CHAPTER XXXVII.

1 The ark. 6 The mercy seat with cherubims. 10 The table with his vessels. 17 The candlestick with his lamps and instruments. 25 The altar of incense. 29 The anointing oil and sweet incense. AND Bezaleel made 'the ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it:

2 And he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a crown of gold to it round about.

3 And he cast for it four rings of gold, to be set by the four corners of it; even two rings upon the one side of it, and two rings upon the other side of it.

4 And he made staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold.

5 And he put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, to bear the ark.

6 And he made the 'mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and one cubit and a half the breadth thereof.

7 And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one piece made he them, on the two ends of the mercy seat;

8 One cherub 'on the end on this side, and another cherub 'on the other end on that side: out of the mercy seat made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof.

9 And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims.

10 And he made the table of shittim wood: two cubits was the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof:

11 And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made thereunto a crown of gold round about.

12 Also he made thereunto a border of an hand breadth round about; and made a crown of gold for the border thereof round about.

13 And he cast for it four rings of gold, and put the rings upon the four corners that were in the four feet thereof.

14 Over against the border were the rings, the places for the staves to bear the table. 15 And he made the staves of shittim

1 Chap. 25. 10.
2 Chap. 25. 17.
Or, to pour out withal.

wood, and overlaid them with gold, to bear the table.

16 And he made the vessels which were upon the table, his 'dishes, and his spoons, and his bowls, and his covers to cover withal, of pure gold.

17 ¶ And he made the 'candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work made he the candlestick; his shaft, and his branch, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, were of the same:

18 And six branches going out of the sides thereof; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side thereof, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side thereof:

19 Three bowls made after the fashion of almonds in one branch, a knop and a flower; i and three bowls made like almonds in another branch, a knop and a flower: so throughout the six branches going out of the candlestick.

20 And in the candlestick were four bowls made like almonds, his knops, and his flowers:

21 And a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches going out of it.

22 Their knops and their branches were of the same all of it was one beaten work of pure gold.

23 And he made his seven lamps, and his snuffers, and his snuff dishes, of pure gold.

24 Of a talent of pure gold made he it, and all the vessels thereof.

25 ¶ "And he made the incense altar of shittim wood: the length of it was a cubit, and the breadth of it a cubit; it was foursquare; and two cubits was the height of it; the horns thereof were of the same.

26 And he overlaid it with pure gold, both the top of it, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns of it: also he made unto it a crown of gold round about.

27 And he made two rings of gold for it under the crown thereof, by the two corners of it, upon the two sides thereof, to be places for the staves to bear it withal.

28 And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold.

29 And he made 'the holy anointing oil, and the pure incense of sweet spices, according to the work of the apothecary.

7 Chap. 25. 31.

5 Chap. 25. 29. Chap. 30. 35.

Verse 29. The holy anointing oil, and the pure incense of sweet spices, according to the work of the apothecary.’'—In the time of Jacob (Gen. xxxvii. 25) the commerce of the Egyptians with the Asiatics seems to have consisted chiefly in gums, spices, and aromatics. 'Such a commerce (Sir William Drummond remarks) indicates great wealth and great luxury on the part of the Egyptians, who made no exports, and who must have given gold in exchange for the articles which they received from the East. But if the Egyptians were idle as merchants, they must have been busy as chemists. If we turn our attention to the Hebrews at this period, we shall not doubt that they had employed the chemical skill, which they had acquired in Egypt, in the composition of their perfumes and unguents. The anointing oil, or unguent, was composed of pure myrrh, sweet cinnamon, sweet calamus, and cassia, combined with olive oil. The quantity of these aromatics in their crude state is noted, and was immense; but the oint

The

ment was to be" compound after the art of the apothecary." From this statement it may be justly inferred, that the juices and volatile oils of the aromatics were extracted from them by distillation and compression, and were then mixed with the fixed oil obtained from the olive. perfume (as described in Exod. xxx. 34) was a composition of equal portions of stacte ( nataf), onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense, which after commixtion were to be ground to a powder. The Hebrew word

lebonah, which we translate frankincense, denotes that this aromatic was white; but the matter of all resins only becomes white when purified, and this purification is effected by modern chemists by means of alcohol. It follows from these statements, that when the Hebrews quitted Egypt, the knowledge of metallurgy, chemistry, and pharmacy, must have been already well advanced in that country. Origines, ii. 272–275.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

1 The altar of burnt offering. 8 The laver of brass.

9. The court. 21 The sum of that the people offered. AND 'he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare; and three cubits the height thereof.

