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derivable from the Arabic Kamar, 'the moon,' there is an additional connection between the two names (Euseb., l. c.). It is also clear from the inscriptions that the names of the two cities were constantly interchanged." - Smith's " Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography."

Matthew v. 20.-" FOR I SAY UNTO YOU, THAT EXCEPT YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS SHALL EXCEED THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES, YE SHALL IN NO CASE ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN." 1652. The Pharisees.-The most numerous and influential of the Jewish sects were the Pharisees: so numerous that, when called upon, they refused to swear allegiance to Cæsar's government; and so great was their influence that the fine imposed upon them was paid by Pheorus's wife (Joseph., " Antiq.," B. 17, c. 2., s. 4).

When the Jews returned from the Babylonish captivity, the pious among them resolved to worship the "God of their fathers," and being naturally attached to the tribe of Levi, from whom came the magistrates and interpreters of the law, they looked up to the descendants of that tribe for guidance, and became diligent in keeping the commands of the Lord and strict in their observance of rites and ceremonies. They interpreted the law with a leaning to the people, conceding much to their wants and requirements. For this they won favour with the multitude far beyond the Sadducees, who were haughty and exacting, and who called these pious Levites parao (separatists), the name which they bear to this day, though they call themselves sages, or disciples of the sages (see Ezra vi. 21; Neh. ix. 2).

For membership with the tribe the applicant was required to promise, in the presence of three witnesses, that "(1) he would set apart all the sacred tithes on the produce of the land, and refrain from eating anything that had not been tithed; (2) he would scrupulously observe the most essential law of purity, which so materially affected the eating of food, and all family affairs." If we consider that to this minutiae of the ceremonial law was added the absurd teaching of the Talmud, we cannot wonder that, in process of time, the service degenerated into mere formality.

Their religious tenets were those of the orthodox Jews down to our day. They believed in a resurrection of the just, to take place at the coming of the Messiah to rule upon earth; and also a general resurrection at the end of the world. The Pharisee alluded

to the first resurrection, or the Messianic reign, when he said, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God."

They had, however, very vague notions of a future life. They believed that the souls of the righteous appeared again in other bodies. They said-speaking to Christ,-"Some say that Thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets." Concerning "how the dead are raised up," they supposed a certain bone in the body to be incorruptible, and formed the germ of the resurrection body; that in the next world they would eat and drink and be united to their former wives.. Hence the shrewdness with which the Sadducee came to Christ (thinking that He taught the doctrines of the Pharisees) with the question, "In the resurrection whose wife shall she be? for seven had her to. wife." But He who spake as never man spake answered both the Pharisaical doctrine and the question of the Sadducee,—“ For when they shall rise from the dead" (there will be a resurrection), "they neither marry, nor are given in marriage" (the future life will not be according to your traditions).,

They divided oaths into the weightier and the slighter, and forbade perjury only when the name of God was introduced. They also allowed mental prevarication, such as swearing with the lip and disowning the oath in the heart: therefore the pertinence of Christ's remark, "Swear not at all."

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To join with some in denouncing in toto this Jewish sect would be as unfair as uncharitable, for it has been shown that it arose from the evident wish of the Jews "to seek the Lord God of Israel; and to do this they chose the channel appointed by God himself -the tribe of Levi-from which to select their leaders (Numb. iii. 5-12; xviii. 23). "It was among the Pharisees that the glorious ideas were developed about the Messiah, the kingdom of heaven, the immortality of the soul, the world to come, &c. It was the Pharisees who trained such men as the immortal Hillel; the just and devout Simeon, who waited for the consolation of Israel, and who, taking the infant Saviour into his arms, offered up thanks to God. Zacharias, who was 'righteous before God,' was a Pharisee; Gamaliel, the teacher of Saul of Tarsus, was a Pharisee; Nicodemus, who came to Jesus by night, desiring to be taught of Him, was a Pharisee, and came to offer the last tribute to the memory of his divine Teacher with 'a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight;' and Paul, the great apostle of the Gentiles, did not scruple to confess that he was a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee;

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and may we not hope that after that wonderful Pentecostal sermon many more of the Pharisees believed on Him'? But as it would be unfair to brand them all as self-righteous and wicked, so it would be unjust to award them unmixed praise. In the time of our Lord they had evidently departed from or exceeded their commission. In fact, the character of some of them is given in the Talmud itself:-There are seven kinds of Pharisees:-1. The Shechemite Pharisee, who simply keeps the law for what he can profit thereby, as Shechem (Gen. xxxiv. 19). 2. The tumbling Pharisee, who, in order to appear humble before men, always hangs down his head and scarcely lifts up his feet when he walks, so that he constantly tumbles. 3. The bleeding Pharisee, who, in order not to look at a woman, walks about with his eyes closed, and hence injures his head frequently, so that he has bleeding wounds. 4. The mortar Pharisee, who wears a cap in the form of a mortar, to cover his eyes, that he may not see any impurities and indecencies. 5. The what-am-Iyet-to-do Pharisee, who, not knowing much about the law, as soon as he has done one thing, asks, What is my duty now? and I will do it. 6. The Pharisee from fear, who keeps the law because he is afraid of a future judgment. 7. The Pharisee from love, who obeys the Lord because he loves Him with all his heart.' Such stinging exposure of their own fanatics, worldly-minded, and hypocrites, assuredly shows that the Pharisees themselves would by no means tolerate outward sanctity or a hollow profession of holiness."(Kitto's "Cyclopædia.") Such were many of them in Christ's day : being the democratic party, and having much influence over the people, they called forth the sternest rebukes from Him to "whom all hearts are open." He accused them of rejecting the counsel of God, of usurping and sitting in Moses' seat ;-appearing outwardly fair but inwardly foul;-shutting the kingdom of heaven against those who would enter;-and manifesting religious ostentation, they loved to pray standing, to denote posture; or, as it has been translated, with good reasons for the transposition, they love to stand praying-denoting continuance, sometimes extending their prayers to nine hours! But they had filled up the measure of their iniquity, and the Saviour unmasked them :

