away captive in chains. It was a symbolical action. Ezek. xvi. 11,

"I put bracelets upon thy hands,

And a chain upon thy neck."

Newcome says, rebed, in Arabic, denotes "a variegated collar of wool hung for ornament about the neck of an animal."

"It pectore summo

Flexilis obtorti per collum circulus auri."

VIRG. Æn. 5, 558.

Paul mentions his chain as a prisoner repeatedly, viz. in Acts xxviii. 20; Eph. vi. 20; 2 Tim. i. 16; i. e. Paul's right hand was fastened to the soldier's left hand, after the manner of the Romans, with a long chain. The scholiast on Juvenal says, "that it is called a camp-prison when the captives are delivered chained, so that the same chain fastens both the prisoner and soldier."

Sometimes, for farther security, they were bound to two soldiers, with two chains, as was Peter's case. See Acts xii. 6. See also Pliny, 1. 10, ep. 30; Seneca, ep. 5; and liber de Tranquill. c. 10.

Prov. i. 9, parental instruction is beautifully compared to chains about the neck. One of the Rabbinical writers has a similarly elegant expression, Vajiher Rabb. § 12, "The words of the law are a coronet to the head, a chain to the neck, tranquillity to the heart, and a collyrium to the eyes." The Egyptian judges used to wear a golden chain about the neck, with a gem suspended, on which was engraved Truth. (Diod. Sic. lib. 1.)

That eminent persons were thus adorned is plain from the honours paid to Joseph and Daniel, Gen. xli. 42, and Dan. v. 7, 16, 29.

Brides also received these as parts of their attire, as appears from Cant. i. 10, and iv. 9. Selden, in his Uxor Hebræa, quotes from the Gemara Hierosol. this passage: "Velamina sponsis sunt sindones acupictæ, quibus appenduntur monilia aurea." Penelope also receives a gold chain from her suitor Eurymachus, as Homer tells us. And Hesiod, describing the dress of a virgin, in his "Works and Days," v. 74, says, "They put golden chains upon her person." Ornaments of gold, and particularly chains, belong to the costume of very high antiquity. "Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights; who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel." 2 Sam. i. 24; Judith, x. 4.

CHARIOT. Chariots are the symbol of government, protection, and guardianship, exercised by princes, and by those who resemble them, towards the people, their inferiors.

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In this sense, Elisha exclaimed, respecting Elijah, the eminent prophet and teacher of Israel, 2 Kings ii. 12, "O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof;" an exclamation repeated by Joash the King of Israel, on occasion of the death of Elisha, 2 Kings xiii. 14;-meaning, that these two excellent men availed more to their countrymen by their prayers and pious example than the kings of the nations do by their warlike chariots and horsemen. Compare Ezek. xxvii. 14 with Rev. xviii. 13, where chariots and horsemen are enumerated among the wares of Tyre and Babylon, as being part of their wealth and support.

Chariots are the symbol of armies and their leaders. See Exod. xv. 4, "Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea." 2 Kings xviii. 24," Wilt

thou put thy trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?" is the language of Rabshakeh, and that of his master is thus represented, 2 Kings xix. 23, " With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon."

Psalm xx. 8,

"Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;

But we will remember the name of Jehovah our God.
They are brought down and fallen;

But we are risen and stand upright."

Compare Ps. lxxvi. 7; Isa. ii. 7, chap. xxxi. 1. So Jerem. 1. 37," A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots." See also Joel ii. 5; Micah v. 10.

Chariots are also the emblems of the heavenly host. This we learn from 2 Kings vi. 17, where the mountain round Elisha appeared to the opened eyes of his servant, full of horses and chariots of fire. This appears also from Ps. lxviii. 18, "The chariots of God are two myriads, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the holy place." This seems to look back on Deut. xxxiii. 2,

"Jehovah came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir to them; He shined forth from Mount Paran,

And he came with ten thousand of his holy ones;
From his right hand went a fiery law for them."

Something similar is the language of Isaiah, chap. lxvi. 15,

"For behold, Jehovah shall come as a fire,

And his chariot as a whirlwind:

To breathe forth his anger in a burning heat,

And his rebuke in flames of fire."

And so in Hab. iii. 8,

"Was thine indignation against the seas,

When thou didst ride on thine horses, and on thy chariots

of deliverance ?"

A description of the royal chariot of Solomon is given in Cant. iii. 9, 10, which shows the luxury of those times; but it probably means a litter or palanquin.

In 1 Chron. xxviii. 18, "Gold is said to be given for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims." See Cherubim.

The chariot mentioned in Isa. xxi. 7, with two riders, is supposed to represent Darius and Cyrus, the Medes and the Persians. See Lowth in loc.

The four chariots in Zech. vi. 1, drawn by horses of different colours, represent the four great empires of the world in succession, the Assyrian or Babylonian, the Persian, Grecian, and Roman, distinguishable both by their order and attributes. (Blayney.) Cant. i. 9,

"I have compared thee, O my love,

To a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots."

The comparison of a beautiful woman to a set of horses harnessed in a chariot, may perhaps appear uncouth to the refined manners of this age; but the Greek and Latin poets abound in similar comparisons. Thus Lycophron calls Helen a heifer, and Euripides calls Polypena a calf, and Horace compares a young woman to a mare, lib. 3, ode 2. See Durell on the passage.

Chariots on our side betoken courage in us, and safety and skill, with success in feats of arms. But if they belong to the other side, then, by the rule of contraries, they denote dread and consternation, and ill success in war.

CHERUBIM. Much has been written on this mysterious subject, particularly by the Hutchinsonian

Divines, whose opinions may be seen in Parkhurst's Hebrew Lexicon on the term.

The Cherubim are mentioned or described in the following passages, viz. Gen. iii. 24; Exod. xxv. 18, 22, and xxxvii. 7, 9; Levit. xvi. 2; Num. vii. 89; 1 Kings vi. 23, 28, and viii. 7; 2 Chron. iii. 10, 13, and v. 8; Ezek. i. 5, 11, and x. 20, 22.

They are also probably alluded to in Isa. ch. vi. ; Rev. ch. iv.; Wisdom, ix. 8; Heb. ix. 5.

It is agreed by most expositors that they were emblems of something beyond themselves; but the question is, of what were they emblematical ?

Parkhurst says they represented the ever blessed Trinity, and the human nature of Jesus Christ. Lowman thinks they represent angels.

In Genesis iii. 24, they are spoken of as posted at the entrance of Paradise, after Adam and Eve were expelled from it.

Taylor, in his Hebrew Concordance, says the cherubim must be considered as hieroglyphical, denoting the perfection or combination of all spiritual and moral excellencies, which constitute the character of God's faithful servants or subjects.

Newcome is of Taylor's opinion.

Mede supposes them to be angels, but considers the cherubim, or four living creatures in the Apocalypse, to represent the Christian churches in the four regions of the world, corresponding to the four standards of Israel, and their ensigns, which he says were those of a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle.

Doddridge considers them to be hieroglyphical representations of the angelic nature, and condemns the