hin unto a lamb: this is the burnt-offering of every month throughout the months of the year.

OF WINE] Hebrew, yayin, 'wine'; the LXX. oinou, and V. vini, ‘of wine.'

CHAPTER XXVIII. VERSE 17.

And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten.

UNLEAVENED BREAD] Hebrew, matzoth, 'unfermented-cakes'; the Lxx, azuma, 'unfermented-things'; the V., azymis, 'with unfermented things.'

CHAPTER XXXII. VERSE 9.

For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the LORD had given them.

UNTO THE VALLEY OF ESHCOL] Hebrew, ad nakhal Eshkol, 'to the valley of Eshcol.' [See Note on Numb. xiii. 23.]

THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY.

CHAPTER I. VERSE 24.

And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out.

THE VALLEY OF ESHCOL] See Notes on Numb. xiii. 23, 24.

CHAPTER II. VERSE 6.

Ye shall buy meat of them for money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink.

The value attached to water in the East is here brought strikingly before us; also the justice which characterized the policy of the Jewish lawgiver. The Edomites were in possession of the wells, and the fluid of life must be paid for, if money would be accepted.

CHAPTER VI. VERSE II.

And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full.

VINEYARDS] Hebrew, kerahmim, 'vineyards.'

CHAPTER VII. VERSE 13.

And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.

AND THE FRUIT OF THY LAND] Hebrew, u-phri admahthekah, ‘and the fruit of thy soil.' Pěri, 'fruit,' is derived from pahrah, 'to bear,' and is here used com. prehensively of the three principal productions of the Holy Land, dahgan, tirosh, yitzhar-corn, vine-fruit, and orchard-fruit.

THY WINE] The Hebrew is vě-tiroshkah, ‘and thy vine-fruit.' Onkelos has v'kamrak, 'and thy wine'; the LXX., tou oinou sou, of thy wine.' So the

Syriac. The Arabic, 'as on thy expressed juice.' The V., atque vindemia, ‘and of (thy) vintage'-showing that St Jerome recognised the solid character of the substance denoted by tirosh. We have here the advantage of consulting a fragment of the Greek version of Aquila, which was held in high repute for its literal renderings. He gives opōrismon sou, 'thy autumnal fruit,' the vine-fruit in its maturity. This agrees with the various senses of 'to occupy,' or 'possess,' or 'to expel,' borne by yahrash (the root of tirosh).

CHAPTER VII. VERSE 25.

The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God.

The sin of idolatry was so heinous, and the danger of incurring it so great, that not only were the objects of heathen worship to be burnt, but the idol ornaments were to perish with them, lest their possession should be a snare. This command clearly embodies the principle, that things intrinsically harmless, and even useful, are to be put away when their association with things evil has made them a source of moral peril. What intelligent reader can fail to discern the force with which this principle applies, not only to the use of strong drinks, but also to every custom encouraging their use? Not merely should the alcoholic idols of Britain be forsaken, but whatever tends to popularize and recommend them is to be studiously renounced.

CHAPTER VIII. VERSES 7, 8.

7 For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; 8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey.

V. 8. AND VINES] Hebrew, vě-gephen, and the vine.'
AND HONEY] Hebrew, u-d'vash, and honey.'

The profusion of water in Canaan, supplied by rain, springs, and watercourses, formed a striking contrast with the state of Egypt, where rain seldom fell, and where the almost exclusive water supply was derived from the river Nile.

CHAPTER XI. VERSE 14.

That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.

THAT THOU MAYEST GATHER IN] Hebrew, vě-ahsaphtah, from ahsaph, 'to scrape together,' pointing to the collecting of the solid fruits of the earth.

The LXX. gives

AND THY WINE] Hebrew, vě-tiroshkah, 'and thy vine-fruit.' kai ton oinon sou, and thy wine'; the V., et vinum, 'and wine.' The Targum of Onkelos has v'khamrah, 'and thy wine'; Jonathan's, khamraidon, 'your wines.' The Syriac has 'wine,' and the Arabic 'expressed juice' (etzer).

CHAPTER XII. VERSE 17.

Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave-offering of thine hand.

Again we have tirosh as the second member of the triad (corn, vine-fruit, and orchard-fruit). The LXX. keeps to oinon; the V. returns to vinum. Walton's Polyglot Version gives, as usual, mustum (new, unfermented wine) as the Latin equivalent of the Hebrew and Hebrew-Samaritan text; and with this the Arabic Version agrees (etzer). The word 'eat' (ahkal), applied to the natural triad, confirms the theory of their solid character; for though we may speak of 'eating' a meal of which liquids form an unnamed part, we should never speak of 'eating' three things, only one of which was a solid. Even 'eating' toast-and-water would be an absurd phrase.

CHAPTER XIV. VERSE 23.

And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.

