particular cases? David went up the Mount of Olives, as a mourner and a fugitive; and Absalom, fleeing in battle, might have lost his cap or bonnet. It is certain, that the (TSANIPH), or turban, was common both to men and women. (Job xxix. 14. Isa. iii. 23.) Long hair was in great esteem among the Jews. The hair of Absalom's head was of such prodigious length, that in his flight, when defeated in battle, as he was riding with great speed under the trees, it caught hold of one of the boughs; in consequence of which he was lifted off his saddle, and his mule running from beneath him, left him suspended in the air, unable to extricate himself. (2 Sam. xviii. 9.) The plucking off the hair was a great disgrace among the Jews; and, therefore, Nehemiah punished in this manner those Jews who had been guilty of irregular marriages, in order to put them to the greater shame. (Neh. xiii. 25.) Baldness was also considered as a disgrace. (2 Sam. xiv. 26. 2 Kings ii. 23. Isa. iii. 24.) On festive occasions, the more opulent perfumed their hair with fragrant unguents. (Psal. xxiii. 5. Eccl. ix. 8. Matt. vi. 17. xxvi. 7.) And it should seem, from Cant. v. 11., that black hair was considered to be the most beautiful.

The Jews wore their beards very long, as we may see from the example of the ambassadors, whom David sent to the king of the Ammonites, and whom that ill-advised king caused to be shaved by way of affront. (2 Sam. x. 4.) And as the shaving of them was accounted a great indignity, so the cutting off half their beards, which made them still more ridiculous, was a great addition to the affront, in a country where beards were held in such great veneration.

In the East, especially among the Arabs and Turks, the beard is even now reckoned the greatest ornament of a man, and is not trimmed or shaven, except in cases of extreme grief: the hand is almost constantly employed in smoothing the beard and keeping it in order, and it is often perfumed as if it were sacred. Thus, we read of the fragrant oil, which ran down from Aaron's beard to the skirts of his garment. (Psal. cxxxiii. 2. Exod. xxx. 30.) A shaven beard is reputed to be more unsightly than the loss of a nose; and a man who possesses a reverend beard is, in their opinion, incapable of acting dishonestly. If they wish to affirm any thing with peculiar solemnity, they swear by their beard; and when they express their good wishes for any one, they make use of the ensuing formula-God preserve thy blessed beard! From these instances, which serve to elucidate many other passages of the Bible besides that above quoted, we may readily understand the full extent of the disgrace wantonly inflicted by the Ammonitish king, in cutting off half the beards of David's ambassadors. Niebuhr relates, that if any one cut off his beard, after having recited a fatha, or prayer, which is considered in the nature of a vow never to cut it off, he is liable to be severely punished, and also to become the laughing-stock of those who profess his faith. The same traveller has also recorded an instance of a modern Arab prince having treated a Persian envoy in the same manner as Hanun treated David's ambassadors, which brought a powerful army upon him in the year 1765.2 The not trimming of the beard was one of the indications by which the Jews expressed their mourning. (2 Sam. xix. 24.)

"All the Grecian and Roman women, without distinction, wore their hair long. On this they lavished all their art, disposing it in various forms, and embellishing it with divers ornaments. In the ancient medals, statues, and basso-relievos, we behold those plaited tresses which the apostles Peter and Paul condemn, and see those expensive and fantastic decorations which the ladies of those times bestowed upon their head-dress. This pride of braided and plaited tresses, this ostentation of jewels, this vain display of finery, the apostles interdict, as proofs of a light and little mind, and inconsistent with the modesty and decorum of Christian women. St. Paul, in his first Epistle to Timothy, in the passage where he condemns it, shows us in what the pride of female dress then consisted. I will, says he, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with BROIDERED HAIR, or GOLD, or PEARLS, or COSTLY ARRAY: but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works, (1 Tim. ii. 9.) St. Peter in like manner ordains, that the adorning of the fair sex should not be so much that outward adorning of PLAITING the hair, and of wearing of GOLD, or PUTTING ON OF APPAREL: but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight Rae Wilson's Travels in the Holy Land, &c. vol. i. p. 147. 3d edition. > Descript de l'Arabie, p. 61.

of God of great price. (1 Pet. iii. 3.)3 On the contrary, the men in those times universally wore their hair short, as appears from all the books, medals, and statues that have been transmitted to us. This circumstance, which formed a principal distinction in dress between the sexes, happily illustrates the following passage in St. Paul (1 Cor. xi. 14, 15.) : Doth not even nature itself teach you, that if a MAN have LONG HAIR it is a SHAME to him. But if a WOMAN have LONG HAIR it is a GLORY to her for her hair is given her for a covering. "The Jewish and Grecian ladies, moreover, never appeared in public without a veil. Hence St. Paul severely censures the Corinthian women for appearing in the church without a veil, and praying to God uncovered, by which they threw off the decency and modesty of the sex, and exposed themselves and their religion to the satire and calumny of the heathens. The whole passage beautifully and clearly exhibits to the reader's ideas the distinguishing customs which then prevailed in the different dress and appearance of the sexes." (Compare 1 Cor. xi. 13-16.)

V. Their legs were bare, and on the feet they wore SANDALS, or soles made of leather or of wood, and fastened around the feet in various ways, after the oriental fashion. (Gen. xiv. 23. Exod. xii. 11. Isa. v. 27. Mark vi. 9. John ì. 27. Acts xii. 8.) As luxury increased, magnificent sandals constituted, in the East, a part of the dress of both males and females, who could afford such a luxury. (Cant. vii. 1. Ezek. xvi. 10.) The sandals of Judith were so brilliant, that, notwithstanding the general splendour of her bracelets, rings, and necklaces, these principally succeeded in captivating the ferocious Holofernes. (Judith x. 4. xvi. 9.)5 On entering a sacred place it was usual to lay them aside (Exod. iii. 5. Josh. v. 15.), as is the practice among the Mohammedans in the East to this day. When any one entered a house, it was customary to take off the sandals, and wash the feet. (Gen. xviii. 4. xix. 2.) A similar custom obtains in India at the present time. Among persons of some rank it was the office of servants to take off the sandals of guests, and (after washing their feet) to return them to the owners on their departure. (Matt. iií. 11. Mark v. 7. Luke iii 16. John xiii. 4, 5. 14-16. 1 Tim. v. 10.) Persons, who were in deep affliction, went barefoot (2 Sam. xv. 30. xix. 24. Isa. xx. 2-4.); which, under other circumstances, was considered to be ignominious and servile. (Deut. xxv. 9, 10. Isa, xlvii. 2. Jer. ii. 25.)

VI. SEALS OF SIGNETS, and RINGS, were commonly worn by both sexes.

Pliny states that the use of Seals or Signets was rare at the time of the Trojan war; but among the Hebrews they were of much greater antiquity, for we read that Judah left his signet as a pledge with Tamar. (Gen. xxxviii. 25.) The ancient Hebrews wore their seals or signets, either as rings on their fingers, or as bracelets on their arms, a custom which still obtains in the East. Thus the bride in the Canticles (viii. 6.) desires that the spouse would wear her as a seal on his arm. Occasionally, they were worn upon the bosom by means of an ornamental chain or ligature fastened round the neck. To this custom there is an allusion in Prov. vi. 21. The expression to set as a seal upon the heart, as a seal upon the arm (Cant. viii. 6.), is a scriptural expression denoting the cherishing of a true affection; with the exhibition of those constant attentions which bespeak a real attachment. Com

Mr. Emerson's account of the dress of the younger females in the house of the British consul in the Isle of Milo, in the Levant, strikingly illustrates the above-cited passages of St. Peter. He describes their hair as being PLAITED into long triple bands, and then twisted round the head, or left to flow gracefully behind them. They also wore four or five gowns interlaced with strings of zechins, mahmoudis, and other COLDEN COINS, and other GARMENTS, HEAPED ON with less taste than profusion, and all are secured at the waist by a velvet stomacher, richly embroidered, and glit tering with gilded spangles. (Emerson's Letters from the Egean, vol. ii. p. 238.)

Harwood's Introd. to the New Test. vol. ii. pp. 101-103.

the island of Ceylon in particular, "the shoes of brides are made of velvet, $ Dr. Good's Sacred Idyls, pp. 147. 172. In the East generally, and in richly ornamented with gold and silver, not unlike a pair in the tower [of London] worn by queen Elizabeth." Callaway's Oriental Observ. p. 47. tions on this subject:-"I never understood the full meaning of our Lord's • An intelligent oriental traveller has the following instructive observawords, as recorded in John xiii. 10., until I beheld the better sort of natives return home after performing their customary ablutions. The passage reads thus: He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit.' Thus, as they return to their habitations barefoot, they necessarily contract in their progress some portion of dust on their feet; and this is universally the case, however nigh their dwellings may be to mount a low stool, and pour a small vessel of water over their feet, to the river side. When therefore they return, the first thing they do is to cleanse them from the soil they may have contracted in their journey homewards; if they are of the higher order of society, a servant performs it for them, and then they are clean every whit."" Statham's Indian Recollections, p. 81. London, 1832. 12mo. "Nat. Hist. lib. xxxiii. c. 1.

pare also Hag. ii. 23. Jer. xxxii. 24. The Ring is mentioned in Isa. iii. 21., and also in the parable of the prodigal, where the father orders a ring for his returning son (Luke xv. 22.), and also by the apostle James. (ii. 2.) The compliment of a royal ring was a token that the person, to whom it was given, was invested with power and honour: thus Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph's. (Gen. xli. 42.) And Ahasuerus plucked off his ring from his finger, and bestowed it on Haman (Esther iii. 10.), and afterwards on Mordecai. (viii. 2.)

VII. Although the garments anciently worn by the Jews were few in number, yet their ornaments were many, especially those worn by the women. The prophet Isaiah, when reproaching the daughters of Sion with their luxury and vanity, gives us a particular account of their female ornaments. (Isa. iii. 16-24.) The most remarkable were the following:

1. The NOSE JEWELS (ver. 21.), or, as Bishop Lowth translates them, the jewels of the nostril. They were rings set with jewels, pendent from the nostrils, like ear-rings from the ears, by holes bored to receive them. Ezekiel, enumerating the common ornaments of women of the first rank, distinctly mentions the nose_jewel (Ezek. xvi. 12. marg. rendering); and in an elegant Proverb of Solomon (Prov. xi. 22.) there is a manifest allusion to this kind of ornament, which shows that it was used in his time. Nose jewels were one of the love-tokens presented to Rebecca by the servant of Abraham in the name of his master. (Gen. xxiv. 22. where the word translated ear-ring ought to have been rendered nose jewel.)2 However singular this custom may appear to us, modern travellers attest its prevalence in the East among women of all ranks.3

2. The EAR-RING was an ornament worn by the men as well as the women, as appears from Gen. xxxv. 4. and Exod. xxxii. 2.; and by other nations as well as the Jews, as is evident from Num. xxxi. 50. and Judg. viii. 24. It should seem that this ornament had been heretofore used for idolatrous purposes, since Jacob, in the injunction which he gave to his household, commanded them to put away the strange gods that were in their hands, and the ear-rings that were in their ears. (Gen. xxxv. 2. 4.) It appears that the Israelites themselves in subsequent times were not free from this superstition; for Hosea (ii. 13.) represents Jerusalem as having decked herself with ear-rings to Baalim.

3. PERFUME BOXES (in our version of Isa. iii. 20. rendered tablets) were an essential article in the toilet of a Hebrew lady. A principal part of the delicacy of the Asiatic ladies consists in the use of baths, and the richest oils and perfumes: an attention to which is in some degree necessary in those hot countries. Frequent mention is made of the rich ointments of the bride in the Song of Solomon. (iv. 10, 11.) The preparation for Esther's introduction to king Ahasuerus was a course of bathing and perfuming for a whole year: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours. (Esth. ii. 12.) A diseased and loathsome habit of body, which is denounced against the women of Jerusalem

And there shall be, instead of perfume, a putrid ulcer-
Isa. iii. 24. Bp. LoWTH's version.

