Magic, Magicians
Magic is “the science or practice of evoking spirits, or educing the occult powers of nature to produce effects apparently supernatural.” It formed an essential element in many ancient religions, especially among the Persians, Chaldeans and Egyptians. The Hebrews had no magic of their own. It was so strictly forbidden by the law that it could never afterward have had any: recognized existence, save in times of general heresy or apostasy and the same was doubtless the case in the patriarchal ages. The magical practices which obtained among the Hebrews were therefore borrowed from the nations around. From the first entrance into the land of promise until the destruction of Jerusalem we have constant glimpses of magic practiced in secret, or resorted to not alone by the common but also as the great. It is a distinctive characteristic of the Bible that from first to last it warrants no such trust or dread. Laban attached great value to, and was in the habit of consulting, images. ( Genesis 31:30 , 32 ) During the plagues in Egypt the magicians appear. ( Exodus 7:11 ; 8:18 , 19 ) Balaam also practiced magic. ( Numbers 22:7 ) Saul consulted the witch of Endor. An examination of the various notices of magic in the Bible gives this general result: They do not, act far as can be understood, once state positively that any but illusive results were produced by magical rites. (Even the magicians of Egypt could imitate the plagues sent through Moses only so long as they had previous notice and time to prepare. The time Moses sent the plague unannounced the magicians failed; they “did so with their enchantments,” but in vain. So in the case of the witch of Endor. Samuel appearance was apparently unexpected by her; he did not come through the enchantments.—Ed.) The Scriptures therefore afford no evidence that man can gain supernatural powers to use at his will. This consequence goes some way toward showing that we may conclude that there is no such thing se real magic; for although it is dangerous to reason on negative evidence, yet in a case of this kind it is especially strong. [ Divination ]
Marah
(bitterness), a place which lay in the wilderness of Shur or Etham, three days journey distant, ( Exodus 15:23 ; Numbers 33:8 ) from the place at which the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, and where was a spring of bitter water, sweetened subsequently by the casting in of a tree which “the Lord showed” to Moses. Howarah, distant 16 1/2 hours (47 miles) from Ayoun Mousa, the Israelites’ first encampment, has been by many identified with it, apparently because it is the bitterest water in the neighborhood.
Medicine
Egypt was the earliest home of medical and other skill for the region of the Mediterranean basin, and every Egyptian mummy of the more expensive and elaborate sort involved a process of anatomy. Still we have no trace of any philosophical or rational system of Egyptian origin; still medicine in Egypt was a mere art or profession. Compared with the wild countries around them, however, the Egyptians must have seemed incalculably advanced. Representations of early Egyptian surgery apparently occur on some of the monuments of Beni-Hassan. Those who have assisted at the opening of a mummy have noticed that the teeth exhibited a dentistry not inferior in execution to the work of the best modern experts. This confirms the statement of Herodotus that every part of the body was studied by a distinct practitioner. The reputation of Egypt’s practitioners in historical times was such that both Cyrus and Darius sent to that country for physicians or surgeons. Of midwifery we have a distinct notice, ( Exodus 1:1 ) and of women as its Practitioners, which fact may also be verified from the scriptures. The scrupulous attention paid to the dead was favorable to the health of the living. The practice of physic was not among the Jews a privilege of the priesthood. Any one might practice it, and this publicity must have kept it pure. Rank and honor are said to be the portion of the physician, and his office to be from the Lord. Ecclus. 38:1 , 3 , 12 . To bring down the subject to the period of the New Testament, St. Luke, “the beloved physician,” who practiced at Antioch whilst the body was his care, could hardly have failed to be convenient with all the leading opinions current down to his own time. Among special diseases named in the Old Testament is ophthalmia, ( Genesis 29:17 ) which is perhaps more common in Syria and Egypt than anywhere else in the world; especially in the fig season, the juice of the newly-ripe fruit having the power of giving it. It may occasion partial or total blindness. ( 2 Kings 6:18 ) The “burning boil,” ( Leviticus 13:23 ) is merely marked by the notion of an effect resembling that of fire, like our “carbuncle.” The diseases rendered “scab” and “scurvy” in ( Leviticus 21:20 ; 22:22 ; 28:27 ) may be almost any skin disease. Some of these may be said to approach the type of leprosy. The “botch (shechin) of Egypt,” (28:27) is so vague a term as to yield a most uncertain sense. In (28:35) is mentioned a disease attacking the “knees and legs,” consisting in a “sore botch which cannot be healed,” but extended, in the sequel of the verse, from the “sole of the foot to the top of the head.” The Elephantiasis gracorum is what now passes under the name of “leprosy;” the lepers, e.g., of the: huts near the Zion gate of modern Jerusalem are elephantissiacs. [ Leper, Leprosy ] The disease of King Antiochus, 2 Macc. 9:5-10 , etc., was that of a boil breeding worms. The case of the widow’s son restored by Elisha, ( 2 Kings 4:19 ) was probably one of sunstroke. The palsy meets us in the New Testament only, and in features too familiar to need special remark. palsy, gangrene and cancer were common in all the countries familiar to the scriptural writers, and neither differs from the modern disease of the same name. Mention is also made of the bites and stings of poisonous reptiles. ( Numbers 21:6 ) Among surgical instruments or pieces of apparatus the following only are alluded to in Scripture: A cutting instrument, supposed a “sharp stone,” ( Exodus 4:25 ) the “knife” of ( Joshua 5:2 ) The “awl” of ( Exodus 21:6 ) was probably a surgical instrument. The “roller to bind” of ( Ezekiel 30:21 ) was for a broken limb, and is still used. A scraper, for which the “potsherd” of Job was a substitute. ( Job 2:8 ; Exodus 30:23-25 ) is a prescription in form. An occasional trace occurs of some chemical knowledge, e.g. the calcination of the gold by Moses, ( Exodus 32:20 ) the effect of “vinegar upon natron,” ( Proverbs 25:20 ); comp. Jere 2:22 The mention of “the apothecary,” ( Exodus 30:35 ; Ecclesiastes 10:1 ) and of the merchant in “powders,” (Song of Solomon 3:6) shows that a distinct and important branch of trade was set up in these wares, in which, as at a modern druggist’s, articles of luxury, etc., are combined with the remedies of sickness. Among the most favorite of external remedies has always been the bath. There were special occasions on which the bath was ceremonially enjoined. The Pharisees and Essenes aimed at scrupulous strictness in all such rules. ( Matthew 15:2 ; Mark 7:5 ; Luke 11:38 ) River-bathing was common but houses soon began to include a bathroom. ( Leviticus 15:13 ; 2 Samuel 11:2 ; 2 Kings 5:10 )
Mered
(rebellion). This name occurs in a fragmentary genealogy in ( 1 Chronicles 4:17 , 18 ) as that of one of the sons of Ezra. Tradition identifies him with Caleb and Moses.
Messiah
(anointed). This word (Mashiach) answers to the word Christ (Christos) in the New Testament, and is applicable in its first sense to any one anointed with the holy oil. The kings of Israel were called anointed, from the mode of their consecration. ( 1 Samuel 2:10 , 35 ; 12:3 , 5 ) etc. This word also refers to the expected Prince of the chosen people who was to complete God’s purposes for them and to redeem them, and of whose coming the prophets of the old covenant in all time spoke. He was the Messiah, the Anointed, i.e. consecrated as the king and prophet by God’s appointment. The word is twice used in the New Testament of Jesus. ( John 1:41 ; 4:25 ) Authorized Version “Messias.” The earliest gleam of the gospel is found in the account of the fall. ( Genesis 3:15 ) the blessings in store for the children of Shem are remarkable indicated int he words of Noah. ( Genesis 9:26 ) Next follows the promise to Abraham. ( Genesis 12:2 , 3 ) A great step is made in ( Genesis 49:10 ) This is the first case in which the promises distinctly centre in one person. The next passage usually quoted is the prophecy of Balaam. ( Numbers 24:17-19 ) The prophecy of Moses, (18:18) claims attention. Passages in the Psalms are numerous which are applied to the Messiah in the New Testament; such as Psal 2,16,22,40,110 . The advance in clearness in this period is great. The name of Anointed, i.e. King, comes in, and the Messiah is to come of the Lineage of David. He is described in his exaltation, with his great kingdom that shall be spiritual rather than temporal. Psal 2,21,40,110 . In other places he is seen in suffering and humiliation. Psal 16,22,40 . Later on the prophets show the Messiah as a king and ruler of David’s house, who should come to reform and restore the Jewish nation and purify the Church, as in Isai 11,40 -66 The blessings of the restoration, however, will not be confined to Jews; the heathen are made to share them fully. ( Isaiah 2:66 ) The passage of ( Micah 5:2 ) (comp. Matt 2:6 ) left no doubt in the mind of the Sanhedrin as to the birthplace of the Messiah. The lineage of David is again alluded to in ( Zechariah 12:1-14 ) The coming of the Forerunner and of the Anointed is clearly revealed in ( Malachi 3:1 ; 4:5 , 6 ) The Pharisees and those of the Jews who expected Messiah at all looked for a temporal prince only. The apostles themselves were infected with this opinion till after the resurrection. ( Matthew 20:20 , 21 ; Luke 24:21 ; Acts 1:6 ) Gleams of a purer faith appear in ( Luke 2:30 ; 23:42 ; John 4:25 )
