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3-8. Isa. xxviii. 27, 28. Amos ii. 13.), was either laid up | sometimes used in this manner for food without any farther

in stacks (Exod. xxii. 6.) or barns (Matt. vi. 26. xiii. 30. Luke xii. 18. 24.) ; and when threshed out, was stored in granaries or garners. (Matt. iii. 12.), David had storehouses in the fields, in the cities, and in the villages, and in the castles. (1 Chron. xxvii. 25.) V. After the grain was carried into the barn, the next con-like practice used with wheat. (Prov. xxvii. 22.) But mills cern was to thresh or beat the corn out of the ear, which process was performed in various ways. Sometimes it was done by horses (Isa. xxviii. 28.), as is the practice to this day among the Koords, and by oxen, that trod out the corn with their hoofs shod with brass. (Mic. iv. 12, 13.) This mode of threshing is expressly referred to by Hosea (x. 11.), and in the prohibition of Moses against muzzling the ox that treadeth out the corn (Deut. xxv. 4.), and it obtains in Persia2 and India3 to this day, where oxen are employed; as buffaloes are in Ceylon, asses in North Africa, and horses in Crim Tatary.4 Another mode of threshing was, by drawing a loaded cart with wheels over the corn, backwards and forwards; so that the wheels running over it, forcibly shook out the grain (Isa. xxviii. 28.) ; but the most common mode appears to have been that which is in use in this country, viz. by flails. Thus the fitches are said to be beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod. In this manner Gideon and Araunah or Ornan threshed out their wheat (Judg. vi. 11. 1 Chron. xxi. 20.); for it is represented as their own personal action.

preparation, but generally the parching or drying of it was in
order to make it more fit for grinding. This process was
performed either in mortars or mills, both of which are men-
tioned in Num. xi. 8. And Solomon speaks of the former,
when he compares the braying of a fool in a mortar to the
were chiefly employed for this purpose; and they were deemed
of such use and necessity, that the Israelites were strictly
forbidden to take the nether or upper mill-stone in pledge; the
reason of which is added, because this was taking a man's
life in pledge (Deut. xxiv. 6.), intimating that while the mill
ceases to grind, people are in danger of being starved.
The grinding at mills was accounted an inferior sort of
work, and, therefore, prisoners and captives were generally
put to it. To this work Samson was set, while he was in
the prison-house. (Judg. xvi. 21.) There hand-mills were
usually kept, by which prisoners earned their living. (Lam.
v. 13.) The expression in Isa. xlvii. 2.-Take the mill-stones
and grind meal,—is part of the description of a slave. In
Barbary, most families grind their wheat and barley at home,
having two portable mill-stones for that purpose: the upper-
most of which is turned round by a small handle of wood or
iron, that is placed in the rim. When this stone is large, or
expedition is required, a second person is called in to assist;
and it is in that country usual for the women alone to be thus
employed, who seat themselves over-against each other with
the mill-stones between them. This practice illustrates the
propriety of the expression of sitting behind the mill (Exod.
xi. 5.), and also the declaration of our Lord, that two women
shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken and the
other left. (Matt. xxiv. 41.) From Jer. xxv. 10. and Rev.
xviii. 22., it appears that those who were occupied in grind-
ing beguiled their laborious task by singing, as the Barbary
women continue to do to this day.

VI. Palestine abounded with generous wine; and in some districts the grapes were of superior quality. The canton allotted to Judah was celebrated on this account; and it is, perhaps, with reference to this circumstance, that the venerable patriarch said of his son Judah,- washed his garments IN WINE, and his clothes in the BLOOD OF GRAPES. (Gen. xlix. 11.) In this district were the vales of Sorek and of Eshcol; and the cluster which the Hebrew spies carried from this last place was so large as to be carried on a staff between two of them. (Num. xiii. 23.)

The threshing floors were places of great note among the ancient Hebrews, particularly that of Araunah the Jebusite, which was the spot of ground chosen by king David on which to build the altar of God (2 Sam. xxiv. 25.), and this was the very place where the temple of Solomon was afterwards erected. (2 Chron. iii. 1.) These floors were covered at the top to keep off the rain, but lay open on all sides, that the wind might come in freely for the winnowing of the corn; which being done, they were shut up at night, with doors fitted to them, that if any body lay there, he might be kept warm, and the corn be secured from the danger of robbers (Ruth iii. 6.): the time of winnowing, or separating the corn from the chaff, was in the evening, when the heat of the day was over, and cool breezes began to rise; for this purpose, they had the same implements which are in common use; for Isaiah speaks of winnowing with the shovel, and with the fun. (Isa. xxx. 24.) The grain, being threshed, was thrown into the middle of the threshing floor; it was then exposed with a fork to a gentle wind (Jer. iv. 11, 12.), which separated the broken straw and the chaff: so that the kernels, and clods of earth with grain cleaving to them, and the ears not yet thoroughly threshed, fell upon the ground. The clods of earth, as is customary in the East at the present day, were collected, broken in pieces, and separated from the grain by a sieve; whence the operation of sifting is, in prophetic language, a symbol of misfortune and overthrows. (Ames ix. 9. Luke xxii. 31.) The heap thus winnowed, which still contained many ears that were broken but not fully threshed out, was again exposed in the threshing-floor, and several yoke of oxen were driven over it, for the purpose of treading out the remainder of the grain. At length the grain, mingled with the chaff, was again exposed to the wind by a fan, which bore off the chaff, so that the pure wheat fell upon the floor. (Ruth iii. 2. Isa. xxx. 24.) In the figurative language of prophecy, this process is symbolical of the dispersion of a vanquished people (Isa. xlí. 15, 16. Jer. xv. 7. li. 2.), and also of the final separation between the righteous and the wicked. (Job xxi. 18. Psal. i. 4. xxxv. 5. Matt. iii. 12. Luke iii. 17.) The scattered straw, as much at least as was required for the manufacturing of bricks and for the fodder of cattle, was collected; but the residue was reduced to ashes by fire from this custom the sacred writers have derived a figurative illustration to denote the destruction of wicked men. (Isa. v. 24. xlvii. 14. Nah. i. 10. Mal. iv. 1. Matt.selves in the abundance and strength of their wines. How celebrated iii. 12.)

