ALEXANDRIA, now called Scanderia, a renowned city in Lower Egypt, built by and named after Alexander the Great, in the year 331, after his conquest of Egypt; or rather Alexander rebuilt on a larger scale an ancient city which bore the name of Rhacotis. The place had many splendid palaces and other works, in which all the glory of Greek and Egyptian art was displayed. Its situation was admirably adapted for the encouragement of navigation and commerce, to which in the main it owed its greatness. At the same time, the salubrity of its climate was not without effect; and of special influence in furthering its prosperity, was the favour of its powerful founder and patron. Its rise was as rapid as it was distinguished. Under the immediate followers of Alexander, its free population amounted to three hundred thousand souls; among whom were many Jews, some families who dated their settlement there from the time of the destruction of the Jewish state, but most planted in the place by Ptolemy Lagus, about the year 320, A.C. The Jews in Alexandria enjoyed many privileges granted to them by Alexander, the Ptolemies, and the Romans. They had equal rights with the Greek and Egyptian inhabitants, while they were under their own code of laws, were governed by their own governor, and inhabited a part of the city peculiar to themselves (Joseph. Antiq. xiv. 7. 2; xiv. 10. 1; xix. 5. 2. Jew. War, ii. 18. 7. Apion. ii. 4.

Alexandria remained for centuries the most distinguished commercial city in the world, where was heaped together the collected treasure of Arabia and India. Under the Ptolemies, it was the nurse of all the varied and mingled culture of the Greek and Jewish art and religion. It possessed the most complete and costly library of the ancient world, which was placed in the Serapeum, and amounted to 200,000 volumes. It perished at a later period. The Arab Calif Omar, A.D. 641, is accused of having intentionally destroyed it.

The present city of Alexandria, containing forty thousand inhabitants, exclusive of the army and navy, is built chiefly on a rock of land extending into the sea to the peninsula, or long bank of sand, that lies nearly parallel with the shore. The celebrated Pharos of the Ptolemies was situated near the eastern termination of this peninsula. Alexandria engrosses nearly the whole foreign commerce of Egypt. It has risen rapidly into importance under the renovating genius of Mohammed Ali. Forty years ago it was in ruins, without wealth or trade. From being next to Rome, the most magnificent city in the world, as it was under the emperors, and even to the time of its falling under the dominion of the Saracens, it had, by the beginning of the present century, declined into a wretched Arab village of seven or eight thousand inhabitants. The canal of Mahmoudieh, the

most valuable of Mahommed Ali's improvements, has restored to Alexandria her lost intercourse, not only with Cairo and Upper Egypt, but with Arabia and India. Alexandria is surrounded by a high wall, the work of the Saracens, built about six hundred years ago. The present city occupies a small part only of the ancient, the ruins of which extend to a great distance south and east of the modern town. Of all the splendid monuments which adorned the place of old, only two of considerable importance remain, Pompey's Pillar, and Cleopatra's Needle. The shaft of the first consists of a single piece of red granite, seventy-three feet in length, by twenty-seven feet eight inches in circumference; the entire height, inclusive of pedestal and capital, is ninety-eight feet nine inches. It ought to be called Diocletian's Pillar, having been reared in honour of that emperor. Cleopatra's Needle is an obelisk covered with hieroglyphics, of the same species of red granite with that of Pompey's Pillar; and, doubtless, from the same quarry at Syene in Upper Egypt. This monument is ascribed to the Egyptian king Thothmes III. who reigned B. C. 1495. Another obelisk of the same dimensions lies upon the ground, not far from Pompey's Pillar, of which the length is sixty-two feet. Both are monoliths (consisting of only one stone), and stood of old at the entrance of a magnificent temple.

