diakosious staphidas, 'and two hundred raisins.' Aquila gives kai duo staphidas, 'and two raisins'; Symmachus, endesmous staphidōn, 'bunches of raisins'; the V., et duas ligaturas uvæ passæ, 'and two bunches of dried grapes.'

As David's men gave the fainting Egyptian water only, most probably they were themselves provided with no other drink; and upon it, with bread and fruit, he was soon 'refreshed,' though for a period of almost seventy hours he had been deprived of every kind of sustenance. If inebriating liquors were unknown, many emergencies in which they are deemed essential for safety would be surmounted successfully, nay, more easily without them.

CHAPTER XXX. VERSE 16.

And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating, and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.

EATING, AND DRINKING, AND DANCING] Hebrew, oklim, věshothim, věkhoggim. The LXX. has esthiontes, kai pinontes, kai heortazontes, ‘eating, drinking, and festival-keeping'; the V.; comedentes, et bibentes, et quasi festum celebrantus diem, 'eating and drinking, and celebrating as it were a feast day.'

These Amalekites were caught much in the same predicament as the troops of the confederate kings when overtaken by Abraham. History has often repeated itself in the surprise and rout of intemperate marauders.

THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL.

CHAPTER VI. VERSE 19.

And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one a cake of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. So all the people departed every one to his house.

A FLAGON OF WINE] Hebrew, ashishah, 'a raisin-cake.' The Lxx. has laganon apo teeganou, ‘a cake-cooked-with-oil from the frying-pan' =a pancake or fricassee. The rendering of the V. is similam frixam oleo, and fine flour fried in oil,' this similam being, perhaps, related to simnellus whence the English 'sinnel,' a sweet cake. The T. of Jonathan gives 'one portion' (manthah khadah). The Syriac has a 'cake.' The English translators, seemingly puzzled with this word, rendered it 'flagon,' a vessel for liquids, but thinking that a dry flagon would be of little use, added in italics, 'of wine.' [On ASHISHAH see Prel. Dis.] Gesenius, who derives ashish from an unused root signifying 'to press together,' describes ashishim (the plural) as "liba, cakes, specially such as were made of grapes, and dried and pressed into a certain form. They are mentioned as dainties, with which those who were wearied with a journey and languid were refreshed. This word differs from tzimmuq, i. e. dried grapes, but not pressed together into a cake." Elsewhere he speaks of ashish as ‘a cake of dried figs,' though in distinguishing it in another place from debalim, cakes of dried figs, he refers to the Mishna as explaining it to be 'cakes made of boiled lentiles.' [See Notes on the parallel passage, 1 Chron. xvi. 3; and on Song of Sol. ii. 5, and Hos. iii. 1.]

CHAPTER XI. VERSE 13.

And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house.

AND HE MADE HIM DRUNK] Hebrew, vayshakrāhu, and he made him drunk' (or satiated with shakar). The Lxx. reads, kai emethusen auton; the V., et inebriavit eum, 'and he inebriated him.'

No transaction of David's life reflects upon him so much disgrace as the one portrayed in this narrative. When he sent for Uriah, in order to conceal the

effect of his sinful intercourse with Bathsheba, he employed the drink that was a mocker to overcome the scruples of his valiant servant. Uriah yielded to the liquor with which he was plied, but failing to do as the king desired, his death was resolved upon, and brought about with great baseness. It is instructive to notice what instrument was employed by the guilty monarch to excite merely animal concupiscence in the hardy soldier; nor is it irrelevant to suggest that the lust which conceived and brought forth sin' in the sweet singer of Israel may have been stimulated by the same distempering draught.

CHAPTER XIII. VERSE 28.

Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and when I say unto you, Smite Amnon; then kill him, fear not: have not I commanded you? be courageous, and be valiant.

WHEN AMNON'S HEART IS MERRY WITH WINE] Hebrew, ketov lāv Amnon bay-yayin, 'when good (is) the heart of Amnon with (or by) wine.' The Lxx. gives idete hōs an agathunthee hee kardia Amnōn en tō oinō, ‘see when the heart of Amnon shall become good with wine.' The V. has observate cum temulentus fuerit Amnon vino, 'mark when Amnon shall be intoxicated with wine.'

Absalom chose for the exaction of his revenge the period when his brother, by means of the wine, was both thrown off his guard and least able to defend himself. That Amnon should have been given to wine' is a trait in his character consistent with the unbridled licentiousness that was bringing upon him his brother's vengeance. We can hardly suppose the connection of the vices to have been one of simple co-existence, though the silence of the history does not warrant a very positive opinion on the point.

CHAPTER XVI. VERSES I, 2.