After the corn was threshed, it was dried either in the sun, or by a fire, or in a furnace. This is called parched corn (Lev. xxiii. 14. 1 Sam. xvii. 17. and xxv. 18.), and was corn by the roots, a practice often spoken of in the Scriptures, though reaping seems to be made the earliest and most frequent mention of." Travels in Mesopotamia, vol. i. p. 42.

Buckinghani's Travels in Mesopotamia, vol. i. p. 418.

2 Sir R. K. Porter's Travels in Georgia, Persia, &c. vol. ii. p. 90. See Turner's Embassy to Thibet, p. 184.

4 Ward's History, &c. of the Hindoos, vol. ii. p. 320. Dr. Davy's Travels in the Interior of Ceylon, p. 275. (London, 1821), where a threshing floor is delineated. Capt. Lyon's Tour in Mourzouk and Fezzan, p. 169. Mrs. Holderness's Notes on the Crim Tatars, p. 97. (London, 1821.) See also Mr. Dodwell's Classical Tour in Greece, vol. ii. p. 10.

The Jews planted their vineyards most commonly on the south side of a hill or mountain, the stones being gathered out and the space hedged round with thorns or walled. (Isa. v. 1-6. compared with Psal. lxxx. 8-16. and Matt. xxi. 33.) A good vineyard consisted of a thousand vines, and produced a rent of a thousand silverlings, or shekels of silver. (Isa. vii. 23.) It required two hundred more to pay the dressers. (Song of Solomon viii. 11, 12.) In these the keepers and vine-dressers laboured, digging, planting, pruning, and propping the vines, gathering the grapes, and making wine. This was at once a laborious task, and often reckoned a base one. (2 Kings xxv. 12. Song of Solomon i. 6. Isa. lxi. 5.) Some of the best vineyards were at Engedi, or perhaps at Baal-hamon, which might not be far distant, and at Sibmah. (Song of Solomon i. 14. viii. 11. Isa. xvi. 9.) Vines also were trained upon the walls of the houses (Psal. exxviii. 3.), and purged or cleaned by lopping off every use less and unfruitful branch, and superfluous excrescence, in order that the fruitful branches might be rendered more productive. (John xv. 2.)* The vines with the tender grapes gave

Dr. Shaw's Travels in Barbary, vol. i. p. 416. The sides of the sun-burnt hills near Nablous (the ancient Shechem)the mountains of the height of Israel-"secin peculiarly adapted for the training of vines. They are, however, almost totally neglected; forming, doubtless, a remarkable contrast to their state in the days of Israel's prosperity, when the drunkards of Ephraim (Isa. xxviii. 1. 3. 7.) prided themthese parts once were for this article of produce we learn from several notices in the Old Testament: Gideon, by a happy comparison, thus dis. parages his own services, in the presence of the Ephraimites-Is not the (Judg. viii. 2.) And the restoration of Israel is described, partly by their GLEANING of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer ? return to the rearing of vineyards, which should yield, as formerly they had done, an abundant vmtage." (Jer. xxxi. 5.) Jowett's Christian Researches in Syria, &c. p. 301.

The same mode of culture is practised in Persia to this day. Mr. Morier has given an engraving on wood illustrative of this custom, which beautifully elucidates the patriarch Jacob's comparison of Joseph to a fruitful hough, whose branches run over the wall, (Gen. xlix. 22.) Second Journey, p. 232.

8 In modern Greece the vine is cut or purged in the following manner : "Only two or three of the principal sprouts are perinitted to grow up from the root: the rest are cut off, and this practice is often called by the Greeks CLEANING." Rev. John Hartley's Journal of a Tour in Greece, in 1823. (Missionary Register, May, 1800. p. 225.)

a good smell early in the spring (Song of Solomon ii. 13.), as we learn, also, from Isa. xviii. 5. afore the harvest, that is, the barley harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower. It was also usual to erect temporary huts or sheds, made of boughs and reeds, to shelter the servant who was employed to guard the fruit when nearly ripe from birds and other creatures of prey (Isa. i. 11.),' and particularly from the ravages of wild boars (Psal. lxxx. 13.), which to this day are as destructive in Greece, as they anciently were in Palestine. As soon as the vintage was completed, these sheds were either taken down or suffered to perish. From this circumstance Job derives a beautiful simile, to illustrate the short duration of the prosperity of the wicked. (xxvii. 18.) But it appears from Isa. v. 1, 2. Matt. xxi. 33. and Mark xii. 1., that towers were erected for this purpose, as they still are in some parts of Palestine.'

