Sivut kuvina
PDF
ePub

preaching of repentance and faith, presented the Church as a youthful bride and 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."

From this representation of John as the friend of the bridegroom, of Christ as the bridegroom, and of the Church as the bride, the ministers 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. TOWNSEND on the New Testament, vol. i. p. 122.

DIVORCES.

[ocr errors]

· See

Strange and unseemly as it now appears to us, in the darker ages under the Jewish dispensation it was not an uncommon occurrence for men to make contracts for temporary wives, whom they divorced when the time agreed upon for their union with them was expired. These contracts are made even now in the East, and "there is always the formality of a measure of corn mentioned, over and above the sum of money that is stipulated."

"There is a kind of marriage which, stipulating the return to be made, fixes likewise the time when the divorce is to take place. This contract,... properly speaking, is only an agreement made between the parties to live together for such a price, during such a time.'

These observations clearly explain the prophet Hosea's conduct (ch. iii.). He carefully paid the price stipulated, and was very strict in his own behaviour, and very particular respecting his wife's, during the time for which they mutually contracted. There can be no

doubt that our blessed Lord alludes to these hasty marriages and divorces, in his prohibitions respecting the latter, and also that the Apostle Paul refers to them, when he desires that every man retain (marg.) his own wife. -See CALMET's Fragments.

[graphic]

CHAPTER XVI.

CUSTOMS RELATING TO CHILDREN.

MANNER OF ANNOUNCING THE BIRTH OF A SON IN PERSIA WEANING FEAST-NURSES-MANNER OF CARRYING CHILDREN -MATERNAL INFLUENCE.

MANNER OF ANNOUNCING THE BIRTH OF A SON IN

PERSIA.

JEREMIAH Xx. 15.

"Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad."

The Persians look upon a son as a blessing, and its birth is announced with great ceremony to the father. Some confidential servant is usually the first to get the information, when he runs in great haste to his master, and says "Good news!" by which he secures to himself a gift, which generally follows the announcement. Amongst the common people, the man who brings the tidings frequently seizes the cap or shawl, or any such article, belonging to the father, as a security for the present to which he holds himself entitled.

When the ambassador to Persia was there, in 1811, a dervish, who was considered a cunning man, assured him he would have a son, and even before the birth of the child (who proved to be a daughter) demanded a present, as the price of his divination. When it is recollected that there are no rejoicings on the birth of a daughter, but that, on the contrary, every one is back

ward to inform the father of it, as they were forward on the birth of the son, the whole force of the passage in Jeremiah will be felt; and it will appear they were informed of the event by men, as they are at the present day. See MORIER's Second Journey through Persia, pp. 103, 104.

WEANING FEAST.

GENESIS XXI. 8.

"...And Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned."

"Among the Persians, boys are weaned at two years and two months, girls at two years. On the day that the child is to be weaned, they carry it to the mosque, (in the same manner, perhaps, that Hannah took Samuel to the house of the Lord, 1 Sam. i. 24,) and after having performed certain acts of devotion, they return home, and collecting their friends and relations, they give a feast, of which they make the child also partake.”MORIER.

NURSES.

2 KINGS X. 5.

"And the bringers up of the children sent to Jehu..."

If a

The rich hire a wet nurse for their children. boy, the father appoints a steady man from the age of two years to be his laleh, who, I conjecture, must stand in the same capacity as the bringers up of children; but if it be a daughter, she has a woman called gees sefeed, or white head, attached to her for the same purpose as the laleh.-See MORIER's Second Journey through Persia.

[graphic][merged small][merged small]

"...Thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders."

[ocr errors]

lxvi. 12.

... Ye shall be borne upon her sides."

"The children of both sexes (in Egypt), are usually carried by their mothers and nurses, not in the arms, but on the shoulders, seated a-stride; and sometimes, for a short distance, on the hip."-LANE'S Modern Egyptians, vol. i., p. 58.

"The gipsies in Russia reminded us of the poor villagers on the banks of the Nile. They were clothed in rags, and their little children were carried naked on the shoulder, or at the side, in the very manner of the Egyptians."-Narrative of a Mission of Enquiry to the Jews, pp. 48, 49. 372.

A A

« EdellinenJatka »