. And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold, ZID the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddlea, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and an hundred bunches of raisins, and an hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine. 2 And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? Ana Ziba said, The asses be for the king's household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink.

V. 1. AND A HUNDRED BUNCHES OF RAISINS] Hebrew, u-mäah tzimmuqim, 'and a hundred raisin-bunches.' The Lxx. has kai hekaton staphides, and a hundred raisins'; the V., et centum alligaturis uvæ passæ, ‘and with a hundred bunches of dried grapes.' The T. of Jonathan has a hundred stalks of grapes' (with the grapes on).

AND A BOTTLE OF WINE] Hebrew, vè-navěl yayin. The Lxx. gives kar nebel oinou, 'and a nebel of wine'; the V., et utre vini, ‘and (laden) with a skin-Dag of wine.'

V. 2. AND THE WINE] Hebrew, ve-hay-yayin, and the wine'; Lxx., oinos; the V., vinum.

The solid substances here enumerated were for food, the single bottle of yayin for any who might faint. The wine might or might not be alcoholic. Were intoxicating liquors now restricted to contingencies like the one described in this passage, their use, whether necessary or not, would be strictly medicinal, and society would be saved from the ravages of an endemic and ceaseless pest.

CHAPTER XXIII. VERSES 15-17.

15 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Beth-lehem, which is by the gate! 16 And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD. 17 And he said, Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.

It was natural that David should long for a draught of water from the well of Bethlehem-a well dear to him, no doubt, from many early associations. Often when a shepherd youth had it slaked his thirst and that of the flock he tended, and now he sighs for a beaker of the cool clear beverage. Three of his noblest captains watch the woods, and hasten to realize their monarch's wish. They pierce through the Philistian lines, draw the water, and return. David's eye bespeaks his pleasure and his gratitude, but before the liquid treasure is at his lips he pours it out as a libation to the Lord, with words of dedication that must have solemnly impressed all who stood around him. The bright water, as he looked upon it, seemed to take a scarlet tinge when he thought of the lives that had been risked to fetch it, therefore he would not drink it.' It had been obtained by courage and affection inspired of God, and to Him it should be offered. David never was more magnanimous than at this moment. Truly was he now the 'man after God's own heart,' and never dearer than at that time to his mighty men and faithful soldiers. This deed was a psalm, sublime in its significance, and for ever sweet to all loving hearts in its pure simplicity. Is the Christian world prepared to imitate as well as to admire this act of David? He had before him that which was endeared to him by memory, useful in itself, and very desirable to him under the circumstances; but he would not drink of it,' because life had been risked, not lost, in its procurement. Christians have before them drinks which can boast no such innocent reminiscences-which are not necessary-of little or no use-nay, certainly of some injury habitually consumed-which are not procurable without an enormous waste of food and much needless labor on the Lord's day-drinks, the common sale and use of which floods the kingdom with every species of vice, misery, want, sickness, sin, and shame, slaying hecatombs year by year, till the number of victims baffles computation. Shall Christians drink such liquors? If they will, can they claim moral equality with the king of Israel? and how do they vindicate their spiritual relationship with David's Son and Lord, who poured out His own blood for the ungodly? To say the least, how must inferiority and inconsistency be confessed when, in spite of reiterated teaching and appeal, intoxicating beverages are persistently used by those who glory that they live under a dispensation greater, because more spiritual, than that which branched forth in the laws of Moses and blossomed in the lyrics of the son of Jesse!

THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS.

CHAPTER IV. VERSE 20.

Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.

EATING AND DRINKING, AND MAKING MERRY] Hebrew, oklim về-shothim usmākhim, ‘eating and drinking, and rejoicing.' The confidence and peace inspired by Solomon's government allowed the agricultural wealth of the people to multiply, and with it their means of legitimate enjoyment.

CHAPTER IV. VERSE 25.

And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.

EVERY MAN UNDER HIS OWN VINE] Hebrew, ish takhath gaphno, ‘a man under his vine.' This proverbial phrase, 'under his vine and fig tree,' though it cannot be understood to imply that every man, or even every head of a family, had a vine or fig tree as his own, is indicative of the extent to which both the vine and fig tree were cultivated in the Holy Land for purposes of food. These were to the Jewish peasant what his kitchen-garden or allotment' is to the English laborer.

CHAPTER XIII. VERSE 7, 8.

7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward. 8 And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place.

"TO EAT BREAD AND DRINK WATER" appears to have been a colloquial phrase, doubtless originating in the universal conviction of their value as the prime necessaries of life. The worth of water is best known, because truly felt, in sultry climes.

"Till taught by pain,

Men know not what good water's worth."