"The vintage followed the wheat harvest and the threshing (Lev. xxvi. 5. Amos ix. 13.), about June or July, when the clusters of the grapes were gathered with a sickle, and put into baskets (Jer. vi. 9.), carried and thrown into the wine-vat, or wine-press, where they were probably first trodden by men and then pressed. (Rev. xiv. 18-20.) It is mentioned, as a mark of the great work and power of the Messiah, I have trodden the figurative wine-press alone; and of the people there was none with me. (Isa. Ixiii. 3.; see also Rev. xix. 15.) The vintage was a season of great mirth. Of the juice of the squeezed grapes were formed wine and vinegar. The wines of Helbon, near Damascus, and of Lebanon, where the vines had a fine sun, were reckoned most excellent.6 (Ezek. xxvii. 18. Hos. xiv. 7.) The wines of Canaan, being very heady, were commonly mixed with water for common use, as the Italians do theirs; and sometimes they scented them with frankincense, myrrh, calamus, and other spices (Prov. ix. 2. 5. Song of Solomon viii. 2.): they also scented their wine with pomegranates, or made wine of their juice, as we do of the juice of currants, gooseberries, &c. fermented with sugar. Wine is best when old and on the lees, the dregs having sunk to the bottom, (Isa. xxv. 6.) Sweet wine is that which is made from grapes fully ripe. (Isa. xlix. 26.) The Israelites had two kinds of vinegar, the one was a weak wine, which was used for their common drink in the harvest field, &c. (Ruth ii. 11.), as the Spaniards and Italians still do; and it was probably of this that Solomon was to furnish twenty thousand baths to Hiram, for his servants, the hewers that cut timber in Lebanon. (2 Chron. ii. 10.). The other had a sharp acid taste, like ours; and hence Solomon hints, that a sluggard vexes and hurts such as employ him in business; as vinegar is disagreeable to the teeth, and smoke to the eyes (Prov. x. 25.); and as vinegar poured upon nitre spoils its virtue: so he that singeth songs to a heavy heart does but add to its grief. (Prov. xxv. 20.) The poor were allowed to glean grapes, as well as corn and other articles (Lev. xix. 10. Deut. xxiv. 21. Isa. iii. 14. xvii. 6. xxiv. 13. Mic. vii. 1.); and the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim was better than the vintage of Abiezer. (Judg. viii. 2.) The vineyard was not to be pruned and dressed in the Sabbatical year. (Lev. xxv. 3, 4.) The vessels in which the wine was kept were, probably, for the most part, bottles, which were usually made of Leather, or goat-skins, firmly sewed and pitched together. The Arabs pull the skin off goats in the same manner that we do from rabbits, and sew up the places where the legs and tail were cut off, leaving one for the neck of the bottle, to pour from; and in such bags, they put up and carry, not

1 Isa. i. 8. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodre in a garden of cucumbers. "There is a small species of cucumber of which the natives of India are very fond..... Large fields of these are sometimes planted; which, when nearly arrived to maturity, require incessant watching to protect them from the attacks of man and beast." Statham's Indian Recollections, p. 90.

Hartley's Researches in Greece, pp. 234, 235.
Dr. Boothroyd on Job xxvii. 18.

In the route between Jerusalem and the convent of Saint Elias (which is situated about an hour's distance from that city), Mr. Buckingham was particularly struck with the appearance of several small and detached Sare towers in the midst of the vine lands. These, his guide informed him, were used as watch-towers, whence watchmen to this day look out, in order to guard the produce of the lands from depredation. This fact will explain the use and intention of the tower mentioned in Matt. xxi. 33. and Mirk xii. 1. Similar towers were seen by Captains Irby and Mangles, as they passed between numerous vineyards, some of which appeared to be antique Travels in Egypt, &c. p. 342.

At one time the wine of Helbon (which place Strabo terms Chalybon) was held in such repute, that it was appropriated exclusively to the use of the kings of Persia. Strabon, Geographia, tom. ii. p. 1013. édit. Oxon. • Lebanon and its vicinity still produce excellent wine;-at least a dozen sorts, all of which are cheap. Carne's Letters from the East, p. 239.

only their liquors, but dry things which are not apt to be broken; by which means they are well preserved from wet, dust, or insects. These would in time crack and wear out. Hence, when the Gibeonites came to Joshua, pretending that they came from a far country, amongst other things they brought wine bottles old and rent, and bound up where they had leaked. (Josh. ix. 4. 13.) Thus, too, it was not expe dient to put new wine into old bottles, because the fermentation of it would break or crack the bottles. (Matt. ix. 17.) And thus David complains, that he is become like a bottle in the smoke; that is, a bottle dried, and cracked, and worn out, and unfit for service. (Psal. cxix. 83.) These bottles were probably of various sizes, and sometimes very large; for when Abigail went to meet David and his four hundred men, and took a present to pacify and supply him, two hundred loaves, and five sheep ready dressed, &c. she took only Two bottles of wine (1 Sam. xxv. 18.); a very disproportionate quantity, unless the bottles were large. But the Israelites had bottles likewise made by the potters. (See Isa. xxx. 14. margin, and Jer. xix. 1. 10. xlviii. 12.) We hear also of vessels called barrels. That of the widow, in which her meal was held (1 Kings xvii. 12. 11.) was not, probably, very large; but those four in which the water was brought up from the sea, at the bottom of Mount Carmel, to pour upon Elijah's sacrifice and altar, must have been large. (1 Kings xviii. 33.) We read likewise of other vessels, which the widow of Shunem borrowed of her neighbours, to hold the miraculous supply of oil (2 Kings iv. 2—6.); and of the water-pots, or jars, or jugs, of stone, of considerable size, in which our Lord caused the water to be converted into wine. (John ii. 6.) Grapes, among the Israelites, were likewise dried into raisins. A part of Abigail's present to David was an hundred clusters of raisins (1 Sam. xxv. 18.); and when Ziba met David, his present contained the same quantity. (2 Sam. xvi. 1.; see also 1 Sam. xxx. 12. and i Chron. xii. 40.)” 7

It was a curse pronounced upon the Israelites, that, upon their disobedience, they should plant vineyards and dress them, but they should neither drink of the wine nor eat the grapes, for the worms should eat them. (Deut. xxviii. 39.) It seems that there is a peculiar sort of worms that infest the vines, called by the Latins Volvox and Convolvulus, because it wraps and rolls itself up in the buds, and eats the grapes up, when they advance towards ripeness, as the Roman authors explain it.8

