a term which in Scripture is used, as by us, frequently for food
in general; but is also often found in its proper sense. Sparing in the
use of flesh, like all the nations of the east, the chosen people
usually satisfied their hunger with bread, and quenched their thirst in
the running stream. Their bread was generally made of wheat or barley,
or lentiles and beans. Bread of wheat flour, as being the most
excellent, was preferred: barley bread was used only in times of
scarcity and distress. So mean and contemptible, in the estimation of
the numerous and well-appointed armies of Midian, was Gideon, with his
handful of undisciplined militia, that he seems to have been compared to
bread of this inferior quality, which may account for the ready
interpretation of the dream of the Midianite respecting him: “And when
Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his
fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and lo, a cake of barley
bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent and smote it
that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. And his fellow
answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, the
son of Joash, a man of Israel; for into his hand hath God delivered
Midian, and all the host.” In the cities and villages of Barbary, where
public ovens are established, the bread is usually leavened; but among
the Bedoweens and Kabyles, as soon as the dough is kneaded, it is made
into thin cakes, either to be baked immediately upon the coals, or else
in a shallow earthen vessel like a frying-pan, called Tajen. Such were
the unleavened cakes which we so frequently read of in Scripture; and
those also which Sarah made quickly upon the hearth. These last are
about an inch thick; and, being commonly prepared in woody countries,
are used all along the shores of the Black Sea, from the Palus Mæotis to
the Caspian, in Chaldea and Mesopotamia, except in towns. A fire is made
in the middle of the room: and when the bread is ready for baking, a
corner of the hearth is swept, the bread is laid upon it, and covered
with ashes and embers; in a quarter of an hour, they turn it. Sometimes
they use small convex plates of iron, which are most common in Persia,
and among the nomadic tribes, as being the easiest way of baking, and
done with the least expense; for the bread is extremely thin, and soon
prepared. The oven is also used in every part of Asia: it is made in the
ground, four or five feet deep, and three in diameter, well plastered
with mortar. When it is hot, they place the bread (which is commonly
long, and not thicker than a finger) against the sides: it is baked in a
moment. Ovens, Chardin apprehends, were not used in Canaan in the
patriarchal age: all the bread of that time was baked upon a plate, or
under the ashes; and he supposes, what is nearly self-evident, that the
cakes which Sarah baked on the hearth were of the last sort, and that
the shew bread was of the same kind. The Arabs about Mount Carmel use a
great strong pitcher, in which they kindle a fire; and when it is
heated, they mix meal and water, which they apply with the hollow of
their hands to the outside of the pitcher; and this extremely soft
paste, spreading itself, is baked in an instant. The heat of the pitcher
having dried up all the moisture, the bread comes off as thin as our
wafers; and the operation is so speedily performed, that in a very
little time a sufficient quantity is made. But their best sort of bread
they bake, either by heating an oven, or a large pitcher full of little
smooth shining flints, upon which they lay the dough, spread out in the
form of a thin broad cake. Sometimes they use a shallow earthen vessel,
resembling a frying pan, which seems to be the pan mentioned by Moses,
in which the meat-offering was baked. This vessel, Dr. Shaw informs us,
serves both for baking and frying; for the bagreah of the people of
Barbary differs not much from our pancakes; only, instead of rubbing the
pan in which they fry them with butter, they rub it with soap, to make
them like a honey-comb. If these accounts of the Arab stone pitcher, the
pan, and the iron hearth or copper plate, be attended to, it will not be
difficult to understand the laws of Moses in the second chapter of
Leviticus: they will be found to answer perfectly well to the
description which he gives us of the different ways of preparing the
meat-offerings. As the Hebrews made their bread thin, in the form of
little flat cakes, they did not cut it with a knife, but broke it; which
gave rise to the expression, _breaking bread_, so frequent in Scripture.
The Arabians and other eastern people, among whom wood is scarce, often
bake their bread between two fires made of cow dung, which burns slowly,
and bakes the bread very leisurely. The crumb of it is very good, if it
be eaten the same day; but the crust is black and burnt, and retains a
smell of the materials that were used in baking it. This may serve to
explain a passage in Ezekiel, iv, 9–13. The straits of a siege and the
scarcity of fuel were thus intimated to the Prophet. During the whole
octave of the passover, the Hebrews use only unleavened bread, as a
memorial that at the time of their departure out of Egypt they wanted
leisure to bake leavened bread; and, having left the country with
precipitation, they were content to bake bread which was not leavened,
Exod. xii, 8. The practice of the Jews at this day, with relation to the
use of unleavened bread, is as follows: They forbid to eat, or have in
their houses, or in any place belonging to them, either leavened bread
or any thing else that is leavened. That they may the better observe
this rule, they search into all the corners of the house with scrupulous
exactness for all bread or paste, or any thing that is leavened. After
they have thus well cleansed their houses, they whiten them, and furnish
them with kitchen and table utensils, all new, and with others which are
to be used only on that day. If they are movables, which have served
only for something else, and are made of metal, they have them polished,
and put into the fire, to take away all the impurity which they may have
contracted by touching any thing leavened. All this is done on the
thirteenth day of Nisan, or on the vigil of the feast of the passover,
which begins with the fifteenth of the same month, or the fourteenth day
in the evening; for the Hebrews reckon their days from one evening to
another. On the fourteenth of Nisan, at eleven o’clock, they burn the
common bread, to show that the prohibition of eating leavened bread is
then commenced; and this action is attended with words, whereby the
master of the house declares that he has no longer any thing leavened in
his keeping; that, at least, he believes so. In allusion to this
practice, we are commanded to “purge out the old leaven;” by which
“malice and wickedness” are intended; and to feed only on the
“unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
2. SHEW BREAD, or, according to the Hebrews, _the bread of faces_, was
bread offered every Sabbath day upon the golden table in the holy place,
Exod. xxv, 30. The Hebrews affirm that these loaves were square, and had
four sides, and were covered with leaves of gold. They were twelve in
number, according to the number of the twelve tribes, in whose names
they were offered. Every loaf was composed of two assarons of flour,
which make about five pints and one-tenth. These loaves were unleavened.
