coals of fire upon them, and so imagine that the import of these words is, thou shalt melt him down by kindness into affection for thee. Dr. Whitby, however, offers a different explanation; he says, that the sense of the passage appears to him to be, that if he persevere in his enmity to thee, the event, though not sought for by thee, will be, that thou by thy patience shalt engage the wrath of God to fall upon him, and maintain thy cause against him. This, he apprehends, best suits with the foregoing verse; and that the words being taken from Prov. xxv. 22. which have that import, according to Grotius, require that interpretation. The expression where it occurs in the Old Testament refers to the wrath and indignation of the Lord. (Psalm cxl. 9, 10. Isaiah xlvii. 14. Ezekiel x. 2.)

No. 516.-xiii. 4. He beareth not the sword in vain.] This is spoken agreeably to the notions and customs of the Romans at the time when the apostle wrote. Thus Suetonius says (in Vitell. cap. 15.) that Vitellius gave up his dagger, which he had taken from his side, to the attending consul, thus surrendering the authority of life and death over the citizens. So the kings of Great Britain are not only at their inauguration solemnly girt with the sword of state, but this is afterwards carried before them on public occasions, as a sword is likewise before some inferior magistrates among us.

No. 517.-1 CORINTHIANS iii. 10.

A wise master builder.

THE title of copos, or wise, was given to such as were skilful in manual arts. Homer accounts such to be taught by Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, (Iliad. xv. lin. 411.) and to this some think the apostle alludes when he compares himself to σοφος αρχιτέκτων, a wise

master builder.

No. 518.-iv. 9. God hath set forth us the apostles last.] In the word saxares, which the apostle here uses, there is a reference to the Roman custom of bringing forth those persons on the theatre in the after part of the day, to fight either with each other, or with wild beasts. who were appointed to certain death, and had not that poor chance of escaping which those brought forth in the morning had. Such kind of spectacles were so common in all the provinces, that it is no wonder we should find such an allusion here. The words andur, exhibited, and aτpor, a spectacle on the theatre, have in this connection a beautiful propriety. The whole passage is indeed full of high eloquence, and finely adapted to move their compassion in favour of those who were so generously expiring, and sacrificing themselves for the public good. DODDRIDGE in loc.

No. 519. iv. 13. We are made as the filth of the world, and are the off-scouring of all things unto this day.] Doddridge thus paraphrases, and in his note explains these words: "We are made and treated like the very filth of the world, like the wretches who, being taken from the dregs of the people, are offered as expiatory

sacrifices to the infernal deities among the Gentiles, and loaded with curses, affronts, and injuries, in the way to the altars at which they are to bleed, or like the refuse of all things to this day, the very sweepings of the streets and stalls, a nuisance to all around us, and fit for nothing but to be trampled upon by the meanest and vilest of mankind." The word xaxpala has a force and meaning here, which no one word in our language can express; it refers to the custom of purifying a city by the expiatory death of some person: for this purpose they clothed a man in foul and filthy garments, and then put him to death. When the city was visited with any great calamity, they chose one of the lowest persons in it, and brought him to a certain place, with cheese, dry figs, and a cake in his hand. After beating him with rods, they burnt him and the rods together in a ditch, and cast the ashes into the sea, with these words, Be thou a lustration for us.

The people of Marseilles, originally a Grecian colony, had a similar custom, for we learn from Servius on the third book of the Eneid, that as often as they were afflicted with the pestilence, they took a poor person, who offered himself willingly, and kept him a whole year on the choicest food, at the public expence. This man was afterwards dressed up with 'vervain, and in the sacred vestments, and led through the city, where he was loaded with execrations, that all the misfortunes of the state might rest on him, and was then thrown into the sea.

The Mexicans had a similar custom of keeping a man a year, and even worshipping him during that time, and then sacrificing him.

No. 520.-ix. 25. They do it to obtain a corruptible. crown, but we an incorruptible.] It is well known, that the crown in the olympic games, sacred to Jupiter, was

of wild-olive; in the Pythian, sacred to Apollo, of laurel; in the Isthmian or Corinthian, solemnized in honour of Palemon, of pine-tree; and in the Nemæan, of smallage, or parsley. Now most of these were evergreens; yet they would soon grow dry and break to pieces. ELSNER (Observ. vol. ii. p. 103.) produces many passages in which the contenders in these exercises are rallied by the Grecian wits for the extraordinary pains they took for such trifling rewards. And Plato has a celebrated passage, which greatly resembles this of St. Paul, but by no means equals it in beauty and force. (1 Pet. v. 4.) DODDRIDGE in loc.

No. 521.-ix. 26. So fight I, not as one that beateth the air.] In order to attain the greater agility and dexterity, it was usual for those, who intended to box in the games, to exercise their arms with the gauntlet on, when they had no antagonist near them, and this was called oxiμaxia, in which a man would of course beat the air. But Bos has taken a great deal of pains in his note here, to shew that it is a proverbial expression for a man's missing his blow, and spending it not on his enemy, but on empty air. DODDRIDGE in loc.

No. 522.-ix. 27. But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast away.] The latter part of this verse Doddridge renders, lest after having served as an herald I should be disapproved, and says in a note, I thought it of importance to retain the primitive sense of these gymnastic expressions. It is well known to those, who are at all acquainted with the original, that the word xnpuas expresses the discharging the office of an herald, whose business it was to proclaim the conditions of the games, and display the prizes, to awaken the emulation and resolution of

those who were to contend in them. But the apostle intimates, that there was this peculiar circumstance attending the christian contest, that the person who proclaimed its laws and rewards to others was also to engage himself, and that there would be a peculiar infamy and misery in miscarrying. Adoxos, which we render cast away, signifies one who is disapproved by the judge of the games, as not having fairly deserved the prize.

No. 523.-xi. 14, 15. Doth not even nature itself teach you, that if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him; but if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given her for a covering.] The eastern ladies are remarkable for the length, and the great number of the tresses of their hair. The men there, on the contrary, wear very little hair on their heads. Lady M. W. Montague thus speaks concerning the hair of the women. "Their hair hangs at full length behind, divided into tresses, braided with pearl or ribbon, which is always in great quantity. I never saw in my life so many fine heads of hair. In one lady's I have counted one hundred and ten of the tresses, all natural; but it must be owned that every kind of beauty is more commón here than with us." (Lett. vol. ii. p. 31.)

The men there, on the contrary, shave all the hair off their heads, excepting one lock; and those that wear their hair are thought effeminate. Both these particulars are mentioned by Chardin, who says, they are agreeable to the custom of the East: the men are shaved, the women nourish their hair with great fondness, which they lengthen, by tresses and tufts of silk, down The young men who wear their hair in the East, are looked upon as effeminate and infamous. HARMER, vol. ii. p. 398.

to the heels.