Besides other fruits that were common in Judæa, as dates, figs, cucumbers, pomegranates, they had regular plantations of olives, which were a very ancient and profitable object of horticulture. So early as the time of Noah (Gen. viii. 11.) the branches of the olive tree were, and since that time have been among all nations, the symbol of peace and prosperity. Oil is first mentioned in Gen. xxviii. 18. and Job xxiv. 11.; which proves the great antiquity of the cultivation of this tree. Olives, in Palestine, are of the best growth, and afford the finest oil; whence that country is often extolled in the Scriptures on account of this tree, and especially in opposition to Egypt, which is destitute of good olives. (Num. xviii. 12. Deut. vii. 13. xi. 14. xii. 17. Xviii. 4.) The olive delights in a barren, sandy, dry, and mountainous soil; and its multiplied branches (which are very agreeable to the eye as they remain green throughout the winter) have caused it to be represented as the symbol of a numerous progeny,--a

Investigator, No. iv. pp. 307-309.-The pleasing and instructive Essay on the Agriculture of the Israelites (by the Rev. James Plumptre), in the first, third, and fourth numbers of this journal, contains the fullest account of this interesting subject extant in the English language. 8 Bochart. Hieroz. p. 3. 1. iv. c. 27.

On the cultivation of this valuable article of food in the East, Mr. Jowett has communicated the following interesting particulars. During his voyage to Upper Egypt, in February, 1819, he says, "We observed the people making holes in the sandy soil on the side of the river. Into these holes they put a small quantity of pigeons' dung and feathers, with the seed of melons or cucumbers. The value of this manure is alluded to in 2 Kings vi. 25. The produce of this toil I had an opportunity of seeing, in due season; that is the following month of June. Extensive fields of ripe melons and cucumbers then adorned the sides of the river. They grew in such abundance, that the sailors freely helped themselves. Some guard, however, is placed upon them. Occasionally, but at long and desolate intervals, we may observe a little hut made of reeds, just capable of contain ing one man; being, in fact, little more than a fence against a north wind. In these I have observed, sometimes, a poor old man, perhaps lame, feebly protecting the property. It exactly illustrates Isaiah i. 8. And the daughter of Zion is left. ..... as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers. The abundance of these most necessary vegetables brings to mind the mur murs of the Israelites, Num. xi. 5, 6. We remember..... the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick; but now our soul is dried away." Jowett's Researches in the Mediterranean, &c. p. 127.

Among the judgments with which God threatened the Israelites for their sins, it was denounced, that though they had olive trees through all their coasts, yet they should not anoint themselves with the oil, for the olive should cast her fruit (Deut. xxviii. 40.); being blasted (as the Jerusalem Targum explains it) in the very blossom, the buds should drop off for want of rain, or the fruit should be eaten with worms. Maimonides observes,' that the idolaters in those countries pretended by certain magical arts to preserve all manner of fruit, so that the worms should not gnaw the vines, nor either buds or fruits fall from the trees (as he relates their words out of one of their books): in order, therefore, that he might deter the Israelites from all idolatrous practices, Moses pronounces that they should draw upon themselves those very punishments, which they endeavoured by such means to

blessing which was ascribed to the peculiar favour of God. GOOD SEED is the Son of Man; the FIELD is the world; the (Psal. fii. 8. cxxviii. 3. Jer. xi. 16. Hos. xiv. 6.) The oil, GOOD SEED are the children of the kingdom; the TARES are the extracted from it by a press, enable the Jews to carry on an children of the wicked one; the enemy that SOWED them is the extensive commerce with the Tyrians (Ezek. xxvii. 17. com-devil; the HARVEST is the end of the world; and the REAPERS pared with 1 Kings v. 11.); they also sent presents of oil to are the angels. As therefore the TARES are gathered and burnt the kings of Egypt. (Hos. xii. I.) The berries of the olive in the fire, so shall it be in the end of the world.Whose FAN is tree were sometimes plucked or carefully shaken off by the in his hand, and he will thoroughly PURGE his FLOOR, and hand before they were ripe. (Isa. xvii. 6. xxiv. 13. Deut. GATHER his WHEAT into the GARNER, but he will BURN UP the xxiv. 20.) It appears from Mic. vi. 15. that the presses for CHAFF with UNQUENCHAble fire. By what an apt and awful extracting the oil were worked with the feet; the best and similitude does St. Paul represent God's rejection of the purest oil, in Exod. xxvii. 20. termed pure oil-olive beaten, Jews and admission of the heathens, by the boughs of an was that obtained by only beating and squeezing the olives, olive being lopped off, and the scion of a young olive without subjecting them to the press. ingrafted into the old tree! (Rom. xi. 17. &c.)"-a prac tice which still obtains in the Morea or Peloponnesus;* "and, by continuing the same imagery, how strictly does he caution the Gentiles against insolently exulting over the mu tilated branches and cherishing the vain conceit that the boughs were lopped off merely that they might be ingrafted; for if God spared not the native branches, they had greater reason to fear lest he would not spare them; that they should remember that the Jews through their wilful disbelief of Christianity were cut off, and that they, the Gentiles, if they disgrace their religion, would in like manner forfeit the divine favour, and their present flourishing branches be also cut down! To inspire the Gentile Christians with humility, he concludes with assuring them that the Jewish nation, though they had experienced the severity of God, as he calls it, were not totally forsaken of the Almighty: that the branches, though cut down and robbed of their ancient honours, were not abandoned to perish: when the Jews returned from their infidelity they would be ingrafted :—an omnipotent hand was still able to reinsert them into their original stock. For if thou, O heathen, the scion of an unfruitful wild olive, wert cut out of thy own native barren tree, and, by a process the fruitful generous olive-how much more will not those, who naturally belong to the ancient stock, be, in future time, ingrafted into their own kindred olive! With what singular beauty and propriety is the gradual progress of religion in the soul, from the beginning to its maturity, represented by seed committed to a generous soil, which, after a few successions of day and night, imperceptibly vegetates-peeps above the surface-springs higher and higher-and spontaneously producing, first, the verdant blade-then the ear-afterwards the Swelling grain, gradually filling the ear (Mark iv. 27, 28.); and when the time of harvest is come, and it is arrived at its maturity, it is then reaped and collected into the storehouse. Beautiful illustrations and images like these, taken from rural life, must seal the strongest impressions, particularly upon the minds of Jews, who were daily employed in these occupations, from which these pertinent similes and expressive comparisons were borrowed."

