yard among my other labourers, and you shall receive what is just. In the evening the proprietor of the vineyard ordered his steward to call the workmen together, beginning from the last to the first, to pay them their wages, without any partiality or distinction. When those, therefore, came, who had been employed about five in the afternoon, they received a denarius apiece. When those, who had been hired in the morning, saw them return with such great wages, they indulged the most extravagant joy, imagining that their pay would vastly exceed that of the others; but how great was their disappointment, when they received from the steward, each man a denarius! This supposed injurious treatment caused them to raise loud clamours against the master. And they complained to him of his usage to them, saying, the last labourers you hired only worked a SINGLE HOUR, and you have given them the same wages as you have given us who have been scorched with excessive heat, and sustained the long and rigorous toil of the whole day. He turned to one who appeared the most petulent of them, and directed this reply, Friend, I do thee no injustice; was not our agreement for a denarius? Take what justice entitles thee to, without repining, and calmly acquiesce in the faithful performance of our original agreement-a principle of benevolence disposes me freely to bestow upon the last persons I hired what equity obliges me to give to

you.

It has been observed that slaves were condemned to the mines, where their uncomfortable lives were consumed in the most rigorous and servile drudgery. It is natural to suppose that these wretches, born to better hopes, upon their first entrance into these dismal subterraneous abodes of darkness and despair, with such doleful prospects before them, would be transfixed with the acutest distress and anguish, shed bitter unavailing tears, gnash their teeth for their extreme misery, and fill these gloomy caverns with piercing cries and loud lamentations. Our Lord seems to allude to this, and, considered in this view, the imagery is peculiarly beautiful and expressive, when he represents the wicked servant and unfaithful steward bound hand and foot, and cast into utter darkness, where there would be weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth! (Matt. viii. 12. xxii. 13.) The reader will be pleased with the ingenious remarks of the learned and judicious Dr. Macknight on this passage. "In antient times the stewards of great families were slaves as well as the servants of a lower class, being raised to that trust on account of their fidelity, wisdom, sobriety, and other good qualities. If any steward, therefore, in the absence of his lord, behaved as is represented in the parable, it was a plain proof, that the virtues on account of which he was raised were counterfeit, and by consequence that he was an hypocrite. Slaves of this character, among other chastisements, were sometimes condemned to work in the mines. And as this was one of the most grievous punishments, when they first entered, nothing was heard among them but weeping and gnashing of teeth, on account of the intolerable fatigue to which

they were subjected in these hideous caverns without hope of release. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.""

Crucifixion was a servile punishment, and usually inflicted on the most vile, worthless, and abandoned of slaves. In reference to this it is that St. Paul represents our Lord taking upon him the form of a servant, and becoming subject to death, even the death of the CROSS (Phil. ii. 8.); crucifixion was not only the most painful and excruciating, but the most reproachful and ignominious death that could be suffered. Hence it is that the apostle so highly extols the unexampled love for man and magnanimity of Jesus, who for the joy set before him endured the CROSS, despising the shame (Heb. xii. 2.) and infamy even of such a death. It was this exit which Jesus made that insuperably disgusted so many among the heathens; who could never prevail with themselves to believe that religion to be divine, whose founder had suffered such an opprobrious and infamous death from his countrymen. And for men to preach in the world a system of truths as a revelation from the deity, which were first delivered to mankind by an illiterate and obscure Jew, pretending to a divine mission and character, and who was for such a pretension crucified, appeared to the heathens the height of infatuation and religious delusion. The preaching of the CROSS was to them foolishness (1 Cor. i. 23.): and the religion of a crucified leader, who had suffered in the capital of his own country the indignities and death of a slave, carried with it, in their estimation, the last absurdity and folly, and induced them to look upon the Christians, and the wretched cause in which they were embarked, with pity and contempt. Hence St. Paul speaks of the offence of the cross, the great and invincible disgust conceived by the men of those times against a religion whose founder was crucified! Hence he speaks of not being ashamed of the Gospel from the circumstance which made such numbers ashamed of it, nay of glorying in the cross of Christ; though the consideration of the ignominious and servile death he suffered was the very obstacle that made the heathens stumble at the very threshold of Christianity, and filled them with insurmountable prejudices against it.*

2

1 Dr. Macknight's Harmony, p. 522. 2d. edit. 1763.

2 Σκανδαλον του σταυρού. Galat. v. 11.

