people. Accordingly, there are a number of regulations, the combined operation of which rendered such a change almost compulsory. The present is one of those which tended to wean them from that entire dependence upon their flocks, which is usual among nomade people; and to introduce new wants, which only agriculture could supply. The present law, in particular, appears to be one of several, which seem directed to oblige them to the cultivation of the excellent olives of Palestine, the country which they were destined to occupy. Being here debarred the employment of such fat, and being apparently, on the other hand, precluded the use of butter (see note on Deut. xiv. 21), no resource remained for them but to cultivate and employ its oil, which in fact they did to a great extent, after they were settled in the Promised Land. Whether this view be correct or not, the tendency of such a law to prevent their falling back on nomade habits, can hardly be questioned. It was adapted to their condition in Palestine: but since their dispersion they have felt the interdiction of fat and (as they understand) of butter, in cooking, as one of the peculiar evils of their state, and have been driven so to expound their law as to allow themselves the use of goose fat as a substitute.

There are, however, other reasons which may also have had some effect in inducing this prohibition. Geddes, who regards it as a medicinal precept, quotes the MS. note of Mr. Street, who says, truly: Bilious disorders are very frequent in hot countries; the eating of fat meat is a great

large tail of the Eastern sheep is reckoned a luxurious delicacy; but I am told, by one who has eaten of it, that it is not wholesome.' Geddes himself adds: To this I can bear personal testimony: one ounce of fat, taken at any time, would go near to kill me: and I am convinced that most of bilious and many other bodily disorders are owing to the use of fat meats.' Besides this, the eating of the fat pieces in question, and the use of fat in the preparation of food, is highly injurious to persons particularly subject to cutaneous disorders, as the Israelites are thought to have been. To this we may add, that, as it was an object of many laws to discourage any friendly intercourse between the Israelites and the idolatrous nations, nothing could be better calculated than the present and other dietetic regu lations to prevent them from joining in the festivities and social entertainments of their heathen neighbours.

38. Oblations.'-The word korbanim, is a ge neral name for all sorts of offerings or oblations to God. The root of the word is in the verb 7 karab, to approach or bring near;' and the term therefore denotes any thing brought nigh to be offered or dedicated to the Lord, to whom also the offerer himself was, as it were, brought nigh, having access in the way appointed by the law. The comprehensive term is thus very appropriately introduced here, at the conclusion of the account of the different offerings and sacrifices.

CHAPTER VIII.

14 Their

1 Moses consecrateth Aaron and his sons. sin offering. 18 Their burnt offering. 22 The ram of consecration. 31 The place and time of their consecration.

AND the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

2 Take Aaron and his sons with him, and 'the garments, and the anointing oil, and a bullock for the sin offering, and two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread;

3 And gather thou all the congregation together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

4 And Moses did as the LORD commanded him ; and the assembly was gathered together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

5 And Moses said unto the congregation, This is the thing which the LORD commanded to be done.

6 And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water.

7 And he put upon him the coat, and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod upon him, and he girded him with the curious girdle of the ephod, and bound it unto him therewith.

8 And he put the breastplate upon him: also he put in the breastplate the Urim and the Thummim.

9 And he put the mitre upon his head; also upon the mitre, even upon his forefront,

did he put the golden plate, the holy crown; as the LORD "commanded Moses.

10 And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was therein, and sanctified them.

11 And he sprinkled thereof upon the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all his vessels, both the laver and his foot, to sanctify them.

12 And he poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head, and anointed him, to sanctify him.

13 And Moses brought Aaron's sons, and put coats upon them, and girded them with girdles, and put bonnets upon them; as the LORD commanded Moses.

14 And he brought the bullock for the sin offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the bullock for the sin offering.

15 And he slew it; and Moses took the blood, and put it upon the horns of the alter round about with his finger, and purified the altar, and poured the blood at the bottom of the altar, and sanctified it, to make reconciliation upon it.

16 And he took all the fat that was upon the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and Moses burned it upon the altar.

17 But the bullock, and his hide, his flesh, and his dung, he burnt with fire with

1 Exod. 28. 2. 4.

2 Exod. 30. 24.

5 Exod. 28. 37, &c.

€ Pral. 133. 2. Ecclus. 45. 15.

out the camp; as the LORD 'commanded Moses.

