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Л TAPHUAH.

APPLE-TREE. Occ. Prov. xxv. 11. Cantic. ii. 3. 5. vii. 8. viii. 5. Joel, i. 12. M. Maillet, Let. ix. p. 15. every where expresses a strong prejudice in favour of Egypt; its air, its water, and all its productions are incomparable. He acknowledges, however, that its apples and pears are very bad, and that in respect to these fruits, Egypt is as little favoured as almost any place in the world; that some, and those very indifferent that are carried thither from Rhodes and Damascus, are sold very dear. As the best apples of Egypt, though ordinary, are brought thither by sea from Rhodes, and by land from Damascus, we may believe that Judea, an intermediate country between Egypt and Damascus, has none that are of any value. This is abundantly confirmed by D'Arvieux, who observed that the fruits that are most commonly eaten by the Arabs of Mount Carmel were figs, grapes, dates, apples, and pears, which they have from Damascus; apricots, both fresh and dried, melons, pasteques, or water-melons, which they make use of in summer instead of water to quench their thirst 46. The Arabs then, of Judea, can find no apples there worth eating, but have them brought from Damascus, as the people of Egypt have 47.

Can it be imagined, then, that the apple trees of which the prophet Joel speaks, ch. i. 12. and which he mentions among the things that gave joy to the inhabitants of Judea, were those that we call by that name? Our translators must surely have been mistaken here, since the apples which the inhabitants of Judea eat at this day are of foreign growth, and at the same time but very indifferent.

Bp. Patrick, in his commentary on the Canticles, chap. vii. v. 8. supposes that the word Л TAPPUCHIM, translated apples, is to be understood of the fruit to which we give that name, and also of oranges, citrons, peaches, and all fruits that breathe a fragrant odour; but the justness of this may be questioned. The Roman authors, it is true, call pomegranates, quinces, citrons, peaches, apricots, all by the common name of apples, only adding an epithet to distinguish them from the species of fruit which we call by that name, and from one another; but it does not appear that the Hebrew writers do so too. The pomegranate certainly has its appropriate name; and the book of Canticles seems to mean a particular species of trees by this term, since it prefers them to all the trees of the wood. This author then does not seem to be in the right when he gives such a vague sense to the word.

What sort of tree and fruit then are we to understand by the word, since probably one particular species is designed by it, and

46 Voyage dans la Palestine, p. 201.

47 Dr. Russell mentions " two or three sorts of apples, but all very bad.” Nat. Hist. of Aleppo, p. 21.

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it cannot be supposed to be the proper apple-tree? There are five places, besides this in Joel, in which the word occurs, and from them we learn that it was thought the noblest of the trees of the wood, and that its fruit was very sweet or pleasant, Cantic. ii. 3; of the colour of gold, Prov. xxv. 11; extremely fragrant, Cantic. vii. 8: and proper for those to smell that were ready to faint, Cantic. ii. 5. The fifth passage, Cantic. viii. 5. contains nothing particular; but the description which the other four give answers to the Citron-tree and its fruit.

It may be thought possible, that the orange and the lemon tree, which now grow in Judea in considerable numbers 48, as well as the citron, equally answer to the description. But it is to be remembered that it is very much doubted by eminent naturalists, Ray in particular 49, whether they were known to the ancients; whereas it is admitted they were acquainted with the citron. The story that Josephus tells us 50 of the pelting of king Alexander Jannæus by the Jews with their citrons at one of their feasts, plainly proves that they were acquainted with that fruit some generations before the birth of our Lord, and it is supposed to have been of much longer standing in that country 51. We may be sure that the taphuah was very early known in the Holy Land, as it is mentioned in the book of Joshua as having given name to a city of Manasseh and one of Judah 52. Several interpreters and critics render y Levit. xxiii. 40, branches (or fruit) of the beautiful tree; and understand it of the citron 53; and it is known that the Jews still make use of the fruit of this tree at their yearly feast of tabernacles.

Citron-trees are very noble, being large, their leaves beautiful, ever continuing on the tree, of an exquisite smell, and affording a most delightful shade. It might well, therefore, be said, "As the citron-tree is among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons."

This is a delicate compliment, comparing the fine appearance of the Prince, amid his escort, to the superior beauty with which

48 Thevenot observed the gardens at Naplouse to be full of orange as well as citron trees; Part i. p. 215; and Egmont and Heyman saw lemon trees at Hattin and Saphet in Galilee, vol. ii. p. 40-48. See also Pococke's Travels, vol. ii. p. 67; Rauwolf, p. 2. c. 22. p. 427.

