the tannoor or oven; and, being remarkably expert in the business, they require but very short notice to prepare bread enough for a meal. The oven, as well as the process of baking, in the villages of Persia, at the present time, resembles those of which we have just spoken. This oven consists of a circular hole in the earth about three feet deep, and perhaps two in width at the top and three at the bottom, with a flue entering it at the bottom to convey air to the fire. This hole is internally coated with clay, which soon hardens into tile. The bread is drawn out into cakes from two to three feet long, eight or ten inches wide, and of scarcely the thickness of a common dining plate. It assumes this shape almost in a moment by the wonderful tact of the matron, who simply tosses a piece of dough rapidly from hand to hand. Thus drawn out like a membrane, it is laid upon a cushion; and stuck upon the side of the oven, where it attaches and crisps in a few seconds, and another, as quickly made ready, succeeds to the same place. Bread in the cities differs from this, only in being made of flour more finely sifted, and in cakes perhaps twice as thick, which are baked on the bottom of larger ovens paved with pebbles. The thin bread soon dries, and may long be preserved. Except in case of journeys, however, it is usually baked every day, and eaten fresh. And the thicker species very soon becomes heavy and unpalatable. Bread is always leavened in Persia by a small piece of dough, preserved from day to day. The oven of the peasants serves also the important purpose of warming their houses in winter. To do this the more effectually, it is converted into a tandoor, by laying a flat stone, or a large earthen cover made for the purpose, upon the top, placing over it a frame, resembling a table four or six feet square, and perhaps a foot high, and covering the whole with a large quilt that extends to the earth on the sides. The oven is heated only once a day for baking and cooking. But the hole in the roof being closed after the smoke passes out, and the warmth retained in the oven in the manner described, a single fire is made to suffice for twenty-four hours. The whole family, or rather the household, consisting of three, four, or five generations, as the case may be, and commonly not less than twelve, fifteen, or more individuals, encompass the tandoor with their feet under the quilt; and, at night, spread their couches around it, and form a circle, by placing their feet near the fire, while their heads radiate from it, and thus they socially sleep. BALAAM (H. one who wishes ill to others. A. M. 3941; A. C. 1607; V. 1451), a name which the Hebrews may have given to the son of Beor,- one of the magi or astrolo gers of Mesopotamia,—of the city of Pethor, which, from its name, appears to have been noted for its oracle. When the Israelites had with difficulty, but much renown, won their way to the borders of Palestine, the Moabites became alarmed for their own safety; and Balak, their king, took every means to withstand the advancing enemy. Arms, however, failed-enchantments might prevail. The belief was current that the imprecations of the Chaldæan magi were omnipotent. Now, there was one whose reputation was very great. It is true he lived at a great distance, but the necessity was urgent. Balak, therefore, despatched messengers, with a suitable present, in order to bring the potent enchanter. On their reaching the abode of Balaam, they make the wishes of their master known. The magian well knew that the resources of his own divinities were insufficient to bring a curse on those whom the God of Israel had blessed; but, if he could prevail on Jehovah himself to curse the Hebrews, then they I would be cursed indeed. The false prophet, misled by vain notions, applies to Jehovah, who forbids Balaam to do the bidding of the Moabites. Another invitation follows, supported by more splendid presents and the amplest promises; when Balaam is permitted to accompany the messengers, but is strictly informed that he is to do and say only that which is well pleasing to God. Having, however, thus far, as he thought, prevailed, this worshipper of Baal proceeded on his journey, hoping, by means of the resources of his own skill in enchantment (Numb. xxiv. 1), as well as by his urgency with Jehovah, to succeed in accomplishing the task for which he had been so well paid. And now comes the trial. Arriving in the mountainous regions where the Moab nation and the Israelites were found, he chooses for his purpose a high place, which had long been venerated as sacred to Baal. There, in observance of the superstitious reverence paid to the number seven, he causes seven altars to be erected, and seven oxen and seven rams to be prepared; one ram and one ox for each altar. The idolatrous rites being thus performed, he hopes to be permitted to gratify his paymaster, by uttering imprecations on the armies of Israel. He opens his lips to curse, but utters a blessing. The spot was probably inauspicious, or the prophet may have been terrified by seeing the vast numbers of the Hebrews. Another height is therefore ascended, where only the skirts of the army could be beheld (Numb. xxiii. 