Page 82.—_Clad in black._] Josephus (Bell. Jud. v. 5. 7.) says, those who were excluded from the priesthood for bodily defects, wore _common garments_. Page 83.—_Sacerdotal robes._] Lightfoot, Works, i. 2049. Of the position of the vestry, see Reland, 104. The girdle was hollow like a purse: this is what is meant by being like a serpent’s skin. Page 85.—_The unction was imputed to him._] “Sacerdotes gregarii semel modo in solitudine adspersi fuere, uti Judæi tradunt, sic ut vi unctionis illius vel adspersionis posteri eorum consecrati censerentur.” Reland, Ant. Heb. 148. Page 90.—_Behold thou delightest in the truth in secret things._] Such is the turn which the author gives to the words, which in our version are rendered, “Behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.” The whole connection is unfavourable to this interpretation, for David is evidently praying for moral purity. “Truth in the reins” is, probably, sincerity in virtue; and wisdom, in the book of Proverbs, is often used in the same sense. It may be observed here, once for all, that the author appears to put into the mouth of the old man of the temple, his own opinions respecting the typical nature of the ordinances and sacrifices of the law. Into this much controverted question the translator does not consider himself called upon to enter. Every reader will judge according to his own interpretations of the language of Scripture. Page 99.—_Carrying the shewbread into the sanctuary._] Reland, Ant. Heb. 225. who, however, represents only eight priests as engaged in this office. So Lightfoot, Works, i. 1082. Page 100.—_The nightly watch of the priests and Levites._] Maim, de Æd. Templi, c. viii. Fasc. Hist. et Phil. Sacr. vi. 69. Lightfoot, i. 941. Page 101.—_Casting lots._] Lightfoot, i. 942. Reland, 198. Page 102.—_Sloping ascent to the altar._] The altar of burnt-offering was not to be ascended by steps, (Exod. xx. 26.) but by an inclined plane. Of the men of the station (אנשי מעמד), see Reland, p. 186. Of the priests who resided constantly in Jerusalem. Lightfoot, i. 917. Page 103.—_The sun had risen._] It is commonly supposed that nine in the morning and three in the afternoon were the hours respectively of morning and evening sacrifice, as they were the two principal hours of public prayer. Lewis, Ant. i. 501. Josephus, however, represents the morning sacrifice as offered, πρωὶ, which, according to the common use of the word, (Larch. Herod, ii. 173.) must mean in the earliest of the morning, and this was the time of private morning prayer. Jos. Ant. v. 8. Page 109.—_The sacerdotal order is the most exalted in the world._] The priesthood was the Jewish aristocracy. Ὥσπερ δὴ παρ’ ἑκάστοις ἄλλη τίς ἐστι εὐγεναιας ὑποθεσις, οὕτως παρ’ ἡμῖν ἡ τῆς ἱερωσύνης μετουσία τεκμηρίον ἡστι γένους λαμπρότητος. Jos. Vit. i.