they are to this day at Aleppo; the ground floor being chiefly made use
of for their horses and servants. “The house in which I am at present
living,” says, Jowett, “gives what seems to be a correct idea of the
scene of Eutychus’ falling from the upper loft while St. Paul was
preaching, Acts xx, 6–12. According to our idea of houses, the scene is
very far from intelligible; and, beside this, the circumstance of
preaching generally leaves on the mind of cursory readers the notion of
a church. To describe this house, which is not many miles distant from
the Troad, and perhaps, from the unchanging character of oriental
customs, nearly resembles the houses then built, will fully illustrate
the narrative. On entering my host’s door, we find the first floor
entirely used as a store: it is filled with large barrels of oil, the
produce of the rich country for many miles round: this space, so far
from being habitable, is sometimes so dirty with the dripping of the
oil, that it is difficult to pick out a clean footing from the door to
the first step of the staircase. On ascending, we find the first floor,
consisting of an humble suit of rooms, not very high; these are occupied
by the family for their daily use. It is on the next story that all
their expense is lavished: here my courteous host has appointed my
lodging: beautiful curtains and mats, and cushions to the divan, display
the respect with which they mean to receive their guest. Here, likewise,
their splendour, being at the top of the house, is enjoyed by the poor
Greeks with more retirement, and less chance of molestation from the
intrusion of Turks: here, when the professors of the college waited upon
me to pay their respects, they were received in ceremony, and sat at the
window. The room is both higher and also larger than those below; it has
two projecting windows; and the whole floor is so much extended in front
beyond the lower part of the building, that the projecting windows
considerably overhang the street. In such an upper room, secluded,
spacious, and commodious, St. Paul was invited to preach his parting
discourse. The divan, or raised seat, with mats or cushions, encircles
the interior of each projecting window; and I have remarked that when
the company is numerous, they sometimes place large cushions behind the
company seated on the divan; so that a second tier of company, with
their feet upon the seat of the divan, are sitting behind, higher than
the front row. Eutychus, thus sitting, would be on a level with the open
window; and, being overcome with sleep, he would easily fall out from
the third loft of the house into the street, and be almost certain, from
such a height, to lose his life. Thither St. Paul went down, and
comforted the alarmed company by bringing up Eutychus alive. It is noted
that ‘there were many lights in the upper chamber.’ The very great
plenty of oil in this neighbourhood would enable them to afford many
lamps; the heat of these and so much company would cause the drowsiness
of Eutychus, at that late hour, and be the occasion, likewise, of the
windows being open.”
URIM AND THUMMIM. The high priests of the Jews, we are told, consulted
God in the most important affairs of their commonwealth, and received
answers by the Urim and Thummim. What these were, is disputed among the
critics. Josephus, and some others, imagine the answer was returned by
the stones of the breastplate appearing with an unusual lustre when it
was favourable, or in the contrary case dim. Others suppose, that the
Urim and Thummim were something enclosed between the folding of the
breastplate; this some will have to be the tetragrammaton, or the word
יהוה _Jehovah_. Christophorus de Castro, and after him Dr. Spencer,
maintain them to be two little images shut up in the doubling of the
breastplate, which gave the oracular answer from thence by an articulate
voice. Accordingly, they derive them from the Egyptians, who consulted
their _lares_, and had an oracle, or teraphim, which they called Truth.
This opinion, however, has been sufficiently confuted by the learned Dr.
Pococke and by Witsius. The more common opinion among Christians
concerning the oracle by Urim and Thummim, and which Dr. Prideaux
espouses, is, that when the high priest appeared before the veil,
clothed with his ephod and breastplate, to ask counsel of God, the
answer was given with an audible voice from the mercy seat, within the
veil; but, it has been observed, that this account will by no means
agree with the history of David’s consulting the oracle by Abiathar, 1
Sam. xxiii, 9, 11; xxx, 7, 8; because the ark, on which was the mercy
seat, was then at Kirjathjearim; whereas David was in the one case at
Ziklag, and in the other in the forest of Hareth. Braunius and Hottinger
have adopted another opinion: they suppose, that, when Moses is
commanded to put in the breastplate the Urim and Thummim, signifying
_lights_ and _perfections_ in the plural number, it was meant that he
should make choice of the most perfect set of stones, and have them so
polished as to give the brightest lustre; and, on this hypothesis, the
use of the Urim and Thummim, or of these exquisitely polished jewels,
was only to be a symbol of the divine presence, and of the light and
perfection of the prophetic inspiration; and, as such, constantly to be
worn by the high priest in the exercise of his sacred function,
especially in consulting the oracle.
