closed with lattices, or curtains, or some transparent substances, the nature of which is not now known. The houses were constructed of either stone or sunburnt brick: the walls were built thick, in order to screen the inhabitants more effectually from the great heat, &c. They made use of fragrant timber, as cedar and cypress, to wainscot their apartments, and out of these they made the ceiling and pillars. 2 Sam. v, 11.

VI. Furniture of their Houses.

THE furniture of the Hebrew houses seem to be plain and few. There is frequent mention of wooden and earthen vessels. We read, (2 Sam. xvii, 28.) that there were brought to David " beds, and basons,” probably wooden bowls, and earthen vessels. Their beds were a kind of couches without curtains, except they used a kind of light coverings made of fine gauze, to keep off the gnats and insects, whence comes the name canopy.* The beds seem to have been at some considerable height from the floor. Ps. cxxxii, 3; 2 Kings i, 16. The prophet Amos reprehends the effeminatę and luxurious of his time for their beds of ivory, and soft couches. ch. vi, 4; see also Prov. vii, 16, 17. Probably their beds in general consisted of skins of beasts, mats, carpets, &c. If we may judge of the furniture of their apartments from the bed, the stool, and the candlestick, which the Shunamite furnished the

prophet's chamber with, (2 Kings iv, 10.) we may presume that in general they were very plain, simple, and necessary.

VII. Their Dress.

IT is impossible to give a correct description of the dress or costume of the Israelites, as there are no paintings or statues of them extant, as we have of the Greeks and Romans. We gather only from the Holy Scriptures that they had a long, loose tunic and drawers made of linen, and a kind of cloak or pallium of light woollen cloth over the whole, only used when they went abroad. The beauty of the dress consisted in the fineness of the cloth, or the colour, as purple, scarlet, blue, and yellow. White was the colour most in use, because it was the natural colour of the linen and wool, and could be more easily washed; therefore, Solomon recommends it, as it is absolutely necessary in warm climates to shift often. Eccles. ix, 8. The youth of both sexes wore clothes variegated with divers colours, such was Joseph's coat made up of stripes of differently coloured cloth. Gen. xxxvii, 3. Similar to this was the toga prætexta of the Roman youth, which was white, striped or fringed with purple: this they wore till they were seventeen years of age, when they changed it for the toga virilis, or toga pura, which was all white. 2 Sam. xiii, 18. The Israelites were commanded to wear blue fringes to the borders of their garments, for a remembrance that they were no longer to live after their own will, but after the commandments of God. Numb. xv, 38, 39; Deut. xxii, 12. All the Jews wore

up

these fringes, and so probably did our Lord, (Matt. ix, 20.) where the word ngaσπndov, is rather to be understood of the fringe, than of the hem of his garment. The Hebrew tunic was wide and long, and was tied with a girdle when they worked or travelled: hence the Scripture phrase, "Arise, gird up thy loins, and do this." Their heads were covered with a kind of turban, or tiara, the form of which is not now known. They wore their own hair, for to be shaved was a mark of mourning: and they wore their beards long, as it appears from 2 Sam. x, 4. Their shoes were a kind of sandals, made either of wood, leather, skin, or some such materials, laced to the foot, and, perhaps, to the leg. Wearing nothing but sandals, they could not walk without gathering much dust; hence the Scriptures speak so much about washing the feet at first coming into a house, at sitting down at table, and going to bed.*

We often read in Scripture of the custom of making presents of changes of raiment, which were given by way of reward and honour; hence we may gather that their wardrobes were well furnished. Gen. xlv, 22; Jud. xiv, 12, 19; Rev. vi, 11; vii, 9, 14. It is a custom in the East to this day to make presents of garments; and the Asiatic sovereigns keep in their wardrobes a large number of changes of raiment ready made up, for presents to persons of distinction, whom they wish particularly to honour.

To guard against the inconvenience of excessive evaporation, by frequent bathings in those warm countries, they anointed themselves with oil, or perfumed ointment; and thus not only excessive evaporation was prevented, but the exposed surface was rendered

more capable of resisting the action of a Fleury, p. 78.

scorching atmosphere.

*

The dress of the Hebrew women, especially those of high rank, and the rich, was very costly and curious, and it was highly ornamented with embroidery or needle-work. They wore jewels of gold and silver, fine stuffs, silken girdles, purple shoes, bracelets, necklaces, ear-rings, &c. Ezek. xvi, 10, 11, &c. The prophet Isaiah has spent almost a whole chapter in enu_ merating the costly ornaments with which the women in his time used to deck themselves. chap. iii. To all these we may add the veil, which is often mentioned in Scripture, and was used as a sign of chastity, modesty, and subjection.

The Jews also were accustomed to tie about their foreheads and arms slips or pieces of parchment or vellum, on which the following portions of the law were written; Exod. xiii, 1-10; xiii, 11--16; Deut. vi, 4--9; xi, 13–21, all inclusive. These pieces of parchment, inscribed with the above portions of scripture, were called Phylacteries, from puxaσow to keep, or preserve; and which the Jews of old, by interpreting literally, Deut. vi, 8, and the above passages,† tied to the fronts of their turbans and on their arms. These appendages to the dress of a Jew formed no inconsiderable part of his religion: they were worn as a sign of obligation to God, and as representing some future

The silk mentioned in Scripture grows upon a large shell-fish of the muscle species, the Pinna longa. The silk is formed out of its beard, or tuft. It is found on the coast of the Mediterranean Our silk made from worms was unknown to the Israelites, and the use of it did not become common on this side the Indies, till more than five hundred years after Christ. See Fleury, p. 75.

sea.

These passages seem to be selected in vindication of the use of the Phylactery, as the reader will see on consulting them:-bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and for frontlets between thy eyes, write them upon the posts of thy house, and upon thy gates; all which commands the Jews took in the most literal sense.

*

blessedness. Hence the Jews did not wear them on feast days, nor on the sabbath, because these things were, in themselves, signs; but they wore them always when they read the law, or when they prayed; and hence they called them on, tephilin, prayer ornaments, or incitements to prayer. In process of time, the spirit of this law was lost in the letter, and when the word was not in their mouth, nor the law in their heart, they had their Phylacteries on their foreheads and on their hands: and the Pharisees, who, in our Saviour's time, affected extraordinary piety, made their phylacteries very broad, either that they might have the more written on them, or that the characters being larger they might be the more visible, so that the they might thereby acquire greater esteem among common people, as being more than ordinarily religious. For the same reason, they wore the fringes of their garments of an unusual length. Moses had commanded the children of Israel, as we have above observed, to put fringes to the borders of their garments, that when they looked upon them, they might remember not only the law in general, but also all its precepts, rites, and ceremonies. Num. xv, 38, 39. As these hypocrites were destitute of the life and power of religion within, they endeavoured to supply its place by phylacteries and fringes without, Matt. xxiii, 5.

The Jew wore his Phylacteries on his forehead, and on bis hands, and fringes round his garments, that he might be continually reminded of the covenant of Jehovah, of his statutes and ordinances. Let the Christian learn a lesson hence to walk circumspectedly: to take heed that the words of his mouth, the acts of his hands, and all his goings shew that he belong to God; that he has taken his Holy Spirit for the guide of his heart; his word for the rule of his life; his people for his companions; his heaven for his inheritance; and God himself for the portion of his soul.