killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the | sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for coat in the blood; his son many days.

32 And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son's coat or no.

33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat; an 'evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.

34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put

9 Chap. 44. 28.

35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.

36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an "officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard.

10 Heb. eunuch. But the word doth signify not only eunuchs, but also chamberlains, courtiers, and officers.
11 Heb. chief of the slaughtermen, or executioners. Or, chief marshal.

Verse 3. "A coat of many colours."-This parti-coloured tunic of Joseph has occasioned some speculation; but it seems to us that the real point of interest has not been noticed. It would be desirable to know whether the art of interweaving a piece in various colours was at this time discovered or not. Judging from the information which this text offers, it would seem not; for the word which is constantly rendered "colours," may, as in the marginal reading, with more than equal propriety be rendered "pieces,” which makes it probable that the agreeable effect resulting from a combination of colours was obtained by patchwork, in the first instance; and in after-times, by being wrought with a needle. The value and distinction attached to such variegated dresses shows that they were not common, and were formed by some elaborate process. This continued long after. In the time of David, such a dress was a distinction for a king's daughter (2 Sam. xiii. 18); and in Judges v. 30, we see ladies anticipating the return of a victorious general with a prey of divers colours, of divers colours of needlework on both sides." We may therefore infer, that in these times people generally did not wear variegated dresses, the common use of which must have been consequent on the discovery of the art of interweaving a variegated pattern in the original texture, or of printing it subsequently. Except in Persia, where a robe is usually of one colour, most Asiatic people are partial to dresses in which various patterns are interwoven in stripes or flowers; and parti-coloured dresses have necessarily ceased to form a distinction. The most remarkable illustration of this text which we have seen, is given by Mr. Roberts, who states that in India it is customary to invest a beautiful or favourite child with "a coat of many colours," consisting of crimson, purple, and other colours, which are often tastefully sewed together. He adds: "A child being clothed in a garment of many colours, it is believed that neither tongues nor evil spirits will injure him, because the attention is taken from the beauty of the person to that of the garment."

17. "Dothan."-This place is mentioned as a "city" in 2 Kings vi. 13—15. Eusebius says it was twelve miles south of Samaria. That it was somewhere north of Shechem would appear from the present text. What is meant by the "pit" into which Joseph was cast is an exhausted cistern, or reservoir, in which the rain-water is collected; and of which there are many in Palestine. Many of them are found to be empty in summer, the supply of water they contain being often soon exhausted. Dr. Richardson thus mentions the place which is pointed out as the scene of the affair recorded in this chapter: "Having cleared the intricate defiles of this part of the country, we got upon an extensive open field which bore an abundant crop of thistles, and on which several herds of black cattle were feeding. This, by some, is supposed to be the scene of the infamous conspiracy of which the liberty of Joseph was the temporary victim. A little farther on we arrived at Gib Youssouff, or the pit into which Joseph was cast by his brethren, being a ride of three hours and forty minutes from Mensura. Here there is a large Khan for the accommodation of travellers, and a well of very excellent water, and a very comfortable oratory for a Mussulman to pray in." This place is about two and a half or three days' journey from Shechem, which is nearly equal to the distance between Hebron and Shechem, so that the distance from Hebron to Dothan, if this be Dothan, was about five or six days' journey, which, as Dr. Richardson observes, "is a long way for the sons of Jacob to go to feed their herds, and a still farther way for a solitary youth like Joseph to be sent in quest of them." But we do not consider this distance too great, particularly as we know the place was somewhere beyond Shechem. Indeed the doctor himself admits that it is a very likely place, particularly as it lies in what is still one of the principal roads from the Haouran and Mount Gilead to Egypt. Speaking of the same neighbourhood (Nablous or Shechem), Dr. Clarke says-" Along the valley we beheld a company of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, as in the days of Reuben and Judah, with their camels, bearing spicery, and balm, and myrrh,' who would gladly have purchased another Joseph of his brethren, and conveyed him as a slave to some Potiphar in Egypt. Upon the hills around, flocks and herds were feeding as of old; nor, in the simple garb of the shepherds of Samaria, was there anything to contradict the notions we may entertain of the appearance formerly exhibited by the sons of Jacob." He adds, that the morning after his arrival at Nablous, he met caravans coming from Grand Čairo, and noticed others reposing in the large olive plantations near the gates.