In the Holy Scriptures, Alexandria is only incidentally mentioned as the birth-place of Apollos, eloquent and mighty in the Scriptures (Acts xviii. 24), and as being a seaport. The centurion who had the custody of Paul, when on his voyage to Rome, having brought his prisoner to Myra, a city of Lycia in Asia Minor, found here a ship of Alexandria, sailing into Italy, on board of which he went with his prisoners (Acts xxvii. 6); and, again, when this vessel had suffered shipwreck on the island of Malta, it was in a ship of Alexandria that they pursued their way (Acts xxviii. 11). This mention of a ship of Alexandria is in keeping with what we have already said of the city. A great trade in corn was carried on in Alexandrian vessels, which sailed for commercial purposes to different ports around the Mediterranean coast, and would naturally be used also as passage boats generally, and by the centurion and his prisoners (Lucian, Navig. 14. Acts xxvii. 37. Philo, ii. 521). With favourable winds, they sailed in a straight course directly to Italy in a few days; but, when the wind was adverse, they sought the shelter of the Syrian and Asiatic coasts. Their proper port and landing place was Puteoli (Suet. Aug. 98. Strabo, xvii. Acts xxviii. 13).

Christianity made its way into Alexandria at an early period; and, according to Eusebius (Hist. ii. 17), it owed its establishment there to Mark, who is said to have died in

the city for the faith of Christ. Certainly, his grave was shown there in a church dedicated to him.

ALIENS (L. belonging to another (country). The corresponding word in Greek is often rendered strangers'-'in a strange land,' ' other men's (labours). A similar term is translated (Acts x. 28), one of another nation.' There are two words in Hebrew which have the same import.

At first sight, the Mosaic polity seems to have a harsh bearing on foreign nations, inasmuch as the Israelites were a peculiar people, possessed of high and exclusive religious privileges, and were barred from social intercourse with men of other nations. Regard, however, must be had to the universally prevailing idolatry, against the seductions of which nothing but the most rigid exclusion could guard the children of faithful Abraham; and to the great aim and end of the system, in the eventual spread of a monotheism, which, under the administration of a Father, through the instrumentality of his Son, should make the world one family, every wall of partition being broken down. Nor, since the purest, the widest, and the most self-denying benevolence that ever rose upon the world, was developed and perfected under Judaism, can it be denied that the institutions of Moses must have held germs of philanthropy such as no heathen philosophy ever owned; nor do there fail indications in the higher productions of the muse of Zion, which breathe an enlarged and liberal spirit towards foreigners. With the single exception of the safeguards taken against the abominations of idolatry, the Mosaic legislation manifests a humane disposition in relation to those who were not of the Hebrew blood. A stranger might be naturalised, and then possessed equal rights with an Israelite (Exod. xii. 49). The stranger was to enjoy the immunities of the Sabbath (Exod. xx. 10; xxiii. 12). Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt' (Exod. xxii. 21). The stranger had a share in the gleaning of the land (Lev. xix. 9, 10; xxiii. 22). An express command enjoined good feelings towards strangers, and for a very sufficient and influential reason:-'Love ye, therefore, the stranger; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt' (Deut. x. 19). Impartial justice was demanded on their behalf (Deut. xxiv. 17). A share in the tithes of increase was assured to them (Deut. xxvi. 12). It was an aggravation of crime to slay the stranger, the widow, the fatherless (Ps. xciv. 6). These three classes are set forth as special objects of the divine care (Ps. cxlvi. 9). To abstain from the oppression of the stranger, is represented as a token of a great religious reform (Jer. vii. 6); and condign punishment is threatened against such as deprive the stranger of his rights (Mal. iii. 5).

In the mysterious arrangements of Providence, it fell to the lot of the Hebrews to become strangers in every nation under heaven, where they experienced at the hands of so-called Christian legislatures very dif ferent treatment from that which their laws required towards men of other nations. The Mosaic institutions are often judged no less unjustly than harshly. A careful study of them would often prevent that condemnation which it should always precede.

ALLEGORY (G. speaking one thing by another) is a Greek word, in English letters, and denotes a figure of speech, which conveys, under the literal meaning, another and a different import, sometimes a moral or spiritual truth, in a material dress. It differs from a metaphor in this, that, while a metaphor is confined to one object, an allegory comprises a series of objects. An allegory is a continued metaphor. To describe the sun as the powerful king of day,' is to employ a metaphor. If we carry out the metaphor, and represent that king as ruling supreme in heaven and earth, dispensing his favours impartially to all his subjects, and receiving their homage without respect of persons, we form an allegory. In the elevated language of Hebrew poetry, allegories are not uncommon. There is a brief but expressive one in Jer. ii. 21:-'I planted thee (Israel), a noble vine, wholly a right seed how, then, art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?' (see ver. 24). A parable is a species of allegory; for instance, that of the prodigal son.