2 And he made the horns thereof on the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of the same and he overlaid it with brass.

3 And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basons, and the fleshhooks, and the firepans: all the vessels thereof made he of brass.

4 And he made for the altar a brasen gate of network under the compass thereof beneath unto the midst of it.

5 And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grate of brass, to be places for the staves.

6 And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with brass.

7 And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar, to bear it withal; he made the altar hollow with boards.

8 And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the 'looking glasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

9 And he made the court: on the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, an hundred cubits:

10 Their pillars were twenty, and their brasen sockets twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.

11 And for the north side the hangings were an hundred cubits, their pillars were twenty,

:

18 And the hanging for the gate of the court was needlework, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen and twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, answerable to the hangings of the court.

19 And their pillars were four, and their sockets of brass four; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their chapiters and their fillets of silver.

20 And all the 'pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round about, were of brass.

21 This is the sum of the tabernacle, even of the tabernacle of testimony, as it was counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son to Aaron the priest.

22 And Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of 3 Heb. assembling by troops.

4 Chap. 27. 19.

23 And with him was Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen.

24 All the gold that was occupied for the work in all the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.

25 And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:

26 A bekah for 'every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred

27 And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the vail; an hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.

28 And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters, and filleted them.

29 And the brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels.

30 And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the brasen altar, and the brasen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar,

31 And the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the court gate, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.

Verse 8. He made the laver of brass.... of the lookingglasses of the women.'-As the laver was of brass or copper, it is evident that the looking-glasses,' with which it was made, were of the same metal. The word mirror' should have been used in the place of looking-glass,' in the various passages where it occurs, and which are all incompatible with the idea of glass. Thus Job (chap. xxxvii. 18), Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking-glass?' and an apocryphal writer (Ecclus. xii. 11) says, Thou shalt be unto him as if thou hadst wiped a looking-glass, and thou shalt know that his rust hath not been altogether wiped away.' In all these passages a metallic mirror is obviously intended. We may understand either that the stock of copper in the camp was so comparatively small, as to have been exhausted in the other works for the tabernacle, or else that the mirrors of the women were particularly required for the laver as being of a superior sort of metal. As the women who assembled at the tabernacle are especially mentioned, it is not improbable that they had been in the habit of following the example of the Egyptian women who took their mirrors with them when they went to the temples. Moses may have required them for the laver, in order to put a stop to a practice of which he did not approve.

Artificial mirrors seem to have been made as soon as men began to exercise their ingenuity on metals and stones. Every solid body capable of receiving a polish would be more or less suitable for this purpose; hence the earliest mirrors of which we possess any information were of metal. When men began to work metals, it must soon have been discovered that the hardest white metals reflected more distinct images, when polished, than any others. Of all the metals known to the ancients steel was the best calculated for the purpose; but Beckmann says that he can discover no indications that steel mirrors were in use among them; and he thinks that its liability to contract rust and to become tarnished, prevented this otherwise desirable metal from being employed for the purpose. We rather differ from him in this particular. The mention of rust in the above quotation from the Apocrypha seems to imply that the mirror there in view was of steel; and although it be true that the Greeks and Romans did not use such mirrors, it does not follow that they were not

employed in the East, where, in most parts, the dryness of the atmosphere exposes polished steel to the least possible danger from rust. In fact steel mirrors, although in some degree superseded by looking-glasses, continue to be extensively used in the East. After steel, in eligibility for mirrors, comes silver; and we find that silver mirrors are those most generally mentioned among the Greeks and Romans. There was also in use for the same purpose a mixture of copper and tin, producing a white metal which would seem to have been better adapted for mirrors than silver, although, on some account or other, it was not so much esteemed for the purpose. One reason probably was, that this metal was more liable to be tarnished than those of silver, requiring to be frequently brightened before being used. Hence it seems that a sponge with pounded pumice-stone was generally suspended near the ancient mirrors. Mirrors of copper, brass, and gold, do not appear to have been much in use after the superior fitness of silver was discovered; yet there is no question that copper and brass were soonest applied to this purpose, and doubtless continued to be used by those who could not afford silver or silvered mirrors. The use of metallic mirrors is now, in Europe, almost entirely confined to reflecting telescopes. The mode of compounding the metals of which these mirrors are made, and of polishing them of a proper form, is an art of great nicety.

