HELPS TO THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE. 17 SELAH. The translators of the Bible have left means silence. Gesenius explains it to the Hebrew word Selah, which occurs so mean "Let the instruments play and the often in the Psalms, as they found it; and, singers stop." Woecher regards it as of course, the English reader often asks equivalent to sursum corda-up my soul! his minister or some learned friend what Sommer, after examining all the seventyit means. And they have often been four passages in which the word occurs, obliged to confess ignorance, because it is recognizes in every case an actual apa matter in regard to which the most peal or summons to Jehovah. They are learned have by no means been of one calls for aid and prayers to be heard, exmind. The Targums and most of the pressed either with entire directness, or if Jewish commentators give to the word not in the imperative, 'Hear, Jehovah!, the meaning of eternally, for ever. Rab- or 'Awake, Jehovah !' and the like, still bi Kimchi regards it as a sign to ele-earnest addresses to God that he would revate the voice. The authors of the Sep-member and hear," etc. The word itself tuagint translation appear to have re- he regards as indicating a blast of trumgarded it as a musical or rhythmical note. pets by the priests. Selah, itself, he thinks Herder regards it as indicating a change an abridged expression used for Higgaion of tone. Matheson thinks it, as a musical Selah-Higgaion indicating the sound of note, equivalent, perhaps, to the word re- the stringed instruments, and Selah a vigpeat. According to Luther and others, itorous blast of trumpets. A CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX OF THE YEARS AND TIMES From Adam unto Noah's flood are years | Nahor, being 29 years, begat Terah. 1856. For Adam, being 150 years old, begat Seth. mech. Lamech, being 182 years, begat Noah. Noah, at the coming of the flood, was 600 years old, as appeareth in the 7th chapter of Genesis. The whole sum of the years are 1856. From the flood of Noah unto Abraham's departing from Chaldea, were 422 years and ten days. For the said flood continued one whole Shem (who was Noah's son) begat Ar- Salah, being 30 years old, begat Eber. 2 Terah, being 130 years, begat Abram. These, accounted, are 420 years and 10 From Abraham's departing from Ur in Chaldea, unto the departing of the children of Israel, are 430 years, gathered as followeth: Abraham was in Charran five years, and departed in the 75th year: Begat Isaac when 100 years old, in the 25th Isaac begat Jacob, when 60 years old. was Moses when he conducted the Israel- So the rest of the years, that is to say, 130, are divided between Amram and Kohath. Then Kohath begat Amram at the age of 67 years. Amram, being 65 years, begat Moses, who, in the 80th year of his age, departed with the Israelites from Egypt. So this chronology is the 430 years men. tioned in the 12th chapter of Exodus, and the 3d chapter to the Galatians. A CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX OF THE YEARS AND TIMES From the going forth of the Israelites from | Jehoahaz, 16 years. Moses remained in the desert or wilder ness forty years. Joshua and Othniel ruled forty years. Ehud, 80 years. Deborah, 40 years. Gideon, 40 years. Abimelech, 3 years. Tola, 23 years. Jair, 22 years. Manasseh, 55 years. Jehoiachin, Jechonias, 3 months. And here beginneth the captivity of Babylon. The sum of those years is 419 and 6 months. Jerusalem was re-edified, and built again, after the captivity of Babylon, 70 years. Then they were without a captain, until The captivity continued 70 years. the 18th year of Jephthah. Jephthah, 6 years. Ibzan, 7 years. Elon, 10 years. Abdon, 8 years. Samson, 20 years. Eli, judge and priest, 44 years. Solomon, in the 4th year of his reign, be- Solomon reigned yet 46 years. Abijam, 3 years. Asa, 41 years. Jehoshaphat, 25 years. Jehoram, 8 years. Ahaziah, 1 year. Athaliah, the