instead of a beautiful skin, softened and made agreeable with all that art could devise, and all that nature, so prodigal in those countries of the richest perfumes, could supply,-must have been a punishment the most severe, and the most mortifying to the delicacy of these haughty daughters of Sion.5

4. The TRANSPARENT GARMENTS (in our version of Isa. iii. 23. rendered glasses) were a kind of silken dress, transparent like gauze, worn only by the most delicate women, and by such as dressed themselves more elegantly than became women of good character. This sort of garments was wards in use both among the Greeks and Romans.6

5. Another female ornament was a CHAIN about the neck (Ezek. xvi. 11.), which appears to have been used also by the men, as may be inferred from Prov. i. 9. This was a general ornament in all the eastern countries: thus Pharaoh is said to have put a chain of gold about Joseph's neck (Gen. xli. 42.); and Belshazzar did the same to Daniel (Dan. v. 29.); and it is mentioned with several other things as part of the Midianitish spoil. (Num. xxxi. 50.) Further, the arms or wrists were adorned with bracelets: these are in the catalogue of the female ornaments used by the Jews (Ezek. xvi. 11.), and were part of Rebecca's present. They were also worn by men of any considerable figure, for we read of Judah's bracelets (Gen. xxxviii. 18.), and of those worn by Saul. (2 Sam. i. 10.)

6. We read in Exod. xxxviii. 8. of the women's LOOKING GLASSES, which were not made of what is now called glass, but of polished brass, otherwise these Jewish women could not have contributed them towards the making of the brazen laver, as is there mentioned. In later times, mirrors were made of other polished metal, which at best could only reflect a very obscure and imperfect image. Hence St. Paul, in a very apt and beautiful simile, describes the defective and limited knowledge of the present state by that opaque and dim representation of objects, which those mirrors exhibited. Now we see si crgov by means of a mirror, darkly; not through a glass, as in our version of 1 Cor. xiii. 12.; for telescopes, as every one knows, are a very late invention. 7. To the articles of apparel above enumerated may be added FEET RINGS. (Isa. iii. 8. in our version rendered TINKLING ORNAMENTS about the feet.) Most of these articles of female apparel are still in use in the East. The East Indian women, who accompanied the Indo-Anglican army from India to Egypt, wore large rings in their noses, and silver cinctures about their ankles and wrists, their faces being painted above the eyebrows. In Persia and Arabia, also, it is well known that the women paint their faces and wear gold and silver rings about their ankles, which are full of little bells that tinkle as they walk or trip along. Cingalese children often wear rings about their ankles; Malabar and Moor children wear rings, hung about with hollow balls, which tinkle as they run. The licensed prostitutes whom Dr. Richardson saw at Gheneh (a large commercial town of Upper Egypt) were attired in a similar manner.9

8. As large black eyes are greatly esteemed in the East, the oriental women have recourse to artificial means, in order to impart a dark and majestic shade to the eyes. Dr. Shaw informs us, that none of the Moorish ladies think themselves completely dressed, until they have tinged their eyelids with al-ka-hol, that is, with stibium, or the powder of lead ore. As this process is performed "by first dipping into this powder a small wooden bodkin of the thickness of a quill, and then drawing it afterwards through the eyelids, over the ball of the eye, we have a lively image of what the prophet Jeremiah (ív. 30.) may be supposed to mean by renting the eyes (not as we render it, with painting, but) with D, lead ore. The sooty colour which in this manner is communicated to the eyes is thought to add a wonderful gracefulness to persons of all complexions. The practice of it, no doubt, is of great antiquity for, besides the instances already noticed, we find, that when Jezebel is said to have painted her face (2 Kings ix. 30.), the original words are, i. e. she adjusted, or set off, her eyes with the powder of lead ore. So likewise Ezek. xxiii. 40, is to be understood. Keren-happuch, i. e. the horn of pouk or lead ore, the name of Job's

and

1 Schroeder has treated at great length on the various articles of female apparel mentioned in Isa. iii. 16-24. in his Commentarius PhilologicoCriticus de Vestitu Mulierum Hebræaum. Lug. Bat. 1735. 4to. 2 Bp. Lowth on Isaiah, vol. ii. p. 47.