Metals
The Hebrews, in common with other ancient nations, were acquainted with nearly all the metals known to modern metallurgy, whether as the products of their own soil or the results of intercourse with foreigners. One of the earliest geographical definitions is that which describes the country of Havilah as the land which abounded in gold, and the gold of which was good. ( Genesis 2:11-12 ) “Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold,” ( Genesis 13:2 ) silver, as will be shown hereafter, being the medium of commerce, while gold existed in the shape of ornaments, during the patriarchal ages. Tin is first mentioned ( Numbers 31:22 ) and lead is used to heighten the imagery of Moses’ triumphal song. ( Exodus 15:10 ) Whether the ancient Hebrews were acquainted with steel, properly so called, is uncertain; the words so rendered in the Authorized Version, ( 2 Samuel 22:35 ; Job 20:24 ; Psalms 18:34 ; Jeremiah 15:12 ) are in all others passages translated brass, and would be more correctly copper . The “northern iron” of ( Jeremiah 15:12 ) is believed more nearly to correspond to what we call steel [ Steel ] It is supposed that the Hebrews used the mixture of copper and tin known as bronze. The Hebrews obtained their principal supply from the south of Arabia and the commerce of the Persian Gulf. ( Joshua 7:21 ) The great abundance of gold in early times is indicated by its entering into the composition of all articles of ornament and almost all of domestic use. Among the spoils of the Midianites taken by the Israelites in their bloodless victory when Balaam was slain were earrings and jewels to the amount of 16,750 shekels of gold, ( Numbers 31:48-54 ) equal in value to more than,000. Seventeen hundred shekels of gold (worth more than,000) in nose jewels (Authorized Version “ear-rings”) alone were taken by Gideon’s army from the slaughtered Midianites. ( Judges 8:26 ) But the amount of treasure accumulated by David from spoils taken in war is so enormous that we are tempted to conclude the numbers exaggerated. Though gold was thus common, silver appears to have been the ordinary medium of commerce. The first commercial transaction of which we possess the details was the purchase of Ephron’s field by Abraham for 400 shekels of silver . ( Genesis 23:16 ) The accumulation of wealth in the reign of Solomon was so great that silver was but little esteemed. ( 1 Kings 10:21 , 27 ) Brass, or more properly copper, was a native product of Palestine. (8:9; Job 28:2 ) It was plentiful in the days of Solomon, and the quantity employed in the temple could not be estimated, it was so great. ( 1 Kings 7:47 ) No allusion is found to zinc; but tin was well known. Arms, ( 2 Samuel 21:16 ; Job 20:24 ; Psalms 18:34 ) and armor, ( 1 Samuel 17:5 , 6 , 38 ) were made of copper, which was capable of being so wrought as to admit of a keen and hard edge. Iron, like copper, was found in the hills of Palestine. Iron-mines are still worked by the inhabitants of Kefr Hunch, in the sought of the valley of Zaharani .
Midian
(strife), a son of Abraham and Keturah, ( Genesis 25:2 ; 1 Chronicles 1:32 ) progenitor of the Midianites, or Arabians dwelling principally in the desert north of the peninsula of Arabia. Southward they extended along the eastern shore of the Gulf of Eyleh (Sinus AElaniticus); and northward they stretched along the eastern frontier of Palestine. The “land of Midian,” the place to which Moses fled after having killed the Egyptian, ( Exodus 2:15 , 21 ) or the portion of it specially referred to, was probably the peninsula of Sinai. The influence of the Midianties on the Israelites was clearly most evil, and directly tended to lead them from the injunctions of Moses. The events at Shittim occasioned the injunction to vex Midian and smite them. After a lapse of some years, the Midianites appear again as the enemies of the Israelites, oppressing them for seven years, but are finally defeated with great slaughter by Gideon. [ Gideon ] The Midianites are described as true Arabs, and possessed cattle and flocks and camels as the sand of the seashore for multitude. The spoil taken in the war of both Moses and of Gideon is remarkable. ( Numbers 31:22 ; Judges 8:21 , 24-26 ) We have here a wealthy Arab nation, living by plunder, delighting in finery; and, where forays were impossible, carrying ont he traffic southward into Arabia, the land of gold—if not naturally, by trade— and across to Chaldea, or into the rich plains of Egypt.