13). The same rites are performed, but to the discomfiture of the idolaters-with no more favourable result. Balaam despairs of suo cess, and declares, 'Surely no enchantment against Jacob, Neither any divination against Israel." Balak is alarmed. At any rate, if the wise man could not curse, he would withhold his blessing:Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all' (Numb. xxiii. 25). Balaam is at length fully conscious of being under the hand of a superior power, and answers, Told I not thee all that Jehovah speaketh, that must I do?' But Balak still perseveres:-'Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence' (ver. 27). The trial is made. Again are the seven altars and fourteen animals got ready. But certain mysterious enchantments employed in the former efforts are now superseded by another resource. The priest of Baal turns his face towards the east, where his sungod is wont to make his daily rise, and where is his ethereal palace. With a hand outstretched, and eyes looking intently towards his own home and the home of Baal, the seer strains his faculties to find the wished-for imprecation; but the Spirit of God comes upon him, and he can utter no words but those of blessing and gratulation. The Moabite monarch, thus thrice disappointed, knows no bounds to his vexation and wrath. He bids Balaam flee homewards. Before the enchanter returns, however, he determines to make another and a different appeal. He had been unable to prevail with God; he was full of hope to be able to prevail with man. Aided by his superstitions, he has recourse to lascivious ness, by the fascinations of which he seduces the people from the worship of Jehovah, and so, but too effectually, brings the heaviest curses upon them. Having thus in some measure accomplished his mercenary and diabolical task, he proceeds to return home; but, meanwhile, an avenging arm was raised in the Hebrew camp, which overtook and slew him (Numb. xxiv. 25; ΣΙΣΙ. 8). This view, which, though it varies considerably from that which is ordinarily taken, appears to us to come naturally out of the scriptural narratives, leaves, we think, no part unexplained and no difficulty unsolved, save one, in this much-debated transaction. That exception is in the account given in the passage found in Numb. xxii. 22-35, which tells of the appearance of an angel to Balaam while on his way to Balak, and of the speaking of the ass on which he rode. Why did God allow him to set out, and then send His angel to stop him? Some have found in this a difficulty so great that they have got rid of it by supposing the passage to be an interpolation. But the apparent contradiction in the procedure of God is only apparent not real. It must have been evident to Balaam himself all along that Jehovah had forbidden his journey, and that his going was in opposition to the divine will. And if God did ultimately consent in compliance with the reiterated wish of Balaam, it was to punish him for that greed of lucre, that covetousness of honours, and that enmity to the people of God which impelled him to persist in an undertaking in which he could not but feel he had neither God's approbation nor blessing. But even yet God did not cease to warn him; 'the dumb ass rebuking the madness of the prophet.' Balaam presents an extraordinary and very striking instance of a man swayed alternately by two antagonist powers; avidity on the one side-the intense love of filthy lucre; and the overpowering influence of the divine Spirit on the other The law in his members bids him curse- the Spirit of God will let his lips move only to bless. Happy had it been for him had he yielded his heart, as he was impelled to yield his tongue, to the pressure of the hand of God; and so ceasing to be a mere passive instrument, he had become the regenerated and rejoicing recipient of the divine grace. But his, alas! is not the only case in which one who delivered God's messages of mercy to his fellow-men may prove a castaway himself (1 Cor. ix. 27). The prophecies which are ascribed to Balaam are of a high poetical character, and possess great literary excellence. The exact condition in which we find them may not have been their earliest form, since Balaam's native tongue was not Hebrew. They display, however, the force, vividness, and picturesque beauty of originals, and are doubtless the simple though artistic utter ances of the great realities to which they refer. BALANCE. -This English word is a mis-spelt form of