avoid.

The ancient Hebrews were very fond of GARDENS, which are frequently mentioned in the Sacred Writings, and derive their appellations from the prevalence of certain trees; as the garden of nuts and of pomegranates. (Sol. Song vi. 11. iv. 13.) The modern inhabitants of the East take equal delight in gardens with the ancient Hebrews, on account of the refresh-repugnant to the ordinary laws of nature, wert ingrafted into ing shade and delicious fruits which they afford, and also because the air is cooled by the waters of which their gardens are never allowed to be destitute. (1Kings xxi. 2. 2 Kings xxv. 4. Eccles. ii. 5, 6. John xviii. 1. xix. 41.) The Jews were greatly attached to gardens, as places of burial: hence they frequently built sepulchres in them. (2 Kings xxi. 18. Mark xv. 46.) A pleasant region is called a garden of the Lord, or of God, that is, a region extremely pleasant. See examples in Gen. xiii. 10. Isa. li. 3. and Ezek. xxxi. 8.2 VII. The sacred poets derive many beautiful ALLUSIONS and IMAGES from the rural and domestic economy of the Jews; and as the same pursuits were cherished and followed by them during the manifestation of our Redeemer, "it is natural to imagine that in the writings of Jews there must occur frequent allusions to the implements and arts of agriculture, and to those rustic occupations which in general formed the study and exercise of this nation. Hence the beautiful images and apt siinilitudes in the following passages:-No one having put his hand to the PLOUGH and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.-Ye are God's HUSBANDRY, or cultivated field. A workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly DIVIDING the word of truth.-Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word.-Whatsoever a man SOWETH, that shall he REAP: he that SOWETH to the flesh-lives a sensual life-shall from the flesh REAP destruction, but he that SOWETH to the spirit-lives a rational life-shall from the spirit REAP everlasting life.—Consider the ravens, they sow not, neither do they REAP, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. I am the good SHEPHERD, and know my SHEEP, and am known of mine. Fear not, LITTLE FLOCK, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. How striking is the parable of the sower, which, by seed, scattered promiscuously, and in every direction by a husbandman, and meeting a various fate, according to the respective nature of the soil into which it fell, represents the different reception which Gospel doctrine would experience in the world, according to the different dispositions and principles of that mind into which it was admitted! He that soweth the

1 More Nevoch. p. 3. c. 37.

I.

SECTION II.

ON THE ARTS CULTIVATED BY THE HEBREWS OR JEWS.

Origin of the arts.-State of them from the deluge to the time of Moses.-II. State of the arts from the time of Moses until the captivity.-III. State of the arts after the captivity.IV. Account of some of the arts practised by the Jews.1. Writing;-Materials used for this purpose ;—Letters ;— Form of books.-2. Engraving.—3. Painting.-V. Music and musical instruments.-VI. Dancing.

I. THE arts, which are now brought to such an admirable state of perfection, it is universally allowed, must have originated partly in necessity and partly in accident. At first they must have been very imperfect and very limited; but the

The Rev. John Hartley, who travelled in Greece in 188, says,-"I had my attention directed to the practice of grafting the olive trees, to which

2 Ikenii Antiquitates Hebr. pp. 583-589. Pareau, Antiq. Hebr. pp. 406 St. Paul alludes. (Rom. xi. 17. 20. 23, 21.) Logothetes" (his friend and -411. Jahn et Ackermann, Archæol. Bibl. §§ 57-70.

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guide) "showed me a few wild olives; but by far the greater number are such as have been grafted. He informs me that it is the universal practice in Greece to graft, from a good tree, upon the wild olive." (Missionary Register, May, 1830, p. 225.)

Seminis inodo spargenda sunt, quod quamvis sit exiguum, cum occupavit idoneum locum, vires suas explicat, et ex minimo in maximos auctus diffunditur. Seneca Opera, tom. ii. epist. 38. p. 134. edit. Gronovii. 1672. ▾ Harwood's Introduction, vol. ii. pp. 107-112.

SECT. II.]

send to Hiram king of Tyre for a skilful artist (2 Chron. ii. 7.), by whose direction the model of the temple and all the curious furniture of it was both designed and finished. From the Syrians the Israelites must have learned much, because, long after the reign of Solomon, there were numerous native artisans employed in carpentry and building (2 Kings xii. 11-13. xxii. 4—6.); and among the captives carried away by Nebuchadnezzar, all the craftsmen and smiths are generally noticed. (2 Kings xxiv. 14.) But besides these, mention is made of particular manufactures, as potters (Jer. xviii. 2-4.), fullers (2 Kings xviii. 17. Isa. vii. 3. Mal. iii. 2. Mark ix. 3.), bakers (Jer. xxxvii. 21. Hos. vii. 4.), and barbers. (Ezek. v. 1.)