The triad here recurs, and tirosh again occupies the second place. The LXX. repeats its oinon, which anciently, however, had a wider sense than mere fluid wine. (See Note on Jer. xl. 10, 12.) The V. follows with its vinum.

CHAPTER XIV. VERSE 26.

And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household.

OR FOR WINE, OR FOR STRONG DRINK] Hebrew, u-vay-yayin, u-vash-shakar, ‘and for wine, and for sweet drink'; the LXX., ee epi oinō, ee epi sikera, or for wine, or for sicera.' The V. has vinum quoque et siceram, 'wine also and sicera.' The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan read, uba-khamar khadath v'attiq, 'for wine, new and old.' The Syriac has 'for wine and sicera.' The Arabic has 'for wine and expressed juice' (etzer). Aquila's rendering of shakar is the only part of the verse preserved―methusmati, which some render 'for an intoxicating drink'; but he may have used methusma in the strict and original sense of its root methuō, 'to drink largely of what is sweet.' [On SHAKAR, see Prel. Dis., and Note on Lev. x. 8-15.]

AND THOU SHALT EAT THEM] Hebrew, vě-akaltah, ‘and thou shalt eat.' 'Them' is supplied by the English translators, being absent from the text, which reads, and thou shalt eat there.' The V. has simply 'and thou shalt eat.'

Devout Israelites with their families going up from a distance to the House of God would find it burdensome or impossible to take with them in substance the tithes

of the corn-field, the vineyard, and the orchard, and the firstlings of herd and fold. They were, therefore, permitted to convert these tithes into money, and on their arrival at the sacred capital to purchase with this money things corresponding to those they could not conveniently convey from their homes. Instead of tirosh and yitzhar, they might buy yayin (the juice of tirosh) and shakar (the juice of other fruits), or whatever their soul lusted after' (i. e. if desired in a good, not in an evil sense, for this is here the meaning of avah), or whatever their soul 'desired,' -literally, 'asked from itself,' which is the marginal reading. This comprehensive permission was implicitly limited by two conditions,-1st, that the things so purchased were good in themselves; 2nd, that they were not prohibited by the Levitical law. It has been held by some that this regulation sanctioned the use of intoxicating drinks; but,

(1) Nothing is said of the inebriating quality of the drinks named; and the permission would have been fully observed by the use of unfermented yayin and shakar.

(2) It is true that the purchase and consumption of fermented yayin and shakar are not prohibited; but, on the other hand, nothing is said against buying and drinking them in an impure and drugged condition. It may surely be presumed that the divine intention had respect to these liquids in their most innocent and well-known nutritious state; and any departure from the spirit of this arrangement -any abuse of the privilege-could not be chargeable on the Supreme Lawgiver, but on the people themselves.

(3) The question why the use of intoxicating liquors was permitted, opens up another and distinct line of inquiry, and is similar to many other questions; such as why polygamy, facility of divorce, slavery, etc., were allowed, and even made the subjects of positive legislation. The words of the Lord (Matt. v. 31, 32; xix. 7, 8) supply the general answer. The evil'suffered' was not sanctioned, 'commanded,' or blessed by God; and in regard to intoxicating drinks, intimations were frequently given, by example and precept, from which the discerning might profit, making clear the physical and moral benefits to be secured by abstinence.

(4) The vulgar notion that this verse embodies a divine prescription to the Israelites to drink freely of intoxicating liquors, along with their households, till their money was expended, though often faithfully carried out, is a dangerous handling of the word of God. Such an interpretation, acted upon by the Jews, must have converted these festivals into scenes of debauch. No man of ordinary prudence and benevolence would now issue such an unguarded order. Who can picture, without a strong moral revulsion, fathers, mothers, and children, of both sexes and all ages, 'rejoicing' together over flagons of intoxicating fluids? The Athenians eulogized Amphictyon, one of their kings who raised an altar to the Upright Bacchus, because he taught them to mix their wine with water, and thus diminished the vice of drunkenness; but it is reserved for the modern advocates of alcoholic liquor to affix to a merciful regulation, designed for the comfort of pious Jews, a meaning which, if carried out, must have resulted in wide-spread dissipation and demoralization, converting a sacred feast into a sottish revel. It

On this text Calvin observes:-"A certain sect of heretics, called Manichees, that scorned God's law and the prophets, alleged this present text (Deut. xiv. 26), and similar ones, to show that the God of the Old Testament, as they blasphemously termed Him, was a God of disorder, and such a one as kept no good rule. For, said they, He laid the bridle upon His people's neck, and bade them eat whatsoever they liked, and so His intention was to make them drunkards and gluttons, by encouraging them to eat and drink after that fashion.

"It is a foul shame to allege this text as a placard for the setting of all lusts at liberty. The words liking, longing, or listing, ought rather to be restrained to the things that are lawful, and which God had given them leave to deal with."-Sermons on Deuteronomy.