Genesis xxxix.
1 And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar an officer of
Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the
Ishmaelites, which bad brought him down thither.
2 And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he
was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.
4 And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made
him overseer over his house and all that he had he put into his hand.
7 And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife
cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she solicited him.
8 But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master
wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all
that he hath to my hand.
9 How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?
10 And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he
hearkened not unto her, and she caught him by his garment, and he left
his garment in her hand and fled.
13 And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in
her hand and was fled forth,
14 That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them,
saying, See, he hath brought in a Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in
unto me, and I cried with a loud voice:
15 And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and
cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled.
16 And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home.
17 And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew
servant which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me:
18 And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he
left his garment with me, and fled out.
19 And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife,
that his wrath was kindled.
20 And Joseph's master took him; and put him into the prison, a place
where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.
211 But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him
favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the
prisoners that were in the prison; and whatever they did there, he was
the doer of it.
Potiphar's wife surpasses all the women yet mentioned in perfidy and
dishonor.
Joseph's virtues, his dignity, his honor, go far to redeem the
reputation of his ancestors, and the customs of his times. It would
have been generous, at least, if the editor of these pages could have
given us one woman the counterpart of Joseph, a noble, high-minded,
virtuous type. Thus far those of all the different nationalities have
been of an ordinary low type. Historians usually dwell on the virtues
of the people, the heroism of their deeds, the wisdom of their words,
but the sacred fabulist dwells on the most questionable behavior of the
Jewish race, and much in character and language that we can neither
print nor answer.
Indeed the Pentateuch is a long painful record of war, corruption,
rapine, and lust. Why Christians who wished to convert the heathen to
our religion should send them these books, passes all understanding. It
is most demoralizing reading for children and the unthinking masses,
giving all alike the lowest possible idea of womanhood, having no hope
nor ambition beyond conjugal unions with men they scarcely knew, for
whom they could not have had the slighest {sic} sentiment of
friendship, to say nothing of affection. There is no mention of women
except when the advent of sons is announced. When the Children of
Israel go down into Egypt we are told that the wives of Jacob's sons
were taken too, but we hear nothing of Jacob's wives or concubines,
until the death and burial of Leah is incidentally mentioned.
Throughout the book of Genesis the leading men declare from time to
that the Lord comes to them and promises great fruitfulness. A strange
promise in that it could only be fulfilled in questionable relations.
To begin with Abraham, and go through to Joseph, leaving out all
conjugal irregularities, we find Abraham and Sarah had Isaac, Isaac and
Rebekah had Jacob and Esau. Jacob and Rachel (for she alone was his
true wife), had Joseph and Benjamin. Joseph and Asenath had Manassah
and Ephraim. Thus giving the Patriarchs just seven legitimate
descendants in the first generation. If it had not been for polygamy
and concubinage, the great harvest so recklessly promised would have
been meagre indeed.
Genesis xli.
45 And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him
to wife Asenath the daughter of Potar-pherah priest of On. And Joseph
went out over all the land of Egypt.
46 And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king
of Egypt.
50 And unto Joseph were born two sons, before the years of the famine
came: which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On bare unto
him.
51 And Joseph called the name of the first-born Manassah: For God,
said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house.
52 And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused
me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.
This is all we ever hear of Asenath, that she was a good woman,
probably worthy of Joseph, it is fair to infer, for had she been
otherwise her evil deeds would have been recorded. A few passing
remarks where ever we find the mention of woman is about all we can
vouchsafe. The writer probably took the same view of the virtuous woman
as the great Roman General who said "the highest praise for Caesar's
wife is that she should never be mentioned at all."
The texts on Lot's daughters and Tamar we omit altogether, as unworthy
a place in the "Woman's Bible." In the remaining chapters of Genesis,
the brethren of Joseph take leave of each other; the fathers bless
their sons and grandsons, and also take leave of each other, some to go
to remote parts of the country, some to die at a ripe old age. As
nothing is said of their wives and daughters, the historian probably
knew nothing of their occupations nor environments. Joseph was a
hundred and ten years old when he died. They embalmed him according to
the custom in Egypt, and put him in a coffin, and buried him in the
land of his fathers, where his brethren had promised to take his bones
after death to rest with his kindred at last.
E. C. S.
The literal translation of the first verse of chapter xxxix of Genesis
is as follows:
"And Joseph was brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, Pharaoh's eunuch,
chief of the cooks, an Egyptian bought him of the Ishmaelites who
brought him down."
These facts which are given in Julia Smith's translation of the Bible
throw a new light on the story of Joseph and the woman who was
Potiphar's wife only in name.
L. D. B.
THE BOOK OF EXODUS.
CHAPTER 1.
Exodus i.
1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into
Egypt: every man and his household came with Jacob.
2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
4 Dan, and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
5 And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy
souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already.
15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the
name of the one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah.
16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew
women, and they bare a son, then ye shall kill him; but if it be a
daughter, then she shall live.
17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt
commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them,
Why have ye done this thing and have saved the men children alive?
19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are
delivered ere the midwives come in unto them:
20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people
multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made
them houses.
22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born
ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.
The Book of Exodus or the Departure, so called because of the escape
of the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, and their wanderings
in the wilderness for forty years, are herein recalled.
The unparalleled multiplication of the children of Israel renewed
Pharaoh's anxiety especially as the Israelites were very large and
strong as compared with the Egyptians, and their numbers were computed
to double every fourteen years. Hence their multitude and power grew
more formidable day by day in the eyes of the Egyptians, though they
feared their presence, yet as their labors added greatly to the wealth
of the nation, they were unwilling to let them go. Pharaoh hoped by
making their daily tasks much harder and killing all the male children
at birth, they, would be so crippled and dispirited that there would be
no danger of rebellion against his government.
For a list of the seventy souls, turn to Genesis, chapter xlvi, where
Dinah, Jacob's daughter, and Sarah, Asher's daughter, are mentioned
among the seventy souls. It is certainly curious that there should have
been only two daughters to sixty-eight sons. But perhaps the seventy
souls refer only to sons, and the daughters are merely persons, not
souls. It is not an uncommon idea with many nations that women have no
souls. A missionary to China tells of a native who asked him why he
preached the Gospel to women. "To save their souls, to be sure." "Why,"
said he, "women have no souls." "Yes they have," said the missionary.
When the thought dawned on the Chinaman that it might be true, he was
greatly amused, and said, "Well, I'll run home and tell my wife she has
a soul, and we will sit down and laugh together." We find at many
points that the Bible does not reckon women as souls. It may be that
because there is no future for them is the reason why they punish them
here more severely than they do men for the same crimes. Here it is
plainly asserted that all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob
were seventy in number. The meaning conveyed may be that the man
supplies the spirit and intellect of the race, and woman the body only.
Some late writers take this ground. If so, the phraseology would have
been more in harmony with the idea, if the seventy souls had emanated,
Minerva-like, from the brain of father Jacob, rather than from his
loins.
The children of Israel multiplied so rapidly that Pharaoh became
alarmed, lest the nation should become mightier than the Egyptians, so
he ordered all the males at birth to be slain. To this end he had a
private interview with the midwives, two women, Shiphrah and Puah, and
laid his commands upon them. But they did not obey his orders, and
excused themselves on the ground that the Jewish women seldom needed
their services. Here we have another example of women who "feared God,"
and yet used deception to accomplish what they deemed right.
The Hebrew God seemed to be well pleased with the deception, and gave
them each a house for their fidelity in saving the lives of
his chosen children. Such is the plain English of the story. Origen
ascribes a deep spiritual meaning to these passages, as more recent
writers and speakers do, making the whole Bible a collection of symbols
and allegories, but none of them are complimentary to our unfortunate
sex. Adam Clarke says if we begin by taking some parts of the
Scriptures figuratively we shall soon figure it all away. Though the
midwives in their comfortable homes enjoyed the approbation of God,
Pharaoh was not to be thwarted by their petty excuses, so he ordered
his own people to cast into the river every Jewish boy that was born.
We are so accustomed to the assumption that men alone form a nation,
that we forget to resent such texts as these. Surely daughters in
freedom could perpetuate family and national pride and honor, and if
allowed to wed the men of their choice, their children would vindicate
their ancestral dignity. The greatest block to advancing civilization
all along the line has been the degradation of woman. Having no
independent existence, no name, holding no place of honor or trust,
being mere subjects in the family, the birth of a son is naturally
considered more important than a daughter, as the one inherits because
of sex all the rights and privileges denied the other.
Shiphrah and Puah, Aben Ezra tells us, were probably at the head of
their profession, and instructed others in the science of obstetrics.
At this time there were five hundred midwives among the Hebrews. This
branch of the profession was, among the Egyptians, also in the hands of
the women. Statistics show that the ratio of deaths among mothers and
children at birth was far less than when under male supervision
exclusively.
