4967. [i. 5.] Of the twenty-four classes of priests only four returned from the captivity at Babylon, namely those of Jedaiah, Immer, Pasher, and Harim. These however, soon after their arrival, subdivided themselves each into six, that they might again make up the old number, and restore the names accordingly. Hence Zacharias the father of John the Baptist is here said to have been of the course of Abia, and Mattathias (1 Maccab. ii. 1) to have been of that of Joarib, though it is certain neither of them, nor any other but the four above-mentioned, returned into Judea. Univer, Hist. vol. ix. p. 504.

a mine at Liege, and filling all the lower parts, prevented four men, who stood on an ascent, from escaping, till after twenty-four days; when the water had been drawn off again, the men were found living, having had nothing to take all that time except water. Phil. Trans. vol. iii. p. 32.

4970. [i. 19.] Gabriel, euphon and Gratia, for Dabriel; i. e. the Word of God, or God's Speaker.

"The names of the angels and of the months, such as Gabriel, Michael, Yar, Nisan, &c. came from Babylon with the Jews;" says expressly the Talmud of Jerusalem. And the Persians had 365 angels, answering to the number of days in a year.

4973. [Luke i. 36.] Take another view of the subject, which appears preferable: An heiress could not marry out of her own tribe: but such women as had no inheritance, might marry into whatever tribe they pleased, Num. xxxvi. 8. The priests and Levites also, as having no inheritance, nor being entitled to any; might marry in any tribe such females as were not heiresses. Thus it appears from 2 Chron. xxii. 11, that Jehoiada the priest had taken the king of Judah's daughter to wife and in Ezra ii. 61, it is written that Barzillai the Gileadite had married another priest.

4974.

See Dr. A. CLARKE, on Num. xxxvi. 8.

Jehovah, the father of Jesus Christ, was in the same sense the true High-priest of the Jewish covenant, as Jesus Christ now is of the Christian dispensation. This circumstance, added to the miraculous conception of the Baptist under the same influence, made the Virgin and Elizabeth virtually relations. It is an absurdity to look for a natural relationship, where there was a miraculous conception from the same source; immediately in the virgin, and mediately through Zacharias in Elizabeth, see John i. 6. Matt.

xii. 50.

4978. [Luke ii. 2. This taxing] This register. Sultan Selim had conquered Syria, in order to render the collection of the revenue more easy, he established a single territorial tribute, called the Miri. That this tax might be collected regularly, Selim gave orders to prepare a deftar, or register, in which the contingent of each village should be set down. VOLNEY'S Trav. vol. ii. p. 406.

Whenever a census was made at Rome, the censors registered all the Roman citizens, their wives and children, their age, qualities, trades, offices, and estates both real aud personal. Augustus was the first who extended this census to the provinces, where those, who were charged with it, pursued, without all doubt, the same method as the censors did at Rome. Univer. Hist. vol. xiii. p. 347. JUSTIN and TERTULLIAN frequently refer the Gentiles to the registers which were made on occasion of this census, and were still extant in their time.

See Justin. Apolog.; and Tertullian. in Marc. l. iv.

4975. [ 67.] When, by the laws of Athens, the bridegroom proceeded to loose the bride's girdle, the young men and maidens standing at the door sang epithalamia. Dr. W. ALEXANDER's Hist. of Women, vol. ii. p. 205. ̧

See No. 1332.

4976. [Luke ii. 1, 2.] Augustus caused three surveys of the Roman empire to be made in his time, of which this was the second. The decree now issued was in order to have the empire taxed according to the estimate made by the survey. Judea, though then subject to Rome, was excepted by the favor of the emperor, till the deposition of Archelaus, twelve years after the survey, when the taxation commenced there under Cyrenius, or Pub. Sulp. Quirinius, who was then made president of Syria.

4977.

See Univer. Hist. vol. x. p. 214.

Servius Tullius, the sixth king of Rome, about the year one hundred and eighty of its foundation, instituted the cense, or general review of all the citizens of

4979. [6.] LIGHTFOOT fixes the birth-day of Jesus Christ on the 15th of September.

Lev. xxiii. 34: John i. 14.

4980.

7. There was no place for them in the inn] Chatalumati (Grk.), the place of untying beasts of burden, &c. Caravansarai are built at proper dis lances through the roads of the Turkish dominions, and afford to the indigent or weary traveller an asylum from the inclemency of the weather; are in general built of the most solid and durable materials; have commonly one story above the ground floor, the lower of which is arched, and serves for warehouses to store goods, for lodgings, and for stables, while the upper is used merely for lodgings; besides which they are always accommodated with a fountain, and have cooks' shops and other conveniences to supply the wants of lodgers.

See Luke x. 34.

CAMPBELL's Trav. part ii. p. 8.

