hand of "brutish men, and skilful to de- | blood shall be in the midst of the land; stroy. thou shalt be no more remembered: for I 32 Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy the LORD have spoken it.

18 Or, burning.

Verse 21. "The king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way... to use divination.”— In what follows we have a remarkable allusion to some of the principal processes by which the ancient heathen sought to obtain the direction and sanction of the gods they worshipped; and by a recourse to which, rulers and military commanders often relieved themselves from the responsibility of deciding, on doubtful occasions, their own course of action. The object of the present divination being to ascertain whether Nebuchadnezzar should first direct his arms against Jerusalem or against Rabbath-Ammon, the ceremonies were performed at the parting of the way, where it of course became necessary that his march should assume a definite object and direction.

"He made his arrows bright."-Here is a clear reference to the very-widely diffused ancient superstition of Belomancy, or divination by arrows. This was exhibited after various methods, some of which were little other than simple lots, under supposed divine control. The most common process was to mark a number of arrows, corresponding to the alternatives, with the names of the nations or places which were the subject of consideration. The arrows were then shaken together in a quiver, and the marks on the one first drawn forth decided the preference. Jerome thinks this process was here intended. Not unlike it was a method in use among the Arabs, and which they employed on all occasions, whether public or private. The arrows were three in number, unfeathered, and called achdad or azlam. Upon one of them was written " Command me, Lord;" upon the second, "Forbid, or prevent, Lord;" and the third was blank. These were put into a bag, which was held by the diviner, by whom also the lot was drawn. If the first was drawn, it conveyed of course an affirmative response; the second intimated a negative; and when the blank arrow appeared, a second drawing was made. There was another method, in which an arrow was shot perpendicularly into the air, and the direction in which it fell indicated the road which was to be taken. As the prophet mentions that the arrows were made bright for the occasion, some writers imagine that this divination consisted in the inspection of the appearances which their polished heads might exhibit. In an account (in Purchas) of the capture of the ship 'Jacob,' of Bristol, by the Algerine pirates, in 1621, we are informed that every large ship had on board a sort of wizard or diviner, by whom the commander was guided in his determinations. When two great ships appeared in sight, the captain of the vessel in which the narrator was held prisoner was afraid to chase them, apprehending that they might prove Spanish men-of-war; on such occasions the diviner is consulted:-"Then have they two arrowes and a curtleaxe, lying upon a pillow, naked; the arrowes are one for the Turkes and the other for the Christians; then the witch readeth, and the captaine of (or?) some other taketh the arrowes in their hand by the heads; and if the arrow for the Christians commeth over the head of the arrow for the Turkes, then doe they advance their sayles, and will not endure the fight, whatsoever they see; but if the arrow of the Turkes is found, in the opening of the hand, upon that of the Christians, then will they stay and encounter with any shippe whatsoever."

“He looked in the liver."-This form of divination, called Hepatoscopia, constituted the principal part of those presages which were derived from observations made upon the internal parts of animals slain for sacrifice. Indeed, so important was the liver esteemed in this view, that the whole system of divination by entrails sometimes took the name of Hepatoscopia from this its principal part. The liver was the first part inspected, and if this appeared very bad, no observations were made on the other parts; any favourable appearances which they offered not being in this case thought worthy of attention. If the liver exhibited its natural healthy colour and condition, or if, further, its head was large, or if it was double, or there were two livers, and if the lobes inclined inwards, the signs were highly favourable, and success in any proposed object was deemed to be ensured. But nothing but dangers and misfortunes were foreboded when there was too much dryness, or a band between the parts, or if it was without a lobe, and still more when the liver itself was wanting-a prodigy which is said to have sometimes happened. The omens were also considered full of evil when the liver had any blisters or ulcers, if it was hard, thin, or discoloured, had any humour upon it, or if, in boiling, it became soft or was displaced. The signs which appeared on the concave part of the liver concerned the family of the person offering the sacrifice; but those on the gibbous side affected his enemies: if either of these parts were shrivelled, corrupted, or in any way unsound, the omen was unfortunate, but the reverse when it appeared sound and large. The place between the parts, in the middle, was called the gate, and it was regarded as most unfavourable when this part was closed or compressed. Hence the soothsayers warned Caracalla to take care of himself, "because the gates of the liver were closed." It was also considered most unfortunate if the liver happened to be cut in slaying or opening the victim.

22. To appoint battering rams against the gates."-The word is simply the name of the "ram "--the word "battering" being added to point the sense, and, we doubt not, correctly, although it has been questioned that the battering-ram could be known so early. But when an engine is not only called by the same name which it bore among the Greeks and Romans (car, xgiòs, aries, “ram") but is so mentioned as to show that it was applied to an exactly similar use, it seems as clear as possible that a battering engine called a ram, that is, a battering-ram, was used by the Babylonians. That it was employed by the Jews themselves is perhaps unlikely, as it is only mentioned by Ezekiel, and by him only as used in the warlike operations of Nebuchadnezzar against Jerusalem. That the Romans themselves considered the invention of the battering-ram to be of very high antiquity appears from the report, preserved by Pliny, that it was invented by Epeus during the siege of Troy; but as nothing of the kind is mentioned by Homer, it is perhaps better to follow Vitruvius and Tertullian, who ascribe it to the Tyrians; and as Nebuchadnezzar, who besieged Jerusalem, besieged also Tyre, there may be very good reason to suspect that the Tyrians became acquainted with the engine from its having been used against them by the Babylonians.