the Latin bilanx, which denotes a pair of scales; signifying, literally, a double plate; suspended, that is, from a cross beam. Whence we may learn, that the ordinary pair of scales is the most ancient form of the balance, as indeed reason would suggest; for a rod placed hori zontally on another set up perpendicularly, offers a mode of taking weights as simple as it is obvious and easy. The same idea is preserved in the ordinary Hebrew name for balance, which, being in the dual form, denotes a pair of weights (Lev. xix. 36. Job vi. 2). As the scales ought thus to be exactly a pair,'—that is, of equal weight,fraud might easily be committed by addition or subtraction: hence we read of balances of deceit' (Hosea xii. 7. Micah vi. 11). From Amos viii. 5, it appears to have been customary to operate on the weights as well as on the scales, -'making the ephah small and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit. From the references the reader will see that it was in the decline of the Jewish state that these iniquities prevailed. For the more delicate operations, required in weighing small portions of precious articles, the Hebrews had a different balance from that to which allusion has been made; the nature and use of which are indicated in the root-meaning of the name, which is, to vibrate; thus denoting the tremulous vibrations of a finely poised and nicely adjusted balance. The cut which we subjoin from Egyptian art shows a very simple kind of balance: the scales are literally a pair of weights; that is, evidently two bags of money, of which one is of course the standard. A scribe stands by to make a record of the value. ATA If BALSAM, coutracted into balm, is a word imitated from the Hebrew Bah-sahm, the Aramaic form of which inserts an / between the two syllables, thus making our 'balsam.' The term denotes a tree producing a very sweet, odoriferous, transparent, medicinal resin, denominated in Hebrew Tzoree. This is in substance all that we venture to affirm respecting the tree and its product, after all the learned labour that has been spent on the point. The difficulties which beset the subject may have arisen from the ancients designating by the name here mentioned several aromatic shrubs and sweet spices, in consequence of the high value at which the true balsam stood. Many words have also been spent to little purpose, in attempting to ascertain whether the genuine balsam is indigenous in Palestine. South-eastern Arabia was its native country, it appears to have grown in Judea at a very early period. Thus the production of balm in Gilead (on the east of the Jordan) was, when Joseph was a youth (cir. 1730, A.C.), so great, that merchants traded in it with other spices, carrying them down into Egypt, which was then the great mart for them, in consequence of the large demands for aromatics made by the embalmers (Gen. Xxxvii. 25). Gilead long continued famous for producing balsam: hence the inquiry of the prophet, 'Is there no balm in Gilead? no physician there?'-words which show in what high repute the curative qualities of balsam were held, and give reason to conclude that medical men fixed themselves in that territory in consequence of its abounding in the plant (Jer. viii. 22; xlvi. 11). Jericho was also celebrated for producing balsam, a tax on which was, in the time of the Romans, a source of revenue over which Zaccheus presided (Luke xix. 2). Ancient writers agree in ascribing distinguished qualities and a very high value to this perfume. Justin, who makes the vicinity of Jericho the sole spot where it was produced, goes to the length of representing the balsam as the source of national wealth to the Jews. Josephus, who doubtless was well acquainted with the tree, says it grew at Jericho, and describes its product as " an ointment of all the most precious; which, on an incision made in the wood with a sharp stone, distils out thence' (Antiq. xiv. 4, 1). He also reports it as the current belief, that the plant was brought from the East, and presented to Solomon by the queen of Sheba. 'balsam of Mecca' is in great repute in Palestine at the present day, being accounted an antidote for all distempers. The Arabs, in the Holy Land, prepare an oil out of the kernel of the Sakkum fruit, which they term balsam. This is the so-called oil or Jericho, or Zaccheus-oil, which is highly prized as a medicine by pilgrims and the Arabs. The BANNER. Wherever large bodies of men are congregated together for a common purpose, some signs of distinction are necessary, if not for the maintenance of discipline, yet for the accomplishment of their object. Ensigns, banners, or standards, must, in consequence, have been employed by the Hebrews soon after their liberation from Egyptian bondage. Accordingly, such means of distinction were in common use in the wanderings over the desert. In Numb. i. 52; ii. 2, &c. we find that each of the twelve tribes had its own banner or standard, round which all who belonged to the same tribe were to rally, and by the guidance of which they were to march. (Comp. Isa. xi. 10; xlix. 22). War, especially, necessitates the use of ensigns; and for this military purpose standards were employed among the Israelites (Jer. iv. 6, 21), as also in token of victory (Jer. 1. 