The Caravansarai or inns of the East are built square, much like cloysters, being usually but one story high. In the midst of the building, there is a hall for persons of the best quality to keep together. Ou each side of the hall, to the right and left, are lodgings for every man by himself. These lodgings are raised all along the court, two or three steps high, just behind which are the stables, where it is often as good tying

as in the chamber. Some prefer to lie there in the winter, because they are warm and are roofed as well as the

chambers.

TAVERNIER'S Trav. p. 45.

4984. [Luke ii. 51.] Children were then brought up in the habit of serving their parents. St. PIERRE'S Studies of Nature vol. iv. p. 75.

See No. 591, 1085.

4981. [Luke ii. 21. For the circumcising of the child] That is, for the enrolling of his name in the genealogical Table as a Nazarite', separated from all people as being of the "holy seed " from Abraham. (See Ezra ix. 1, 2.) — In thus making a Nazarite on the eighth day, the offering at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation was, to the priest, a pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons. Compare verse 24 with Num. vi. 10. - As to the circumcising or polling of the head, see Jer. ix. 26. xxv. 23. xlix. 32. Lev. xix. 27.

Had the prepuce been cut, that blemish would have disqualified JESUS from virtually becoming, as Paul stiles him, our High-priest: none, so maimed or in any way mutilated, being allowed to appear in the presence of God, even as a common priest. See Lev. xxi. 17 – 23.

When Jesus agonized in the garden, he was officiating as High-priest, and transferring the great day of atonement, as Moses did the beginning of the year, from the autumnal to the vernal equinox. See Lev. xvi. 29-34, compared with Lev. xxiii. 27 — 32, and Exod. xii. 2.

In 2 Sam. viii. 17, it is said, the sons of David were priests: according to the flesh, JESUS CHRIST, as a son of David, was a Prince, a Priest

See No. 475.

4982. [

22.] Bp. PEARCE has shewn from Josephus, that accounts of " pedigrees were made, and carefully preserved in the public Registers; and, agreeably to this, it is not unlikely that, when Jesus was presented in the Temple, an entry was then and there made by the registering priest, of his name, and of the name of Joseph his father (See John i. 45), as well as of Mary his mother." The registering priest could know nothing of the miraculous conception : nor was it proper that it should be made known to the world, till Jesus came forth in the work of the ministry, and declared himself, and was declared from heaven, to be "the Son of God."

4991. [Luke iii. 17.] In Egypt every peasant chooses for himself in the open field, a smooth plat of ground from eighty to one hundred paces in circumference. Hither is brought on camels or asses, the corn in sheaves of which is formed a ring of six or eight feet wide and two high. Two oxen, yoked in a sledge, are then driven over the sheaves; and fresh oxen succeed in the yoke from time to time, till the chaff is very much cut down the whole is then winnowed, and the pure grain thus separated. After this, a man collects the clods of dirt and other impurities, to which any corn adheres, and throws them into a sieve. They afterwards place in a ring the heaps, in which many entire ears are still found, and drive over them four or five hours together, a dozen couple of oxen joined two and two, till by absolute trampling they have separated the grains, which they throw into the air with a shovel to cleanse them.

4993. [ 23.] Joseph, by marriage, became the adopted son of Heli, the father of Mary his wife. See Frag. to CALMET's Dictionary, vol. ii. pp. 57 — 61. And Dr. Clarke's FLEURY, p. 104.

In the East, if a man bad, 1. either no child at all, or 2. none that was free-born, he had power to adopt an heir: this was to be done after the manner of a will; signed and sealed in the presence of the magistrate, as their wills were wont to be. Whosoever was thus adopted, was first to be made free of the city; and then to be INSCRIBED AMONG THE TRIBE,

OR FRATERNITY, OF HIM WHO ADOPTED HIM.
See Heb. ix. 15.

4994.

Archæologia Attica.

Luke, beginning the genealogy from Jesus, reckons it on the father's side upward; whilst Matthew, beginning it from Abraham reckons it on the mother's' side downwards to Jesus, in whom the genealogy ends.

4995. It is very credible, that the four sons of David by Bathsheba were, when young, reduced to two, Nathan and Solomon, of whom Nathan being the elder, whatever right he had to the crown as descending in his line, it centered in Heli, the father of Mary; while Solomon having actually reigned, transmitted the crown in his posterity, lineally to Joseph. Now the union of these two lines, distinctly traced by Matthew aud Luke, was completed, and terminated, in the person of Jesus.

See Frag. to CALMET, vol. ii. p. 70.

4998. [— 36.] A Cainan is here introduced in the line of Shem, not noticed in the Hebrew text either of Genesis or of Chronicles, nor in any of the Versions, except the Septuagint followed probably by Luke, who might not have learnt the Hebrew language. In vindication however of the Septuagint, we would observe that, according to the distinction of natural and legal parents, so often referred to in these Notes, Arphaxad might be the natural father of Sala, and the legal one of Cainan. See Univer. Hist. vol. x. pp. 208, 209.

