For aught appears, therefore, this ceremony might be inftituted only in terrorem, and yet prove very effectual, both to keep the wives within the bounds of conjugal fidelity, and the hufbands from too lightly fufpecting them of a breach of it; efpecially, if another circumftance, which the Jews tell us, be true, or was believed to be fo; that thefe waters could have no effect upon the wife, how guilty foever, if the hufband had likewife been guilty of tranfgreffing the laws of wedlock d. Whether the Ifraelites had feen any the like cuftom in Egypt, or in any other nation, which made it expedient to have fomething among them in imitation of it, we will not affirm; but it is plain, that almost every country, fince, had a kind of trial, or ordeal, not only for cafes of incontinency, but almost for every crime.

3. MARRIAGE. We find but few laws concerning Marriage. this inftitution, befides thofe which we have mentioned under the last article against adultery (F). Mofes con

tented

d SELD. de fynedr. & uxor. Heb. BUXTORF. MUNST. in Num. v. BASNAG. rep. Heb. 1. i. c. 12. CALM. fub voc. Adult. & al. mult. poft. rabbin.

he was guilty, fhe had no fooner drank the water, than fhe began to look pale and ghaftly, her eyes fwelled out of her head, and the loft the use of them: her belly likewife fwelled fo vifibly, that they made all the hafte imaginable to convey her away, left the fhould defile the place by her death.. They add, what is ftill more remarkable, that the man, who had had criminal commerce with her, died at that very instant, and much in the fame manner,how diftant foever from her, and ignorant of what was done. Authors difagree about the time when this miraculous ceremony was fet afide; fome affirming, that it was difufed after the captivity; and others, that it continued till about

an hundred years before the de-
ftruction of the fecond temple.
All own,however, that the rea-
fon of its being set aside was,
that adulteries became not only
more frequent, which, confe-
quently, would have kept the
priefts and judges continually
employed; but were, likewife,
more public; fo that the trial
of clandeftine or doubtful ones
became ufelefs, when men com-
mitted them fo publicly, that
all the world was apprised of
them (5).

(F) Though the Mofaic law
doth no-where oblige men to
marry, yet the Jews have al-
ways looked upon it as an in-
dispensable duty, implied in the
words, Increase and multiply (6).
So that a man, who did not

(5) Vid. Seld, Buxt, Munft. Lamy, Cun. Bafnag. & al. fup. citat, (6) Gen. i. 28. ix. I.

marry

tented himself with reftraining the Ifraelites from marrying within certain degrees of confanguinity, which had, till then, been permitted, to prevent their taking wives from among the idolatrous nations, with whom they lived. This was the reafon which Abraham gave for chufing a wife for Ifaac from his own kindred, and his defcendents, for following his example f; but which was now intirely ceased, by their being fo exceedingly multiplied. These are therefore the degrees which that lawgiver forbad, as incestuous, under pain of death: 1. To marry one's own father or mother. 2. Father or mother-in-law. 3..The brother or fifter of one's father or mother. 4. A grandfon or granddaughter. 5. An uncle or aunt. 6. A fon or daughterin-law. 7. Two brothers or fifters, by which the Jews understood thofe only by the mother's fide; because they looked upon this confanguinity to be greater than the paternal ones, perhaps from a belief, that the mother contributed moft to the generation of the child f. 8. A brother or fifter-in-law. 9. The hufband or wife of an uncle or aunt. 10. The father and fon, or mother and daughter, either together, or one after the death of the others. As for the other laws relating to matrimony, they feem rather to be taken from the practice of the patriarchs (F),

THE

• Gen. xxiv. 3, & feq. f Ibid. xxvi. 34, 35. xxviii. 1, & alib. + Vid. PHIL. de fpec. leg. CLEM. ALEX. ftrom. ii. Levit. xviii. 6, & feq.

marry before he was twenty years of age, was counted acceffory to any irregularity which the young women might be tempted to, for want of being timely married. They had a proverb in the Talmud, Who is he that prostitutes his daughter,but he who keeps her too long anmarried, or gives her to an old man? For this reafon, they used to marry them as soon as they came of age, which, with them, was at twelve; but, if their fathers married them before, they might, when they came to it,be parted from their

(7) Deut. xxi, 15, & feq.

husbands, if they did not like them.