Michaëlis observes: That in making distributions of property, and in
cases of disputes relative to _meum_ [mine] and _tuum_, [thine,]
recourse was had to the lot, in default of any other means of decision,
will naturally be supposed. The whole land was partitioned by lot; and
that, in after times, the lot continued to be used, even in courts of
justice, we see from Prov. xvi, 33; xviii, 18; where we are expressly
taught to remember, that it is Providence which maketh the choice, and
that therefore we ought to be satisfied with the decision of the lot, as
the will of God. It was for judicial purposes, in a particular manner,
that the sacred lot called Urim and Thummim was employed; and on this
account the costly embroidered pouch, in which the priest carried this
sacred lot on his breast, was called the judicial ornament. “But was
this sacred lot used likewise in criminal trials?” Yes, says Michaëlis,
only to discover the guilty, to convict them; for in the only two
instances of its use in such cases which occur in the whole Bible,
namely, in Joshua vii, 14–18, 1 Sam. xiv, 37–45, we find the confessions
of the two delinquents, Achan and Jonathan, annexed. It appears also to
have been used only in the case of an oath being transgressed which the
whole people had taken, or the leader of the host in their name, but not
in the case of other crimes; for an unknown murder, for example, was not
to be discovered by recourse to the sacred lot.
The inner sanctuary, within the veil of the tabernacle, observes Dr.
Hales, or most holy place, was called the oracle, 1 Kings vi, 16,
because there the Lord communed with Moses, face to face, and gave him
instructions in cases of legal difficulty or sudden emergency, Exod.
xxv, 22; Num. vii, 89; ix, 8; Exod. xxxiii, 11; a high privilege granted
to none of his successors. After the death of Moses a different mode was
appointed for consulting the oracle by the high priest, who put on “the
breastplate of judgment,” a principal part of the pontifical dress, on
which were inscribed the words Urim and Thummim, emblematical of divine
illumination; as the inscription on his mitre, “Holiness to the Lord,”
was of sanctification, Exod. xxviii, 30–37; Lev. viii, 8. Thus prepared,
he presented himself before the Lord to ask counsel on public matters,
not in the inner sanctuary, which he presumed not to enter, except on
the great day of national atonement, but without the veil, with his face
toward the ark of the covenant, inside; and behind him, at some
distance, without the sanctuary, stood Joshua, the judge, or person who
wanted the response, which seems to have been given with an audible
voice from within the veil, Num. xxvii, 21, as in the case of Joshua,
vi, 6–15; of the Israelites during the civil war with Benjamin, Judges
xx, 27, 28; on the appointment of Saul to be king, when he hid himself,
1 Sam. x, 22–24; of David, 1 Sam. xxii, 10; xxiii, 2–12; xxx, 8; 2 Sam.
v, 23, 24; of Saul, 1 Sam. xxviii, 6. This mode of consultation
subsisted under the tabernacle erected by Moses in the wilderness, and
until the building of Solomon’s temple; after which we find no instances
of it. The oracles of the Lord were thenceforth delivered by the
prophets; as by Ahijah to Jeroboam, 1 Kings xi, 29; by Shemaiah to
Rehoboam, 1 Kings xii, 22; by Elijah to Ahab, 1 Kings xvii, 1; xxi,
17–29; by Michaiah to Ahab and Jehoshaphat, 1 Kings xxii, 7; by Elisha
to Jehoshaphat and Jehoram, 2 Kings iii, 11–14; by Isaiah to Hezekiah, 2
Kings xix, 6–34; xx, 1–11; by Huldah to Josiah, 2 Kings xxii, 13–20; by
Jeremiah to Zedekiah, Jer. xxxii, 3–5, &c. After the Babylonish
captivity, and the last of the prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi,
the oracle ceased; but its revival was foretold by Ezra, ii, 63, and
accomplished by Christ, who was himself the oracle, under the old and
new covenants, Gen. xv, 1; John i, 1. See BREASTPLATE.
