faithfulness to her marriage vows, the curse she had imprecated upon herself came upon her : instantly her belly began to swell, and her thigh to rot ; and her shame became visible to all. If, on the contrary, she was innocent, the water she had drunk produced no such effect, but rather a blessing from God came upon her.
" Such was the law of jealousies," as set forth in the chapter before us. But it is not on the provisions of this law, nor on its sanctions, that we intend to dwell : it is sufficient for us to know that such and such things were done, and that such and such effects were produced. It is to the uses of this law that we would direct your attention : and they will be found replete with interest and instruction.
Its use was two-fold ; political, and moral : I. Political —
Many of the Jewish laws were adapted exclusively to that people, and were wholly inapplicable to any other nation. The Jews lived under a Theocracy : God himself was their temporal, no less than their spiritual, Governor. Doubtful causes were referred to his decision ;. and there were means appointed for the manifestation of his will respecting them. Of this nature was the trial of a suspected wife ; it was conducted by a direct appeal to God. This singular institution was of great national utility ;
1 . As a guardian of domestic peace —
[It must almost of necessity happen, that some husband, either through the perverseness of his own temper or the indis- cretion of his wife, should feel " a spirit of jealousy " arising within him. Wherever such a thought is indulged, it corrodes, and eats out all domestic happiness ; and, especially amongst a people so hard-hearted as the Jews, who were ever ready to put away their wives on the slightest occasions, it would lead to almost an immediate dissolution of the nuptial bonds. The miseries consequent on such hasty divorces may be more easily conceived
than described — ■ But when a man had the means of
redress in his own hands, he would be less willing to indulge suspicion ; or, if it arose, he would not suffer it to rankle in his bosom : he would either dismiss it from his mind, or bring it to an issue at once; that if it were justly founded, he might be