be concubines, they continued to be so afterwards, and in the same subjec tion to their mistress as before. The dignity of these primary wives gave their children the preference in the succession, so that the children of concubines did not inherit their father's fortune, except upon the failure of the children by these more honourable wives; and, therefore, it was, that the father commonly provided for the children by these concubines in his own lifetime, by giving them a portion of his cattle and goods, which the Scripture calls gifts. Thus Sarah was Abraham's primary wife, by whom he had Isaac, who was the heir of his wealth. But besides her, he had two concubines, Hagar and Keturah; by these he had other children whom he distinguished from Isaac, for it is said, He gave them gifts, and sent them away while he yet lived. (Gen. xxv. 5, 6.) In Mesopotamia, as appears from Gen. xxix. 26., the younger daughter could not be given in marriage "before the first-born" or elder, and the same practice continues to this day among the Armenians, and also among the Hindoos, with whom it is considered criminal to give the younger daughter in marriage before the elder, or for a younger son to marry while his elder brother remains unmarried.3 III. No formalities appear to have been used by the Jews-at least none were enjoined to them by Moses-in joining man and wife together. Mutual consent, followed by consummation, was deemed sufficient. The manner in which a daughter was demanded in marriage is described in the case of Shechem, who asked Dinah the daughter of Jacob in marriage (Gen. xxxiv. 6-12.); and the nature of the contract, together with the mode of solemnizing the marriage, is described in Gen. xxiv. 50, 51. 57. 67. There was, indeed, a previous espousal or betrothing, which was a solemn promise of marriage, made by the man and woman each to the other, at such a distance of time as they agreed upon. This was sometimes done by writing, sometimes by the delivery of a piece of silver to the bride in presence of witnesses, as a pledge of their mutual engagements. We are informed by the Jewish writers that kisses were given in token of the espousals (to which custom there appears to be an allusion in Canticles i. 2.), after which the parties were reckoned as man and wife. After such espousals were made (which Scripture, vol. iii. p. 129. 2d edit. Hartley's Researches in Greece and the Home's History of the Jews, vol. ii. p. 352. Paxton's Illustrations of Levant, pp. 229, 230. "Before the giving of the law (saith Maimonides), if the man and woman had agreed about marriage, he brought her into his house and privately married her. But, after the giving of the law, the Israelites were commanded, that if any were minded to take a woman for his wife, he should receive her, first before witnesses, and henceforth let her be to him to wife, as it is written, 'If any one take a wife.' This taking is one of the affirmative precepts of the law, and is called espousing." Lightfoot's Hora Hebr. on Matt. i. 18. (Works, vol. xi. p. 18. 8vo. edit. 1823.) Dr. Gill's Comment. on Sol. Song i. 2. The same ceremony was prac. tised among the primitive Christians. (Bingham's Antiquities, book xxii. c. 3. sect. 6.) By the civil law, indeed, the kiss is made a ceremony, in some respects, of importance to the validity of the nuptial contract. (Cod. Justin. lib. v.tit. 3. de Donation. ante Nuptias, leg. 16.) Fry's Translation of the Canticles, p. 33. was generally when the parties were young) the woman continued with her parents several months, if not some years (at least till she was arrived at the age of twelve), before she was brought home, and her marriage consummated. That it was the practice to betroth the bride some time before the consummation of the marriage is evident from Deut. xx. 7. Thus we find that Samson's wife remained with her parents a considerable time after espousals (Judg. xiv. 8.); and we are told that the Virgin Mary was visibly with child before she and her intended husband came together. (Matt. i. 18.) If, during the time between the espousals and the marriage, the bride was guilty of any criminal correspondence with another person, contrary to the fidelity she owed to her bridegroom, she was treated as an adulteress; and thus the holy Virgin, after she was betrothed to Joseph, having conceived our blessed Saviour, might, according to the rigour of the law, have been punished as an adulteress, if the angel of the Lord had not acquainted Joseph with the mystery of the incarnation." Among the Jews, and generally throughout the East, marriage was considered as a sort of purchase, which the man made of the woman he desired to marry; and, therefore, in contracting marriages, as the wife brought a portion to the husband, so the husband was obliged to give her or her parents money or presents in lieu of this portion. This was the case between Hamor, the father of Shechem, and the sons of Jacob, with relation to Dinah (Gen. xxxiv. 