Moses spent the first forty years of his life in Egypt, the next forty
with Jethro his father in law, and the next forty wandering in the
wilderness. One writer said the Lord must have buried Moses, and no one
ever knew where. There is no record of the burial place of Moses. As
his life had been surrounded with mysteries, perhaps to verify his
providential guidance in that long journey in the wilderness, he chose
to surround his death also with mystery, and arranged with members of
the priesthood to keep his last resting place a profound secret. He was
well versed in all the law and mythology of the Egyptians, and intended
the people should no doubt think that Jehovah had taken the great
leader to himself. For the purpose of controlling his followers in that
long journey through the wilderness, he referred all his commands and
actions to Jehovah. Moses declared that he met him face to face on
Mount Sinai, veiled in a cloud of fire, received minute instructions
how to feed and conduct the people, as well as to minister to their
moral and spiritual necessities. In order to enforce his teachings, he
said the ten commandments were written on tablets of stone by Jehovah
himself, and given into his hands to convey to the people, with many
ordinances and religious observances, to be sacredly kept. In this way
the Jewish religion and the Mosaic code were established.
As these people had no written language at that time, and could
neither read nor write, they were fitting subjects for all manner of
delusions and superstitions. The question naturally suggests itself to
any rational mind, why should the customs and opinions of this ignorant
people, who lived centuries ago, have any influence in the religious
thought of this generation?
E. C. S.
CHAPTER II.
Exodus ii.
1 And there went a man of the house of Levi and took to wife a
daughter of Levi.
2 And the woman bare a son: and when she saw that he was a goodly
child, she hid him three months.
3 And when she could not longer hide him she took for him an ark of
bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child
therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.
4 And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.
5 And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the
river; and her maidens walked along by the river's side: and when she
saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.
6 And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe
wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the
Hebrews' children.
7 Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call to
thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?
8 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called
the child's mother.
9 And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and
nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the
child, and nursed it.
10 And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter,
and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said,
Because I drew him out of the water.
15 But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of
Midian: and he sat down by a well.
16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and
drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.
17 And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and
helped them, and watered their flock.
18 And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that
ye are come so soon to day?
19 And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the
shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock.
20 And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? why is it that ye
have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread.
21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses
Zipporah his daughter.
22 And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershon: for he
said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.
The account of the birth of Moses, his mother's anxiety in protecting
him from the wrath of Pharaoh, and the goodness of the king's daughter,
make altogether an interesting story, and is almost the first touch of
sentiment with which the historian has refreshed us; a pleasant change
from the continued accounts of corruption, violence, lust, war and
petty falsehood, that have thus far marked the history of this people.
The only value of these records to us is to show the character of the
Jewish nation, and make it easy for us to reject their ideas as to the
true status of woman, and their pretension of being guided by the hand
of God, in all their devious wanderings. Surely such teachings as
these, should have no influence in regulating the lives of women in the
nineteenth century. Moses' conduct towards the seven daughters of the
priest at the well, shows that there were some sparks of chivalry here
and there in a few representative souls, notwithstanding the contempt
for the sex in general. These Hebrew wooings and weddings were
curiously similar, alike marked for the beauty and simplicity of the
daughters of the land, the wells, the flocks, the handsome strangers,
the strong, active young men who will prove so helpful in cultivating
the lands. The father-in-law usually gets the young husband completely
under his thumb, and we hear nothing of the dreaded mother-in-law of
the nineteenth century. If we go through this chapter carefully we will
find mention of about a dozen women, but with the exception of one
given to Moses, all are nameless. Then as now names for women and
slaves are of no importance; they have no individual life, and why
should their personality require a life-long name? To-day the woman is
Mrs. Richard Roe, to-morrow Mrs. John Doe, and again Mrs. James Smith
according as she changes masters, and she has so little self-respect
that she does not see the insult of the custom. We have had in this
generation one married woman in England, and one in America, who had
one name from birth to death, and though married they kept it. Think of
the inconvenience of vanishing as it were from your friends and,
correspondents three times in one's natural life.
In helping the children of Israel to escape from the land of Egypt the
Lord said to Moses:
Exodus iii.
19 And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not
by a mighty hand.
20 And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders
which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go.
21 And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians:
and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty:
22 But every woman shall borrow of her neighhour, and of her that
sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and
raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters;
and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.
The role assigned the women, in helping the children of Israel to
escape in safety from bondage, is by no means complimentary
to their heroism or honesty. To help bear the expenses of the journey,
they were instructed to steal all the jewels of silver and gold, and
all the rich raiment of the Egyptian ladies. The Lord and Moses no
doubt went on the principle that the Israelites had richly earned all
in the years of their bondage. This is the position that some of our
good abolitionists took, when Africans were escaping from American
bondage, that the slaves had the right to seize horses, boats, anything
to help them to Canada, to find safety in the shadow of the British
lion. Some of our pro-slavery clergymen, who no doubt often read the
third chapter of Exodus to their congregations, forgot the advice of
Moses, in condemning the abolitionists; as the Americans had stolen the
African's body and soul, and kept them in hopeless bondage for
generations--they had richly earned whatever they needed to help them
to the land of freedom. Stretch the principle of natural rights a
little further, and ask the question, why should women, denied all
their political rights, obey laws to which they have never given their
consent, either by proxy or in person? Our fathers in an inspired
moment said, "No just government can be formed without the consent of
the governed."
Women have had no voice in the canon law, the catechisms, the church
creeds and discipline, and why should they obey the behests of a
strictly masculine religion, that places the sex at a disadvantage in
all life's emergencies?
Our civil and criminal codes reflect at many points the spirit of the
Mosaic. In the criminal code we find no feminine pronouns, as "He,"
"His," "Him," we are arrested, tried and hung, but singularly enough,
we are denied the highest privileges of citizens, because the pronouns
"She," "Hers" and "Her," are not found in the constitutions. It is a
pertinent question, if women can pay the penalties of their crimes as
"He," why may they not enjoy the privileges of citizens as "He"?
E. C. S.
CHAPTER III.
Exodus iv.
18 And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said
unto him, let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are
in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses,
Go in peace.
19 And the Lord said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for
all the men are dead which sought thy life.
20 And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and
he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his
hand.
21 And the Lord said unto Moses, when thou goest to return into Egypt,
see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in
thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the
people go.
22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my
son, even my firstborn:
23 And I say unto thee, let my son go, that he may serve me: and if
thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy
firstborn:
24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him,
and sought to kill him.
25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and circumcised her son.
26 So he let him go.
When Moses married Zipporah he represented himself as a stranger who
desired nothing better than to adopt Jethro's mode of life, But now
that he desired to see his own people, his wife has no choice but to
accompany him. So Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on an
ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt.
The reason the Lord met them and sought to kill the son, was readily
devined by Zipporah; her son had not been circumcised; so with woman's
quick intuition and natural courage to save the life of her husband,
she skillfully performed the necessary operation, and the travellers
went on their way rejoicing. The word circumcision seems to have a very
elastic meaning "uncircumcised lips" is used to describe that want of
power to speak fluently, from which Moses suffered and which he so
often deplored.
As in every chapter of Jewish history this rite is dwelt upon it is
worthy of remark that its prominence as a religious observance means a
disparagement of all female life, unfit for offerings, and unfit to,
take part in religious services, incapable of consecration. The
circumcision of the heart even, which women might achieve, does not
render them fit to take an active part in any of the holy services of
the Lord. They were permitted to violate the moral code of laws to
secure liberty for their people, but they could not officiate in any
of the sacraments, nor eat of the consecrated bread at meals. Although
the Mosaic code and customs so plainly degrade the female sex, and
their position in the church to-day grows out of these ancient customs,
yet many people insist that our religion dignifies women. But so long
as the Pentateuch is read and accepted as the Word of God, an undefined
influence is felt by each generation that, destroys a proper respect
for all womankind.
It is the contempt that the canon and civil law alike express for
women that has multiplied their hardships and intensified man's, desire
to hold them in subjection. The sentiment that statesmen and bishops
proclaim in their high places are responsible for the actions of the
lower classes on the highways. We scarce take up a paper that does not
herald some outrage committed on a matron on her way to church, or the
little girl gathering wild flowers on her way to school; yet you cannot
go so low down in the scale of being as to find men who will enter our
churches to desecrate the altars or toss about the emblems of the
sacrament; because they have been educated with some respect for
churches, altars and sacraments. But where are any lessons of respect
taught for the mothers of the human family? And yet as the great factor
in the building of the race are they not more sacred than churches,
altars, sacraments or the priesthood?
Do our sons in their law schools, who read the old common law of
England and its commentators, rise from their studies with higher
respect for women? Do our sons in their theological seminaries rise
from their studies of the Mosaic laws and Paul's epistles with higher
respect for their mothers? Alas! in both cases they may have learned
their first lessons of disrespect and contempt. They who would protect
their innocent daughters from the outrages so common to-day, must lay
anew the foundation stones of law and gospel in justice and equality,
in a profound respect of the sexes for each other.
E. C. S.
CHAPTER IV.
Exodus xii.
12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will
smite all the firstborn in tile land of Egypt, both man and beast: and
against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.
18 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye
are: and when I see that blood, I will pass over you, and the plague
not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
43 And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of
the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof:
44 But every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou hast
circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof.
45 A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof.
46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of
the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone
thereof.
47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.
48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the
passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let
him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the
land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.
