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5 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,

8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.

9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man. 12 A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.

13 He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;

14 Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he 'soweth discord.

15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.

16 ¶ These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination 'unto him :

22 When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

23 'For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

24 "To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery "of the tongue of a strange woman.

25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

26 For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.

27 Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?

28 Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?

29 So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.

30 Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;

31 But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance

17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and of his house. hands that shed innocent blood,

18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, 'feet that be swift in running to mischief,

19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

20 My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

21 Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.

2 Chap. 24. 33.

8 Chap. 1. 8.

18 Matt. 5. 28.

3 Chap. 13. 4, and 20. 4. 9 Psal. 19. 8, and 119. 105.

14 Heb. the woman of a man, or

32 But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh "understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.

33 A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away. 34 For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

35 He will not regard any ransom ; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.

4 Heb. casteth forth. 5 Heb. of his soul. 6 Heb. haughty eyes. 7 Rom. 3. 15.
10 Or, candle. 11 Chap. 2. 16, and 5. 3, and 7 5. it Or, of the strange tongue.
a man's wife.
15 Heb. heart. 16 Heb, he will not accept the face of any ransoR.

Verse 1. "Stricken thy hand.”—This refers to the almost universal custom of striking hands to confirm a bargain c compact.

6. "Go to the ant...consider her ways, and be wise."-The study of the ways of the ant, which the wisest of men her recommends as calculated to furnish lessons of wisdom, has indeed been found most useful and instructive, revealing t. us the wisdom of God as manifested in the humblest of his creatures, and furnishing important practical lessons, which the humbleness of the teacher should not lead us to despise, but to value the more highly.

The researches of Reaumur, Huber, Kirby, Spence, and other naturalists, into the habits and pursuits of these wonderful little beings, enable us much better than the early commentators, to appreciate the force and propriety of this reference, whether understood with regard to the industry, the skill, or the economy which their communities exhibit. Our wood-cuts show what only is capable of pictorial illustration-the skill, industry, and labour with which the domiciles of the different kinds of ants are constructed, and which, considered relatively to the size and resources of the respective architects, far exceed many of those greatest results of human ingenuity and labour by which the world ha been astonished. Whether as masons, carpenters, miners, or carvers of wood, they offer examples which the most ingenious need not refuse to admire, and by which the wisest may be instructed. In the various species of ants the constructions are various, and none unworthy of attention. The mason-ant offers to our contemplation its earthen hillock, the interior of which exhibits a series of labyrinths, lodges, vaults, and galleries; its construction skilful, and its situation chosen with judgment. Such nests are sometimes constructed in twenty stories above and as many below the ground, by which arrangement the ants are enabled to regulate with great facility the heat, withdrawing to the underground apartments when those above become too warm, and proceeding upward when their lower rooms are too

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Section of a Bank, showing the Nests of the Mason Ant.

Nest of Termites in the Branch of a Tree.

cold. With equal skill, and perhaps greater labour, do the carpenter-ants chisel their stories, chambers, galleries, and colonnades in the bodies or roots of growing trees. Then other species construct nests among or upon the branches of trees, various in their kinds and dimensions, but all wonderful instances of the results of the art and industry of cooperating numbers, even among creatures so small that myriads may be crushed unregarded beneath the foot. Some of these nests are as large as hogsheads; others from the size of a human head to a fist,-the latter being formed by the powerful bending of large leaves, and glueing the points of them together so as to form a purse. "But when we look at the buildings erected by the white ants of tropical climates, all that we have been conveying dwindles into insigni ficance. Their industry appears greatly to surpass that of our ants and bees, and they are certainly more skilful in architectural contrivances. The elevation also of their edifices is more than five hundred times the height of the builders. Were our houses built according to the same proportions, they would be twelve or fifteen times higher than the London Monument, and four or five times higher than the pyramids of Egypt, with corresponding dimensions in the basement of the edifice. These statements are perhaps necessary to impress the extraordinary labours of ants upon the mind, for we are all more or less sensible to the force of comparisons." See Insect Architecture,' chap. xiv.-xvi., for this and most of the other facts in this note; and where also may be found numerous details concerning the ingenuity and industry of ants, to which our limits do not allow us to refer, however illustrative they might be considered. The nests just mentioned are frequently twelve feet high, and some have been mentioned so high as twenty feet, and large enough to contain twelve men. This is an exterior shell containing an interior building, in which are formed a vast number of apartments, galleries, and magazines. In the same regions also does the smaller white ant erect its strong pillar, with its overhanging roof or capital, in the form of a mushroom. These erections are about three feet high, the interior being divided into numerous angular cells which furnish lodging to the industrious little beings which construct this singular monument.

