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5 And the meat offering shall be an ephah | oil, to temper with the fine flour; a meat

for a ram, and the meat offering for the lambs 'as he shall be able to give, and an hin of oil to an ephah.

6 And in the day of the new moon it shall be a young bullock without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram: they shall be without blemish.

7 And he shall prepare a meat offering, an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs according as his hand shall attain unto, and an hin of oil to an ephah.

8 And when the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of that gate, and he shall go forth by the way thereof.

9 But when the people of the land shall come before the LORD in the solemn feasts, he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth over against it.

10 And the prince in the midst of them, when they go in, shall go in; and when they go forth, shall go forth.

11 And in the feasts and in the solemnities the meat offering shall be an ephah to a bullock, and an ephah to a ram, and to the lambs as he is able to give, and an hin of oil to an ephah.

12 Now when the prince shall prepare a voluntary burnt offering or peace offerings voluntarily unto the LORD, one shall then open him the gate that looketh toward the east, and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, as he did on the sabbath day: then he shall go forth; and after his going forth one shall shut the gate.

13 Thou shalt daily prepare a burnt offering unto the LORD of a lamb of the first year without blemish: thou shalt prepare it every morning.

14 And thou shalt prepare a meat offering for it every morning, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of an hin of

1 Heb. the gift of his hand.

offering continually by a perpetual ordinance unto the LORD.

15 Thus shall they prepare the lamb, and the meat offering, and the oil, every morning for a continual burnt offering.

16 Thus saith the Lord GoD; If the prince give a gift unto any of his sons, the inheritance thereof shall be his sons', it shall be their possession by inheritance.

17 But if he give a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his to the year of liberty; after it shall return to the prince: but his inheritance shall be his sons' for them.

18 Moreover the prince shall not take of the people's inheritance by oppression, to thrust them out of their possession; but he shall give his sons inheritance out of his own possession: that my people be not scattered every man from his possession.

19 After he brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers of the priests, which looked toward the north: and, behold, there was a place on the two sides westward.

20 Then said he unto me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering, where they shall bake the meat offering; that they bear them not out into the utter court, to sanctify the people.

21 Then he brought me forth into the utter court, and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; and, behold, 'in every corner of the court there was a court.

22 In the four corners of the court there were courts 'joined of forty cubits long and thirty broad: these four corners were of one

measure.

23 And there was a row of building round about in them, round about them four, and it was made with boiling places under the

rows round about.

24 Then said he unto me, These are the places of them that boil, where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people.

IHeb. a son of his year.

Heb, a court in a corner of a court, and a court in a corner of a court.

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Verse 3. "The people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate."-We have met with a very curious engraving in the 'Antiquités d'Herculanum,' after an ancient painting found at Portici, representing the Egyptian worship of Isis. This we have copied; for while some allege that the forms of the Hebrew worship resembled, essentially, those of the Egyptians, and others contend that their forms were designedly made as different as possible from those of Egypt, it is an advantage to ascertain the truth from the unexceptionable testimony of an ancient painting.

That there are some resemblances is certain; and most of these applied not merely to the worship of the Egyptians, but to that of other nations also. And when we quietly consider the subject, while we can see very clearly why observances and ceremonies liable to misconception or abuse, should be altered or omitted, there does not appear any reason why the forms which the general consent of mankind had considered suitably to mark their reverence or adora

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tion, should be changed to something else which had not previously been known. Bowing the knee is a ceremony; but the Hebrews were not forbidden to bow the knee. so that they did not bow it to Baal.

The resemblances we see here are:-that sacrifice and worship are not performed in the sanctuary, but in the court before it, where the altar also appears to occupy nearly the same position as it did in the court before the Hebrew temple. The altar, moreover, is provided with "horns." Other analogies are, that the worshippers are in a standing posture, with one exception; that they are all barefooted; and that one man is blowing a trumpet precisely similar to that which the Levites blew at the Hebrew sacrifices.

