tament. Thus Gen. xvi. 12, it is prophesied of Ishmael that he should be DN PARA ADAM, a wild-ass man; rough, untaught, and libertine as a wild ass. So Hosea, xiii. 15. "He (Ephraim) hath run wild (literally assified himself) amidst the braying monsters." So again Hosea, viii. 9, the very same character is given of Ephraim, who is called "a solitary wild ass by himself," or perhaps a solitary wild ass of the desert; for the original will bear to be so rendered. This proverbial expression has descended among the Arabians to the present day, who still employ, as Schultens has remarked, the expressions, "the ass of the desert," or "the wild ass," to describe an obstinate, indocile, and contumacious person. In Job, xxiv. 5. robbers and plunderers are distinguished by the odious term of D'ND PERAIM, wild asses. The passage refers, evidently, says Mr. Good, "not to the proud and haughty tyrants themselves, but to the oppressed and needy wretches, the Bedoweens and other plundering tribes, whom their extortion and violence had driven from society, and compelled in a body to seek for subsistence by public robbery and pillage. In this sense the description is admirably forcible and characteristic." So the son of Sirach says, Ecclus. xiii. 19. “As the wild ass [ovayɛg] is the lion's prey in the wilderness; so the rich eat up the poor.

The wild ass is said not to bray over grass, Job, vi. 5; and we may connect with this, by way of contrast, the description of a drought by the prophet Jeremiah, xiv. 6. "The hind dropped her calf in the forest field, and forsook it because there was no grass; and the wild asses stood on the rising grounds, blowing out their breath like TANINIM, while their eyes failed because there was no vegetable of any kind.”

That this PARA is a creature roaming at large in the forests appears from the passage already cited from Job, xxix. 5. We have the word in a feminine form 5 PAREH, Jerem. ii. 2477. "A female wild ass used to the wilderness in her desire snuffeth up the wind of her occasion. Who can turn her away? All who seek her, shall they not be tired? When her heat is over they may find her78." This was, perhaps, designed to insinuate to God's people, by way of reproach, that they were less governable than even the brute beast, which, after having followed the bent of appetite for a little time, would cool again and return quietly to her owners; but the idolatrous fit seemed never to abate, nor to suffer the people to return to their duty.

77 Thirty of Dr. KENNICOTT'S Codices read 79.

78 I am inclined to think, says Mr. DIMOCK, that, in the latter part of this verse, л is put for w," they shall find her in the wood;" for, though the new moon, as LUD. DE DIEU observes, might be applicable to the idolatry of the Jews, yet it does not seem to have any reference to the wild ass here spoken of, but the wood may carry an allusion both to the ass which frequents it, and to the idolatrous worship of the Israelites in the groves mentioned ch. xvii. 2, and elsewhere.

The prophet Isaiah, xxxii. 14, describes great desolation by saying that "the wild asses shall rejoice where a city stood." III. There is another kind of ass, called in Scripture Л ATON, ATONOTH. Abraham had ATONOTH; Gen. xii. 16. Balaanı rode on an ATON; Num. xxii. 23; and we learn from GMELIN that the breed from the onager is very fit for performing a long journey, like that of Balaam; that this kind of ass is endowed with vigorous faculties, so as to discern obstacles readily; is also obstinate to excess when beaten behind, when put out of his way, or when attempted to be controlled against his will; and that at the sight of danger it emits a kind of cry. It is also familiar, and attached to its master 79. These particulars agree correctly with certain incidents in the history of the ass of Balaam80.

We find from 1 Chron. xxvii. 30, that David had an officer expressly appointed to superintend his ATONOTH; not his ordinary asses, but those of a nobler race: which implies at least equal dignity in this officer to his colleagues mentioned with him.

This notion of the ATON gives also a spirit to the history of Saul, who, when his father's ATONOTH were lost, was at no little pains to seek them; moreover, as besides being valuable, they were uncommon, he might the more readily hear of them if they had been noticed or taken up by any one: and this leads to the true interpretation of the servant's proposed application to Samuel, verse 6, as though he said, "In his office of magistracy this honourable man may have heard of these strayed rarities, and secured them by some one; peradventure he can direct us." This keeps clear both of expected fortune-telling, and of the exercise of prophetic prediction in Samuel on this occasion, which I apprehend is desirable; and it implies the competence, if not the wealth, of Saul's family.

We have now to remark the allusion of the dying Jacob to his son Judah, Gen. xlix. 11. "Binding his foal (cireh) to the vine, and the colt of his aton to his vine of Sorek." This idea of a valuable kind of ass, and of Judah's possessing young of the same breed, implies a dignity, a fertility, and an increase of both, which does not appear in the usual phraseology of the passage 81.

