days, until the days of your consecration be at an end: for seven days shall he consecrate you.

34 As he hath done this day, so the LORD hath commanded to do, to make an atonement for you.

of the tabernacle of the congregation day and night seven days, and keep the charge of the LORD, that ye die not: for so I am commanded.

36 So Aaron and his sons did all things which the LORD commanded by the hand of

35 Therefore shall ye abide at the door Moses.

14 Exod. 29. 35.

Verse 6. "Washed them with water."-Here the ceremonies of consecration commence with ablutions, and we have seen that the priests were required to bathe their hands and feet whenever they entered the tabernacle. This doubtless was, not merely to ensure physical cleanness, but also to symbolize that spiritual purity with which man should appear before God. The present washing is, however, distinguished from the daily ablution, inasmuch as the whole person seems now to have been washed, but only the hands and feet on common occasions. The idea of the fitness of such a practice is so obvious, that it has been more or less in use in most religious systems. We find, at the heathen temples, lavers of a similar use to this at the tabernacle. The Egyptian priests washed themselves with cold water twice every day, and twice at night; the Greeks had their sprinklings, the Romans their lustrations and lavations; the ancient Christians practised ablution before receiving the sacrament, and also bathed their eyes on entering a church. The Roman Catholic church retains something of the practice of ablution before, and sometimes after mass; and Calmet says that the holy-water vessels at the entrance of their churches are in imitation of the laver of the tabernacle. The oriental Christians have also their solemn washings on particular occasions, such as Good Friday. The practice of ablution was adopted by Mahommed in a very full sense; for his followers are not only obliged to perform their ablutions before they enter a mosque, but before they commence the prayers, wherever offered, which they are required to repeat five times each day. This is certainly the most burdensome system of ablution which ever existed in ancient or modern times. The Hindoos also rejoice in the purifying virtues of their idolized Ganges, and wash also in other waters, because they believe that such will be equally effectual, if, whilst they bathe, they say, “O Ganges, purify me!" In fact, nothing is or has been more common than ablutions in the worship which different nations render to their gods; and there are few acts connected with their service which are not begun or ended with some rite symbolical of purification. In the religion of classical antiquity, the priest was obliged to prepare himself by ablution for offering sacrifice; for which purpose there was usually water at the entrance of the temple. In very ancient times the priests seem to have previously bathed themselves in some river or stream. But such ablutions were only necessary in sacrifices to the celestial gods, sprinkling being sufficient for the terrestrial and infernal deities. (See Banier's Mythology of the Ancients,' i. 271.)

We may here observe, that, from the obligation of the priests to wash their feet before entering the tabernacle, and for other reasons, it has been inferred that they officiated with bare feet. It is also observed, that in the enumeration of the articles of the priestly dress, sandals are not mentioned, neither does Josephus in his account speak of them. It is true that Plutarch represents the Hebrew priest as officiating with buskins; but his authority is of the least possible weight on such a subject. We believe ourselves that the priests did officiate barefoot, although our conviction does not proceed from the reasons thus stated; but rather from the knowledge that it was in very ancient times, as at present, a common mark of respect in the East to uncover the feet. (See note to Exod. iii. 5.) Even classical heathenism affords instances of this usage. "Adore and sacrifice with naked feet," was a maxim of Pythagoras, which he probably brought, with the rest of his philosophy, from the East. The temple of Diana at Crete might not be entered with covered feet; the Roman ladies were obliged to be barefoot in the temple of Vesta; and the suppliants went barefoot to the temple of Jupiter when they prayed for rain. The Mohammedans, and the Asiatic and Abyssinian Christians, invariably take off their shoes before they enter a place of worship, as do the Brahmins of India when they enter their temples. As to the Jews themselves, it is impossible to say, unless by inference, what they did in the tabernacle; but it seems fair to conclude that they did the same as afterwards in the Temple, and that they there officiated barefoot we have the concurrent testimony of various writers. Maimonides says that none were allowed to enter the Temple with shoes, or with unclean feet, or with a staff, or in the dress in which they worked at their respective callings. The Talmud is positive on the same subject, saying that no priest or layman might enter with shoes; but as this regulation, in conjunction with their way of life and the thinness of their official dress, was injurious to their health, there was a small apartment or closet, called the "stove" or "fire-room," which had a heated floor on which the priests might occasionally warm their feet. (See Saurin's Dissertations,' xliv. and liv.; Calmet's Commentaire Littéral,' on Exod. iii, 5, and xxx. 18, &c.)

