to the great similarity which he finds between the features and dress of the man, and those of the captive Jews in Egypt, in that representation which we have copied, from the sources to which he refers, under 2 Chron. xxxv. On comparing them, considerable resemblance may certainly be found about the head and its attire. The third subject is from a block of white marble found near the tomb of Daniel at Susa, and thus described by Sir R. K. Porter in his "Travels" (vol. ii. 416). "It does not exceed ten inches in width and depth, measures twenty in length, and is hollow within, as if to receive some deposit. Three of its sides are cut in basrelief, two of them with similar representations of a man apparently naked, except a sash round his waist and a sort of cap on his head. His hands are bound behind him. The corner of the stone forms the neck of the figure, so that its head forms one of its ends. Two lions in sitting postures appear on either side at the top, each having a paw on the head of the man." These are certainly satisfactory illustrations of the custom in question, as existing at Babylon and Susa, and others might be adduced from Babylonian coins. As to the punishment itself opinions will be divided. But it is remarkable that Dr. Paley thought that something similar would, as a capital punishment, be preferable to public executions, which he considered to have rather a hardening than a corrective effect upon the public mind. Dr. Kitto.

Luke xv. 32.-"IT WAS MEET THAT WE SHOULD MAKE MERRY, AND BE GLAD FOR THIS THY BROTHER WAS DEAD, AND IS ALIVE AGAIN; AND WAS LOST, AND IS FOUND."

1922. Joy over the Returning Prodigal.-Lay a ball, such as a boy's marble, on an extended sheet of thin paper, and the paper, though fixed at the edges and unsupported in the midst, will bear easily the weight: take another ball of the same shape and weight and let it drop upon the sheet of paper from a height, it will go sheer through. The two balls are of the same weight and figure, but the motion gave to one a momentum tenfold greater than that of the other at rest. It is in a similar way that the return of a lost son goes through a loving father's heart, and makes all its affections thrill; while the continued possession of another son, equally valuable and equally valued, produces no such commotion either in the heart of the father or his house.-Arnot's "The Parables of Our Lord."

John xvi. 23.-"IN THAT DAY YE SHALL ASK ME NOTHING.

VERILY, VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU, WHATSOEVER YE SHALL ASK THE FATHER IN MY NAME, HE WILL GIVE IT YOU."

1923. "Asking" and "praying."-Is this language a prohibition, designed to guard the disciples against presenting prayer to Jesus Christ after His resurrection, and directing them to restrict their petitions to the Father? Our translation uses but one word “ask" in both parts of the verse; and, did we look no further, the text would seem to prohibit prayer to the ascended Saviour. It would, however, be somewhat remarkable to forbid the disciples to pray to Jesus Christ after His resurrection. Might they do so while He yet lived among them? An inspection of the Greek text will show that the idea of prohibition is altogether inapplicable to the passage. Our translators use but one word; two words are employed by our Lord. The meaning of the first is to ask a question, while that of the other is to request, to beg, or to pray. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the best book in existence for ascertaining the meaning of words used in the New Testament, the former word occurs more than fifty times, but invariably in the sense of making an inquiry with a view to gain information, never in the sense of preferring a request as in praying. In the New Testament it occurs fifty-six times-including the present passage; many of them as in the Septuagint; some in the sense of presenting a request to, as in Luke viii. 37, Phil. iv. 3, &c.; and a very few in the sense of praying, as to God, John xvii. 9, &c. This last is a secondary and figurative sense of the word. Schleusner, in his Lexicon of the New Testament, quotes the passage now under consideration as an instance of the first meaning which he gives to the word," To propose a question either for my own or another's information, or to draw forth a confession." J. G. Rosenmuller has the following note on the passage,-" In that time," says Christ, 'namely, after my resurrection, when you have learned better and are freed from your excessive sadness, there will be no need of questioning; for both I, myself, will teach you what things are important for you to know and you are able to bear; and when deprived of me as your teacher, you shall not want the necessary instruction of another, whom I have promised to you in my place. Therefore, after my return, all those things which I have been say ing, about going and returning, will be made plain to you."

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The context appears to require this interpretation. After pro

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mising the Spirit to teach his disciples all things, Jesus Christ spoke to them concerning His approaching departure, ver. 16. They were anxious to know what he meant. Among themselves the question was debated. To Him they did not present it. Yet He observes their perplexity and seeks to alleviate it by adverting to his resurrection, and to the ample means of knowledge they should then have at hand. The 22nd verse should have gone on to the word "nothing; "—" Verily, verily," &c., commencing a new thought. 'I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you: and in that day ye shall ask me no question "-i. e., to remove distressing perplexity. "Moreover, whatever petition or prayer you shall offer to the Father in My name, it shall be answered." On this latter point of consolation the Saviour goes on to speak to ver. 28. Upon which the disciples utter their satisfaction, as in ver. 29, 30. Their expression"Needest not that any man should ask thee," corresponds with "Ye shall ask me nothing." It is not necessary to apply to Thee with our doubts and difficulties. The instructions thou hast given are sufficient. We know, without further questioning, that thou

camest forth from God.-G.

