were fishermen ; Paul was a tent maker. Some of the eminently wise men of Israel had been cutters of wood. Rabban Jochanan ben Zaccai, vice-president of the Sanhedrin, was a merchant: and the following extract from the Talmud will show that the practice was general: "What is a father commanded to do to his son? To circumcise him; to redeem him; to teach him the law ; to teach him a trade; and to take him a wife. Rabbi Judah saith, He that teacheth not his son a trade, does as if he taught him to be a thief. And Rabban Gamaliel saith, He that hath a trade in his hand, is like a vineyard that is fenced." It is nowhere said, at what particular age they were admitted to the passover. The general rule on the subject was, when they could ascend Moriah with a hold of their father's hand; and we know that our Saviour attended when only twelve years of age; or, when he uncovered his head, and obtained the degree of the son of the commandment." Perhaps this was as soon as was generally convenient, since many had to come from a considerable distance, and may afford us an argument for early communicating. 4. Birthright of the eldest. This consisted of the following particulars: 1. A double portion of the father's effects, which was particularly denoted by the term , Becrè, or "the first born," and was founded in reason; since the head and representative of the family needed somewhat considerable to lay the foundation of his future fortune and support his rank. 2. A pre-eminence or authority over his brethren, to supply the place of the common parent, when he should be no more; for to him would they look, as the judge for settling internal differences, and the leader to redress external a Lightf. Harm. of N. T. Acts, ch. xviii. c b 1 Chron. v. 1, 2, compared with Deut, xxi. 17. Gen. xxvii. 29, xlix. 3, 4, 8. wrongs. 3. The first born usually presided as the priest of the family, at the family sacrifices, before the appointment of the Levitical priesthood. And 4. To them was attached the illustrious promise of being the progenitor of the Messiah. It is true, that the descendants of the family of David had exclusively this honour, and that a cloud of uncertainty hung over the individual family who should ultimately be preferred; but this would create the greater interest: and if we were to suppose, that the heir in line to the crown actually became the supposed father, or real mother of our Lord, it would show us the vicissitudes of fortune, and to how low a state the once illustrious family of David had sunk.-I may add, in the words of Parkhurst, that, "the first born in the holy line, reckoning from the father, with their peculiar rights, were evident types of him who was to be the first born among many brethren," and in all things to have the pre-eminence.” SECT. IV. The Dress of the Jews. 1st. Of the Men. Hair black, worn short, except when in mourning. The weight of Absalom's hair considered. The beard worn long; razors; anoint. ing with oil. The bonnet or covering for the head. The cethneth or tunic. The telith or coat; shelme or hyke; girdle with its purse; cloak or mantle; shoes and sandals; phylacteries; scrip; staff.-2nd. Of the Women. Lower ranks very simple; higher very expensive. Plaiting the hair, elegant headdresses, painting the eyes with alkahol; nose jewels; ear-rings; veil ; necklaces and chains of gold; bracelets; nails stained with alhennah; shifts; zone round the breast; linen vests; gown, or upper robe; girdle about the middle; drawers; tinkling ornaments on the legs; sandals; travelling veils ; cloaks or burnooses; perfume boxes; handkerchiefs; hand-mirrors; large wardrobes in families; fashionable colours; remarks. a Rom. viii. 29. Col. i. 18. VOL. II. Y 1st. Of the Men. THE hair of the Jews, like that of the eastern people in general, was almost universally black, so that an old man, with a white head among persons younger in years, resembled the almond tree, which is in full blossom in February, when all the others are dark and leafless. It was this circumstance which enraged Herod against his son Alexander, because an eunuch on the rack had said of him that he ridiculed his father, and asserted, "that in order to cover his great age, he coloured his hair black." The assertion was false, but it shows us the contrast between youth and old age, and the probability that there were some who endeavoured to conceal their age by this mean artifice. The hair of the men was anciently worn short, according to the apostles observations in 1 Cor. xi. 14, (on which see