12. "Poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head."-From comparing this verse with verse 30, it is thought that Aaron alone was anointed on the head, his sons being merely sprinkled; or, as we should understand, that Aaron was sprinkled in common with his sons, but that the anointing or pouring out of oil upon his head was an addition peculiar to him. The custom of setting persons apart for particularly dignified or holy offices, by anointing, seems to have originated in the East, and in most cases appears to have symbolized the effusion of the gifts and graces which they were presumed to receive from heaven to qualify them for distinguished offices. Hence this sacred anointing seems to have been considered as investing with a peculiar sanctity the person on whom it had been conferred. We see this in the reverence with which "the Lord's anointed" is on all occasions mentioned in Scripture. The persons set apart to their offices by anointing, among the Hebrews, were the priests, kings, prophets; but there is some doubt about the latter, to which we shall have occasion to advert, as well as to the unction of the kings. The precious oil seems to have been more profusely expended on Aaron than in any other application. We learn from Ps. cxxxiii. 2, that being poured on his head, it ran down on his beard and to the collar of his coat (the robe of the ephod)-not to the skirts of his garments, as there translated. The Jewish writers have many fancies about the mode in which the oil was applied, into which we need not enter. If the high-priest was, as some state, fully robed before anointed, the mitre might have been taken off for that ceremony: but others think that the tiara was not put on till after the anointing.

23. "Moses took of the blood of it, and put it upon the tip of Aaron's right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot."-Banier, in his work on the Mythology of the Ancients,' gives, after Prudentius, a remarkable instance of the personal application of the victim's blood in the ceremonies of consecration. He calls it

"a sort of baptism of blood," which was thought to convey a spiritual regeneration. It occurs in the Taurobolium, a sacrifice which was offered to Cybele at the consecration of her high-priest, but not wholly confined to that occasion, and which had rites and ceremonies different from all other sacrifices. In order to consecrate the high-priest, a great hole was made, into which he entered dressed in an unusual manner, wearing a crown of gold, and with a toga of silk tucked up after the Sabine fashion. Above the hole was a sort of floor, the boards of which, not being closely joined, left certain chinks, besides which several holes were bored in the boards themselves. Then they led up to the place a bull (sometimes a ram or goat) crowned with garlands, bearing on his shoulders fillets covered with flowers, and having his forehead gilt. Its throat was cut over the hole, so that the blood fell upon the floor, which, being perforated, allowed it to pass through in a shower upon the priest, who received it eagerly upon his body and clothes. Not content with this, he held back his head to receive it on his cheeks, ears, lips, and nostrils; he even opened his mouth to moisten his tongue with it, and some he swallowed. When all the blood was drained, the victim was removed and the high-priest came out. The horrible appearance he presented may well be conceived; but he was received with congratulation, and the people, not daring to approach his person, adored him at a distance, regarding him now as a man quite pure and sanctified.—They who thus received the blood of the Taurobole wore their stained clothes as long as possible, as a sensible evidence of their regeneration. Might it not be to prevent such a practice as this last, that in the sin offering, if any of the victim's blood was sprinkled upon a garment, that garment was directed to be carefully washed in the holy place? (Ch. vi. 27.)

CHAPTER IX.

1 The first offerings of Aaron, for himself and the people. 8 The sin offering, 12 and the burnt offering for himself. 15 The offerings for the people. 23 Moses and Aaron bless the people. 24 Fire cometh from the Lord, upon the altar. AND it came to pass on the eighth day, that Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel;

2 And he said unto Aaron, 'Take thee a young calf for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer them before the LORD.