Though allegories are found in many parts of Scripture, the word itself occurs only once, in Gal. iv. 24, and then in the form of a participle 'which things are an allegory' in the original, which things are allegorical;' that is, have an allegorical meaning, may teach a higher truth. The apostle is speaking of two sons of Abraham; one, Ishmael, by Hagar, a bondwoman; the other, Isaac, by Sarah his wife. Hagar, in Arabic (probably provincial usage), signifies a rock, and is the popular name, to the present day, for the peninsula of Sinai, on which the law was given, and which may therefore be considered as a representative of Judaism. Isaac was the child of promise, and the son of a free woman, and may accordingly stand for Christianity. These are the two covenants -Jerusalem in bondage with her children; and Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.' Christians belong to the latter; are descendants of Isaac, the free child of promise; Jews belong to the former; are descendants of Ishmael, the son The bondwoman and her The children of the free woman remain in perpetual possession, and ought therefore to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made them free, and not be brought again under the yoke of

of a bondwoman. son were cast out.

bondage to carnal ordinances, to which the Jews who sprung from Hagar (Sinai) are, and as such must be, liable (comp. Gen. xxi). ALLELUJAH (H. praise ye Jehovah), a Hebrew word in English letters, derived to us through the Greek. It is found in this form only in Rev. xix. 1, 3, 4, and 6; but it occurs in its original elements in several psalms as Ps. cxlviii. cxlix. and cl.; each of which it begins and terminates. The term consists of two Hebrew words, praise ye,' and 'Jehovah,' which may have coalesced together, at an early period, in the sublime anthems of the temple; so that a sacred song was commenced by the entire choir of musicians and singers, bursting forth in the fine vowel-sound allelujah,' with which also they ended their performance.

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The word Allelujah has, in itself, no meaning to the English reader, and is very imperfectly rendered by, 'praise ye Jehovah.' It is derived from a root which represents the action of the sun, when, suddenly rising above the horizon, he at once pours forth his radiance in full floods over the earth and skies. A term varying but little in form denoted the joyous festivities of harvest-home. Hence we gather some idea of the glad and exhilarating nature of the temple-worship, especially when we call to mind the high and jubilant tones of music, and the full, deep, and echoing chorus of human voices, which rushed or gently swam forth, in celebration of the goodness, mercy, and truth of Jehovah.

ALMODAD (H. immeasurable), a son of Joktan, and descendant of Shem, in whose family register he stands in conjunction with his brothers (Gen. x. 26-29). From the days of Bochart, the name has been recognised in the Arabian tribe, Allou-maiotai, mentioned by the ancient geographer, Ptolemy. This tribe belonged to the larger tribe, named Joktanidæ, from Joktan, the father of Almodad. Their dwelling-place was in Arabia Felix. In comparison with some among his brethren, the name of Almodad is obscure: few, if any, direct vestiges of this first-born of Joktan, or his descen. dants, are met with in the native history or tradition.

ALMOND (Amygdalus communis).-The Hebrew signifies to be early, to be intent, to watch, to hasten: hence the figurative uses of the word, which is employed to denote the instant punishment of Providence on evildoers. In Jer. i. 11, the prophet, on being asked What seest thou?' answers, 'I see a rod of an almond-tree:' on which Jehovah replied, Thou hast well seen; for I will hasten (the same root as that whence almond) my word to perform it.' The rods of the chiefs of the tribes seem to have been made of this tree, thus denoting watchful care and speedy retribution (Numb. xvii. 6, 8). The tree may have derived its name from the fact mentioned by Pliny, that it

