had, besides sprinkling with the water of separation, a purification by fire, and what would not bear the fire passed through the water before it could be applied to use.

In the distribution of the spoil, the king antiently had the tenth part of what was taken. Thus Abraham gave a tenth to Melchisedec king of Salem. (Gen. xiv. 20.) And if any article of peculiar beauty or value were found among the spoil, it seems to have been reserved for the commander-in-chief. To this Deborah alludes in her triumphal ode. (Judg. v. 30.) After the establishment of the monarchy, the rabbinical writers say (but upon what authority it is impossible now to ascertain) that the king had all the gold, silver, and other precious articles, besides one half of the rest of the spoil, which was divided between him and the people. In the case of the Midianitish war (Numb. xxxi. 27.), the whole of the spoil was, by divine appointment, divided into two parts: the army that won the victory had one, and those that staid at home had the other, because it was a common cause in which they engaged, and the rest were as ready to fight as those that went out to battle. This division was by a special direction, but was not the rule in after ages; for, after the general had taken what he pleased for himself, the rest was divided among the soldiers, as well those who kept the baggage, or were disabled by wounds or weariness, as those who were engaged in the fight, but the people had no share; and this was ordained, as a statute to be observed throughout their generations (1 Sam. xxx. 24.): but in the time of the Maccabees the Jewish army thought fit to recede from the strictness of this military law, for when they had obtained a victory over Nicanor, under the conduct of Judas, they divided among themselves many spoils, and made the maimed, orphans, widows, yea, and the aged also, equal in spoils with themselves. (2 Macc. viii. 28. 30.) In the Midianitish war, after the distribution of the spoils among the army and the people, there was another division made for the service of the priesthood, and the Levitical ministry. (Numb. xxxi. 28-30.) The priests, out of the share that fell to the army, were allotted one out of five hundred of all women and children, and cattle that were taken; and the Levites, from the part that fell to the people, received one out of fifty, so that the priests had just a tenth part of what was allowed to the Levites, as they had a tenth part of the Levitical tithes, which was paid them for their constant support; but whether this was the practice in future wars is uncertain. Sometimes all the spoils were, by divine appointment, ordered to be destroyed; and there is an instance in the siege of Jericho, when all the silver and the gold (except the gold and the silver of their images, which were to be consumed utterly,) and vessels of brass and iron, were devoted to God, and appropriated to his service. They were to be brought into the treasury which was in the tabernacle, after they were purified by making them pass through the fire according to the law; the Jews conceive that these spoils (called in the Scripture the accursed thing on the account of their being devoted with a curse upon him who should take them for his own use) were given

to God, because the city was taken upon the sabbath day. But in succeeding ages, it appears to be an established rule that the spoil was to be divided among the army actually engaged in battle; those who had the charge of the baggage (as already noticed) being considered entitled to an equal share with the rest. (1 Sam. xxx. 24.)

Besides a share of the spoil and the honours of a triumph, various military rewards were bestowed on those warriors who had pre-eminently distinguished themselves. Thus Saul promised to confer great riches on the man who should conquer Goliath, and further to give his daughter in marriage to him, and to exempt his father's house from all taxes in Israel. (1 Sam. xvii. 25.) How reluctantly the jealous monarch fulfilled his promise is well known. David promised the command in chief of all his forces to him who should first mount the walls of Jerusalem, and expel the Jebusites out of the city (2 Kings v. 8. 1 Chron. xi. 6.); which honour was acquired by Joab. In the rebellion of Absalom against David, Joab replied to a man who told him that the prince was suspended in an oak,-Why didst thou not smite him to the ground, and I would have given thee ten shekels of silver and a girdle? (2 Sam. xviii. 11.) Jephthah was constituted head and captain over the Israelites beyond Jordan, for delivering them from the oppression of the Ammonites. (Judg. xi. 11. compared with xii. 7.)

After the return of the Jewish armies to their several homes, their military was laid aside. The militia, which had been raised for the occasion, was disbanded; their warlike instruments, with the exception of such as were private property, were delivered up as the property of the state, until some future war should call them forth (2 Chron. xi. 12.); and the soldiers themselves returned (like Cincinnatus) to the plough, and the other avocations of private life. To this suspension of their arms, the prophet Ezekiel alludes (xxvii. 10, 11.) when he says that they of Persia, and of Lud, and of Phut, and of Arvad, were in the Tyrian army as men of war, and hanged their shields upon the walls of Tyre. To the same custom also the bridegroom refers in the sacred idyls of Solomon (Song iv. 4.), when he compares the neck of his bride to the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.

SECTION II.

