religious well-being even of those who fill the most sacred offices in the church. (4) Finally, if God in His wisdom enforced abstinence and prohibition as His prophylactic against intemperance within the circle of the priesthood, who can regard those measures as needless or extreme remedies for the same evil in general society at the present day?

CHAPTER X. VERSE 12.

And Moses spake unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons that were left, Take the meat offering that remaineth of the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside the altar: for it is most holy.

WITHOUT LEAVEN] Hebrew, matzoth, 'unfermented cakes.' 'Eat it with sweet [fresh] cakes' is therefore the proper translation of this clause; 'unleavened,' by inference, as opposed to that which had fermented or corrupted.

CHAPTER XIX. VERSE 10.

And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.

The literal translation of the first two clauses is—'And thy vineyard [vě-karměkah] thou shalt not glean, and the scattering of [u-pheret] thy vineyard [karměkah] thou shalt not gather.' The grapes left after the first plucking or cutting, whether left on the vine or scattered on the ground, should be for the gleaning of the poor. [See Note on Deut. xxiv. 21.]

CHAPTER XXIII. VERSE 6.

And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.

UNLEAVENED BREAD, twice] Hebrew, matzoth, 'unfermented-cakes.'

CHAPTER XXIII. VERSE 13.

And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savor: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin.

See NOTE on Exod. xxix. 40.

CHAPTER XXIII. VERSE 17.

Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.

LEAVEN] Hebrew, khahmātz, 'fermented matter.'

CHAPTER XXV. VERSE 3.

Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof.

THY VINEYARD] Hebrew, karmekah, 'thy vineyard.'

CHAPTER XXV. VERSE 4.

But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.

THY VINEYARD] Hebrew, karmekah, 'thy vineyard.'

CHAPTER XXV. VERSE 5.

That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.

THE GRAPES OF THY VINE UNDRESSED] Hebrew, ve-eth-invai nezirekah lo thivizor, and the grapes of thy separated thou shalt not gather.' The vine is here called nazir (separated or consecrated) because during the seventh year it was not to be pruned or plucked.

CHAPTER XXV. VERSE II.

A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed.

NOR GATHER THE GRAPES IN IT OF THY VINE UNDRESSED] Neither 'grapes' nor 'vine' is in the original Hebrew, which reads, vě-lo thivtzeru eth-nězirah, 'and thou shalt not gather (or cut off) thy separated.' Each fiftieth year was to be like every seventh-a year separated from the ordinary cultivation of the soil, and this idea of separation from toil, and consecration to rest, was naturally assigned to the whole produce of the land on these septennial and jubilee festivals.

CHAPTER XXVI. VERSE 5.

And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.

The vintage, twice] Hebrew, batzir, 'the cutting off,' from bahtzar, 'to cut off,' a name transferred to the season when the grapes were gathered, which was generally done by cutting them away with a sharp instrument [mazmūra, pruninghook], in order to avoid injury to the vine.

THE BOOK OF NUMBERS.

CHAPTER VI. VERSES I-4.

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD: 3 He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.

4

V. 2. A NAZARITE] The Hebrew nahzir (from nahzar, ‘to separate one's self') has been retained in the English A. V. The Lxx. reads, "Man or woman, whoever shall specially vow a vow to separate or purify himself with purity to the Lord (aneer ee gunee hos ean megalūs euxeetui eucheen aphagnisasthai hagneian kuriō).” V. 3. HE SHALL SEPARATE HIMSELF FROM WINE AND STRONG DRINK] The Hebrew is miy-yayin vě-shakar yatzir, from yayin and shakar he shall separate himself.' The Lxx. has apo oinou kai sikera hagnistheesetai, 'from wine and sicera he shall purify himself (or purely abstain).' The V. is a vino et omni quod inebriare potest abstinebunt, from wine and whatever is inebriating they shall . abstain.' The T. of Onkelos has makhamar khadath vě-atiq yivour, 'from wine, new and old, he shall be separated.' Onkelos thus gives yayin the sense of 'new wine,' and shakar that of 'old wine,' which makes their difference to consist, not in a difference of the juice, but in a difference of age between portions of the same kind of juice,-that of the grape. A rabbinical tradition is mentioned by Maimonides, that strong drink made of dates, or such like, was lawful for the Nazarite, the kind forbidden here being strong drink made with mixture of wine! Another of these traditions went so far as to state that "if a little wine be mingled with honey, or the like, so that there be no taste of the wine, it is lawful for the Nazarite to drink it." What law could survive such unprincipled glosses and elastic interpretations?

AND SHALL DRINK NO VINEGAR OF WINE, OR vinegar of strONG DRINK] The Hebrew is khometz yayin vě-khometz shakar lo yishteh, 'fermented-liquor of wine and fermented-'iquor of shakar he shall not drink.' The LXX. reads, kai oxos ex oinou kai oxos ex sicera ou pietai, 'and vinegar (fermented liquor) from wine, and vinegar from sicera, he shall not drink.' The T. of Onkelos gives "the vinegar (khol) of wine new, and the vinegar of wine old." The V. has acetum ex vino et

ex qualibet alia potione non bibent, vinegar from wine and from any other liquor they shall not drink.' That the V. should have rendered shakar in this clause by qualibet alia potio is worthy of note. The English A. V. renders khometz by 'vinegar' in the six places where it occurs in the Old Testament, according to the Masorite pointing,-Numb. vi. 3 (twice); Ruth ii. 14; Psa. lxix. 21; Prov. x. 26; XXV. 20. The Greek versions of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, of this passage are lost, but in Psa. lxix. 21 and Prov. x. 26 they supply omphax, ‘an unripe (or sour) grape,' which is defended by Michaelis. Dr A. Clarke observes, "Khometz signifies fermented wine, and is probably used here to signify wine of a strong body, or any highly intoxicating liquor." As the ancients did not scientifically distinguish between the alcoholic and acetous fermentations, the generic word signifying 'fermented' was used to describe both. In a hot climate, when yayin and shakar passed into the alcoholic fermentation, it was difficult to prevent the acetous following. It is the general complaint of winemakers on the Continent that they cannot keep their wines, or transport them to any distance, without mixing them with brandy-a contrivance not available to the ancients.

