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obably to understand that the height includes the pedestal or pillar on which the statue was elevated. That the aldeans were accustomed to set up vast golden images of their gods, and particularly of Belus, appears from Herotus, who, after describing the famous temple dedicated to him, and in which there was no statue, adds, that within precincts of this temple. there was a smaller sacred edifice, upon the ground; within which there was an immense den statue of Jupiter (Belus), in a sitting posture: around the statue were large tables, which, with the steps and vae, were all of gold, and. as the Chaldeans affirmed, contained eight hundred talents of gold. He adds that there s also. not long since, within the sacred enclosure, a statue of solid gold, twelve cubits in height. Darius Hystaspes ald fain have taken away this figure, but dared not execute his wishes: but his son Xerxes not only did so, but put death the priest who endeavoured to prevent its removal. It may seem by no means unlikely that one of these tues, and more particularly, perhaps, the one mentioned last, was the very same that was made by Nebuchadnezzar, I which, after the transaction recorded in this chapter, we may suppose to have been removed from the plain of Dura he sacred enclosure of the temple.

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"Hour."-This is the first instance in which division of time by hours occurs in Scripture; and we are, therefore, plied with a tolerably certain intimation that this was one of the useful things which the Hebrews learnt from the aldeans. We merely notice this circumstance in passing; as John ix. 11, will afford us a better opportunity of conning the manner in which the day was anciently divided into hours.

0. "The sound of the cornet," &c.-All the inquiry which has been directed to the discrimination of the several ruments of music mentioned in this chapter has not been attended with any very satisfactory results. The whole ject is involved in great obscurity, which there seems no hope of seeing dispelled; for which reason, as well as bese the general subject, and also several of the instruments, have already received some attention in the notes to the of Psalms, we shall avoid any extended investigations, and confine ourselves to a few brief notices on such points ave not already been considered. "Cornets" or horns, "harps," and "psalteries," do not appear to require further re than they have already obtained.

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Flute."-The Chaldee word used here (NP mashrokitha) occurs nowhere but in this chapter, and appears enote all such instruments of the pipe or flute class as were in use among the Babylonians. The corresponding rew word is chalil, usually rendered "pipe" in our version, which we suppose not only to have been a ral term, but to have specially denoted the pipe of a single stem, with an orifice through it, while the occurrence he word nech toth, in a plural form with a singular sense, suggests that they had also the double pipe or . Both words come from roots which signify "to bore through." Some also find the name of a pipe, as our slators do, in the word pd nekeb (Ezek. xxviii. 13); but this sense does not agree with the context, and a casket ore probably intended. Flutes and pipes are mentioned under a great many different names by ancient writers, specific distinctions of which it is now impossible to discover. They acquired such different names rather perhaps the dispositions of parts producing variations of musical power, than from any marked distinctions of form. We I therefore only generally state that the ancient flutes were cylindrical tubes, sometimes of equal diameter throughbut often wider at the off than the near end, and sometimes widened at that end into a funnel shape, resembling arionet. They were always blown, like pipes, at one end, never transversely: they had mouth-pieces and somes plugs or stopples, but no keys to open or close the holes beyond the reach of the hands. The holes varied in iber in the different varieties of the flute. In their origin they were doubtless made of simple reeds or canes, but he progress of improvement they came to be made of wood, ivory, bone, and even metal. They were sometimes le in joints, but connected by an interior nozzle, which was generally of wood. The flutes were sometimes double, : is. a person played on two instruments at once, either connected or detached; and among the classical ancients, player on the double-flute often had a leathern bandage over his mouth to prevent the escape of his breath at the ers. The ancient Egyptians, as appears by our first engraving, used the double flute; but we have not, among n. been able to find any example of the bandaged mouth, of which many instances occur in classical remains. To other illustrations we have added a very simple instrument (the ndy), which is a favourite with the modern

Orientals; and appears to answer very correctly in its form and use to the more common instrument of ancient times Instruments of the pipe class are of such high antiquity, and so universally diffused, that we have deemed it useless to inquire concerning the inventor, or the time and place of its origin. The reader may find much curious information on the ancient and the modern Oriental instruments of this class in the following papers in the Description de l'Egypte - Mémoire sur la Musique de l'Antique Egypte; Dissertation sur les Instrumens de Musique des Egyptiens; and Instrumens de Musique des Orientaux.' Rosellini has also something on this subject; and Lane's Modern Egyptians' should not be overlooked.

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"Sackbut."-The word in the original is D and N, sabca; whence evidently the Greek außixn. We must look for it in the sambuca of the ancients. The classical writers mention this instrument as very ancient, and seem to ascribe its invention to the Syrians. Porphyry and Suidas describe it as a triangular instrument of music, furnished with cords of unequal length and thickness; a description which suggests that it was an instrument of the harp kind, perhaps resembling the triangular lyre, of which we have spoken in the note on Psalm xcii. 3. Musonius describes the sambuca as rendering a sharp sound; and we are also told that it was much employed to accompany the Voice in singing iambic verses.

