ÐÏࡱá>þÿ þÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿýÿÿÿ<þÿÿÿþÿÿÿ  !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;þÿÿÿþÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿRoot EntryÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÂÛÍ(â ΢šªJr`2 ˜Ö¿ÀMatOSTÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ`2 ˜Ö¿`2 ˜Ö¿MMÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿMN0ÿÿÿÿ’nþÿÿÿþÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿNDþÿ ÿÿÿÿÂÛÍ(â ΢šªJrMicrosoft Works MSWorksWPDocô9²qþ•S4f4f °T›Ð8g’n€k Šk.¸k¸k¸k¸k  à=Ð/Ð8d¸kÿÿÿÿÐ6gtm¸kÊkT CHAPTER VII. Numbers xxii. as And Balsam rose up in the mornIng, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. 22 ? And God's anger was kindled because he went : and the angel 01 the Loan stood in the way br an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him. 23 And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand; and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balsam smote the ass, to turn her into the way. 24 But the angel of the Loan stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall be-zng on this side, and a wall on that side. 25 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wail, and crushed Balsam's foot against the wall: and he smote her again. a6 And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. 27 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balsam: and Balsam's anger was kindled, and he atnota cite ass with a staff. aS And the Loim opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balsam, What have S done unt& thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times? 29 And Balsam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me; i would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee. 30 And the ass said unto Balsam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since Iwas thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay. 32 Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balsam, and he saw the angel of the Loan standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face. 32 And the asgel of the Loan said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? Behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me: ~ And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive. 34 And Balsam said unto tbe angel of the LORD, I have sinned for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again. THE chief point of interest in this parable of Balaam and his ass, is that the latter belonged to the female sex. This animal has been one of the most remarkable characters in literature. Her virtues have been quoted in the stately cathedral, in the courts of justice, in the editorial sanctum, in both tragedy and comedy on the stage, to point a moral and adorn a tale. Some of the fairest of Eve's daughters bear her baptismal name, and she has been immortalized in poetry and prose. Wordsworth sends her with his Peter Bell to enjoy the first flowers of early spring. To express her love of the beautiful ?upon the pivot of her skull she turned round her long left ear? while stolid Peter makes no sign? ?A primrose by a river's brim A yellow primrose was to him, And it was nothing more.? The courage and persistence of the ass has made her as famous in war as in literature. She is a marked feature everywhere in military stations, alike in the camp and the field, and her bray always in the minor key, gives a touch of pathos to the music of the band! The ass accompanied Deborah and Barak when they went to fight their great battle, she has gone with pioneers in all their weary wanderings, and has taken an active part in the commerce of the world, bearing the heaviest burdens though poorly fed and sheltered. At one time this animal voted at three successive elections in the state of New York. The property qualification being $250, just the price of a jackass, Ben Franklin facetiously asked ?if a man must own a jackass in order to vote,?who does the voting, the man or the jackass ? It so happened once that the same animal passed into the hands of three different owners, constituting all the earthly possessions of each at that time and thus by proxy she was represented at the polls. Yet with this world-wide fame, this is the first time the sacred historian has so richly endowed and highly complimented any living thing of the supposed inferior sex. Far wiser than the master who rode her, with a far keener spiritual insight than he possessed, and so intensely earnest and impressible, that to meet the necessities of the occasion, she suddenly exercised the gift of speech. While Balaam was angry, violent, stubborn and unreasonable, the ass calmly manifested all the cardinal virtues. Obedient to the light that was in her, she was patient under abuse, and tried in her mute way to save the life of her tormentor from the sword of the angel. But when all ordinary warnings of danger proved unavailable, she burst into speech and opened the eyes of her stolid master. Scott, who considers this parable a literal fact, says in his commentaries, ?The faculty of speech in man is the gift of God and we cannot comprehend how we ourselves articulate. We need not therefore be