concentric circles. The upper region is composed of the seven Swargas or Lokas, which are at the same time the domiciles of the seven planets, and the residence of the gods. Below this is the earth, divided into seven isles, separated by different seas. Below, upon the back of the tortoise, is the lower region, or hell, in its seven Patalas. Three, sometimes four elephants, standing upon the tortoise, sustain the earth, and eight elephants standing upon the earth, uphold the heavens. Mount Meru is supposed to traverse and unite the three worlds; and it is upon its topmost summit, in the most elevated of the spheres, that we behold the radiated triangle-the symbol of the Yoni and of the creation.

The highly poetical and figurative language of the book of Job may, however, leave us in some doubt how far the notion there exhibited is to be regarded as the expression of a current theory or fixed opinion. It is indeed certain that the passages which disclose the other view are not only far more numerous, but much more distinct. So the Psalmist calls upon the Lord, 'that stretched out the earth above the waters.'1 There are passages which appear to assign to the earth even a more substantial basis than the water. In Job, this notion may be detected:"Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who hath laid the corner-stone thereof ?' And so Isaiah: 'Hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in."3 It is quite clear that in these passages the earth is compared to a building, whose foundations are deep and immoveable. It is clearly under this idea, and with reference to a building, that Hannah speaks of 'the pillars of the earth.' To the same essential purport are the words of Solomon, who in Proverbs viii. 1 Ps. cxxxvi. 6. 2 Job xxxviii. 4, 5, 6. 3 Isa. xl. 21.

29 represents Divine Wisdom as saying, 'When He appointed the foundations of the earth, then I was by Him;' and also those of Jeremiah,' 'If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel.'

In such passages as these, the waters, on which the earth is supposed to rest, do not immediately appear. But the subsistence of this idea as to the lowermost waters is in all evinced by the fact, that when the sacred writers describe some great convulsion of nature, such as an earthquake, they, in their accumulated images of terror, speak not only of the mountains being rent, and the foundations of the earth being shaken, but of the lower waters being disclosed by the riven earth. So the Psalmist: The earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken. Then the channels of the waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered." Finally, the prophet Jonah is very clear for the opinion of the earth being above the waters; for, in expressing his condition when entombed in the body of the fish, he very poetically supposes that he had gone down to these lowermost waters, where the earth lay over his head. 'I went down,' he says, 'to the bottoms of the mountains: the earth with her bars was about me for ever.' 13 He was, as it were, shut down in the lower mass of waters by the floating earth, without the hope that he should ever rise again. In fact, it would seem that the popular cosmological ideas of the Jews bore considerable resemblance to that which still subsists among the Persians, who hold that the earth floats in the water, like a melon in a round pool. This was also not very dissimilar to the view of some of the old Gentile philosophers, and it was likewise entertained by the ancient Christians, by whom it was probably founded on the scriptural intimations. Under such views, it could not of course be supposed that there were any antipodes; and as only the upper surface, that above the water, was habitable, it follows

2 Ps. xviii. 7, 16.

3 Jonah ii. 6.

1 Jer. xxxi. 37. * Hindoùâny, a species of Indian melon, otherwise called kharboùzeh hindy. See CHARDIN's Description de la Perse, iv. 448, and LANGLES' note.

that the inhabited parts of the earth were supposed to be of very limited extent, compared with the fact, which allows the entire land surface of the globular earth to be habitable. Even if the world had been supposed to be spherical, only the part of it rising out of the water could under this view be inhabited. The earth, under this system, was no other than an extended level surface, excepting the inequalities occasioned by the mountains. The Israelites do not, however, appear to have supposed that it was round. In the Hebrew the earth is never called a ball, nor by any name corresponding to those employed by the Latins, orbis and globus: the word (thebel) rendered orbis in Latin versions of the Scripture, means simply the world as it exists, and in particular the habitable world. There are, on the other hand, passages which distinctly describe the earth as extended or stretched out upon the surface of the waters. Thus in Isa. xlii. 5: 'He that created the heavens, and stretched them out; He that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it.' And, again, the Psalmist says: "Him that stretched out the earth above the waters." In both these texts the word rendered 'stretched' is the same, or rather from the same root, as that rendered in other places 'firmament,' or more properly 'an expansion,' as applied to the visible heavens above, showing the analogy of ideas under which the term is in both respects used. This upper firmament is regarded as a sort of dyke against the waters above, to prevent them from falling upon the earth; and so the lower expansion, the earth, keeps down the waters on which it lies, and prevents them from breaking forth and reducing the world to its ancient chaos.