12.); and Jacob, having no money, offered his uncle Laban seven years' service, which must have been equivalent to a large sum. (Gen. xxix. 18.) Saul did not give his daughter Michal to David, till after he had received a hundred foreskins of the Philistines. (1 Sam. xviii. 25.) Hosea bought his wife at the price of fifteen pieces of silver, and a measure and a half of barley. (Hos. iii. 2.) The same custom also obtained among the Greeks and other ancient nations; and it is to this day the practice in several eastern countries, particularly among the Druses, Turks, and Christians, who inhabit the country of Haouran, and also among the modern Scenite Arabs, or those who dwell in tents." IV. It appears from both the Old and New Testaments, that the Jews celebrated the nuptial solemnity with great festivity and splendour. Many of the rites and ceremonies, observed by them on this occasion, were common both to the Greek and Romans. We learn from the Misna, that the Jews were accustomed to put crowns or garlands on the heads of newly married persons; and it should seem from the Song of Solomon (iii. 11.), that the ceremony of putting it on was performed by one of the parents. Among the Greeks the bride was crowned by her mother; and among them, as well as among the Orientals, and particularly the Hebrews, it was customary to wear crowns or garlands, not merely of leaves or flowers, but also of gold or silver, in proportion to the rank of the person presenting them; but those prepared for the celebration of a nuptial banquet, as being a festivity of the first consequence, were of peculiar splendour and magnificence. Chaplets of flowers only constituted the nuptial erowns of the Romans. Some writers have supposed that the nuptial crowns and other ornaments of a bride are alluded to in Ezek. xvi. 8—12. We may form some idea of the apparel of the bride and bridegroom from Isa. Ixi. 10., in which the yet future prosperous and happy state of Jerusalem is compared to the dress of a bride and bridegroom. The latter was attended by numerous companions: Samuel had thirty young men to attend him at his nuptials (Judg. xiv. 11.), who in Matt ix. 15. and Mark ii. 19. are termed children of the bride-chamber. "At every wedding two persons were selected, who devoted themselves for some time to the service of the bride and bridegroom. The offices assigned to the paranymph, or raw, The same practice obtains in the East Indies to this day. Ward's History of the Hindoos, vol. ii. p. 334. Calinet, Dissertations, tom. i. p. 279. Pareau, Antiq. Hebr. p. 440. * The Crim Tartars, who are in poor circunstances, serve an appren ticeship for their wives, and are then admitted as part of the family. Mrs. Holerness's Notes, p. 8. first edit. 4 Potter's Greek Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 279. • Barckhard!'s Travels in Syria, &c. pp. 298, 385. De la Roque, Voyage dans la Palestine, p. 222. See several additional instances in Burder's Oriental Literature, vol. i. pp. 56-59. Young girls, Mr. Buckingham informs us, are given in marriage for certain sums of money, varying from 300 to 1000 piastres, among the better order of inhabitants, according to their connexions or beauty; though among the labouring classes it descends as low as 100 or even 50. This sum being paid by the bridegroom to the bride's father adds to his wealth, and makes girls (particularly when handan ye) as profitable to their parents as boys are by the wages they earn by their labour. Buckingham's Travels among the Arab Tribes, pp. 49 143 • Dr. Good's translation of Solomon's Song, p. 106. VOL. II. X numerous and important; and, on account of those, the Bap tist compares himself to the friend of the bridegroom. (John iii. 29.) The offices of the paranymph were threefold-before -at-and after the marriage. Before the marriage of his friend it was his duty to select a chaste virgin, and to be the medium of communication between the parties, till the day of marriage. At that time he continued with them during the seven days allotted for the wedding festival, rejoicing in the happiness of his friend, and contributing as much as possible to the hilarity of the occasion. After the marriage, the paranymph was considered as the patron and friend of the wife and her husband, and was called in to compose any differences that might take place between them. As the forerunner of Christ, the Baptist may be well compared to the paranymph of the Jewish marriages. One of the most usual comparisons adopted in Scripture to describe the union between Christ and his Church is that of a marriage. The Baptist was the paranymph, who, by the preaching of repentance and faith, presented the church as a youthful bride and a chaste virgin to Christ. He still continued with the bridegroom, till the wedding was furnished with guests. His joy was fulfilled when his