3 And unto the children of Israel thou

shalt speak, saying, Take ye a kid of the goats for a sin offering; and a calf and a lamb, both of the first year, without blemish, for a burnt offering;

4 Also a bullock and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the LORD; and a meat offering mingled with oil: for to day the LORD will appear unto you.

5 And they brought that which Moses commanded before the tabernacle of the congregation and all the congregation drew near and stood before the LORD.

:

6 And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commanded that ye should do: and the glory of the LORD shall appear unto you.

7 And Moses said unto Aaron, Go unto the altar, and offer thy sin offering, and thy burnt offering, and make an atonement for thyself, and for the people: and offer the offering of the people, and make an atonement for them; as the LORD commanded.

8¶ Aaron therefore went unto the altar, and slew the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself.

9 And the sons of Aaron brought the blood unto him: and he dipped his finger

13 And they presented the burnt offering unto him, with the pieces thereof, and the head: and he burnt them upon the altar.

14 And he did wash the inwards and the legs, and burnt them upon the burnt offering on the altar.

15 ¶ And he brought the people's offering, and took the goat, which was the sin offering for the people, and slew it, and offered it for sin, as the first.

16 And he brought the burnt offering, and offered it according to the 'manner.

17 And he brought the meat offering, and took an handful thereof, and burnt it upon the altar, 'beside the burnt sacrifice of the morning.

18 He slew also the bullock and the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings, which was for the people: and Aaron's sons presented unto him the blood, which he sprinkled upon the altar round about,

19 And the fat of the bullock and of the ram, the rump, and that which covereth the inwards, and the kidneys, and the caul above the liver:

20 And they put the fat upon the breasts, and he burnt the fat upon the altar:

21 And the breasts and the right shoulder

Aaron waved for a wave offering before the
LORD; as Moses commanded.

22 And Aaron lifted up his hand toward
the people, and blessed them, and came
down from offering of the sin offering, and
the burnt offering, and peace offerings.
23 And Moses and Aaron went into
the tabernacle of the congregation, and

came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people.

24 And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.

5 Gen. 4. 4. 1 Kings 18. 38. 2 Chron. 7. 1. 2 Mac. 2. 10, 11.

Verse 24. "There came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering."-Connect this with chap. vi. 13, "The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out."-From this it would appear that the fire upon the brazen altar was in the first instance miraculously kindled, and that the fire thus originating was to be continually kept up. The consumption of the sacrifice by miraculous fire is not peculiar to the present instance: it frequently occurs in the sacred narrative as a token of the divine favour and acceptance (see the foot-notes to this verse); but it is only in connection with this fire that there is any direction about such fires being continually kept up. Some tradition of these facts, or at least of the patriarchal instances, seems to have existed among the ancient heathen, among whom we find that the consumption of the sacrifice by supernatural fire was regarded as a circumstance denoting acceptance and favour. There is, of course, no instance of the kind that will bear examination; but the poetical and other allusions to it evince the existence of the feeling, and of the traditions on which it was based. Nothing is more likely than that Zoroaster, the ancient reformer of the Persian religion, had the instance before us in view, in some of his pretences and regulations. It is well known that the ancient Persians were worshippers of fire; as are, to this day, their descendants in India. This they were before the time of Zoroaster, but not, apparently, on the same grounds on which his doctrine placed that worship. We need not here inquire into the principles of this worship, as we only mention it in order to state that, to connect the greater sanctity with the fire which should burn and be reverenced on the altars, he professed to furnish them with fire from heaven. But this was not by an open and sensible miracle like that before us; only, like Mohammed, he pretended to have been in heaven, where God spoke to him from the midst of a great and bright fire, part of which he brought away with him, and placed it on the altar of the first fire-temple which he erected (at Xix, in Media), whence it was propagated to other altars. Even the Hindoos, although they are not worshippers of fire, are particularly careful about the origin of that which they use for sacred purposes. That which is used in the great sacrifice of Yagam must be taken from the fire of some previous offering of the same kind, or procured afresh by rubbing together two pieces of wood: any other would amount to what is called "strange fire" in the ensuing chapter. This sacrifice seems to be a very expensive free-will offeringbelieved to be effectual in procuring the offerers the fruition of their desires. They reserve a portion of the fire, and carefully keep it up all their lives, with a view to its being employed to light their funeral pile (Roberts's 'Illustrations,' p. 84). In the same way, the Sagnicas, when they enter on their sacerdotal office, kindle, with two pieces of hard wood, a fire which they keep lighted through their lives, for their nuptial ceremony, the performance of solemn sacrifices, the obsequies of their ancestors, and their own funeral pile (Asiatic Researches,' vol. ii. p. 60).

