empted. (2 Sam. iv. 12. Judg. i. 7. Isai. iii. 17. 2 Kings viii. 12. Psal. cxxxvii. 9.)

On their return home, the victors were received with every demonstration of joy. (Exod. xv. 1–21. Judg. xi. 34. 1 Sam. xviii. 7, 8. 2 Chron. xx. 27, 28.) Besides a share of the spoil and the honours of a triumph, various rewards were bestowed on those warriors who had pre-eminently distinguished themselves: allusions to them occur in 1 Sam. xvii. 25. 2 Sam. v. 8. and xviii. 11. 1 Chron. xi. 6.

II. At the time the apostles and evangelists wrote, Judæa was subject to the dominion of the Romans, whose troops were stationed in different parts of the country. Hence numerous allusions are made to the MILITARY DISCIPLINE OF THE ROMANS, in the New Testament, particularly in the writings of Saint Paul. See especially Eph. vi. 11-17., in which the various parts of the armour of their heavy troops are distinctly enumerated and beautifully applied to those moral and spiritual weapons with which the true Christian ought to be fortified.

The strictest subordination and obedience were exacted of every Roman soldier, who was also inured to great hardships, and was not allowed to marry. To these circumstances there are allusions in Matt. viii. 8, 9. and 2 Tim. ii. 3, 4.; and Rev. iii. 5. probably refers to the practice of expunging from the muster-roll the names of those who died or were cashiered for misconduct. Upon those who pre-eminently distinguished themselves were conferred rich and splendid crowns, frequently of gold, to which there are allusions in Rev. ii. 10. James i. 12. 1 Pet. v. 4. and 2 Tim. iv. 8. But the highest military honour which any one could receive, was a Triumph; in which, besides great numbers of waggons full of the arms and the richest spoils

which had been taken from the vanquished foe, the most illustrious captives sovereigns not exceptedwere led in fetters before the victorious general's chariot, through the streets of Rome, amidst the applause of the assembled multitudes. After the triumphal procession was terminated, the unhappy captives were generally imprisoned, and, if not put to death, were sold for slaves. The knowledge of these circumstances beautifully illustrates the allusions in 1 Cor. ii. 14-16. and Col. ii. 15.

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BOOK III.-SACRED ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS AND OF OTHER NATIONS MENTIONED IN THE SCRIPTURES.

CHAPTER I.

OF SACRED PLACES.

THE Patriarchs, both before and after the flood, were accustomed to worship Almighty God before altars, and also upon mountains and in groves. (Gen. viii. 20. xii. 8. xxi. 33. and xxii. 2.) In the wilderness, where the Israelites themselves had no settled habitations, they had by God's command a moving tabernacle; and as soon as they were fixed in the land of promise, God appointed a temple to be built at Jerusalem, which David intended, and his son Solomon performed: After the first temple was destroyed, another was built in the room of it (Ezra iii. 8.), which Christ himself owned for his house of prayer. (Matt. xxi. 13.) There were also places of worship, called in Scripture High Places, used promiscuously during the times of both the tabernacle and temple until the captivity; and, lastly, there were Synagogues among the Jews, and other places, used only for prayer, called Proseucha or oratories, which chiefly obtained after the captivity; of these various structures some account will be found in the following sections.

Mention is made in the Old Testament of three different tabernacles previously to the erection of So

lomon's temple. The first, which Moses erected for himself, is called the tabernacle of the congregation (Exod. xxxiii. 7.): here he gave audience, heard causes, and inquired of Jehovah, and here also at first, perhaps, the public offices of religion were solemnised. The second tabernacle was that erected by Moses for Jehovah, and at his express command, partly to be a palace of his presence as the king of Israel (Exod. xl. 34, 35.), and partly to be the medium of the most solemn public worship, which the people were to pay to him. (26-29.) This tabernacle was erected on the first day of the first month in the second year after the departure of the Israelites from Egypt. The third public tabernacle was that erected by David in his own city, for the reception of the ark, when he received it from the house of Obed-edom. (2 Sam. vi. 7. 1 Chron. xvi. 1.) Of the second of these tabernacles we are now to treat; it was called THE TABERNACLE by way of distinction, and was a moveable chapel, so contrived as to be taken to pieces and put together again at pleasure for the convenience of carrying it from place to place. The materials of this tabernacle were provided by the people, who contributed each according to his ability, as related in Exodus, ch. xxxv. and xxxvi.

The tabernacle consisted, first, of a house or tent, the form of which appears to have resembled that of our modern tents, but much larger; and, secondly, of an open court that surrounded it. Its constituent parts are minutely described in Exod. xxv.-xxx. and xxxv. -xl., from which the following particulars have been selected.

1. The tent itself was an oblong square thirty cubits in length and ten in height and breadth : and the body of it was composed of forty-eight boards or planks,

each of which was a cubit and a half wide and ten cubits high, and its roof was a square frame of planks. The inside of it was divided by a veil or hanging, made of rich embroidered linen, which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. In the former stood the altar of incense overlaid with gold, the table of shrewbread, consisting of twelve loaves, and the great candlestick of pure gold, containing seven branches : none of the people were allowed to go into the holy place, but only the priests. The Holy of Holies (so called because it was the most sacred place of the tabernacle, into which none went but the high priest,) contained in it the ark, called the ark of the testimony (Exod. xxv. 22.) or the ark of the covenant. (Josh. iv. 7.) This was a small chest or coffer made of shittim wood, overlaid with gold, into which were put the two tables of the law, (as well the broken ones, say the Jews, as the whole,) with the pot of manna, and Aaron's rod that budded. (Heb. ix. 4.)

The lid or covering of this ark was wholly of solid gold, and called the mercy-seat: at the two ends of it were two cherubim (or hieroglyphic figures, the form of which it is impossible now to ascertain,) looking inwards towards each other, with wings expanded, which, embracing the whole circumference of the mercy-seat, met on each side in the middle. Here the Shechinah or Divine Presence rested, both in the tabernacle and temple, and was visibly seen in the appearance of a cloud over it. (Lev. xvi. 2.) From this the divine oracles were given out by an audible voice, as often as Jehovah was consulted on behalf of his people.

(Exod. xxv. 22. Numb. vii. 89.)

And hence it is that

God is so often said in Scripture, to dwell between the cherubim. (2 Kings xix. 15. Psal. lxxx. 1.)