own followers came to inform him that Christ was increasing the number of his disciples, and that all men came unto him. This intelligence was as the sound of the bridegroom's voice, and as the pledge that the nuptials of heaven and earth were completed. From this representation of John as the paranymph, of Christ as the bridegroom, and the Church as the bride, the ministers and stewards of the Gospel of God may learn, that they also are required, by the preaching of repentance and faith, to present their hearers in all purity to the head of the Christian church. It is for them to find their best source of joy in the blessing of the most Highest on their labours-their purest happiness in the improvement and perfecting of the Church confided to their care."9 Further, it was customary for the bridegroom to prepare garments for his guests (Matt. xxii. 11.), which, it appears from Rev. xix. 8., were white; in these passages the wed ding-garment is emblematical of Christian holiness and the righteousness of the saints. It was also usual for the bridegroom, attended by the nuptial guests, to conduct the bride to his house by night, accompanied by her virgin train of attendants, with torches and music and every demonstration of joy. To this custom, as well as to the various ceremonies just stated, our Saviour alludes in the parables of the wise and foolish virgins (Matt. xxv. 1-12.), and of the wedding-feast, given by a sovereign, in honour of his son's nuptials. (Matt. xxii. 2.) In the first of these parables ten virgins are represented as taking their lamps to meet the bridegroom; five of whom were prudent, and took with them a supply of oil, which the others had neglected. In the mean time, they all slumbered and slept, until the procession approached; but, in the middle of the night, there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh! Go ye out to meet him. On this, all the virgins arose speedily to trim their lamps. The wise were instantly ready; but the imprudent virgins were thrown into great confusion. Then, first, they recollected their neglect: their lamps were expiring, and they had no oil to refresh them. While they were gone to procure a supply, the bridegroom arrived: they that were ready went in with him to the "Smaller circumstances and coincidences sometimes demonstrate the truth of an assertion, or the authenticity of a book, more effectually than more important facts. May not one of those unimportant yet convinc ing coincidences be observed in this passage? The Baptist calls himself the friend of the bridegroom, without alluding to any other paranymph, or a. As the Jews were accustomed to have two paranymphs, there seems, at first sight, to be something defective in the Baptist's comparison. But our Lord was of Galilee, and there the custom was different from that Townsend's Harmony of the New Testament, vol. i. p. 132. of any other part of Palestine. The Galileans had one paranymph only." Exemplo et vita, says Kuinöel, communi depromto Johannes Baptista ostendit, quale inter ipsum et Christum discrimen intercedat. Se ipsum comparat cum paranympho, Christum cum sponso; quocum ipse Christus se quoque comparavit, ut patet e locis, Matt. ix. 15. and xxv. 1. Scilicet, ó piños tu rumpis, est sponsi socius, ei peculiariter addictus, qui Græcis dicebatur apavumoros, Matt. ix. 15. 406 Tou vuμpwvos. Heb. 1 lætitiæ.-Com. in lib. N. T. Hist. vol. iii. p. 227. filius 9 Townsend's Harmony of the New Test. vol. i. p. 132. 10 The Rev. Mr. Hartley, describing an Armenian wedding. says,-"The large number of young females who were present naturally reminded me of the wise and foolish virgins in our Saviour's parable. These being friends of the bride, the virgins, her companions (Psal. xlv. 14.), had come to meet the bridegroom. It is usual for the bridegroom to come at midnight; so that, literally, at midnight the cry is made, Behold, the bride. groom cometh! Go ye out to meet him. But, on this occasion, the bridegroom tarried: it was two o'clock before he arrived. The whole party then proceeded to the Armenian church, where the bishop was waiting to receive them; and there the ceremony was completed." Researches in Greece and the Levant, p. 231. marriage; and the door was shut,' and all admittance was refused to the imprudent virgins.2 The solemnities here described are still practised by the Jews in Podolia,3 and also by the Christians iu Syria, and in Egypt. These companions of the bridegroom and bride are mentioned in Psal. xlv. 9. 14., and Cant. v. 1. 8. John the Baptist calls them the friends of the bridegroom. (John iii. 29.) From the parable, "in which a great king is represented as making a most magnificent entertainment at the marriage of his son, we learn that all the guests, who were honoured with an invitation, were expected to be dressed in a manner suitable to the splendour of such an occasion, and as a token of just respect to the new-married couple and that after the procession in the evening from the bride's house was concluded, the guests, before they were admitted into the hall where the entertainment was served up, were taken into an apartment and viewed, that it might be known if any stranger had intruded, or if any of the company were apparelled in raiments unsuitable to the genial solemnity they were going to celebrate; and such, if found, were expelled the house with every mark of ignominy and disgrace. From the knowledge of this custom the following passage receives great light and lustre. When the king came in to see the guests, he discovered among them a person who had not on a weddinggarment. He called him and said, Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding-garment ? and he was speechless he had no apology to offer for this disrespectful neglect. The king then called to his servants, and bade them bind him hand and foot-to drag him out of the room-and thrust him out into midnight darkness." (Matt. xxii. 12.) "The Scripture, moreover, informs us that the marriagefestivals of the Jews lasted a whole week;" as they do to this day among the Christian inhabitants of Palestine. "Laban said, It must not be so done in our country to give the younger before the first-born. Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also. (Gen. xxix. 26, 27.) And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if you can certainly declare it me within the SEVEN DAYS of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets, and thirty change of garments. (Judg. xiv. 12.) This week was spent in feasting, and was devoted to universal joy. To the festivity of this occasion our Lord refers:-Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast." (Mark ii. 19, 20.)8 The eastern people were very reserved, not permitting the young women at marriages to be in the same apartments with the men; and, therefore, as the men and women could not Mr. Ward has given the following description of a Hindoo wedding, which furnishes a striking parallel to the parable of the wedding-feast in the Gospel. "At a marriage, the precession of which I saw some years ago, the bridegroom came from a distance, and the bride lived at Serampore, to which place the bridegroom was to come by water. After waiting two or three hours, at length, near inidnight, it was announced, as if in the very words of Scripture, Behold, the bridegroom cometh! Go ye out to meet him.' All the persons employed now lighted their lamps, and ran with them in their hands to fill up their stations in the procession; some of them had lost their lights, and were unprepared, but it was then too late to seek them, and the cavalcade moved forward to the house of the bride, at which place the company entered a large and splendidly illuminated area, before the house, covered with an awning, where a great multitude of friends, dressed in their best apparel, were seated upon mats. The bride groom was carried in the arms of a friend, and placed on a superb seat in the midst of the company, where he sat a short time, and then went into the house, the door of which was immediately shut, and guarded by Sepoys. I and others expostulated with the door-keepers, but in vain. Never was I so struck with our Lord's beautiful parable, as at this moment:And the door was shut!" (Ward's View of the History, &c. of the Hindoos, vol. iii. pp. 171, 172.) 2 Alber, Hermenent. Vet. Test. pp. 200, 201. Bruning, Antiq. Græc. P. At Kamenetz-Podolskoi, Dr. Henderson relates, "we were stunned by the noise of a procession, led on by a band of musicians playing on tambourines and cymbals, which passed our windows. On inquiry, we learned that it consisted of a Jewish bridegroom, accompanied by his young friends, proceeding to the house of the bride's father, in order to convey her home to her future residence. In a short time they returned with such a profusion of lights, as quite illuminated the street. The bride, deeply veiled, was led along in triumph, accompanied by her virgins, each with a candie in her hand, who, with the young men, sang and danced before her and the bridegroom. The scene presented us with an ocular illustration of the important parable recorded in the twenty-fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew; and we were particularly reminded of the appropriate nature of the injunction which our Saviour gives us to watch and be ready; for the re-procession must have commenced immediately on the arrival of the bridegroom." Biblical Researches, p. 217. 