them, for they have this, as well as many other customs of that ancient people, in common with the inhabitants of Syria, and with the Arabians in general." But Neibuhr" says, "It does, indeed, happen among the Mahometans that a man marries his brother's widow, but she has no right to compel him so to do." So far, then, respecting the levirate.

One cannot survey the Jewish espousals, marriages, and divorce, without reflecting on the frequent political and spiritual allusions that are made to them in Scripture. Thus Israel is said to have been married to the Lord, Is. lxii. 4, 5. liv. 5. Committing idolatry, by following after the gods of the heathen, was considered as adultery, and a breach of the covenant between God and Israel, Jer. iii. 6-9. God's reproofs to them for their infidelity were sharpened by the recollection of their marriage relation with him, Jer. ii. 2, 3. iii. 14. The state of believers, in this world, is compared, by the apostle Paul, to the time that elapsed between the betrothing and the marriage in 2 Cor. xi. 2. And heaven is spoken of as the place where the marriage is to be celebrated, and where the saints shall be happy with Christ for ever, Rev. xix. 7. xxi. 2-4. Such are the allusions to the forms of marriage among the Jews; and, perhaps, even the law of the levirate, although not so applied by the inspired writers, may serve to excite in the breast of the pious a hymn of gratitude to that elder brother who, on the moral death of our progenitor, espoused the church, and obtained for himself a glorious

name.

Description of Arabia, p. 61.

SECT. III.

Children of the Jews.

Reasons why so much desired : ceremonies at the birth : circumcision; the persons present; their different offices; prayers on the occasion. Circumcision of sick children deferred for a time. Children dying before the eighth day, how disposed of; a feast commonly after circumcision. The case of bastards and daughters; origin and uses of circumcision. Probable reasons for fixing on the eighth day. Why it was omitted in the wilderness. Treatment of children while minors as to food, clothing, &c.; children much attached to their mother; and why; singular manner of carrying them. The nature of their education. The degree they acquired at the age of thirteen; could choose their tutors at fourteen; the solemn ceremony then used; different ages at which they could marry, and attend the passover. The birthright of the eldest; in what it consisted. Parkhurst's reflection on it.

CHILDREN were much coveted by the Jews, both from that desire of offspring which is natural to man, and the peculiar circumstances of the Jewish nation; for the inheritances in the tribes depended on it, and the family of David in particular was promised the honour of being the progenitor of the Messiah. Hence the anxiety of the Jewish matrons for a numerous offspring. It mul-. tiplied their chances for being the mother of our Lord.

1. Treatment at the birth. We are strangers to most of the domestic regulations of the ancient Jews; but Buxtorffa informs us, that after the days of our Saviour, it was the custom for the father of the family, or some person eminent for piety, at the hour of delivery, to write above the door, around the inside of the walls of the apartment, and on the bed, words to the following import: "Adam, Eve, but begone Lilith;" the meaning of which is explained by them to be, "If a son, may he live till he marry a wife like Eve, or, if a daughter, may she live till she marry a husband like

De Synag. Jud, cap. 4.

Adam; but may neither be unequally yoked," as they pretend Adam was with Lilith before he got Eve. Were I to form a conjecture, I would rather say that it meant, "May he, if a son, be healthy like Adam, and if a daughter, beautiful like Eve; but, whatever it be, may it not be consigned to darkness, (as Lilith signifies) by an untimely death." A Christian midwife was expressly forbidden, lest she might injure the mother or child. And a Rabbi, or some other person skilled in the law, read the 20th, 38th, 91st, or 102d Psalm, which he concluded with a prayer, entreating of God a happy delivery. If the child chanced to be a son, they made great rejoicings; but a daughter was received with gratitude, but not with exultation. Infants newly born were washed in water, anointed with oil, rubbed with salt, at least in part, swaddled with a long bandage round the middle, and wrapped in some comfortable clothing. These were requsite even in a mild latitude, to promote insensible perspiration, and prevent the pain which a free exposure to the external air occasions; for the cries of new-born children are understood to be occasioned, partly by the new course which the blood forces for itself through the lungs, and partly by the pressure and difference of temperature in the new atmosphere.

2. Circumcision of-On the eighth day from the birth, whatever day of the week that was, they invariably performed the rite of circumcision. Three stools were set in the house, or sometimes in the synagogue; one for the person who held the child; one for the operator, whose official name was mûl, or the cutter off; and one for Elias, who was supposed to be spiritually present as a zealous defender of the divine law. The

a Ezek. xvi. 4, 9.

Lightf. Harm. of Four Evang. part ii. sect. 12

attendants were commonly ten in number, some of which carried torches of twelve wicks, to represent the twelve tribes of Israel, and others a knife for the operation, a cup of red wine to act as a styptic, a basin of sand, into which to throw the prepuce, a basin of olive oil to anoint the part, and a towel and water. When every thing was ready, the female employed by the mother brought the child to the door of the apartment or synagogue, and gave it to him who was appointed to hold it during the operation, who, on entering, was hailed by the company in the following words: "Blessed be he who comes." When the operation was finished, the operator said, "Blessed be the Lord our God, who has sanctified us by his precepts, and given us the law of circumcision." To which the father replied, "Who hath sanctified us by his precepts, and hath commanded us to enter the child into the covenant of Abraham our father;" and the bystanders added, "As thou hast made this child enter, as thou hast received him into the covenant of Abraham our father, cause also that he may enter into the law of Moses, into matrimony, and into good works.” The operator having washed, received a cup of wine, consecrated it with the usual benediction, and added for the child the following prayer: "O Lord our God, the God of our fathers, strengthen this child, and preserve him to his parents. May his name be among the people of Israel,. (here he, or the father, or mother, or neighbours, gave him his name, Ruth iv. 17. 1 Sam. iv. 21. Luke i. 59.) Let his father, who begot him, rejoice and be glad; let his mother delight in the fruit of her womb, according as it is written, Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.' And as it is said by the pro

a

phet,And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, Live." " Here he dipped his finger in the basin where the blood was, and touched the child's face two or three times, with the hope that, according to the prophet, he might live so much longer in the blood of circumcision; adding, "David also says, . He hath remembered his covenant for ever, his word which he commanded to a thousand generations." " He then prayed to God that all might be safe who confirmed the covenant, and wished long life to the parents and the child; after which a cup of wine was given to all present, and the child conveyed to his mother. Basnaged adds several other circumstances, which evidently show that they differ somewhat in different countries. It has been said that the name was commonly given to the child on the eighth day: it was not always, however, given then, for it was sometimes imposed at the birth, as in the case of Ruth and Phinehas's wife; and Homer tells us that the birth was the customary time amongst the Gentiles of giving names to their children; accordingly Arnæus was so named by his mother. Children that were sick were not circumcised on the eighth day, but the rite was deferred till seven days after their recovery and if one or two children of a family died in consequence of the operation, they deferred the circumeision of the third till he came of age, that he might take the responsibility on himself. Children dying before the eighth day were circumcised in the cemetery, on the lid of the coffin, and names given them, that they might be known at the resurrection of the just; but no