the ornaments which they obtained now, and which they afterwards took from the Egyptians overthrown in the Red Sea, we have introduced in chap. iii. a cut, with figures wearing such ornaments as are known, from existing paintings and sculptures, to have been worn by the ancient Egyptians.

6. "There shall be a great cry," &c.-See the note on Gen. 1. 3. As the people went about the streets lamenting loudly when a death took place in their houses, we may form some conception of the awful outcry which arose concurrently when all the families had a dear and lost member to lament. We must recollect that the firstborn among their sacred animals died also, which must greatly have added to the intensity of their consternation. We are assured by Diodorus, that when a sacred animal died in a house, the affliction was greater and the lamentation louder than at the death of a child. Well then may the cry now have been such as had never before been heard in Egypt, and never would be again.

2 Heb. son of a year. 3 Heb. between the two evenings.

7 Levit. 23. 5. Num. 29. 16.

abroad out of the house; "neither shall ye break a bone thereof.

47 All the congregation of Israel shall "keep it.

48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.

49 One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.

50 Thus did all the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.

51 And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their

armies.

20 Num. 9. 12. John 19.36. 21 Heb. do it.

Verse 8. "Bitter herbs" ( merorim).—The word literally means "bitters;" and as the expression is so general, our translation is right in not professing to define the particular species. According to the Mishna and Maimonides there were five sorts of bitter herbs, any one or all of which might be eaten. If we restrict the word to one species, the lettuce (Lactuca sativa) has the best claim to notice. It is extremely bitter until it has undergone the process of blanching; and is expressly indicated by those versions which do not adhere to the general expression of the original and of our own version. Forskal says that the Jews in Egypt eat lettuce with the paschal lamb. We incline to think that different bitter herbs are intended, of species which cannot now be distinguished; if, indeed, it was not intended to leave the choice free among any salads characterized by their bitterness, and fitted to symbolize the bitter bondage in Egypt.

9. Eat not of it raw."-This injunction is understood, like some others, to be intended to create a marked distinction between this observance and those connected with idolatrous worship. The ancient heathens in their idolatrous feasts and sacrifices, particularly those of the Grecian Bacchus-which feasts had their original in Egypt, Bacchus himself being merely an adaptation of the Egyptian Osiris-tore the victims in pieces, and ate the raw and palpitating limbs. Thus the injunction may have had a specific allusion. But we should also view it in connexion with the strong interdiction, equally in the patriarchal times, under the law, and in the New Testament, of raw or bloody animal food. The frequency of the injunction would sufficiently indicate, that the forbidden practice was not uncommon, however strange and revolting it may seem to us. That savages do this every one knows; but it may not be so well known, that the practice still exists in or near the countries which formed the scene of the Bible history. Burckhardt says:-"" "Throughout the desert, when a sheep or goat is killed, the persons present often eat the liver and kidney raw, adding to it a little salt. Some Arabs of Yemen are said to eat raw, not only those parts, but likewise whole slices of flesh; thus resembling the Abyssinians and the Druses of Lebanon, who frequently indulge in raw meat, the latter to my certain knowledge."

11. "With your loins girded."-That is, as persons prepared for a journey. The inhabitants of the East usually wear long and loose dresses, which, however convenient in postures of ease and repose, would form a serious obstruction in walking or in any laborious exertion, were not some expedients resorted to, such as those which we find noticed in Scripture. Thus the Persians and Turks when journeying on horseback tuck their skirts into a large pair of trousers, as the poorer sort also do when travelling on foot. But the usages of the Arabs, who do not generally use trousers, is more analogous to the practice described in the Bible by "girding up the loins." It consists in drawing up the skirts of the vest and fastening them to the girdle, so as to leave the leg and knee unembarrassed when in motion. An Arab's dress consists generally of a coarse shirt and a woollen mantle. The shirt, which is very wide and loose, is compressed about the waist by a strong girdle generally of leather, the cloak being worn loose on ordinary occasions. But in journeying or other exertion, the cloak also is usually confined by a girdle to which the skirts are drawn up and fastened. When manual exertion is required, the long hanging sleeves of the shirt are also disposed of by the ends of both being tied together and thrown over the neck, the sleeves themselves being at the same time tucked high up the arm. A short passage from 'Antar,' describing Jeerah's preparation for attacking a lion, will be found to illustrate this and several other passages of Scripture: "He threw away his armour and corslet, till he remained in his plain clothes with short sleeves: he tucked these up to his shoulder, and twisting his skirts round his girdle, he unsheathed his broad sword, and brandished it in his hand, and stalked away towards the lion."-Vol. iv. 246. "Shoes on your feet."-(See the note on chap. iii. 5.) This was another circumstance of preparation for a journey. At the present time Orientals do not, under ordinary circumstances, eat with their shoes or sandals on their feet; nor indeed do they wear them indoors at all. This arises not only from the ceremonial politeness connected with the act of sitting unshod; but from the fear of soiling the fine carpets with which their rooms are covered. Besides, as they sit on the ground cross-legged, or on their heels, shoes or sandals on their feet would be inconvenient. To eat therefore with sandalled or shod feet is as decided a mark of preparation for a journey as could well be indicated. But perhaps a still better illustration is derived from the fact, that the ancient Egyptians, like the modern Arabs, did not ordinarily wear either shoes or sandals. In their sculptures and paintings very few figures occur with sandalled feet; and as we may presume, that in the course of 215 years the Israelites had adopted this and other customs of the Egyptians, we may understand that (except by the priests) sandals were only used during journeys, which would render their eating the passover with sandalled feet, a still stronger mark of preparation than even the previous alternative.