95. Gilpin on the New Test. vol. i. p. 100. See Mr. Jowett's Christian Researches in Syria, pp. 87, 88. See Mr. Rae Wilson's Travels in the Holy Land, Egypt, &c. vol. i. p. 335 third edition. Harwood's Introduction, vol. ii. p. 122. Jowett's Christian Researches in Syria and Palestine, p. 95. Harwood's Introd. vol. ii. p. 123. Brunings states that the Jews distinguish between a bride who is a virgin and one who is a widow; and that the nuptial feast of the former lasted a whole week, but for the latter it was limited to three days. Antiq. Hebr. p. 71. amuse themselves with one another's conversation, the men did not spend their time merely in eating and drinking; for their custom was to propose questions and hard problems, by resolving which they exercised the wit and sagacity of the company. This was done at Samson's marriage, where he proposed a riddle to divert his company. (Judg. xiv. 12.) At nuptial and other feasts it was usual to appoint a person to superintend the preparations, to pass around among the guests to see that they were in want of nothing, and to give the necessary orders to the servants. Ordinarily, he was not one of the guests, and did not recline with them; or, at least, he did not take his place among them until he had performed all that was required of him. (Ecclus. xxxii. 1.) This officer is by St. John (ii. 8, 9.) termed 'Appixxives, and 'Hycuums by the author of the book of Ecclesiasticus: as the latter lived about the year 190 B. C., and while the Jews had intercourse with the Greeks, especially in Egypt, it is most probable that the custom of choosing a governor of the feast passed from the Greeks to the Jews. Theophylact's remark on John ii. 8. satisfactorily explains what was the business of the apxirpixxives :—“ That no one might suspect that their taste was so vitiated by excess as to imagine water to be wine, our Saviour directs it to be tasted by the governor of the feast, who certainly was sober; for those, who on such occasions are intrusted with this office, observe the strictest sobriety, that every thing may, by their orders, be conducted with regularity and decency."10 At a marriage-feast to which Mr. Buckingham was invited, he relates that when the master of the feast came, he was "seated as the stranger guest immediately beside him and on the ejaculation of B' Ism Allah' being uttered, he dipped his fingers in the same dish, and had the choicest bits placed before him by his own hands, as a mark of his being considered a friend or favourite; for this is the highest honour that can be shown to any one at an eastern feast." 6 "Two interesting passages of Scripture derive illustration from this trait of eastern manners. The first is that, in which the Saviour says, When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room [that is, place or station], lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place: and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. (Luke xiv. 8-10.) In a country where the highest importance is attached to this distinction, the propriety of this advice is much more striking than if applied to the manners of our own; and the honour is still as much appreciated throughout Syria, Palestine, and Mesopotamia, at the present day, as it was in those of the Messiah. The other passage is that, in which, at the celebration of the passover, Jesus says (Matt. Xxvi. 23.), He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.' As there are but very few, and these always the dearest friends, or most honoured guests, who are seated sufficiently near to the master of the feast to dip their hands in the same dish with him (probably not more than three or four out of the twelve disciples at the last supper enjoyed this privilege), the baseness of the treachery is much increased, when one of those few becomes a betrayer; and in this light the conduct of Judas was, no doubt, meant to be depicted by this pregnant expression."" V. Marriage was dissolved among the Jews by DIVORCE fered this because of the hardness of their heart, but from the as well as by death. 12 Our Saviour tells us, that Moses suf beginning it was not so (Matt. xix. 8.); meaning that they were accustomed to this abuse, and to prevent greater evils, such as murders, adulteries, &c. he permitted it: whence it should seem to have been in use before the law; and we see that Abraham dismissed Hagar, at the request of Sarah. It appears that Samson's father-in-law understood that his daughter had been divorced, since he gave her to another. (Judg. xv. 2.) The Levite's wife, who was dishonoured at Gibeah, had forsaken her husband, and never would have returned, if he had not gone in pursuit of her. (Judg. xix. 2, 3.) Robinson's Greek Lexicon, voce 'Apzpixivas. Alber, Interpretatio Sacræ Scripturæ, tom. ix. p. 83. 10 Theophylact as cited in Parkhurst's Greek Lexicon, voce 'Apz.xpl κλίνος. 11 Buckingham's Travels in Mesopotamia, vol. i. pp. 406, 407. 19 Among the Bedouin Arabs, a brother finds himself more dishonoured by the seduction of his sister than a man by the infidelity of his wife. This will account for the sanguinary revenge taken by Simeon and Levi upon the Shechemites for the defilement of their sister Dinah. (Gen. xxxiv. 25-31.) See D'Arvieux's Travels in Arabia the Desart, pp. 213, 244. |