perish with her desire;" and "thou shalt not be continually with a woman who sings beautifully;" and "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall."

14. But see what they say of the prophets, holy men, and of the apostles of our Lord. Let us see if one of the prophets kept company with virgins, or with the wives of a man, who were young, or with widows whom the divine apostle refused. Let us understand in the fear of God, the life of holy men. Behold we find that it is written of Moses and of Aaron, that their conduct and lives were with men, who lived like them; and so also Joshua, son of Nun: and a woman was not with them, but they holily ministered alone before the Lord, men with men. And not only so, but they taught the people that, whenever the camp was moved, every tribe should move apart, and women with women apart, and should come in the rear after the camp; and the men apart, in their tribes. And according to the commandment of the Lord, they set out thus like a wise people, that there might not be any confusion because of the women when the camp was moved. With manners fair and orderly they set out, without scandal. For behold! the Scriptures testify of my words, when the children of Israel had passed over the sea of Suph, Moses and the children of Israel sang the praises of the Lord, and said, "Let us praise the Lord, because he is greatly to be praised," and after Moses had ceased from singing, then Miriam, the sister of Moses and of Aaron, took a cymbal in her hands, and all the women went out after her, and sang praises with her, women with women apart, as the men with men apart.

And again, Elisha also, and Gehazi, and the sons of the prophets; similarly we find that they dwelt in the fear of God, and there were no women dwelling with them.

Micah, and all the prophets similarly, we find that they dwelt thus in the fear of the Lord.

And, not to prolong the discourse, further, what shall we say of our Lord Jesus Christ? Our Lord kept company with the twelve apostles when he came into the world. And not only so, but when he sent them out, he sent them two and two together, men with men; and women were not sent with them, and neither by the way nor in the house did they dwell with women, or with virgins, and so they pleased God in everything.

Our Lord Jesus Christ himself, also, when he talked with the Samaritan woman at the well apart, his disciples came and found him talking with her, and were astonished that Jesus was standing and talking with a woman. Behold, is not this a rule which

* i. e. "The Red Sea," or Sea of Weeds, for so it is called by the Orientals.

is not to be annulled, and a standard and pattern to all the tribes of men ?

And not only so, but when our Lord arose from the dead and Mary came to the sepulchre, she ran and fell at the feet of our Lord, and worshipped him, and sought to take hold of him. But he said unto her, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto my Father." Is it not, therefore, to be wondered at of our Lord, that he did not allow Mary the blessed woman to touch his feet? But thou dwellest with them," and art ministered unto of women and of virgins, and sleepest where they sleep, and women wash thy feet, and anoint thee! Alas, for this mind which is unbecoming! Alas, for this mind which is without fear! Alas, for this daring and folly without the fear of God! Judgest thou not thyself? Dost thou not examine thyself? Knowest thou not thyself and thy measure?

Now these things are faithful, and these things are true and righteous, and these are the unchangeable rules of those who live righteously in our Lord.

Many holy women ministered to the saints of their possessions, as the Shilomitess ministered to Elisha, but dwelt not with him; but that prophet dwelt in a house apart, and when her son died, she sought to throw herself at the feet of the prophet, and his servant suffered her not, but restrained her. And Elisha said to the young man, "Suffer her, for her soul is in bitterness." From these things, therefore, it is necessary for us to understand their mode of life. To Jesus Christ our Lord, women ministered of their possessions, but dwelt not with him : also to the apostles, also to Paul, we find that women ministered, but with them they" dwelt not. But purely and holily, and without spot, they conducted themselves before the Lord, and finished their race, and received the crown through our Lord God Almighty.

16. Therefore we beseech you, our brethren in the Lord, that these things may be observed among you as among us; and let us mind the same things, that we may be one with you, and ye may be one with us. And in everything let us all be one soul and one heart in our Lord. Every one that knoweth the Lord heareth us, and every one that is not of God heareth us not. He that will keep sanctity in truth heareth us; and the virgin who in truth desires to preserve virginity, heareth us, but she who keeps not virginity in truth heareth us not.

y i. e. The women.

ai.e. The apostles, etc.

* Heb. 2 Kings iv. 12, Shunammitess.

This is the language of high authority, cf. 1 John iv. 6, 7.

VOL. XIV.-NO. XXVII.

E

Farewell, therefore, in our Lord, and rejoice in the Lord, all ye saints.

Peace and joy be with you from God the Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Second Epistle of Clement, the disciple of the Apostles, endeth. His prayer be with us.

Amen.*

B. H. C.

CHRONOLOGY OF OUR LORD'S LAST PASSOVER.

IN a volume of Essays published in the last year, we put forward what appeared to us a satisfactory solution of an apparent discrepancy of a serious nature between the narrative of St. John and that of the earlier evangelists, relative to our Lord's last passover. That solution has not been considered satisfactory by some for whose judgment we have the highest respect, while it has been received by others. We are still satisfied as to its general correctness, but think the argument may be expressed in a better form, and in one which will enable us to answer objections of a grave kind urged against it. We will endeavour to do this in the present paper.