USURY, profit or gain from lending money or goods. Moses enacted a law
to the effect that interest should not be taken from a poor person,
neither for borrowed money, nor for articles of consumption, for
instance, grain, which was borrowed with the expectation of being
returned, Exod. xxii, 25; Lev. xxv, 35–37. A difficulty arose in
determining who was to be considered a poor person in a case of this
kind; and the law was accordingly altered in Deut. xxiii, 20, 21, and
extended in its operation to all the Hebrews, whether they had more or
less property; so that interest could be lawfully taken only of
foreigners. As the system of the Jews went to secure every man’s
paternal inheritance to his own family, they could not exact it from
their brethren, but only from strangers. As the law of nature does not
forbid the receipt of moderate interest in the shape of rent, for the
use of lands or houses, neither does it prohibit it for the loan of
money or goods. When one man trades with the capital of another, and
obtains a profit from it, he is bound in justice to return a part of it
to his benefactor, who, in the hands of God, has been a second cause of
“giving him power to get wealth.” But should Divine Providence not
favour the endeavours of some who have borrowed money, the duty of the
lenders is to deal gently with them, and to be content with sharing in
their losses, as they have been sharers in their gains. The Hebrews were
therefore exhorted to lend money, &c, as a deed of mercy and brotherly
kindness, Deut. xv, 7–11; xxiv, 13. And hence it happens that we find
encomiums every where bestowed upon those who were willing to lend
without insisting upon interest for the use of the thing lent, Psalm xv,
15; xxxvii, 21, 26; cxii, 5; Prov. xix, 17; Ezek. xviii, 8. This
regulation in regard to taking interest was very well suited to the
condition of a state that had been recently founded, and which had but
very little mercantile dealings; and its principle, though not capable
of being generally introduced into communities that are much engaged in
commerce, may still be exercised toward those who stand toward us in the
relation of brethren.
UZ, LAND OF, the country of Job. As there were three persons of this
name, namely, the son of Aram, the son of Nahor, and the grandson of
Seir the Horite, commentators are divided in their opinion as to the
situation of the country meant by the land of Uz. Bochart, Spanheim,
Calmet, Wells, and others, place it in Arabia Deserta. Michaëlis places
it in the valley of Damascus; which city was, in fact, built by Uz, the
grandson of Shem. Archbishop Magee, Bishop Lowth, Dr. Hales, Dr. Good,
and others, with more reason, fix the scene of the history of Job in
Idumea. This is also the opinion of Mr. Horne, who refers for a
confirmation of it to Lam. iv, 21, where Uz is expressly said to be in
Edom; and to Jer. xlix, 7, 8, 20; Ezek. xxv, 13; Amos i, 11, 12; Obad.
8, 9, where both Teman and Dedan are described as inhabitants of Edom.
In effect, says Mr. Horne, nothing is clearer than that the history of
an inhabitant of Idumea is the subject of the poem which bears the name
of Job, and that all the persons introduced into it were Idumeans,
dwelling in Idumea; in other words, Edomite Arabs.
VEIL. Women were wont to cover their faces with veils in token of
modesty, of reverence, and subjection to their husbands, Gen. xxiv, 65;
1 Cor. xi, 3, &c. In modern times, the women of Syria never appear in
the streets without their veils. These are of two kinds, the furragi and
the common Aleppo veil; the former being worn by some of the Turkish
women only, the latter indiscriminately by all. The first is in the form
of a large cloak, with long straight sleeves, and a square hood hanging
flat on the back; it is sometimes made of linen, sometimes of a shawl or
cloth. This veil, reaching to the heels, conceals the whole of the
dress, from the neck downward; while the head and face are covered by a
large white handkerchief over the head dress and forehead, and a smaller
one tied transversely over the lower part of the face, hanging down on
the neck. Many of the Turkish women, instead of the smaller
handkerchief, use a long piece of black crape stiffened, which, sloping
a little from the forehead, leaves room to breathe more freely. In this
last way, the ladies are completely disguised; in the former, the eyes
and nose remaining visible, they are easily known by their
acquaintances. The _radid_ is a species of veil, which Calmet supposes
is worn by married women, as a token of their submission and dependence,
and descends low down on the person. To lift up the veil of a virgin is
reckoned a gross insult; but to take away the veil of a married woman is
one of the greatest indignities that she can receive, because it
deprives her of the badge which distinguishes and dignifies her in that
character, and betokens her alliance to her husband, and her interest in
his affections. This is the reason why the spouse so feelingly
complains: “They took away my veil, רדד, from me,” Cant. v, 7. When it
is forcibly taken away by the husband, it is equivalent to divorce, and
justly reckoned a most severe calamity; therefore, God threatened to
take away the ornamental dresses of the daughters of Zion, including the
_radidim_, the low descending veils: “In that day the Lord will take
away the changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the fine
linen, and the hoods, and the veils,” Isaiah iii, 18, &c.