flowers very early in the year; first of all, in January; a statement which Shaw confirms, declaring that it bears fruit in Barbary before any other tree. Since its flowers were of a white colour, so is the almond-tree used (Eccles. xii. 5) as an image of the hoary head' of declining years. As the flowers, so also the graceful fruit of the tree, served for sacred purposes; for the bowls of the golden candlestick were made to resemble it (Exod. xxv. 33). The genus Amygdalus comprehends the almond, the peach, and the nectarine. The almond is a native of Barbary. In this country it is cultivated for its beauti ful vernal flowers; but in hot climates, it is the fruit which is sought, and that is produced in immense quantities. It is strongly aromatic, and in Scripture stands with other odoriferous herbs (Gen. xliii. 11). The tree which in Gen. xxx. 37 is translated hazel, probably means the almond.

ALMS. This word is an abridged form of a Greek one, which signifies showing pity. The word which once signified merciful feelings towards the indigent, has now degenerated into very little more than giving money to beggars. This should be borne ir mind in considering passages of Scripture where the word occurs. The Mosaic law sought to prevent the existence of penury, as a permanent condition: but Moses seems to have contemplated it as a probable event; and his directions to the Israelites, as to their conduct under such circumstances, are full of benevolence. For instance (Lev. xxv. 35), he says, 'And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen into decay with thee, then shalt thou relieve him.' The same spirit is seen in many other passages of the Mosaic law: see Deut. xv. 7, seq. These regulations, though so favourable to the poor, were not entirely effectual in preventing begging, as we find from Ps. cix. 10. Begging naturally led to alms-giving; and, that this was common in the time of our Saviour, we see from many passages of the New Testament (Mark x. 46. Acts iii. 2). We cannot better illustrate the general spirit of the gospel, in this particular, than by referring to 1 John iii. 17,- Whoso hath the world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion against him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?' Yet it must not be inferred from this, and similar passages, that a religion, one of whose principles is, that if any would not work, neither should he eat' (2 Thess. iii. 10), gives any encouragement to indiscriminate alms-giving; and the beautiful reflections of our Saviour on the widow's mite inculcate the principle that men's deeds are to be measured by the disposition of mind that prompts them—which must totally destroy the idea that our merit is the greater, in proportion as our alms are numerous and costly.

ALMUG (H.)—Almug-trees are mentioned among the articles which the navy of Hiram brought from Ophir (1 Kings x. 11, seq.). Of these, it is said, the king made pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the king's house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug-trees, nor were seen unto this day. In 2 Chron. ii. 8, the same wood (only called algum) is mentioned as being procurable from Lebanon. The Scriptures furnish no further information respecting this wood; but it is easy to learn its qualities from the purposes to which it was applied. It must, too, have been of high value, as constituting an article of trade between the East and the West; which fact may also be safely inferred from Solomon's wish to obtain it, the specific record of his success, and the uses to which he turned it. A precious and fragrant wood, known by names closely akin to the algum, is specified both by Arrian and Sir William Jones, as a staple article of importation from India into the ports of Persia and Arabia. The conjecture that the almug is sandal-wood, has as much in its favour as any other tree that has been suggested.

ALPHA (G.); the first letter of the Greek alphabet. It is used in connection with omega the last letter of the Greek alphabet; alpha and omega appropriately denoting the first and the last (Rev. i. 8; xxi. 6; xxii. 13; comp. Isa. xli. 4; xliv. 6); as the Hebrews and the Greeks made use of the let

ters of the alphabet for numerals. In the application of this mode of reckoning, care must be taken to ascertain what in each case the series is to which reference is made, as obviously there are as many firsts and lasts, as there are series of existing things.