There is some difficulty in determining when glass mirrors were invented. Pliny alludes to attempts made at Sidon to form mirrors with glass, but in what manner does not appear; and if the attempts had produced any approximation to our mirrors, they would surely have superseded those of metal, which they were so far from doing that, whatever they were, they never came into use. With the exception of this notice in Pliny, there is no trace of glass mirrors till the thirteenth century, after which they are spoken of in the clearest manner, and continue to be mentioned in every century, and at last mirrors of metal passed entirely out of notice. That the practical invention of glass mirrors cannot be much earlier than the date here assigned, seems to be evinced by the fact, mentioned by Beckmann, that glass mirrors continued to be very scarce in France in the fourteenth century. Those of metal were still in common use, and the mirror of even the queen,

Anne of Bretagne, consort of Louis XII., was of this description. On the history of mirrors, see further in Beckmann's Hist. of Inventions, vol. iii. See also Goguet, i. 371; Harmer, iv. 332-334; Burder's Oriental Customs, i. 37: ii. 52, etc.

Of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.'-This is a difficult text, and it would require a somewhat extensive paraphrase to bring out its full meaning to those unacquainted with the Hebrew langauge. First, the word 7 tzaba, denotes military service, a going forth to war. Here it is rendered assembled; then as a substantive plural it denotes those who go forth to war, or render military service; and being here feminine, it is rendered the women who assembled.' Better, 'the female servants who served,' etc. It is clear that the original, primarily applicable to military service, is by a figure applied first to the militia sacra of the priests and Levites, whose leader and standardbearer was the God of Israel. (Num. iv. 23, 35, 43; viii. 25.) In addition to the sacred host, composed of men, there appears in our text a corresponding one consisting of women; and the manner in which it is spoken of shews that it was a general, important, and formally recognised institution. That it did not end with Moses, is shewn from 1 Sam. ii. 22, where it is stated among the great crimes of the sons of Eli, that they corrupted the women who served at the gate of the tabernacle. What was the nature of their service is not distinctly declared, but may be collected from circumstances. That it was not in any way directly connected with the ritual worship-that is to say, that they were not in any sense priestesses,' such as we find among the heathen, is certain; not only because all the functions of that service are assigned to men, but

6

because, had they been so engaged, their service in so public a capacity must, on some occasion or other, in the course of so large a volume as the Bible, which abounds in descriptions of and allusions to the external worship of the Hebrews, could not but have come under notice. Some think, from the mention of the laver, that they might have been partly employed in washing the feet of the priests and Levites, as it seems from 1 Sam. xxv. 41; Luke vii. 4; 1 Tim. v. 10, that it was often the occupation of women to wash the feet of men. It is certain, however, that the ancient Jews did not at all suppose that the service of these women had any connection with the external rites of worship; but they understood that it had reference to spiritual service rendered at the sanctuary. This appears from the paraphrase in the Septuagint, which substitutes 'fasting' for service;' as well as by that of Onkelos, who translates the same word by to pray.' Aben Ezra understands it in the same way: They came down to the tabernacle to pray and hear the word of the law.' But of special importance for the understanding what their service was,' is the third passage which bears upon this institution, which shews that it continued to the time of Christ. It is found in Luke iii. 37, where it is said of Anna, who departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. The relation of this passage to the present text is the more distinct when we compare it with the translation of the Seventy and of Onkelos. If we take these into account, we shall find a reference to the Jewish institution in 1 Tim. v. 5. Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day.' A reference which implies that the service of these women was rendered not with the hands but with the heart. Hengstenberg is disposed to urge that the institution had