In commemoration of this promise of the Lord's to pass over their
homes in executing vengeance on the Egyptians, and of the prolonged
battles between Jehovah and Moses on the one side, and Pharaoh and his
Cabinet on the other, the Jews held an annual feast to which all
circumcised males were summoned. The point of interest to us is whether
women were disqualified, not being circumcised, or whether as members
of the congregation they could slip in under the provision in the 47th
verse, and enjoy the unleavened bread and nice roast lamb with the men
of their household. It seems from the above texts that this blessed
feast of deliverance from bondage must have been confined to males,
that they only, could express, their joy and gratitude. But women were
permitted to perform a subordinate part in the grand hegira, beside
carrying their respective infants they manifested their patriotism by
stealing all the jewels of gold and silver, all the rich silks and
velvets from their Egyptian neighbors, all they could carry, according
to the commands of Moses. And why should these women take any part in
the passover; their condition remained about the same under all
dynasties in all lands. They were regarded merely as necessary factors
in race building. As Jewish wives or Egyptian concubines, there was no
essential difference in their social status.
As Satan, represented by a male snake, seemed to be women's counsellor
from the beginning, making her skillful in cunning and tergiversation,
it is fair to suppose that they were destined to commune with the
spirit of evil for ever and ever, that is if women have souls and are
immortal, which is thought to be doubtful by many nations. There is no
trace thus far that the Jews believed in a future state, good or bad.
No promise of immortality is held out to men even. So far the promise
to them is a purely material triumph, "their seed shall not fill the
earth."
The firstborn of males both man and beast are claimed by the Lord as
his own. From the general sentiment expressed in the various texts, it
is evident that Satan claims the women as his own. The Hebrew God had
very little to say in regard to them. If the passover, the lamb and the
unleavened bread, were necessary to make the males acceptable in
religious services, the females could find no favor in the eyes of
either God or man.
In most of the sacrifices female animals are not accepted, nor a male,
born after a female by the same parent. Males are the race, females
only the creatures that carry it on. This arrangement must be
providential, as it saves men from many disabilities. Men never fail to
dwell on maternity as a disqualification for the possession of many
civil and political rights. Suggest the idea of women having a voice in
making laws and administering the Government in the halls of
legislation, in Congress, or the British Parliament, and men will
declaim at once on the disabilities of maternity in a sneering
contemptuous way, as if the office of motherhood was undignified and
did not comport with the highest public offices in church and state. It
is vain that we point them to Queen Victoria, who has carefully reared
a large family, while considering and signing all state papers. She has
been a pattern wife and mother, kept a clean court, and used her
influence as far as her position would admit, to keep peace with all
nations. Why should representative American women be incapable of
discharging similar public and private duties at the same time in an
equally commendable manner?
E. C. S.
CHAPTER V.
Exodus xviii.
1 When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father in law, heard of
all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and that
the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt;
2 Then Jethro, Moses' father in law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after
he had sent her back.
3 And her two sons; of which the name of one was Gershom; for he said,
I have been an alien in a strange land:
4 And the name of the other was Eliezer: for the God of my father,
said he, was mine help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh;
5 And Jethro, Moses father in law, came with his sons and his wife
unto Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the mount of God:
6 And he said unto Moses, I thy father in law Jethro am come unto
thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her.
7 And Moses went out to meet his father in law, and did obeisance,
and kissed him, and they asked each other of their welfare; and they
came into the tent.
8 And Moses told his father in law all that the Lord had done unto the
Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, and all the travail
that had come upon them by the way, and how the Lord delivered them.
After a long separation the record of the meeting between Moses and
his wife Zipporah I,; very unsatisfactory to the casual reader. There
is some sentiment in the meeting of Jethro and Moses, they embraced and
kissed each other. How tender and beautiful the seeming relation to a
father in law, more fortunate than the mother in law in our time.
Zipporah like all the women of her time was hustled about, sent forward
and back by husbands and fathers, generally transported with their sons
and belongings on some long-suffering jackass. Nothing is said of the
daughters, but the sons, their names and their significance seem of
vital importance. We must smile or heave a sigh at all this injustice,
but different phases of the same guiding principle blocks woman's way
to-day to perfect liberty. See the struggle they have made to gain
admittance to the schools and colleges, the trades and professions,
their civil and political rights. The darkest page in history is the
persecutions of woman.
We take note of these discriminations of sex, and reiterate them again
and again to call the attention of women to the real source of their
multiplied disabilities. As long as our religion teaches woman's
subjection and man's right of domination, we shall have chaos in the
world of morals. Women are never referred to as persons, merely as
property, and to see why, you must read the Bible until you also see
how many other opportunities for the exercise of sex were given to
men, and why the single one of marriage to one husband was allowed to
women.
In all the directions given Moses, for the regulation of the social
and civil life of the children of Israel, and in the commandments on
Mount Sinai, it is rarely that females are mentioned. The regulations
are chiefly for males, the offerings are male, the transgressions
referred to are male.
When the Lord was about to give the ten commandments to the children
of Israel he gave the most minute directions as to the preparatory
duties of the people. It is evident from the text that males only were
to witness Moses' ascent to Mount Sinai and the coming of the Lord in a
cloud of fire.
Exodus xix.
12 And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take
heed to yourselves, that ye go not up in to the mount, or touch the
border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to
death..
13 There shall not a hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or
shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the
trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.
14 And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified
the people; and they washed their clothes.
16 And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come
not at your wives.
The children of Israel were to sanctify themselves for this great
event. Besides a thorough cleaning of their persons and clothes, they
were to have no affiliations or conversations with women for the space
of three days. The Hebrew laws regulating the relations of men and
women are never complimentary to the latter.
This feeling was in due time cultivated in the persecutions women
endured under witchcraft and celibacy, when all women were supposed to
be in collusion with the spirit of evil, and every man was warned that
the less he had to do with the "daughters of men" the more perfect
might be his communion with the Creator. Lecky in his History of
Rationalism shows what women endured when these ideas were prevalent,
and their sufferings were not mitigated until rationalism took the
place of religion, and reason trumphed {sic} over superstition.
E. C. S.
CHAPTER VI.
Exodus xv.
20 And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in
her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with
dances.
21 And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath
triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the
sea.
After many previous disappointments from Pharaoh, the children of
Israel were permitted to start from Egypt and cross the Red Sea, while
Pharaoh and his host in pursuit, were overwhelmed in the waters.
Then Moses and the children of Israel expressed their gratitude to the
Lord in a song, comprising nineteen verses, while Miriam and the women
expressed theirs in the above two. Has this proportion any significance
as to the comparative happiness of the men and the women, or is it a
poor attempt by the male historian to make out that though the women
took part in the general rejoicing, they were mutinous or sulky. We
know that Miriam was not altogether satisfied with the management of
Moses at many points of the expedition, and later on expressed her
dissatisfaction. If their gratitude is to be measured by the length of
their expression, the women were only one-tenth as grateful as the men.
It must always be a wonder to us, that in view of their degradation,
they ever felt like singing or dancing, for what desirable change was
there in their lives--the same hard work or bondage they suffered in
Egypt. There, they were all slaves together, but now the men, in their
respective families were exalted above their heads. Clarke gives the
song in metre with a chorus, and says the women, led by Miriam,
answered in a chorus by themselves which greatly heightened the effect.
Exodus xvi.
23 And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To
morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which
ye will bake to-day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which
remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
29 See, for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he
giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man
in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.
30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
In these texts we note that the work of men was done on the sixth day,
but the women must work as usual on the seventh. We see the same thing
to-day, woman's work is never done. What irony to say to them rest on
the seventh day. The Puritan fathers would not let the children romp or
play, nor give their wives a drive on Sunday, but they enjoyed a better
dinner on the Sabbath than any other day; yet the xxxi chapter and 15th
verse contains the following warning:
15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of
rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he
shall surely be put to death.
As the women continued to work and yet seemed to live in the flesh, it
may refer to the death of their civil rights, their individuality, as
nonentities without souls or personal responsibility.
A critical reading of the ten commandments will show that they are
chiefly for men. After purifying themselves by put ting aside their
wives and soiled clothes, they assembled at the foot of Mount Sinai. We
have no hint of the presence of a woman. One commandment speaks of
visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children. There is an
element of justice in this, for to talk of children getting iniquities
from their mothers, in a history of males, of fathers and sons, would
be as ridiculous as getting them from the clothes they wore.
"Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work." With the majority of
women this is impossible. Men of all classes can make the Sabbath a day
of rest, at least a change of employment, but for women the same
monotonous duties must be performed. In the homes of the rich and poor
alike, most women cook, clean, and take care of children from morning
till night. Men must have good dinners Sundays above all other days, as
then they have plenty of time in which to eat. If the first born male
child lifts up his voice at the midnight hour, the female attendant
takes heed to his discontent; if in the early morning at the cock
crowing, or the eventide, she is there. They who watch and guard the
infancy of men are like faithful sentinels, always on duty.
The fifth commandment will take the reader by surprise. It is rather
remarkable that the young Hebrews should have been told to honor their
mothers, when the whole drift of the teaching thus far has been to
throw contempt on the whole sex. In what way could they show their
mothers honor? All the laws and customs forbid it. Why should they make
any such manifestations? Scientists claim that the father gives the
life, the spirit, the soul, all there is of most value in existence.
Why honor the mother, for giving the mere covering of flesh. It was not
her idea, but the father's, to start their existence. He thought of
them, he conceived them. You might as well pay the price of a sack of
wheat to the field, instead of the farmer who sowed it, as to honor the
mother for giving life. According to the Jewish code, the father is the
great factor in family life, the mother of minor consideration. In the
midst of such teachings and examples of the subjection and degradation
of all womankind, a mere command to honor the mother has no
significance.
