required, whereas the Hebrew Seh (), translated lamb, means not only the young of a sheep, but includes also a kid of the goats. Kids, therefore, were as lawful for the Passover as lambs; and Oriental flocks have always a large admixture of goats, as they do not require such good pasturage, "and the goat is more easily fed than any other animal of its size." In the present which Jacob sent to Esau, the proportion of sheep and goats is the same. "Two hundred

she goats and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams," Gen. xxxii. 14. If, therefore, the Israelites had not lambs enough, they could take kids; and, if both failed, we learn from Deut. xvi. 2, that even oxen might be used: "Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the Passover unto the Lord thy God, from the flock or from the herd." From 2 Chron. xxx. 24, and xxxv. 7, it appears that in the Passovers of Hezekiah and Josiah bullocks were actually employed as well as lambs and kids.

Thus all D. C.'s calculations about the number of acres necessary to keep so many sheep, and so many sheep necessary to produce so many lambs, are arithmetic thrown away. A less hasty study of the Bible might have helped him to arrive at different conclusions. It would certainly have saved him from making difficulties where none exist.

Of a similar nature is the difficulty derived

from the Israelites borrowing from the Egyptians. They "hastened at a moment's notice to borrow in all directions from the Egyptians;" .... and we have "to imagine the time that would be required for the poorer half of London going hurriedly to borrow from the richer half, in addition to their other anxieties, in starting upon such a sudden and momentous expedition." Here again the impetuousness of D. C.'s zeal has betrayed him into an error not to be expected from an intelligent student. The command to borrow, or rather to demand, and the willingness of the Egyptians to give, are related in Chap. xi., before the announcement to Pharaoh of the coming death of the firstborn, and before the celebration of the Passover. How long before does not appear, but probably before even the choice of a lamb on the tenth day. Most of the supposed difficulties in this chapter arise from one grave and fundamental error. D. C. assumes that the command to keep the Passover was not given to Israel until the same day that the Passover was to be kept. Thus he says, on p. 54, "In one single day, the whole immense population of Israel, as large as that of London, was to keep the Passover, and actually did keep it. I have said 'in one single day;' for the first notice of any such feast to be kept is given in this very chapter, where we find it written, verse 12, 'I will pass through the land

of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt."" He attempts to strengthen his position, by remarking on the difference between two Hebrew pronouns. "The expression in verse 12 is distinctly, 'this,' not that,' as in xiii. 8." Now, as a general rule, this is all very well, and necessary to be observed by beginners in Hebrew; but, owing to the peculiarity of the Hebrew style in narrative, it does not always hold good. Thus in Lev. xvi. 30, the English version has, "For on that day shall the Priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you." The English idiom here required that ;' as if the Hebrew had Hahu, N. But in Hebrew it is, "For on this day (Hazzeh, ) shall the Priest make an atonement," and yet the reference is not to the day on which the Lord was speaking, but to that of which He had been speaking, and concerning which He had been giving directions in the whole of the chapter. In like manner here, Exod. xii: 12, "this night" does not refer to the day in which the Lord was speaking to Moses, but to that day concerning which He had been giving His commands, in the preceding verses . Compare also ver. 8 with ver. 6 in the original.

ההוא,Hahu

For a similar use of, see Gen. vii. 11. "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, in this day, ', were all the fountains of the great deep broken up." Here "in this

Indeed, in this very chapter there is another similar use of Zeh, n, not perceivable in the English version, which has "It came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day, it came to pass. But in the Hebrew it is "In this selfsame day, DV, it came to pass," where it is plain that the historian is not speaking of the then present day in which he was writing, but of that day which formed the subject of the whole chapter. D. C.'s Hebrew criticism is therefore of no value, as it proceeds simply from inadequate acquaintance with Hebrew idiom, and the difficulty based on it, of course, falls to the ground.

But even without any Hebrew at all, the attentive reader of this chapter in the English version will see that D. C. is wrong. The direction to choose the lamb on the tenth day necessarily presupposes that it was given before the tenth day, and therefore D. C. himself says, "It is true that the story as it now stands, with the directions about taking the lamb on the tenth day,' and

day" does not mean the day on which Moses was writing, but that day long past, the end of the seven days of which he had spoken in the preceding chapter. Again, in Josh. v. 11, "And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover

....

בעצם) in this selfsame day

D)," where, again, "this" does not refer to the then present day in which he was writing, but to that which was past.

'keeping it until the fourteenth,' are perplexing and contradictory," that is, they annihilate his whole theory and objections. But to them who read the whole chapter quietly over there is nothing perplexing or contradictory. They find, first of all, in verse 3, "Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb [margin, 'or kid'], according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house." Then, verse 6, "And ye shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month', and the whole congregation of the children of Israel shall kill it in the evening [margin, 'between the two evenings']. . for (verse 12) I will pass through the land this night, and will smite all the firstborn in Egypt. This day (verse 14) shall be unto you for a memorial .. for in this selfsame day (verse 17) have I brought out your armies out of the land of Egypt." The reader perceives that the Lord begins to speak some time before the tenth day of the month, and commands the choosing of a lamb or kid on that day. Then He tells them to keep it until the fourteenth day. Then He says, "for I shall in this night pass through the land of Egypt," evidently referring to the night of the day mentioned, verse 6, and not to the night of the day in which

"Not" of the same month," as in the E. V.