They were presented hot every Sabbath day, the old ones being taken away
and eaten by the priests only. This offering was accompanied with salt
and frankincense, and even with wine, according to some commentators.
The Scripture mentions only salt and incense; but it is presumed that
wine was added, because it was not wanting in other sacrifices and
offerings. It is believed that these loaves were placed one upon
another, in two piles of six each; and that between every loaf were two
thin plates of gold, folded back in a semicircle the whole length of
them, to admit air, and to prevent the loaves from growing mouldy. These
golden plates, thus turned in, were supported at their extremities by
two golden forks, which rested on the ground. The twelve loaves, because
they stood before the Lord, were called לחם הפנים, ἄρτοι ϖροθέσεως, or
ἐνωπίοι, the bread of faces, or of the presence; and are therefore
denominated in our English translation _the shew bread_.
Since part of the frankincense put upon the bread was to be burnt on the
altar for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the Lord; and
since Aaron and his sons were to eat it in the holy place, Lev. xxiv,
5–9, it is probable that this bread typified Christ, first presented as
a sacrifice to Yahweh, and then becoming spiritual food to such as in
and through him are spiritual priests to God, even his Father, Rev. i,
6; v, 10; xx, 6; 1 Peter ii, 5. It appears, from some places in
Scripture, (see Exodus xxix, 32, and Numbers vi, 15,) that there was
always near the altar a basket full of bread, in order to be offered
together with the ordinary sacrifices.
in general; but is also often found in its proper sense. Sparing in the
use of flesh, like all the nations of the east, the chosen people
usually satisfied their hunger with bread, and quenched their thirst in
the running stream. Their bread was generally made of wheat or barley,
or lentiles and beans. Bread of wheat flour, as being the most
excellent, was preferred: barley bread was used only in times of
scarcity and distress. So mean and contemptible, in the estimation of
the numerous and well-appointed armies of Midian, was Gideon, with his
handful of undisciplined militia, that he seems to have been compared to
bread of this inferior quality, which may account for the ready
interpretation of the dream of the Midianite respecting him: “And when
Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his
fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and lo, a cake of barley
bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent and smote it
that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. And his fellow
answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, the
son of Joash, a man of Israel; for into his hand hath God delivered
Midian, and all the host.” In the cities and villages of Barbary, where
public ovens are established, the bread is usually leavened; but among
the Bedoweens and Kabyles, as soon as the dough is kneaded, it is made
into thin cakes, either to be baked immediately upon the coals, or else
in a shallow earthen vessel like a frying-pan, called Tajen. Such were
the unleavened cakes which we so frequently read of in Scripture; and
those also which Sarah made quickly upon the hearth. These last are
about an inch thick; and, being commonly prepared in woody countries,
are used all along the shores of the Black Sea, from the Palus Mæotis to
the Caspian, in Chaldea and Mesopotamia, except in towns. A fire is made
in the middle of the room: and when the bread is ready for baking, a
corner of the hearth is swept, the bread is laid upon it, and covered
with ashes and embers; in a quarter of an hour, they turn it. Sometimes
they use small convex plates of iron, which are most common in Persia,
and among the nomadic tribes, as being the easiest way of baking, and
done with the least expense; for the bread is extremely thin, and soon
prepared. The oven is also used in every part of Asia: it is made in the
ground, four or five feet deep, and three in diameter, well plastered
with mortar. When it is hot, they place the bread (which is commonly
long, and not thicker than a finger) against the sides: it is baked in a
moment. Ovens, Chardin apprehends, were not used in Canaan in the
patriarchal age: all the bread of that time was baked upon a plate, or
under the ashes; and he supposes, what is nearly self-evident, that the
cakes which Sarah baked on the hearth were of the last sort, and that
the shew bread was of the same kind. The Arabs about Mount Carmel use a
great strong pitcher, in which they kindle a fire; and when it is
heated, they mix meal and water, which they apply with the hollow of
their hands to the outside of the pitcher; and this extremely soft
paste, spreading itself, is baked in an instant. The heat of the pitcher
having dried up all the moisture, the bread comes off as thin as our
wafers; and the operation is so speedily performed, that in a very
little time a sufficient quantity is made. But their best sort of bread
they bake, either by heating an oven, or a large pitcher full of little
smooth shining flints, upon which they lay the dough, spread out in the
form of a thin broad cake. Sometimes they use a shallow earthen vessel,
resembling a frying pan, which seems to be the pan mentioned by Moses,
in which the meat-offering was baked. This vessel, Dr. Shaw informs us,
serves both for baking and frying; for the bagreah of the people of
Barbary differs not much from our pancakes; only, instead of rubbing the
pan in which they fry them with butter, they rub it with soap, to make
them like a honey-comb. If these accounts of the Arab stone pitcher, the
pan, and the iron hearth or copper plate, be attended to, it will not be
difficult to understand the laws of Moses in the second chapter of
Leviticus: they will be found to answer perfectly well to the
description which he gives us of the different ways of preparing the
meat-offerings. As the Hebrews made their bread thin, in the form of
little flat cakes, they did not cut it with a knife, but broke it; which
gave rise to the expression, _breaking bread_, so frequent in Scripture.