queen, 7 years. Jehoash, 40 years. Amaziah, 29 years. Uzziah, 52 years. The-children of Israel were delivered the first year of Cyrus. The temple was begun to be built in the second year of the said Cyrus, and finished in the 46th year, which was the 6th year of Darius. After that Darius had reigned 26 years, Nehemiah was restored to liberty, and went to build the city, which was finished in the 32d year of the said Darius. All the years from the building of the temple again, are 26 years. The whole sum of years amount to 70. It is mentioned in the ninth chapter of HELPS TO THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE. TABLE OF PRAYERS MENTIONED IN THE SCRIPTURES. FOR WHAT PURPOSE OFFERED. To avert God's wrath from the cities of the plain. For the success of his mission. Protection against Esau. Forgiveness for idolatrous Israel. That God would continue with his people. For pardon for the unbelief of the spies' report. Thanksgiving after Nathan's message. That God would triumph over Baal. For aid in the battle with the Ethiopians. For pardon for those who had eaten the Passover For the remnant in captivity. For the restoration of Jerusalem. Under suffering in Gethsemane. On choosing an Apostle. For protection under persecution. HOW ANSWERED. The offer to save Sodom, if ten righteous men could Rebekah makes herself known. God shows the land to Moses before his death David's house continues to hold the sceptre. The Ammonite and Moabite armies overthrown. Permission given to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. He" went down to his house justified" or forgiven. The lot falls upon Matthias. God by moving the house signifies that their prayer is heard. Parable of Joash, king of Israel, con- Jerusalem. 1Kings xx 35,40. 2 Kings xiv. 9. Isa. v. 1, 6. Ezek. xix. 2, 9. PARABLES. 1. Balaam's Parable concerning Israel and Moab. SPOKEN AT RECORDED IN 6. 7. Mt. Pisgah. Num. xxiii. 2. Jotham's Parable of the king of trees.. Mt. Gerizim. Judg. ix. 7, 15. 3. Samson's Riddle or Parable of the strong bringing forth sweetness..... Timnath. 4. Nathan's Rebuke of David, in the parable of the One Ewe Lamb.. Judg. xiv. 14. Jerusalem. 2 Sam. xii. 1, 4. 5. The parable of the woman of Tekoah, of the strife of the two brothers... Jerusalem. 2 Sam. xiv. 1. 10. 11. 20 HELPS TO THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE. TABLES OF SCRIPTURE MEASURES, WEIGHTS AND COINS. A Measure is a known quantity applied to another of the same kind that is less known, to make its dimensions better known, by the help of numbers expressing the proportion that the known quantity bears to the unknown. The dimensions to be measured are three: 1. Mere length, which hath but one dimension. 2. Surface, which consists of length multiplied into breadth; so it hath two dimensions, as it were, interwoven; and this is always measured by somesquare surface already known, as by a square foot, or a square cubit, or any other square already known, by help of its side. Moses generally useth the square cubit. 3. Solidity or capacity, which hath three dimensions multiplied into each other: length, breadth, and height, or depth. This is measured by a known cube. From solidity ariseth weight in all sublunary bodies; and by weight we measure the value of coins. Therefore I shall join weights and coins together in the fourth table. I use to signify Equal; :: to express Proportion;. is called Separatrix, parting Decimals from Integers. I. TABLE. MEASURES OF LENGTH. Inch Meas. As 12: 1.:: 21.888. A Cubit is to... Foot Meas. The Mile Feet Dec .