E. C. S.
CHAPTER VII.
Exodus xxxii.
1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the
mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said
unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this
Moses, the man that brought us up out of land of Egypt, we wot not what
is become of him.
2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are
in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and
bring them unto me.
And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their
ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving
tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy
gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made
proclamation, and said, To-morrow is a feast to the Lord.
6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings,
and brought peace offerings, and the people sat down to eat and to
drink, and rose up to play.
7 And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people,
which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted
themselves.
So tired were the children of Israel waiting at the foot of Mount
Sinai for the return of Moses, that Aaron to pacify them made a golden
calf which they worshipped. To procure the gold he took the jewelry of
the women young and old, men never understanding how precious it is to
them, and the great self-sacrifice required to part with it. But as the
men generally give it to them during courtship, and as wedding
presents, they feel that they have a vested right therein for
emergencies.
It was just so in the American Revolution, in 1776, the first delicacy
the men threw overboard in Boston harbor was the tea, woman's favorite
beverage. The tobacco and whiskey, though heavily taxed, they clung to
with the tenacity of the devil-fish. Rather than throw their luxuries
overboard they would no doubt have succumbed to King George's
pretensions. Men think that self-sacrifice is the most charming of all
the cardinal virtues for women, and in order to keep it in healthy
working order, they make opportunities for its illustration as often as
possible. I would fain teach women that self-development is a higher
duty than self-sacrifice.
The pillar of cloud for day and light for night, that went before the
children of Israel in the wilderness, was indeed a marvel. It was an
aqueous cloud that kept them well watered by day, and shadowed from the
heat of the sun; by night it showed its light side to the Israelites,
and its dark side to whatever enemy might pursue them. It is supposed
that about 3,200,000 started on this march with 165,000 children. They
carried all their provisions, cooking utensils, flocks, herds and all
the gold, silver, precious stones and rich raiment that they borrowed
(stole) of the Egyptians, besides the bones of the twelve sons of
Jacob. It is said the Israelites spent forty years wandering in the
wilderness, kept there because of their wickedness, though they might
have accomplished the journey in a few weeks. They disobeyed the
commandments given them by Moses, and worshipped a golden calf, so they
journeyed through deep waters, woe and tribulation. Fire was always a
significant emblem of Deity, not only among the Hebrews but many other
ancient nations, hence men have adopted it as a male emblem. They talk
of Moses seeing God; but Moses says: "ye saw no manner of similitude on
the day the Lord spoke unto me on Mount Horeb out of the cloud of fire."
E. C. S.
CHAPTER VIII.
Exodus xxxiv.
12 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the
inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in
the midst of thee;
13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down
their groves:
14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, who is a jealous
God.
15 Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and
they go after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one
call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;
16 And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters
go after their gods, and make thy sons go after their gods.
23 Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the
Lord God, the God of Israel.
24 For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy
borders; neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up
to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year.
25 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither
shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the
morning.
26 The first of the first fruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the
house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's
milk.
The Jews did not seem to have an abiding faith in the attractions of
their own religion. They evidently lived in constant fear lest their
sons and daughters should worship the strange gods of other nations.
They seem also to have had most exaggerated fears as to the influence
alien women might exert over their sons. Three times in the year all
the men were to appear before the Lord. Why the women were not
commanded to appear has been a point of much questioning. Probably the
women, then as now, were more conscientious in their religious duties,
and not so susceptible to the attractions of alien men and their
strange gods.
If the Lord had talked more freely with the Jewish women and impressed
some of his wise commands on their hearts, they would have had a more
refined and religious influence on the men of Israel. But all their
knowledge of the divine commands was second hand and through an
acknowledged corrupt medium.
"Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk." After all the
learning critics have bestowed on this passage, the simple meaning, says
Adam Clarke, seems to be this: Thou shalt do nothing that may have a
tendency to blunt thy moral feelings, or teach thee hardness of heart.
Even human nature shudders at the thought of taking the mother's milk to
seethe the flesh of her own dead lamb. With all their cruelty towards
alien tribes and all their sacrifices of lambs and kids, there is an
occasional touch of tenderness for animal life among the Hebrews that is
quite praiseworthy.
Exodus xxxvi.
22 And they came, both men and women, as many, as were willing
hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets,
all jewels of gold; and every man offered an offering of gold unto the
Lord.
23 And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet,
and fine linen, and goats hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers'
skins, brought them.
25 And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands,
and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and
of scarlet, and of fine linen.
26 And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats'
hair.
Women were always considered sufficiently clean to beg, work and give
generously for the building and decoration of churches, and the support
of the priesthood. They might always serve as inferiors, but never
receive as equals.
Great preparations were made for building the Tabernacle, and all the
willing hearted were invited to bring all their ornaments and all
manner of rich embroideries, and brilliant fancy work of scarlet, blue
and purple. As usual in our own day the Jewish women were allowed to
give generously, work untiringly and beg eloquently to build altars and
Tabernacles to the Lord, to embroider slippers and make flowing robes
for the priesthood, but they could not enter the holy of holies or take
any active part, in the services.
Some women in our times think these unhappy Jewesses would have been
much "wiser hearted" if they had kept their jewelry and beautiful
embroideries to decorate themselves and their homes, where they were at
least satellites of the dinner pot and the cradle, and Godesses {sic} at
their own altars. Seeing they had no right inside the sacred Temple, but
stood looking-glass in hand at the door, it would have indicated more
self-respect to have washed their hands of all that pertained to male
ceremonies, altars and temples. But the women were wild with enthusiasm,
just as they are to-day with fairs and donation parties, to build
churches, and they brought such loads of bric-a-brac that at last Moses
compelled them to stop, as the supply exceeded all reasonable demand.
But for the building of the Tabernacle the women brought all they deemed
most precious, even the most necessary and convenient articles of their
toilets.
Exodus xxxviii.
8 And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of
the looking glasses of the women assembling at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation.
The men readily accepted the sacrifice of all their jewelry, rich
laces, velvets and silks, their looking glasses of solid precious
metal. These being made of metal could be used for building purposes.
The women carried these with them wherever they went, and always stood
with them in hand at the door of the Tabernacle, as they were the
doorkeepers standing outside to watch and guard the door from those not
permitted to enter.
An objective view of the manner these women were imposed upon,
wheedled and deceived with male pretensions and the pat use of the
phrase "thus saith the Lord," must make every one who reads indignant
at the masculine assumption, even at this late day.
E. C. S.
At every stage of his existence Moses was indebted to some woman for
safety and success. Miriam, by her sagacity, saved his life. Pharaoh's
daughter reared and educated him and made the way possible for the high
offices he was called to fill; and Zipporah, his wife, a woman of
strong character and decided opinions, often gave him good advice.
Evidently from the text she criticised his conduct and management as a
leader, and doubted his supernatural mission, for she refused to go out
of Egypt with him, preferring to remain with her sons under her
father's roof--Jethro, a priest of Midian. After the destruction of
Pharaoh's host, when the expedition, led by Moses seemed to be an
assured success, she followed with her father to join the leader of the
wandering Israelites. (Chapter xviii, 2.)
In the ordinances which follow the ten commandments, exact judgment
and cruel punishment are ordained alike for man and
woman; life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand and
foot for foot (Chapter xxi, 23).
In pronouncing punishments, woman's individuality and responsibility
are always fully recognized, alike in the canon and civil laws, which
reflect the spirit of the Mosaic code.
Exodus xxii.
21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were
strangers in the land of Egypt.
22 Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.
23 If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I
will surely hear their cry;
24 And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword, and
your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless:
This special threat against those who oppress the widow and the
fatherless, has a touch of tenderness and mercy, but if the vengeance
is to make more widows and fatherless, the sum of human misery is
increased rather than diminished. As to the stranger, after his country
has been made desolate, his cities burned, his property, cattle, lands
and merchandise all confiscated, kind words and alms would be but a
small measure of justice under any circumstances.
In closing the book of Exodus, the reader must wonder that the faith
and patience of the people, in that long sorrowful march through the
wilderness, held out as long as it did. Whether fact or fiction, it is
one of the most melancholy records in human history. Whether as a mere
work of the imagination, or the real experience of an afflicted people,
our finer sentiments of pity and sympathy find relief only in doubts of
its truth.
L. D. B.
THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS.
CHAPTER I.
Leviticus iv, vi.
22 When a ruler hath sinned and somewhat through ignorance, against
any of the commandments of the Lord his God concerning things which
should not be done, and is guilty.
23 Or if his sin, wherein he hath sinned, come to his knowledge; he
shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a male without blemish:
27 And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance, while
he doeth somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord
concerning things which ought not to be done, and be guilty:
28 Then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female
without blemish, for his sin.
24 And this is the law of the meat offering: the sons of Aaron shall
offer it before the Lord, before the altar.
15 And he shall take of it his handful, of the flour of the meat
offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is
upon the meat offering, and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet
savour, even the memorial of it, unto the Lord.
18 All the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it. It shall
be a statute for ever in your generations concerning the offerings of
the Lord made by fire: every one that toucheth them shall be holy.
