No. 596.-xiii. 17. And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.] Many learned men have thought these expressions relate to the manner in which Ptolemy Philopater persecuted the Jews. “He forbad any to enter into his palace, who did not saerifice to the gods he worshipped, whereby he excluded the Jews all access to him, either to the suing to him for justice, or the obtaining of his protection, in what case soever they should stand in need of it. He ordered by another decree, that all the Jewish nations that lived in Alexandria should be degraded from the first rank of citizens, of which they had always hitherto been from the first founding of the city, and be enrolled in the third rank among the common people of Egypt, and that all of them should come thus to be enrolled, and at the time of this enrollment have the mark of an ivy-leaf, the badge of the god Bacchus, by an hot iron impressed upon them; and that all those who should refuse to be thus enrolled, and to be sigmatized with this mark, should be slaves; and that if any of them should stand out against this decree, they should be put to death." PRIDEAUX'S Connection, part ii. lib. 2. ann. ante C. 216. No. 597.-xvii. 5. And upon her forehead was a namé written, Mystery, Babylon the Great.] It has been ob served by interpreters, that lewd women were used to have their names written over their doors, and sometimes on their foreheads; and the criminals among the Romans had an inscription of their crimes carried before them. In the first sense, as Mr. Daubuz observes, this inscription will denote a public profession of what is signified by it, or a public patronage of idolatrous doctrines and worship. In the second sense, it will denote: the crimes for which she is condemned, and was punished by the foregoing plagues. Mr. Waple thinks this in scription is rather an allusion to the known inscription on the forehead of the high priest, Holiness to the Lord. Whereby is intimated, that this idolatrous persecuting government was an antichristian church, of a temper and spirit quite contrary to the true worship of the one true God. LOWMAN, in loc. No. 598.-xix. 10. I fell at his feet to worship him.] This appears to have been the act of homage usually paid to great men in the East, and which was now per-. formed under impressions more solemn than those which were made by the presence of princes and kings. Mr. Bruce thus describes the ceremony now alluded to: "The next remarkable ceremony in which these two nations (of Persia and Abyssinia) agreed, is that of adoration, inviolably observed in Abyssinia to this day, as often as you enter the sovereign's presence. This is not only kneeling, but absolute prostration; you first fall upon your knees, then upon the palms of your hands, then incline your head and body till your forehead touches the ground, and, in case you have an answer' to expect, you lie in that posture till the king, or somebody from him, desires you to rise." (Travels, vol. iii. p. 270.) No. 599.-xxi. 2. Prepared as a bride.] In the East brides frequently change their dress, and are presented each time they do so to the bridegroom. D'Arvieux gives this account of the Arabs, (Voy. dans la Pał. p. 225.) "When the evening is come, the women present the bride to her future husband. The women who conduct her make him a compliment, who answers not a word, sitting perfectly still, with a grave and serious air. This ceremony is three times repeated the same evening; and whenever they change the bride's dress, they present her to the bridegroom, who receives her 2 always with the same gravity. It is a sort of magnificence in the East, frequently to dress and undress the bride, and to cause her to wear in that same day all the clothes made up for her nuptials. The bridegroom's dress is also frequently changed for the same reason." An attention to this circumstance throws an energy into the words of St. John, when he speaks of the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride for her husband. HARMER, vol. ii. p. 122. No. 600.-xxi. 19. Foundations of the wall.] "This is not only a description of what must be exceeding beautiful in its appearance, but is moreover manifestly corresponding with the mode of building amongst the an-' cient romans, who, it is well known, constructed their walls from the bottom to the top with alternate layers, or rows of bricks, and of white stone, and sometimes of black flints. Each of these layers was always of a considerable thickness, or breadth; and whilst their dif ferent colours formed a beautiful appearance to the eye. and were a most elegant kind of ornament, this mode of placing materials of different dimensions and substance in alternate rows greatly strengthened the work.” KING'S Morsels of Criticism, vol. i. p. 67. THE END. |