Y,•r. 12.-Caetln. Thie rendering, better i.e. the quotation is drawn from an army than" palci.res" (mnrgin), would bear improv- catalogue, e.rranged carefully by fathers' ing to the rnt\Jer •tronger word "fortresses," houses (Numb. i. 18, 22, et.o.). He\Jn:'w, ;,i•_l:,'~. found only here and in oh. Ver. 15.-The oapte.ln. Bonge.in reCLd, th6 xx,ii. 4, plw-. of n•~:,,.:; oonneoted with the prin08, Che.Idec and later Hebrew, 1"1"J':l!, of Ezra Ver. I 6.-Amuiah, the ■on of ZlohrL This vi. 2; Neh. i. 1; Eeth. i. 2; Dan. viii. 2. mo.n is not titled 11t 1111. The description of Citiee of store ( see note under eh. viii. 4; eee him BB one who he.4 willingly offered himeelt e.leo 1 Kings ix. 19; Exod. i. 11). unto the Lord, not elucide.ted by the oontext or Ver. 18.-Kuoh busi.neu; Hebrew, n;,l\'n:). any effective pe.re.Uel, ,vill me.rk something honourable in his history. Possibly he The meaning of the word is " servioe,1' oomes front l\ll unexpected quarter, and is a "Jabour bestowed;" and the verse re11.da, man of approved skill. Nothing further is " And there was to him much labour in the known of these three men. Mee.ntime it cities of Judah, 11.nd men of war, mighty he.s been suggested (Professor Dr. J. Murphy, men of valour, in Jernsalcm;" i.e. He be- of Belfast, ' Handbook to Chronicles') the.t ~to,oeth much pains on the eitillll of Juda"h, the first of the three WBB for Judah proper and had, et.c. The word "were," Authorized the second for that contingent of Jude.h Version it.ali~, is inoorreotly inserted. The that hailed from Dan and the Philistines ; former half of this v61'Be would better oon- and the third for thCLt of Simeon and the etitute the end of ver. 12. Keil, however, .Arabs. maintains the rendering "substance," "pro- Ver. 17.-0f"'Beujamin ... armed men perty," for ~N'r-? (Ei:od. :nil. 7, 10). with bow and ehield (see oh. xiv. 8, and Ver. 14.-This verse, with the following note thereunder). four, gives us the names of five ce.pte.ins, Ver.18.-While Elie.de. of last verse was chiefs. princai. or military officers for the for Benjamin, Professor Dr. Murphy sup- kingdom's service, with the numbers of the poses that J" ehozabad was for the annexed troops they severally commanded. The part of Ephraim. But no suppositions of this numbere of them (see note under 1 C!uon. kind can ave.ii to explain the numbers in xxiii. 11); Hebrew, oi:;iri,p. The better the text, which is no doubt corrupt. Eng"lish rendering to ce.rry at once the signi- Ver.19.-These waited; Hebrew, c•i:,~~7?;:,, fication would be, The muster of them, etc. plur. piel part. of n:,~. The verse st.o.tcs The oapte.ine . . . the ohief. In both ce.ses tha.t this enormous fivefold army, with its the Hebrew is the femilie.r word for " prince " five princes (counting, in our corrupt text, (,t); in the former without article, in the one million one hundred and sixty thousand), latter with article. The numbers of this wo.s the king's Jerusalem standing army, nnd following fom verses are not only abso- while other separate regiments or bands of lutely unreliable, bnt in themselves impos- troops were spread through all Judah, where aible. .6.ocording to the hoUBe of their fathem j they might be most needed for defence.
HOMILETICS. Vere. 1-9.-Thejirst chapter of Jehosho,phat's career. Although to the end Jeho- shaphat was neither an unfaithful king nor an unfaithful man, and certainly no apostate, yet the first chapter of bis career reads the best. The mounting of the sun was fine, but clouds hung about the noonday sun, and the setting was not a sky of perfect western glory. '£he unfolding of the bud looked towards a perfect flower, but some blight seemed to visit it, and some worm was in the fruit. The three chief features of this be!tlnning of Jehoshaphat's reign show most healthfully, as follows:- L Hie VARIED DETERMINED ATTENTION AND DEVOTION TO HOM!/:, Policy would dictate it, kindness and love would urge it, in all the wide range of its analogies; wis- dom would smile upon it; but duty, with solemn, dignified. voice, commands it. The Christian of youngest earliest faith is taught to provide for hie own household; the apostles are to begin at Jerusalem; the man of business belies the name and forfeits hie character, and brings himself to the ground, if he do not follow a similar rule; and cer- tainly the king and the man in authority, be the nature of hie rule what it may, can me.ke hiIDJ1elf no exception. We see with satisfaction King Jehoshaphat make hie footing sure in this essential way. These all rehearse the principle that every man must rule first the domain of his own innermost kingdom, hie own heart and life, where Done may rule, nay, none can, except himself-or himself and God! ll. llI8 LEGl8LATION FOB THE REVIVAL OF THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION OF TUE en. xvrr. 1-19.) THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. 207