Inquisitive and active mind of man, seconded by his wants, | in the commencement of his reign, Solomon was obliged to soon secured to them a greater extent, and fewer imperfections. Accordingly, in the fourth generation after the creation of man, we find mention made of artificers in brass and iron, and also of musical instruments. (Gen. iv. 21, 22.) Those communities, which, from local or other causes, could not flourish by means of agriculture, would necessarily direct their attention to the encouragement and improvement of the arts. These, consequently, advanced with great rapidity, and were carried to a high pitch so far back as the time of Noah; as we may learn from the very large vessel built under his direction, the construction of which shows that they must have been well acquainted with some at least of the mechanical arts. They had also, without doubt, seen the operations of artificers in other ways besides that of building, and after the deluge imitated their works as well as they could. Hence it is, that shortly after that event, we find mention made of utensils, ornaments, and many other things which imply a knowledge of the arts. Compare Gen. ix. 21. xi. 1–9. xii. 7, 8. xiv. Ï—16. xvii. 10. xviii. 4—6. xix. 32. xxxi. 19. 27. 34.

II. Egypt in the early age of the world excelled all other nations in a knowledge of the arts. Although the Hebrews during their residence in Egypt applied themselves to the rearing of cattle, yet they could not remain four hundred years in that country without becoming initiated to a considerable degree into that knowledge which the Egyptians possessed. Among other labours imposed upon them, was the building of treasure cities (Exod. i. 11-14.), and, according to Josephus, they were employed in erecting pyramids. Moses, it is true, did not enact any special laws in favour of the arts, nor did he interdict them or lessen them in the estimation of the people; on the contrary, he speaks in the praise of artificers. (Exod. xxxv. 30-35. xxxvi. 1. et sej. xxxviii. 22, 23, &c.) The grand object of Moses, in a temporal point of view, was to promote agriculture, and he thought it best, as was done in other nations, to leave the arts to the ingenuity and industry of the people.

Soon after the death of Joshua, a place was expressly allotted by Joab, of the tribe of Judah, to artificers: for in the genealogy of the tribe of Judah, delivered in 1 Chron. iv. 14., we read of a place called the Valley of Craftsmen, and (verse 21. 23.) of a family of workmen of fine linen, and another of potters and when Jerusalem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar, the enemy carried away all the craftsmen and smiths. (2 Kings xxiv. 14.) But as a proof that their skill in manufactures, and trade therein, could not be very extensive, we find that the prophet Ezekiel (chap. xxvii.), in describing the affluence of the goods which came to Tyre, makes mention of nothing brought thither from Judæa, except wheat, oil, grapes, and balm, which were all the natural products of their ground. It appears that the mistress of the family usually made the clothing for her husband, her children, and herself, and also for sale. (Exod. xxxv. 25. 1 Sam. ii. 19. Prov. xxxi. 18-24. Acts ix. 39.) Employment, consequently, as far as the arts were concerned, was limited chiefly to those who engaged in the more difficult performances; for instance, those who built chariots, hewed stones, sculptured idols or made them of metal, or who made instruments of gold, silver, and brass, and vessels of clay, and the like. (See Judg. xvii. 4. Isa. xxix. 16. xxx. 14. Jer. xxviii. 13.) In the time of Saul, mention is made of smiths, who manufactured implements of agriculture as well as arms; but who were carried off by the Philistines, in order that they might be enabled to keep the Israelites more effectually in subjection. (1 Sam. xiii. 19-22.) Among the Hebrews, artificers were not, as among the Greeks and Romans, servants and slaves, but men of some rank and wealth: and as luxury and riches increased, they became very numerous. (Jer. xxiv. 1. xxix.2. 2Kings xxiv. 14.) Building and architecture, however, did not attain much perfection prior to the reign of the accomplished Solomon. We read, indeed, before the Israelites came into the land of Canaan, that Bezaleel and Aholiab (who were employed in the construction of the tabernacle) excelled in all manner of workmanship (Exod. xxxv. 30-35.), but we are there told, that they had their skill by inspiration from God, and it does not appear that they had any successors; for in the days of Solomon, when the Hebrews were at rest from all their enemies, and were perfectly at liberty to follow out improvements of every kind, yet they had no professed artists that could undertake the work of the temple; so that,

Antiq. lib. ii. c. 9. § 1.

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III. During the captivity many Hebrews (most commonly those to whom a barren tract of the soil had been assigned) applied themselves to the arts and to merchandise. Subsequently, when they were scattered abroad among different nations, a knowledge of the arts became so popular, that the Talmudists taught that all parents ought to teach their children some art or handicraft. They indeed mention many learned men of their nation, who practised some kind of manual labour, or, as we should say, followed some trade. Accordingly, we find in the New Testament, that Joseph the husband of Mary was a carpenter, and that he was assisted by no less a personage than our Saviour in his labours. (Matt. xiii. 55. Mark vi. 3.) Simon is mentioned as a tanner in the city of Joppa.2 (Acts ix. 43. x. 32.) Alexander, a learned Jew, was a copper-smith (2 Tim. iv. 14.); Paul and Aquila Not only the Greeks, but the were tent makers, voco. Jews also, esteemed certain trades infamous. At any rate, the Rabbins reckoned the driver of asses and camels, barbers, sailors, shepherds, and inn-keepers, in the same class with robbers. Those Ephesians and Cretans, who were lovers of gain, xxus (1 Tim. iii. 8. Tit. i. 7.), were men, as we may learn from ancient writers, who were determined to In the apostolic age, get money, in however base a manner. the more eminent Greek tradesmen were united into a society (Acts xix. 25.)3

IV. ACCOUNT OF SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL ARTS PRACTISED BY the Jews.

1. WRITING.-We meet with no notice of this art in the Old Testament before the copy of the law was given by God to Moses, which was written (that is, engraven on two tables of stone by the finger of God (Exod. xxxi. 18.), and this is called the writing of God. (Exod. xxxii. 16.) It is, therefore, probable that God himself was the first who taught letters to Moses, who communicated the knowledge of them to the Israelites, and they to the other eastern nations. En graving or sculpture seems, therefore, to be the most ancient way of writing, of which we have another very early instance in Exod. xxxix. 30., where we are told that "holiness to the Lord" was written on a golden plate, and worn on the And we find that the names of the high-priest's head. twelve tribes were commanded to be written on twelve rods. (Num. xvii. 2.) To this mode of writing there is an alluIn later times the Jews made sion in Ezek. xxxvii. 16.5 use of broad rushes or flags for writing on, which grew in great abundance in Egypt, and are noticed by the prophet Isaiah when foretelling the confusion of that country. (Isa.