Luke xxiii. 31.-" FOR IF THEY DO THESE THINGS IN A GREEN TREE, WHAT SHALL BE DONE IN THE DRY?

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1924. The Green Tree and the Dry.-Jews often compared good and bad men to trees, the one green and flourishing, the other dry and withering: e. g., Psa. i. 3; Jude, ver. 12. The passage before us is an instance. The expression is proverbial. If an innocent, virtuous person suffer thus, what may the ungodly expect?" This kind of argument is frequently used in Scripture, divested of its figurative and proverbial form, as in Jer. xxv. 29 ; Ezek. ix. 6; 1 Pet. iv. 17, 18. Theophylact, an ancient commentator, thus paraphrases the text, "If the Romans have done such things towards me, a green tree, fruitful and always flourishing, ever living through my divinity, and nourishing all by the fruits of my doctrine, what will they do to you, the people, a dry tree, void of all vital righteousnesss, and bringing forth no fruit? for if ye possessed any vital energy of good, ye might perhaps be thought worthy of being spared; but now, as a dry tree, ye will be cast into the fire and burned." Such figures are not infrequent in classic authors.

1 Thessalonians iv. 6.-"THAT NO MAN GO BEYOND AND DEFRAUD HIS

1925. Examples of Honesty.-Mr. Fellowes and the Turks.When Mr. Fellowes, a recent traveller in Turkey and the East, was removing to the river the sculptures acquired at Xanthus, solely by means of his energy and intelligence, some growing corn seemed to be injured by the sledges that passed over it. Mr. F. expressed his wish to recompense the proprietor, and a deputation of Turks proceeded to examine the ground. They reported that the seed was uninjured, that if God sent rain it would spring up again, and that no damage was done. The equally scrupulous Englishman insisted on the contrary, and the Moslems finally assessed the damage at thirteenpence.

A Northamptonshire Farmer.-A Northamptonshire farmer who rented land of Lord Fitzwilliam, containing a covert reserved for his Lordship's hunt, had occasion to apply for compensation for the damage done to his grass by the trampling of horses, &c. His claim was allowed, and he received fifty pounds indemnity. The following rent-day he refunded the fifty pounds, saying that "the injury he had anticipated had not taken place; on the contrary, he found his land improved by what he had complained of."

Mr. Labouchere.-The late Mr. Labouchere had made an agree ment previously to his decease, with the Eastern Counties Railway, for a passage through his estate near Chelmsford, for which the company were to pay thirty-five thousand pounds. When the money had been paid and the passage made, the son and successor of Mr. L., finding that the property was much less deteriorated than had been expected, voluntarily returned fifteen thousand pounds of the amount to the company.-Quarterly Review.

Leviticus vi. 13.-"THE FIRE SHALL EVER BE BURNING UPON THE ALTAR; IT SHALL NEVER GO OUT."

1926. Samoan Chieftains.-It was one of the distinguishing marks of the chieftainships of one of the Samoan nobility, that his fire never went out. His attendants had a particular name from their special business of keeping his fire blazing all night long while he was asleep.-Turner's “ Polynesia.”

Jeremiah xlviii. 6.

66 FLEE, SAVE YOUR LIVES, AND BE LIKE THE HEATH

1927. The Heath in the Wilderness.-This does not refer to the common heather so familiar in our own country, but to a species of plant, growing in lonely desert places in the south of Palestine, which bears some resemblance to our common heather, especially to those dry stumps over which fire has passed, and which have been bleached by exposure to the weather. This plant is called by a long name-Anastatica; but it is more familiarly known as the Rose of Jericho. ... The Crusaders used to bring it home from the Holy Land, and some superstitious tales are told of it; as, for example, that it first burst into blossom on Christmas Eve to welcome the birth of the Heavenly Babe, and paid its tribute of honour to the resurrection of the Redeemer by continuing in flower till Easter morn. But its own true history is stranger even than these fables. The spots where it is found are moistened with water during the rainy season, but in the hot summer they are dried up, and become baked by the heat almost as hard as a brick. Rain seldom falls in the south of Palestine; months frequently pass away without a shower, or a cloud as big as a man's hand; the sky above is like brass, and the earth beneath as iron; and all the channels of the streams and rills are dry and