There seems to have been some distinction of sex even in the offerings
of male and female animals. For rulers, priests and people of
distinction male animals were required, but for the common people a
female lamb or goat would do. There is a difference of opinion among
writers as to the reason of this custom, some say because all female
animals were considered unclean, others that the females were too
valuable for wholesale slaughter. Farmers use the male fowls for the
table because the hens are too valuable producing eggs and chickens.
The fact has some significance, though Adam Clarke throws no light on
it, he says--"the whole sacrificial system in this book refers to the
coming sacrifice of Christ; without this spiritual reference, the
general reader can feel no spiritual interest in this book" For burnt
offerings males were required, but for peace offerings and minor sins
the female would answer.
As the idea of sacrifice to unknown gods, was the custom with all
nations and religions, why should the Jewish have more significance
than that of any other people. For swearing, an offence to ears polite,
rather than eternal justice, a female creature or turtle dove might be
offered.
The meat so delicately cooked by the priests, with wood and coals in
the altar, in clean linen, no woman was permitted to taste, only the
males among the children of Aaron. Seeing that the holy men were the
cooks, it seems like a work of supererogation to direct them to clean
themselves and their cooking utensils. Perhaps the daughters of Israel
were utilized for that work.
It is clearly shown that child-bearing among the Jews was not
considered a sacred office and that offerings to the Lord were
necessary for their purification, and that double the time was
necessary after the birth of a daughter.
In several of the following chapters the sins of men and women are
treated on equal grounds, hence they need no special comments. In
reading many of these chapters we wonder that an expurgated edition of
these books was not issued long ago. We trust the volume we propose to
issue may suggest to the next Revising Committee of gentlemen the
propriety of omitting many texts that are gross and obscene, especially
if the Bible is to be read in our public schools.
Leviticus x.
12 And Moses spake unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar,
his sons that were left, Take the meat offering that remaineth of the
offerings of the Lord made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside
the altar: for it is most holy.
13 And ye shall eat it in the holy place, because it is thy due, and
thy sons' due, of the sacrifices of the Lord made by fire: for so I am
commanded.
14 And the wave breast and heave shoulder shall ye eat in a clean
place; thou, and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee: for they be thy
due, and thy sons' due, which are given out of the sacrifices of peace
offerings of the children of Israel.
Why the daughters cannot eat with the sons in the thirteenth verse and
may in the fourteenth we cannot conjecture. We notice, however, that
where the sons eat alone is called a "holy place," where the daughters
eat with them it is called simply a "clean place." We are thankful,
however, that in the distribution of meats the women come in
occasionally for a substantial meal in a
clean place.
All the directions given in the eighteenth chapter are for men and
women alike, for all nations and all periods of human development. The
social habits and sanitary conditions prescribed are equally good for
our times as when given by Moses to the children of Israel. The virtue
of cleanliness so sedulously taught cannot be too highly commended.
E. C. S.
CHAPTER II.
Leviticus xix.
3 If ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my
sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.
20 If And whosoever cohabits with a bondmaid, betrothed to a husband,
and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged:
they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.
21 And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the Lord, unto the
door of the tabernacle of the congregation, even a ram for a trespass
offering.
22 And the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the
trespass offering before the Lord for his sin which he hath done: and
the sin which he hath done shall be forgiven him.
By what possible chance the mother is mentioned first here, it is
difficult to conjecture, but we do see the cruel injustice of the
comparative severity of the punishment for man and woman for the same
offence. The woman is scourged, the man presents the priest with a ram
and is forgiven.
Leviticus xx.
9 If For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be
surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood
shall be upon him.
21 And if a man shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing:
he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless.
27 A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a
wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with
stones; their blood shall be upon them.
Clarke remarks that all language that tends to lessen respect for
father or mother, is included in this judgment. In this chapter we have
still further directions for race and family purity. I suppose in the
21st verse we have that stumbling-block in the British Parliament
whenever the deceased wife's sister's bill comes up for passage. Here,
too, those who in times past have persecuted witches, will find
justification for their cruelties. The actors in one of the blackest
pages in human history, claim Scripture authority for their infernal
deeds. Far into the eighteenth century in England, the clergy dragged
innocent women into the courts as witches, and learned judges
pronounced on them the sentence of torture and death. The chapter on
witchcraft in Lecky's History of Rationalism, contains the most
heartrending facts in human history. It is unsafe to put unquestioned
confidence in all the vagaries of mortal man. While women were
tortured, drowned and burned by the thousands, scarce one wizard to a
hundred was ever condemned. The marked distinction in the treatment of
the sexes, all through the Jewish dispensation, is curious and
depressing, especially as we see the trail of the serpent all through
history, wherever their form of religion has made its impress. In the
old common law of our Saxon fathers, the Jewish code is essentially
reproduced. This same distinction of sex appears in our own day. One
code of morals for men, another for women. All the opportunities and
advantages of life for education, self-support and self-development
freely accorded boys, have, in a small measure, been reluctantly
conceded to women after long and persevering struggles.
Leviticus xxii.
12 If the priest's daughter also be married unto a stranger, she may
not eat of an offering of the holy things.
13 But if the priest's daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no
child, and is returned unto her father's house, as in her youth, she
shall eat of her father's meat: but there shall no stranger eat thereof.
These restrictions on the priests' daughters would never be tolerated
by the priests' sons should they marry strangers. The individuality of
a woman, the little she ever possessed, is obliterated by marriage.
Leviticus xxiv.
10 And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an
Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel: and this son of the
Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp;
11 And the Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name of the LORD,
and cursed. And they brought him unto Moses: (and his mother's name was
Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan:)
The interesting fact here is that a woman is dignified by a name, the
only one so mentioned in the book of Leviticus. This is probably due to
the fact that the son's character was so disreputable that he would
reflect no lustre on his father's family, and so on his maternal
ancestors rested his disgrace. If there had been anything good to tell
of him, reference would no doubt have been made to his male progenitors.
Leviticus xxvi.
26 And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall
bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread
again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.
29 And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your
daughters shall ye eat.
There could be no greater punishment in ordinary life than for ten
women to bake in one oven. As every woman would necessarily look at her
pies and cakes two or three times, that would involve a frequent
looking in, which might make the contents heavy as lead. A current of
cold air rushing in too often, would wreck the most perfect compound.
But perhaps heavy bread was intended as part of the punishment of the
people for their sins. Some commentators say that the labors of the ten
women are symbolical of the poverty of the family. When people are in
fortunate circumstances, the women are supposed, like the lilies of the
valley, to neither toil nor spin, but when the adverse winds blow they
suddenly find themselves compelled to use their own brains and hands or
perish.
The 29th verse at last gives us one touch of absolute equality, the
right to be eaten. This Josephus tells us really did occur in the
sieges of Samaria by Benhadad, of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, and also
in the last siege of Jerusalem by the Romans.
E. C. S.
Amid the long list of directions for sacrifices and injunctions
against forbidden actions, chapter xii gives the law of purification,
not only degrading motherhood by the observance of certain ceremonies
and exclusion from the sanctuary, but by discriminating against sex,
honoring the birth of a son above that of a daughter.
According to the Levitical law, the ewe lambs were not used for
sacrifice as offerings to the Lord, because they were unclean. This was
an idea put forth by the priests and Levites. But there was a better and
more rational reason. To sacrifice the ewes was to speedily deplete the
flocks, but beyond a certain number needed as sires for the coming
generation, the males could be put to no better use than to feed the
priests, the refuse of the animal, the skin, feet, etc., constituted the
sacrifice to the Lord.
Bishop Colenso, in his remarkable work on the Pentateuch, gives the
enormous number of lambs annually sacrificed by the Hebrews. A certain
portion of the flocks were assigned to the priests, who were
continually provided with the best mutton.
L. D. B.
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS
CHAPTER I.
Numbers i.
And the Lord spake unto Moses in tire wilderness of Sinai, saying,
2 Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel,
after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of
their names, every male by their polls:
3 These are those which were numbered of the children of Israel by
the house of their fathers: all those that were numbered of the camps
throughout their hosts were six hundred thousand and three thousand and
five hundred and fifty.
In this chapter Moses is commanded to number the people and the
princes of the tribe, males only, and by the houses of their fathers.
As the object was to see how many effective men there were able to go
to war, the priests, the women, the feeble old men and children were
not counted. Women have frequently been classified with priests in some
privileges and disabilities. At one time in the United States the
clergy were not allowed to vote nor hold office. Like women, they were
considered too good to mingle in political circles. For them to have
individual opinions on the vital questions of the hour might introduce
dissensions alike into the church and the home.
This census of able bodied men still runs on through chapter ii, and
all these potential soldiers are called children of their fathers.
Although at this period woman's chief duty and happiness was bearing
children, no mention is made of the mothers of this mighty host, though
some woman had gone to the gates of death to give each soldier life;
provided him with rations long before he could forage for himself, and
first taught his little feet to march to tune and time. But, perhaps,
if we could refer to the old Jewish census tables we might find that
the able bodied males of these tribes, favorites of Heaven,
had all sprung, Minerva-like, from the brains of their fathers, and
that only the priests, the feeble old men and the children had mothers
to care for them, in the absence of the princes and soldiers.