15. Put away leaven out of your houses."-This was probably to commemorate the fact that the Israelites left Egypt in such haste that they had no opportunity to leaven their dough (verse 39), and were consequently obliged, in the first instance, to eat unleavened cakes (see Deut. xvi. 3). The present injunction is even now attended to by modern Jews with the most scrupulous precision. The master of the family searches every corner of the house with a candle, lest any crumb of leavened bread should remain, and whatever is found is committed to the fire; and after all, apprehending that some may still remain, he prays to God that, if any leaven be still in his house, it may become like the dust of the ground. Extraordinary precautions are also used in preparing the unleavened bread, lest there should be anything like leaven mixed with it, or any kind of fermentation should take place in it. (See Jennings' Jewish Antiquities.") These particulars will be found to give more than common point to the text of 1 Cor. v. 7, 8. The exclusion of leaven for

seven or eight days might, as Harmer observes, be attended with some inconvenience in Great Britain, but none at all in Palestine. The usual leaven in the East is dough kept till it becomes sour, and which is kept from one day to another for the purpose of preserving leaven in readiness. Thus, if there should be no leaven in all the country for any length of time, as much as might be required could easily be produced in twenty-four hours. Sour dough, however, is not exclusively used for leaven in the East, the lees of wine being in some parts employed as yeast.

22."Hyssop" (DN esob).-The hyssop of the Sacred Scriptures has opened a wide field for conjecture, but in no instance has any plant been suggested that at the same time had a sufficient length of stem to answer the purpose of a wand or pole, and such detergent or cleansing properties, as to render it a fit emblem for purification. Our wood-cut rerepresents ashrub remarkable in both these respects, which is the Phytolacca decandra. We do not indeed assert that this was the individual species in question, but we have no doubt in our own minds that the hyssop belonged to this genus. The length and straightness of the stem form a characteristic of the several kinds of Phytolacca with which we are acquainted, affording an obvious reason why the Roman soldier placed a sponge filled with vinegar upon hyssop, in order to raise it to the lips of the Saviour (John xix. 29). The Phytolacca decandra, and other species of the genus, contain an enormous quantity of potash, so that a hundred pounds of its ashes afford forty-two pounds of pure caustic alkali; hence we obtain a striking illustration of that expression used in Psalm li., "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean,"-if we suppose that a shrub of this kind was meant. The only doubt that hangs about the supposition is the North American origin of the Phytolacca decandra; but others are found in the old continent, near Aleppo, and in Abyssinia, which may. though not hitherto submitted to a chemical analysis, have answered the same purpose equally well. While travelling in Mexico we met with an old man who told us that a kind of Phytolacca, which was growing near a cottage, was formerly used by the Indian females instead of soap, such was the detergent nature of the foliage. This unexpected piece of information led us to think that the hyssop of Scripture must have been allied to this American plant, or Congoran, in structure as well as in property. The Phytolacca belongs to the family Chenopodea, of which the barilla plant forms a part, but it is unlike the rest of its congeners in the exceeding beauty of its flowers, and the berries by which they are succeeded. These flowers are generally of a fresh and lively pink, disposed in elegant racemes or clusters; the berries are compounded of a circle of carpella or minute fruits, closely joined together, and afford a blooming dye. The leaves are generally smooth, and neatly shaped; and the stem is long, smooth, and wand-like. In short, there is a peculiar grace in every part of the plant, which, in the case of decandra, renders it a great favourite in the garden. There exists a great similarity between the several species of the Phytolacca, so that an acquaintance with one species suggests a correct idea of the whole; for this reason the reader is presented with a figure of decandra as an average specimen. Two or three species are found in Oahu, Sandwich Islands, which have the stem of an extraordinary length, and which, from its weakness, lies extended upon the vegetation around; and here and there supports a cluster of lovely flowers, to beautify the wild waste amidst the mountains.