Lightfoot's Heb. and Talm. Exer.) but those who were effeminate wore it long, like Absalom, the weight of whose hair has puzzled many commentators; for it is said to have weighed 200 shekels at the time of each yearly cutting, which 200 shekels, at 9dwts. and 3 grains each, would be 7lbs. 7oz. and 5dwts. troy, an immense weight! But Michaelis makes the shekel only 923 grains, Paris weight, or 744 grains troy, so that the 200 shekels, according to him, would be 2lbs. 6oz. 19dwts. troy, which, after all, was a great weight of hair to be cut from any person's head yearly; and therefore Harmer, in his Observations, explains it in three ways, 1st, That the hair was loaded with trinkets like the ladies, which is no explanation, for according to this it might have been 2000 shekels, or 2dly, That the Hebrew numeral, which stands for 200, might have been mistaken for, which 2 b Joseph. Antiq. xvi. 8. b Joseph. Antiq xiv. 3. e 2 Sam. xiv. 26. • Ch. xi. Ob. 51, Clarke's edition. a stands for 30, by the head of it being either faintly written or obliterated, in which case it would have weighed 130z. 13dwts. 18grs. troy, according to Bishop Cumberland, and according to Michaelis, only 4oz. 13dwts. 23grs. troy, the first of which would have been accounted an extraordinary head of hair, but the last nothing uncommon, since a very good head is reckoned about 5oz. But should the integrity of the Hebrew text be maintained, he has a 3d solution, viz. That the word "to poll" means literally "to shave," as mourners shaved their heads, like Job, or as those who had been in a state of distress, when they presented themselves to the king, like Joseph. If, then, by "the end of the days," which is the original expression, we were to understand not "the end of the year," but the end of the time that Absalom remained at his own house without seeing the king's face, which was two years, the shaving of his head would express a single action, viz. the preparing himself to appear before the king. Should it be objected that the difficulty remains unremoved, since it is said that he polled his hair" because it was heavy," it may be answered, that the word translated "heavy" also means "honour," and, as such, is rendered in Prov. xxvi. 1. The whole, therefore, of the verse, according to Harmer, may be thus translated: "And when he shaved his head, for it was at the end of the days (of his disgrace with the king) that he shaved it, because it was an honour to him (to see the king's face,) therefore he shaved it, and he weighed the hair of his head at 200 shekels, after the king's weight."-But it may be urged against this interpretation, that the 200 shekels were uncommonly great, as the growth even of two years. I shall therefore endeavour to remove the difficulty a little by observing, that it was the custom for the young men, in ancient times, to wear their hair till they came of age, and then to cut it, and devote it to some deity. Might not the Jews have had such a custom, but without its idolatry? And might not the words in question refer to that time? Should this supposition be admitted, the cutting of Absalom's hair, mentioned by the historian, will neither allude to a yearly cutting, on account of its weight, nor to a cutting after two years, when about to enter the king's presence; but to the specific time when he arrived at manhood and assumed the toga virilis, which, among the Jews, was when 20 complete. In this point of view, the words will bear the following meaning: "And when he polled his head, for it was at the end of the days (of his minority) that he polled it, because it was an honour to him (to leave the youth to be numbered with the men,) therefore he polled it; and he weighed the hair of his head at 200 shekels, after the king's weight." The singularity, according to this interpretation, did not lie in his cutting his hair, for it was a common practice on arriving at manhood, but in the largeness of the quantity on the occasion. He excelled every one in the beauty of his person, and in the abundance and length of his hair.-This interpretation does not militate against his having long hair at the time of his death; for his rebellion did not happen till he was forty years of age, and, consequently, when the hair of this effeminate and imprudent man had sufficient time to grow. a Should the above solution of Absalom's hair having been cut on his arrival at manhood be looked upon as probable, it will explain to us, with more than ordinary force, the spouse's description of her beloved," as de |