2 The trade of a tanner was esteemed by the Jews so contemptible, that

all who followed it were required to mention the same before their marriage, under the penalty of the nuptials being void. It is recorded in the Misna, that, after the death of a man whose brother had exercised the trade of a was permitted to decline intermarrying with that brother. Townsend's tanner, the wise men of Sidon determined, that the widow of the deceased Harmony of the New Test. vol. ii. p. 103,

Jahn's Archæologia Biblica, by Mr. Upham, $$ 80-84. Pareau, Antiq. Hebr. pp. 419-423.

We know that the inhabitants of Yemen or the Southern Arabia were

accustomed, in the remotest ages, to inscribe their laws and wise sayings upon stone. See Meidanii Proverb. Arab. p. 45. (cited in Burder's Orien tal Literature, vol. i. p. 198.) and Dr. A. Clarke's Commentary, on Exod. xxxii. 15.

Writing on billets or sticks was practised by the Greeks. Plutarch, in his Life of Solon (Vitæ, tom. i. p. 20. ed. Bryan.), and Aulus Gellius (Noct. Att. lib. ii. c. 12.), inform us that the very ancient laws of that philosopher, preserved at Athens, were inscribed on tablets of wood called Axones. In later times a similar mode of writing was practised by the aboriginal Britons, who cut their letters upon sticks, which were most commonly squared, and sometimes formed into three sides; consequently a single stick contained either four or three lines. (See Ezek. xxxvii. 16.) The squares were used for general subjects, and for stanzas of four lines in poetry; the trilateral ones were adapted to triades, and for a peculiar kind of ancient verse. Several sticks with writing upon thein were put together, forming metre, called Triban or triplet, and Englyn Milwyr, or the warrior's a kind of frame, which was called Peithynen or elucidator; and was so contrived that each stick might be turned for the facility of reading, the

The other eastern nations made use chiefly of parchment, being the thin skins of animals carefully dressed. The best The sub

end of each running out alternately on both sides of the frame. joined cut

xix. 6, 7.) Writing on palm and other leaves is still prac-was made at Pergamos, whence it was called Charta Perga tised in the East.1 mena. It is probable that the Jews learned the use of it from them, and that this is what is meant by a roll (Ezra vi. 2.), and a roll of a book (Jer. xxxvi. 2.), and a scroll rolled together (Isa. xxxiv. 4.): for it could not be thin and weak paper, but parchment which is of some consistency, that was capable of being thus rolled up. St. Paul is the only person who makes express mention of parchment. (2 Tim. iv. 13.) In Job xix. 24. and in Jer. xvii. 1. there is mention made of pens of iron, with which they probably made the letters, when they engraved on lead, stone, or other hard substances: but for softer materials they, in all probability, made use of quills or reeds; for we are told of some in the tribe of Zebulun who handled the pen of the writer. (Judg. v. 14.) David alludes to the pen of a ready writer (Psal. xlv. 1.), and Baruch, as we are told, wrote the words of Jeremiah with ink in a book. (Jer. xxxvi. 18.) It is highly probable that several of the prophets wrote upon tablets of wood, or some similar substance. (Compare Isa. xxx. 8. and Habakkuk ii. 2.) Such tablets, it is well known, were in use long before the time of Homer (who lived about one hundred and fifty years before the prophet Isaiah). Zecharias, the father of John the Baptist, when required to name his son, asked for a writing-luble, waxidov (Luke i. 63.); and such tablets were also in use among the Romans and other ancient nations, and are yet to be seen in modern Greece, where they are called by the same name. They were not finally disused in western Europe until the fourteenth century of the Christian æra. They were, in general, covered with wax, and the writing was executed with styles or pens, made of gold, silver, brass, iron, copper, ivory, or bone, which at one end were pointed for the purpose of inscribing the letters, and smooth at the other extremity for the purpose of erasing. In Barbary the children, who are sent to school, write on a smooth thin board slightly daubed over with whiting, which may be wiped off or renewed at pleasure. The Copts, who are employed by the great men of Egypt in keeping their accounts, &c. make use of a kind of pasteboard, from which the writing is occasionally wiped off with a wet sponge. To this mode of writing there is an allusion in Neh. xiii. 14., and especially in Num. v. 23.; where, in the case of the woman suspected of adultery, who

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Is an engraved specimen of ancient British writing, copied from Dr. Fry's
elegant work entitled Pantographia. (p. 307.) The following is a literal
reading in the modern orthography of Wales, with a correct translation:-
"Aryv y doeth yw pwyll:
Bid ezain alltud:
Cyvnewid a haelion:

Diengid rhywan eid rhygadarn:
Enwawg meiciad o' i voc:
Goiaen awel yn nghyving:

Hir oreistez i ogan:

Llawer car byw i Indeg."

TRANSLATION.