surprised that the Lord made use of the mouth of the ass to rebuke the madness of His prophet, and to shame him by the reproof and example of a brute. Satan spoke to Eve by a subtle male serpent, but the Lord chose to speak to Balaam by a she ass, for He does not use enticing words of man's wisdom, but works by instruments and means that men despise.? Seeing that the Lord has endowed ?the daughters of men? also with the gift of speech, and they may have messages from Him to deliver to ?the sons of God,? it would be wise for the prophets of our day to admit them into their Conferences, Synods and General Assemblies, and give them opportunities for speech. The appeal of the meek, long suffering ass, to her master, to remember her faithfulness and companionship from his youth up, is quite pathetic and reminds one of woman's appeals and petitions to her law-givers for the last half century. In the same language she might say to her oppressors, to fathers, husbands, brothers and sons, have we not served you with faithfulness; companions from your youth up; watched you through all your infant years; and carried you triumphantly through every danger? When at the midnight hour or the cock crowing, your first born lifted up his voice and wept, lo! we were there, with water for his parched lips; a cool place for his aching head; or patiently for hours to pace with him the chamber floor. In youth and manhood what have we not done to add to your comfort and happiness; ever rejoicing in your triumphs and sympathizing in your defeats? This waiting and watching for half a century to recover our civil and political rights and yet no redress, makes the struggle seem like a painful dream in which one strives to fly from some impending danger and yet stands still. Balaam, unlike our masters, confessed that he had sinned, but it is evident from his conduct that he felt no special contrition for disobedience to the commands of his Creator, nor for his cruelty to the creature. So merely to save his life he sulkily retraced his steps with a determination still to consider Barak's propositions. Whether he took the same ass on the next journey does not appear. It must have been peculiarly humiliating to that proud man, who boasted of his eyes being open and seeing the vision of the Almighty, to be reproved and silenced by the mouth of a brute. As the Lord appeared first to the ass and spake by her, he had but little reason to boast that his eyes were opened by the Lord. The keen spiritual insight and the ready power of speech with which the female sex has been specially endowed, are often referred to with ridicule and reproach by stolid, envious observers of the less impressible sex. E. C. S. #################### Numbers xx. And Moses 3pake unto the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded. 2 If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth. ~ If a woman also vow a vow unto the Lord, and bind herself by a bond, being in her father's house in her youth; 4 And her father bear her vow, and her bond wherewith she hath hound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her ; then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand. 5 But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth, not any of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith she had bound her soul, shall stand; and the Lord shall forgive her, because her father disallowed her,after that 6 And if she had at all a husband, when sheher iniquity. vowed, or uttered aught out of her lips, wherewith s6 These are the statutes, which the Lord com- she bound her soul;matided Moses, between a man and his wife, 7 And her husband beard it, and held his peacebetween the father and his daughter, being yet in at her in the day that be heard it; then her vowsher youth in her father's house. shall stand, and hei bonds wherewith she bound her soul shall stand. 8 But if her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it, then he shall make her vow which she vowed, and that which she uttered with her lips, wherewith she bound her soul, of none effect; and the Lord shall forgive her. g But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against her. 53 Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void. 54 But if her husband altogether hold his peace at her from day to day; then he establisheth all her vows, or all her bonds, which are upon her: he confirmeth them, because he held his peace at her in the day that he heard them. 55 But if he shall any ways make them void he bath heard them; then he shall hear AVOW is a religious promise made to God, and yet in the face of such a definition is placed the authority of husband and father between the woman and her God. God seems thus far to have dealt directly with women when they sinned, but in making a religious vow, or dedication of themselves to some high purpose, their fathers and husbands must be consulted. A man s vow stands; a woman's is always conditional. Neither wisdom nor age can make her secure in any privileges, though always personally responsible for crime. If she have sufficient intelligence to decide between good and evil, and pay the penalty for violated law, why not make her responsible