any deductions that are drawn from them. This much, however, we there learn of the political constitution of the Seirite Aborigines, that, like the Esauites and Israelites, they were divided into tribes, and these tribes were sub-divided into families- the very polity which still obtains among the Arabs by whom Idumæa is now peopled. Each tribe had its own Alluf-a term which is unhappily rendered in the English Version by Duke-for though that has, no doubt, the radical meaning of the Latin duz, a leader,' it now only suggests the idea of a feudal title of nobility. Of these chiefs of the Horites seven are enumerated, viz., Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. The only one of these who is spoken of as related to the other is Anah, the son of Zibeon. The primitive and pastoral character of the people is incidentally brought out by the circumstance that this Anah, though a chieftain's son, was in the habit of tending his father's asses. It was when thus employed that he found in the wilderness eth-ha-yemim, rendered in the English Version by the mules,' but meaning more probably the hot springs; and thus interpreted, the passage seems to be an intimation that he was the first to discover the faculty with which asses and other animals are endowed, of snuffing the moisture of the air, and thus sometimes leading to the opportune discovery of hidden waters in the desert. There is in the country to the south-east of the Dead Sea (which formed part of the Seirite possessions), a place, Kallirhoc, celebrated among the Greeks and Romans for its warm baths, and which has been visited by modern travellers (Josephus, De Bell. Jud. i. 33. 5; Pliny, Hist. Nat. v. 5. 17; Legh's Travels). acquired more or less authority over all the tribes. This oligarchy appears gradually to have changed into a monarchy, as happened too among the Israelites; for in addition to the above mentioned lists, both of Horite and Esauite leaders, we have, at Gen. xxxvi. 31, a catalogue of eight kings (Bela, Jobab, Husham, Hadad, Samlah, Saul, Baal-hanan, Hadar or Hadad) who reigned in the land of Edom before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.' It is not necessary to suppose that this was said by Moses prophetically: it is one of those passages which may have been inserted by Ezra when finally arranging the canon, inasmuch as it occurs also in the first book of Chronicles, of which he is the reputed compiler. The period when this change to regal government took place in Idumæa can only be matter of conjecture. In the Song of Moses (Exod. xv. 15) it is said that at the tidings of Israel's triumphant passage of the Red Sea the rulers or princes (Alluf) of Edom trembled with affright, but when, some forty years afterwards, application had to be made by the Israelites for leave to traverse the land of Edom, it was to the king (Melek) that the request was addressed (Num. xx. 14). The road by which it was sought to penetrate the country was termed 'the king's highway' (ver. 17), supposed by Robinson to be the Wady el-Ghuweir, for it is almost the only valley that affords a direct and easy passage through those mountains. From a comparison of these incidents it may be inferred that the change in the form of government took place during the wanderings of the Israelites in the desert, unless we suppose, with Rosenmüller, that it was only this north-eastern part of Edom which was now subject to a monarch, the rest of the country remaining under the sway of its former chieftains. But whether the regal power at this period em braced the whole territory or not, perhaps it did not supplant the ancient constitution, but was rather grafted on it, like the authority of the Judges in Israel, and of Saul, the first king, which did not materially interfere with the go Esau first married into two Canaanitish families of the Hittite and Hivite tribes (Gen. xxvi. 34; xxxvi. 2; in one or other of which places, however, the text seems corrupt); but anxious to propitiate his offended parents, he next formed a matrimonial alliance with one of the race of Abraham, viz., Mahalath, otherwise called Bashemath, daughter of Ishmael, and sister of Ne-vernment that previously existed. It further apbaioth, whose descendants, the Nabathæans, by a singular coincidence, obtained in after times possession of the land of Edom (Gen. xxviii. 