A SNAPPER

the king of As syria, who sent the Cutheans into the country belonging to the ten tribes, Ezra iv, 10. Many take this prince to be Shalmaneser; but others, with more probability, think him to be Esar-haddon. ASP, פתן . Deut. xxxii, 33; Job xx, 14, 16; Psalm lviii, 4; xci, 13; Isaiah xi, 8. A very venomous serpent, whose poison is so subtle as to kill within a few hours with a universal gangrene. This may well refer to the bæten of the Arabians, which M. Forskal describes as spotted with black and white, about one foot in length, and nearly half an inch in thickne , oviparous, and whose bite is death. It is the aspic of the ancients, and is so called now by the literati of Cyprus, though the common people call it kufi , (κȣ́φη,) deaf . With the PETHEN we may connect the python of the Greeks, which was, according to fable, a huge serpent that had an oracle at mount Parna us, famous for predicting future events. Apollo is said to have slain this serpent, and hence he was called “Pythius.” Those po e ed with a spirit of divination were also styled Πυθωνες. The word occurs in Acts, xvi, 16, as the characteristic of a young woman who had a pythonic spirit . It is well known that the serpent was particularly employed by the Heathens in their enchantments and divinations. See Serpent ]. Pethen, פתן , is variously translated in our version; but interpreters generally consider it as referring to the asp. Zophar alludes to it more than once in his description of a wicked man: “Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him. He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper’s tongue shall slay him.” The venom of asps is the most subtle of all; it is incurable; and, if the wounded part be not instantly amputated, it speedily terminates the existence of the sufferer. To these circumstances, Moses evidently alludes in his character of the Heathen: “Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.” To tread upon the asp is attended with extreme danger; therefore, to expre in the strongest manner the safety which the godly man enjoys under the protection of his heavenly Father, it is promised, that he shall tread with impunity upon these venomous creatures. No person of his own accord approaches the hole of these deadly reptiles; for he who gives them the smallest disturbance is in extreme danger of paying the forfeit of his rashne with his life. Hence, the Prophet Isaiah, predicting the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith of Christ, and the glorious reign of peace and truth in those regions which, prior to that period, were full of horrid cruelty, marvellously heightens the force of the whole description by declaring, “The sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” ASS, המור , Arabic, chamara and hamar . There are three words referred by translators to the a : 1. המור , which is the usual appellation, and denotes the ordinary kind; such as is employed in labour, carriage, and domestic services. 2. פררא , rendered onager , or “wild a .” 3. אהון , rendered she a . To these we must add, ערדיא , rendered wild a es , Dan. v, 21. The prevailing colour of this animal in the east is reddish; and the Arabic word, chamara , signifies to be red . In his natural state he is fleet, fierce, formidable, and intractable; but when domesticated, the most gentle of all animals, and a umes a patience and submi ion even more humble than his situation. Le Clerc observes, that the Israeli tes not being allowed to keep horses, the a was not only made a beast of burden, but used on journeys; and that even the most honourable of the nation were wont to be mounted on a es, which in the eastern countries were much larger and more beautiful than they are with us. Jair of Gilead had thirty sons who rode on as many a es, and commanded in thirty cities, Judges x, 4. Abdon’s sons and grandsons rode also upon a es, Judges xii, 4. And Christ makes his solemn entry into Jerusalem riding upon an a , Matt. xxi, 4; John xii, 14. To draw with an ox and a together was prohibited in the Mosaic law, Deut. xxii, 10. This law is thought to have respect to some idolatrous custom of the Gentiles, who were taught to believe that their fields would be more fruitful if thus ploughed; for it is not likely that men would have yoked together two creatures so different in their tempers and motions, had they not been led to it by some superstition. There might be, however, a physical reason for this injunction. Two beasts of a different species cannot well a ociate together; and on this