for her words and deeds when obedient to moral law. To hold woman in such an attitude is to rob her words and actions of all mril character. We see from this chapter that Jewish ~Volflell, as well as those of other nations, were he]d in a condition of Perl)ettldl tutelage or minority under the authority of tile father until married and then under the husband, hence vows if in their presence if disallowed ~vere as nothin'g. That Jewish Iflen appreciate the degradation of womans position is Seen ill a p;trt of their service in which each man says on every Sabbath day, ??I thank Thee, oh Lord, that I ~~?as not born a woman ? and the won~an meekly responds, ?I thank Thee, oh Lord, that I am what I am, according to Thy holx' will.? The injunction in the abo~'e texts in regard to the interference of fathers is given only once, while tile IltIsbalIds authority is mentioned three times. If the \VOlfi.llI Was betrothed, even the future husband had the right to disallow her vows. It is supposed by some expositors that by a parity of reason minor sons should have been under the Salfie restrIctions as daughters, but if it were intended, it is extraordinary that daughters alone should have been mentiolled. Seott, ill extenuating the custom, says: ??Males were certainly allowed more liberty than females ; the vows of the latter migilt lIe adjudged more prejudicial to families ; or tile SOflS heillg xii re immediately under the father's tilition migllt be thloilgilt less liable to be inveigled into rasil engagements of any kind.? F;. c. s. ############## Woman is here taught that she is irresponsible. The father or the husband is all. They are wisdoln, power, responsibility. But woman is a nonentity if still in her father's house, or if Mile has a husband. I object to tilis teaeiiing. It is unjust to man that he should have the add'2d responsibility of his daughter's or wife's word, and it is cruel to woman because tile irresponsibility is enslaving in its iliflLlence. It is contrary to true Gospel teaching, for only in freedoln to (Jo rigilt can a soul dwell in that love which is the fulfilling of the law. The whole import of this chapter is that a woman's word is worthless, unless she is a widow or divorced. While an unmarried daughter, her father is her surety; when married, the husband allows or disallows what she promises, and the promise is kept or broken according to his will. The whole Mosaic law in this respect seems based upon the idea that a woman is an irresponsible being; and that it is supposed each daughter will marry at some time, and thus be continually under the control of some male?the father or the husband. Unjust, arbitrary and debasing are such ideas, and the laws based upon them. Could the Infinite Father and Mother have give them to Moses? I think not. P. A. H. ##################### Numbers xxxi. 9 And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods. so And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles with fire. sa And they brought the captives, and the prey. and the spoil, unto Moses and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan neat-Jericho. 54 And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle. t5 And Moses said unto them, have ye saved all else women alive? ,6 Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of i3elaam, to commit trespass agauist the Lord in the matter of Peor. and there was a plague among die congregation of the Lord. t7 Note therefore kiU every male am,sn, the little ones, and kill every woman that hath Lnosen man. ,8 Hut all the women children, that l,av, not known a man keep alive for yourselves. a~ ? And the Lord spake unto NIo,.e.o, ~.iy,e,. s6 ?lake the sum of tloe prey that wos t.,k,ot. Ls,ek of tnan and of beast, tloou, and Eleazar the ~ and the chief fathers of the congre~atiooe 3t And Moses stool l..Ieazar the priest olid as tlto, Lord commanded NIoses. 35 And the booty, l'eoo.g the rest ~f tloc prey which the m,'n of war load caught. wos s,s l,undred tlonusand and seventy tI,aus:tnd anol live thausanI sheep. 33 And tloreescore and twelve tI,o,us;oood bees cg, 34 And threescore an,l cone tI,ott~an,l ;mss.s 3l And thirty and tw,o thotosand pvrLnoo. 0,, of women that had not knoown man. IT appears from the enumeration here of the booty, that the Israelites took in this war against the Midianites seventy- two thousand beeves, six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep, sixty-one thousand asses and thirty-two thousand women virgins, beside the women and children killed, (as they said) by God's order. The thirty-two thousand women and women children were given to the soldiers and the priests. Why should tile social purity societies in England and America who believe ill the divine origin of all Scripture object to the use of women children by their statesmen and soldiers when the custom was 11Cr-mitted to the chosen people of Israel ? True,thle welfare of tile priests, lawgivers and soldiers was carefully guarded in selecting for them the purest of the daughters of tl3e Mithianites. Surely such records are enough to make tIle most obstinate believer doubt the divine origin of Jewish history and the claim of that people to have been