Page 46.—_Their number was seventy-one._] There were twelve princes and fifty-eight heads of families. Num. xxvi. The supreme ruler for the time being, under Jehovah, would naturally preside. Whether the princes and heads were elective is doubtful. See Lowman, p. 77. The assembly of Israel at Shechem by Joshua, (xxiv. 1, 2.) is an example of such a _Diet_ as the text mentions. Page 48.—_Lachish._] Rehoboam is said (2 Chron. xi. 9.) to have _built_ Lachish, but it is evident from the connection that this means _fortified_: for he is said to have built Hebron and other cities, which were in existence long before. So when Solomon is said to have built Tadmor or Palmyra, the meaning probably is not that he founded, but that he fortified and garrisoned it. Michaelis, Mos. Law, § 23. Page 48.—_The grove of terebinths._] In the valley of Elah. 1 Sam. xvii. 2, 3. Dr. Clarke, iv. 421. describes it as being three miles from Bethlehem, on the road to Jaffa. Page 56.—_Aduffes._] The _Aduffe_ (a word which through the Spanish and the Arabic appears to be connected with the Hebrew תף) is formed of a circle of metal, over which a skin is stretched, and hung with bells at the circumference. Mich. Mos. Law, § 197, note. Russell’s Aleppo, i. 152. where it is called _Diff_. Page 56.—_Jewish army._] In the times of the Maccabees the Jews, who had frequently served in the armies of the Grecian kings, appear to have adopted the Grecian armour and discipline, as far as they could. But we have few details of their military system in Josephus or the Apocrypha. Their triumphs had been celebrated from early times with dance, song, and sacrifice, and continued to be so under the Maccabees, 1 Macc. xiii. 51. iv. 34. Jos. Ant. xii. 7. 5. Judith xv. xvi. and probably in this respect, _mutatis mutandis_, they imitated the heathens. So at least our author presumes. Page 57.—_Military engines._] The battering ram (כר) (Ezek. xxi. 22.) and other engines (xxvi. 9.) are said to have been used by the Babylonians, and the use of them might be learnt by the Jews. Uzziah is said (2 Chron. xxvi. 14.) to have constructed machines for throwing darts and stones. Calmet, Mil. des Héb. Diss. i. 237. Under the Maccabees they appear to have been in common use. 1 Macc. xiii. 43. Page 59.—_New moon._] Of the annunciation of the new moon and the fraud of the Samaritans, see Lightfoot, Works, i. 950. “The Bairam,” or feast which succeeds the fast of Ramadan, “is announced at Aleppo by the castle guns, as soon as a declaration on oath has been made of the appearance of the new moon. The person who bears this testimony commonly comes from one of the villages.” Russell, i. 189. Page 60.—_Sid or Ijar._] See the note, vol. i. p. 260, respecting the Jewish calendar.