Of the form of the Babylonian engines and their mode of action, we know nothing, unless from the probability that, from the similarity of name and use, they were not unlike those which we find employed in after times by the Romans, and of which some representations remain. The name seems to have been derived from the mode in which the machine acted. resembling the butting of a ram, and this analogy having been suggested, it was, rather fancifully, thought of completing it by giving the form of a ram's head to that of the instrument.

There were three kinds of battering-rams:-1. One that was held in suspension, like a scale-beam, by means of cables or chains in a frame of strong timber. This must have been easier to work and apparently of greater power than the others, as a very heavy body suspended in the air requires no great strength to move it with much force. 2. In another kind of ram, the mighty instrument acted upon rollers, and its power appears to have been very great, although

it must have been worked with more labour than the preceding. Its advantage over the other seems to have been that while its force was scarcely inferior (some suppose it was greater), it acted with more precision. 3. There was another ram, which was not suspended or mounted on rollers, but borne and worked by manual strength. It is difficult to estimate the effect which such an instrument could have upon a strong wall, and perhaps it was only used for such purposes as did not require the greater momentum which the other engines necessarily possessed. However, on the column of Trajan, we see the Dacians besieging some Romans in a fortress, which they batter with a ram, worked only by the strength of their arms. The battering-ram was very generally covered by a movable shed, called a tortoise (testudo), which protected the men by which it was worked. In estimating the effect of these engines from the accounts of ancient writers, we must make large allowance for the difference between the then existing and the present standards. Sir Christopher Wren found the ram a very serviceable instrument for throwing down old walls, particularly in disjoining the stones; but it is nevertheless calculated that the momentum of one, 28 inches in diameter, 180 feet long, with a head of a ton and a half, weighing 41,112 lbs., and worked by a thousand men, would only be equal to a point-blank shot from a thirty-six pounder. (Grose's Military Antiquities,' vol. i. p. 384.)

Various methods were employed by the besieged to avert or counteract the effect of the battering-ram, which, from the accounts of ancient sieges, appears to have been more dreaded by them than any other machine of war, and against which therefore their ingenuity and force were chiefly directed. Fire was thrown down upon the roof of the covering, or on the timbers that supported the ram, in the hope of burning the whole concern together: to deaden the force of the blow, large sacks of wool or chaff were let down to cover the place at which it was levelled. This seems to have annoyed the besiegers more than anything else; but Josephus describes them as counteracting this by tying sharp hooks to the end of long poles, and cutting the cords by which the bags were suspended. Sometimes also other machines were opposed to the ram, to break its force, or to turn aside its head while battering the works. Vast stones were also sometimes thrown down, in the hope of breaking off the head of the engine. Josephus frequently alludes to the battering-rams in his account of the siege of Jerusalem, but the most complete and satisfactory account is that which he gives in the account of the affairs at Jotapata, where the defence was conducted under his own direction. It is too long for us to copy; but may be found in his Book iii. ch. 7, sects. 19–21.

SUSPENDED BATTERING-RAM.-FROM GROSK'S MILITARY ANTIQUITIES.

CHAPTER XXII.

1A catalogue of sins in Jerusalem. 13 God will burn them as dross in his furnace. 23 The general corruption of prophets, priests, princes, and people.

MOREOVER the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

2 Now, thou son of man, 'wilt thou 'judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt 'shew her all her abominations.

3 Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself.

4 Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast 'shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries.

5 Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art 'infamous and much vexed.

8 Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.

9 In thee are 'men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness.

10 In thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was "set apart for pollution.

11 And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour's wife; and "another hath "lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled his 16sister, his father's daughter.

12 In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neigh1 Chap. 20. 4, and 23.36. "Or, plead for. 3 Heb. city of bloods. Heb. make her know. 52 Kings 21. 16. Heb. polluted of name much in vexation. 7 Heb. arm. 8 Or, deceit. 9 Heb. men of slanders. 10 Levit. 18. 8, and 20. 11. 11 Levit 18. 19. 12 Or, every one. 13 Levit. 18. 20. Jer. 5.8. 14 Or, every one. 15 Or, by lewdness. 10 Levit. 18. 9.

19 Heb. drosses. Mic. 3. 11. Zeph. 3. 3.

1 Heb. bestowed her whoredoms upon them. 2 Heb. the choice of the children of Asshur. Heb. she corrupted her inordinate love more than, &c. 6 Heb, more than the whoredoms of her sister. 72 Kings 16. 7. Heb. at the sight of her eyes. Heb. children of Babel, 10 Heb. loosed, or, disjointed. 11 Heb. instruments of thy decking. X 153