9). Esau's first-born (by Adah or Bashemath, of the daughters of Heth) was Eliphaz, whose son Teman gave name to a district of the country (Gen. xxxvi. 11, 34; 1 Chron. i. 45; Ezek. xxv. 13; Obad. verse 9). The Temanites were renowned for their wisdom (Jer. xlix. 7, 20; Baruch iii. 22, 23). The chief speaker in the book of Job is another Eliphaz, a Temanite,-which is one of the circumstances that have led many to place the scene of that story in the land of Edom JOB]. The name of Teman was preserved to the days of Eusebius in that of Thaiman, a small town five Roman miles from Petra. Another son of the first-mentioned Eliphaz was Amalek, who is not to be confounded, however, with the father of the Amalekites, one of the doomed nations of Canaan, of whom we hear so early as the age of Abraham (Gen. xiv. 7). As a modern Arab sheikh is often found to exercise influence far beyond the sphere of his hereditary domain, so in the list of the Edomite emirs preserved by Moses we have perhaps only the names of the more distinguished individuals who pears, from the list of Idumæan kings, that the monarchy was not hereditary, but elective (for no one is spoken of as the son or relative of his predecessor); or probably that chieftain was acknowledged as sovereign who was best able to vindicate his claim by force of arms. Every successive king appears to have selected his own seat of government: the places mentioned as having enjoyed that distinction are Dinhabah, Avith, Pagu or Pai. Even foreigners were not excluded from the throne, for the successor of Samlah of Masrekah was Saul, or Shaul, of Rechoboth, on the river. The word 'Rechoboth' means, literally, streets, and was a not uncommon name given to towns; but the emphatic addition of 'the river,' points evidently to the Euphrates, and between Rakkah and Anah, on that river, there are still the remains of a place called by the Arabs Rachabath-Malik-Ibn Tauk. In the age of Solomon we read of one Hadad, who was of the king's seed in Edom' (1 Kings xi. 14); from which some have conjectured that by that period there was a royal dynasty of one particular family; but all that the expression may imply is, that he was a blood-relation of the last king of the country. Hadad was the name of one of the early sove reigns who smote Midian in the field of Moab' (Gen. xxxvi. 35). The unbrotherly feud which arose between Esau and Jacob was prolonged for ages between their posterity. The Israelites, indeed, were commanded not to abhor an Edomite, for he was their brother' (Deut. xxiii. 7); but a variety of circumstances occurred to provoke and perpetuate the hostility. The first time they were brought into direct collision was when the Edomites, though entreated by their brother Israel,' refused the latter a passage through their territories; and they had consequently to make a retrograde and toilsome march to the Gulf of Elath, whence they had to compass the land of Edom' by the mountain desert on the east. We do not again hear of the Edomites till the days of Saul, who warred against them with partial success (1 Sam. xiv. 47); but their entire subjugation was reserved for David, who first signally vanquished them in the Valley of Salt (supposed to be in the Ghôr, beside Usdum, the Mountain of Salt); and, finally, placed garrisons in all their country (2 Sam. viii. 14; I Chron. xviii. 11-13; 1 Kings xi. 15. Comp. the inscription of Ps. lx. and v. 8, 9; cviii. 9, 10, where the strong city' may denote Selah or Petra). Then were fulfilled the prophecies in Gen. xxv. 23 and xxvii. 40, that the elder should serve the younger;' and also the prediction of Balaam (Num. xxiv. 18), that Edom and Seir should be for possessions to Israel. Solomon created a naval station at Ezion-geber, at the head of the Gulf of Elath, the modern Akaba (1 Kings ix. 26; 2 Chron. viii. 18). Towards the close of his reign an attempt was made to restore the independence of the country by one Hadad, an Idumæan prince, who, when a child, had been carried into Egypt at the time of David's invasion, and had there married the sister of Tahpanhes the queen (1 Kings xi. 14-23) [HADAD]. If Edom then succeeded in shaking off the yoke, it was only for a season, since in the days of Jehoshaphat, the fourth Jewish monarch from Solomon, it is said, 'there was no king in Edom; a deputy was king;' i. e. he acted as viceroy for the king of Judah. For that the latter was still master of the country is evident from the fact