3 God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Galat. vi. 14.

4 Jahn, Archæologia Biblica, pp. 241-246. Michaelis's Commentaries, vol. ii. pp. 155-134. Bruning's Compendium Antiquitatum Græcarum e profanis Sacrarum, pp. 77-86. Harwood's Introduction, vol. ii. pp. 144-152. Stosch, Compendium Archæologia Economica Novi Testamentí, pp. 38-48.

VOL. III.

55

CHAPTER VI.

DOMESTIC CUSTOMS AND USAGES OF THE JEWS.

1. Forms of Salutation and Politeness.-Reverence to Superiors.-II. Mode of receiving Guests or Visitors.-III. Conversation and Bathing. IV. Food and Entertainments.-V. Mode of Travelling-VI. Hospitality a sacred Duty among the Jews.--Account of the Tessera Hospitales of the Greeks and Romans.

I. VARIOUS are the modes of address and politeness, which custom has established in different nations. The Orientals were very exact in the observances of outward decorum and we may collect from several passages in the Old and New Testament, that their salutations and expressions of regard on meeting each other were extremely tedious and tiresome, containing many minute inquiries concerning the person's welfare, and the welfare of his family and friends; and, when they parted, concluding with many reciprocal wishes of happiness and benediction on each other. The ordinary formulæ of salutation were-The Lord be with thee! -The Lord bless thee !—and Blessed be thou of the Lord! but the most common salutation was Peace (that is, may all manner of prosperity) be with thee! (Ruth ii. 4. Judg. xix. 20. 1 Sam. xxv. 6. 2 Sam. xx. 9. Psal. cxxix. 8.) In the latter ages of the Jewish polity, much time appears to have been spent in the rigid observance of these ceremonious forms, for which the modern inhabitants of the East continue to be remarkable. When our Lord, therefore, in his commission to the seventy, whom he despatched into the towns and villages of Judæa to publish the Gospel, strictly ordered them to salute no man by the way,2 (Luke x. 4.) he designed only by this prohibition that they should employ the utmost expedition; that they should suffer nothing to retard and impede them in their progress from one place to another; and should not lavish those precious moments, which ought to be devoted to the sacred and arduous duties of their office, in observing the irksome and unmeaning modes of ceremonious intercourse. Not that our Lord intended that his disciples should studiously violate all common civility and decency, and industriously offend against all the

1 "Serious and taciturn as the natives of the East usually are, they grow talkative when they meet an acquaintance, and salute him. This custom has come from Asia with the Arabs, and spread over the north coast of Africa. A modern traveller relates the reciprocal salutations with which those are received who return with the caravans. "People go a great way to meet them; as soon as they are perceived, the questioning and salutation begins, and continues with the repetition of the same phrases: How do you do? God be praised that you are come in peace! God give you peace! How fares it with you? The higher the rank of the person returning home, the longer does the salutation last." See Horneman's Journal. Stollberg's History of Religion, vol. iii. p. 183. Burder's Oriental Literature, vol. i. p. 436.

2 Salute no man by the way: C'est à dire, ne perdez point le tems en long discours, et en vaines cérémonies avec les passans. L'Enfant in loc.

rules of courteousness and decorum, since he commanded them upon their entrance into any house to salute it (Matt. x. 12.), and observe the customary form of civility in wishing it peace2 (Luke x. 5.) or universal happiness. This injunction, to salute no one on the road, means only that they should urge their course with speed, and not suffer their attention to be diverted from the duties of their commission. There is a passage in the Old Testament parallel to this, and which beautifully illustrates it. Elisha, despatching his servant Gehazi to recover the son of the Shunamite, strictly enjoins him to "make all the expedition possible, which is thus expressed: Gird up thy loins and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way. If thou meet any man, salute him not, and if any salute thee, answer him not again. (2 Kings iv. 29.)

