drawn from the one to the other; or when two texts relate to the same subject, an argument is drawn from that agreement. In Deut. xiv. 1. it is said to the Israelites in general, "Ye shall not make any "baldness between your eyes for the dead." In Lev. xxi. 5. it is commanded concerning the priests, " They shall not make any baldness upon "their heads." From these two passages, in both which the word baldness occurs, they draw two conclusions. First, from the rule laid down for the priests, they infer that the prohibition given to the Israelites in general, though in express words it only forbids making baldness between the eyes, ought to be understood of the whole head. Secondly, from the occasion on which the Israelites are forbidden to make this baldness, namely, for the dead, they infer that the prohibition imposed upon the priests relates to the

same occasion.

3. The building of the father. When one passage of scripture furnishes an explanation of other similar passages, the passage which teaches is as a father, and the other passages which are taught or explained by it are compared to children. In Exod. xii. 16. it is said, "And in the first day "there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to

you: no manner of work shall be done in them, "save that which every man must eat, that only

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may be done of you." Hence the rabbies conclude that the celebration of all other festivals is to be subject to the same regulation; that no work is to be done on them, except about their necessary

food, whether this be particularly mentioned in the command of such festival or not.

4. Universal and particular, or general and special; that is, wherever a precept is delivered first in general and then in particular terms, the particular only is to be observed. In Lev. i. 2. it is commanded, "If any man of you bring an "offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your "offering of the cattle:"-the word here translated cattle, the rabbies say, includes all beasts wild as well as tame, by which it would seem that any were eligible for this purpose-but the next clause, specifying "of the herd and of the flock," restricts the precept to beeves, sheep, and goats.

5. Particular and universal. This rule is the reverse of the preceding: when a precept first particularizes any one or more species and then adds a general term, it is understood to include all the species of that kind. The command in Deut. xxii. 1-3. respecting the restoration of things lost, specifies an ox, a sheep, an ass, and raiment: hence it might be argued that a man was obliged to restore these things only; but the next clause adds, "and with all lost things of thy "brother's, which he hath lost, and thou hast "found, shalt thou do likewise:"-here the universal prevails, and comprehends every possible particular.

6. Universal and particular, and then universal again, where the determination is made by the particular. In Exod. xxii. 9-11. the oath of a person accused of theft, "that he hath not put his "hand unto his neighbour's goods," is directed to

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be taken, first generally "for all manner of trespass," then particularly "for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment," and then generally again, "for any manner of lost thing." Hence the rabbies infer that the application must be regulated by a similarity to the particulars specified; that is, as an ox, an ass, a sheep, and raiment are moveables, and may be bartered or disposed of as merchandise, so this precept extends to all things that come under this description; but not to lands, or slaves which, like lands, were to be "taken as an "inheritance:" (Lev. xxv. 46.) the oath was not required for them.

7. Something general, that wants something special; and something special that wants something general. In Numb. iii. 40. "And the "Lord said unto Moses, Number all the first born "of the males of the children of Israel." This command contains both a general and a particular term, each of which needs the other to explain it. The general term, all the first born, includes both males and females; there was a necessity for the special term of the males, in order to exclude the females. So had it been said only, Number the males, this might have been supposed to include all the males whether first born or not: the term first born fixes the matter beyond all doubt.

8. When any thing is taught generally, and there is something particular specified, that specification is not for its own sake, but to shew that the general rule is to be generally understood. In Lev. xx. 2. it is commanded, that "Whosoever "he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers

"that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his "seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to "death; the people of the land shall stone him "with stones." If it be asked, why the sin of offering to Molech, which was already included among other abominations, is here particularly specified, the rabbies say, that this denunciation is designed to teach that all who were guilty of the other abominations were to suffer the same punishment.

Here is no dis

9. When any thing that comes under a general rule is excepted, to lay a particular obligation upon that thing which otherwise would be comprized in the general. In this case the exception alleviates and not aggravates. In Lev. xxiv. 17. it is commanded that "he that killeth any man, "shall surely be put to death." tinction between wilful murder, and casual or accidental manslaughter. But in Deut. xix. 5. is the following exception: "When a man goeth "into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, " and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the ax to cut "down the tree, and the head slippeth from the "helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour that he "die; he shall flee into one of those cities, and "live." Thus a man who killed another ignorantly or undesignedly, was exempted from the punishment of death to which he would have been liable according to the general law.

10. When any thing that comes under a general rule is excepted, to lay a particular obligation not agreeing with the sense of the general rule. In this case, the exception both alleviates and aggra

vates. This rule is founded on the following texts: Exod. xxi. 2. "If thou buy an Hebrew servant, "six years shall he serve; and in the seventh he "shall go out free for nothing." This might include both men and women, as in Deut. xv. 12. But in Exod. xxi. 7-11. it is said, "If a man "sell his daughter to be a maid-servant, she shall "not go out as the men-servants do, Exc." This exception in the case of a maid-servant both alleviates and aggravates. On the one hand, she might in certain circumstances obtain her freedom before; on the other, the master had a right to marry her without her consent.

11. When there is an exception from a general rule, in order to determine a new matter, that new matter cannot be brought back to its general rule again, unless it be expressly mentioned in the text. Thus in Levit. xxii. 11. respecting those who might eat of the priest's meat, it is given as a general rule: " If the priest buy any soul with his money, he shall eat of it, and he that is born in "his house; they shall eat of it." This would include his daughters married or unmarried; but in the next verse follows an exception: "If the "priest's daughter be married unto a stranger, she

may not eat of an offering of the holy things." This exception would always have excluded her from eating of the holy things, even though she might have returned to her father's house in consequence of a divorce or of the death of her husband; but in either of these cases, if she had no child, express provision is made in the following verse for restoring her to her former privilege: