limits, Jofephus fays out of the walls, of the city h, it was lawful for any relations of the deceased either to kill him, or to have him put to death by the hand of justice.

THESE cities were not only for the Ifraelites, but for all strangers that either lived among them, or came occafionally. The Jews indeed confine the benefit of them to their profelytes, but this fense seems to flow more from their narrowness of foul, than from the words of the text i. We may remember, that Mofes ordered three of them to be affigned on either fide Jordank. This partition feems indeed fomewhat unequal, because one fide had but two tribes and half, and the other nine and half; the reason of which fome Jews tell us was, because there were a great many more homicides committed in the former by way of felf-defence, than in the latter: but this is ridiculous, and that of R. Nachman is by far more probable and judicious; namely, that the extent of the country of the former was at leaft as large as that of the latter, though less inhabited; which made it neceffary for them to have fo many of those cities. However, as to thofe tribes on the other fide, GOD permitted them to add three more to their number, whenever the largeness of their conquefts fhould make it neceffary'.

How, where, and by whom, the examination of the manflayer was made, in order to his being admitted to, or excluded the benefit of the city of refuge; that is, whether by the next judges of the place where the fact was committed, or by thofe of the city whither the man fled for fanctuary; is neither clear from the text, nor agreed on by interpreters. However, as a late author juftly obferves m from an expreffion in Deuteronomy and Joshua", there 1 Vide Numb. xxxv. 15. k

Ant. lib. iv. c. 7. ver. 14. Deut. xix. paff. fub voc. Refuge.

6, 9.

Ibid,

1 Ibid. ver. 9. m CALM. Deut. xix. 11, 12. comp. with Jofh, xx.

feems to have been a double tryal, one before the judges of the city of refuge, and one before what the text calls there the congregation; by which are understood either thofe of the place where the fact was committed, or perhaps the great council; and this feems to us to have been neceffary only when the avenger of blood appealed from those of the place of refuge. As foon therefore as a man had been unfortunately guilty of accidental homicide, his first businefs was to flee with all convenient hafte to the next city of that kind. The ways leading to it were, by GoD's own appointment, to be kept in good repair (N), that nothing might retard his fpeed. As foon as he came to the place, he prefented himself to the judges of it, and declared the occafion of his coming, and the manner of his killing the perfon; and according as his account appeared true or false, he was admitted to or excluded from their protection. If the avenger of blood, who was always the nearest relation to the deceased, came to demand juftice, he and his evidence were heard, and the judges either confirmed their

(N) The text (7) fays only, Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the coaft of the land into three parts, that every flayer may fee thither. But their rulers added a number of other laws for keeping those roads in continual repair, that the perfon might meet with no obftruction in his flight. These roads, acocrding to them, were to be 32 cubits in breadth, fmooth, plain, and without afcent, defcent, or ditches. At every place where the road parted, a poft was to be fet up to direct them, which had the word up miklat, refuge, engraven upon it. Every brook or river was to have a good bridge; all watery places were to be drained, and the furface kept fmooth and hard. To these precepts the words of the baptift, Prepare the ways of the

LORD, make his paths ftrait ; every valley fhall be filled, and every mountain levelled, &c. are thought to allude. Once a year at least, in the month of Adar, which answers in part to our February, the magiftrates of every city were obliged to vifit them, and fee that they were kept in good order; otherwise, in cafe the avenger chanced to overtake and kill the flayer, the magiftracy of the place were judged guilty of his death. As for the cities of refuge, they were to be of a moderate bigness, well furnished with water, provifions, artists, and all manner of conveniences, weapons excepted. The reafon they give for excluding this last was, left the avenger fhould, in a fit of anger, make use of them against the flayer (8).

(7) Deut. xix. 3. (8) Vide Gemax. tra&. v, præcept. aff. 75, & feqq. Rab. Salom, Maimon, Onkelos, Munster, & al, in Num. xxxv. former

former fentence in favour of the manflayer, or delivered him up to be punished, if the fact was proved to be wilfully done; but if the former, he was to be conducted to the place where the fact was committed, and there tried a fecond time; and if he was found innocent, he was reconducted to the place of refuge, with a fufficient guard, and remained there free from all further profecutions; and, at the death of the high-prieft, he was at liberty to return to his own home. This, at least, is what the generality of interpreters conclude to have been their proceeding in fuch cafes. However, as the account we have of it from Mofes is far from being clear in this point, and the cities of refuge were fometimes at fuch a distance from the place where the fact was committed, that the manflayer might be eafily overtaken by the profecutor, before he could reach it, we think it, at leaft, as reafonable to fuppofe, that he went and furrendered himself to the judges of the nearest place; and, having cleared himself before them from the guilt of wilful murder, was, by their order, conducted safely to the next city of refuge, where the magiftrates had a further hearing of the caufe, and either confirmed or revoked the fentence of the former. It is true, that what we quoted out of the rabbies in the last note, about the conveniences of the roads leading to fuch places, would be needless in this cafe; but we look upon their teftimony to be very dubious, and in fome cafes plainly wrong. Thus the Talmud tells us, that thofe cities were to be fituated by fome rivers, in order to be well fupplied with water, and all kind of provifion; that access to them was to be easy, and without ascent ; and yet it rather appears, that the far greater part were built upon rocks. They tell us many other particulars there, which we purpofely omit, because they are ftill more incredible. But the reader is at liberty to choose which fuppofition he likes best.

BESIDES these cities of refuge, the tabernacle, as we have partly observed above, and afterwards the temple, had likewife the privilege of being fanctuaries, efpecially the altar of burnt-offering?. The rabbies indeed tell us, the The altar latter was only for priefts; but we have feen the contrary, a place of in the inftance of Joab, mentioned above. Those indeed, refuge. who were guilty of wilful murder, fheltered themfelves there in vain, and were, by GoD's exprefs command, to be taken away from the very altar, to condign punishment. To this end there were proper judges appointed there also,

• Gemar, Tract, Maklot. Vide PHILO, legat ad Cai.

whofe

Nethinims.

whofe bufinefs it was to make a ftrict examination of the cafe, and either to deliver up the criminal into the hands of juftice, or fend the innocent, under a proper escort, to one of the cities of refuge (O).

THE Nethinims are the laft fort of perfons dedicated to the worship of GOD. These were not of the children of Ifrael, but of the Gibeonites, who obtained a treaty of peace with the former by a ftratagem, which will be taken notice of in the fequel, and whom Jofbua condemned to the lowest and most laborious offices in the tabernacle under the Levites; fuch as drawing of water, fetching and hewing of wood for the altar, and the like. We do not find, that this name of Nethinims was given to them till after the captivity, when a fmall number returned with Ezra and the reft of Ifrael from Babylon (P).

II. Of

• Vide MAIMONID. apud Hotting. in Goodw. lib. ii. c. 5. note 2, & commentators in Numb. xxxv.

(0) There are several other material circumstances relating to those kind of cafes, which, Mofes having left no particular directions about, may be reafonably supposed to have been left to the difcretion of the judges. Such as, for inftance, when the fact was committed just before, and the fentence of the judges not obtained in favour of the homicide till after the death of the high-prieft; or when it was done in the time of an interregnum; or in cafe the high-prieft was killed by fome friends of the exiled perfon; or, laftly, when the highprieft himself became a manflayer, which was far from impoffible: concerning which,and feveral others of the like nature, the Talmudifts have made very judicious and equitable regulations; but which

Jofh. ix. 23, 27.

we shall not trouble our read. ers with.

(P) That name imports as much as given; and Ezra fays (1), they were given, or ap pointed, by David and other kings, to ferve in the temple under the Levites; and in another place, that they were the children of Solomon's fervants (2). So that by this time the name was not confined to the Gibeonites alone, but was given alfo to the Canaanites, whom these princes had conquered and converted (3). We read of fome fuch abject perfons also in the time of Mofes, who mentions them in his last pathetic speech, in these words: You all ftand this day before the LORD your little ones, and your wives, and the firanger that is in your camp, from the hewer of thy wood, to the

(1) Ekr. viii. 20. (2) Ibid. ii. 58. (3) 1 Kings ix. 20, 21, & alib.

drawer

II. Of things confecrated to the service of God.

TH

HESE were, 1. The tabernacle. 2. The ark. 3. The two altars. 4. The candlestick, and other utenfils belonging to it. 5. The table of fhew-bread. And, 6. The court, with all the utenfils which were repofited in it. Concerning all which, whatever can be faid, with any tolerable certainty, is fo well known to the curious in this kind of learning, and fo difregarded by the reft of the world, that we should gladly content ourselves with the bare mention of them, did we think that our readers would be fatisfied with it, without a further defcription of them. It may indeed appear fomewhat surprising, that Mofes should have beftowed almoft as many pages in defcribing the ftru cture of the tabernacle, and its fumptuous furniture, as he has lines in his account of the creation, and yet that we fhould be so much in the dark about it, and that there fhould be fo much room left for conjecture, for want of knowing the proper fignification of a great number of its parts and materials. But as this is plainly the cafe, we shall not expatiate upon them, unless we can do it upon fome fure grounds, or where they have an apparent relation to the gospel.

I. THE tabernacle was built by the command and di- The taberrections of GOD himself, that he might dwell in the midft nacle, of his people. Their rebellions and murmurings having provoked him to prolong the term of their wandering in the wilderness, and thereby delayed the time of their ena Vide Exod. xxv. 8, & alib. paff.