of his having fitted out, like Solomon, a fleet at Ezion-geber (1 Kings xxii. 47, 48; 2 Chron. xx. 36, 37). It was, no doubt, his deputy (called king) who joined the confederates of Judah and Israel in their attack upon Moab (2 Kings iii. 9, 12, 26). Yet there seems to have been a partial revolt of the Edomites, or at least of the mountaineers of Seir, even in the reign of Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. xx. 22); and under his successor, Jehoram, they wholly rebelled, and made a king over themselves' (2 Kings viii. 20, 22; 2 Chron. xxi. 8, 10). From its being added that, notwithstanding the temporary suppression of the rebellion, Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day,' it is probable that the Jewish dominion was never completely restored. Amaziah, indeed, invaded the country, and having taken the chief city, Selah or Petra, he, in memorial of the conquest, changed its name to Joktheel (q. d. subdued of God); and his successor, Uzziah, retained possession of Elath (2 Kings xiv. 7; 2 Chron. xxv. 11-14; xxvi. 3). But in the reign of Ahaz, hordes of Edomites made incursions into Judah, and carried away captives (2 Chron. xxviii. 6 | | 17). About the same period Rezin, king of Syria, expelled the Jews from Elath, which (according to the correct reading of 2 Kings xvi. 6) was thenceforth occupied by the Edomites. In our version it is said, the Syrians dwelt in Elath;' but the Keri, or marginal Masoretic reading, instead of D', Aramæans, has D'D78, Edomites, the letter being substituted for ; and this is followed by many MSS., as well as by the Sept. and Vulgate, and best accords with historical fact. But then, to make both clauses of the verse to correspond, we must, with Le Clerc and Houbigant, read the whole thus: At that time Rezin, king of Aram, recovered Elath to Edom, and drove the Jews from Elath; and the Edomites came to Elath, and continued there unto this day.' Now was fulfilled the other part of Isaac's prediction, viz. that, in course of time, Esau should take his brother's yoke from off his neck' (Gen. xxvii. 40). It appears from various incidental expressions in the later prophets, that the Edomites employed their recovered power in the enlargement of their territory in all directions. They spread as far south as Dedan in Arabia, and northward to Bozrah in the Hhauran; though it is doubtful if the Bozrah of Scripture may not have been a place in Idumæa Proper (Isa. xxxiv. 6; Ixiii. 1; Jer. xlix. 7, 8-20; Ezek. xxv. 13; Amos i. 12). When the Chaldæans invaded Judah, under Nebuchadnezzar, the Edomites became their willing auxiliaries, and triumphed with fiendish malignity over the ruin of their kinsmen the Jews, of whose desolated land they hoped to obtain a large portion to themselves (Obad. verses 10-16; Ezek. xxv. 12-14; xxxv. 3-10; xxxvi. 5; Lament. iv. 21). By this circumstance the hereditary hatred of the Jews was rekindled in greater fury than ever, and hence the many dire denunciations of the daughter of Edom,' to be met with in the Hebrew prophets (Ps. cxxxvii. 7-9; Obad. passim; Jer. xlix. 7; Ezek. xxv. and xxxv.). From the language of Malachi (i. 2, 3), and also from the accounts preserved by Josephus (Antiq. x. 9. 7), it would seem that the Edomites did not wholly escape the Chaldæan scourge; but instead of being carried captive, like the Jews, they not only retained possession of their own territory, but became masters of the south of Judah, as far as Hebron (1 Macc. v. 65, comp. with Ezek. xxxv. 10; xxxvi. 5). Here, however, they were, in course of time, successfully attacked by the Maccabees, and about B.c. 125, were finally subdued by John Hyrcanus, who compelled them to submit to circumcision and other Jewish rites, with a view to incorporate them with the nation (1 Macc. v. 3, 65; 2 Macc. x. 16; xii. 32; Joseph. Antiq. xiii. 9. 1; 15.4). The amalgamation, however, of the two races seems never to have been effected, for we afterwards hear of Antipater, an Idumæan by birth, being made by Cæsar procurator of all Judæa; and his son, commonly called Herod the Great, was, at the time of Christ's birth, king of Judæa, including Idumæa; and hence Roman writers often speak of all Palestine under that name (Joseph. Antiq. xiv. 1. 3; 8. 5; xv. 7. 9; xvii. 11. 4). Not long before the siege of Jerusalem by Títus, 20,000 Idumæans were called in to the defence of the city by the Zealots; but both parties gave themselves up to rapine and murder (Joseph. De Bell. Jud. iv. 4. 