The Arabians and other eastern people, among whom wood is scarce, often
bake their bread between two fires made of cow dung, which burns slowly,
and bakes the bread very leisurely. The crumb of it is very good, if it
be eaten the same day; but the crust is black and burnt, and retains a
smell of the materials that were used in baking it. This may serve to
explain a passage in Ezekiel, iv, 9–13. The straits of a siege and the
scarcity of fuel were thus intimated to the Prophet. During the whole
octave of the passover, the Hebrews use only unleavened bread, as a
memorial that at the time of their departure out of Egypt they wanted
leisure to bake leavened bread; and, having left the country with
precipitation, they were content to bake bread which was not leavened,
Exod. xii, 8. The practice of the Jews at this day, with relation to the
use of unleavened bread, is as follows: They forbid to eat, or have in
their houses, or in any place belonging to them, either leavened bread
or any thing else that is leavened. That they may the better observe
this rule, they search into all the corners of the house with scrupulous
exactness for all bread or paste, or any thing that is leavened. After
they have thus well cleansed their houses, they whiten them, and furnish
them with kitchen and table utensils, all new, and with others which are
to be used only on that day. If they are movables, which have served
only for something else, and are made of metal, they have them polished,
and put into the fire, to take away all the impurity which they may have
contracted by touching any thing leavened. All this is done on the
thirteenth day of Nisan, or on the vigil of the feast of the passover,
which begins with the fifteenth of the same month, or the fourteenth day
in the evening; for the Hebrews reckon their days from one evening to
another. On the fourteenth of Nisan, at eleven o’clock, they burn the
common bread, to show that the prohibition of eating leavened bread is
then commenced; and this action is attended with words, whereby the
master of the house declares that he has no longer any thing leavened in
his keeping; that, at least, he believes so. In allusion to this
practice, we are commanded to “purge out the old leaven;” by which
“malice and wickedness” are intended; and to feed only on the
“unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
2. SHEW BREAD, or, according to the Hebrews, _the bread of faces_, was
bread offered every Sabbath day upon the golden table in the holy place,
Exod. xxv, 30. The Hebrews affirm that these loaves were square, and had
four sides, and were covered with leaves of gold. They were twelve in
number, according to the number of the twelve tribes, in whose names
they were offered. Every loaf was composed of two assarons of flour,
which make about five pints and one-tenth. These loaves were unleavened.
They were presented hot every Sabbath day, the old ones being taken away
and eaten by the priests only. This offering was accompanied with salt
and frankincense, and even with wine, according to some commentators.
The Scripture mentions only salt and incense; but it is presumed that
wine was added, because it was not wanting in other sacrifices and
offerings. It is believed that these loaves were placed one upon
another, in two piles of six each; and that between every loaf were two
thin plates of gold, folded back in a semicircle the whole length of
them, to admit air, and to prevent the loaves from growing mouldy. These
golden plates, thus turned in, were supported at their extremities by
two golden forks, which rested on the ground. The twelve loaves, because
they stood before the Lord, were called לחם הפנים, ἄρτοι ϖροθέσεως, or
ἐνωπίοι, the bread of faces, or of the presence; and are therefore
denominated in our English translation _the shew bread_.
Since part of the frankincense put upon the bread was to be burnt on the
altar for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the Lord; and
since Aaron and his sons were to eat it in the holy place, Lev. xxiv,
5–9, it is probable that this bread typified Christ, first presented as
a sacrifice to Yahweh, and then becoming spiritual food to such as in
and through him are spiritual priests to God, even his Father, Rev. i,
6; v, 10; xx, 6; 1 Peter ii, 5. It appears, from some places in
Scripture, (see Exodus xxix, 32, and Numbers vi, 15,) that there was
always near the altar a basket full of bread, in order to be offered
together with the ordinary sacrifices.