the price would be augmented to forty-eight denarii――or it would be about eight times as dear as ordinary; that is, there would be a scarcity or famine. The price of a _bushel_ of wheat at this rate would be about four dollars and a half or 18 shillings――a price which would indicate great scarcity, and which would give rise to much distress. ¶ _And three measures of barley for a penny._ It would seem from this that barley usually bore about one-third the price of wheat. It was a less valuable grain, and perhaps was produced in greater abundance. This is not far from the proportion which the price of this grain usually {151} bears to that of wheat, and here, as in the case of the wheat, the thing which would be indicated would be scarcity. This proclamation of “a measure of wheat for a penny” was heard either as addressed _to_ the horseman, as a rule of action for him, or as addressed _by_ the horseman as he went forth. If the former is the meaning, it would be an appropriate address to one who was going forth to collect tribute――with reference to the _exact_ manner in which this tribute was to be collected, implying some sort of severity of exaction; or to one who should distribute wheat and barley out of the public granaries at an advanced price, indicating scarcity. Thus it would mean that a severe and heavy tax――represented by the scales and the scarcity――or a tax so severe as to _make_ grain dear, was referred to. If the latter is the meaning, then the idea is that there would be a scarcity, and that grain would be dealt out by the government at a high and oppressive price. The latter idea would be as consonant with the symbol of the scales and the price mentioned as the other, if it were not for the _additional_ injunction not to “hurt the oil and the wine”――which cannot be well applied to the idea of dealing out grain at a high price. It can, however, be connected, by a fair interpretation of that passage, with such a severity of taxation that there would be a propriety in such a command――for, as we shall see, under the explanation of that phrase, such a law was actually promulgated as resulting from severity of taxation. The idea, then, in the passage before us, would seem to be, (a) that there would be a rigid administration of the law in regard to the matter under consideration――that pertaining to the productions of the earth――represented by the balances; and (b) that that would be connected with general scarcity, or such an exercise of this power as to determine the price of grain, so that the price would be some three times greater than ordinary. ¶ _And see thou hurt not the oil and the wine._ There has been a great variety of interpretations proposed of this passage, and it is by no means easy to determine the true sense. The first inquiry in regard to it is, to whom is it addressed? Perhaps the most common impression on reading it would be, that it is addressed to the horseman with the balances, commanding _him_ not to injure the