However, in some valuable calculations of Schencher we learn that
there was some thought of the mothers of the tribes by German
commentators. We find in his census such references as the following:
The children of Jacob by Leah. The children of Jacob by Zilpah. The
children of Jacob by Rachel. The children of Jacob by Bilhah. But even
this generous mention of the mothers of the tribe of Jacob does not
satisfy the exacting members of the Revising Committee. We feel that
the facts should have been stated thus: The children of Leah, Zilpah,
Rachel and Bilhah by Jacob, making Jacob the incident instead of the
four women. Men may consider this a small matter on which to make a
point, but in restoring woman's equality everywhere we must insist on
her recognition in all these minor particulars, and especially in the
Bible, to which people go for their authority on the civil and social
status of all womankind.
E. C. S.
CHAPTER II.
Numbers v.
1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Command the children of Israel. that they put out of the camp every
leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by
the dead:
3 Both male and female that they defile not their camps.
4 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
12 If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him.
14 And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and she be defiled: or if
she be not defiled:
15 Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall
bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal;
he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is
an offering of jealousy.
17 And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of
the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take,
and put it into the water:
18 And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord and uncover the
woman's head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is
the jealousy offering, and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter
water that causeth the curse:
19 And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman,
if thou hast not gone aside be thou free from this bitter water that
causeth the curse:
20 But if thou hast gone aside, and if thou be defiled.
21 Then, the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing,
and the priest shall say unto the woman, The Lord make thee a curse and
an oath among they people.
24 And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth
the curse.
25 Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's
hand, and shall wave the offering before the LORD, and offer it upon
the altar:
26 And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the
memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause
the woman to drink the water.
27 And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to
pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her
husband, that if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her
husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her,
and become bitter.
28 And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be
free.
At the first blush it seems very cruel for the Jewish God to order the
diseased and unfortunate to be thrown out of the camp and left in the
wilderness. But commentators suggest that they must have had a
sanatorium near by where the helpless could be protected. Though
improbable, still the suggestion will be a relief to sensitive souls.
This ordinance of Moses probably suggested the first idea of a
hospital. The above account of the unfortunate wife was called "trial
by ordeal," of which Clarke gives a minute description in his
commentaries. It was common at one time among many nations, the women
in all cases being the chief sufferers as in the modern trials for
witchcraft. If the witch was guilty when thrown into the water she went
to the bottom, if innocent she floated on the surface and was left to
sink, so in either case her fate was the same. As men make and execute
the laws, prescribe and administer the punishment, "trials by a jury or
ordeal" for women though seemingly fair, are never based on principles
of equity. The one remarkable fact in all these social transgressions
in the early periods as well as in our modern civilization is that the
penalties whether moral or material all fall on woman. Verily the
darkest page in human history is the slavery of women!
The offering by the priest to secure her freedom was of the cheapest
character. Oil and frankincense signifying grace and acceptableness
were not permitted to be used in her case. The woman's head is
uncovered as a token of her shame, the dust from the floor signifies
contempt and condemnation, compelling the woman to drink water mixed
with dirt and gall is in the same malicious spirit. There is no
instance recorded of one of these trials by ordeal ever actually taking
place, as divorce was so easy that a man could put away his wife at
pleasure, so he need not go to the expense of even "a tenth part of an
ephah of barley," on a wife of doubtful faithfulness. Moreover the
woman upon whom it was proposed to try all these pranks might be
innocent, and the jealous husband make himself ridiculous in the eyes
of the people. But the publication of these ordinances no doubt had a
restraining influence on the young and heedless daughters of Israel,
and they serve as landmarks in man's system of jurisprudence, to show
us how far back he has been consistent in his unjust legislation for
woman.
E. C. S.
CHAPTER III.
Numbers xii.
And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian
woman whom he had married.
2 And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he
not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it.
3 (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon
the face of the earth.)
5 And the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud and stood in the
door of the tabernacle and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came
forth.
6 And He Said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I,
the Lord, will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak
unto him in a dream.
8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in
dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold:
wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my Servant Moses?
9 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them: and he departed.
10 And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam
became leprous, white as snow; and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and
behold, she was leprous.
11 And Aaron said unto Muses. Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not
the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have
sinned.
13 And Moses cried unto the Lord, saving Heal her now, O God, I
beseech thee.
15 And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people
journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.
Here we have the first mention of Moses's second marriage, but the
name of the woman is not given, though she is the assigned cause of the
sedition. Both Aaron and Miriam had received a portion of the prophetic
genius that distinguished Moses, and they naturally thought that they
should have some share in the government, at least to make a few
suggestions, when they thought Moses made a blunder. Miriam was older
than Moses, and had at this time the experience of 120 years. When
Moses was an infant on the River Nile, Miriam was intrusted by his
parents to watch the fate of the infant in the bulrushes and the
daughter of Pharaoh in her daily walks by, the river side. It was her
diplomacy that secured the child's own mother for his nurse in the
household of the King of Egypt.
It is rather remarkable, if Moses was as meek as he is represented in
the third verse, that he should have penned that strong assertion of
his own innate modesty. There are evidences at this and several other
points that Moses was not the sole editor of the Pentateuch, if it can
be shown that he wrote any part of it. Speaking of the punishment of
Miriam, Clarke. in his commentaries says it is probable that Miriam was
chief in this mutiny; hence she was punished while Aaron was spared. A
mere excuse for man's injustice; had he been a woman he would have
shared the same fate. The real reason was that Aaron was a priest. Had
he been smitten with leprosy, his sacred office would have suffered and
the priesthood fallen into disrepute.
As women are supposed to have no character or sacred office, it is
always safe to punish them to the full extent of the law. So Miriam was
not only afflicted with leprosy, but also shut out of the camp for
seven days. One would think that potential motherhood should make women
as a class as sacred as the priesthood. In common parlance we have much
fine-spun theorizing on the exalted office of the mother, her immense
influence in moulding the character of her sons; "the hand that rocks
the cradle moves the world," etc., but in creeds and codes, in
constitutions and Scriptures, in prose and verse, we do not see these
lofty paeans recorded or verified in living facts. As a class, women
were treated among the Jews as an inferior order of beings, just as
they are to-day in all civilized nations. And now, as then, men claim
to be guided by the will of God.
In this narrative we see thus early woman's desire to take some part
in government, though denied all share in its honor and dignity.
Miriam, no doubt, saw the humiliating distinctions of sex in the Mosaic
code and customs, and longed for the power to make the needed
amendments. In criticising the discrepancies in Moses's character and
government, Miriam showed a keen insight into the common principles of
equity and individual conduct, and great self-respect and self-
assertion in expressing her opinions--qualities most lacking in ordinary
women.
Evidently the same blood that made Moses and Aaron what they were, as
leaders of men, flowed also in the veins, of Miriam. As daughters are
said to be more like their fathers and sons like their mothers, Moses
probably inherited his meekness and distrust of himself from his
mother, and Miriam her self-reliance and heroism from her father.
Knowing these laws of heredity, Moses should have averted the
punishment of Miriam instead of allowing the full force of God's wrath
to fall upon her alone. If Miriam had helped to plan the journey to
Canaan, it would no doubt have been accomplished in forty days instead
of forty years. With her counsel in the cabinet, the people might have
enjoyed peace and prosperity, cultivating the arts and sciences,
instead of making war on other tribes, and burning offerings to their
gods. Miriam was called a prophetess, as the Lord had, on some
occasions, it is said, spoken through her, giving messages to the
women. After their triumphal escape from Egypt, Miriam led the women in
their songs of victory. With timbrels and dances, they chanted, that
grand chorus that has been echoed and re-echoed for centuries in all
our cathedrals round the globe. Catholic writers represent Miriam "as a
type of the Virgin Mary, being legislatrix over the Israelitish women,
especially endowed with the spirit of prophecy."
Numbers xx.
Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into
the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode In Kadesh;
and Miriam died there, and was buried there.
Eusebius says her tomb was to be seen at Kadesh, near the city of
Petra, in his time, and that she and her brothers all died in the same
year, it is hoped to reappear as equals in the resurrection.
E. C. S.
CHAPTER IV.
Numbers vi.
1 And the Lord said unto Moses,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say, When either man or woman
shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, unto the Lord.
5 All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come
upon his head; until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth
himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the
hair of his head grow.
The Nazarites, both men and women, allowed their hair to grow long, as
the hair of the Nazarine was a token of subjection, the man to God, the
woman to man. St. Paul no doubt alluded to this custom when he said the
woman ought to have power upon her head, that is, wear her hair and
veil and bonnet in church as a proof of her subjection to man, as he is
to the Lord. The discipline of the church to-day requires a woman to
cover her head before entering a cathedral for worship.
The fashion for men to sit with their heads bare in our churches,
while women must wear bonnets, is based on this ancient custom of the
Nazarine. But as fashion is gradually reducing the bonnet to an
infinitesimal fraction it will probably in the near future be dispensed
with altogether. A lady in England made the experiment of going to the
established church without her bonnet, but it created such an agitation
in the congregation that the Bishop wrote her a letter on the
impropriety and requested her to come with her head covered. She
refused. He then called and labored with her as to the sinfulness of
the proceedings, and at parting commanded her either to cover her bead
or stay away from church altogether. She choose the latter. I saw and
beard that letter read at a luncheon in London, where several ladies
were present. It was received with peals of laughter. The lady is the
wife of a colonel in the British army.
Numbers xxv.
6 And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto
his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses and all the
congregation of the children of Israel.