25. "A company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels," &c.-Midianites being also mentioned as denominating this company, we may infer that it was a mixed caravan, and principally composed of Ishmaelites and Midianites. We might call them generally "Arabians," as the Chaldee does. Here," says Dr. Vincent, "upon opening the oldest history in the world, we find the Ishmaelites from Gilead conducting a caravan loaded with the spices of India, the balsam and myrrh of Hadramaut; and in the regular course of their traffic proceeding to Egypt for a market. The date of this transaction is more than seventeen centuries before the Christian era, and notwithstanding its antiquity, it has all the genuine features of a caravan crossing the Desert at the present hour." (Commerce and Navigation of the Ancients, vol. ii. p. 262). We cannot at this moment enter into the question, which Dr. Vincent assumes, that the Arabians had already become the medium of communication between India and Egypt. As the subject divides itself into two parts, the commerce of the Arabians and that of the Egyptians, we postpone the former, and confine ourselves to a few remarks on the latter. Dr. Vincent calls the Egyptians, with great propriety, the Chinese of antiquity; and the analogy between the two people might form a subject for very interesting discussion. In the present text we see a caravan of foreigners proceeding to Egypt, their camels laden with articles of luxury; whence it is an obvious inference that Egypt had then become what it is always recorded to have been, the centre of a most extensive land commerce:-the great emporium to which the merchants brought gold, ivory, and slaves from Ethiopia, incense from Arabia, spices from India, and wine from Phoenicia and Greece: for which Egypt gave in

exchange its corn, its manufactures of fine linen, its robes, and its carpets. In after-times, the merchants of the west, of Greece and Rome, resorted to Egypt for its own products, and for the goods brought thither by the oriental merchants. But none of this was done by Egyptians themselves. We never, either in ancient or modern times, read of Egyptian caravans. This doubtless arose in a great degree from the aversion which (in common with all people who observe a certain diet and mode of life prescribed by religion) they entertained to any intercourse with strangers, and which reminds us continually of the restrictive policy of the Japanese in some respects, and of the religious prejudices of Hindoos and strict Mohammedans. Thus, it was a maxim among the Egyptians not to leave their own country, and we have ample evidence that they rarely did so, except in attendance upon the wars and expeditions of their sovereigns, even when their restrictive policy and peculiar customs became relaxed under the Greek and Roman rulers of the country. "They waited," says Goguet, after Strabo, "till other nations brought them the things they stood in need of, and they did this with the more tranquillity, as the great fertility of their country in those times left them few things to desire. It is not at all surprising that a people of such principles did not apply themselves to navigation until very late." Besides, the Egyptians had a religious aversion to the sea, and considered all those as impious and degraded who embarked upon it. The sea was, in their view, an emblem of the evil being (Typhon), the implacable enemy of Osiris; and the aversion of the priests in particular was so strong, that they carefully kept mariners at a distance, even when the rest of the nation began to pay some attention to sea-affairs. But besides their religious hatred to the sea, and political aversion to strangers, other causes concurred in preventing the cultivation of maritime commerce by the Egyptians. The country produces no wood suitable for the construction of vessels. Therefore, when the later Egyptians and the Greek sovereigns began to attend to navigation, they could not fit out a fleet till they had obtained a command over the forests of Phoenicia, which gave occasion to bloody wars between the Ptolemies and the Seleucidæ for the possession of those countries. The unhealthiness of the Egyptian coast, and the paucity of good harbours, may also be numbered among the circumstances which operated, with others, in preventing attention to maritime affairs. Moreover, all the nations who in those times traded in the Mediterranean were also pirates, who made it a particular branch of their business to kidnap men from the coasts; and it was therefore natural that a people who had no vessels with which to oppose them or retaliate upon them, should allow them no pretence to land upon their shores.

