In this passage the delicate blue of the sapphire stands specially out in the description of the wonderful scene on the Mount. Thus the reference to "the body of heaven"-the clear blue sky with whose hue they were well acquainted. This colour had been specially before them as they looked up both in the day-time and at night. In almost every scientific characterization of this precious stone, the hue of the perfect sapphire is set down as soft, rich, velvety. The aspects of "the body of heaven" in the Desert are described in nearly the same words:"Every few minutes varied the scene-the clouds altered as the sun got low, and put on a darker tinge; the sky took on a silky softness richer than anything we had seen at home; the ridges of the hills came sharply out, with all their dark ravines; till at length the sun went down behind Atakah, and the reflection of the last rays went and came, with a dull purple brightness, quivering for miles over the still face of the passive blue." Again-"I never saw anything so vividly, yet so mildly brilliant, as moonlight on the yellow sands of Arabia. There were just three great breadths or masses of colour-the sky, the moonshine, and the sand, without anything of intermediate or contrasting hue to mar the effect of these-no rock, no tree, no patch of dark soil. These three-the blue, the yellow, and the white-had the whole scene to themselves, without a rival above, or beneath, or around. Their unbroken fusion into each other seemed to throw out a sort of intermediate brightness, belonging to all, yet distinct from each, and to produce an atmosphere of the softest and most mellow splendour I had ever seen. The blue was softer yet darker than usual, the white was more intense, the yellow purer yet more vivid in its tinge, while, apart from these, there was a restless lustre filling the whole air, as if, in the braiding of these colours into one, their various threads were giving out their peculiar glow, which, as the big clouds hurried across, alternately lost and regained its richness." (Bonar.) Scripture references to the sapphire are considered under Lamentation iv. 7, which see.

EXODUS XXV.

HAT material might be supplied for making the tabernacle, the pattern of which was given by God himself, Moses, during the forty days and forty nights that he was with God in the Mount, received instructions to appeal to the liberality of the people-" Speak unto the children of Israel, that they may bring me an offering; of every man that giveth. it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering" (ver. 2). The articles named were "gold, and silver, and brass, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, and rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim-wood, oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense, onyx-stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breast-plate" (ver. 3-7).

"Scarlet" (Heb. tōlaath shani), literally "scarlet worms." This colour is first mentioned in Genesis xxxviii. 28, where we have the account of the midwife's device for settling the priority of birth in the twin sons of Tamar. She tied a scarlet thread (shani) on the hand of the infant Zarah. The passages in which shani stands alone will be noticed under Joshua ii. 18, which see. The form of expression used here occurs in this book more than twenty times; see chapters xxvi. 1, 31, 36; xxviii. 5, 6, 8, 15, 33; xxxv. 6, 23, 25, 35; xxxvi. 8, 35, 37; xxxviii. 18, 23; xxxix. 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 24, 29. In Leviticus xiv. it is chiefly associated with cedar wood and hyssop, the term denoting colour taking precedence (shāni tōlaath), instead of as above. So likewise in Num. xix. 6. There are several passages in which the word is rendered "worm." From these we learn that the Hebrews, even from the earliest times of their history, were aware of the source whence this dye was obtained. Thus a caterpillar destructive to the vines is pointed to under this name, Deut. xxviii. 39-"Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes, for the worms shall eat them." In Job xxv. 6; Ps. xxii. 6; Isa. xiv. 11, xli. 14, lxvi. 24; and Jonah iv. 7-it is translated worm.

Scarlet is produced by two of the scale insects (Coccinidae)—namely, the oak bug (Coccus ilicis) of the scarlet-bearing oak (Ilex coccifera), a shrub indigenous in the south of Europe and in Syria, and the cactus

bug (C. cacti), or well-known cochineal insect, a native of Mexico, but now abundant in other countries. The cochineal was brought to Europe for the first time in 1526. The former insect supplied the scarlet of Scripture; the latter has now almost wholly superseded it. Not fewer than 70,000 insects are required to make one lb. weight of the scarlet dye, yet the consumption in Britain alone is nearly 200,000 lbs. The females, which are wingless, yield the dye. The males are provided with wings. The females fix their beaks on the tender branches and stems of the plant, and become perfectly motionless. There their eggs are deposited, and underneath their bodies they secrete a woolly matter. which covers the eggs and often the dead bodies of the females themselves. These secretions assume the shape and appearance of nut-galls. This circumstance, and the form of the female before depositing her eggs, led Reaumur to group these insects under the name Gallinsecta. The females produce several generations annually. These are removed from the stems and branches by means of a knife, killed by being dropped into hot water, from which they are quickly removed, and then dried in the sun, when they are ready for use. The gum known as shell-lac is obtained from an Indian species of scale insect (Coccus lacca).