18 And he brought the ram for the burnt offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram.

19 And he killed it; and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about.

20 And he cut the ram into pieces; and Moses burnt the head, and the pieces, and the fat.

21 And he washed the inwards and the legs in water; and Moses burnt the whole ram upon the altar: it was a burnt sacrifice for a sweet savour, and an offering made by fire unto the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.

22 And he brought the other ram, the ram of consecration and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the

ram.

23 And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood of it, and put it upon the tip of Aaron's right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot.

24 And he brought Aaron's sons, and Moses put of the blood upon the tip of their right ear, and upon the thumbs of their right hands, and upon the great toes of their right feet and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about.

25 And he took the fat, and the rump, and all the fat that was upon the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and the right shoulder:

26 And out of the basket of unleavened bread, that was before the LORD, he took one unleavened cake, and a cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and put them on the fat, and upon the right shoulder:

27 And he put all "upon Aaron's hands,

33 And ye shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation in seven days, until the days of your consecration be at an end: for seven days shall he consecrate you. 34 As he hath done this day, so the LORD hath commanded to do, to make an atonement for you.

35 Therefore shall ye abide at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation day and night seven days, and keep the charge of the LORD, that ye die not: for so I am commanded.

36 So Aaron and his sons did all things which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.

Verse 6. Washed them with water.'-Here the ceremonies of consecration commence with ablutions, and we have seen that the priests were required to bathe their hands and feet whenever they entered the tabernacle. This doubtless was, not merely to ensure physical cleanness, but also to symbolize that spiritual purity with which man should appear before God. The present washing is, however, distinguished from the daily ablution, inasmuch as the whole person seems now to have been washed, but only the bands and feet on common occasions. The idea of the fitness of such a practice is so obvious, that it has been more or less in use in most religious systems. We find, at the heathen temples, lavers of a similar use to this at the tabernacle. The Egyptian priests washed themselves with cold water twice every day, and twice at night; the Greeks had their sprinklings, the Romans their lustrations and lavations; the ancient Christians practised ablution before receiving the sacrament, and also bathed their eyes on

entering a church. The Roman Catholic church retains something of the practice of ablution before, and sometimes after, mass; and Calmet says that the holy-water vessels at the entrance of the churches are in imitation of the laver of the tabernacle. The Oriental Christians have also their solemn washings on particular occasions, such as Good Friday. The practice of ablution was adopted by Mohammed in a very full sense; for his followers are not only obliged to perform their ablutions before they enter a mosque, but before they commence their prayers, wherever offered, which they are required to repeat five times each day. This is certainly the most burdensome system of ablution which ever existed in ancient or modern times. The Hindoos also rejoice in the purifying virtues of their idolized Ganges; and wash also in other waters, because they believe that such will be equally effectual, if, whilst they bathe, they say, 'O Ganges, purify me!' In fact, nothing is, or has been, more common than ablutions in

the worship which different nations render to their gods; and there are few acts connected with their service which are not begun or ended with some rite symbolical of purification. In the religion of classical antiquity, the priest was obliged to prepare himself by ablution for offering sacrifice; for which purpose there was usually water at the entrance of the temple. In very ancient times the priests seem to have previously bathed themselves in some river or stream. But such ablutions were only necessary in sacrifices to the celestial gods, sprinkling being sufficient for the terrestrial and infernal deities. (See Banier's Mythology of the Ancients, i. 271.)

We may here observe, that, from the obligation of the priests to wash their feet before entering the tabernacle, and for other reasons, it has been inferred that they officiated with bare feet. It is also observed that, in the enumeration of the articles of the priestly dress, sandals are not mentioned, neither does Josephus in his account speak of them. It is true that Plutarch represents the Hebrew priest as officiating with buskins; but his authority is of the least possible weight on such a subject. We believe, ourselves, that the priests did officiate barefoot; although our conviction does not proceed from the reasons thus stated, but rather from the knowledge that it was in very ancient times, as at present, a common mark of respect in the East to uncover the feet. (See note to Exod. iii. 5.) Even classical heathenism affords instances of this usage. 'Adore and sacrifice with naked feet,' was a maxim of Pythagoras, which he probably brought, with the rest of his philosophy, from the East. The temple of Diana at Crete might not be entered with covered feet; the Roman ladies were obliged to be barefoot in the temple of Vesta; and the suppliants went barefoot to the temple of Jupiter when they prayed for rain. The Mohammedans, and the Asiatic and Abyssinian Christians, invariably take off their shoes before they enter a place of worship, as do the Brahmins of India when they enter their temples. As to the Jews themselves, it is impossible to say, unless by inference, how they proceeded in the tabernacle; but it seems fair to conclude that they did the same as afterwards in the Temple, and that they there officiated barefoot is shewn by the concurrent testimony of various writers. Maimonides says that none were allowed to enter the Temple with shoes, or with unclean feet, or with a staff, or in the dress in which they worked at their respective callings. The Talmud is positive on the same subject, saying that no priest or layman might enter with shoes; but as this regulation, in conjunction with their way of life and the thinness of their official dress, was injurious to the health of the priests, there was a small apartment or closet, called the 'stove' or 'fire-room,' which had a heated floor, on which they might occasionally warm their feet. (See Saurin's Dissertations, xliv. and liv. ; Calmet's Commentaire Littéral on Exod. iii. 5, and xxx. 18, etc.)

12. Poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head.'— From comparing this verse with v. 30, it is thought that Aaron alone was anointed on the head, his sons being merely sprinkled; or, as we should understand-that Aaron was sprinkled in common with his sons, but that the anointing or pouring out of oil upon his head was an addition peculiar to him. The custom of setting persons apart for particularly dignified or holy offices, by anointing, seems to have originated in the East, and in most cases appears

to have symbolized the effusion of the gifts and graces which they were presumed to receive from heaven to qualify them for distinguished offices. Hence this sacred anointing seems to have been considered as investing with a peculiar sanctity the person on whom it had been conferred. We see this in the reverence with which the Lord's anointed' is on all occasions mentioned in Scripture. The persons set apart to their offices by anointing, among the Hebrews, were the priests, kings, prophets; but there is some doubt about the latter, to which we shall have occasion to advert, as well as to the unction of the kings. The precious oil seems to have been more profusely expended on Aaron than in any other application. We learn from Ps. cxxxiii. 2, that being poured on his head, it ran down on his beard and to the collar of his coat (the robe of the ephod)-not to the skirts of his garments, as there translated. The Jewish writers have many fancies about the mode in which the oil was applied, into which we need not enter. If the high-priest was, as some state, fully robed before anointed, the mitre might have been taken off for that ceremony: but others think that the tiara was not put on till after the anointing.

23. Moses took of the blood of it, and put it upon the tip of Aaron's right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot.—Banier, in his work on the Mythology of the Ancients, gives, after Prudentius, a remarkable instance of the personal application of the victim's blood in the ceremonies of consecration. He calls it a sort of baptism of blood,' which was thought to convey a spiritual regeneration. It occurs in the Taurobolium, a sacrifice which was offered to Cybele at the cousecration of her high-priest, but not wholly confined to that occasion, and which had rites and ceremonies different from all other sacrifices. In order to consecrate the highpriest, a great hole was made, into which he entered, dressed in an unusual manner, wearing a crown of gold, and with a toga of silk tucked up after the Sabine fashion, Above the whole was a sort of floor, the boards of which, not being closely joined, left certain chinks, besides which several holes were bored in the boards themselves. Then they led up to the place a bull (sometimes a ram or goat) crowned with garlands, bearing on his shoulders fillets covered with flowers, and having his forehead gilt. Its throat was cut over the hole, so that the blood fell upon the floor, which, being perforated, allowed it to pass through in a shower upon the priest, who received it eagerly upon his body and clothes. Not content with this, he held back his head to receive it on his cheeks, ears, lips, and nostrils; he even opened his mouth to moisten his tongue with it, and some he swallowed. When all the blood was drained, the victim was removed, and the highpriest came out. The horrible appearance which he presented may well be conceived, but he was received with congratulation; and the people, not daring to approach his person, adored him at a distance, regarding him now as a man quite pure and sanctified.-They who thus received the blood of the Taurobole wore their stained clothes as long as possible, as a sensible evidence of their regeneration. Might it not be to prevent such a practice as this last, that in the sin offering, if any of the victim's blood was sprinkled upon a garment, that garment was directed to be carefully washed in the holy place? Ch. vi. 27.

CHAPTER IX.

1 The first offerings of Aaron for himself and the people. 8 The sin offering, 12 and the burnt offering for himself. 15 The offerings for the people. 23 Moses and Aaron bless the people. 24 Fire cometh from the Lord upon the altar.

AND it came to pass on the eighth day, that

Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel;

2 And he said unto Aaron, 'Take thee a young calf for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer them before the LORD.

3 And unto the children of Israel thou