49 Dr. Shaw appears to be of the same opinion.

50 Antiq. Jud. 1. xiii. c. 13. sec. 5.

51 Dr. Russell says that citrons are brought from Jerusalem to Aleppo for the Jews on their great feasts. [M. S. note quoted by Dr. Adam Clarke.]

52 Josh. xv. 34. and 53. and xvii. 12. See also Eusebius in Beth-tapuah. 53 Onkelos, Syr. Saadias, Dathe, Michaelis, and Parkhurst. The Israelites, says Dr. Geddes, might take the fruit, or shoots, here mentioned, from any goodly or luxuriant tree; though he is inclined to think that peri, here means not fruit, properly so called, but young growing shoots or boughs, as in our public version; although Delgado finds fault with it on that account, and although the bulk of commentators are on his side. Houbigant, however, has surculos, and Junius termetes.

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the citron-tree appears among the ordinary trees of the forest; and the compliment is heightened by an allusion to the refreshing shade and the exhilarating fruit.

Shade, according to Mr. Wood 54, is an essential article of oriental luxury, the greatest people enjoying, and the meanest coveting its refreshment. Any shade must, in so hot a country, afford a great delight; but the shade of the citron-tree must have yielded double pleasure on account of its ample foliage and fragrant smell. Egmont and Heyman were served with coffee in a garden at Mount Sinai, under the shade of some fine orange trees 55. The mention of the fruit, in connection with reclining under a shade, may refer to the eastern custom of shaking down the fruit on the heads of those who sat under the tree. So Dr. Pococke tells us that when he was at Sidon he was entertained in a garden under the shade of some apricot trees, and the fruit of them was shaken down upon him for his repast 56. So that the Spouse may be supposed to remark: "Pleasant is every tree in this hot country, but especially so are those that are remarkably shady; among which none have pleased me so well as the citron-tree, whose umbrage and fragrance have been extremely reviving, and whose fruit is so delicious; and such as the citrontree is to me among ignoble trees, my beloved is among the common crowd."

The exhilarating effects of the fruit are mentioned verse 5. "Comfort me with citrons." Egmont and Heyman tell us of an Arabian who was in a great measure brought to himself when overcome with wine by the help of citrons and coffee 57. How far this may be capable of illustrating the ancient practice of relieving those who were fainting by the use of citrons, I leave, says Mr. Harmer, to medical gentlemen to determine. Abu'l Fadli says, "Odor ejus exhilarat animum, restituit vires, et spiritum restaurat ;" and Rabbi Solomon, "Est arbor omnium amabilissima, fructum ferens gustu et odore optimum."

As the fragrance of the fruit is admirable, the breath of the spouse might, with great propriety, be compared to citrons; whereas, the pertinency of the comparison is lost when understood of apples.

"More sweet the fragrance which thy breath exhales
Than citron groves refresh'd by morning gales 58 "

Mr. Harmer, from whom the principal part of this article is taken, observes that the Chaldee paraphrast on Cantic, ii, 3, understood the word in the same way 59.

54 Account of the Ruins of Balbec, p. 5.

55 See Pococke's Obs. in Harmer's Outlines of a Commentary on Solomon's Song, p. 248,

56 Travels, vol. ii. p. 85.

58 Mrs. Francis's translation.

57 Vol. ii. p. 36.

59 Obs. vol. ii. p. 159. 4th edit.

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I will only farther add, that, to the manner of serving up these citrons in his court, Solomon seems to refer, when he says, word fitly spoken is like golden citrons in silver baskets;" whether, as Maimonides supposes, in baskets wrought with open work, or in salvers curiously chased, it nothing concerns us to determine; the meaning is, that an excellent saying, suitably expressed, is as the most acceptable gift in the fairest conveyance. So the Rabbins say that the tribute of the first ripe fruits was carried to the temple in silver baskets.

Celsius, however, has displayed much learning to prove that the man should be understood of the Mala Cydonia, or Quinces: but this fruit, though beautiful and very fragrant, is not pleasant to the palate while the author of "Scripture Illustrated," from the testimony of M. Forskal, who says that the apple-tree is called tuffah, seems inclined to retain the common version.