Miriam
(rebellion), the sister of Moses, was the eldest of that sacred family; and she first appears, probably as a young girl, watching her infant brother’s cradle in the Nile, ( Exodus 2:4 ) and suggesting her mother as a nurse. ver. 7. After the crossing of the Red Sea “Miriam the prophetess” is her acknowledged title. ch. ( Exodus 15:20 ) The prophetic power showed itself in her under the same form as that which it assumed in the days of Samuel and David,—poetry, accompanied with music and processions. ch. ( Exodus 15:1-19 ) She took the lead, with Aaron, in the complaint against Moses for his marriage with a Cushite, ( Numbers 12:1 , 2 ) and for this was attacked with leprosy. This stroke and its removal, which took place at Hazeroth, form the last public event of Miriam’s life. ch. ( Numbers 12:1-15 ) She died toward the close of the wanderings at Kadesh, and was buried there. ch. ( Numbers 20:1 ) (B.C. about 1452.)
Mishael
(who is what God is?). One of the sons of Uzziel, the uncle of Aaron and Moses. ( Exodus 6:22 ) when Nadab and Abihu were struck dead for offering strange fire, Mishael and his brother Elzaphan, at the command of Moses, removed their bodies from the sanctuary, and buried them without the camp, their loose-fitting tunics serving for winding-sheets. ( Leviticus 10:4 , 5 ) One of those who stood at Ezra’s left hand when he read the law to the people. ( Nehemiah 8:4 ) [ Meshach ]
Moon
The moon held an important place in the kingdom of nature, as known to the Hebrews. Conjointly with the sun, it was appointed “for signs and for seasons, and for days and years;” though in this respect it exercised a more important influence, if by the “seasons” we understand the great religious festivals of the Jews, as is particularly stated in ( Psalms 104:19 ) and more at length in Ecclus 43:6 , 7 . The worship of the moon prevailed extensively among the nations of the East, and under a variety of aspects. It was one of the only two deities which commanded the reverence of all the Egyptians. The worship of the heavenly bodies is referred to in ( Job 31:26 , 27 ) and Moses directly warns the Jews against it. (4:19) In the figurative language of Scripture, the moon is frequently noticed as presaging events of the greatest importance through the temporary or permanent withdrawal of its light. ( Isaiah 13:10 ; Joel 2:31 ; Matthew 24:29 ; Mark 13:24 )
Moses
(Heb. Mosheh, “drawn,” i.e. from the water; in the Coptic it means “saved from the water”), the legislator of the Jewish people, and in a certain sense the founder of the Jewish religion. The immediate pedigree of Moses is as follows: Levi was the father of: Gershon— Kohath— Merari Kohath was the father of: Amram = Jochebed Amram = Jochebed was the father of: Hur = Miriam— Aaron = Elisheba— Moses = Zipporah Aaron = Elisheba was the father of: Nadab— Abihu— Eleazar— Ithamar Eleazar was the father of: Phineas Moses = Zipporah was the father of: Gershom— Eliezer Gershom was the father of: Jonathan The history of Moses naturally divides itself into three periods of 40 years each. Moses was born at Goshen, In Egypt, B.C. 1571. The story of his birth is thoroughly Egyptian in its scene. His mother made extraordinary efforts for his preservation from the general destruction of the male children of Israel. For three months the child was concealed in the house. Then his mother placed him in a small boat or basket of papyrus, closed against the water by bitumen. This was placed among the aquatic vegetation by the side of one of the canals of the Nile. The sister lingered to watch her brother’s fate. The Egyptian princess, who, tradition says, was a childless wife, came down to bathe in the sacred river. Her attendant slaves followed her. She saw the basket in the flags, and despatched divers, who brought it. It was opened, and the cry of the child moved the princess to compassion. She determined to rear it as her own. The sister was at hand to recommend a Hebrew nurse, the child’s own mother. here was the first part of Moses’ training,—a training at home in the true religion, in faith in God, in the promises to his nation, in the life of a saint,—a training which he never forgot, even amid the splendors and gilded sin of Pharaoh’s court. The child was adopted by the princess. From this time for many years Moses must be considered as an Egyptian. In the Pentateuch this period is a blank, but in the New Testament he is represented as “learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians,” and as “mighty in words and deeds.” ( Acts 7:22 ) this was the second part of Moses’ training. The second period of Moses’ life began when he was forty years old. Seeing the sufferings of his people, Moses determined to go to them as their helper, and made his great life-choice, “choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.” ( Hebrews 11:25 , 26 ) Seeing an