Ibid. vol. ii. p. 48. Harmer's Observations, vol. iv. pp. 316-320. In the East Indies, a small jewel, in form resembling a rose, ornaments one nostril of even the poorest Malabar woman. Callaway's Oriental Observations, p. 48.

It is probable that the ear-rings, or jewels, worn by Jacob's household, had been consecrated to superstitious purposes, and worn, perhaps, as a kind of amulet. It appears that rings, whether on the ears or nose, were first superstitiously worn in honour of false gods, and probably of the sun, whose circular form they might be designed to represent. Maimonides mentions rings and vessels of this kind, with the image of the sun, moon, &c. impressed on them. These superstitious objects were concealed by Jacob in a place known only to himself. Grotius on Gen. Xxxv. 4. Calmet's Dictionary, vol. ii. voce Ring. Bp. Lowth's Isaiah, vol. ii. pp. 49, 50. • Ibid. p. 49.

Dr. Clarke's Travels, vol. v. p. 320. 8vo. edit. Morier's Second Journey in Persia, p. 145. Ward's History, &c. of the Hindoos, vol. ii. pp. 329. 333. Callaway's Oriental Observations, pp. 47, 48.

"This is the only place in Egypt where we saw the women of the town decked out in all their finery. They were of all nations and of all complexions, and regularly licensed, as in many parts of Europe, to exercise their profession. Some of them were highly painted, and gorgeously attired with costly necklaces, rings in their noses and in their ears, and bracelets on their wrists and arms. They sat at the doors of the houses, and called on the passengers as they went by, in the same manner as we read in the book of Proverbs." [vii. 6-23] (Richardson's Travels, vol. i. p. 260.) The same custom was observed by Pitis, a century before, at Cairo. See his account of the Mahometans, p. 99.

youngest daughter, was relative to this custom or practice." The modern Persian, Egyptian, and Arab women, continue the practice of tinging their eyelashes and eyelids.2 It was a particular injunction of the Mosaic law that the women shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment. (Deut. xxii. 5.) This precaution was very necessary against the abuses which are the usual consequences of such disguises. For a woman drest in a man's clothes will not be restrained so readily by that modesty which is the peculiar ornament of her sex; and a man drest in a woman's habit may without fear and shame go into companies where, without this disguise, shame and ear would hinder his admittance, and prevent his appearing. In hot countries, like a considerable part of Palestine, travellers inform us, that the greatest difference imaginable subsists between the complexions of the women. Those of any condition seldom go abroad, and are ever accustomed to be shaded from the sun, with the greatest attention. Their skin is, consequently, fair and beautiful. But women in the lower ranks of life, especially in the country, being from the nature of their employments more exposed to the scorching rays of the sun, are, in their complexions, remarkably tawny and swarthy. Under such circumstances, a high value would, of course, be set, by the eastern ladies, upon the fairness of their complexions, as a distinguishing mark of their superior quality, no less than as an enhancement of their beauty. We perceive, therefore, how natural was the bride's self-abasing reflection in Cant. i. 5, 6. respecting her tawny complexion (caused by exposure to servile employments), among the fair daughters of Jerusalem; who, as attendants on a royal marriage (we may suppose), were of the highest rank.3

VIII. To change habits and wash one's clothes were ceremonies used by the Jews, in order to dispose them for some holy action which required particular purity., Jacob, after his return from Mesopotamia, required his household to change their garments, and go with him to sacrifice at Bethel. (Gen. XXXV. 2, 3.) Mosès commanded the people to prepare themselves for the reception of the law by purifying and washing their clothes. (Exod. xix. 10.) On the other hand, the RENDING OF One's CLOTHES is an expression frequently used in Scripture, as a token of the highest grief. Reuben, to denote his great sorrow for Joseph, rent his clothes (Gen. Xxxvii. 29.); Jacob did the like (ver. 34.); and Ezra, to express the concern and uneasiness of his mind, and the apprehensions he entertained of the divine displeasure, on account of the people's unlawful marriages, is said to rend his garments and his mantle (Ezra ix. 3.); that is, both his inner and upper garment: this was also an expression of indignation and holy zeal; the high-priest rent his clothes, pretending that our Saviour had spoken blasphemy. (Matt. xxvi. 65.) And so did the apostles, when the people intended to pay them divine honours. (Acts xiv. 14.) The garments of mourners among the Jews were chiefly sackcloth and haircloth. The last sort was the usual clothing of the prophets, for they were continual penitents by profession; and therefore Zechariah speaks of the rough garments of the false prophets, which they also wore to deceive. (Zech. xiii. 4.) Jacob was the first we read of that put sackcloth on his loins,