ALPHEUS (H.) was father of James the Less (Matt. x. 3. Mark iii. 18. Luke vi. 15. Acts i. 13), and husband of Mary, sister of the mother of Jesus (Mark xv. 40), and therefore the same with Cleophas; in the original, Kλwπã, Klopa (John xix. 25); but probably not with Cleopas, mentioned in Luke xxiv. 18. As, then, Cleophas, in John xix. 25, is said to be the husband of Mary, the sister of Jesus' mother; and in Mark xv. 40, Mary is said to be mother of James the Less; and as these two Marys are both mentioned as being at the cross, on the crucifixion of Jesus, -Cleophas was husband of Mary, the aunt of our Lord, and father of James the Less. But Alpheus was father of James the Less; therefore, Cleophas and Alpheus were the same persons. In truth, Cleophas and Alpheus are the same word written, the first according to the Aramaic, the second according to the Greek pronunciation. Alpheus, if the termination is taken away, becomes Alphe, or rather Alphai (Aλpai); and Cleophas in the original is Klopa. Thus stripped of adventitious letters, they must sound nearly the same to the ears of uneducated

persons. But, in the Aramaic, the resemblance is yet nearer, the word being ', the sound of which may be represented in English by Helphai, Alphai, or Chlopai.

A different Alpheus, father of Matthew (Levi), is mentioned in Mark ii. 14.

ALTAR (L. something lofty), an elevated object, on which offerings were made to idols in the Heathen world, and to God among the Hebrews. The ideas involved in altars are connected with inferior religious conceptions. When it was judged necessary for men to make of their substance offerings to God, these offerings would at first be presented in the hands, and then laid on the ground. But there seemed an impropriety in placing them there, where they would be in the midst of ordinary and unholy things, and be exposed to detriment and desecration. An elevation of some kind, either natural or artificial, would remove the difficulty, and was accordingly adopted. In the case of burnt-offerings, some raised flat object was still more desirable. Natural elevations were first used for offerings. On Mount Moriah, Abraham prepared to offer up Isaac (Gen. xxii. 2, 9); and as idolatry was early practised, and its rites were accompanied by feasting, so respect for high places, and eating on the mountains, were indications of being given to idolatry (2 Kings xxiii. 5. Ezek. xviii. 6).

The Targumists carry back the use of altars to the days of Adam, speaking of a family altar, which Adam erected after his expulsion from Paradise; but the earliest on record is that of Noah, which he built after the flood, and which must have been an erection probably of loose unformed stones. The directions given to Moses in the wilderness (Exod. xx. 24-26) are very explicit. Moses was to erect an altar of earth, or if of stone, not of hewn stone, such as idolators used: unwrought stone seemed most suited, too, for the service of the Creator. If thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.' 'Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.' Altars were erected, and names given to them, in commemoration of important Jacob (Gen. xxxiii. 20); by Moses (Exod. events as by Abraham (Gen. xxii. 8, 14); by xvii. 15). Altars were erected to God or to idols. Among the first may be specified those erected by Abraham, on the spot where God appeared to him (Gen. xii. 7), on Mount Bethel (Gen. xii. 8), in the plain of Mamre (Gen. xiii. 18), and on Mount Moriah (Gen. xxii. 9). Others may be found in Gen. xxxiii. 20. Josh. viii. 30. 1 Kings iii. 4. Of the second kind, take as specimens, the altar of Aaron, dedicated to the golden calf (Exod. xxxii. 5); of Antiochus (1 Macc. i. 59); of the Athenians to the unknown God (Acts xvii. 23), to Baal (Judg. vi. 25). (1 Kings xvi. 32), and to Moloch (Jer. vii. 31).

Sometimes a simple pillar stood in stead of an altar. Thus Jacob (Gen. xxviii. 18) took the stone which he had used at Bethel, for a pillow, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it (xxxi. 13 and 45). But, with an obviously symbolical intent, Moses, in commemoration of having received instructions from Jehovah in the wilderness, builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel' (Exod. xxiv. 4), on which burnt-offerings and peace-offerings were straightway offered. The shape in which these pillars were arranged, we are unable to determine; but we cannot fail to be reminded by the fact of the Druidical circles, found at Stonehenge, and other parts of England, and, indeed, in other parts of the world. In a view of a Druidical temple at Abury, in Wiltshire, as restored (Knight's "Old England," cut 28), the inner circle consists of twelve stones, with one standing in the middle. At Silbury Hill, in the same county, is one artificial mound, which may give the reader some idea of the erections of earth that served as altars in primitive times. The hill covers above five acres of ground, and is entirely artificial. In view of these huge monuments, ordinary altars sink into insignificance; and we must look to the pyramids and temples of Egypt for objects of comparison.