5; 6. 1; vii. 8. 1). This is the last mention made of the Edomites in history. The author of a work on Job, once ascribed to Origen, says that their name and language had perished, and that, like the Ammonites and Moabites, they had all become Arabs. In the second century Ptolemy limits the name Idumæa to the country west of the Jordan. 360. [Ravine in Idumæa.] But while, during the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, the Edomites had thus been extending their territory to the north-west, they were themselves supplanted in the southern part of their native region by the Nabathæans, the descendants of Ishmael's eldest son, and to the article NEBAIOTH, we must refer the reader for the subsequent history of the land of Edom. From the era of the Crusades down to the present century the land of Esau was, to Europeans, a terra incognita. Its situation was laid down on the best maps more than a hundred miles from the true position, and as if lying in a direction where it is now known there is nothing but a vast expanse of desert. Volney had his attention drawn towards it, when at Gaza, by the vague reports of the Arabs, and in 1807 the unfortunate Seetzen penetrated a certain way into the country, and heard of the wonders of the Wady Mûsa; but the first modern traveller who passed through the land of Edom' was Burckhardt, in the year 1812. And it has been well remarked by Dr. Robinson (Amer. Bib. Reposit. vol. iii. p. 250), that had he accomplished nothing but his researches in these regions, his journey would have been worth all the labour and cost expended on it, although his discoveries thus shed their strongest light upon subjects which were not comprehended in the plan or purpose either of himself or his employers. Burckhardt entered Idumæa from the north, and in the year 1818 he was followed in the same direction by Messrs. Legh, Bankes, Irby and Mangles. In 1828 Laborde and Linant found access from the south; and since then it has been visited and described by so many that the names of its localities have become familiar as household words. The limit of the wanderings of the Israelites in the desert was the brook Zered, after crossing which they found themselves in the territory of Moab (Deut. ii. 13-18). This brook is supposed to be identical with the Wady-el-Ahsy, which, rising near the Castle el-Ahsy, on the route to Mecca of the Syrian caravan upon the high eastern desert, penetrates through the whole chain of mountains to near the south-east corner of the Dead Sea. It was thus the southern border of Moab and the northern of Edom, whence the latter region extended southwards as far as to Elath on the Red Sea. The valley which runs between the two seas consists first of El-Ghor, which is comparatively low, but gradually rises into the more elevated plain of El-Arabah to the south. The country lying east of this great valley is the land of Idumæa. It is a mountain tract, consisting at the base of low hills of limestone or argillaceous rock, then lofty mountains of porphyry forming the body of the mountain; above these, sandstone broken up into irregular ridges and grotesque groups of cliffs; and again farther back, and higher than all, long elevated ridges of limestone without precipices. East of all these stretches off indefinitely the high plateau of the great eastern desert. Robinson and Smith estimated the height of the porphyry cliffs at about 2000 feet above the Arabah; the elevation of Wady Mûsa above the same is, perhaps, 2000 or 2200 feet, while the limestone ridges further back probably do not fall short of 3000 feet. The whole breadth of the mountainous tract between the Arabah and the eastern desert does not exceed fifteen or twenty geographical miles. Of these mountains the most remarkable is Mount Hor, near the Wady Mûsa. [HOR, MOUNT]. While the mountains on the west of the Arabah, though less elevated, are wholly barren, those of Idumæa seem to enjoy a sufficiency of rain, and are covered with tufts of herbs and occasional trees. The wadys, too, are full of trees and shrubs and flowers, while the eastern and higher parts are extensively cultivated, and yield good crops. Hence Robinson thinks its appearance fulfils the promise made to Esau (Gen. xxvii. 39), Thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above. Yet many critics are of opinion (e. g. Vater, De Wette, Geddes, Von Bohlen) that should there be rendered from,' i. e. far away from, or destitute of,' the fatness of the earth, &c.; and it is immediately added, for thou shalt live by thy sword;' and it does not appear that Idumæa was ever particularly noted for its fertility. This mountainous region is at present divided into two districts. The northern bears the name of Jebal, i. e. The Mountain,' the Gebal of the Hebrews (Ps. lxxxiii. 8), and the Gebalene of the Greeks and Romans. Commencing at Wady el-Ahsy, it terminates, according to Burckhardt, at Wady el-Ghuweir, the largest place in it being Tufileh, perhaps the Tophel of Deut. i. 1. The southern district is esh- Sherah, extending as far as Akabah, and including Shôbak, Wady Musa, Maan, &c. Burckhardt mentions a third dis trict, Jebal Hesma; but Robinson says that | though there is a sandy tract, el-Hismah, with mountains around it, on the east of Akabah, it does not constitute a separate division. The whole of this region is at present occupied by various tribes of Bedouin Arabs. The chief tribe in the Jebal is the Hejaya, with a branch of the Kaabineh, while in esh-Sherah they are all of the numerous and powerful tribe of the Haweitat, with a few independent allies. The Bedouins in Idumæa have of late years been partially subject to the Pacha of Egypt, paying an annual tribute, which, in the case of the Beni Sukhr, is one camel for two tents. The fellahin, or peasants, are half Bedouin, inhabiting the few villages, but dwelling also in tents; they, too, pay tribute to the Egyptian government, and furnish supplies of grain. Among the localities connected with Edom which are mentioned in Scripture may be noticed Dinhabah, Bozrah, Theman, Maon (now Maan), Kadesh-barnea (which Robinson identifies with el-Weibeh in the Wady el-Jeib), Zephath (which he supposes to be the pass of Es-Sufah), Elath, and Ezion-geber, &c. ; but the most celebrated place in all the region was the chief city, Selah or Petra, for a description of which the reader is referred to the latter head [PETRA]. Could the scene of the book of Job he with certainty fixed in Idumæa, we should then pos sess much curious and valuable information re specting both the country and people soon after it had been colonized by the descendants of Esau (See Mason Good, Wemyss, and others upon Job). But all that we learn directly of the ancient Edomites from the historical books of Scripture represents them as not, indeed, neglecting agriculture or trade (Num. xx. 17), yet, on the whole, a warlike and predatory race, who, according to the prediction of their progenitor Isaac, lived by their sword.' The situation of the country afforded peculiar facilities for commerce, which seems to have been prosecuted from a very early period. Bordering,' says Volney, upon Arabia on the east and south, and Egypt on the south-west, and forming, from north to south, the most commodious channel of commu 194; ritis, in the Syntagma Commentt., Part I. p. ILLYRICUM ('Iλλuρikóv), a country lying to the north-west of Macedonia, and answering nearly to that which is at present called Dalmatia; by which name indeed the southern part of Illyricum itself was known, and whither St. Paul informs Timothy that Titus had gone (2 Tim. iv. 10). Paul himself preached the Gospel in Illyricum, which was at that time a province of the Roman Empire (Rom. xv. 19). In IMMANUEL ; Sept. 'Eμparový) or EMMANUEL. This word, meaning God with us,' occurs in the celebrated verse of Isaiah (vii. 14), Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name IMMANUEL. forty-three MSS. and thirty-nine printed editions, the word is given in the separate form 58 109; but, as Dr. Henderson remarks, in the orthography of all compound names, the MSS. and editions widely differ.' In the name itself there is no difficulty; but the verse, as a whole, has been the word God, and even Jehovah, is used in the variously interpreted. From the manner in which composition of Hebrew names, there is no such peculiarity in that of Immanuel as in itself requires us to understand that he who bore it should be in fact God. Indeed, it is used as a proper name among the Jews at this day. This high sense has, however, been assigned to it in consequence of the application of the whole verse by the Evangelist Matthew (i. 23), to our Divine Saviour. Even if this reference did not