(F) Thus he forbids the firstborn to be difinherited out of favour or affection to another wife as when a man has two wives, and loves one more than the other; in fuch a case, it was not lawful for him to transfer the inheritance to the children of the favourite wife, if that of the other was the first-born (7) This is in imitation of Abraham, who gave portions to all his other children, and the inheritance to Ifaac (8). The only difference here is, that Mofes (8) Gen. xxv, 5, 6.

orders

THE fame thing may be faid of that law which is called the levirate, which obliged a man, whofe brother died Levirate. without iffue, to marry his widow, and to raise up feed to his brother"; for this is no more than what we find had been the practice in Judah's time. However, Mofes doth here leave it, in fome measure, to a man's choice, whether he will comply with the law, or not; and, in cafe of a refufal, the widow could only fummon him before the judges of the place, where, if he perfifted, the untied his fhoe, and fpit in his face, and faid, Thus fhall it be done unto the man that refufes to build up his brother's house, or family; after which he was branded with the appellative of the man whofe fhoe was unloofed (G). In this number we may

n Deut. xxv. 5, & feq. orders but a double portion to the eldest (9). Herein is alfo a fecond law, tacitly implied, at leaft, for a man to have two wives to which he adds a third; namely, that, upon the marriage of a fecond wife, a man fhall ftill be bound to continue to the former her food, raiment, and the duty of marriage (1o). This laft is alfo conformable to what Laban exacted of Jacob, when he married the second fifter after the first (11).

The Jews did not content themselves with this small allowance of two wives, as we may infer from the examples of David and Solomon, and many others but it must be obferved, that they made a diftinction between the wives of the first rank, and those of the fecond. The first they called

, nashim, and the others u, pilgafhim; which laft, though most verfions ren

alfo

• Vid. Gen. xxxviii. 6, & feq.

der by the word concubines, bar
lots, and prostitutes, yet, in none
of thofe places of Scripture
where that word occurs, which
are about 36,is any such finister
fenfe implied. However, there
is a twofold difference between
these and wives of the firft rank
(12): first, with respect to the
manner of taking them ; name
ly, the latter with the ufual ce-
remonies, and the former with
out; and, fecondly, with re
spect to their authority, and the
honour paid to them and their
children. One thing Maimon
(13) tells us, from the Talmud,
that a man might have as many
wives as he could maintain,even
to an hundred ; and that it was
not in their power to hinder
him, provided he had riches and
ftrength fufficient for them all.

(G) From the words here
ufed by Mofes, If brethren dwell
together (14), one would be apt
to conclude, that this law was
only intended for fuch as dwelt

(9) Deut. xxi. 17.. (10) Exod. xxi. 10. (12) Conf. 1 Kings xi. 3. & 2 Cbren. xi. 21. (14) Deut. xxv. 5«

(11) Gen. xxxi. 50. (13) Halak ifbath, c. 14.

aifo add another law, which obliged the husband to pay down a competent dowry for the wife, or, as the Jews termed it in their contracts, to pay the price or equivalent of her virginity P (G).

FROM thefe, and fuch-like inftances, we may likewife conclude, what was their way of courtship, or, rather, of contracting and celebrating their marriages. The former was tranfacted by the parents or relations, on both fides; and, when the matter was agreed, the bridegroom was introduced to his bride; prefents were exchanged on all fides, the contract figned before witneffes, and, after confummation, the bride tarried ftill fome time with her relations,

P Vid. MAIM. in ifhoth, c. 3. fe&t. 1.