Thus we find that these atonoth are mentioned in Scripture,

79 GMELIN, Journal de Physique, V. 21, suppl. 1782.

80 For an elucidation of the whole of this remarkable story, the reader is referred to a tract by ABRAHAM OAKES. Lond. 1751. 8vo. to BOCHART, Hieroz. V. 1. lib. 2. ch. 14. p. 160. and to JORTIN'S Dissertations.

66

81 "Our translation loses the grace of this passage by rendering “foal” and colt," which are the same in import: whereas the first word properly signifies a lively young ass, the second a strong she ass of the spirited race of the Alonoth.” Scrip. Illustr. p. 33.

"In those eastern countries the vines have large stems. Chardin saw some in Persia which he could hardly grasp. After the vintage is over, the cattle feed on the leaves and tendrils. This and the following verse give us a most graphic picture of the fertility of that tract which fell to the tribe of Judah, abounding in vineyards and fine pasturage. Geddes. Cr. Rem.

only in the possession of judges, patriarchs, and other great men; insomuch that where these are there is dignity, either expressed or implied. They were, also, a present for a prince; for Jacob presented Esau with twenty, Gen. xxxii. 15. What then shall we say of the wealth of Job, who possessed a thousand!

IV. We proceed to notice another word which is rendered "wild-ass" by our translators, Job, xxxix. 5. ORUD; which seems to be the same that in the Chaldee of Daniel, v. 21, is called oredia. Mr. Parkhurst supposes that this word denotes the brayer, and that PARA and ORUD are only two names for the same animal. But these names may perhaps refer to different races though of the same species; so that a description of the properties of one may apply to both, though not without some

variation.

Who sent out the PARA free?

Or who hath loosed the bands of the ORUD?
Whose dwelling I have made the wilderness,
And the barren land (salt deserts) his resort;
The range of open mountains are his pasture,
And he searcheth after every green thing.

Gmelin observes that the onager is very fond of salt. Whether these were salt marshes, or salt deserts, is of very little consequence. The circumstance greatly adds to the expression and correctness of the Hebrew naturalist.

In Daniel we read that Nebuchadnezzar dwelt with the OREdia. We need not suppose that he was banished to the deserts, but was at most kept safely in an enclosure of his own park, where curious animals were kept for state and pleasure. If this be correct, then the ORUD was somewhat, at least, of a rarity at Babylon; and it might be of a kind different from the PARA, as it is denoted by another name. May it not be the Gicquetei of Professor Pallas, the wild mule of Mongalia, which surpasses the onager in size, beauty, and perhaps in swiftness? He advises to cross this breed with that of the onager, as a means of perfecting the species of the ass. Consequently it is allied to this species, and may be alluded to in the passage of Job where it is associated with the para, unless some other exotic breed of ass was better known to Job, or in the countries connected with Babylon. It is the hemi-onos, or half-ass, of Aristotle, found in his days in Syria; and he celebrates it for its swiftness, and fecundity (a breeding mule being thought a prodigy). Pliny, from the report of Theophrastus, speaks of this species being found in Cappadocia. Its general description is that of a mule. Its colour is light yellowish gray, growing paler towards the sides. It lives in small herds; each male having four, five, or more females. It is proverbial for swiftness. This reference is strengthened by the opinion of Mr. Good, who says that this animal inhabits Arabia, China, Siberia, and Tartary, in grassy, saline plains, or salt wastes; is timid, swift, untamable; its hearing and smell are acute; neighing more sonorous than that

of the horse; in size and habits resembling a mule; but, though called the wild mule, is not a hybrid production. The ears and tail resemble those of the zebra; the hoofs and body those of the ass; the limbs those of the horse. I have no doubt that this is the animal which the Arabs of the present day call Jumar. It is described by Pennant under the name given it by the Mongalians, which is dschikketai. The Chinese call it yo-to-tse. From the Mongalian, Dr. Shaw has called it Jikta. Mr. Elphinstone, in describing the desert of Canound, says, "The goorkhur, or wild ass, so well depicted in the book of Job, is found here. This animal is sometimes found alone, but oftener in herds. resembles a mule rather than an ass, but is of the colour of the latter. It is remarkable for its shyness, and still more for its speed; at a kind of shuffling trot, peculiar to itself, it will leave the fleetest horses behind 82"

It

Thus have we proposed those authorities which induce us to adopt a distinction of breeds, or races, if not of kiuds, in the species of the ass; and the reader will agree with us in maintaining such a distinction is countenanced by Scripture, and by natural history also.