2. Cant. vi. 4). What the Hebrew standards were, or what they bore upon them, cannot be determined with certainty, though, if we set much value on the statements of the Rabbins in regard to the question, we could easily furnish many details. There are two Hebrew words which are translated variously, banner, sign, ensign, sail (Isa. xxxiii. 23), standard. Both these terms are derived from words whose root-meaning is 'to shine,' 'to glitter.' Whence it would appear that some metal, probably brass, was employed at first for standards, as undoubtedly it was among other ancient nations. In process of time, however, some species of coloured cloth seems to have come into use, so forming banners (in the present sense of the word), 'flags,' and 'colours;' an inference which we deduce from one of these two words being employed in Isa. xxxiii. 23 (comp. Ezek. xxvii. 7), to denote the sail of a ship. We may also arrive at a probable conjecture respecting the distinctive character of the Hebrew standards. If the ensigns of the twelve tribes were all of brass, how were they known from each other? The employment of different colours seems the most obvious expedient. But the diversities thus gained would not be sufficiently marked and decided for the purpose. Forms would be far better, as admitting of the greatest contrariety. But what forms? This seems to have been decided by the highest authority known among a nomad people,-their chief or emir; for Jacob, in his dying blessing, assigned the characteristics of the several tribes, thus determining as their coat of arms, so the figure of their standards, —'Judah is a lion's whelp;' 'Issachar is a strong ass, couching down between two burdens;' 'Dan shall be a serpent;' 'Napthali is a hind let loose; Joseph is a fruitful bough' (Gen. xlix.). Nor are these tokens taken at ran dom: they are in each case emblematical of some historical or personal peculiarity. Ard it is scarcely credible, that, when so obvious and so suitable a resource as this was at hand, Moses should have adopted the ensigns of his people as chance might offer, or caprice dictate. Certainly these distinctive tokens were not soon lost from memory. To them the Saviour himself owes two of his appellations, the Lion and the Lamb. The benediction, whence we derive the escutcheons of the Hebrews, was pronounced in Egypt; and here Moses would find himself only confirmed in adopting the symboli. cal ensigns suggested by the dying patriarch. In Egypt each battalion and each company had its particular standard, which represented a sacred subject,-a king's name, a sacred boat, a sacred animal, or some emblematical device; the objects chosen being such as were regarded by the troops with a superstitious feeling of respect, in order to afford aid in rousing and sustaining their courage; nor are instances wanting, in Roman history, of the wonderful effect produced in rallying a discomfited host, by a timely display of the sacred standards of the army. Plutarch even goes so far as to refer the origin of animal worship among the Egyptians, to the emblem chosen by Osiris as his ensign. We supply a few specimens of Egyptian standards, which, with the previous remarks, go to confirm the opinion we have advanced, that the standards of the twelve tribes were, in each case, a brass figure of the animal, suspended on a pole (a spear, Diodorus says, i. 86, was used in Egypt), by which the particular tribe was betokened: 111111 which they carry round, and sprinkle upon villages, houses, temples, and entire cities. Men are dipped at the Apollinarian and Pelusian games. This, they think, sets them free from their perjuries, and accomplishes their regeneration. If any one imbrued his hands in the blood of a fellow-creature, he expiated his crime by purifying water' (1'e Bapt. c. 5). Traces of the use of water in religious observances among the Jews may be found in Gen. xxxv. 2, comp. with Exod. ། 1 xix. 10. Washing was expressly required (Exod. xxix. 4) among the rites to be used in hallowing Aaron and his sons to minister in the priest's office: Thou shalt bring them unto the door of the tabernacle, and shalt wash them with water' (xl. 12). A laver of brass was also appointed, whereat Aaron and his sons were to wash their hands and their feet when they went into the tabernacle, or when they went near to the altar to minister. The penalty of neglecting these washings was death (Exod. xxx. 17, seq.; comp. Lev. viii. 