1 Dr. Shaw's Travels, vol. i. p. 413.

2 Harmer's Observations, vol. iv. p. 334. Shaw's Travels, vol. i. p. 414. Morier's Second Journey, pp. 61. 145. The eyes of the wife of a Greek priest, whom Mr. Rae Wilson saw at Tiberias, were stained with black powder. (Travels in the Holy Land, &c. vol. ii. p. 17.) "The Palmyrene women are the finest looking women of all the Arab tribes of Syria. ...... Like other Orientals of their sex, they dye the tips of the fingers and the palms of their hands red, and wear gold rings in their ears: and the jet-black dye of the hennah for the eyelashes is never forgotten; they imagine, and, perhaps, with truth, that its blackness gives the eye an additional languor and interest." Carne's Letters from the East, p. 592. > Fry's Translation of the Song of Solomon, p. 36.

as a token of mourning for Joseph (Gen. xxxvii. 34.), signifying thereby that since he had lost his beloved son he considered himself as reduced to the meanest and lowest condition of life.

IX. A prodigious number of sumptuous and magnificent habits was in ancient times regarded as a necessary and indispensable part of their treasures. Horace, speaking of Lucullus (who had pillaged Asia, and first introduced Asiatic refinements among the Romans), says, that, some persons having waited upon him to request the loan of a hundred suits out of his wardrobe for the Roman stage, he exclaimed-"A hundred suits! how is it possible for me to furnish such a number? However, I will look over them and send you what I have."-After some time, he writes a note, and tells them he had FIVE THOUSAND, to the whole or part of which they were welcome.4

This circumstance of amassing and ostentatiously displaying in wardrobes numerous and superb suits, as indispensable to the idea of wealth, and forming a principal part of the opulence of those times, will elucidate several passages of Scripture. The patriarch Job, speaking of riches in his time, says,-Though they heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay. (Job xxvii. 16.) Joseph gave his brethren changes of raiment, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment. (Gen. xlv. 22.) Naaman carried for a present to the prophet Elisha ten changes of raiment, that is, according to Calmet, ten tunics and ten upper garments. (2 Kings v. 5.) In allusion to this custom our Lord, when describing the short duration and perishing nature of earthly treasures, represents them as subject to the depredations of moths. Lay not up for yourselves TREASURES on earth, where moth and rust do corrupt. (Matt. vi. 19.) The illustrious apostle of the Gentiles, when appealing to the integrity and fidelity with which he had discharged his sacred office, said, I have coveted no man's gold, or silver, or APPAREL. (Acts xx. 33.) The apostle James, likewise (just in the same manner as the Greek and Roman writers, when they are particularizing the opulence of those times), specifies gold, silver, and garments, as the constituents of riches:Go to now, ye rich men; weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your gold and silver is cankered, and your GARMENTS are moth-eaten. (James v. 1. 3. 2.) The fashion of hoarding up splendid dresses still subsists in Palestine. It appears from Psal. xlv. 8. that the wardrobes of the East were plentifully perfumed with aromatics; and in Cant. iv. 11. the fragrant odour of the bride's garments is compared to the odour of Lebanon. With robes thus perfumed Rebecca furnished her son Jacob, when she sent him to obtain by stratagem his father's blessing. And he (Isaac) smelled the smell (or fragrance) of his raiment and blessed him, and said, See! the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed. (Gen. xxvii. 27.) In process of time, this exquisite fragrance was figuratively applied to the moral qualities of the mind; of which we have an example in the Song of Solomon, i. 3.

Like the fragrance of thine own sweet perfumes
Is thy name, a perfume poured forth.9

Horat. Epist. lib. i. ep. 6. ver. 40-44.