The differences are more considerable than the analogies. The temple is in a grove-a thing forbidden in Scripture: every individual is bareheaded, whereas the Jews never worshipped but with covered heads: the man who blows the trumpet is sitting, whereas it is a received maxim among the Jewish doctors that no one could sit in the temple courts, excepting only the king, for the time being, of the house of David. The most important difference, however, is the presence of the congregation on each side of the altar, ranged in lines between it and the sanctuary. This is evidently a mixed congregation, in including even women; but among the Hebrews the congregation was not admitted at all into the court immediately before the sanctuary, which was appropriated solely to the priests and Levites; and moreover the women did not assemble in the same outer court as the men, but had a separate one of their own. So different indeed were the practices in this matter, that we see in the present example that one of the three most conspicuous of the officiating personages (those upon the steps) is a female, a priestess of Isis. Among the Hebrews also, the space between the porch and the altar was accounted, after the sanctuary itself, the most holy part of "the mountain of the Lord's house," and hence, when an act of worship commenced, all persons entitled to be in this court, withdrew from that part, and ranged themselves below the altar. The present cut exhibits exactly the opposite custom. These observations, suggested by the engraving we now give, will serve to point out some of the more remarkable of the agreements and differences found in the external forms of worship among the Hebrews as compared with those of their heathen neighbours. It is more than probable, that when the Jews fell into idolatry, they worshipped some of their idols after the fashion shown in the cut, and particularly "the queen of heaven" and the idols borrowed from Egypt.

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a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the 'waters were to the ancles.

4 Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins.

5 Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed

over.

6 And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river.

7 Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.

8 Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the 'desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed.

9 And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh.

10 And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.

11 But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof 'shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt.

12 And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed :

it shall bring forth 'new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof

Heb. waters of the ankles. Heb. waters of swimming. 7 Or, and that which shall not be healed. 8 Heb. shall come 12 Or, swore. 13 Gen. 27. 7, and 17. 8, and 26. 3, and 28. 13. 17 Or, valley.

shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof "for "medicine.

13 Thus saith the Lord GoD; This shall be the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions.

14 And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another: concerning the which I 1*1*lifted up mine hand to give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance.

15 And this shall be the border of the land toward the north side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad;

16 Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; "Hazar-hatticon, which is by the coast of Hauran.

17 And the border from the sea shall be Hazar-enan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And this is the north side

18 And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And this is the east side.

19 And the south side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of "strife in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south side southward.

20 The west side also shall be the great sea from the border, till a man come over against Hamath. This is the west side.

21 So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel.

22 And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.

23 And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord GOD.

8 Heb. lip. 4 Rev. 29.2. 5 Or, plain.
up. 9 Or. principal. 10 Or, for bruises and sores.
14 Or, the middle village. 15 Heb. from between.
18 Or, toward Teman.

Heb. two rivers.
11 Rev. 22.2.
16 Or, Meribah.

Verse 1. "Behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward." - Whatever be thought of the description contained in these chapters, as a whole, it is generally admitted that the account contained in this chapter of the waters issuing from the temple, deepening and widening as they went, blessing the land through which they passed, and healing the sea of death to which they came, must be figuratively understood. And, thus understood. most commentators seem inclined to apply the allegory to the spread and the blessings of the Christian faith. It is indeed impossible to understand the account literally: yet it is certain that this figurative description is founded upon circumstances proper to the place and country, and which are applied and sustained with great felicity in this very beautiful parable.

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It must be evident that a great quantity of water must have been required for the service of the temple. How this supply was obtained appears from the Rabbinical writers, and still more distinctly from Aristeas, whose book was written while the second temple stood, and whose account we give as quoted by Lightfoot (Prospect of the Temple,'

-ch. xxiii.): "There was a continual supply of water, as if there had been an abundant fountain underneath. And there were wonderful and inexpressible receptacles under ground, as appeared five furlongs space about the temple; each one of which had divers pipes, by which waters came in on every side; all these were of lead, under ground. and much earth laid upon them. And there were many vents on the pavement, not to be seen at all but to those that served; so that in a trice, and easily, all the blood of the sacrifices could be washed away, though it were never so much. And I will tell you how I came to know of these under-ground receptacles: they brought me out more than four furlongs space out of the city, and one bade me stoop down at a certain place, and listen what a noise the meeting of the waters made." From this it seems that the waters were collected from many neighbouring sources; but the Rabbins inform us that the principal supply was derived from the fountain of Etam. It appears that these streams, after having passed under the temple and filled its cisterns, went out on the east side, and there uniting with each other, and with the waters of Siloam, Kidron, and other streams, that seem to have been more numerous and abundant about Jerusalem in ancient times than at present-the whole formed a considerable body of water, augmented by other streams as it passed, till it ultimately fell into the Dead Sea. In this climate, we may be sure that this stream, in proportion to its extent, fertilized the land through which it passed, and was lined with shrubs and bushes, if not trees also; supplying the comparison or statement in verse 7. We are not to suppose that this stream had any considerable effect in "healing" the waters of the Dead Sea, for even the stream of the Jordan has not; but as the stream of living water did enter the salt and bitter waters of the Dead Sea, the figurative account, which follows, of the blessed effects of the fresh stream upon the waters of death, is most naturally and beautifully applied. The Sea is supposed thus to receive