The indifference of the Egyptians to foreign commerce is demonstrated by the fact that they abandoned the navigation of the Red Sea to whatever people cared to exercise it. They allowed the Phoenicians, the Edomites, the Jews, the Syrians, successively, to have fleets there and maritime stations on its shores. It was not until towards the termination of the national independence that the sovereigns of Egypt began to turn their attention to such matters. The parts of Lower Egypt were ultimately opened to the Phoenicians and Greeks, by Psammeticus, about 658 years B.C. His son, Necho, for the purpose of facilitating commerce, attempted to unite the Mediterranean and Red Sea, by means of a canal from the Nile; but desisted after having lost 100,000 workmen. This work was completed by the Persians, but turned out to be of little practical benefit, either from the failure of the eastern channel of the Nile, or from being choked by the sands drifted from the desert. Failing in this project, Necho contrived to pay great attention to navigation. He caused ships to be built both on the Mediterranean and Red Sea, and interested himself in maritime discovery, with a view to the extension of the commercial relations of Egypt. He sent on a voyage of discovery those Phoenician mariners who effected the famous circumnavigation of Africa, sailing from the Red Sea, and, after doubling the Cape of Good Hope, returning by the Mediterranean. The maritime power of Egypt increased thenceforward, the clearest proof of which may be found in the fact, that in the reign of Necho's grandson, Apries, the Egyptian fleet ventured to give battle, and actually defeated so experienced a naval power as that of the Phoenicians. The race of sailors which arose were, however, considered as the lowest and most impure of the castes into which the Egyptian people were divided. In the next reign, that of Amasis, the sacred Nile was at last opened to the foreign merchants. Naucratis, a city of Lower Egypt, on the Canopean arm of the Nile, near the site afterwards occupied by Alexandria, was assigned to such Greek traders as chose to settle in Egypt. The commercial states of Greece were also permitted to found temples or sanctuaries, in certain places, for the accommodation of their travelling merchants, and which might also serve as staples and marts for the merchandise which they should send into Egypt. This concession was found to have a most favourable operation upon the prosperity of Egypt, and in its ultimate consequences combined with other causes in working a great change in the character and habits of the population, which thenceforward became progressively modified by an infusion of Greek manners and ideas. Such concessions were not in the first instance made without limitations. The Greeks were obliged to enter the Canopean branch of the Nile, and were required to land at Naucratis. If by any accident a ship entered at any other mouth of the river it was detained, and the captain was obliged to swear that he had been compelled to enter against his will. He was then compelled to sail back for Naucratis; and if this was prevented by the winds, he was required to discharge his cargo, and to send it round the Delta (more inland) in the small vessels in which the Egyptians navigated the Nile. This restriction must have ceased soon after, when the country was subdued by the Persians, and all the mouths of the Nile were equally thrown open. Its subjection to the Persians does not seem to have materially interfered with the growing maritime commerce of Egypt. But Herodotus, who was there in this period, remarks on the characteristic singularity which the Egyptians had carried into their marine and trade. Their ships were built and armed after a fashion quite different from that observed by other nations, and their rigging and cordage was arranged in a manner that appeared very singular and fantastic to the Greeks.

After all, the Egyptians were not themselves a people addicted to maritime commerce. The Greek rulers of Egypt indeed changed the entire system of Egyptian trade, and the new capital, Alexandria, became the first mart of the world, while the ancient inland capitals, which had arisen under the former system, sunk into insignificance. But it was the Greeks of Egypt, not the Egyptians, who did this. They became," says Dr. Vincent, "the carriers of the Mediterranean, as well as the agents, factors, and importers of Oriental produce: and so wise was the new policy, and so deep had it taken root, that the Romans, upon the subjection of Egypt, found it more expedient to leave Alexandria in possession of its privileges, than to alter the course of trade, or occupy it themselves." (The facts combined in this sketch of Egyptian trade, &c., have been drawn from the works of Vincent, Heeren, Reynier, Goguet, Rennel, and Hales.)