The ordinary Aleppo veil is a linen sheet, large enough to cover the
whole habit from head to foot, and is brought over the face in a manner
to conceal all but one eye. This is perhaps alluded to by the bridegroom
in these words: “Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes,”
Cant. iv, 9. In Barbary, when the ladies appear in public, they always
fold themselves up so closely in their hykes, that, even without their
veils, one can discover very little of their faces. But, in the summer
months, when they retire to their country seats, they walk abroad with
less caution; though, even then, on the approach of a stranger, they
always drop their veils, as Rebekah did on the approach of Isaac. But,
although they are so closely wrapped up, that those who look at them
cannot see even their hands, still less their face, yet it is reckoned
indecent in a man to fix his eyes upon them; he must let them pass
without seeming at all to observe them. When a lady of distinction, says
Hanway, travels on horseback, she is not only veiled, but has generally
a servant, who runs or rides before her to clear the way; and on such
occasions the men, even in the market places, always turn their backs
till the women are past, it being thought the highest ill manners to
look at them. A lady in the east considers herself degraded when she is
exposed to the gaze of the other sex, which accounts for the conduct of
Vashti in refusing to obey the command of the king. Their ideas of
decency, on the other hand, forbid a virtuous woman to lay aside or even
to lift up her veil in the presence of the other sex. She who ventures
to disregard this prohibition inevitably ruins her character. From that
moment she is noted as a woman of easy virtue, and her act is regarded
as a signal for intrigue. Pitts informs us that in Barbary the courtezan
appears in public without her veil; and, in Prov. vii, 13, 14, the
harlot exposes herself in the same indecent manner: “So she caught him,
and kissed him, and with an impudent face,” a face uncovered and
shameless, “said unto him, I have peace-offerings with me, this day have
I paid my vows.” But it must nevertheless be remarked, that, at
different times, and in different parts of the east, the use, or partial
use of the veil has greatly varied.
VINE, גפן, Gen. xl, 9; ἄμπελος, Matt. xxvi, 29; Mark xiv, 25; Luke xxii,
18; John xv, 4, 5; James iii, 12; Rev. xiv, 19; a noble plant of the
creeping kind, famous for its fruit, or grapes, and the liquor they
afford. The vine is a common name or genus, including several species
under it; and Moses, to distinguish the true vine, or that from which
wine is made, from the rest, calls it, the wine vine, Num. vi, 4. Some
of the other sorts were of a poisonous quality, as appears from the
story related among the miraculous acts of Elisha, 2 Kings iv, 39, 41.
(See _Grapes_.) The expression of “sitting every man under his own
vine,” probably alludes to the delightful eastern arbours, which were
partly composed of vines. Capt. Norden, in like manner, speaks of vine
arbours as common in the Egyptian gardens; and the Prænestine pavement
in Dr. Shaw gives us the figure of an ancient one. Plantations of trees
about houses are found very useful in hot countries, to give them an
agreeable coolness. The ancient Israelites seem to have made use of the
same means, and probably planted fruit trees, rather than other kinds,
to produce that effect. “It is their manner in many places,” says Sir
Thomas Rowe’s chaplain, speaking of the country of the Great Mogul, “to
plant about and among their buildings, trees which grow high and broad,
the shadow whereof keeps their houses by far more cool: this I observed
in a special manner, when we were ready to enter Amadavar; for it
appeared to us as if we had been entering a wood rather than a city.”
