nnm<'s wit.bin the space of ten vel'8es, we now from the high lands of India. It. exude~ 11,ust ""fll'°"e the latter to be meant.. Gum from a tree ea.lied 11alai (the BofflJellia aer- st,,rax i• the producl' of a tree allied to the rata or thurifera of botanists). Some think puplu, and known as Slyr'ax officinali8, 11·hich t.bat the frankincense exported I_a.rgely from t:row• abundonily in Syria and Palestine. It Arabia to the nc1ghbourmg nations wa.e in WIIE frequently used 11.& a perfume by the part the produce of this tree imported by the 11ncient~ (Herod. iii. 107; Plin. H. N. xii. Arab merchants from Hindustan. 17. §40). Onyoha. The Hebrew word, ehL- Ver. 35.--A oonfeotion after the art of the kheleth. seems to mean a " shell " of eome apoth80&l'J. Like the holy oil, the incense kind or other. The Greek llvu(, Lat. l'IRT/CM,, wu to be artistically compounded by ono w·as applied to the ~eo,lfJlm-the " na.i1 " or accostomed to dceJ l\'ith such ingredients. •· cla.w ·~f certain sbell-fuih of the genus It w11.& a.ct.nally, in the fim inst.a.nee, the Strombida,, which were common in the Red work of Beza.lecl (eh. xxvii. 29). Tempered. Seo.. and elsewhere. The particular st,,l>ffillfJI, together. This translation is supported by which furnishes the envcha of the ancients is the anthority of the Septuagint and the Vnl- t.hougbt to have been- the Unguu odora.tu gate, and is defended by Canon Cook. But or Bln.tta Byzantina. The opercuJ.a of these the mess of modern critics is in favour of the shell-fish have, when burnt, a. strong odonr, tJ-ansla.tion "salted," or "with salt." (So "something like castoreum." The onycha is, Buxtorf, Geseniue, De Wette, Kalisch, Keil, again coupled with geJh&num and gum st.ora.x etc.) Knobel suggests" comminuted," identi- in Eccl. xxiv. 15 Galbuum. The Hebrew fying mal.akb. with marakh. The point is word kh.eU,'nah, is so nea.r the Greek X'".IW"'I not one of much importance. and the Latin galbanum tha.t it h!LS with Ver. 36. --Thou ahalt beat some of it vel'J good reason been assumed to designate the 1111&11. This is a.ge.illst Knobel's rendering same substance. Ge.lba.num is a gnm well of mal.akh, which wonld imply that all was known both to ancients and modems. It is broken into small pieces. A certain portion admitted into the phanna.copeia. Several only wo.s to be thue prepared from time to plants seem to prodnce it, !LS the Opoidia gol- time a.nd placed ready for offering. It was bat1((era, the Galha,wm Peraicwm, and a plant to be put before the testimony-i.e., opposite which grows in Northern Persia., very like the erk, bnt outside the veil. This near the Ferula eru.bescens. When bnrnt, geJha- vicinity to the Divine Presence rendered it num has a strong pungent odour, which is moat holy. said to be disagreeable by itself, but to im- Vers. 87, 38.-Ye shall not make unto prove and preserve other odonrs (Plin. H. N. younelvu, etc. None shall be ma.de by any xii. 54). l'rlmlr:ino8118e, On the wide use of man for private ose according to the same frankincense, see the comment on ver. 1 It recipe, since the compound, as described, is "·as the produce of a tree which anciently "holy unto the Lord." If any man does so, tiourished in Arabia, but which appears to he &ball be " cut off from among his people " have degenerated, and now prodnces only a.n -i.e., "pnt t.o death by the civil authority." uiferior quality. The best fra.n.kincense comes (See eh. x.u.i. 14.)
HOMILETICS. Vers. 34-38.-The Holy [ru:,e'TIM. Let us note here- I. Tm: COIIPOllITION OF THE INCENSE (vers. 34, 35). The utmost care was taken in the law that the incense should be properly composed, of the right materials, in the nght proportion. Equal care is to be taken by Christians with their incense. Prayer ih not to be ad.ventured on rashly, carelessly, unprepa.redly. The matter, even the v~ry words, of prayer should be carefully weighed beforehand. To app~oach God with unworthy thoughts, to beseech him for those temporal advantages which we ought to regard as of no moment at aJ.J. is to "pray a.miss n_to app~o_ach him ~ith." strange incense." Equally unbecoming is it to use homely or over-familiar expressions in prayer. What we have to aim at is to reflect "the mind of Christ." Christ has given us three pattern prayers--1. The Lord's prayer; 2. The intercessory prayer after the_ last supper (John xvii.), and 3. The prayer in the garden of Gethsemane (Matt._xxv1. 39). Let tLese be our frankincense, and stacte, and onycha. For a fourth rr_atenal, we may us, tL;, Psalmi; of David---especially the penitentia.J Psa.Jrw;. We need not then to fear lest our wcense should be "strange." II. 'Im; CONTINUAL PBESENTATION OF THE INCENSE (ver. 30).-A portion of the incelli,c was to be" beaten very 6mall, and put before the testimony "--i.e., before the ark ~d the pre~ence of God, where it was to remain continually. It was not to be lighted, CR, XXll. 1-38.] THE BOOK OF EXODUS.
but to bo in constant readiness for lighti~g. So there is in the Christian heart a pr"yer• fnl temper, ever present before God, which God accepts and values, in the interv,il~ oetween actual prnyer. Our incense cannot always be mounting in cloud after cloud to ,he courts of henven. But the temper may be in us, ree.dy to kindle, at all times. . 111. THE VALUE OP THE INCENSE. The incense was among the things that were "most oly" (ver. 36). God set special store by it. He would have it near him-in front of he tabernacle----only just outside the vail-and he would have it there constantly. 8o t pleases him to value the prayers of his saints. Angels offer them (Rev. viii. 3). They .ascend before his throne (ib. 4). They are acceptable to him. They have power witb. him. "'fhe effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man ava.ileth much" (Jam. v. 16). One humble prayer, breathed by the publican, gained him forgiveness--" justified" him. One earnest prayer, uttered by the penitent thief, obtained him Paradise. There is no limit to the value of faithful prayer, whereby we draw upon the bank of omnipotence.