"Spicery," Necoth, Heb.-As the Septuagint renders this word by Juusaparay, and the Syriac by one which is only enn, "resin," in Syriac characters, we are induced to think that some resinous production is here meant, which was either obtained from a species of pine, or of the terebinth tree. That which is called frankincense, and used for fuming or incense in the Catholic chapels, is obtained from a species of fir. The necoth, therefore, may have been of the same nature, and employed for the purpose of a grateful fumigation, as the frankincense of our shops. In the note on chap. xviii. 1, we observed that the Terebinthus, or Pistacia Terebinthus, yields the best Venice turpentine, which is resin in a

liquid state; but Belon, in his work on Rarities,' mentions a resine dure as the production also of this tree, which seems likely to have been the identical necoth before us. (See however the note on Exod. xxx. 23.) The Holy Land was remarkable for the excellence of its terebinth trees. There is a great diversity among resins in respect of the quality, as depending upon the nature, health, and situation of the trees which respectively afford them.

"Balm," Tseri, Heb., is the famous resin obtained from the Balsamodendron Gileadense, or balm of Gilead tree, which was a native of and almost peculiar to the land of Judæa. It is related to the terebinth and other trees, which are noted for the fragrant" gums which they yield. A small piece of this resin is said by Theophrastus to be so odoriferous that it filled a large space with its perfume. The author just quoted informs us it was reported in his time that only two enclosures of small extent were known to produce this tree, which were in some part of Syria-rò di Baλraun girstas μὲν ἐν τῷ αυλωνι τῷ περὶ Συρίαν. Bruce describes it, however, as growing in Azab, and all along the coast of Babelmandel. The balsam of Gilead is about fourteen feet high, with diverging branches that bear leaves at their extremities. These leaves are pennate or winged, like those of the terebinth, and evergreen in their duration. The fruit is a berry, or rather a drupe, of an egg-shape, marked with four seams, and with two cells. The kataf of the Arabians is afforded by a species of this genus, as is also the kafal. They are both of them odoriferous resins, very famous in the East.

Myrrh," Lot, Heb.-It has been recently ascertained that the myrrh is obtained from a species of Balsamodendron which is very much allied to the Balsamodendron kataf, and its resin is now called Balsamodendron myrrha. It is a native of Arabia, where it forms stunted groves, which are intermingled with species of acacia, moringa, &c. The leaves are in threes, oval, blunt, and slightly toothed near the point. If this account be correct, and there seems to be no reason to question it, the kindred origin of the myrrh, balm, and "spicery," forms a subject of curiosity and interest, while the fact will greatly assist us in remembering the particulars of each. All three belong to the natural order Terebinthaceae of Jussieu and Decandolle, and two of them appertain to one genus, Balsamodendron.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

11

1 Judah begetteth Er, Onan, and Shelah. 6 Er marrieth Tamar. 8 The trespass of Onan. Tamar stayeth for Shelah. 13 She deceiveth Judah. 27 She beareth twins, Pharez and Zarah.

AND it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hira

z And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was 'Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her.

3 And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.

4 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.

5 And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.

6 And Judah took a wife for Er his face. firstborn, whose name was Tamar.

3

7 And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.

8 And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.

9 And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.

10 And the thing which he did 'displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also.

11 Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he

1 Chron, 2, 3.

16 And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in

unto me?

17 And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it?

18 And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.

19 And she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.

Num. 26. 19. 3 Num. 26. 19. 4 Heb. was evil in the eyes of the LORD.
6 Heb. the door of eyes, or, of Enajim, 7 Heb, a kid of the goats.

Heb. the days were multiplied.

20 And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman's hand: but he found her not.

21 Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was 'openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place.

22 And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place.

23 And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.

24 ¶ And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.

25 When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man,

8 Or, in Enajim. 9 Heb. become a contempt.

27 ¶ And it came to pass, in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.

28 And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.

29 And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out : and she said, 10 How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee therefore his name was called "Pharez1o.