The narrative of the evangelists on the point in question has been always a very perplexing one. One of the latest and most esteemed of our commentators on the New Testament has candidly confessed his inability to resolve its difficulty. Dean Alford, in the latest edition of his volume on the four gospels, gives the different solutions that have been offered, with the observation that "none of them satisfy him, and that at present he has none of his own."

The difficulty arises hence:-the three earlier evangelists relate in plain language our Lord's partaking the passover with the twelve apostles, and they relate it apparently as though it was, in every circumstance, the true and proper passover or

This subscription forms no part of the original document, yet Dr. Beelen asks if Wetstein omitted the last clause of it, because they contain a profession of the doctrine of the intercession of saints. The good doctor is too much under a confessional bias. He translates the words Preces ejus nos adjuvent. The version above is literal, and the formula itself is very common in Syriac MSS. Of course it can never stand but as the wish of the transcriber, who may be anything but apostolic in his sentiments, and of a comparatively recent date. Essays, Critical and Theological. By the Rev. Henry Constable, A.M. Longman and Co.

a

The Greek Testament. By Henry Alford, D.D., 4th Edit., on Matt. xxvi. 17-19.

dained in the Old Testament. St. John, on the other hand, calls the day on which our Lord and his disciples partook, "the preparation of the passover," and tells us that when our Lord was on his trial before Pilate, and the day approaching to its close, the Pharisees and the multitude had not eaten their passover, but were only intending to do so (John xviii. 28; xix. 14). Between our Lord's passover and that of his enemies there is then, according to these accounts, an evident difference as to the time of keeping it. How are we to account for it? Have we any better solution than the supposition that one or other of these accounts is incorrect?

We have no doubt that we have. We believe that Scripture itself, carefully considered, affords us the solution, and in this way. It will be found on consideration, that the original command as to the passover was, that it should be killed at the commencement of the fourteenth day, and eaten before the morning of that fourteenth day. If this can be established, there is no difficulty whatever remaining. From Josephus we know that the Pharisaical party, and the Jews generally, killed the passover at the close of the fourteenth day, and ate it in the beginning of the fifteenth day. We have only then to suppose that our Lord followed the precept of the law, and the entire apparent discrepancy in the narratives of the evangelists is removed. The three earlier gospels relate only our Lord's passover: John, omitting all allusion to it, speaks only of the passover as it was kept by the great bulk of the people: and consequently while three gospels relate with perfect truth and accuracy the Lord's passover as past, the fourth gospel, as truly and as accurately, relates the passover of the Jews in general as yet to take place. The varying accounts of the evangelists are, in fact, the accurate representations of things as they actually happened,-are the indications of exact truth, not of imperfection or falsehood. While in strong corroboration of this view, though not essential to it, we think we shall find that among the Jews there was a small party agreeing with our Lord in keeping their passover, as we suppose him to have kept his, at a different time from that observed by the majority.

In pursuing our subject we shall first have to consider carefully the limits of the Jewish day,-when it began, and when it ended. Beyond question, we think it was reckoned from one evening to the next: it began at even, and it ended at even.

In

The origin of this mode of reckoning their civil day would appear to be from Moses' account of the days of creation. Gen. i. 5, we read, "the evening and the morning were the first day." And so, when speaking of each succeeding day,

Moses always represents its evening as its commencing period, and the evening after as the commencement of the following day, i. e., he reckons each day as lasting from one evening to the next. That the Jews thus reckoned their days, one or two passages are quite sufficient proof. "From even unto even shall ye celebrate your Sabbath," was God's command to his people (Levit. xxiii. 32). Of course the other days of the week had the same limits as the Sabbath days. That they had we need go no farther than a single passage. In 1 Sam. xiv. 28, we read, "cursed be the man that eateth any food this day." But in the 24th verse, where we first read of Saul's adjuration, we find that the words he used were "cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening." From a comparison of the two expressions, we find that it was the recognized opinion that the day ended when evening came, and thus each evening ended one day and began the next. The Jewish day was from even to

even.

We will next shew that evening, when thus used as the limit of the day, is equivalent to sunset. In Levit. xxii. 6, 7, we read, "The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even," "and when the sun is down he shall be clean." Here even is equivalent with sunset as marking the limit of the day. Further proof seems scarcely requisite, but we will bring forward a few other passages to the same effect. In Judges xiv., we read of Samson's riddle. Seven days were given to find it out, and if not found out before the seventh day was ended, Samson was to win. The time specified had all but elapsed ere Samson's wife induces him to tell it to her (ver. 17). At the very close of it she succeeds, and enables her countrymen to conquer: "and the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day, before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey?" etc. The plain intimation here is, that if the sun had gone down the seventh day would have been ended, and Samson the winner. Sunset ended the day. So the day continued to be reckoned in our Lord's time. In Mark i. 32, we read, "And at even, when the sun was set, they brought unto him all that were diseased," etc. The day on which Christ healed Simon's mother-in-law being a Sabbath (ver. 20), the people refrained from bringing their sick to him till the Sabbath was past, which was at even or sunset. See also Luke iv. 40. From these passages it is evident that evening, when used to express the limit of the civil day, is equivalent to sunset, and that the setting of the sun marked the close of one day and the beginning of the next.

This is indeed a point which is seldom disputed, and which it may appear useless to dwell upon. As it is however of con