XXIV. 17.

Forbear to cry, make no mourning for

the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and

put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men."

This refers to mourning for the dead, and the prophet was forbidden to use any symbol of sorrow on the death of his wife. At a funeral ceremony the tires and turbans are taken off, and the sandals are laid aside. Thus nobles, who wear the most costly turbans, are seen walking with their heads uncovered, and those who had on beautiful sandals are barefoot. But the prophet was to PUT ON his tire and sandals, to indicate he was not mourning for the dead.

XXV. 4." They shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk.”

The people of the East take great pleasure in eating fruit and drinking milk. Hence thousands never take any other food to their breakfast. "Pallum, Pallamum," i. e. milk and

fruit they greatly desire.

6. "Thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with thy feet."

We have seen under Lam. ii. 15., how and when the Orientals clap their hands; and they are equally given to stamp with their feet when they triumph over a fallen foe. The way is, to make a sudden jump with their foot on the ground.*

XXVII. 13. "Vessels of brass in thy market."

The domestic utensils of the Orientals are nearly always brass and to these they often refer, as a sign of property. "He is a rich man; his house is full of brass vessels." "Begone! fellow, I have more brass in my house than would purchase all thy property." "The miserable man has not a

brass dish in his house."

* I have often seen the natives of the Mozambique thus dance and STAMP with their feet, when singing their WAR! Songs.

K K

XXVIII. 2.—“Say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God; Because thine heart is lifted

up, and thou hast said, I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas."

Origen thought the guardian angel of the city was intended. It has been exceedingly common in all ages in the East for great saints or devotees to assume the airs and to demand the homage which is paid to a deity. Hence numbers who are celebrated for sanctity are always addressed by the title of Swamy, i. e. God.

24.

"There shall be no more a pricking briar unto the house of Israel."

Enemies are often compared to thorns and thistles. "Ah! how this thorn goads me," says the man of his foe. When a man's adversaries are dead, he says, "This is now a desert without thorns." "Ah! as our father is dead, we are to our enemies like a jungle without thorns."

XXIX. 18." Every shoulder was peeled."

What an illustration of this passage we have in those who have not been accustomed to carry the palankeen! During the first day the skin is literally peeled off. To prevent the pole from galling the shoulder the Coolies have cushions or a piece of the plantain tree put under the pole. The shoulders of those who assisted at the siege against Tyre were PEELED by hard labour.

XXXII. 3.-"They shall bring thee up in my net." When a person has been caught by the stratagem of another, it is said, "He is caught in his net." "He is like a deer caught in the net." Has a man escaped: "The fellow has broken the net." "Catch him in your net! will you

catch the lightning?"

XXXIII. 32. "Thou art unto them as a very lovely

song of one that hath a pleasant voice."

"Gone! gone!" says the bereaved admirer: "she was

indeed like a sweet voice to my ear.'
song?"
"Where is my music?"
the song of the night! has left me."

"I hear not the sweet

"The song of the night!

XXXIX. 11.-"I will give unto Gog a place there

of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog."

This refers to the dreadful stench which should arise from the dead bodies of Gog. The Tamul translation has it, "cause to STOP the noses." The moment people smell any thing offensive, they immediately press the nostrils together with their fingers. They say of a bad smell it has STOPPED my nose; which means the nose is so full of that, it is not sensible of any other smell. The figure is much used in reference to the decayed oysters at the pearl fishery.

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XL. 16. Upon each post were palm trees."

Calmet says, "Probably pilasters, representing palm trees, the trunks forming the shafts and the branches the capitals." The favourite capital in eastern architecture is a representation of the fruit of the plantain-tree (Musa-paradisiaca) before it has broken its sheath, and is called the Vali-potte. On all festive occasions which call for extraordinary show, the people procure two LIVING trees of the description alluded to, and plant one on each side of the door post: then from one to the other, they suspend festoons of mango leaves, cocoa-nut leaves, and the flowers of the thalam. The musa is sacred. to the goddess Lechymy.

XLIII. 2.—“Behold the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the East."

Dr. Gray says, "Under the particulars detailed by Ezekiel we often discover the economy of a spiritual temple which

should again be filled with the glory of the Lord coming from the East."

When we consider the various allusions to the East in Holy Writ; at the comparisons to the sun, in reference to divine illuminations; reflecting on the homage paid to the great orb of day by all the heavenly bodies; looking at the idea of the Orientals, "that the face is always towards the East,” i. e. it is the eastern part of the body; at the phrases, "not turn to the right or the left," i. e. neither to the north nor to the south; we get a new view of many interesting passages of Scripture.

XLVIII. 23.—“ Benjamin shall have a portion." Mar

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gin, instead of “ a," one."

In the Tamul it is the same, thus, Oru manuthan, lite ray ONE man- always one, which we render a.

In all heathen temples there is a place for the sacred jewels and other treasures. The ornaments of the idols are sometimes of GREAT value. I have seen the small crown, breast-plate, and necklaces of one idol worth more than 4007.

These words are not addressed to the ears of royalty MERELY. Has a man been greatly favoured by another, he says, "Ah! may you never die." "So good a man ought never to die." May you live for ever." "Will death come to such a man as this?" "Live, live, for ever."

They shall wet thee with the dew of

This was one of the miseries of Nebuchadnezzar, and a much greater one than the people in England imagine. Think of the state of the body and pores after being twelve hours in a blazing, sun, and then think on such a dew falling as will saturate all the clothes; and a tolerable view is gained of the great reverse, and the effect it must have on the human frame. Of a wretched man it is said, "The sun falls on his head by day, and the dew by night." the sun and made wet by the dew."

"He is scorched by

V. 12.-" Dissolving of doubts." The margin (Chald.) has instead of "doubts," "knots."

A very difficult subject is called a mudiche, a knot! Thus the explaining of a riddle is called "untying the