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2. that healing which it did and does still require: and the reader who has perused the accounts of this Sea (our own, under Gen. xix. 25., for instance) will not fail to observe how remarkably the healing effects are stated, so as to convey distinct intimations of the peculiarities by which that lake was distinguished from others; such as that it should abound in fish-intimating that it that it naturally did not; that, in consequence, fishers should frequent all its shores, which never happened in the natural state of the lake; and that its banks should be lined with trees of nourishment and health, of which it was naturally destitute.

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11. "The miry places...and the marishes...shall be given to salt." See the note on 2 Kings xiv. 7.

16. "Hauran." This name occurs only here and in verse 18; and denotes a district to the south of Damascus. and east of the half tribe of Manasseh and the tribe of Gad, beyond Jordan. Its extent seems to have varied at different times. Col. Leake supposes that it was of inconsiderable extent in the time of the Jews, but enlarged its boundaries under the Greeks and Romans, who modified its name to Auranitis. It has been still further increased since that time,

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and the district which now bears the name includes not only Auranitis but Ituræa also, together with the greater part of Bashan, or Batanæa, and Trachonitis; extending, in its greatest length, from about twenty miles to the south of Damascus to a little below Bozra.

Very little was known of this tract of country till the ample accounts which have been furnished by Burckhardt and Buckingham, in their respective 'Travels.' As it is but slightly mentioned in Scripture, we may content ourselves with a reference to the descriptions which these travellers supply; although some further notice of this territory may be taken under Luke iii. 1, where the ancient districts which form the most considerable portion of the modern Hauran are particularly mentioned,

CHAPTER XLVIII.

1, 23 The portions of the twelve tribes, 8 of the sanctuary, 15 of the city and suburbs, 21 and of the prince. 30 The dimensions and gates of the city.

Now these are the names of the tribes. From the north end to the coast of the way of Hethlon, as one goeth to Hamath, Hazarenan, the border of Damascus northward, to the coast of Hamath; for these are his sides east and west; 'a portion for Dan.

2 And by the border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Asher.

3 And by the border of Asher, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Naphtali.

4 And by the border of Naphtali, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Manasseh.

5 And by the border of Manasseh, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Ephraim.

6 And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Reuben.

7 And by the border of Reuben, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Judah.

8 And by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side, shall be the offering which ye shall offer of five and twenty thousand reeds in breadth, and in length as one of the other parts, from the east side unto the west side. and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it.

9 The oblation that ye shall offer unto the LORD shall be of five and twenty thousand in length, and of ten thousand in breadth.

10 And for them, even for the priests, shall be this holy oblation; toward the north five and twenty thousand in length, and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south five and twenty thousand in length: and the sanctuary of the LORD shall be in the midst thereof.

11 'It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok; which have kept my charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.

12 And this oblation of the land that is offered shall be unto them a thing most holy by the border of the Levites.

13 And over against the border of the priests the Levites shall have five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: all the length shall be five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten thou

sand.

14 And they shall not sell of it, neither exchange, nor alienate the firstfruits of the land: for it is holy unto the LORD.

15 And the five thousand, that are left in the breadth over against the five and twenty thousand, shall be a profane place for the city, for dwelling, and for suburbs: and the city shall be in the midst thereof.

16 And these shall be the measures thereof; the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred.

17 And the suburbs of the city shall be toward the north two hundred and fifty, and toward the south two hundred and fifty, and toward the east two hundred and fifty, and toward the west two hundred and fifty.

18 And the residue in length over against the oblation of the holy portion shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward: and it shall be over against the oblation of the holy portion; and the increase thereof shall be for food unto them that serve the city.

19 And they that serve the city shall serve it out of all the tribes of Israel.

20 All the oblation shall be five and twenty thousand by five and twenty thousand: ye shall offer the holy oblation foursquare, with the possession of the city.

21 And the residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of

1 Heb. one portion. Or, The sanctified portion shall be for the priests. 3 Or, ward, or, ordinance.

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