No. 956.-i. 5. When the days of their feasting were gone about.] The feasting continued till they had been at each other's house in turn. Something like this is practised by the Chinese, who have their co-fraternities, which they call the brotherhood of the month; this consists of thirty, according to the number of days therein, and in a circle they go every day to eat at one another's houses by turns. If one man have not convenience to receive the fraternity in his own house, he may provide for it at another; and there are many public-houses very well provided for this purpose. Semedo's Hist of China, i. c. 13. No. 957.-i. 20. And shaved his head.] Among the Jews and neighbouring nations, it was an usual sign of mourning to shave the head. This was the practice of Job: and in Jer. xli. 5, we read of fourscore men who were going to lament the desolations of Jerusalem, having their beards shaven, and their clothes rent. It was also usual' among the Persians (Quint. Curt. de Gestis Alexand. 1. x. c. 5. § 17.) Suetonius in his life of Caligula observes, that on the death of Cæsar Germanicus some barbarous nations at war among themselves and with the Romans agreed to a cessation of hostilities, as if their grief had been of a domestic nature, and on an occasion which alike concerned them both; he adds, Regulos quosdam (ferunt) barbam posuisse et uxorum capita rasisse ad indicium maximi luctus. See also Jer. vii. 29. Micah i. 16. Isaiah vii. 20. skin, yea, all that a man Before the invention of No. 958. ii. 4. Skin for hath, will he give for his life.] money, trade used to be carried on by barter; that is, by exchanging one commodity for another. The men who had been hunting in the woods for wild beasts would carry their skins to market, and exchange them As with the armourer for so many bows and arrows. these traffickers were liable to be robbed, they sometimes agreed to give a party of men a share for defending them, and skins were a very ancient tribute: with them they redeemed their own shares of property and their lives. It is to one or both of their customs that these words allude, as a proverb. Biblical Researches, vol. ii. p. 88. No. 959.-ii. 10. Thou speakest as one of the foolish woman speaketh.] Sanctius thinks that Job refers to the Idumean women, who, like other heathens, when their gods did not please them, or they could not obtain of them what they desired, would reproach and cast them away, and throw them into the fire, or the water, as the Persians are said to do. No. 960. iii. 1. After this opened fob his mouth.] It is to be observed, says Mr. Blackwell, (Inquiry into the Life of Homer, p. 43.) that the Turks, Arabians, and Indians, and in general most of the inhabitants of the East, are a solitary kind of people; they speak but seldom, and never long without emotion. Speaking is a matter of moment among such people, as we may gather from their usual introductions: for, before they deliver their thoughts, they give notice by saying, I will open my mouth; as here, that is, unloose their tongue. It is thus in Homer, Hesiod, and Orpheus: and thus also Virgil: -finem dedit ore loquendi. He made an end of speaking with his mouth. Æn. vi. 76. No. 961.iii. 3. Let the day perish wherein I was born.] The Greeks had their appadis, and the Romans their dies infausti; that is, certain days which had been distinguished by some great calamity; on which, therefore, they did not indulge themselves in any mirth or pleasure, and expected no good event to happen to them. Tacitus relates (Annal. lib. xiv. § 12.) that the senate, to flatter Nero, decreed, ut dies natalis Agrippinæ inter nefastos esset. No. 962.-iii. 12. Why did the knees prevent me?] This is not to be understood of the mother; but either of the midwife, who received the new-born infant into her lap, or of the father, as it was usual for him to take the child upon his knees as soon as it was born, Gen. 1, 23. This custom obtained amongst the Greeks and Romans. Hence the goddess Levana had her name, causing the father in this way to own the child. No. 963. iv. 19. GILL, in loco. Which are crushed before the moth.] It is probable that this means a moth-worm, which is one state of the creature alluded to. It is first enclosed in an egg, from whence it issues a worm, and after a time becomes a complete insect, or moth. The following extracts from Niebuhr may throw light on this passage, that man is crushed by so feeble a thing as a worm. "A disease very common in Yemen is the attack of the Guiney-worm, or the Vena Medinensis, as it is called by the physicians of Europe. This disease is supposed to be occasioned by the use of the putrid waters, which people are obliged to drink in several parts of Yemen; and for this reason the Arabians always pass water, with the nature of which they are unacquainted, through a linen cloth, before drinking it. Where one unfortunately swallows any of the eggs of this insect, no immediate consequence follows: but after a considerable time, the worm begins to shew itself through the skin. Our physician, Mr. Cramer, was, within a few days of his death, attacked by five of these worms at once, although this was more than five months after we had left Arabia. In the isle of Karek I saw a French officer named Le Page, who, after a long and difficult journey performed on foot and in an Indian dress, between Pondicherry and Surat, through the heart of India, was busy extracting a worm out of his body. He supposed that he had got.it by drinking bad water in the country of the Marattas. "This disorder is not dangerous, if the person affected can extract the worm without breaking it. With this view it is rolled on a small bit of wood as it comes out of the skin. It is slender as a thread, and two or three feet long. It gives no pain as it makes its way out of the body, unless what may be occasioned by the care which must be taken of it for some weeks. If unluckily it be broken, it then returns into the body, and the most disagreeable consequences ensue, palsy, a gangrene, and sometimes death." Scripture Illust. Expos. Index. No. 964.-v. 23. For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field.] It has been supposed that these words refer to a custom called scopilism, which is thus described by Van Egmont and Heyman, (Travels, vol. ii. p. 156.) "In the province of Arabia there is a crime called Tiμs, or fixing of stones; it being a frequent practice among them to place stones in the grounds of those with whom they are at variance, as a warning that any person who dares to till that field should infallibly be slain by the contrivance of those who placed the stones there." This malicious practice is thought to have had its origin in Arabia Petræa. See 2 Kings iii. 19, 25. No. 965,-vii. 19. Let me alone till I swallow down my spittle.] This is a proverb among the Arabians to the present day, by which they understand, Give me leave to rest after my fatigue. This is the favour which Job complains is not granted to him. There are two instances which illustrate the passage (quoted by Schultens) in Hariraes's Narratives, entitled the Assembly. One is of a person, who, when eagerly pressed to give an account of his travels, answered with impatience, "Let me swallow down my spittle, for my journey hath fatigued me." The other instance is of a quick return made to one who used that proverb, "Suffer me," said the person importuned, "to swallow down my spittle :" to which his friend replied, "You may if you please swallow down even Tigris and Euphrates;" that is, take what time you please. Biblical Researches, vol. i. p. 84. No. 966. ix. 18. He will not suffer me to take my breath.] Dr. Gill is of opinion that in these words there is an allusion to the hot burning winds, which prevailed in the eastern countries; and which sometimes blew so strong as almost to take away a man's breath. Thevenot (Travels, part i. b. 1. c. 34.) reports, that between Suez and Cairo they had for a day's time and more so hot a wind, that they were forced to turn their backs to it to take breath. No. 967.-xvi. 9. He gnasheth upon me with his teeth.] Homer describing Achilles arming to revenge the death of Patroclus, among other signs of indignation mentions the grinding of his teeth: ΐς και οδόντων μεν καναχη πελει Il. xix. 365. Grief and revenge his furious heart inspire, POPE. |