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CHAPTER XXX. VERSE 21.

And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness: and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the LORD.

THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD] Hebrew, eth-khag ham-matzoth, 'the festival of unfermented cakes.'

CHAPTER XXXI. VERSE 5.

And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.

THE FIRSTFRUITS OF CORN, WINE, AND OIL, AND HONEY] Hebrew, rashith, dahgan, tirosh, vě-yitzhar, u-d'vash, 'the firsts of corn, vine-fruit, olive-and-orchard fruit, and honey.' The margin of the A. V. gives 'dates' as the alternative reading for 'honey,' as it is not probable that the fruit of the palm tree was exempt from this tithing. The LXX. has aparcheen sitou, kai oinou, kai elaiou, kai mellitos, ‘the first of corn, and wine, and oil, and honey.' The V. has primitias frumenti, et vini, et olei, et mellis, the firsts of corn, and of wine, and of oil, and of honey.'

CHAPTER XXXII. VERSE 28.

Storehouses also for the increase of corn, and wine, and oil; and stalls for all manner of beasts, and cotes for flocks.

OF CORN, AND WINE, AND OIL] Hebrew, dahgan, vě-tirosh, vě-yitzhar, '(the increase of) corn, and vine-fruit, and olive-and-orchard fruit.' The Lxx. has sitou, oinou, kai elaiou; the V., frumenti, vini, et olei, 'of corn, of wine, and of oil.'

THE BOOK OF EZRA.

CHAPTER III. VERSE 7.

They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.

AND MEAT, AND DRINK, AND OIL] Hebrew, u-mäakal, u-mishteh, vah-shěměn, and food, and drink, and oil.' The kind of mishteh is not stated. The Lxx., kai brōmata, kai pota, kai elaion, ‘and meats, and drinks, and oil'; the V., cibum, et potum, et oleum, 'victuals, and drink, and oil.'

CHAPTER VI. VERSE 9.

And that which they have need of, both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs, for the burnt-offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests which are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail.

WINE AND OIL] This verse being part of a decree written in Chaldee, the original is khamar—' foaming juice,' corresponding to the Hebrew khěměr in Deut. xxxii. 14 -u-meshakh'oil.' The Lxx. has oinōn kai elaion; the V., vinum et oleum.

CHAPTER VI. VERSE 22.

And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD] Hebrew, khag matzoth, festival of unfermented-cakes.'

CHAPTER VII. VERSE 17.

That thou mayest buy speedily with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat-offerings and their drink-offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.

AND THEIR DRINK-OFFERINGS] Hebrew, vě-niskäihon, 'and their libations.'

CHAPTER VII. VERSE 22.

Unto an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.

AND TO AN HUNDRED BATHS OF WINE] Chaldee, vě-ad khamar batin měalı, and to wine, baths a hundred.' The LXX. gives kai heōs oinou batōn hekaton, ' and even to a hundred measures of wine'; the V., et usqe ad vini batos centm, 'and even to a hundred baths of wine.' [See Note on 2 Chron. ii. 10.] WITHOUT PRESCRIBING HOW MUCH] Properly, without measure or stint— according to pleasure or convenience.

CHAPTER X. VERSE 6.

Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away.

NOR DRINK WATER] Hebrew, u-maim lo shahthah, and water he drank not. To abstain willingly from bread and water was Ezra's manner of expressing grief; to be confined to bread and water would be to many persons one of the greatest miseries of life. To control the appetite, not to pamper it, is the surest means of promoting both health and rational enjoyment.

THE BOOK OF
OF NEHEMIAH.

CHAPTER I. VERSE II.

O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.

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FOR I WAS THE KING'S CUPBEARER] Hebrew, va-ani hah-yithi mashqěh lammělěk, and I was cup-bearer to the king.' Mashqeh, the participle of shah-qah, 'to drink,' signifies, being in the Hiphil conjugation, 'one who gives drink to another' a cup-bearer. The LXX. has oinochoos, wine-pourer'; the V., pincerna, ‘a cup-bearer.' Mashqeh is also translated 'butler' by the A. V. [See Note on Gen. xl. 9.]

CHAPTER II. VERSE I.

And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.

WINE WAS BEFORE HIM] Hebrew, yayin lè-phahnahv, ‘wine (was) before his face.' The LXX. gives kai een ho oinos enōpion emou, and the wine was before me'; the V., et vinum erat ante eum, 'and wine was before him.'

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AND I TOOK UP THE WINE] Hebrew, vah ěsah eth hay-yayin, 'and I lifted up the wine.' The LXX. has kai elabon ton oinon, and I took the wine'; the V., levavi vinum, 'I raised the wine.'

The office of cup-bearer to an Eastern monarch was one of much importance, from the frequent access it gave to his presence at a time when he would be most inclined to unbend and grant favours; but the constant dread of treason in which such a despot perpetually lived, rendered him acutely observant of the slightest change of demeanour in this attendant. Artaxerxes would, therefore, notice Nehemiah's sadness, and be anxious as to its cause (chap. ii. 2). It has been supposed that in his self-absorption Nehemiah had omitted the indispensable form of pouring a little wine into his own hand and drinking it before presenting the cup to the king; and this omission of the usual protection against poisoning would naturally arouse the monarch's suspicion, and helps us to understand why Nehemiah was made very sore afraid' by the king's interrogation.

CHAPTER III. VERSE 14.

But the dung gate repaired Malchiah the son of Rechab, the ruler of part of Beth-haccerem; he built it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.

BETH-HACCEREM] Hebrew, baith-hak-kahrem, 'the house of the vineyard'; also a town referred to in Jer. vi. 1, and situated, according to Jerome, on a mountain between Jerusalem and Tekoa.

CHAPTER V. VERSE 3.

Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth.

AND VINEYARDS] Hebrew, u-k' rahmāinu, ‘and our vineyards.' So also in verses 4, 5.

CHAPTER V. VERSE II.

Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them.

THEIR VINEYARDS] Hebrew, karmāihem, 'their vineyards.'

AND OF THE CORN, THE WINE, and the oil] Hebrew, vě-had-dahgan, hattirosh, vě-hay-yitzhar, 'and the corn, the vine-fruit, and the olive-and-orchard fruit,'-obviously enumerated as the solid produce of the 'lands,' 'vineyards,' and 'oliveyards' just mentioned. The LXX. has ton siton kai ton oinon kai to elaion, 'the corn, and the wine, and the oil'; the V., frumenti, vini, et olei, ‘of corn, of wine, and of oil.' The Arabic for tirosh has ětzer, ‘expressed juice.'

CHAPTER V. VERSE 15.

But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people : but so did not I, because of the fear of God.

BREAD AND WINE] Hebrew, bé-lěkhěm vah-yayin, ‘from bread and wine.' The LXX. has en artois kai en oinō, 'with loaves and with wine'; the V., in pane et vino, 'with bread and wine.'

CHAPTER V. VERSE 18.

Now that which was prepared for me daily was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days store of all sorts of wine: yet for all this required not I the bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavy upon this people.

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