"Psaltery." The Chaldee word, pesanterin, is different from that nebel) rendered “ psaltery" in the earlier Scriptures. As however there seems good reason to believe that the respective Chaldee and Hebrew words denote the same instrument, we must refer to the statement already furnished under Psalm xcii. 3.

"Dulcimer"-The word thus rendered is sumponjah, being just the same word as the roupava of the Greek. Although the Greek word certainly denotes, primarily, a concert or harmony of many instruments. yet it seems also, as in the text, to have been the name of a musical instrument. Servius (on Virgil. En. xi. 27) describes the symphonia as a sort of bagpipe; which is in remarkable conformity with the Hebrew writers, who describe the present instrument also as a bagpipe, consisting of two pipes thrust through a leathern bag, and affording a mournful sound. When we add to this, that the very same name was that which the bagpipe bore among the Moors of Spain, we seem to have a greater mass of probabilities in favour of the bagpipe than can

often be obtained in this class of subjects, or than can be produced for any other alternative which has been suggested. The known antiquity of this instrument, together with its continued existence in the East, are also corroborative circumstances. The modern Oriental bagpipe is composed of a goat-skin, usually with the hair on, and in the natural form, but deprived of the head, the tail, and the feet; being thus just of the same shape as that used by the water-carriers. The pipes are usually of reeds, terminating in the tips of cows' horns, slightly curved; the whole instrument being most primitively simple in its materials and construction.

21. “Their coats, their hosen, and their hats.”—It is exceedingly difficult to determine, what articles of dress are really denoted by the words thus translated. The 70 sarbal, is considered by Gesenius to denote such wide drawers or trowsers as are still worn by the Persians and others, and thinks that the present Persian name for this article of dress (shalwar) is the same word in a transposed form. He adds, "the name has passed with the article of dress into the western languages, as in Greek cagálaga, cagakárna, cagáraga; in Latin, sarabara, saraballa; in Spanish, ceroulas, in Hungarian and Sclavonic, shalwary;

BAGPIPE.

in Polish sharmvari." To understand these analogies, it should be observed that 6 and are convertible powers in the Hebrew, Chaldee, and other Oriental dialects, ancient and modern. As to the rest, the marginal readings, of "mantle" for "coat," and "turban” for “hat,”—probably furnish as correct an interpretation as can now be obtained.

CHAPTER IV.

1 Nebuchadnezzar confesseth God's kingdom, 4 maketh relation of his dreams, which the magicians could not interpret. 8 Daniel heareth the dream. 19 He interpreteth it. 28 The story of

the event.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto

you.

2 'I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me.

3 How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.

4 ¶ I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace:

5 I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.

6 Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream.

7 Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof.

S¶ But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the

1 Chald. It was seemly before me 2 Chap. 2. 44.

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spirit of the holy gods: and before him 1 told the dream, saying,

9 O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.

10 Thus were the visions of mine head in

my bed; 'I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.

11 The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth:

12 The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it.

13 I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven;

14 He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches:

15 Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, * Chap. 2. 48. 4 Chald. I was seeing. 5 Chald. with might.

and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth:

16 Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him.

17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

18 This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee.

was

19 Then Daniel, whose name Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.

20 The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth;

21 Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation:

22 It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.

23 And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him;

24 This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king:

25 That they shall 'drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat

Chap. 5. 21, &c. 7 Or, an healing of thine error.

8 От, ироп.

grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

26 And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.

27 Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.

28 All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.

29 At the end of twelve months he walked "in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.

30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?

31 While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.

32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.

34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation :

35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, 10What doest thou?

36 At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom,

9 Chap. 7. 14. Micah 4. 7. Luke 1.33. 10 Job 9. 12 Isa. 45.9.

mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto

me.

37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is

able to abase.

Verse 30. "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built ?"-Nebuchadnezzar did not found Babylon, which existed as a city from the earliest ages; but he did liberally employ his vast resources in its improvement, extension, and aggrandisement, until it became that great and magnificent city which the ancient world regarded with equal wonder and admiration. The Greek writers do not indeed notice Nebuchadnezzar as the author of the great works at Babylon, but rather refer them to two queens-Semiramis who lived before him, and Nitocris who was after him. But, on the other hand, the native historian Berosus, together with Megasthenes and Abydenus, expressly attribute them to this great monarch; and moreover it would seem that Nitocris, whom some make the queen of Nebuchadnezzar, and others the wife of his son Evilmerodach, merely completed the great works which he had begun: Indeed. these could only have been accomplished after the fall of Nineveh, and when Babylon had become the seat of a great empire, neither of which events happened till the time of Nebuchadnezzar.

It would occupy far more room than we can spare to describe, after the ancient writers, the glories of "the golden city." We must therefore content ourselves with a very limited statement.