In all countries these modes of address and politeness, though the terms are expressive of the profoundest respect and homage, yet through constant use and frequency of repetition soon degenerate into mere verbal forms and words of course, in which the heart has no share. They are a frivolous unmeaning formulary, perpetually uttered without the mind's ever annexing any idea to them. To these empty insignificant forms, which men mechanically repeat at meeting or taking leave of each other, there is a beautiful allusion in the following expression of our Lord in that consolatory discourse which he delivered to his apostles when he saw them dejected and disconsolate on his plainly assuring them that he would soon leave them and go to the Father. My peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you, Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. (John xiv. 27.) Since I must shortly be taken from you, I now bid you adieu, sincerely wishing you every happiness; not as the world giveth, give I unto you; not in the unmeaning ceremonial manner the world repeats this salutation: for my wishes of peace and happiness to you are sincere, and my blessing and benediction will derive upon you every substantial felicity. This sheds light and lustre upon one of the finest and most beautiful pieces of imagery which the genius and judgment of a writer ever created. In that well-written and truly sublime Epistle to the Hebrews, the author informs us with what warm anticipating hopes of the Messiah's future kingdom those great and good men, who adorned the annals of former ages, were animated. These all, says he, died in

1 And when ye come into an house, salute it.

2 And into whatsoever house you enter, say, Peace be to this house! Peace, in the Jewish idiom, denotes happiness.

3 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth give I unto you: Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. The words of the philosopher are an excellent and striking paraphrase on this passage of Scripture. Ορατε γαρ ότι ειρηνην μεγάλην ὁ Καισαρ. κ. λ. You see what a great and extensive peace the Emperor can give the world; since there are now no wars, no battles, no association of robbers or of pirates, but one may in safety, at any time of the year, travel or sail from east to west. But can the Emperor give us peace from a fever, from shipwreck, from fire, from an earthquake, or from thunder? Can he from love? He cannot! from sorrow? No! from envy? No! from none of these things! The principles only of philosophy promise and are able to secure us peace from all these evils. Arriani Dissert. Epist. lib. iii. p. 411. edit. Upton. 1741.

faith, they closed their eyes upon the world, but they closed them in the transporting assurance that God would accomplish his promises. They had the firmest persuasion that the Messiah would bless the world. By faith they antedated these happy times, and placed themselves, in idea, in the midst of all their fancied blessedness. They hailed this most auspicious period: saluted it, as one salutes a friend whose person we recognise, at a distance. These all' died in faith, died in the firm persuasion that God would accomplish these magnificent promises, though they themselves had not enjoyed them, but only had seen them afar off: God had only blessed them with a remote prospect of them. They were therefore persuaded of them, they had the strongest conviction of their reality-they embraced them-with transport saluted' them at a distance, confessing that they were but strangers and pilgrims upon earth, but were all travelling towards a CITY which had foundations, whose builder and maker is God!

Respect was shown to persons on meeting, by the salutation of Peace be with you! and laying the right hand upon the bosom: but if the person addressed was of the highest rank, they bowed to the earth. Thus Jacob bowed to the ground seven times until he came near to his brother Esau. (Gen. xxxiii. 3.) Sometimes they kissed the hem of the person's garment, and even the dust on which he had to tread. (Zech. viii. 23. Luke viii. 44. Acts x. 26. Psal. lxxii. 9.) Sometimes persons out of humility turned aside from the way, as if they were unworthy to salute those whom they met: and it has been supposed that our Saviour's words on sending out the seventy disciples may be referred to this custom. (Luke x. 4.) Near relations and intimate acquaintances kissed each other's hands, head, neck, beard (which on such occasions only could be touched without affront), or shoulders. (Gen. xxxiii. 4. xlv. 14. 2 Sam. xx. 9. Luke xv. 20. Acts xx. 17.) Whenever the common people approached their prince, or any person of superior rank, it was customary for them to prostrate themselves before them. In particular, this homage was universally paid to the monarchs of Persia by those who were admitted into their presence ;-a homage, in which some of the Greek commanders, possessed of a truly liberal and manly spirit, peremptorily refused to gratify them. In imitation of these proud sovereigns, Alexander the Great exacted a similar prostration. This mode of address obtained also among the Jews. When honoured with admittance to their sovereign, or introduced to illustrious personages, they fell down at their feet, and continued in this servile posture till they were raised. There occur many instances of this

1 Aonacaμevoi. The word always used in salutations. See Romans xvi. passim. 2 Vereor ne civitati meæ sit opprobrio, si quum ex ea sim profectus, quæ cæteris gentibus imperare consuevarit, potius barbarorum quam illius more fungar! C. Nepos. Conon. p. 153. The Athenians punished a person with death for submitting to this slavish prostration. Athenienses autem Timagoram inter officium salutationis Darium regem more gentis illius adulatum, capitali supplicio affecerunt; unius civis humilibus blanditiis totius urbis sua decus Persicæ dominationi summissum graviter ferentes. Valerius Maximus, lib. vi. cap. 3. p. 561. Torrenii, Leide, 1726.