Ephes. i. 13; Rev. vii. 4, 8; xiii. 17, 18; xiv. 1-5; Ezek. ix. 2-11.

§. 135. DRESS AT FESTIVALS AND ON OCCASIONS OF

MOURNING.

The festival dress was very splendid; it was white, and as often as the festival returned, was newly washed and perfumed with myrrh, cassia, and aloes, Gen. xxvii. 27; Psalms, xlv. 8; Cant. iv. 11. It was worn on the festivals of the family, of the state, and of religion; but when the festival was ended it was laid aside. The splendid garments of festivals were denominated

etc. Vast expense was ,הַדְרֵי קֹדֶשׁ, מַעֲטֶה תְּהִלָּה in Hebrew

bestowed upon them, both as respected their quality and number, 2 Kings, v. 5; Matt. x. 10; James, v. 2. The mourning dress, Hebrew, or sackcloth, is well known. It was in truth a sack, which was thrown over the person, and extended down to the knees; but which, nevertheless, had holes for the admission of the arms. The materials were a coarse dark cloth of goat's hair, Job, xvi. 15; Jonah, iii. 5.

NOTE. In the book of Leviticus, xiii. 47-59, the leprosy of garments is fully spoken of. The marks or indications of the existence and nature of this leprosy are also stated with some particularity in the verses referred to. What this plague, as it is termed, was, it is difficult to state with accuracy, since the conjectures, which the learned have hazarded in regard to it, are by no means satisfactory. Without doubt the Hebrews had observed certain destructive effects wrought upon clothing, whether made of wool, cotton, or leather; and not understanding their origin or their nature, they chose to call them from certain resemblances, as much apparent as real, the corroding plague or leprosy,

The most probable conjecture with regard to .צָרַעַת מַמְאֶרֶת

these effects is, that they were merely the depredations of certain small insects, invisible to the naked eye. The Hebrews, without doubt, considered the clothes' leprosy, as they termed it, contagious; and consequently a serious and fearful evil. This opinion was the ground of the rigid laws which are laid down in respect to it in Lev. xiii. 47-59.

CHAPTER IX.

CONCERNING FOOD AND FEASTS.

§. 136. OF FOOD IN GENERAL.

AT first men lived upon the fruits of trees, herbs, roots, seeds, and whatever they could find in the vegetable kingdom, that might conduce to the support of life; all which was expressed in Hebrew by the word, in the general sense of that word, Gen. i. 29; ii. 16. Afterwards a method was invented to bruise grain, and to reduce it to a mass; to ferment it, bake it, and thus to make bread, which is also expressed by, in the more limited sense of the word. Still later, water, milk, oil, and honey, were mingled with the meal, and bread was made of a richer and more valuable kind. Even so early as the time of Abraham, the art of preparing bread was carried to some degree of perfection. Before the deluge, the flesh of animals was used as food, as may be inferred from the division of animals into clean and unclean, Gen. vii. 2, 8. After the deluge, animals are expressly mentioned as being slain for food, Gen. ix. 3. But flesh is not so palatable and nutritious in warm climates as in others; therefore fruits, bread, olives, and milk, are the customary food.

§. 137. PREPARATION OF FOOD BY FIRE.

Originally food of every kind was eaten without being cooked, either because fire had not been discovered by man, or that its utility in dressing food was unknown. At length fire and its uses were discovered. The first method of obtaining fire was, to elicit sparks by the collision of steel and flint, or by the friction of pieces of wood. This method of obtaining fire was very ancient, as we may learn from the etymology of the word, Isaiah, 1. 11.

§. 138. OF MILLS.

Corn was eaten at first without any preparation; the custom of thus eating it had not gone into total desuetude in the time of

Christ, Matt. xii. 1; Levit. ii. 12; Deut. xxiii. 25. After the uses of fire were known, corn was parched. Parching it became so common, that the words,, and, which properly mean parched, mean also corn or meal, 2 Sam. xvii. 28; Lev. ii. 12, 14; Ruth, ii. 14. Some, who found a difficulty in mastication, broke to pieces the kernels of corn with stones or pieces of wood; this suggested the idea of mortars, and eventually of mills. The mortar, 7, 2, was used in the time of Moses for bruising corn, also the mill, 1, Numb. xi. 8. Fine meal, i. e. corn or grain ground or beaten fine, is spoken of as far back as the time of Abraham, Gen. xviii. 6; hence mills and mortars must have been previously known. The mill common among the Hebrews, differed little from that which is used at this day in Egypt and the east. It consisted of two circular stones, two feet in diameter, and half a foot thick. The lower one was called and , Deut. xxiv. 6. There was a slight elevation in the centre, and it was fixed in the floor. The upper one was called 27, Judg. ix. 53. It was moveable, and in order to make it fit precisely to the other stone it was slightly hollowed. In the midle of it was a hole, through which the corn to be ground was admitted. The upper stone had a handle attached to it, by which it was moved upon the lower, and the corn and grain were in this way broken. There were sieves attached to the mill, which separated the flour from the bran; the bran was put into the mill again and re-ground. The sieves were made of reeds; those made of horse-hair were a later invention; not earlier than the time of Pliny.