6). Washing of the person and of the clothes was practised also as a purification from ritual uncleanness or leprous contamination (Lev. xi. 25; xiv. 7. Num. xix. 7, seq.). The use of water on the cleansing of the leper is remarkable. The leper being brought to the priest, the latter, after the cure was effected, was to kill a bird over running water, and to sprinkle the leper seven times; after which, he that was to be cleansed had to wash his clothes, and wash himself in water (Lev. xiv. 2). Naaman was directed by Elisha to wash in the Jordan seven times. When his hesitation had been overcome by his servants, who urged him to 'wash and be clean,' 'he dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean' (2 Kings v. 10, seq.). Cleansing, is thus used metaphorically for moral purification-such a change of head and heart as led to the renunciation of idolatry, and the pure worship of Jehovah (Ezek. xxxvii. 23; Zech. xiii. 1). So Judith, before she sought 'the Lord God of Israel to direct her way to the raising up of the children of her people,' went out and washed herself in a fountain of water (Judith xii. 7, 8). Hence it is clear that the Jews were accustomed to the idea of bathing and sprinkling, generally of the use of water, in connection with religious observances. Nor does the practice appear to have decreased with the lapse of time. When, in the later periods of their history, the Essenes came into existence, they employed water as a symbol of that moral purity which was the special aim of their collegiate life; and even made the use of it a requirement on the part of new converts, when they were initiated into the body. (Joseph. Jewish War, ii. 8, 7. Antiq. xviii. 5, 2.) It cannot, therefore, be considered improbable that baptism was, at the time when the Gospel narratives begin, required of proselytes from heathenism by the Jewish church. Proselytism then, and some time before, was proceeding on a large scale. There were two kinds of proselytes:I. Those of the gate; who, admiring the spirituality and moral elevation of the law of Moses, became worshippers of Jehovah (Acts xiii. 16, 26, 43), and were held bound to observe only the seven Noachian precepts (Gen. ix. 1-7). II. Proselytes of righteousness; that is, complete proselytes; those who had not only given up heathenism, and conformed to the moral requirements spoken of, but were circumcised, and thus were formally introduced into the Jewish church. These, it is affirmed by some, and denied by others, were subjected to the initiatory rite of baptism. This is not the place to discuss a purely antiquarian question. It must suffice to state, with a remark or two, that our impression is in favour of the affirmative. There was a propriety in such an act; it was analogous to observances co-eval with the Mosaic institutions; for a heathen was altogether unclean, and may well have been required to signify his purification from the leprosy of idolatry by the use of water. And though we are aware of the disposition of the Rabbins to claim an undue antiquity for their religious observances, yet their evidence for the existence of this baptism of proselytes of righteousness is admitted to be valid in regard to a somewhat later time than the destruction of Jerusalem, and it is not easy to see what peculiar circumstances there were which should lead to its introduction between the admitted epoch and the death of our Lord. Nor can it be accounted an inconsiderable fact in the case, that the practice of John in baptizing proselytes was regarded certainly as nothing extraordinary or unusual, if not as, in the case of a great outward and inward change, a matter of course, a thing congruous with prevalent ideas and usages. Moreover, it is not easy to understand how Josephus could mention John's baptizing in the way he does, as unsurprising and natural on the part of a great moral reformer, had the rite then, for the first time, been introduced as a symbol of repentance and moral reformation (Antiq. xviii. 5, 2). John the Baptist stood at no great dis tance from the sect of Essenes, and may have been influenced by them in making baptism introductory to his school; a view which is not incompatible with the divine origin of his baptism, which Tertullian held to have been commanded of God. And if we look into the pages of the Old Testament, we may readily find passages which agree in spirit with the nature of John's baptism. Thus, Ps. li. 2: "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.' Isa. i. 16, 'Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings' (see also Isa. xxxii. 15; xliv. 3. Ezek. xxxvi. 25) This rite, however, which we see grew naturally out of pre-existent ideas and usages, was the token of a merely preliminary system, the great aim of which was to prepare the way of the Lord by turning the men of |