-4000 Cubits=7296 Feet. Stadium, their Mile= 400 Cubits 729.6 Miles II. TABLE. Parasang, 3 of their 12,000 Cubits=4 English J Miles, and 580 Feet. MEASURES Of Surface. Moses hath described these by square Cubits. I here express them reduced to our square Feet. The method of this reduction is simple and mathematically accurate. I first propose three clear examples given by Moses; Secondly, I place six instances of greater difficulty. The clearest examples are: I. The Altar of Incense. Only two-sides of it, viz., its length and its breadth, are expressed by Moses; each of them is affirmed to be one Cubit. Yet he declares it was foursquare; whence we collect that it was just one square Cubit. See Exod. xxx. 3. Now it is demonstrated by calculation that one Jewish square Cubit amounts to in surface three English square Feet, and about 47 square Inches. II. The Table of Shew-bread, Exod. xxv. 23. It is affirmed to be two Cubits in length and one in breadth. None doubt but it was rectangular, containing two Jewish square Cubits. These amount to six English square Feet, and above half, viz., 94 square Inches. III. The Boards of the Tabernacle, each 10 Cubits in length, and one and a half in breadth, Exod. xxvi. 16, being rectangular, must contain 15 square Cubits, Jewish. These are proved to contain very near 50 Inch Foot square Feet of English measure. The more difficult cases which claim our attention are: Dec. Dec. .21.888-1.824 19.9414= .922 7.296= .608 3.648 .301 .912 .076 Measures of many Cubits length only in Foot Measure. I. The Mercy-seat, whose surface is = 12 square Feet and a half. II. A general method is taught of reducI expressing any given number of Jewish Cubits to English square Feet. III. The example of the 15 square Cubits in the Boards of the Tabernacle is made clearer. IV. The Court of the Tabernacle, described in Exod. xxvii. 18, is found to be just half the Egyptian Aroura, and to contain 1 Rood, 21 Perches, 27 square Feet, etc. V. The whole Aroura is determined and reduced to our English measures, 3 Roods, 2 Perches, 64 square Feet. VI. The Suburos, or Glebe Land, given to each city of the Levites, Num. xxxv. 3-5, HELPS TO THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE. 21 TABLES OF SCRIPTURE MEASURES, WEIGHTS AND COINS—Continued. is showed to be a square, on each of the four sides of every city, containing a million of Jewish square Cubits, or 160 Aroura; which amount to in each square 76 Acres, 1 Rood, 26 Perches, 80 square Feet. Whence we collect, that all the four Squares amounted to 305 Acres, 2 Roods, 1 Perch, besides 51 Feet square. III. TABLE. MEASURES OF CAPACITY. Epha or Bath... Standard Grains of our Troy weight; whereof 438 are equal to the Roman ounce, and to our ancient English Avoirdupois ounce. The value of Jewish and Roman Weights and Coins, at the present rate of Silver and Gold, expressed in Pence and Decimals of a Penny. Grains Dec. Pence Dec. 8. d. q. Shekel is the orig inal weight...... Bekah, a Shekel of Bekah Maneh 100 She 219 kel weight.......=21900 Wine Inch Gerah, Seah, Chomer, Homer (our translation) 75 5 7 of Epha.... 2 4 3 Hin of Epha. Omer, of Epha. 60 Sh...... Maneh in Coin,= Talent of Silver,= 3000 Sh... 28.2875 -2 4 1 14.1437 =1 2 X 1.41437=0 1 Pence Dec. l. s. d. 13140 1697.25= 7 15 657000=84862.5 = 353 11 10ob. AQUATIC ANIMALS MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE. 3 ..0 3 .9 0 .0 The Hebrew only speaks of a great fish," without particular specification; but in Matt. xii. 40, that fish is translated "whale" (Tos); but the Greek, like the Hebrew, is general, and strictly means only a "sea monster." A whale has too contracted a throat to swallow a man; but sharks capable of doing so are not uncommon in the Mediterranean now. As Tobit's fish leaped out of the Tigris to attack a man (contrary to the habits of any known fish) it may have been a crocodile, or one of the Siluride. Bockart says Galen and Dioscorides prescribed the gall of the sheatfish as an eye-salve. T. Twice referred to: once as one ingredient of holy perfume of the tabernacle; once, in Apocrypha, as emitting a delicious odor. The name onyx" means a "claw" or "nail," and so the small shell on the foot of many molluscs, with which the larger shell is closed, gets its name. From this smaller shell, or valve, part of the ingredients of the compound |