Israelite suffering the bastinado from an Egyptian, and thinking that they were alone, he slew the Egyptian, and buried the corpse in the sand. But the people soon showed themselves unfitted as yet to obtain their freedom, nor was Moses yet fitted to be their leader. He was compelled to leave Egypt when the slaying of the Egyptian became known, and he fled to the land of Midian, in the southern and southeastern part of the Sinai peninsula. There was a famous well (“the well,”) ( Exodus 2:15 ) surrounded by tanks for the watering of the flocks of the Bedouin herdsmen. By this well the fugitive seated himself and watched the gathering of the sheep. There were the Arabian shepherds, and there were also seven maidens, whom the shepherds rudely drove away from the water. The chivalrous spirit which had already broken forth in behalf of his oppressed countrymen broke forth again in behalf of the distressed maidens. They returned unusually soon to their father, Jethro, and told him of their adventure. Moses, who up to this time had been “an Egyptian,” ( Exodus 2:19 ) now became for a time an Arabian. He married Zipporah, daughter of his host, to whom he also became the slave and shepherd. ( Exodus 2:21 ; 3:1 ) Here for forty years Moses communed with God and with nature, escaping from the false ideas taught him in Egypt, and sifting out the truths that were there. This was the third process of his training for his work; and from this training he learned infinitely more than from Egypt. Stanely well says, after enumerating what the Israelites derived from Egypt, that the contrast was always greater than the likeness. This process was completed when God met him on Horeb, appearing in a burning bush, and, communicating with him, appointed him to be the leader and deliverer of his people. Now begins the third period of forty years in Moses’ life. He meets Aaron, his next younger brother, whom God permitted to be the spokesman, and together they return to Goshen in Egypt. From this time the history of Moses is the history of Israel for the next forty years. Aaron spoke and acted for Moses, and was the permanent inheritor of the sacred staff of power. But Moses was the inspiring soul behind. he is incontestably the chief personage of the history, in a sense in which no one else is described before or since. He was led into a closer communion with the invisible world than was vouchsafed to any other in the Old Testament. There are two main characters in which he appears—as a leader and as a prophet. (1) As a leader, his life divides itself into the three epochs—the march to Sinai; the march from Sinai to Kadesh; and the conquest of the transjordanic kingdoms. On approaching Palestine the office of the leader becomes blended with that of the general or the conqueror. By Moses the spies were sent to explore the country. Against his advice took place the first disastrous battle at hormah. To his guidance is ascribed the circuitous route by which the nation approached Palestine from the east, and to his generalship the two successful campaigns in which Sihon and Og were defeated. The narrative is told so briefly that we are in danger of forgetting that at this last stage of his life Moses must have been as much a conqueror and victorious soldier as was Joshua. (2) His character as a prophet is, from the nature of the case, more distinctly brought out. He is the first as he is the greatest example of a prophet in the Old Testament. His brother and sister were both endowed with prophetic gifts. The seventy elders, and Eldad and Medad also, all “prophesied.” ( Numbers 11:25-27 ) But Moses rose high above all these. With him the divine revelations were made “mouth to mouth.” ( Numbers 12:8 ) Of the special modes of this more direct communication, four great examples are given, corresponding to four critical epochs in his historical career. (a) The appearance of the divine presence in the flaming acacia tree. ( Exodus 3:2-6 ) (b) In the giving of the law from Mount Sinai, the outward form of the revelation was a thick darkness as of a thunder-cloud, out of which proceeded a voice. ( Exodus 19:19 ; 20:21 ) on two occasions he is described as having penetrated within the darkness. ( Exodus 24:18 ; 34:28 ) (c) It was nearly at the close of these communications in the mountains of Sinai that an especial revelation of God was made to him personally. ( Exodus 33:21 , 22 ; 34:5 , 6 , 7 ) God passed before him. (d) The fourth mode of divine manifestation was that which is described as beginning at this juncture, and which was maintained with more or less continuity through the rest of his career. ( Exodus 33:7 ) It was the communication with God in the tabernacle from out the pillar of cloud and fire. There is another form of Moses’ prophetic gift, viz., the poetical form of composition which characterizes the Jewish prophecy generally. These