34. "Kneading troughs."-Some other term ought perhaps to be employed to preclude the apparent difficulty which results from the natural habit of identifying oriental utensils with our own, when the same name is given to both. To understand the passage, we should perhaps refer to the existing usages among the Arabs who encamp in, or traverse, the very desert through which the sons of Israel are now about to pass; and then we shall find that the only utensils of analogous use, whether for kneading or for carrying dough, are such as the Israelites would naturally take with them, and which they could conveniently take as a personal burden. The "kneading troughs" of the Arabs are properly described by Shaw, as small wooden bowls, which not only serve for kneading their bread, but for serving up meat and other uses for which a dish is required. The Arabs have few domestic utensils, and make one serve many purposes, and this is one of the most generally useful which they possess. However, as the Israelites are represented as carrying dough in their vessels, this directs our attention to another Arabian utensil, which has equal, if not stronger, claims to be identified with that to which the text refers. The Arabs use, on their journeys, for a table-cloth, or rather table, a circular piece of leather, the margin of which is furnished with rings, by a string or chain run through which it can, when necessary, be drawn up into a bag. This bag they sometimes carry full of bread, and when their meal is over, tie it up again with what is left. Dr. Boothroyd prefers this last utensil, and reads the text thus:-"The people of Israel then took their dough before it was leavened, in their dough-bags, wrapped up in their clothes, upon their shoulders." But he has here been misled by an inference of Harmer, which he seems to state as part of Pococke's text, but where it is not to be found. Neither Pococke nor Niebuhr say anything about "dough; nor are the utensils "dough-bags." The Arabs do not carry dough at all; but if, when their dough happened to be kneaded, they were suddenly obliged to decamp, they would naturally carry it away either in the kneading-bowl or in the leathern bag in which they usually carry their bread. The text, as we understand it, merely indicates an expedient to which their haste obliged them to resort, and not that the utensil in question was now applied to its customary use.

37." Succoth."-This word signifies "tents," or " booths ;" and probably nothing more is intended by it than a spot where caravans were accustomed to encamp; or which obtained its name from their encampment there on the present occasion. It will be observed that the Israelites took their departure from "Rameses;" but whether the name denotes in this instance the land of Goshen, which is also called the land of Rameses, or a town in that land, or elsewhere, is by no means clear. Neither can the position of Succoth be fixed with exactness. However, as the intention of Moses was undoubtedly to proceed not immediately towards Palestine, but into the desert of Sinai, his course was probably nearly that which is now taken by the pilgrim caravans from Cairo to Mecca, which is not due east, but first by north-east and then by east, in order to round the "Arabian mountain" of Herodotus, which shuts in the valley of the Nile on the east, and which sinks into the plain in the north, at a line nearly parallel with the point of the Delta. On this route, at the distance of about twelve miles N.N.E. from the present Cairo, occurs a place which is very convenient for an encampment, and where the great pilgrim caravan from Cairo to Mecca awaits the arrival of the western pilgrims previous to its final departure, and where it breaks up on its return. This is, with good probability, thought to be the Succoth of the text. At this place there is a rather large lake, called Birket-el-Hadj (Pilgrims' Pool), which receives its waters from the Nile; and near which there are several small villages; and some that are larger, with country-houses and date-plantations belonging to the principal inhabitants of Cairo. Niebuhr went to inspect the encampment at this place in May, 1762, two days before the caravan departed, and took the plan from which the one we offer is copied. Niebuhr remarks on its disorderly arrangement; but this is usual at a mere rendezvous, and will perhaps all the better enable the reader to obtain an idea of the early encampments of the Israelites before that regular order was established which we find detailed in Numb. ii. Niebuhr says that every one encamped just as he saw proper. Something like an orderly arrangement only appeared in that part of the camp occupied by the Emir Hadj, or chief of the caravan, who had several tents for himself and his people. The following will explain the details, as indicated by letters in the cut. a the tents of the emir-the small one among which is destined to contain the mahmal, or silken pavilion, containing the Koran and presents for the Kaaba at Mecca: 6 the lodge which the emir occupies during the day; there were three small cannon before it, and four more at c: dd the tents of the sutlers: e a small village: fff country-houses. The straight lines throughout represent the cords stretched out and fastened to pins driven into the ground, to which the horses and camels are tied in all oriental encampments.

There are some writers who place Rameses not at all near the Nile, but in the east of the desert of Suez, about thirty miles due north of the gulf of that name; giving, consequently, a southerly direction to the whole march from thence to the Red Sea. A corresponding position is of course given to Succoth. However, we are unable to understand how the distance of this Rameses, of about eighty miles from the Nile, is compatible with the fact of its being the first point from which the Israelites started on quitting the neighbourhood of that river. Perhaps this has arisen from the desire to shorten the distance between Succoth and Etham; for if the former was near the Nile, and the latter near the Red Sea, the distance is a good three days' journey. But we do not see the necessity, as some do, for inferring-because it is said "they took their journey from Succoth and encamped in Etham" (xiii. 20).-that they performed in one day the distance between the two places. Indeed, there is good indirect evidence that the distance was really three days' journey, and that three days were taken to perform it; and we the rather wouder that this fact has escaped the