No. 100.-2 SAMUEL i. 2. And earth upon his head. IN several passages of scripture mention is made of dust strewed on the head, as a token of mourning. Joshua vii. 6. Job ii. 12. or earth, 2 Sam. i. 2. or ropes carried on the head, as a token of submission, 1 Kings xx. 31. The following instance is remarkably analogous to these acts of humiliation: "He then descended the mountain, carrying, as is the custom of the country, for vanquished rebels, a stone upon his head, as confessing himself guilty of a capital crime." BRUCE's Travels, vol. ii. p. 650. No. 101.-iv. 12. And David commanded his young men, and they slew them, and cut off their hands and their feet, and hung them up over the pool in Hebron.] In times of tumult and disorder they frequently cut off the hands and feet of people, and afterwards exposed them as well as the head. Lady M. W. Montague speaking of the Turkish ministers of state (Let. ii. 19,) says, “if a mimister displease the people, in three hours time he is dragged even from his master's arms; they cut off his hands, head, and feet, and throw them before the palace gate, with all the respect in the world, while the sultan (to whom they all profess an unlimited adoration) sits trembling in his apartment." Thus were the sons of Rimmon served for slaying Ishbosheth. HARMER, vol. ii. p. 272. No. 102. vii. 18. Sat before the Lord.] PococĶE (vol. i. p. 213.) has given the figure of a person half sitting and half kneeling, that is, kneeling so as to rest the most muscular part of his body on his heels. This, he observes, is the manner in which inferior persons sit at this day before great men, and is considered as a very humble posture. In this manner, probably David sat before the Lord, when he went into the sanctuary to bless him for his promise respecting his family. HARMER, vol. ii. p. 58. No. 103. viii. 2. Measured them with a line.] These words seem to allude to a custom among the kings of the east, when they were thoroughly incensed against any nation—to make all the captives come together in one place, and prostrate themselves upon the ground, that, being divided into two parts, as it were with a line, their conqueror might appoint which part he pleased, either for life or for death, which was sometimes determined by casting lots. STACKHOUSE'S Hist. of Bible, vol. i. p. 689, note. No. 104-x. 4. Shaved off one half of their beards.] It is a great mark of infamy amongst the Arabs to cut off the beard. Many people would prefer death to this kind of treatment. As they would think it a grievous punishment to lose it, they carry things so far as to beg for the sake of it: By your beard, by the life of your beard, do. God preserve your blessed beard. When they would express their value for a thing, they say, it is worth more than his beard. These things shew the energy of that thought of Ezekiel. (ch. v. ver. 1. 5.) where the inhabitants of Jerusalem are compared to the hair of his head and beard. It intimates that though they had been as dear to God as the beard was to the Jews, yet they should be consumed and destroyed. (Harmer, vol. ii, p. 55.) When Peter the Great attempted to civilize the Russians, and introduced the manners and fashions of the more refined parts of Europe, nothing met with more opposition than the cutting off of their beards, and many of those, who were obliged to comply with this command, testified such great veneration for their beards, as to order them to be buried with them. Irwin also, in his voyage up the Red Sea (p. 40.) says, that at signing a treaty of peace with the vizier of Yambo, they swore by their beards, the most solemn oath they can take. D' Arvieux gives a remarkable instance of an Arab, who, haying received a wound in his jaw, chose to hazard his life rather than to suffer his surgeon to take off his beard. From all these representations it may easily be collected how great the insult was which Hanun put upon David's servants. It was one of the most infamous. punishments of cowardice in Sparta, that they who turned their backs in the day of battle, were obliged to appear abroad with one half of their beard shaved, and the other half unshaved. The Easterns considered the beard as venerable, because it distinguished men from women, and was the mark of free men in opposition to slaves. See TAVERNIER's Voyages to the Indies, Part 2. b. 2. c. 7. No. 105,-xii. 20. David arose from the earth.] Chardin informs us, that "it is usual in the East to leave a relation of a person deceased to weep and mourn, till on the third or fourth day at farthest, the relations and friends go to see him, cause him to eat, lead him to a bath, and cause him to put on new vestments, he having before thrown himself upon the ground." The surprise of David's servants, who had seen his bitter anguish while the child was sick, was excited at his doing that himself, which it was customary for the friends of mourners to do for them. HARMER, vol. ii. p. 495. No. 106.-xiii. 8. She took flour, and kneaded it.] Mr. PARKHURST (Hebrew Lexicon, p. 413. 3d. edit.) supposes this passage is to be understood of the frequent turning of the cakes while baking. This appears to have been the common method of preparing them, for Rauwolff, speaking of his entertainment in a tent on the other side of the Euphrates, says, "the woman was not idle neither, but brought us milk and eggs to eat, so that we wanted for nothing. She made also some dough for cakes, and laid them on hot stones, and kept them turning, and at length she flung the ashes and embers over them and so baked them thoroughly. They were very good to eat, and very savoury." No. 107.-xiii. 18. Garment of divers colours.] Party-coloured vestments were esteemed honourable. To make them, many pieces of different coloured ribbands were sewed together. (Shaw's Trav. p. 228.) Kings daughters were thus arrayed. HARMER, vol. ii. p. 91. No. 108.-xvi. 13. And cast dust.] When the consul, whom Pococke attended, entered Cairo, "according to an ancient custom of state, a man went before, and sprinkled water on the ground to lay the dust." (vol. i. p. 17.) In hot and dry countries this practice must have been very convenient. If it was used in Judea before the time of David, it will explain Shimei's behaviour, and give it great energy. He threw stones and dust at him, who probably had been honoured by having the ground moistened, that the dust might not rise, when he walked out. So also Acts xxii. 23. Chardin has made an observation, which places this matter in a different point of view: he says, "that in almost all the East those who accuse a criminal, or demand justice against him, throw dust upon him; as much as to say, he deserves to be put under ground: and it is a common imprecation of the Turks and Persians-Be covered with earth." The Jews certainly thought Paul deserved to die; and Shimei might design to declare by what he did, that David was unworthy to live. HARMER, vol. ii. p. 109. No. 109.-xx. 9. Joab took Amasa by the beard to kiss him.] Mr. Harmer, (vol. ii. p. 54.) supposes we are to understand this expression as referring to the practice of kissing the beard itself, which was a customary thing. D'ARVIEUX (Voy.dans la Pal. p. 71.) describing the assembling together of several petty Arab princes at an entertainment, says, that "all the emirs came just together a little time after, accompanied by their friends and attendants, and after the usual civilities, caresses, kissings of the beard and of the hand, which every one gave and received according to his rank and dignity, they sat down upon mats." No. 110. xxii. 6. Snares of death.] This is an allusion to the ancient manner of hunting, which is still practised in some countries, and was performed by "surrounding a considerable tract of ground by a circle of nets, and afterwards contracting the circle by degrees, till they had forced all the beasts of that quarter together into a narrow compass, and then it was that the slaughter began. This manner of hunting was used in Italy of old, as well as all over the eastern parts of the world. (VIRGIL, Æn. iv. 1. 121–131. SHAW's Travels, p. 235.) and it was from this custom that the poets sometimes represented death as surrounding persons with her nets, and as encompassing them on every side. Thus Statius, lib. v. Sylv. i. 1. 156. -Furvæ miserum circum undique lethi SPENCE'S Polymetis, Dial. xvi. p. 262. HORACE, lib. iii. No. 111.-xxiv. 18, Threshing floor.] These among the ancient Jews, were only, as they are to this day in |