§. 139. GRINDING.

As there were neither public mills nor bakers, except the king's, Gen. xl. 2; Hos. vii. 4-8; each family possessed a mill; hence it was made an infringement of the law, for a person to take another's mill or millstone, as a pledge, Deut. xxiv. 6. At first barley alone was ground; afterwards wheat was generally used, and the use of barley was confined to the poor, although the barley of the warm climate of the east was preferable to ours. On the second day, in warm climates, bread becomes dry and insipid; hence the necessity of baking every day, and hence also the daily grinding at the mills about evening. The sound of the millstones is spoken of by the prophet Jer. xxv. 10. The mill

was commonly turned by two persons, the lowest maid-servants. They sat opposite each other. One took hold of the mill handle and impelled it half way round; the other then seized it and completed its revolution, Exod. xi. 5; Job. xxxi. 10, 11; Isaiah, xlvii. 2; Matt. xxiv. 41. The labour was severe and menial; frequently enemies, taken in war, were condemned to perform it, Judg. xvi. 21; Lam. v. 13.

§. 140. BAKINg Bread in an Oven.

The business of baking was performed anciently by women, however high their stations, Gen. xviii. 6; Lev. xxvi. 26; 2 Sam. xiii. 6, 8; Jer. vii. 18, 19. When luxury afterwards prevailed among them, the matrons and their daughters gave it up to their female servants, 1 Sam. viii. 13. These servants were so numerous in the palace of David, that a portion of bread and other food was distributed to them, the same as to a large multitude of men, 2 Sam. vi. 19. In Egypt there were king's bakers at a very early period; their appearance in Palestine was much later; Hos. vii. 4-7; Jer. xxxvii. 21.

Kneading troughs were wooden trays, in which the flour, being mingled with water, was formed into a solid mass, and after remaining a little time, was kneaded, some leaven being added to it, Exod. xii. 34; Deut. xxviii. 5, 17. In case it was necessary to prepare the bread very hastily, the leaven was left out, Gen. xviii. 6; xix. 3; Judg. vi. 19; 1 Kings, xvii. 12; Exod. xii. 15, 34; xiii. 3, 7; Lev. ii. 11; Deut. xvi. 3; Amos, iv. 5. The cakes when made were round, ??, Judg. viii. 5, and nine or ten inches in diameter. The unleavened cakes were very thin; the leavened were as thick as a man's little finger. The bread was not cut with a knife but broken, Hebrew, Isaiah, Iviii. 7; Lam. iv. 4; Matt. xiv. 19; xv. 36: xxvi. 26. Of ovens or places for baking there were four kinds :

I. The mere sand, heated by a fire, which was subsequently removed. The raw cakes were placed upon it; in a little while they were turned, and afterwards, to complete the process, were covered with warm ashes and cinders. Unless they were turned, they were not thoroughly baked. This explains Hos. vii. 8. The cakes, called in Hebrew, were prepared in this way, Gen. xviii. 6; xix. 3; 1 Kings, xix. 6.

II. The second sort of oven was an excavation in the earth,

two and a half feet in diameter, of different depths, from five to six feet, as we may suppose from those which still exist in Persia. This sort of oven occurs under the word 2, and in Lev. xi. 35, is mentioned in connexion with the word. The bottom was paved with stones; when the oven was sufficiently warmed, the fire was taken away, the cakes were placed upon the warm stones, and the mouth of the oven was shut.

III. A moveable oven, called, which was constructed of brick, and covered within and without with clay. A fire was kindled within it, and the dough was placed upon the side, where it was baked. This bread, or cake, was called,

Lev. ii. 4.

IV. A plate of iron, placed upon three stones; the fire was kindled beneath it, and the raw cakes placed on the upper surface. The cake baked in this way is perhaps the e, mentioned in Lev. ii. 5; vi. 14. Not only leavened and unleavened cakes were baked in these ovens ; but other kinds also, which it is not necessary to mention.

§. 141. ON THe different KINDS OF FOOD.

Cooking,, was performed by the matron of the family, unless when intent on the adorning of her person she thought proper to commit it to a female servant. Vegetables, lentils especially, which are greatly esteemed even to this day among the orientals, were the principal food, Gen. xxv. 30, 34; cakes mixed with honey, were also frequently used, Ezek. xvi. 13. Flesh was only served up at festivals, except when a stranger was present, Gen. xviii. 7; Deut. xv. 20; Luke, xv. 23. The orientals at the present day use flesh sparingly; long abstinence from it, however, produces a great desire for it, Numb. xi. 4, 12. As luxury increased, the flesh of animals began to be more used for food; venison and the meat of the "fatted calf," and of fatted oxen, were peculiarly esteemed, Gen. xviii. 7; xli. 2; 1 Sam. xvi. 20; xxviii. 24; 2 Sam. vi. 13. The flesh of the sheep and goat kind, particularly of lambs and kids, was esteemed the choicest dish of any, and therefore, it was much used in sacrifices. In the most ancient ages the animal was slain by the master of the family himself, although he were a prince. The cooking also was done by his wife, even were she a princess, Gen. xviii. 2-6; Judges, vi. 19.