poetical utterances are— “The song which Moses and the children of Israel sung” (after the passage of the Red Sea). ( Exodus 15:1-19 ) A fragment of the war-song against Amalek. ( Exodus 17:16 ) A fragment of lyrical burst of indignation. ( Exodus 32:18 ) The fragments of war-songs, probably from either him or his immediate prophetic followers, in ( Numbers 21:14 , 15 , 27-30 ) preserved in the “book of the wars of Jehovah,” ( Numbers 21:14 ) and the address to the well. ch. ( Numbers 21:14 ) and the address to the well. ch. ( Numbers 21:16 , 17 , 18 ) The song of Moses, (32:1-43) setting forth the greatness and the failings of Israel. The blessing of Moses on the tribes, (33:1-29) The 90th Psalm, “A prayer of Moses, the man of God.” The title, like all the titles of the psalms, is of doubtful authority, and the psalm has often been referred to a later author. Character .—The prophetic office of Moses can only be fully considered in connection with his whole character and appearance. ( Hosea 12:13 ) He was in a sense peculiar to himself the founder and representative of his people; and in accordance with this complete identification of himself with his nation is the only strong personal trait which we are able to gather from his history. ( Numbers 12:3 ) The word “meek” is hardly an adequate reading of the Hebrew term, which should be rather “much enduring.” It represents what we should now designate by the word “disinterested.” All that is told of him indicates a withdrawal of himself, a preference of the cause of his nation to his own interests, which makes him the most complete example of Jewish patriotism. (He was especially a man of prayer and of faith, of wisdom, courage and patience.) In exact conformity with his life is the account of his end. The book of Deuteronomy describes, and is, the long last farewell of the prophet to his people. This takes place on the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year of the wanderings, in the plains of Moab. (1:3,5) Moses is described as 120 years of age, but with his sight and his freshness of strength unabated. (34:7) Joshua is appointed his successor. The law is written out and ordered to be deposited in the ark. ch. 31. The song and the blessing of the tribes conclude the farewell. chs. 32,33. And then comes the mysterious close. He is told that he is to see the good land beyond the Jordan, but not to possess it himself. He ascends the mount of Pisgah and stands on Nebo, one of its summits, and surveys the four great masses of Palestine west of the Jordan, so far as it can be discerned from that height. The view has passes into a proverb for all nations. “So Moses the servant of Jehovah died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of Jehovah. And he buried him in a ’ravine’ in the land of Moab, ’before’ Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day... And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days.” (34:5,6,8) This is all that is said in the sacred record. (This burial was thus hidden probably— (1) To preserve his grave from idolatrous worship or superstitious reverence; and (2) Because it may be that God did not intend to leave his body to corruption, but to prepare it, as he did the body of Elijah, so that Moses could in his spiritual body meet Christ, together with Elijah, on the mount of transfiguration.) Moses is spoken of as a likeness of Christ; and as this is a point of view which has been almost lost in the Church, compared with the more familiar comparisons of Christ to Adam, David, Joshua, and yet has as firm a basis in fact as any of them, it may be well to draw it out in detail. (1) Moses is, as it would seem, the only character of the Old Testament to whom Christ expressly likens himself: “Moses wrote of me.” ( John 5:46 ) It suggests three main points of likeness: (a) Christ was, like Moses, the great prophet of the people—the last, as Moses was the first. (b) Christ, like Moses, is a lawgiver: “Him shall ye hear.” (c) Christ, like Moses, was a prophet out of the midst of the nation, “from their brethren.” As Moses was the entire representative of his people, feeling for them more than for himself, absorbed in their interests, hopes and fears, so, with reverence be it said, was Christ. (2) In ( Hebrews 3:1-19 ; 12:24-29 ; Acts 7:37 ) Christ is described, though more obscurely, as the Moses of the new dispensation—as the apostle or messenger or mediator of God to the people—as the controller and leader of the flock or household of God. (3) The details of their lives are sometimes, though not often, compared. ( Acts 7:24-28 ; 35 ) In ( Jude 1 :9) is an allusion to an altercation between Michael and Satan over the body of Moses. It probably refers to a lost apocryphal book, mentioned by Origen, called the “Ascension” or “Assumption of Moses.” Respecting the books of Moses, see Pentateuch, The .