an ascetic character, from the fact-in connection with Exod. xxv. 1, where Moses is required to take from the Israelites' free-will offerings for the construction of the sanctuary that the article which the holy women gave was their mirrors, their means of pleasing the world. This giving up the use of the mirror was, he says, the same to them as the leaving of the hair to grow was in the case of the Nazarites, by which they gave a practical demonstration that they, for the time in which this was done, renounced the world, in which the cutting off the hair belongs to the properties of social life, so that they might serve God only. The new use to which Moses devoted the mirrors also denotes that the offering of them had this significance. This gives, in addition to the negative, the positive reason: not for the world, but for God, ought we to adorn ourselves, and seek to please him alone. Compare 1 Pet. iii. 3, 4, where, besides the general purport, the phrase the holy women of old' is of peculiar significance. That the institution had, in its origin, an Egyptian reference is very probable, without argument, from the circumstance that it was in all probability not introduced by Moses by a law, but was found by him as an already existing institution. It evidently arose of itself from the Israelitish manner of life, and since they stood under manifest Egyptian influences, one should expect to find an Egyptian institution after which the Israelitish one was in form copied, while the spirit of both institutions must necessarily be as different as was the service of the Holy One of Israel from the natural religion of Egypt. This expectation is accordingly realised. The ancient Greek writers attest the presence of 'holy women,' that is, of women specially devoted to the service of the gods, in the Egyptian temple; and yet they were not -as among other heathen-priestesses; neither did they exemplify that impurity of life which was in other nations, as now in Hindustan, connected with such devotement. On this point Herodotus is very explicit: Among the Egyptians impurity is excluded from the circuit of the

holy places, in which these women had their abode. (Herodotus, i. 181, 182; ii. 54, 56.) It is true that Diodorus does ascribe impurities to the women of the Egyptian temples; but we can detect the source of his misapprehension, which is contradicted not only by Herodotus, but by the testimony of the monuments. Rosellini refutes it; and Wilkinson characterises it as a ridiculous story which could only have originated in the depraved notions and ignorance of the Greeks; fond of the marvellous, and notorious as they were for a superficial acquaintance with the customs of foreign nations.' (Anct. Egyptians, i. 259.) The characteristic peculiarities in which the Israelitish agrees with the Egyptian institution of holy women appear to be these:-1. That the women were not priestesses, discharged no functions which could be called sacerdotal, and took no part in the essential acts of public worship, other than by attendance as special votaries. 2. That the women were mostly persons of consideration :-that they were so among the Hebrews is indirectly shewn by the offering of mirrors, which at a much later period are mentioned in Scripture as articles of luxury: (Isa. iii. 23.) and that they were so among the Egyptians, appears not only from the testimony of Strabo, but from the clear evidence of the Scriptures. Wilkinson, while speaking of the tombs of the holy women, described by Diodorus, which are now seen at Thebes, in a valley 3000 feet behind the ruins of Medeenet Haboo, says, 'The sculptures shew that they were women of the highest rank, since all the occupants of these tombs were either the wives or daughters of kings.' 4. That the holy women were, among the Hebrews, usually unmarried or widows, is affirmed by the Jewish writers, and is rendered probable by the texts which have been adduced; and that such women among the Egyptians were unmarried is affirmed by Herodotus (i. 182), and also by Strabo, who adds the interesting fact, that they were not forbidden to marry when they wished, although when any one did so, a great lamentation was made for her as for one dead.

1

CHAPTER XXXIX.

1 The cloths of service and holy garments. 2 The ephod. 8 The breastplate. 22 The robe of the ephod. 27 The coats, mitre, and girdle of fine linen. 30 The plate of the holy crown. 32 All is viewed and approved by Moses.

AND of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, and 'made the holy garments for Aaron; as the LORD commanded Moses.

2 ¶ And he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. 3 And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, with cunning work.

4 They made shoulderpieces for it, to couple it together by the two edges was it coupled together.

5 And the curious girdle of his ephod, that was upon it, was of the same, according to the work thereof; of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen; as the LORD commanded Moses.

6 And they wrought onyx stones inclosed

1 Chap. 31. 10, and 35. 19.

in ouches of gold, graven, as signets are graven, with the names of the children of Israel.

7 And he put them on the shoulders of the ephod, that they should be stones for a memorial to the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses.

8 ¶ And he made the breastplate of cun- | ning work, like the work of the ephod; of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.

9 It was foursquare; they made the breastplate double: a span was the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof, being doubled.

10 And they set in it four rows of stones: the first row was a 'sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle this was the first row.

11 And the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.

12 And the third row, a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst.

13 And the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper: they were inclosed in ouches of gold in their inclosings.

14 And the stones were according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, ac4 Or, ruby.

3 Chap. 28. 12.