exist, the history of the Nativity would irresistibly lead us to the conclusion that the verse-whatever may have been its intermediate signification—had an ulti mate reference to Christ. thus neatly summed up by Dr. Henderson, in his The state of opinion on this point has been note on the text :- This verse has long been a subject of dispute between Jews and professedly While the former reject its application to the Christian writers, and among the latter mutually. Messiah altogether, the earlier rabbins explain nication between Jerusalem and her dependencies on the Red Sea, through the continuous valleys of El-Ghor and El-Araba, Idumæa may be said to have long formed the emporium of the commerce of the East.' The era of its greatest pros-ing it of the queen of Ahaz and the birth of his perity was after the Nabathæans had become son Hezekiah; and the later, as Kimchi and masters of the country and founded the kingdom Abarbanel, of the prophet's own wife, the great of Arabia Petræa, of which the renowned metro- body of Christian interpreters have held it to be polis was Petra. The religion of the early Edom- directly and exclusively in prophecy of our ites was, perhaps, comparatively pure; but in Saviour, and have considered themselves fully process of time they embraced idolatry: in borne out by the inspired testimony of the Evan2 Chron. xxv. 20, we read of the gods of Edom,' gelist Matthew. Others, however, have departed one of whom, according to Josephus (Antiq. xv. from this construction of the passage, and have 7. 9), was called Kotzé. With respect to the invented or adopted various hypotheses in support striking fulfilment of the prophetic denunciations of such dissent. Grotius, Faber, Isenbiehl, Hezel, upon Edom, we need only refer the reader to the Bolten, Fritsche, Pluschke, Gesenius, and Hitzig, well-known work of Keith, who frequently errs, suppose either the then present or a future wife however, in straining the sense of prophecy be of Isaiah to be the by almah [rendered yond its legitimate import, as well as in seeking" virgin"], referred to. Eichhorn, Paulus, Hensler, out too literally minute an accomplishment. On and Ammon, are of opinion that the prophet had Idumæa generally, see C. B. Michaelis, Diss. de nothing more in view than an ideal virgin, and Antiquiss. Idumæor. Hist. in Pott and Ruperti's that both she and her son are merely imaginary Sylloge Comment. Theologic. Part VI. p. 121; personages, introduced for the purpose of prophetic J. D. Michaelis, Comment. de Troglodytis Sei-illustration. Bauer, Cube, Steudel, and some others, think that the prophet pointed to a young woman in the presence of the king and his courtiers. A fourth class, among whom are Richard Simon, Lowth, Koppe, Dathe, Williams, Von Meyer, Olshausen, and Dr. J. Pye Smith, admit the hypothesis of a double sense: one in which the words apply primarily to some female living in the time of the prophet, and her giving birth to a sou according to the ordinary laws of nature; or, as Dathe holds, to some virgin, who at that time should miraculously conceive; and the other in which they received a secondary and plenary fulfilment in the miraculous conception and birth of Jesus Christ.' INCENSE, a perfume which gives forth its fragrance by burning, and, in particular, that perfume which was burnt upon the altar of incense (ALTAR; CENSER]. Indeed, the burning of incense seems to have been considered among the Hebrews so much of an act of worship or sacred offering, that we read not of any other use of incense than this among them. Nor among the Egyptians do we discover any trace of burnt perfume but in sacerdotal use; but in the Persian sculptures we see incense burnt before the king. The prohibition of the Hebrews to make any perfume for private use- to smell to-like that prepared for the altar, merely implies, we apprehend, that the sacred incense had a peculiarly rich fragrance before being burnt, which was forbidden to be imitated in common perfumes. The incense is denoted by the words miktar (Exod. xxx. 1); p kitter (Jer. xliv. 21); and p kituroth (Exod. xxx. 1; xxxi. 11; Ezek. xvi. 18); all of which are equally from the root DP, which, in Pihel, signifies generally to raise an odour by burning; and in the verbal form it is applied not only to the offering of incense but also of sacrifices, the smoke or effluvium of which is regarded as an acceptable or sweet