Mourning
One marked feature of Oriental mourning is what may be called its studies publicity and the careful observance of the prescribed ceremonies. ( Genesis 23:2 ; Job 1:20 ; 2:12 ) Among the particular forms observed the following may be mentioned: (a) Rending the clothes. ( Genesis 37:29 , 34 ; 44:13 ) etc. (b) Dressing in sackcloth. ( Genesis 37:34 ; 2 Samuel 3:31 ; 21:10 ) etc. (c) Ashes, dust or earth sprinkled on the person. ( 2 Samuel 13:19 ; 15:32 ) etc. (d) Black or sad-colored garments. ( 2 Samuel 14:2 ; Jeremiah 8:21 ) etc. (e) Removal of ornaments or neglect of person. (21:12,13) etc. (f) Shaving the head, plucking out the hair of the head or beard. ( Leviticus 10:6 ; 2 Samuel 19:24 ) etc. (g) Laying bare some part of the body. ( Isaiah 20:2 ; 47:2 ) etc. (h) Fasting or abstinence in meat and drink. ( 2 Samuel 1:12 ; 3:35 ; 12:16 , 22 ) etc. (i) In the same direction may be mentioned diminution in offerings to God, and prohibition to partake of sacrificial food. ( Leviticus 7:20 ; 26:14 ) (k) Covering the “upper lip,” i.e. the lower part of the face, and sometimes the head, in token of silence. ( Leviticus 13:45 ; 2 Samuel 15:30 ; 19:4 ) (l) Cutting the flesh, ( Jeremiah 16:6 , 7 ; 41:5 ) beating the body. ( Ezekiel 21:12 ; Jeremiah 31:19 ) (m) Employment of persons hired for the purpose of mourning. ( Ecclesiastes 12:5 ; Jeremiah 9:17 ; Amos 5:16 ; Matthew 9:23 ) (n) Akin to the foregoing usage the custom for friends or passers-by to join in the lamentations of bereaved or afflicted persons. ( Genesis 50:3 ; Judges 11:40 ; Job 2:11 ; 30:25 ) etc. (o) The sitting or lying posture in silence indicative of grief. ( Genesis 23:3 ; Judges 20:26 ) etc. (p) Mourning feast and cup of consolation. ( Jeremiah 16:7 , 8 ) The period of mourning varied. In the case of Jacob it was seventy days, ( Genesis 50:3 ) of Aaron, ( Numbers 20:29 ) and Moses, Deuteronomy 34:8 thirty. A further period of seven days in Jacob’s case. ( Genesis 50:10 ) Seven days for Saul, which may have been an abridged period in the time of national danger. ( 1 Samuel 31:13 ) With the practices above mentioned, Oriental and other customs, ancient and modern, in great measure agree. Arab men are silent in grief, but the women scream, tear their hair, hands and face, and throw earth or sand on their heads. Both Mohammedans and Christians in Egypt hire wailing-women, and wail at stated times. Burckhardt says the women of Atbara in Nubia shave their heads on the death of their nearest relatives—a custom prevalent also among several of the peasant tribes of upper Egypt. He also mentions wailing-women, and a man in distress besmearing his face with dirt and dust in token of grief. In the “Arabian Nights” are frequent allusions to similar practices. It also mentions ten days and forty days as periods of mourning. Lane, speaking of the modern Egyptians, says, “After death the women of the family raise cries of lamentation called welweleh or wilwal, uttering the most piercing shrieks, and calling upon the name of the deceased, ’Oh, my master! Oh, my resource! Oh, my misfortune! Oh, my glory!” See ( Jeremiah 22:18 ) The females of the neighborhood come to join with them in this conclamation: generally, also, the family send for two or more neddabehs or public wailing-women. Each brings a tambourine, and beating them they exclaim, ’Alas for him!’ The female relatives, domestics and friends, with their hair dishevelled and sometimes with rent clothes, beating their faces, cry in like manner, ’Alas for him!’ These make no alteration in dress, but women, in some cases, dye their shirts, head-veils and handkerchiefs of a dark-blue color. They visit the tombs at stated periods.”—Mod. Eg. iii. 152,171,195.