:

30 And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.

10 Or, wherefore hast thou made this breach against thee? 11 That is, a breach. 12 1 Chron. 2. 4. Matth. 1. 3.

24. "Bring her forth, and let her be burnt."-There are two points that attract our attention in this text one is the power which Judah possessed to pronounce such a sentence on a member of his family; and the other, the punishment proposed to be inflicted. In the former we have an instance of the power which a father, in those primitive times, possessed in his own family. He was not only its chief, but its legislator and judge, with the power of life and death in his hands. The same usage may be traced in other countries and times. Homer and Plato equally bear witness to its existence in early Greece. Cæsar states, that among the Gauls the fathers were sovereigns in their own houses; having the power of life and death over their women, their children, and their slaves. In China, at the present day, fathers govern their families with despotic power; and in other countries of Asia, the paternal authority exists under various modifications and forms, which enable us to discover the extent to which it was formerly carried even in those parts in which its ancient absoluteness has in the course of time been mitigated. The careful observance of the institutions and practices of the East, including those of the Bible, will not fail to discover a great number, which, although they may not, in the first instance, appear to have much connexion with the subject, must have originated in times when the parent possessed the most unbounded power over his children. Goguet (Origine des Lois') well observes, that the monarchical form of government was formed on the model of the patriarchal authority which a father possessed over his own household; but with this difference, that the power of the first sovereigns was less despotic than that of a parent. The existence of such a form of power in the head of a family naturally suggested a símilar form of authority for the rule of a nation. Accordingly, we find that the original form of government was everywhere monarchical. This account of its origin is so undoubted as to need no support; but may we not consider it indicated in the combination of paternity and royalty in the titular denomination of the kings of Gerar? The name "Abimelech") is easily resolved into its elements; Ab, with the affix i, means "my father," and melech, "king;" so that the whole signifies "my father-king," or "my father the king;" and was probably the title by which the kings of Gerar were commonly accosted. The original form of this government may still perhaps be found in the East-in Persia, for instance-where the sovereign possesses the most unquestioned power of life and death over all those who, in a very large sense, may be considered to compose his household-that is, not only over his women, children, and slaves, but also over those who are in the service of government, from the first minister of state to the humblest beater of carpets. But beyond this limit his power over the lives of his subjects is more restricted: for persons not within it, can only legally be punished after a trial before the proper tribunals. It is true that this limit is not always distinctly observed by the kings; but this is the theory of their government, and those sovereigns who wish for the good opinion of their people are rather careful to observe it.

On the second point which the text brings under our notice, it is to be observed that the crime of Tamar was adultery, she being considered the wife of Shelah although the marriage had not yet taken full effect. The punishments for this crime will be illustrated in the note to Levit. xx. 10. The present text affords the earliest notice of the practice of burning certain criminals alive. This cruel punishment has prevailed more or less in all nations. The law of Moses assigns this form of punishment in two instances (Lev. xx. 14, and xxi. 9). Many ages after, we find this punishment inflicted by the Babylonians (Jer. xxix. 22, and Dan. iii. 6). In the instance of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego it was inflicted for alleged disrespect to the idols of the country: and, altogether, it is a punishment that seems to have been more peculiarly applied to offences of a religious character. In Europe, religious opinions considered erroneous were thus punished by all parties; as was also witchcraft. It was also in the list of Roman punishments. The ancient Gauls and Britons burnt criminals and others alive, in honour of the gods, in large numbers at a time. It seems now disused almost everywhere as an ordinary punishment.

2 Heb. extended kindness unto him.

Verse 20. "Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound."Reynier (Economie Publique et Rurale des Egyptiens') very much doubts whether slavery existed in Egypt previously to the period when its ancient institutions came to be in a great degree changed. His doubts result from the difficulty of reconciling the existence of slaves with the organization of the Egyptians under their theocracy. The king and the sacerdotal caste were the only persons whose circumstances placed them in a condition to possess slaves; and it is known that they considered themselves polluted by the proximity of foreigners: whence he argues, that the idea of slaves bought from abroad, to be employed in domestic services, is excluded: and they did not need them for the cultivation of the ground, as that service was performed gratuitously by the labourers who held the lands in subordinate possession. The instance of Joseph's slavery he meets by observing, that the domination of the shepherdkings must have had some operation in modifying the peculiar usages of the Egyptians. But then, again, among the Egyptian laws cited by Diodorus, one inflicts the punishment of death on a person who kills his slave; and another