7 And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest,
saw it, he rose and took a javelin in his hand;
8 And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both
of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman.
14 Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, even that was slain
with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a
chief house among the Simeonites.
15 And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the
daughter of Zur: he was head over a people, and of a chief house in
Midian.
Some commentators say the tie between Zimri and Cozbi was a
matrimonial alliance, understood in good faith by the Midianitish
woman. He was a prince and she was a princess.
But the Jewish law forbade a man going outside of his tribe for a
wife. It was deemed idolatry. But why kill the woman. She had not
violated the laws of her tribe and was no doubt ignorant of Jewish law.
Other commentators say that Zimri was notorious at the licentious
feasts of Baal-poer and that the Midianitish women tempted the sons of
Israel to idolatry. Hence the justice of killing both Zimri and Cozbi
in one blow. It is remarkable that the influence of woman is so readily
and universally recognized in leading the strongest men into sin, but
so uniformly ignored as a stimulus to purity and perfection. Unless the
good predominates over the evil in the mothers of the race, there is no
hope of our ultimate perfection.
E. C. S.
The origin of the command that women should cover their heads is found
in an old Jewish or Hebrew legend which appears in literature for the
first time in Genesis vi. There we are told the Sons of God, that is,
the angels, took to wives the daughters of men, and begat the giants
and heroes, who were instrumental in bringing about the flood. The
Rabbins held that the way in which the angels got possession of women
was by laying hold of their hair; they accordingly warned women to
cover their heads in public, so that the angels might not get
possession of them. It was believed that the strength of people lay in
their hair, as the story of Samson illustrates. Paul merely repeats this
warning which he must often have heard at the feet of Gamaliel, who was
at that time Prince or President of the Sanhedrim, telling women to
have a "power (that is, protection) on their heads because of the
angels:" I Corinthians, chapter xi, verse 10. "For this cause ought the
woman to have power on her head because of the angels." Thus the
command has its origin in an absurd old myth. This legend will be found
fully treated in a German pamphlet--Die paulinische Angelologie und
Daemonologie. Otto Everling, Gottingen, 1888.
If the command to keep silence in the churches has no higher origin
than that to keep covered in public, should so much weight be given it,
or should it be so often quoted as having Divine sanction?
The injunctions of St. Paul have had such a decided influence in
fixing the legal status of women that it is worth our while to consider
their source. In dealing with this question we must never forget that
the majority of the writings of the New Testament were not really
written or published by those whose names they bear. Ancient writers
considered it quite permissible for a man to put out letters under the
name of another, and thus to bring his own ideas before the world under
the protection of an honored sponsor. It is not usually claimed that
St. Paul was the originator of the great religious movement called
Christianity, but there is a strong belief that he was divinely
inspired. His inward persuasions, and especially his visions appeared
as a gift or endowment which had the force of inspiration; therefore,
his mandates concerning women have a strong hold upon the popular mind,
and when opponents to the equality of the sexes are put to bay they
glibly quote his injunctions.
We congratulate ourselves that we may shift some of these biblical
arguments that have such a sinister effect from their firm foundation.
He who claims to give a message must satisfy us that he has himself
received such message.
L. S.
CHAPTER V.
Numbers xxvii.
1 Then came the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of
Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of
Manasseh, the son of Joseph; and these are the names of his daughters:
Mahiah, Noah, and Hogiah, and Milcah, and Tirzah.
2 And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and
before the princes and all the congregation, by the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation, saying,
3 Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the company of
them that gathered themselves together again at the Lord in the company
of Korah.
4 Why should the name of our father be done away from among his
family, because he hath no son? Give us therefore a possession among
the brethren of our father.
5 And Moses brought their cause before the Lord.
6 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
7 The daughters of Zelophehad speak right thou shalt surely give them
a possession of an inheritance among their father's brethren; and thou
shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them.
8 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saving, If a man
die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto
his daughter.
9 And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto
his brethren.
10 And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto
his father's brethren.
11 And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his
inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he
shall possess it; and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute
of judgment, as the Lord commanded Moses.
The respect paid to the daughters of Zelophehad at that early day is
worthy the imitation of the rulers in our own times. These daughters
were no doubt fine-looking, well-developed women, gifted with the power
of eloquence, able to impress their personality and arguments on that
immense assemblage of the people. They were allowed to plead their own
case in person before the lawgivers, the priests, and the princes, the
rulers in State and Church, and all the congregation, at the very door
of the tabernacle. They presented their case with such force and
clearness that all saw the justice of their claims. Moses was so deeply
impressed that he at once retired to his closet to listen to the still
small voice of conscience and commune with his Maker. In response, the
Lord said to him: "The daughters of Zelophehad speak right, if a man
die and leave no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto
his daughters." It would have been commendable if the members of the
late Constitutional Convention in New York had, like Moses, asked the
guidance of the Lord in deciding the rights of the daughters of the Van
Rensselaers, the Stuyvesants, the Livingstons, and the Knickerbockers.
Their final action revealed the painful fact that they never thought to
take the case to the highest court in the moral universe. The daughters
of Zelophehad were fortunate in being all of one mind; none there to
plead the fatigue, the publicity, the responsibility of paying taxes
and investing property, of keeping a bank account, and having some
knowledge of mathematics. The daughters of Zelophehad were happy to
accept all the necessary burdens, imposed by the laws of inheritance,
while the daughters of the Knickerbockers trembled at the thought of
assuming the duties involved in self-government.
As soon as Moses laid the case before the Lord, He not only allowed
the justice of the claim, but gave "a statute of judgment," by which
the Jewish magistrates should determine all such cases in the division
of property in the land of Canaan in all after ages.
When the rights of property were secured to married women in the State
of New York in 1848, a certain class were opposed to the measure, and
would cross the street to avoid speaking to the sisters who had prayed
and petitioned for its success. They did not object, however, in due
time to use the property thus secured, and the same type of women will
as readily avail them selves of all the advantages of political
equality when the right of suffrage is secured.
E. C. S.
The account given in this chapter of the directions as to the division
or inheritance of property in the case of Zelophehad, and his daughters
shows them to be just, because the daughters are to be treated as well
as the sons would be; but the law thereafter given, apparently suggested
by this querying of Zelophehad's daughters in reference to their
father's possessions is obviously unjust, in that it gives no freedom to
the owner of property as to the disposition of the same after his death,
i. e. leaves him without power to will it to any one, and leaves
unmentioned the female relatives as heirs at law. Only "brethren" and
"kinsman" are the words used, and it is very plain that only males were
heirs, except where a man had no son, but had one or more daughters.
"The exception proves the rule."
P. A. H.
CHAPTER VI.
Numbers xviii.
11 And this is thine; the heave offering of their gift, with all the
wave offerings of the children of Israel: I have given them unto thee,
and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever:
every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it.
19 All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of
Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy
daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt
for ever before the LORD unto thee and to I thy seed with thee.
The house of Aaron was now thoroughly confirmed in the priesthood, and
the Lord gives minute directions as to the provisions to be made for
the priests. The people then, as now, were made to feel that whatever
was given to them was given to the Lord, and that "the Lord loveth a
cheerful giver." That their minds might be at peace and always in a
devout frame, in communion with God, they must not be perplexed with
worldly cares and anxieties about bread and raiment for themselves and
families. Whatever privations they suffered themselves, they must see
that their priests were kept above all human wants and temptations. The
Mosaic code is responsible for the religious customs of our own day and
generation. Church property all over this broad land is exempt from
taxation, while the smallest house and lot of every poor widow is taxed
at its full value. Our Levites have their homes free, and good salaries
from funds principally contributed by women, for preaching denunciatory
sermons on women and their sphere. They travel for half fare, the
lawyer pleads their cases for nothing, the physician medicates their
families for nothing, and generally in the world of work they are
served at half price. While the common people must be careful not to
traduce their neighbors lest they be sued for libel, the Levite in
surplice and gown from his pulpit (aptly called the coward's castle)
may smirch the fairest characters and defame the noblest lives with
impunity.
This whole chapter is interesting reading as the source of priestly
power, that has done more to block woman's way to freedom than all
other earthly influences combined. But the chief point in this chapter
centers in the above verses, as the daughters of the Levites are here
to enjoy an equal privilege with the sons. Scott tells us "that
covenants were generally ratified at an amiable feast, in which salt
was always freely used, hence it became an emblem of friendship."
Perhaps it was the purifying, refining influence of this element that
secured these friendly relations between the sons and daughters of the
priesthood on one occasion at least. From the present bitter, turbulent
tone of our Levites, I fear the salt we both manufacture and import
must all have lost its savor.
E. C. S.
CHAPTER VII.
Numbers xxii.
21 And Balsam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went
with the princes of Moab.
22 And God's anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the
Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding
upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.
23 And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his
sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and
went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.
24 But the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall
being on this side, and a wall on that side.
25 And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she thrust herself unto
the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall: and he smote her
again.
26 And the angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow
place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.
27 And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she fell down under
Balaam: and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a
staff.
28 And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam,
What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?
29 And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me; I would
there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.
30 And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou
hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do
so unto thee? And he said, Nay.
31 Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of
the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he
bowed down his bead, and fell flat on his face.
32 And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Wherefore hast thou
smitten thine ass these three times? Behold, I went out to withstand
thee, because thy way is perverse before me:
33 And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless
she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her
alive.