As to the OIRIM, rendered young asses, Isai. xxxvi. 24, we need not suppose that they were a distinct breed or species; but merely the ass in its state of maturity, strength, and vigour; as they are spoken of as carrying loads, tilling the ground, and assisting in other works of husbandry. In Isai. xxxvi. 6, it is spelt OURIM; but in verse 24, we read OIRIM, labouring the earth in conjunction with oxen.

In Proverbs, xxvi. 3, we read of " a whip for the horse, and a bridle for the ass." According to our notions, we should rather say, a bridle for the horse and a whip for the ass: but it should be considered that the Eastern asses, particularly those of the Arabian breed, are much more beautiful, and better goers than ours, and so, no doubt, they were anciently in Palestine; and, being active and well broken, would need only a bridle to guide them; whereas their horses being scarce, and often caught wild, and badly broken, would be much less manageable, and frequently require the correction of the whip. That the ass, however, was driven by a rod, is apparent from this passage, Ecclus. xxxiii. 24. "Fodder, a wand, and burdens are for the ass; and bread, correction, and work for a servant 84"

82 Account of the kingdom of Cabul, &c. Lond. 1816.

83 For an account of the exploit of Samson with "the jaw-bone of an ass,' Jud. xv. 15, the curious are referred to Bochart, Hieroz. V. 1. ch. ii. c. 15. p. 171. Eichorn, Einleit in das A. T. p. 2. § 460. p. 488. Justi, uber Simsons starke, im Repertorio fur bibl. und. morg. litteratur, p. vii. Herder, geist der Hebraeischen Poesie, p. ii. p. 250. Diedrichs, zur geschichte Simsons. Goetting. 1778. Hezel, Schrifftforscher, p. 1. p. 663, and the learned Jacob Bryant, Obs. on Passages of Scripture.

84 This article is taken principally from "Scripture Illustrated," in addition to Calmet.

This word in a plural form occurs Exod. xxv. 5; xxvi. 14; xxxv. 7, 23; xxxvi. 19; xxxix. 34; Numb. iv. 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 25; and Ezek. xvi. 10; and is joined with my OROTH, skins used for the covering of the tabernacle in the wilderness. In Exod. xxv. 5, and xxvi. 14, it is rendered by the Chaldee word DD with the Chaldee prefix 7; and in the Latin version it is taxonum," of badgers; in every other place where it occurs in the Pentateuch (except Numb. iv. 10) the Chaldee word is without the prefix, and the Latin rendering is "hyacinthinæ." In Numb. iv. 10, the 7 is prefixed, yet the Latin version is the same as in the other places where it is not prefixed. Our version follows the Targum, and in every place renders D'wan ny OROTH TACHASIM by " Badger's skins."

"Few terms," says Dr. A. Clarke, "have afforded greater perplexity to critics and commentators than this. Bochart has exhausted the subject, and seems to have proved that no kind of animal is here intended, but a colour. None of the versions acknowledge an animal of any kind, except the Chaldee, which supposes the badger is intended; and from it we have borrowed our translation of the word. The Septuagint and Vulgate have skins dyed of a violet colour; the Syriac, azure; the Arabic, black; the Coptic, violet; the Persic, ram's skins. The colour contended for by Bochart is the hysginus, which is a very deep blue; so Pliny, "coccoque tinctum Tyrio tingere, ut fieret hysginum 85," they dip crimson in purple, to make the colour called hysginus.

Dr. Geddes, however, observes that he should hardly think that the writer, if he had meant to express only a variety of colour in the ram's skins, would have repeated my after '. It is more natural, he adds, to look for another species of animal in the word wnn; but what animal, it is not so easy to determine. The Persic translator took it to be the buck-goat, nnon; and the Gr. of Venice a panther δερματα παρδάλεως.

The Jewish interpreters are agreed as to its being some animal. Jarchi says it was a beast of many colours, which no more exists. Kimchi holds the same opinion. Aben Ezra thinks it some animal of the bovine kind, of whose skins shoes are made; alluding to Ezek. xvi. 1086. Most modern interpreters have taken it to be the badger, and among these our English translators; but, in the first place, the badger is not an inhabitant of Arabia; and there is nothing in its skin peculiarly proper either for covering a tabernacle or making shoes.

Hasæus, Michaelis, and others have laboured to prove that it is the mermaid, or homo marinus; the trichekus of Linnæus; but the skin of this fish is not at all proper for shoes, or the covering 85 Nat. Hist. lib. ix. c. 65. ed. Bipont.

86 See Bynæus, De Calceis Hebræorum. Dort. 1682.