odour to God. Indeed, the word which denotes an inceuse of spices in Exod. xxx. 1 describes an incense of fat in Ps. lxvi. 15. The ingredients of the sacred incense are enumerated with great precision in Exod. xxx. 34, 35: 'Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte (netaph), and onycha ( shecheleph), and galbanum (chelbenah); these sweet spices with pure frankincense ( lebonah): of each shall there be a like weight. And thou shalt make of it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy. For an explanation of these various ingredients, we must refer to their several Hebrew names in the present work. The further directions are, that this precious compound should be made or broken up into minute particles, and that it abould be deposited, as a very holy thing, in the tabernacle before the testimony' (or ark). As the ingredients are so minutely specified, there was nothing to prevent wealthy persons from having a similar perfume for private use: and this, therefore, was forbidden under pain of excommunication: Ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord. Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people' (ver. 37, 38). The word which describes the various ingredients as being 'tempered together' literally means 'salted' (DD memullach). The Chaldee and Greek versions have, however, set the example of rendering it by mixed' or 'tempered,' as if their idea was that the different ingredients were to be mixed together, just as salt is mixed with any substance over which it is sprinkled. Ainsworth contends for the literal meaning, inasmuch as the law (Lev. ii. 13) expressly says, With all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.' In support of this he cites Maimonides, who affirms that there was not any thing offered on the altar without salt, except the wine of the drink offering, and the blood, and the wood; and of the incense he says, still more expressly, that they added to it a cab of salt. In accordance with this, it is supposed, our Saviour says, Every sacrifice shall be salted with salt' (Mark ix. 49). Ainsworth further remarks: If our speech is to be always with grace, seasoned with salt, as the apostle teaches (Col. iv. 6), how much more should our incense, our prayers unto God, be therewith seasoned?" It is, however, difficult to see how so anomalous a substance as salt could well be combined in the preparation; and if it was used, as we incline to think that it was, it was probably added in the act of offering. The above reference to Maimonides reminds us of the reason which he assigns, in the More Nevochim, for the use of incense in the Jewish ritual service: To prevent the stench which would otherwise have been occasioned by the number of beasts every day slaughtered in the sanctuary, God ordained that incense should be burned in it every morning and evening, and thereby rendered the odour of the sanctuary and of the vestments of those that ministered exceedingly grateful; which has occasioned the saying of our rabbins, That the odour of the incense extended to Jericho. This, therefore, is another of the precepts conducing to the reverence and veneration which ought to be entertained for the sanctuary: for if the perfume thereof had not been pleasant, but the contrary, it would have produced contempt instead of veneration, since a grateful odour pleases and attracts, while an unpleasant one disgusts and repels.' This is very well; and no doubt the use of incense, which we always find in religions where worship is rendered by sacrifice, had its origin in some such considerations. But we are not to lose sight of the symbolical meaning of this grateful offering. It was a symbol of prayer. It was offered at the time when the people were in the posture and act of prayer; and their orisons were supposed to be presented to God by the priest, and to ascend to Him in the smoke and odour of that fragrant offering. This beautiful idea of the incxli. 2; Mal. i. 11; Zech. xiv. 16; Acts x. 4; cense frequently occurs in Scripture (comp. Ps. Rev. v. 8: viii. 4). INCHANTMENTS. [WITCHCRAFT.] INDIA (7; Sept. 'Ivdikh). This name occurs only in Esther i. 1; viii. 9, where the Persian king is described as reigning from India unto Ethiopia, over a hundred and seven and twenty provinces.' It is found again, however, in the Apocrypha, where India is mentioned among the countries which the Romans took from Anti |