Murder
The law of Moses, while it protected the accidental homicide, defined with additional strictness the crime of murder. It prohibited compensation or reprieve of the murderer, or his protection if he took refuge in the refuge city, or even at the altar of Jehovah. ( Exodus 21:12 , 14 ; Leviticus 24:17 , 21 ; 1 Kings 2:5 , 6 , 31 ) The duty of executing punishment on the murderer is in the law expressly laid on the “revenger of blood;” but the question of guilt was to be previously decided by the Levitical tribunal. In regal times the duty of execution of justice on a murderer seems to have been assumed to some extent by the sovereign, as was also the privilege of pardon. ( 2 Samuel 13:39 ; 14:7 , 11 ; 1 Kings 2:34 ) It was lawful to kill a burglar taken at night in the act, but unlawful to do so after sunrise. ( Exodus 22:2 , 3 )
Music
The most ancient music.—The inventor of musical instruments, like the first poet and the first forger of metals, was a Cainite. We learn from ( Genesis 4:21 ) that Jubal the son of Lamech was “the father of all such as handle the harp and organ,” that is, of all players upon stringed and wind instruments. The first mentioned of music in the times after the deluge is in the narrative of Laban’s interview with Jacob, ( Genesis 32:27 ) so that, whatever way it was preserved, the practice of music existed in the upland country of Syria, and of the three possible kinds of musical instruments two were known and employed to accompany the song. The three kinds are alluded to in ( Job 21:12 ) On the banks of the Red Sea Moses and the children of Israel sang their triumphal song of deliverance from the hosts of Egypt; and Miriam, in celebration of the same event, exercised one of her functions as a prophetess by leading a procession of the women of the camp, chanting in chorus the burden of the song of Moses. The song of Deborah and Barak is cast in a distinctly metrical form, and was probably intended to be sung with a musical accompaniment as one of the people’s songs. The simpler impromptu with which the women from the cities of Israel greeted David after the slaughter of the Philistines was apparently struck off on the spur of the moment, under the influence of the wild joy with which they welcomed their national champion. “the darling of the sons of Israel.” ( 1 Samuel 18:6 , 7 ) Up to this time we meet with nothing like a systematic cultivation of music among the Hebrews, but the establishment of the schools of the prophets appears to have supplied this want. Whatever the students of these schools may have been taught, music was an essential part of their practice. Professional musicians soon became attached to the court. The golden age of Hebrew music . David seems to have gathered round him “singing men and singing women.” ( 2 Samuel 19:35 ) Solomon did the same, ( Ecclesiastes 2:8 ) adding to the luxury of his court by his patronage of art, and obtaining a reputation himself as no mean composer. ( 1 Kings 4:32 ) But the temple was the great school of music, and it was consecrated to its highest service in the worship of Jehovah. Before, however the elaborate arrangements had been made by David for the temple choir, there must have been a considerable body of musicians throughout the country. ( 2 Samuel 6:5 ) (David chose 4000 musicians from the 38,000 Levies in his reign, or one in ten of the whole tribe. Of these musicians 288 were specially trained and skillful. ( 1 Chronicles 26:6 , 7 ) The whole number was divided into 24 courses, each of which would thus consist of a full band of 154 musicians, presided over by a body of 12 specially-trained leaders, under one of the twenty-four sons of Asaph, Heman or Jeduthun as conductor. The leaders appear to have played on the cymbals, perhaps to make the time. ( 1 Chronicles 15:19 ; 16:5 ) All these joined in a special chant which David taught them, and which went by his name. ( 1 Chronicles 23:5 ) Women also took part in the temple choir. ( 1 Chronicles 13:8 ; 25:5 , 6 ) These great choirs answered one to another in responsive singing; thus the temple music most have been grand and inspiring beyond anything known before that time. Character of Hebrew music .—As in all Oriental nations, the music of the Hebrews was melody rather than harmony, which latter was then unknown. All old and young, men and maidens, singers and instruments, appear to have sung one part only in or in octaves. “The beauty of the music consisted altogether in the melody;” but this, with so many instruments and voices, was so charming that “the whole of antiquity is full of the praises of this music. By its means battles were won, cities conquered, mutinies quelled, diseases cured.”—ED.) Uses of music .—In the private as well as in the religions life of the Hebrews music held a prominent place. The kings had their court musicians, ( 2 Chronicles 35:25 ; Ecclesiastes 2:8 ) and in the luxurious times of the later monarchy the effeminate gallants of Israel amused themselves with devising musical instruments while their nation was perishing (“as Nero fiddled while Rome was burning”). But music was also the legitimate expression of mirth and gladness The bridal processions as they passed through the streets were accompanied with music and song. ( Jeremiah 7:34 ) The music of the banquets was accompanied with song and dancing. ( Luke 15:26 ) The triumphal processions which celebrated victory were enlivened by minstrels and singers. ( Exodus 15:1 , 20 ; Judges 5:1 ; 11:34 ) There were also religious songs. ( Isaiah 30:29 ; James 5:13 ) Love songs are alluded to; in ( Psalms 45:1 ) title, and Isai 5:1 There were also the doleful songs of the funeral procession, and the wailing chant of the mourners. The grape-gatherers sang at their work, and the women sang as they toiled at the mill, and on every occasion the land of the Hebrews during their national prosperity was a land of music and melody.