It is doubtful whether any distinct figure was, under these impressions, assigned to the earth. Some have supposed that it is described as being square, seeing that God is said to gather his elect from 'the four corners of the earth," or from the four winds ;" and in the glorious prediction of the Messiah's dominion over all the world, it is said, 'He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth.” 2 Rev. vii. I, xx. 8. 4 Ps. lxxii. 8.

1 Ps. cxxxvi. 6.
3 Matt. xxiv. 31.

We cannot, however, build much on this; but it is certain that the ancient heathen geographers supposed the length of the habitable earth to be greater than its breadth; and that its extent was greatest from east to west, and least from north to south.

It appears to me to be a singular and not very safe mode of interpretation, to construct a cosmogony, or system of natural philosophy, upon a series of poetic figures. Every passage quoted or referred to by Dr Kitto in this day's reading is poetry. The poetry of Scripture, like all other poetry, takes its figures from external objects as they appear to the eye; and also from such creations of the imagination as may seem to the poetic genius to convey ideas of majesty and beauty. It is manifest that the sacred writers never intended these descriptions to be interpreted literally, or as embodying their views as inspired men on scientific subjects. A glance at the context in one or two of the passages will show this to any thoughtful reader, and will show how dangerous, I would almost say how absurd, it is to interpret the poetry of the Bible in such a manner. Thus, in Job xxxviii., after the words, 'Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?' we have this other question, 'Who shut up the sea with doors . . and set bars and doors?' Will any man presume to say that in this latter passage the writer is setting forth the prevalent notions of his time and country' regarding the manner in which the sea is confined? And yet this would be only carrying out the same hermeneutical principles. So again in Ps. xviii., if we interpret the words, 'The earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken. Then the channels of the waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered :'-if we interpret these words as conveying the ideas of the sacred writer regarding the physical structure of our globe, we must interpret the words which accompany them as conveying his real ideas regarding God: 'There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it,' etc. So also in Jonah ii. 4-6. The figures employed by some of the greatest of our modern poets are as far removed from physical reality as those of the Old Testament writers. Would we be justified in saying that in these respects they expressed themselves according to the prevailing ideas of the times?'

Twenty-eighth Week—Fifth Day.

TABERNACLE ABOMINATIONS.—I SAMUEL II. 12-17, 22.

THE SONS of Eli were 'men of Belial'—that is, men of profligate disposition and conduct-men who had no regard for their own character, or for the honour of God, whose commissioned servants they were. This ungodliness pervaded their demeanour, and their misconduct was by no means limited to the particular instances recorded. Yet these instances are so remarkable as to claim special attention.

The custom of sacrifice was, that burnt-offerings were wholly consumed by fire upon the altar, and that sin-offerings were eaten by the priests. But in the case of peace-offerings, the internal fat alone was consumed, first of all, upon the altar; then the priest had for his share the breast and the shoulder, after these had been waved before the Lord; and the remainder of the carcase was returned to the offerer, to be eaten by himself and his friends, or such as he invited. This was ample allowance for the priest, who had the whole of the sinofferings, and some principal parts of the peace-offerings. But Eli's sons thought not so. Not satisfied with the breast and the shoulder of every victim, they begrudged the offerer the remainder. Properly their interest in the matter ceased as soon as they had received their allowance. But they pursued the remainder with greedy eyes; and at length they ventured to introduce the custom, while the meat was boiling for the offerer and his family-which was done in some part of the tabernacle, as afterwards of the temple-of sending a servant round with a flesh-hook of three teeth in his hand.' This trident, which no doubt had the prongs wide enough apart, the man thrust into the boiler, and claimed as the perquisite of the priest whatever the instrument brought up; and this could not but frequently make a serious reduction of the food with which the offerers were used to entertain their friends, and to extend their bounty to the needy.