It is here worthy of remark, that Luke never uses the term begot or begetting, because he traces up the genealogy of Jesus by putative, and not by natural sons.

See No. 1178.

See EUSEB. Hist. Eccl. l. i. c. 7.

5999. [Luke iv. 16.] When Jesus thus stood up to read the Second Lesson in the synagogue of Nazareth, of which he was a member, he must have read it out of a Targum, or (Chaldee) Version; for the words recited in the 18th verse, do not agree either with the Hebrew or the Septuagint. Bib. Research. Introduc. p. 63.

5000. [18. And recovering of sight to the blind] This, from the following clause, appears to allude to the wretched state of those prisoners bruised with the weight of their fetters, who, according to the inhuman custom still retained in the East, had their eyes put out; as was the case with Samson, Judges xvi. 21, and Zedekiah, 2 Kings xxv. 7. With regard to such as these, this great Deliverer is represented as restoring them; a work far beyond all human power. See CRADOCK's Harmony, p. 69.

5001. [- 20.] The third part of the synagogue service was, expounding the Scriptures and preaching to the

5003. [29.] The Talmudists say, that the person thus disposed of was precipitated from an eminence, at least the height of two men; one of the witnesses tying his hands behind him, and the other throwing him down and that if he did not die by the fall, stones were cast on him till he was actually dead.

Univer. Hist. vol. iii. p. 311. By the law of the twelve Tables, a false witness at Rome, was to be thrown down the Tarpeian rock.

Verses 28, 29.] Esop representing the Delphians as unworthy objects of Cresus's bounty, they, in revenge, brought against him a charge of sacrilege, and put him to death by throwing him headlong from a rock named Hyampia See the story in PLUTARCH, De serâ Numinis Vindicia. See also HERODOTUS, 134: and ARISTOPHANES, Vesp. 1446.

5005. [Luke v. 6. Their net brake] When with a dragnet, says BUSBEQUIUS, we brought great shoals of trembling fishes near the shore, as they were all naturally instigated to save themselves, some would leap over the net, others would cover themselves in the sand, others strove to bite the meshes; and if one made a way for itself, all would follow, till the whole draught had escaped. Trav. p. 231.

The coral net frequently, nay, almost always, in some part or other breaks on the points of rocks or other impediments at the bottom. This causes no escape of what are caught in other parts. Had the disciples' net enclosed living fish and broke with the weight, it is certain they would have had no occasion for further assistance, as most of the fish would instantly have escaped. Ezek. xlvii. 9—12.

5006. [6, 7. The net used in coral-fishing, is composed of two beams tied across, with a leaden weight or large stone to press them down; to the beams is fastened a great quantity of hemp loosely twisted round, among which they mix some strong nets. In this condition the machine is let down into the sea; and when the coral is pretty strongly embarrassed in the hemp and the nets, they draw it out by a rope, which they unwind according to the depth, and which sometimes requires half a dozen boats to draw. If the rope break, the fishermen are in great danger of drowning.

REES.

5004. [Luke v. 1.] That tract of country called Genneseret, is in extent thirty furlongs, in breadth twenty. The lake on which it borders, is in breadth forty furlongs, and in length one hundred and forty: its waters are sweet, and very agreeable for drinking, being finer than the thick waters of other feus; the lake is also pure, and on every side ends directly at the shores, and at the sand; it is also of a temperate nature when you draw it up, and of a more gentle nature than river or fountain water, and yet always cooler than one would expect in so diffuse a place as this is now when this water is kept in the open air, it is as cold as that snow which the country people are accustomed to make by night in summer. There are several kinds of fish in it, different both to the taste and the sight from those elsewhere. It is divided into two parts by the river Jordan; and that part, which is properly called the lake of Genneseret, is replenished also from a most fertile fountain, which some have thought to be a vein of the Nile, because it produces the fish Coracinus as well as that lake does which is near Alexandria (See JOSEPH. Wars, b. iii. ch. x. § 7, 8.) — The other division of this lake is called the Sea of Tiberias: see John vi. 1.

5007. [

were part

10. The sons of Zebedee ners with Simon] Coral-fishing in that country, must have been a very lucrative employment. The women of Asia still wear necklaces and bracelets, made of one or more rows of red coral; there called moongah: Although obtained in their own quarter of the world, the beads are very dear; those of about the size of a large marrow fat pea being usually sold for four or five rupees per tolah, of half an ounce; which is equal to sixteen or twenty pounds sterling for a pound avoirdupois.

NICHOLSON.

5008. L [1] Thus are Peter, James and John now called. They are chosen hereafter; see ch. vi. 13, 14. See No. 4507, and Matt. i. 20, John iv. 16, 17.

5009. [- 19.] To enter into one of the principal houses of an Eastern city, we must first pass through a porch or Lateway, with benches on each side, where the master of the family receives visits and dispatches business. From hence we are received into a quadrangular court, strewed with