fill in their father's houfe; which feems to have been the cafe of Judah's three fons, mentioned above. Accordingly, the rabbies have understood this law in a very restrained sense, both in this and fome other particulars: fuch as that the eldest only, of the furvivors, was obliged to marry the widow, and not even he, if he was already married in which cafe, they pretend that it was left to his option. But if we look into the antient practices, in the times of the judges, we fhall find,that Boaz, who was neither brother, nor nearest of kin to the deceafed,did yet think himfelf obliged to marry Ruth, upon the nearest kinfman's refufing to do it (15): from which one would be apt to conclude, that the law rather extended farther; and that, where no brothers were left to marry the widow, that duty became incumbent on the nearest relation in courfe, However, it is plain, from the cafe which the Sad

ducees put to our Saviour, about
the feven brethren that had had
the fame woman fucceffively
(16), that this law was not un-
derftood in that limited fenfe
which the Talmudifts have fince
understood it in.

(G) Thus Abraham fent his
fteward with a confiderable
quantity of riches to prefent his
future daughter-in-law and her
relations (17): Jacob purchased
his two wives at the price of
fourteen years fervitude (18);
and when Hamor came to afk his
daughter for his fon Shechem,he
bid him raise the price of her
dowry as high as he pleafed
(19). David likewife modeftly
confefling his inability to pay a
dowry anfwerable to Saul's
daughter, the king acquitted
him for an hundred
prepuces of
the Philifines; and the pro-
phet Hofea bought a wife for
fifteen pieces of filver, and a
fmall quantity of barley (20):
fo that a man might be truly
faid to have purchased, as well
as to marry a wife.
(16) Mat. xxii. 24, & feq.
(18) Ibid. xxix. 18, & feq.
(20) 1 Sam. xviii. 22, & feq. Hof. iii. 2,

(15) Ruth iv. pass. xxiv. pas.

(17) Gen. (19) Ibid. xxxiv. 12, how

how long, or how fhort, we cannot exactly fay † ; after which, the was fent away to her husband's habitation, with finging and dances, at the found of feveral inftruments, This laft was generally performed in the night, and the parable of the ten virgins plainly alludes to it. 'It was likewife customary with them to contract these marriages, whilft their children were very young, and this was called efpoufing; after which, both parties continued with their parents till they were of age to confummate. As for the daughters, whether they were efpoufed, or not, they were kept very ftrict, and out of fight, by the Ifraelites; though this cuftom feems rather to have been taken up after the misfortune of Jacob's daughter, than borrowed from their neighbours, who made no fcruple to fend theirs to feed and water their flocks, as we find was done by Laban's. fifter and daughters, as well as by thofe of Jethro among the Midianites . From this privacy with which the unmarried damfels were kept, they came to be called Almahs, which fignifies hidden, or concealed (H). There was likewife

† See Gen. xxiv. 55, & feq. ONKELOS, R. SOLOM. & MUN STER, in loc. Mat. xxv. 1, & feq. u Vid. Gen. xxiv. 13, & feq. xxix. 9. Exod. ii. 16.

(H) From the word by, alam, or, rather, ghalam, to bide. To this feems to allude that faying of Agur (21), if rightly tranflated-The way of the man, y, behalmah: that is (not with, as our verfion hath it, but), in the maid, or virgin. And here we beg leave to obferve, that an anonymous English author took upon him, under the name of the late Monf. Le Clerc, to quarrel with this text, as trifling and obfcene (22); whereas, our verfion being the only one we know of that renders it with a maid,the objection could flow but from an English pen and we may venture to add, one that had but a fuperficial knowlege of the ori

(21) Prev. xxxi. 19,

ginal, which is not only capable of, but doth manifeftly carry a much fublimer fenfe. We hope, therefore, the reader will not think amifs, if we take this opportunity of doing justice to the text, and its divine author, by fetting it in its full light.

Whoever examines the preface, in the four or five first verfes of this chapter, will easily own, that fuch lofty expreffions could only be defigned to usher in fome fublime mystery: but who can find any fuch in thefe words, whether we read them in or with the maid? that is, whether we understand them of coition, or generation? Befides, where is there either the analogy or climax implied in the

(22) Letters concerning inspiration.

beginning