NEITHER SHALL HE DRINK ANY LIQUOR OF GRAPES] Hebrew, vě-kahl-mishrath anakvim lo yishteh, and every (= any) maceration of grapes he shall not drink.' Mishrath, from sharah, 'to loosen' or 'macerate,' signifies 'drink made of steeped grapes.' (So Gesenius.) Bishop Patrick understands "secondary wine, which was made by maceration of grapes in water, after the juice had been pressed out to make wine." The LXX. has kai hosa katergazetai ek staphulees ou pietai, ‘and whatever is concocted (or elaborated) from the grape he shall not drink.' Aquila and Symmachus have pasan apobrexin staphulees, 'every infusion of the grape'; the V., et quidquid de uva exprimitur non bibent, and whatever from the grape is expressed they shall not drink.' The Syriac gives 'maceration of grapes.'

NOR EAT MOIST GRAPES, OR DRIED] Hebrew, va-anahvim lakhim vivāshim lo yokul, and grapes moist (= fresh) and dried he shall not eat.' The Lxx., kai staphuleen prosphaton kai staphida ou phagetai, and the grape newly plucked, and the raisin, he shall not eat.' The V. has uvas recentes siccasque non comedent, 'grapes fresh and dried they shall not eat.' Onkelos has rattivin, 'green.'

V. 4. OF THE VINE TREE] Hebrew, mig-gephen ha-yayin, ‘of (or from) the vine of the wine,' a phrase intended to mark definitely the nature of gephen, which might otherwise be taken to include every kind of flexile, twig-bearing tree. Gephen ha-yayin is equivalent to 'wine-yielding plant,' a mode of expression implying that yayin is the immediate produce of the vine, and that grape-juice does not become yayin by a subsequent fermentation. The Lxx. gives ex ampelou oinon, 'from the vine wine.'* The V. has ex vinea, 'what concerns the production of wine,' a vineyard, or the vine generically considered.

FROM THE KERNELS EVEN TO THE HUSKS] Hebrew, mākharzanim vě-ad zag, 'from the grapestones to the skin.' The Lxx. has apo stemphullōn heōs gigartou, 'from the grapestones unto the husk.* The Vulgate reads, ab uva passa usque ad acinum, from the dried grape to the berry-stone.' Dr Gill remarks, "The Jews are divided about the two words here used, which of them signifies the outer

The punctuation in Maia's splendid edition of Codex B makes the Lxx. to stand ex ampelou vinon apo stem phullon heos gigartou, from the vine wine from the grapestones to the husk.' This pointing would make oinon identical with the grape or cluster. But oinon may be a copyist's mistake for oinou. In the parallel case (Judg. xiii. 14) the Lxx. has ex ampelou tou oino, from the wine of the vine.'

most part of the grape and which the innermost. Von Gersom agrees with us, but it matters not much who are in the right since both are forbidden."

CHAPTER VI. VERSES 13-20.

13 And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: 14 And he shall offer his offering unto the LORD, one he-lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt-offering, and one ewe-lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin-offering, and one ram without blemish for peace-offerings, 15 And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat-offering, and their drink-offerings. 16 And the priest shall bring them before the LORD, and shall offer his sin-offering, and his burntoffering: 17 And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace-offerings unto the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also his meat-offering, and his drink-offering. 18 And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head. of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace-offerings. 19 And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite after the hair of his separation is shaven: 20 And the priest shall wave them for a wave-offering before the LORD: this is holy for the priest, with the wave-breast and heave-shoulder: and after that the Nazarite may drink wine.

V. 15. A BASKET OF UNLEAVENED BREAD] Hebrew, vě-sai matzoth, 'and a wicker-basket of unfermented-cakes.'

WAFERS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD] Hebrew, u-rqiqai matzoth, 'and thin unfermented-cakes.'

AND THEIR DRINK-OFFERINGS] Hebrew, ve-niskāihem, and their libations.' [See Note on Exod. xxix. 40.]

V. 17. WITH A BASKET OF UNLEAVENED BREAD] Hebrew, al sal ham-matzoth, 'with a basket of the unfermented-cakes.'

AND HIS DRINK-OFFERING] Hebrew, vè-eth nisko, 'and his libation.'

V. 19. ONE UNLEAVENED CAKE] Hebrew, vè-halklath matzah akhath, 'and one perforated unfermented-cake.'

AND ONE UNLEAVENED WAFER] Hebrew, u-rqiq matzah ěkhad, 'and one thin unfermented-cake.'

V. 20. AND AFTER THAT THE NAZARITE MAY DRINK WINE] Hebrew, ve-akhar yisteh han-Nahzir yayin, 'and afterward the Nazarite may drink yayin.' The ceremony of terminating the vow having been fulfilled, the principal condition of Nazaritism would also cease, and with it all the other conditions. Ceasing to be a Nazarite, the evidences of a Nazarite would no longer be binding; but no obligation was imposed to drink yayin of any kind, much less was a sanction given to the use of inebriating drinks.