With respect to the command, that the sacred fire on the altar of burnt-offerings should never go out, Calmet seems doubtful whether this injunction was put in execution in the wilderness during the marches of the Israelites from one place to another. If they did not preserve the fire during their pilgrimage, they could not afterwards, because we read of no new supply of miraculous fire till the dedication of Solomon's Temple, when the fire descended upon the new altar of burnt offerings. Whether the fire, if it then existed, on the tabernacle altar was then transferred to the new altar, or else extinguished, we cannot learn; but it is on all hands allowed that the miraculous fire was kept up on the Temple altar till the time of Manasseh, as some say; but as others, with more probability, state, till the destruction of the Temple by the Chaldeans. It was not restored by miracle to the second Temple, where they had only common fire; and this is numbered among the circumstances in which this Temple was inferior to that of Solomon. The Jews believe that the fire was maintained on the altar during the forty years' wanderings; and the Jewish tradition, as stated by Maimonides, is, that there were three fires on the altar-one for burnt offerings, another to supply fire for the incense offerings, and a third kept always burning, in compliance with the law. It would therefore seem that, in this view, two of the fires were allowed to go out when not wanted, and were rekindled, when required, from the perpetual fire. As the altar in its removals was to be covered with a purple cloth and the ashes taken out (Num. iv. 13), the sacred fire must then have been conveyed in a separate receptacle. With regard to the fire on the Temple-altar, the Rabbins tell us that great care was taken that no wood but that which was reputed clean should be employed for fuel; and it was all carefully barked and examined before it was laid on. The fire also was never to be blown upon either with bellows or with the breath of man. These regulations are so similar to those of Zoroaster as to strengthen the opinion of his being thoroughly conversant with the usages of the Hebrews. He strictly enjoined that the fire which he pretended to have brought from heaven should be carefully kept up, and that barked wood only should be used for fuel, and that it should be revived only by the blasts of the open air, or by oil being poured upon it. It was death to cast upon it any unclean thing, or to blow it with bellows or with the breath, by which it would be polluted; and, for this reason, the priests themselves, although they watched the fire day and night, never approached it but with a cloth over their mouths, that they might not breathe thereon; and this they did not only when they approached to place on more fuel, or do any other service about the fire, but also when they pronounced their forms of prayer before it, and which therefore they rather mumbled than spoke. The history, true or false, of the preservation of this fire after the Mohammedan conquest, under circumstances of concealment and difficulty, is very interesting. The modern Parsees of India believe that it was ultimately conveyed to that country, and consequently that they still possess the sacred fire which Zoroaster brought from heaven.

The possession of a sacred fire, kept continually burning, was not peculiar to the Jews or the Persians. To something similar among the Hindoos we have already in this note adverted, and we may mention a few other instances. The Greeks had a perpetual fire at Delphos and many other places. "In every corporation town the ancient Greeks had a prytaneum, or council-hall, where the people at times assembled to consult about the common interest; and here was also a place of worship and a perpetual fire kept therein, upon an altar for public sacrifice." (Sir I. Newton's Chronology.) The Romans had but one perpetual fire-that in the temple of the goddess Vesta, whose worship