The varied uses to which scarlet was applied are noticed in Exod. xxxix. 29, Lev. xiv., and Heb. ix. 19. One of the coverings put over the table of shew-bread is described as "a cloth of scarlet." The singular masculine (tōlā) is rendered crimson in Isa. i. 18, and shāni is translated by the same word in Jer. iv. 30. The proper term for crimson is karmul, the use of which is limited to 2 Chron. ii. 7, 14; iii. 14. This word is interchangeable with those rendered scarlet. The Arabic name for the scarlet-producing coccus is kermes, whence karmozijn from which our word crimson is derived.

"Fine linen," see under Gen. xli. 42; "goats' hair," ch. xxxv. 26; "badgers' skins," xxxv. 7; onxy-stones," Gen. ii. 12; "branches"

(ver. 31), under Isa. xix. 6.

The bowls of the golden candlestick were to be shaped after the form of the almond, shakad or almond-like (ver. 33). The word for the almond tree and its fruit is shaked, which is equivalent to the common almond, Amygdalus communis of botanists. See under Eccles. xii. 5, and Jer. i. 11. The term used here occurs only in Exodus, and is limited to the description of the "candlestick of pure gold" (ver. 34; xxxvii. 19, 20).

༡༨་ང་

EXODUS XXVIII.

N the description of the dress of the high priest, the precious stones borne on the shoulders, and those set in the breastplate, are specially noticed. The former are associated with the ephod, a kind of tunic consisting of two parts. One part covered the back, and the other the breast of the priest. It was originally used only by the high priest, but afterwards came to be worn by all priests. The ephod, however, with the precious stones continued to be worn by the high priest alone. "And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work. It shall have the two shoulderpieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together. And the curious girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according to the work thereof; even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. And thou shalt take two onyx-stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth. With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold. And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod, for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel; and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord, upon his two shoulders, for a memorial” (ver. 6–12). The two parts of the ephod were clasped at the shoulder by two large onyx-stones, and were brought together at the waist by the "curious girdle." "Onyx-stone," see under Gen. ii. 12. On the ephod was placed the breastplate of judgment-" And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work; after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, thou shalt make it. Four-square it shall be, being doubled; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof. And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle this shall be the first row. And the second row shall be an

emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their inclosings. And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes" (ver. 15-21). First row-Sardius (ōdem), topaz (pitdāh), carbuncle (bareketh). Second row-Emerald (nophek), sapphire (sappir), diamond (yahalōm). Third row-Ligure (leshem), agate (shevu), amethyst (ahhlāmā). Fourth row-Beryl (tarshish), onyx (shoham), jasper (yāshephē). The combinations of colours here are full of interest. Such varieties of these stones might be used as would give all the hues of the rainbow. Thus, beginning with the first, there is red (sardius); and, taking the second of the next row, blue (sapphire); the third of the next, violet (amethyst); and the fourth of the last row, yellow (variety of jasper). Or, beginning with the last on the first row, we have red (carbuncle); then, taking the second last on the next row, we have again blue (sapphire); the first on the third row gives violet (variety of ligure); and the first on the last line, yellow (variety of beryl). Other combinations would bring out the hues of the rainbow more fully. This, however, may be fanciful. It is nevertheless interesting to meet with anything, at this stage of the church's development, suggestive of the covenant bow.

"The sardius," sardine, and sardonyx, are to be regarded simply as varieties of chalcedony; see under Gen. ii. 12. The blood-red cornelian may be held to be the sardius proper. It is chiefly found in Egypt. The sardonyx, as the name implies, has features common to the true sardius and the onyx. It takes its distinctive hue from a layer of red spots, the presence of oxide of iron, in the finest onyx. "Topaz" is mentioned thrice in the Old and once in the New Testament. It is one of the hardest of the, so-called, crystalline corundites. Among precious stones it stands third from the diamond in this respect; the sapphire being second, and the ruby third. Berzelius gives its constituent parts as-alumina 47.45, silica 34:24, and fluoric acid 7.75. The usual colour is bright yellow or citron; but it passes from very dark to very pale yellow, and is even sometimes found with red and with blue tints. The dark yellow is most highly valued. Noble topazes, or the most brightly transparent varieties, are found in India, in Asia Minor, in Egypt, in some parts of Europe, and in Brazil. The oriental topaz is the best, and the Brazilian the next in value. Egyptian topaz is