the stars in heaven were visible on Saturday evening. A rich Jew may obtain what he wants on the Sabbath day, but it must be in the shape of a gift, which he bargains and pays for the succeeding day; he must be known, however, to be a rich man, which could have hardly been the case with these women. A translation has been proposed of "a Sabbath intervening between the two days," in order to obviate a supposed inconsistency with Luke xxiii. 56, but which, as we shall see afterwards, is really of no importance whatever. This latter translation is clearly contrary to the customs of the Jews, who did not dare to buy on the Sabbath day, and it is inconceivable, why the women should have wished to buy on the Sabbath day, when in the evening after sunset, namely, from the first appearance of the stars, from half past six, or three quarters before seven, they had sufficient time to buy what spices they liked.

Salome, as we may perceive by comparing Mark xv. 40, with Matthew xxvii. 56, is the mother of Zebedee's children, that is, the mother of John and of the elder James. We must here guard against an error, which has deceived many readers. The generality of the

readers of Mark, not reflecting who Salome is, conceive her, of course, to be of the number of those who came early in the morning to the grave of Christ, and are surprised at not finding her name in Matthew xxviii. 1. But this silence would be no proof, that she was not with those, who came to the grave, because, as I shall show hereafter, more came to the grave, than Matthew names; but the omission of her name in another part of the history, makes it tolerably certain, that she was not of the number of those, who went to the grave of Jesus. Salome was the mother of John, and if she had been at the grave, he would, according to his manner, relate something that she either said or did, as an appendix to the other evangelists, but this he does not; he does not even mention her name. It appears to me that she had bought with her money, spices for embalming, but that she did not go to the grave; when we consider her situation, this is easily conceivable; indeed, it would have been singular, if she had done so. Her son, John, had taken Mary, the mother of Jesus, into his house, (John xix. 27,) and is it probable, that Salome should leave the mother of Jesus alone, on the morning, when it was intended to em

and

Her son ran to the

balm the dead body? grave (John xx. 3,) in consequence of the information he received of the body being missing, but his mother would naturally remain with the mother of Jesus, especially where the grief was so recent, and still more so, if in a state of uncertainty and alarm; neither she therefore, or Mary, the mother of Jesus, were amongst those, who went down to the grave, nor have we any record, that Jesus showed himself to his mother after his resurrection, except she was of the number of those, to whom it was told that they might see him in Galilee. If John does not mention the purchase of the ointment, to which his mother contributed, it is no contradiction; he omits it, as being already known through another evangelist. According to his custom in narration, silence is confirmation, but if any incorrect circumstance is related by Mark, we should find in John a gentle, but very accurate explanation. But now comes the objection, which has been urged with such force by the enemies of Christianity, "Why should these women buy spices, when Jesus, according to John, was already wrapped up in myrrh and aloes by Joseph and Nicodemus?" With respect

to the fact itself, we have no further historical illustration, but there is more than one probable solution of the difficulty.

1. They, perhaps, knew nothing of what had previously occurred. They saw the spot, where he was laid, but no one of the evangelists says, that they were present, when he was embalmed. The burial was very quick, as it naturally would be, to have it over before sunset; (Jewish burials are always hasty.) It does not seem to have been the design of Joseph to wrap Jesus in myrrh and aloes, and the arrival of Nicodemus with the spices appears to have been unexpected; it may be even supposed that this embalming with spices did not take place, in the open air, but in the sepulchre, into which it became a question of scrupulousness to introduce the dead body, as soon as possible. If this were so, the women, who went home after having remarked the place, where he was laid, and could not, perhaps, see what was passing in a narrow tomb, would know nothing of it.

2. But if they did know it, they might have the intention of honouring him still more, as the envelopment and burial, must, in consequence of the approaching Sabbath, have

taken place very hastily. If there is any truth in what the Rabbis have stated in the Thalmud, of covering the body with spices, and I will not deny the existence of it, in the time of Christ, although it has been improperly applied to explain some passages in the Old Testament, where the question relates to the burning of dead bodies, they might have covered the corpse with spices, without wrapping him up a second time.

3. But, in fact, although Jesus was so hastily embalmed, according to Jewish customs, (John xix. 40,) might they mean to embalm him according to the Egyptian custom, and fill the body with spices? I believe not, but it would not have been contrary to law, for Jacob was embalmed in this manner, (Gen. v. 2.) and it was never subsequently prohibited.

From our deficiency of materials, it is impossible for me to decide upon probabilities, but the first seems the most probable.

The enemies of Christianity have even asserted, that Joseph and Nicodemus embalmed the body on Friday evening, in the presence and with the assistance of the women. not a word of this is in the evangelists, and,

But