The Euphrates passed through the city, dividing it into two parts, of which that on the western side of the stream exceeded in magnificence and comprehended most of the new improvements. According to Herodotus, the city as a whole, was a perfect square, each side of which was equal to 120 stadia, and, consequently, its circuit to 480 stadia, which (Greek stadia being of course intended) would make not much less than fifty miles. This extent seems so enormous, that various attempts have been made to reduce it: but not, we think, on authority equal to those which furnished and have corroborated the statement: and when we see how our own metropolis is spreading around, and may be expected at no very remote period to reach the same dimensions; and, still more, when we are told that the city was very loosely built, and much of the ground enclosed by the walls was left vacant, or laid out in cultivated fields and gardens, it may very well be doubted whether it contained a population equal to that of the present London, or comprehended as large a number of buildings. However surprising, therefore, the account may seem in the first instance, it is much less incredible than has sometimes been supposed.

A deep ditch, lined with brickwork and full of water, went round the city; and as the soil dug out from it furnished the bricks with which the wall was built, some idea of its capacity may be formed from the alleged dimensions of the wall. which was 200 royal cubits high by fifty in thickness. These bricks were baked in a furnace and cemented with hot bitumen. In the wall there were a hundred gates, twenty-five on each side, all these gates were of solid brass and of prodigious size and strength; besides which there were, in the wall lining the river, smaller gates of the same metal, from which steps conducted down to the stream. Between every two of the great gates there were three watch-towers, ten feet higher than the walls, with four such towers at each of the four angles of the wall, and three more between each of these angles and the next adjoining gate on either side. There were, however, but 250 towers in all, as they were omitted on that side where the morasses rendered unnecessary the protection which they offered. This grand square was divided into twenty-five grand streets. which intersected each other, dividing the city into 626 squares. Each of these streets went quite across the city in a straight line, extending from a principal gate on one side to another on the opposite side. The vast squares formed, in so extensive a plot. by the intersection of the streets, were not built upon, but hollow, and laid out in fields, gardens, and pleasure-grounds; and, besides this, the houses which lined at the same time the streets and the squares stood much apart from each other, which suffices to show how loosely the city was built. The houses are described as being three or four stories high, and adorned with all the splendour and magnificence of ancient Oriental taste.

The wonders at Babylon which seem most to have attracted the attention of ancient travellers were the temple of Belus. or rather the pile on which it stood, which pile, from the description given of it, may very possibly seem to have been the famous Tower of Confusion, which may have been repaired, and this temple or chapel built thereon, probably by Nebuchadnezzar. (See the note on Gen. xi. 4.) The tower was in the midst of a large enclosure, two stadia square, with gates of brass: and within which were other sacred buildings, as alluded to in the note on ch. iii. 1. The baks of the river, in that part which ran through the city, were faced with brick, like the enclosing trench, and a continued quay was formed, the whole length of the town. The river was crossed by a bridge said to have been rather more than a furlong in length, and constructed on some new and much admired principle, to supply a defect in the bottom of the river, which was all sandy. Another communication was afforded by a tunnel under the bed of the river. At the western end of the bridge. stood the palace, which Nebuchadnezzar is said to have built to supersede another, smaller and less magnificent, which stood on the other side of the stream. This palace may be taken as that so often mentioned in the present book. It was enclosed by a triple wall, and with its parks and gardens was included in a circuit of little less than eight miles. Adjoining this palace, and within the general enclosure, were the hanging gardens, which were constructed by the king to gratify his wife, who was a native of the hilly and wooded Media, with a resemblance to her own country in the plain of Babylon. According to Diodorus, these gardens formed a square of 400 feet (about three acres and a half), and were raised on terraces supported by walls or piers eleven feet asuader, ascending one above another till the uppermost was brought to the level of the top of the city wall, commanding a most extensive prospect. The terraces were covered with a deep layer of mould in which were planted various plants, shrubs, and trees, many of the latter being of considerable girth: and as some trees are found on this site no specimens of which exist elsewhere in the country, it is not impossible that some of these may have been perpetuated to this day, notwithstanding the sinking of the terraces, through the mouldering of the piers by which they were supported. To the canals and lake we have incidentally referred on former occasions; and have no room to enumerate all the minor wonders of ancient Babylon. What we have stated will suffice to suggest a general notion of the works which raised the fatal pride of the Babylonian king-of the scenes which were continually before the eyes of Daniel-and of the city whose streets were so often traversed by the captives of Israel.

33. "He was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen," &c.-The malady by which the Divine judgment punished the pride of Nebuchadnezzar is a subject on which opinions have been very much divided. The principal explanations have been recapitulated in the interesting Dissertation sur la Métamorphose de Nebuchodonosor' of Dom. Calmet, who himself gives the explanation which is now generally received and seems the most probable of any. The same

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