The prayer of David, “Put my tears into thy bottle,” is
unintelligible without an acquaintance with ancient customs. “This
passage,” says Burder, “seems to intimate that the custom of putting
tears into the ampullæ, or urnal lachrymales, so well known among the
Romans, was more anciently in use among the eastern nations, and
particularly the Hebrews. These urns were of different materials, some
of glass, some of earth; as may be seen in the work of Montfaucon, where
also may be seen the various forms or shapes of them. These urns were
placed on the sepulchres of the deceased, as a memorial of the distress
and affection of their surviving relations and friends. It will be
difficult to account for this expression of the psalmist, but upon this
supposition. If this be allowed, the meaning will be, ‘Let my distress,
and the tears I shed in consequence of it, be ever before thee, excite
thy kind remembrance of me, and plead with thee to grant the relief I
stand in need of.’”
unintelligible without an acquaintance with ancient customs. “This
passage,” says Burder, “seems to intimate that the custom of putting
tears into the ampullæ, or urnal lachrymales, so well known among the
Romans, was more anciently in use among the eastern nations, and
particularly the Hebrews. These urns were of different materials, some
of glass, some of earth; as may be seen in the work of Montfaucon, where
also may be seen the various forms or shapes of them. These urns were
placed on the sepulchres of the deceased, as a memorial of the distress
and affection of their surviving relations and friends. It will be
difficult to account for this expression of the psalmist, but upon this
supposition. If this be allowed, the meaning will be, ‘Let my distress,
and the tears I shed in consequence of it, be ever before thee, excite
thy kind remembrance of me, and plead with thee to grant the relief I
stand in need of.’”