No. 550.-xi. 2. That I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.] This circumstance is much illustrated by recollecting that there was an officer among the Greeks, whose business it was to educate and form young women, especially those of rank and figure, designed for marriage, and then to present them to those who were to be their husbands; and if this officer permitted them, through negligence, to be corrupted between the espousals and the consummation of the marriage, great blame would naturally fall upon him.

DODDRIDGE in loc.

No. 531.-xi. 29. Who is offended, and I burn not?] Who is offended, and I am not fired? So Tupea properly signifies. It may perhaps in this connection allude to the sudden hurry of spirits into which a man is put by the dangerous fall of a person he tenderly loves, especially when occasioned by the carelessness and folly of another. DODDRIGDE in loc.

It is not to be imagined that the apostle, by the use of this expression, gave any countenance to the popular error which prevailed, not only among the heathens, but among some of the more ignorant and superstitious christians-that of fascination, or bewitching with the eye. The language of the apostle is only a strong expression of surprise at the departure of the Galatians from the purity of the gospel. It however reminds us of those practices of the heathens, which are spoken of by various writers. They believed that great mischief might ensue from an evil-eye, or from being regarded with envious and malicious looks. Pliny relates from Isigonus, that "among the Triballians and Illyrians there were certain enchanters, who with their looks could bewitch and kill those whom they beheld for a considerable time, especially if they did so with angry eyes." (Nat. Hist. lib. vii. cap. 2.)

A shepherd in Virgil, says

Nescio quis teneros oculus mihi fascinat agnos.

Some evil eyes bewitch my tender lambs.

Eclog. iii. lin. 103.

"No nation in the world is so much given to superstition as the Arabs, or even Mahometans in general. They hang about their children's necks the figure of an open hand, usually the right, which the Turks and Moors paint likewise upon their ships and houses, as a counter-charm to an evil-eye; for five is with them an

unlucky number, and five (meaning their fingers) in your eyes is their proverb of cursing and defiance. Those of riper years carry with them some paragraph of their Koran, which they place upon their breasts, or sew under their caps, to prevent fascination and witchcraft, and to secure themselves from sickness and misfortunes. The virtue of these scrolls and charms is supposed to be so far universal, that they suspend them even upon the necks of their cattle, horses, and other beasts of burthen."

SHAW's Trav. p. 243. (See No. 205.)

No. 533.-iv. 6. And because ye are sons, God hatb sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba father.] The learned Mr. SELDEN (de Succ. in bona Def. cap. 4.) hath brought a very pertinent quotation from the Babylonian Gemara, to prove that it was not allowed to slaves to use the title of Abba in addressing the master of the family to which they belonged, or the correspondent title of Imma, or mother, when speaking to the mistress of it.

No. 534.-iv. 10. Te observe days.] This practice was become very general in the days of the apostle, and greatly contributed to cherish superstition. The Greeks in particular were addicted to it; with them, certain times were ominous, some days being accounted fortunate and successful, others unfortunate and disastrous. Thus Hesiod, in his days, observes,

Αλλοτε μητριὴ πελει ἡμέρα, ἄλλοτε μήτηρ, &c.

Some days, like step-dames, adverse prove,
Thwart our intentions, cross whate'er we love :

Others more fortunate and lucky shine,

And, as a tender mother, bless what we design.

The observation of days was also very common at Rome, Augustus Cæsar never went abroad upon the day following the Nundinæ, nor began any serious undertaking on the None, and this he did upon no other account, as he affirmed in one of his letters to Tiberius, than to avoid the unlucky omen that attended things begun on those days. It was a general opinion among the Romans, that the next days after the Nonæ, Idus, or Kalendæ, were unfortunate; the like observation of days was practised by many christians when they had lately been converted from heathenism, and for this St. Paul reproves them.

POTTER'S Archæologia Græca, vol. i. p. 345.

No. 535.-v. 7. Who hath hindered you?] It hath been observed that is an olympic expression, answerable to exile, and it properly signifies coming across the course, while a person is running in it, in such a manner as to jostle and throw him out of the way. DODDRIDGE in loc.

No. 536-v. 21. Revellings.] Kaun, or revellings, among the Greeks, were a disorderly spending of the night in feasting, with a licentious indulging in wine, music, dancing, &c. In this sense the word is explained by Hesychius and Suidas. We meet with it but twice.

elsewhere, (Rom. xiii. 13. 1 Pet. iv. 3.) and in both places it is joined, as here, with other riotous excesses.

No. 537.—vi. 17. I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.] Archbishop POTTER thinks (Archæɔl. Græca, vol. ii. p. 7.) that the apostle alludes here to the Tala, or brands, with which the Greeks used to mark those that were appointed to serve in the wars, lest they should attempt to make their escape. Doddridge says, that perhaps the reference may be to those marks, by

which the votaries of particular deities were distinguished. Mr. BLACKWALL (Sacred Classics, vol. ii. p. 66.) considers it as an allusion to an Egyptian custom, according to which any man's servant, who fled to the temple of Hercules, and had the sacred brands or marks of that deity impressed upon him, was supposed to be under his immediate care and protection, and by that to be privileged from all violence and harsh treatment.

No. 538.-EPHESIANS ii. 18.

For through him we both have access by one spirit unto the Father.

THE Word роaywyn, which we render access, properly refers to the custom of introducing persons into the presence of some prince, or of any other greatly their superior, in which case it is necessary they should be ushered in by one appointed for that purpose, to preserve a becoming decorum. DODDRIDGE in loc.

No. 539.-ii. 19. Ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, The proselytes who joined themselves to the God of Israel, were by the Jews and by the scriptures styled strangers. He that only took upon him to worship the true God, and observe the precepts of Noah, was Ger Toshab, a stranger permitted to dwell among them, and to worship in the court of the Gentiles. He that was circumcised, and became obedient to the law of Moses, was Ger Tzedek, a proselyte of righteousness: but both were called strangers according to the maxim of the Jews; all the nations of the world are call