ASH-TREE. NOREN; Arab. arân; Lat. ornus.

This word occurs Isaiah, xliv. 14. The Septuagint and Vulgate render it the pine; but Celsius gives from Abu'l Fadli a description of the arân, which agrees very well with what we call "the prickly ash."

.PETEN פתן .ASP

The baten of M. Forskal 60. Occ. Deut. xxxii. 33. Job, xx. 14. 16. Psal. lviii. 4. xci. 13. Isai. xi. 8.

A very venomous serpent, whose poison is so subtle as to kill within a few hours with a universal gangrene.

This may well refer to the baten of the Arabians, which M. Forskal describes as spotted with black and white, about one foot in length, and nearly half an inch in thickness; oviparous; its bite is instant death. It is the aspic of the ancients, and is so called now by the literati of Cyprus, though the common people call it kufi (8) deaf61.

I take the opportunity here of introducing a criticism of Mr. Merrick upon Psal. cxi. 13. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. "Bochart observes that the most ancient interpreters, the Septuagint, the Vulgate, St. Jerom, Apollinaris, the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, render the Hebrew word, which our translators have rendered lion,' the asp; and this learned critic himself thinks it probable that the Psalmist throughout this verse speaks of serpents only. He also observes that Nicander has mentioned a sort of serpent by the name of Aɛwv aoλos, the spotted lion; and that the word translated 'young lion' is, in other places of scripture, rendered by the Septuagint

60 "Totus maculatus albo nigroque. Longitudo pedalis; crassities fere bipollicaris. Ovipara. Morsus in instanti necat, corpore vulnerato intumescente," Rosenmuller says, "Ego certius puto colubrum bæten Forskalii pro Hæbreorum n habere."

61 Comp. Psal. Iviii. 4, with Job, xx. 14. where deafness is ascribed to the peten.

a dragon. (See Job, iv. 10, and xxxviii. 39.) He likewise takes notice of the word Xapaiλewv, or ground lion, given to an animal well known. The late learned Dr. Shaw, in a printed specimen of a natural history of animals which he once showed me, conjectured that the chameleon was so called from its leaping upon its prey like a lion: and it is not impossible that the name of lion might, for the like reason, be given to the serpent mentioned by Nicander; as also to the lion-lizard, which is, if I mistake not, mentioned by Mr. Catesby in his natural history of South Carolina. Bochart himself, in the former part of his learned work, informs us that the chameleon is called also by more than one of the Arabian poets, bakira, the lioness; and that an animal, like the chameleon, is called in their language leo-iphrin, from the place where it is bred 62,"

Were this supposition, that the Psalmist here mentions serpents only, well established, the translation of the whole verse might stand thus:

Behold the Asp, whose boiling veins
Had half the poison of the plains
Imbib'd, before thee vanquish'd lie,
And close in death his languid eye;
Go, fearless on the dragon tread,

And press the wrath-swoln adder's head.

To give the highest probability to the accuracy of this translation, it need only to be remembered that, "ambulabis super leonem,” seems quite improper, as men do not in walking tread upon lions as they do upon serpents. See ADDER.

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With the PETHEN we may compare the python of the Greeks, which was, according to fable, a huge serpent that had an oracle at Mount Parnassus, famous for predicting future events. Apollo is said to have slain this serpent, and hence he was called "Pythius 63 " Those possessed with a spirit of divination were also styled Пubwves, Pythones. The word occurs Acts, xvi. 16, as the characteristic of a young woman who had a pythonic spirit ; and it is well known that the serpent was particularly respected by the heathen in their enchantments and divinations. See SERPENT.

ASS. CHAMOR. Arabic, chamara, and hamar; Ethiopic, Ehmire; and Turkish, hymar.

There are three words referred by translators to the Ass. 1. CHAMOR, which is the usual appellation, and denotes the ordinary kind; such as is employed in labour, carriage, and domestic services. (2.) No PARA, rendered onager, or wild ass.

63 "Leo-Iphrin (says an Arabic Lexicographer) est animal ut chamæleon, quod equitem invadet, et cauda sua percutit,

63 Gale, Court of the Gentiles, vol. 1. book 2, c. 4, says that Apollo is so named from Aroλv, to destroy. Hence APOLLYON, the destroyer. Com. Rev. ix. 11. 64 Plutarch de Defect. Orac. as cited by Wetstein, tom. ii. p. 414.

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