ALLUSIONS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT TO THE MILITARY DISCIPLINE AND TRIUMPHS OF THE ROMANS.

I. Roman Military Officers mentioned in the New Testament.-II. Allusions to the Armour of the Romans.-III. To their Military Discipline.-Strict Subordination.-Rewards to soldiers who had distinguished themselves.-IV. Allusions to the Roman Triumphs. I. AT the time the evangelists and apostles wrote, the Romans had extended their empire almost to the utmost boundaries of the then known world, principally by their unparalleled military discipline and heroic valour. Judea was at this time subject to their sway, and their troops were stationed in different parts of that country.

We learn from Josephus, that the tower of Antonia, which overlooked the temple, was always garrisoned by a legion of soldiers; and that, on the side where it joined to the porticoes of the temple, there were stairs reaching to each portico, by which a company, band, or detachment descended, and kept guard (xoudrwdiav), in those porticoes, to prevent any tumult at the great festivals. The commanding officer of this force is in the New Testament termed the captain, the chief captain of the band, and the captain of the temple. (John xviii. 3. 12. Mark xv. 6. Matt. xxvii. 27. 64, 65, Acts x. 1. xxi. 31, 32. 37-40. Acts iv. 1. and v. 24.) It was the Roman captain of this fort, whose name was Claudius Lysias, that rescued Paul when the Jews were beating him and intended to kill him. (Acts xxi. 31. xxii. 4. xxiii. 26.)

The allusions, in the New Testament, to the military discipline, armour, battles, sieges, and military honours of the Greeks, and especially of the Romans, are very numerous; and the sacred writers have derived from them metaphors and expressions of singular propriety, elegance, and energy, for animating Christians to fortitude against temptations, and to constancy in the profession of their holy faith under all persecutions, and also for stimulating them to persevere unto the end, that they may receive those final honours and that immortal crown which await victorious piety.

II. In the following very striking and beautiful passage of St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians (vi. 11-17.), the various parts of the panoply armour of the heavy troops among the Greeks and Romans (those who had to sustain the rudest assaults) are distinctly enumerated, and beautifully applied to those moral and spiritual weapons with which the believer ought to be fortified. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore

1 De Bell. Jud. lib. v. c. 5. § 8. Ant. Jud. lib. xx. c. 4. § 3.

take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breast-plate of righteousness: and your feet shod with the preparation of the gos pel of peace; above all, taking the shields of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

1. Ephes. vi. 13. Añaνтα KαTEρуasapevol. This verb frequently signifies to despatch a foe, totally to vanquish and subdue an adversary. So it should be translated in this place. Ον αυτοχειρια κατειργασατο: Whom he despatched with hig own hand. Dion. Halicarn. tom. i. p. 99. Oxon. 1704. Havra woλɛμa karepуaσαμενοι : Having quelled all hostilities. Idem, p. 885. Μεθ ̓ ἧς ηδη πολλους πολέμιους Ratapyaobe: By which you have vanquished many enemies. Polyænus Stratag. p. 421. Lugd. 1589. Herpac aẞarovs σidnow Kaтεipyaσauny. Idem, p. 599. Casaubon Ταυρον αγριον-ταις χερσι μοναις κατειργασμένω: He despatched a wild bull only, with his hands. Appian. vol. i. p. 201. Amst. 1670. See also pp. 5. 291. 410. 531. Tollii. The word here used by the apostle has also this signification in Dion Cassius, Josephus, and Philo.

2 Επι πασιν, after all, or, besides all; it never signifies above all. Avtos de cadeTOC ETI Tаσi diaẞaivov: After all, he himself passed with difficulty. Plutarch, Cæsar. p. 1311. edit. Gr. Stephan. Αγοντα πρωτον την φαλαγγά, μετα ταυτα τους ίππεις, επι πασι δε το σκευοφόρον : First, he led up the phalanx, next the cavalry, after all the baggage. Polybius, p. 664. Casaubon. Eri rao de Aoois evvea kai τεσσαρακοντα και μηνας δυο: After all, Assis reigned forty-nine years and two months. Josephus contra Apion. p. 445. Havercamp.

3 The shield here intended (upeoç) is the scutum, or large oblong shield of the Romans, which was made of wood covered with hides, and derived its name from its resemblance to a door (Jupa). As faith is that Christian grace, by which all the others are preserved and rendered active, it is here properly represented under the figure of a shield; which covered and protected the whole body; and enables the believer to quench-to intercept, blunt, and extinguish, as on a shield-the fiery darts of the wicked one, that is, all those evil thoughts, and strong injections, as they are termed, which inflame the passions of the unrenewed, and excite the soul to acts of transgression.