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Pyramidal Nests of the Termites.

Turret-Nests of the White Ant.

Although we have taken this line of illustration as the most eligible for our purpose, there is much in the economy and character of these insects not less worthy of admiration. Their unwearied industry and indomitable perseverance, the arduous and sincere exertions of every individual towards the common object, their regulated labour, the alacrity and zeal with which the overburdened are assisted, their care in observing the times and seasons, the judgment with which they avail themselves of favourable circumstances, and the grand evidence which even these minute creatures are enabled to offer of the effects producible by the co-operation of numbers in a good and useful object, are all circumstances which explain and enforce the injunction of the sacred writer: "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise."

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13. Eyes...feet...fingers."-The Orientals are very expert in making communications to each other by means of 675 signs and gestures, with the eyes, hands, or feet. The number of signs of this sort, having a well-understood conventional meaning, and in current use among the people, is very great, and which, although unintelligible to Europeans,

are common to different nations in the East. But besides such common significant movements or signs, it is a fact that artificial systems of signs, by which any kind of communication may be held without speaking, and by means of which even the deaf and dumb may receive instruction, and communicate and understand, existed in the East long before such systems were thought of in Europe for the education of the deaf and dumb; and it is not impossible that something of the sort may be alluded to in the present text, as employed by guilty persons in making their communi cations to each other. In confirmation of this observation, we may refer to the mutes of the Grand Signior's serag at Constantinople, which we cannot do better than in a brief extract from the excellent account, given more than two centuries ago, by "Master Robert Withers," in Purchas. In the seraglio "there are many dumbe men, both old and young, who have libertie to goe in and out with leave of the Capee Agha. And this is worthie the observation, that in the seraglio both the king and others can reason and discourse of any thing as well and as distinctly, alla mutesca, by nods and signes as they can with words: a thing well befitting the gravitie of the better sort of Turkes, who care not for much babling. The same is also used among the sultanaes and other the king's women: for with them likewise there are divers dumbe women, both olde and young. And this hath been an ancient custom in the seraglio: wherefore they get as many mutes as they can possibly find: and chiefly for this one reason, that they hold it not a thing be fitting the Grand Signior, neither stands it with his greatnesse, to speak to any about him familiarly: but he may in that manner more tractably and domestically jest and sport with the mutes than with others that are about him." The public officers and governors, who acquire the knowledge of this system of communication when young, in the seraglio, for the sake of communicating with the mutes, employ it afterwards among themselves in their secret transactions and communications.

25. Neither let her take thee with her eyelids.”—This probably refers to the care with which women in the East paint their eyelids, in a great measure in order to captivate the men; who, from the manner in which they are muffled up, can often see no more of their persons than their eyes-which may indeed be one reason why so much pains are taken to set them off.

CHAPTER VII.

1 Solomon persuadeth to a sincere and kind familiarity with wisdom. 6 In an example of his own experience, he sheweth 10 the cunning of un whore, 22 and the desperate simplicity of a young wanton. 24 He dehorteth from such wickedness. My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.

2 Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.

3 'Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.

4 Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman :

5 That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.

6 For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,

7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,

8 Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, 9 In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:

10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.