34 And Balaam, said unto the angel of the Lord, I have sinned; for I
knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it
displease thee, I will get me back again.
The chief point of interest in this parable of Balaam and his ass, is
that the latter belonged to the female sex. This animal has been one of
the most remarkable characters in literature. Her virtues have been
quoted in the stately cathedral, in the courts of justice, in the
editorial sanctum, in both tragedy and comedy on the stage, to point a
moral and adorn a tale. Some of the fairest of Eve's daughters bear her
baptismal name, and she has been immortalized in poetry and prose.
Wordsworth sends her with his Peter Bell to enjoy the first flowers of
early spring. To express her love of the beautiful "upon the pivot of
her skull she turned round her long left ear" while stolid Peter makes
no sign--
"A primrose by a river's brim
A yellow primrose was to him,
And it was nothing more."
The courage and persistence of the ass has made her as famous in war
as in literature. She is a marked feature everywhere in military
stations, alike in the camp and the field, and her bray always in the
minor key, gives a touch of pathos to the music of the band! The ass
accompanied Deborah and Barak when they went to fight their great
battle, she has gone with pioneers in all their weary wanderings, and
has taken an active part in the commerce of the world, bearing the
heaviest burdens though poorly fed and sheltered. At one time this
animal voted at three successive elections in the state of New York.
The property qualification being $250, just the price of a jackass, Ben
Franklin facetiously asked "if a man must own a jackass in order to
vote, who does the voting, the man or the jackass?" It so happened once
that the same animal passed into the hands of three different owners,
constituting all the earthly possessions of each at that time and thus
by proxy she was represented at the polls. Yet with this world-wide
fame, this is the first time the sacred historian has so richly endowed
and highly complimented any living thing of the supposed inferior sex.
Far wiser than the master who rode her, with a far keener spiritual
insight than he possessed, and so intensely earnest and impressible,
that to meet the necessities of the occasion, she suddenly exercised
the gift of speech. While Balaam was angry, violent, stubborn and
unreasonable, the ass calmly manifested all the cardinal virtues.
Obedient to the light that was in her, she was patient under abuse, and
tried in her mute way to save the life of her tormentor from the sword
of the angel. But when all ordinary warnings of danger proved
unavailable, she burst into speech and opened the eyes of her stolid
master. Scott, who considers this parable a literal fact, says in his
commentaries, "The faculty of speech in man is the gift of God and we
cannot comprehend how we ourselves articulate. We need not therefore be
surprised that the Lord made use of the mouth of the ass to rebuke the
madness of His prophet, and to shame him by the reproof and example of
a brute. Satan spoke to Eve by a subtle male serpent, but the Lord
chose to speak to Balaam by a she ass, for He does not use enticing
words of man's wisdom, but works by instruments and means that men
despise."
Seeing that the Lord has endowed "the daughters of men" also with the
gift of speech, and they may have messages from Him to deliver to "the
sons of God," it would be wise for the prophets of our day to admit
them into their Conferences, Synods and General Assemblies, and give
them opportunities for speech.
The appeal of the meek, long suffering ass, to her master, to remember
her faithfulness and companionship from his youth up, is quite pathetic
and reminds one of woman's appeals and petitions to her law-givers for
the last half century. In the same language she might say to her
oppressors, to fathers, husbands, brothers and sons, have we not served
you with faithfulness; companions from your youth up; watched you
through all your infant years; and carried you triumphantly through
every danger? When at the midnight hour or the cock crowing, your first
born lifted up his voice and wept, lo! we were there, with water for
his parched lips; a cool place for his aching head; or patiently for
hours to pace with him the chamber floor. In youth and manhood what
have we not done to add to your comfort and happiness; ever rejoicing
in your triumphs and sympathizing in your defeats?
This waiting and watching for half a century to recover our civil and
political rights and yet no redress, makes the struggle seem like a
painful dream in which one strives to fly from some impending danger
and yet stands still. Balaam, unlike our masters, confessed that he had
sinned, but it is evident from his conduct that he felt no special
contrition for disobedience to the commands of his Creator, nor for his
cruelty to the creature. So merely to save his life he sulkily retraced
his steps with a determination still to consider Barak's propositions.
Whether he took the same ass on the next journey does not
appear.
It must have been peculiarly humiliating to that proud man, who
boasted of his eyes being open and seeing the vision of the Almighty,
to be reproved and silenced by the mouth of a brute. As the Lord
appeared first to the ass and spake by her, he had but little reason to
boast that his eyes were opened by the Lord. The keen spiritual insight
and the ready power of speech with which the female sex has been
specially endowed, are often referred to with ridicule and reproach by
stolid, envious observers of the less impressible sex.
E. C. S.
CHAPTER VIII.
Numbers xx.
1 And Moses spake unto the heads of the tribes concerning the children
of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded.
2 If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul
with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all
that proceedeth out of his mouth.
3 If a woman also vow a vow unto the Lord, and bind herself by a bond,
being in her father's house in her youth;
4 And her father hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she hath bound
her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her; then all her vows
shall stand, and every bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall
stand.
5 But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth, not any
of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith she had bound her soul, shall
stand; and the Lord shall forgive her, because her father disallowed
her.
6 And if she had at all a husband, when she vowed, or uttered aught
out of her lips, wherewith she bound her soul;
7 And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her in the day that
he heard it; then her vows shall stand, and her bonds wherewith she
bound her soul shall stand.
8 But if her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it, then
he shall make her vow which she vowed, and that which she uttered with
her lips, wherewith she bound her soul, of none effect; and the Lord
shall forgive her.
9 But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith
they have bound their souls, shall stand against her.
13 Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband
may establish it, or her husband may make it void.
14 But if her husband altogether hold his peace at her from day to
day; then he establisheth all her vows, or all her bonds, which are
upon her he confirmeth them, because he held his peace at her in the
day that he heard them.
15 But if he shall any ways make them void after that he hath heard
them; then he shall bear her iniquity.
16 These are the statutes, which the Lord commanded Moses, between a
man and his wife, between the father and his daughter, being yet in her
youth in her father's house.
A vow is a religious promise made to God, and yet in the face of such
a definition is placed the authority of husband and father between the
woman and her God. God seems thus far to have dealt directly with women
when they sinned, but in making a religious vow, or dedication of
themselves to some high purpose, their fathers and husbands must be
consulted. A man's vow stands; a woman's is always conditional. Neither
wisdom nor age can make her secure in any privileges, though always
personally responsible for crime. If she have sufficient intelligence
to decide between good and evil, and pay the penalty for violated law,
why not make her responsible for her words and deeds when obedient to
moral law. To hold woman in such an attitude is to rob her words and
actions of all moral character. We see from this chapter that Jewish
women, as well as those of other nations, were held in a condition of
perpetual tutelage or minority under the authority of the father until
married and then under the husband, hence vows if in their presence if
disallowed were as nothing. That Jewish men appreciate the degradation
of woman's position is seen in a part of their service in which each
man says on every Sabbath day, "I thank Thee, oh Lord, that I was not
born a woman!" and the woman meekly responds, "I thank Thee, oh Lord,
that I am what I am, according to Thy holy, will."
The injunction in the above texts in regard to the interference of
fathers is given only once, while the husband's authority is mentioned
three times. If the woman was betrothed, even the future husband had
the right to disallow her vows. It is supposed by, some expositors that
by a parity of reason minor sons should have been under the same
restrictions as daughters, but if it were intended, it is extraordinary
that daughters alone should have been mentioned. Scott, in extenuating
the custom, says: "Males were certainly allowed more liberty than
females; the vows of the latter might be adjudged more prejudicial to
families; or the sons being more immediately under the father's tuition
might be thought less liable to be inveigled into rash engagements of
any kind."
E. C. S.
Woman is here taught that she is irresponsible. The father or the
husband is all. They are wisdom, power, responsibility. But woman is a
nonentity, if still in her father's house, or if she has a husband. I
object to this teaching. It is unjust to man that he should have the
added responsibility of his daughter's or wife's word, and it is cruel
to woman because the irresponsibility is enslaving in its influence. It
is contrary to true Gospel teaching, for only, in freedom to do right
can a soul dwell in that love which is the fulfilling of the law.
The whole import of this chapter is that a woman's word is worthless,
unless she is a widow or divorced. While an unmarried daughter, her
father is her surety; when married, the husband allows or disallows
what she promises, and the promise is kept or broken according to his
will. The whole Mosaic law in this respect seems based upon the idea
that a woman is an irresponsible being; and that it is supposed each
daughter will marry at some time, and thus be continually under the
control of some male--the father or the husband. Unjust, arbitrary and
debasing are such ideas, and the laws based upon them. Could the
Infinite Father and Mother have give them to Moses? I think not.
P. A. H.
CHAPTER IX.
Numbers xxxi.
9 And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives,
and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all
their flocks, and all their goods.
10 And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their
goodly castles with fire.
12 And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto
Moses and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children
of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan
near Jericho.
14 And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the
captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from
the battle.
15 And Moses said unto them, have ye saved all the women alive?
16 Behold, these caused the children of Israel. through the counsel of
Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor. and
there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.
17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every
woman that hath known man.
18 But all the women children, that have not known a man keep alive
for yourselves.
25 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying.
26 Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast,
thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the congregation:
32 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.