under the special guidance of Jehovab. Their claim to have had conversations with God daily and to have acted under His commands in all their tergiversations of word and action is simply blasphemous. We must discredit their pretensions, or else the wisdom of Jehovah himself. ?Talking with God,? at that period was a mere form of speech, as ?tempted of the devil? was once in the records of our courts. Criminals said ?tempted of the devil, I did commit the crime.? This chapter places Moses and Eleazar the priest, in a most unenviable light according to the moral standard of any period of human history. Verily the revelations in the Pall Mall Gazette a few years ago, pale before this wholesale desecration of women and children. Bishop Colenso in his exhaustive work on the Pentateuch shows that most of the records therein claiming to be historical facts are merely parables and figments of the imagination of different writers, composed at different periods, full of contradictions, interpolations and discrepancies. He shows geologically and geographically that a flood over the whole face of the earth was a myth. He asks how was it possible to save two of every animal, bird and creeping thing on both continents and get them safely into the ark and back again to their respective localities. How could they make their way from South America up north through the frigid zone and cross over the polar ices to the eastern continent and carry with them the necessary food to which they had been accustomed, they would all have perished with the cold before reaching the Arctic circle. While the animals from the northern latitudes, would all perish with heat before reaching the equator. What a long weary journey the animals, birds and fowls would have taken from Japan and China to Mount Ararat. The parable as an historical fact is hedged with impossibilities and so is the whole journey of forty years from Egypt to Canaan; but if we make up our minds to believe in miracles then it is plain sailing from Genesis to the end of Deuteronomy. Both Ezra and Jeremiah are said to have written the last book of the Pentateuch, and some, question whether Moses was the author of either. Bishop Colenso also questions the arithmetical calculations of the historians in regard to the conquest (of tile Midianites, as described in the book of Numbers.E. C. S. ########## But how thankful we must be that we are no longer obliged to believe, as a matter of fact, of vital consequence to) OtIr eternal hope, each separate statement contained in the ltel3t;ltetlel), slIell fo or instance, as the story related in Numbers xxxi!?where we ;lretolol that a force of twelve thousand Israelites slew a/i the malts (of the Midianites, took captive d1 the females anti children, seizeol all their cattle and flocks, (seventy-two thousand oxen, sixty-one thousand asses, six hundred anti seventy-five tilotlsanti sheep,) and all their goods, and burnt all their cities, and all their goodly castles, without the loss of a single man.~ and then, by command of Moses, butchered in cold blood all the women, except ?the women-children and virgins, to be given to the priests and soldiers.? They amounted to thirty-two thousand, mostly, ~ve suppose, under the age of sixteen. \Ve may fairly' reckon th;tt thert: were as many more under the age of forty, and half as many lilore above forty, making altogether eighty thousand females, of wilom, according to tl3e story, Moses ortlereti forty?eight tl3otlsalld to) be killed, besides (say) twenty thousand young boys. ~Ihe tr;lgetiy (of Cawnpore, where three hundred were butchered, would sink into nothing, compared with such a massacre, if, indeed, we were required to believe it. The obvious intention of Moses, as shown in these directions, was to keep the Jewish race from amalgamatiton. But tile great lawgiver seems to have ignored the fact, or been ignorant of it, that transmission of race qu;llitles is even greater through the female line than through the male, and if they kept the w(omen children for themselves they were Inakilig sure tIle fact tilat in days to come there woould be Jewish deseenohimnts who migilt be ewsnalne,a w- ens in spirit. Jinbut, tisrotlgh tioc I~of hereohity, :ol The freedom of the natural law will m;tke itself evident, for so? called natural law is divine.I'. A. II. ########## Zipporah the wife of Moses was a Midianite, Jethro her father was a priest of some sagacity and consideration. When he met Moses in the desert he gave him valuable advice about the government of his people, which the great lawgiver obeyed. The sons of Zipporah and Moses, Gershon and Eliezer, were therefore of Midianite blood, yet Moses sent an army of twelve thousand armed for war; a thousand of each tribe, with orders to slay every man. If the venerable Jethro was still alive he must have been murdered by his grandsons and their comrades. This is a most extraordinary story. If after the men, women and male children were all killed, thirty thousand maidens and young girls still remained, the Midianites must have been too large a tribe to have been wholly destroyed by twelve thousand Israelites, unless the Jewish God fought the battle. L.D.B. ################ Numk,~r xxxvi. And the thief f~thers of the families of the children of Gilead drew near, and spake before Moses, and before the princes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel: is And they said, The Lord commanded my lord to give the latod for an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel : and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother unto his daughters. 