14 'I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.

15 Therefore came I forth to meet thee. diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.

16 I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.

17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh aloes, and cinnamon.

18 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.

19 For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey:

20 He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed.

21 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips

she forced him.

22 He goeth after her "straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;

23 Till a dart strike through his liver as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

24 Hearken unto me now therefore, 0 ye children, and attend to the words of my

11 (She is loud and stubborn; her feet mouth. abide not in her house:

12 Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)

13 So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,

1 Deut. 6. 8, and 11. 18. Chap. 3 3. Heb. she strengthened her face, and said.

25 Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.

26 For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. 27 "Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.

2 Chap. 5. 3. 8 Heb. the sons. Heb. in the evening of the day.
7 Heb. Peace-offerings are upon me.
Heb. in his hand.
10 Heb suddenly. 1 Chap. 2. 18, and 5. 5.

Chap. 9 13.

9 Or, the new moện

3:

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3

Verse 10. "The attire of an harlot.”—It seems, from this and other passages, that women of this class were obliged :r accustomed to distinguish themselves by some peculiarity of dress. In some parts of Greece also they were obliged to dress differently from other women. Speaking with reference to the present text, Archbishop Potter observes, "What sort of habit this was is not certain; but if the Athenian custom was in this, as in many other things, taken from the Jews, we may conclude that their harlots wore flowered garments; for the Athenian lawgiver, thinking it necessary to distinguish women of innocent conversation from harlots by some open and visible mark, ordered that those should never appear abroad but in grave and modest apparel, and that the rest should always wear flowered garments. Hence Clemens of Alexandria hath remarked that, As fugitive slaves are known by their stigmata, so flowered garments are the indication of an harlot.'" In India, women of this class usually dress in scarlet (see Rev. xvii. 4). The customs in this matter vary in different parts of the East, and frequently there is no other distinction than that of choice, which operates in rendering the dress of such persons more gay and less concealing than that of respectable women. Perhaps no more is meant in the present text.

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16. "Fine linen of Egypt.”—In different parts of the Hebrew Scriptures there are several very different words, all of which are equally rendered "fine linen " in our version And this seems very proper; for as it is impossible to distinguish the character and quality of the several tissues which the respective words denote, it was as well to take one general name for all, as to offer uncertain conjectures. At present we will be content to assume two points as perfectly clear, namely, that the Jews derived their fine stuffs from Egypt; which we know, indeed, from profane sources, to have been famous for its "linen" manufactures, which formed a principal branch of industry to its inhabitants, and from which the nearer nations in Asia and Europe were supplied with goods of this description; and that, from the variety of the terms employed, fabrics of different qualities, and all highly appreciated, by foreign nations, were produced by the Egyptian loom. Dr. Clarke, in his 'Commentary,' laboured under a very great error when he called the Egyptian manufactures" coarse;" it may indeed be true generally of the linen (for it is linen) in which the mummies are wound up, and from which his inference was derived. But this was only one of many sorts concerning which the dresses of the numerous figures, and other draperies, painted in Egyptian tombs, enable us to draw some tolerably certain inferences. These exhibit a large variety of qualities, colours, and patterns. Some sorts are so fine and transparent that every detail of the figures which they envelop is seen with perfect clearness through them-suggesting the idea of fine muslin or gauze; while other qualities, of various thickness, exhibit, so far as can be judged from paintings, rich and delicate workmanship; and sometimes furnish patterns and styles not unworthy our imitation, and always a brilliancy of colour which we can scarcely rival.