The altars of the Heathen were sometimes unadorned, but for the most part they were highly wrought; Oriental altars, with the general type of which the Hebrew correspond, were square; while those of Greece and Rome were often round. The Rabbins say that an altar which is not square is not legitimate. Four was a sacred number.

Altars were erected within the precincts of private abodes, for the offering of domestic worship, particularly on the flat roof of the house (2 Kings xxiii. 12. Jer. xix. 13. Zeph. i. 5). Hill tops, gardens, groves, and the shade of large trees, were favourite places for idolatrous altars (1 Kings xiv. 23. 2 Kings xvi. 4; xvii. 10; xxiii. 5). Feasts were held near them, for which dishes and meats were spread, and of which there were sometimes offensive remains (Isa. xxviii. 8. Jer. xi. 13). They generally bore the symbol and the name of the God to whom they were consecrated.

The Mosaic books allow an altar only in the sanctuary, first in the tabernacle, and afterwards in the temple (Lev. xvii. 9. Deut. xii. 13), with a view, doubtless, to discourage and prevent idolatrous practices. It was very long, however, before this law was strictly obeyed; indeed not until monotheism had completed its triumph. Other altars were erected and honoured, as by the tribe of Reuben (Josh. xxii. 10); by Gideon (Judg. vi. 24): by Israel itself (Judg. xxi. 4); by Samuel (1 Sam. vii. 17); by David (2 Sam. xxiv. 25). Manasseh, the son of the pious

monotheist Hezekiah, went so far in his time (877, A.C.) as to build altars for all the hosts of heaven, in the courts of the house of Jehovah (2 Chron. xxxiii. 5).

The altar of burnt-offering (often termed merely 'the altar') deserves special notice. It was a frame of shittim-wood, filled with earth, five cubits long, and five cubits broad, quadrangular; its height three cubits. At each corner or angle was a horn made of the same wood. The altar was overlaid with brass. This stood on the outside of the sanctuary, in the forecourt, in open day. On it were offered all burnt-offerings of slaughtered animals (Exod. xxvii. xxviii.). When, however, the national worship had reached its higher development in the temple, Solomon built a much larger altar, one of brass (a brass frame filled with earth or stone), twenty cubits long, twenty broad, and ten high (2 Chron. iv. 1; vi. 13. 1 Kings ix. 25), which was approved of God by fire being sent from heaven, after a prayer of Solomon, to consume the sacrifice (2 Chron. vii. 1). It stood before the porch of the Lord, in the court, that is, in front of the temple. This altar must have been destroyed or desecrated by idol-worship, as it was renewed or re-consecrated by king Asa (2 Chron. xv. 8). Ahaz, having seen at Damascus a splendid altar which pleased him, caused Urijah to build one like it, on which the monarch sacrificed, removing the old brazen altar from the front to the north side of the temple. The new was designated the great altar, and must therefore have been of larger dimensions than the one whose place it took. On the great altar the customary sacrifices were to be made, while the brazen altar was reserved for the king to inquire by.

This altar perished in the calamitous events which preceded the exile. As soon as the Jews began to return home, they proceeded to build an altar for burnt-offerings even before the temple was begun, under the direction of Zerubbabel (Ezra iii. 2); but we are furnished with no description of its form or size. It was desecrated under Antiochus Epiphanes-by having an idol-altar, and the abomination of desolation' set upon it, when similar erections were made throughout the cities of Judea on every side (1 Macc. i. 54): when, however, the city was shortly after purified, they pulled it down as being profaned; and taking 'whole'. - that is, unhewn 'stones according to the law,' they built a new altar after the manner of the former (1 Macc. iv. 45, seq. 2 Macc. x. 3). The last passage is curious, as showing the way in which the fire was kindled: 'striking stones, they took fire out of them, and offered a sacrifice after two years.'

The altar of burnt-offerings which stood before the Herodian temple is thus described by Josephus (Jew. War, v. 5. 6. Antiq. xv. 11.5.): Before this temple stood the altar,