“Immediately on entering,” says Turner, “I was ushered into the court
yard of the aga, whom I found smoking under a vine, surrounded by
horses, servants, and dogs, among which I distinguished an English
pointer.” There were in Palestine many excellent vineyards. Scripture
celebrates the vines of Sorek, of Sebamah, of Jazer, of Abel. Profane
authors mention the excellent wines of Gaza, Sarepta, Libanus, Saron,
Ascalon, and Tyre. Jacob, in the blessing which he gave Judah, “Binding
his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine, he
washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes,”
Gen. xlix, 11; he showed the abundance of vines that should fall to his
lot. “Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well, whose
branches hang over the wall,” Gen. xlix, 22. “To the northward and
westward,” says Morier, “are several villages, interspersed with
extensive orchards and vineyards, the latter of which are generally
enclosed by high walls. The Persian vine dressers do all in their power
to make the vine run up the wall, and curl over on the other side, which
they do by tying stones to the extremity of the tendril. The vine,
particularly in Turkey and Greece, is frequently made to entwine on
trellises around a well, where, in the heat of the day, whole families
collect themselves, and sit under the shade.”
Noah planted the vine after the deluge, and is supposed to have been the
first who cultivated it, Gen. ix, 20. Many are of opinion that wine was
not unknown before the deluge; and that this patriarch only continued to
cultivate the vine after that event, as he had done before it: but the
fathers think that he knew not the force of wine, having never used it
before, nor having ever seen any one use it. He was the first that
gathered the juice of the grape, and preserved it till by fermentation
it became a potable liquor. Before him men only ate the grapes like
other fruit. The law of Moses did not allow the planters of vineyards to
eat the fruit before the fifth year, Lev. xix, 24, 25. The Israelites
were also required to indulge the poor, the orphan, and the stranger,
with the use of the grapes on the seventh year. A traveller was allowed
to gather and eat the grapes in a vineyard as he passed along, but he
was not permitted to carry any away, Deut. xxiii, 24. The scarcity of
fuel, especially wood, in most parts of the east, is so great, that they
supply it with every thing capable of burning; cow dung dried, roots,
parings of fruits, withered stalks of herbs and flowers, Matthew vi, 30.
Vine twigs are particularly mentioned as used for fuel in dressing their
food, by D’Arvieux, La Roque, and others: Ezekiel says, in his parable
of the vine, used figuratively for the people of God, “Shall wood be
taken thereof to do any work? Or will men take a pin of it to hang any
vessel thereon? Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel,” Ezekiel xv,
3, 4. “If a man abide not in me,” saith our Lord, “he is cast forth as a
branch” of the vine, “and is withered; and men gather them, and cast
them into the fire, and they are burned,” John xv, 6.
VINEGAR, חמץ, Num. vi, 3; Ruth ii, 14; Psalm lxix, 21; Prov. x, 26; xxv,
20; ὄξος, Matt. xxvii, 48; Mark xv, 36; John xix, 29, 30; an acid
produced by a second fermentation of vinous liquors. The law of the
Nazarite was that he should “separate himself from wine and strong
drink, and should drink no vinegar of wine, nor vinegar of strong drink,
nor any liquor of grapes.” This is exactly the same prohibition that was
given in the case of John the Baptist, Luke i, 15, οἶνον καὶ σίκερα οὺ
μὴ ϖίῃ, _wine and sikera he shall not drink_. Any inebriating liquor,
says Jerom, is called _sicera_, whether made of corn, apples, honey,
dates, or other fruits. One of the four prohibited drinks among the
Mohammedans in India is called _sakar_, which signifies inebriating
drink in general, but especially date wine. From the original word,
probably, we have our term cider or sider, which among us, exclusively
means the fermented juice of apples. Vinegar was used by harvesters for
their refreshment. Boaz told Ruth that she might come and dip her bread
in vinegar with his people. Pliny says, ”_Aceto summa vis in
refrigerando_.” [There is the greatest power in vinegar, in cooling.] It
made a very cooling beverage. It was generally diluted with water. When
very strong, it affected the teeth disagreeably, Prov. x, 26. In
Proverbs xxv, 20, the singing of songs to a heavy heart is finely
compared to the contrariety or colluctation between vinegar and nitre;
untimely mirth to one in anxiety serves only to exasperate, and as it
were put into a ferment by the intrusion.
The Emperor Pescennius Niger gave orders that his soldiers should drink
nothing but vinegar on their marches. That which the Roman soldiers
offered to our Saviour at his crucifixion, was, probably, the vinegar
they made use of for their own drinking. Constantine the Great allowed
them wine and vinegar alternately, every day. This vinegar was not of
that sort which we use for salads and sauces; but it was a tart wine
called _pesca_, or _sera_. They make great use of it in Spain and Italy,
in harvest time. They use it also in Holland, and on shipboard, to
correct the ill taste of the water.