In the present instance it is to be understood that the whole of the verse applies to one and the same article. In this description some difficulty arises from the occurrence of two principal words which we find nowhere else in the Bible. These are, that rendered "carved works" (man, chatzaboth), and that translated "fine linen" (N, aitun); and which possibly form the Egyptian name of the Egyptian manufacture. By comparing the intimations of the text with the more probable interpretations of the ancient versions, the following may perhaps be offered as the meaning of the verse: "I have covered my couch with variegated coverings of Egyptian tapestry." To which it may also be added, that the use of the word apgirara in the Septuagint would suggest that it was the same on both sides. From this, in connection with the use to which the text states it to have been applied, we may gather that it was some rich figured stuff, employed for coverings to divans or sofas (which must often be understood where our version has "beds), and perhaps also to cover such thin mattresses or quilts as now serve in Western Asia for coverlets or counterpanes. This forms, in fact, one of the chief articles of domestic luxury in the East; for as the best rooms have no other furniture than sofas and cushions, every one desires that the stuffs with which these are covered should furnish evidence of his taste and wealth. This also extends to the curtains with which the doors are hung during the warm weather; and in general it may be said, that, studious as the Orientals are of richness in their personal attire, they are not less, and perhaps still more, anxious about the draperies of their principal apartments. The present, and other ́exts of similar force, seem to evince that the case was the same in ancient times. The Medes and Babylonians were famous for their stuffs of the description indicated; and we know that their noted tapestries, &c. were figured by the needle. But we are also informed that in even this class of fabrics the Egyptians rivalled the Babylonians; and this we may well believe, when we consider the various evidence of their skill to which we have already alluded. If the variegated coverings mentioned in the text had been Babylonian, we should have concluded that they contained figures wrought by the needle; but as the Egyptians not only excelled in needlework, but also produced variegated patterns in the loom, as well as by the subsequent application of colours to stuffs that were woven plain, this is a point concerning which no satisfactory conclusion can be obtained.

CHAPTER VIII.

1 The fame, 6 and evidency of wisdom. 10 The excellency, 12 the nature, 15 the power, 18 the riches, 22 and the eternity of wisdom. 32 Wisdom is to be desired for the blessedness it bringeth. DOTH not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?

2 She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths.

3 She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.

4 Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man.

5 O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.

6 Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things.

7 For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

8 All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing 'froward or perverse in them.

9 They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge.

10 Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.

11 For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

1 Chap. 1. 20. 2 Heb. the abomination of my lips. 3 Heb, wreathed. ✦ Job 28. 15. Psal. 19. 10. Chap. 3. 15, and 16. 16.

12 I wisdom dwell with 'prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions.

13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

14 Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength. 15 By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.

16 By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth.

17 I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.

18 Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness.

19 My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.

20 I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment:

21 That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.

22 The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. 23 I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.

24 When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.

25 Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:

Or, subtilty. Chap. 3. 16. 7 Chap. 3. 14.
12 Gen. 1. 9, 10. Job 38. 10, 11. Psal. 104. 9.

26 While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the 'fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.

27 When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set "a compass upon the face of the depth:

28 When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep:

29 "When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:

30 Then I was by him, as one brought up with him and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;

31 Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.

32 Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.

33 Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.

34 Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.

35 For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shell "obtain favour of the LORD.

36 But he that sinneth against me wrong. eth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.

8 Or, walk.
Or, open places. 10 Or, the chief part. 11 Or, a circle.
13 Psal. 119. 1, 2, and 128. 2. Luke 11. 28. 14 Heb. bring forth.

Verse 34. "Watching daily at my gates."-This allusion seems to be derived from a custom for persons to attend at the gates of royal palaces, either in the course of established duty, or in testimony of respect or expectation of favour from the sovereign. See the note on Esther vi. 2.

CHAPTER IX.

1 The discipline, 4 and doctrine of wisdom. 13 The custom, 16 and error of folly.

WISDOM hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:

2 She hath killed 'her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table.

3 She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city, 4 Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,

5 Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.

6 Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

7 He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot.

8 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.

9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser; teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

Il For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.

12 If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.

1 Heb. her killing. * Matt. 7.6. Job 28. 28. Psal. 111. 10. Chap. 1. 7.

Chap. 10. 27.

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