3 And if they be married to any of the sons of the eo'o'to'r tribes of the children of Israel then slooll their inheritance be taken from the itoheritance of nor fathers, and shall he put to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they are received : so shall it be taken from the lot of our inheritance. 4 And when the jubilee of the children of Israel shall he, then shall their inheritance he pot uloto the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they are received s And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the ls,rol. Liyiflg, The tribe of the sons ofJoseph hath szoi,l selL 6tlor Lord dooth comnotond concernisog the daughters cof ieloploeh:ool. s.oyinc. I At them marry to whcoon they tloonk i est ?sly too the homily of the tribe oO their father silo I thy ezo ocr. Moo shootli loot the ioohoror.on o' of the choldren of Israel r 0000-v root rd's 0,0 0 nI -e for os- ery o,ooe of the cloildreoo of lsr:oel slo:oU bee1, loino..elf to the inheritance of the 0 robe 0 lois (zoo loers. 8 AntI every o;;ooogloto.r, okot I' ssessotlo an in. heritotoce ioo any trolco oof oh,, cloololrtn ?of Israel. shall lie wife onto one oof lo,. lion, ily of thor teOloo. oof her father, that the cloilolren of Isrovl nosy enisoy every man the inheritance oof lois f;oohers. oo Even a, the Eccool onnototonoleol Moosos, so dod the dauchoers of Zelco1ohoelo.ooh toand were married unto~ tloeir fother's brothers' sons. I N a former chapter there was a sense of justice shown towards the daughters of Zelophehad, but here a ne~v complication arises. The uncles of these girls had their eyes on the property and perhaps feared that their sons had not found favor in the eyes of their cousins, as they might have seen and admired some fine looking young men from other tribes. So the crafty old uncles moved in time to get a statute passed that ~vould compel daughters to marry in the tribe of their fathers and got a direct command from the Lord to that effect, then the young women, compelled to limit their predilections, married their cousins, setting the laws of heredity quite aside pro~)erty in all ages being considered of more importance than I)C~S~lS Thus, after making some show of justice in giving the daughters of Zelophehad the inheritance of their fathers, the Israelites began to consider the loss to their tribe, if peradventure the five sisters should marry into other tribes and all this property be transferred to their enemles. They seemed to consider these noble women destitute of the virtue of patriotism, of familyc pride, of all the tender sentiments of friendship, kindred and home, and so with their usual masculine arrogance they passed laws to compel the daughters of Zelophehad to do what they probably would have done had there been no law to that effect. These daughters were known by the euphonious names of Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah and Noah, and they all married their father's brothers' sons. Cousins on the mother's side would probably have been forbidden. If Moses, as the mouthpiece of God, aimed to do exact justice, why did he not pass an ordinance giving property in all cases equally to sons and daughters.E. C. S. ########## Moses gave what appears to be, in the light of this Christian era, a just judgment when he decided that the daughters of Zelophehad should inherit their father's property, but he gave as the law of inheritance the direction that ?if a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter ;? thus, as I think, unjustly discriminating between women who have brothers and women who have none, and he goes on further to deal unjustly with women when he directs that the daughters of Zelophehad marry so that the inheritance justly awarded them should not go out of the family of the tribe of their fathers. ?Let them marry to whom they think best,? and those words seemingly recognize their righteous freedom. But immediately he limits that phrase and informs the five women they must only marry in their father's tribe, and were limited also to their father's family. The result was that each married her own cousin. If this was contrary to physiological law, as some distinguished physiologists affirm, then they were compelled by the arbitrary law of Moses to break the law of God. P. A. H. urner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I8g{#‚B#®?ÐS½p ¹ » qq àÀ!» ½ 5 ‚ „ £ Â Ý ß KÀÂ%7WYo|ªÞ ¸ ¸ *!"É"ä"#‚#Á##$v$¼$¢%Ò%&&O&&&œ&.'ƒ'¯'×'Ù'Û'Û'Ý'S(±*Q-v00‘0Æ2È2|5~5€5‚5„5†5ˆ5Ÿ5®5]6½6œ7-8o89979œ9ò9#:´:;¢;×;<X<Z<\<Õ<ˆ?Ä?@@%DôH6IaIcIoIqIqI—L´NvP”PÀPQ,Q.Q:Q+R-RT•T—T©T¹TbUDVuWXBX¡XÍXeYeY>ZP[§[á[ã[^\é_bbJbŒbºb¼bÈbÊbIe(g2g4g6g8g8gÏ» ¸ Û'9qIeY8gÐÑÒÓÔÕÖGoudy Old StyleТ   à=Ð/Ð8  à=Ð/Ð8dCompObjÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿUÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