"He judged them with as terrible a frown

As if not love, but wrath had brought Him down.
He stripped the impostors in the noonday sun,
Showed that they followed all they seemed to shun."

J. J.

Proverbs xxviii. 16.-"THE PRINCE THAT WANTETH UNDERSTANDING IS ALSO A GREAT OPPRESSOR.'

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1653. Yielding to Sin.-Palissy and the King.-There is a most memorable instance, illustrating both the weakness of yielding and the nobleness of holding fast to one's convictions, in the visit of Henry III. of France to Bernard de Palissy in the dungeons of the Bastile. The king desired to give the celebrated potter his liberty, asking, as the price of his pardon, the easy condition of giving up his Protestant faith. "My worthy friend," said the monarch, "you have now been forty-five years in the service of my mother and myself; we have suffered you to retain your religion amidst fire and slaughter: I am now so pressed by the Guises and my people, that I find myself compelled to deliver you into the hands of your enemies, and to-morrow you will be burnt unless you are converted." Sire," answered the old man, "I am ready to give up the remainder of my life for the honour of God. You have told me several times that you pity me, and now in my turn I pity you, who use the words, 'I am compelled.' It was not spoken like a king, sire; and they are words which neither you, nor the Guises, nor the people, shall ever make me utter. Sire, I can die." By continually yielding, the monarch had become a slave; by continually acting up to his convictions, the potter had become more than a king.-Morse's " Working for God."

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Proverbs xiii. 20.-"HE THAT WALKETH WITH WISE MEN SHALL BE WISE : BUT A COMPANION OF FOOLS SHALL BE DESTROYED."

1654. Influence of Companions.-The Tree-frog.-It is said to be a property of the tree-frog that it acquires the colour of whatever it adheres to for a short time. Thus, when found on growing corn, it is commonly of a dark green. If found on the white oak it has the colour peculiar to the tree. Just so it is with men; they generally resemble those with whom they associate.

Vegetation Blighted.-In the neighbourhood of Swansea (says Rev. Thomas Jones), for miles round, no vegetation exists, owing to the smoke from the large copper-works there. Even so exposure to the influence of bad companions prevents man growing and flourishing in the divine life.

Genesis xiv. 14. "AND WHEN ABRAM HEARD THAT HIS BROTHER WAS

TAKEN CAPTIVE, HE ARMED HIS TRAINED SERVANTS, BORN IN HIS
OWN HOUSE, THREE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN, AND PURSUED THEM
UNTO DAN."

1655. Patriarchal Slavery. This passage shows the relation in which slaves stood to their masters in patriarchal times, and is in conformity with modern practices in the East.

"In Persia slaves often become favourite and confidential servants; and their children, from being born in the house, are considered in a light hardly less respectable than the relations of the family. They are denominated Khanahzad, or house-born slaves." -Malcolm's "History of Persia.”

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Since the death of Ali Bey, the beys and cachefs, who owed their promotion to his house (that is to say, of whom he had been the patron among the Mamlouks the freedman is called the child of the house), had repined in secret at seeing all the authority passed into the hands of a new faction."-Volney's “Travels.”

Genesis xiv. 22.-" AND ABRAM SAID TO THE KING OF SODOM, I HAVE LIFT UP MINE HAND UNTO THE LORD, THE MOST HIGH GOD." 1656. Oaths in the East.-"The next morning, before sunrise, they were ready to depart for their camp, two or three days' journey distant. We made known to Hassan our uncertainty and apprehension of what would be their behaviour to us, when the chief lifted up his right hand to heaven, and swore by Allah we should suffer no injury while in his power; an oath which is seldom violated by them."-Carne's "Letters from the East.”

Matthew vi. 34.-"SUFFICIENT UNTO THE DAY IS THE EVIL THEREOF.'

1657. A Lesson from a Child.-"Never mind," said a little one once to a father who had his full share of the burdens and struggles of life, and who was lamenting to her that he was too poor to gratify some desire which she had expressed—“ never mind, papa; you have enough to go on with." Yes, I thought when I heard it, "Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings Thou

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