"The weapon of the wise is reason:

Let the exile be moving:

Commerce with generous ones:

ters more visible and distinct, they rub them over with oil mixed with pulverized charcoal, which process also renders them so permanent, that they never can be effaced. When one slip is insufficient to contain all that they intend to write on any particular subject, the Ceylonese string several together by passing a piece of twine through them, and attach them to a board in the same way as we file newspapers. (Percival's Account of the Island of Ceylon, p. 205.) The Bramin manuscripts, in the Telinga language, sent to Oxford from Fort St. George, are written on the leaves of the Ampana, or Palma Malabarica. In the Maldive Islands, the natives

Let the very feeble run away; let the very powerful proceed: are said to write on the leaves of the Macarciquean, which are a fathom and

The swineherd is proud of his swine:

A gale is almost ice in a narrow place:

Long penance to slander:

The frail Indeg has many living relations."

A continuation of this mode of writing may be found in the Runic or Clog, (a corruption of Log) Almanacks, which prevailed among the northern nations of Europe so late even as the sixteenth century. See a description and engraving of one in Dr. Plot's Natural History of Staffordshire, pp. 418-422.

In the Sloanian Library, there are upwards of twenty manuscripts written on leaves, written in the Sanskrit, Burman, Peguan, Ceylonese, and other languages. (Ayscough's Catalogue of the Sloane Library, pp. 904-906.) In Tanjore and other parts of India, the palmyra leaf is used. (Dr. C. Buchanan's "Christian Researches in Asia," pp. 70, 71. 8vo. edit.) The common books of the Burmans, like those of the Hindoos, particularly of such as inhabit the southern parts of India, are composed of the palmyra leaf, on which the letters are engraved with a stylus. (Symes's Account of an Embassy to Ava, vol. ii. p. 409. Svo.) In their more elegant books, the Burmans write on sheets of ivory, or on very fine white palmyra leaves: the ivory is stained black, and the margins are ornamented with gilding, while the characters are enamelled or gilt. On the palmyra leaves the characters are in general of black enamel: and the ends of the leaves and margins are painted with flowers in various bright colours. A hole through both ends of each leaf serves to connect the whole into a volume by means of two strings, which also pass through the two wooden boards that serve for binding. In the finer binding of these kinds of books, the boards are lacquered; the edges of the leaves are cut smooth and gilt, and the title is written on the upper board. The two boards are by a knot or jewel secured at a little distance from the boards, so as to prevent the book from falling to pieces, but sufficiently distant to admit of the upper leaves being turned back, while the lower ones are read. The more elegant books are in general wrapped up in silk cloth, and bound round by a garter, in which the natives ingeniously contrive to weave the title of the book. (Asiatic Researches, vol. iv. p. 306. 8vo. edit.) The Ceylonese some times make use of the palm leaf, but generally prefer that of the Talipot tree, on account of its superior breadth and thickness. From these leaves, which are of immense size, they cut out slips from a foot to a foot and a half long, and about two inches broad. These slips being smoothed and all excrescences pared off with the knife, they are ready for use without any other preparation: a fine-pointed steel pencil, like a bodkin, and set in a wooden or ivory handle, ornamented according to the owner's taste, is employed to write, or rather, to engrave, their characters on these talipot slips, which are very thick and tough. In order to render the charac

a half (nine feet) long, and about a foot broad; and in other parts of the East Indies, the leaves of the plantain tree are employed for the same purpose.

The eminent antiquary, Montfaucon, informs us that in 1699 he bought at Rome a book wholly composed of lead, about four inches in length, by three inches in width, and containing Egyptian Gnostic figures and unintelligible writing. Not only the two pieces which formed the cover, but also all the leaves (six in number), the stick inserted into the rings which held the leaves together, the hinges, and the nails, were all of lead, without exception. Antiquité Expliquée, tom. ii. p. 378. It is not known what has become of this curious article.

3 "The most ancient people, before the invention of books and before the use of sculpture upon stones and other small fragments, represented things great and noble upon entire rocks and mountains: the custom was not laid aside for many ages. Semiramis, to perpetuate her memory, is reported to have cut a whole rock into the shape of herself. Hannibal, long after the invention of books, engraved characters upon the Alpine rocks, as a testimony of his passage over them; which characters were remaining about two centuries ago, according to Paulus Jovius. It appears particularly to have been the custom of the northern nations, from that remarkable inscription mentioned by Saxo, and several ages after him delineated and published by Olaus Wormius. It was inscribed by Harold Hyldeland, to the memory of his father, and was cut out in the side of a rock, in Runic characters, each letter of the inscription being a quarter of an ell long, and the length of the whole thirty-four ells." (Wise's Letter to Dr. Mead, p. 25.) The custom was eastern as well as northern, as appears from that remarkable instance which occurs in Captain Hamilton's Account of the East Indies, vol. ii. p. 241. The author, after giving a short history of the successful attack which the Dutch made upon the island of Amoy in China, A. D. 1645, adds, "This history is written in large China characters on the face of a smooth rock, that faces the entrance of the harbour, and may be fairly seen as we pass out and into the harbour." Burder's Oriental Literature, vol. i. p. 535.

4 At Karitena, it is still usual for schoolboys to have a small clean board, on which the master writes the alphabet, or any other lesson, which he intends his scholars to read. As soon as one lesson is finished, the writing is marked out or scraped out; and the board may thus be continually employed for writing new lessons. Not only does this instrument harmonize in its use with the writing-table mentioned in Luke 1. 63. ; but the Greeks call it by the very same name, vidio." Rev. John Hartley's Tour in Greece, in 1928. (Missionary Register, May, 1830. pp. 231, 232.) On this subject and on the substances generally employed for writing, both in ancient and modern times, see an Introduction to the Study of Bibliography, by the author of this work, vol. i. pp. 31-72.

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