4 Beλn Teπvowμevu. These dreadful weapons were frequently employed by the antients. Πυρφόρα τοξεύματα. Appian. p. 329. Πυρφόροις οϊστους Βαλλεσθαι. Thueydides, tom. ii. lib. xi. p. 202. Glasg.

Τοιους, αγριε δαιμον, εχεις πυρόεντας οϊστους.

Oppian. Kuvny. lib. ii. ver. 425.

According to Ammianus Marcellinus (lib. xxiii. c. 4.) these fiery darts consisted of a hollowed reed, to the lower part of which, under the point or barb, was fastened a round receptacle, made of iron, for combustible materials, so that such an arrow had the form of a distaff. This was filled with burning Naphtha; and when the arrow was shot from a slack bow, (for if discharged from a tight bow the fire went out,) it struck the enemies' ranks and remained infixed, the flame consuming whatever it met with; water poured on it increased its violence; there were no other means to extinguish it but by throwing earth upon it. Similar darts or arrows, which were twined round with tar and pitch, and set fire to, are described by Livy (lib. xxi. c. 8.), as having been made use of by the inhabitants of the city of Saguntum, when besieged by the Romans.

5 On the tops of the antient helmets, as well as in those now in use, is a crest or ridge, furnished with ornaments; some of the antient helmets had emblematic figures, and it is probable that Saint Paul, who in 1 Thess. v. 8. terms the helmet the hope of salvation, refers to such helmets as had on them the emblematic represention of hope. His meaning therefore is, that as the helmet defended the head from deadly blows, so the hope of salvation (of conquering every adversary, and of surmounting every difficulty, through Christ strengthening the Christian,) built on the promises of God, will ward off, or preserve him from, the fatal effects of all temptations, from worldly terrors and evils, so that they shall not disorder the imagination or pervert the judgment, or cause men to desert the path of duty, to their final destruction.

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28

Having thus equipped the spiritual soldier with the divine panoply, the apostle proceeds to show him how he is to use it: he therefore subjoins-Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance. The Greeks and other antient nations, we have already observed, offered up prayers before they went into the battle. Alluding to this, Saint Paul adds the exhortation to believers, praying always at all seasons and on all occasions, with all prayer (more correctly, supplication for what is good) and deprecation of evil; and watching thereuntobeing always on their guard lest their spiritual enemies should surprise them-with all perseverance, being always intent on their object, and never losing sight of their danger or of their interest.1

In the Epistle to the Romans, the apostle, exhorting men to renounce those sins to which they had been long accustomed, and to enter upon a new and holy life, uses a beautiful similitude borrowed from the custom of soldiers throwing off their ordinary habit in order to put on a suit of armour. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore CAST OFF the works of darkness, and let us PUT ON the ARMOUR of light. (Rom. xiii. 12.) In another passage he represents, by a striking simile, in what manner the apostles were fortified against the opposition with which they were called to conflict in this world. By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the ARMOUR of righteousness ON THE RIGHT HAND AND ON THE LEFT. (2 Cor. vi. 7.)

III. It is well known that the strictest subordination and obedience were exacted of every Roman soldier. An allusion to this occurs in Matt. viii. 8, 9.; to understand which it is necessary to state a few particulars relative to the divisions of the Roman army. Their infantry were divided into three principal classes, the Hastati, the Principes, and the Triarii, each of which was composed of thirty manipuli or companies, and each manipulus contained two centuries or hundreds of men over every company were placed two centurions, who however were very far from being equal in rank and honour though possessing the same office. The triarii and principes were esteemed the most honourable, and had their centurions elected first, and these took precedency of the centurions of the Hastati, who were elected last. The humble centurion, who besought the aid of the compassionate Redeemer, appears to have been of this last order. He was a man under authority, that is, of the Principes or Triarii, and had none under him but the hundred men, who appear to have been in a state of the strictest military subordination, as well as of loving subjection to him. I am, said the centurion, a man under authority, having soldiers under me, and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth, and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my slave (Tw dovλw μov),

1 Drs. Chandler, Macknight, and A. Clarke, on Eph. vi. 11-17. In the fifth of Bishop Horne's Discourses (Works, vol. v. pp. 60—72.) the reader will find an admirable and animated exposition of the Christian armour.

2 Αποθώμεθα τα εργα του σκοτους και ενδυσωμεθα τα όπλα του φωτος. Fulgentiaqua induit arma. Virgil, Eneid, ii. ver. 747. Πρωτον τοινυν αποδυσωμέν, αναγκη γαρ τους μeMovтas inλišeobai, yvμvovsdæi mporepov. Lucian. tom. ii. p. 256. edit. Grævi.

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