account never pull pleasantly either in the cart or plough, and are not therefore “true yoke fellows.” Le Clerc considers this law as merely symbolical, importing that we are not to form improper alliances in civil and religious life; and he thinks his opinion confirmed by these words of St. Paul, 2 Cor. vi, 14: “Be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers;” which are simply to be understood as prohibiting all intercourse between Christians and idolaters, in social, matrimonial, and religious life. To teach the Jews the propriety of this, a variety of precepts relative to improper and heterogeneous mixtures were interspersed through their law; so that in civil and domestic life they might have them ever before their eyes. The wild a , called PARA , is probably the onager of the ancients. It is taller and a much more dignified animal than the common or domestic a ; its legs are more elegantly shaped; and it bears its head higher. It is peculiarly distinguished by a dusky woolly mane, long erect ears, and a forehead highly arched. The colour of the hair, in general, is of a silvery white. These animals a ociate in herds, under a leader, and are very shy. They inhabit the mountainous regions and desert parts of Tartary, Persia, . Anciently they were likewise found in Lycaonia, Phrygia, Me so pot am i a, and Arabia Desert a. They are remarkably wild; and Job, xxxix, 5–8, describes the liberty they enjoy, the place of their retreat, their manners, and wild, impetuous, and untamable spirit. “Vain man would be wise, though he be born a wild a ’s colt,” Job xi, 12; עיר פרא , “a colt,” not “a ’s colt;” יר being in apposition with פרא , and not in government. The whole is a proverbial expre ion, denoting extreme perversity and ferocity, and repeatedly alluded to in the Old Testament. Thus, Gen. xvi, 12, it is prophesied of Ishmael that he should be פרא אדם , a wild a man; rough, untaught, and libertine as a wild a . So Hosea, xiii, 15; “He (Ephraim) hath run wild (literally a ified himself) amidst the braying monsters.” So again, Hosea viii, 9, the very same character is given of Ephraim, who is called “a solitary wild a by himself,” or perhaps a solitary wild a of the desert ; for the original will bear to be so rendered. This proverbial expre ion has descended among the Arabians to the present day, who still employ, as Schultens has remarked, the expre ions, “the a of the desert,” or “the wild a ,” to describe an obstinate, indocile, and contumacious person. The Prophet Isaiah, xxxii, 14, describes great desolation by saying that “the wild a es shall rejoice where a city stood.” There is another kind of a called, אתון . Abraham had ATONOTH , Gen. xii, 16; Balaam rode on an ATON , Num. xxii, 23. We find from 1 Chron. xxvii, 30, that David had an officer expre ly appointed to superintend his ATONOTH ; not his ordinary a es, but those of a nobler race; which implies at least equal dignity in this officer to his colleagues mentioned with him. This notion of the ATON gives also a spirit to the history of Saul, who, when his father’s ATONOTH were lost, was at no little pains to seek them; moreover, as beside being valuable, they were uncommon , he might the more readily hear of them if they had been noticed or taken up by any one; and this leads to the true interpretation of the servant’s proposed application to Samuel, verse 6, as though he said, “In his office of magistracy this honourable man may have heard of these strayed rarities, and secured them; peradventure he can direct us.” Thus we find that these atonoth are mentioned in Scripture, only in the po e ion of judges, patriarchs, and other great men; insomuch that where these are there is dignity, either expre ed or implied. They were also a present for a prince; for Jacob presented Esau with twenty, Gen. xxxii, 15. What then shall we say of the wealth of Job, who po e ed a you sand? Another word which is rendered “ wild a ” by our translators, Job xxxix, 5, is ORUD ; which seems to be the same, that in the Chaldee of Daniel, v, 21, is called oredia . Mr. Park hurst supposes that this word denotes the brayer , and that PARA and ORUD are only two names for the same animal. But these names may perhaps refer to different races, though of the same species; so that a description of the properties of one may apply to both, though not without some variation. Who sent out the para free? Or who hath loosed the bands of the orud ? Whose dwelling I have made the wilderne , And the barren land (salt deserts) his resort: The range of open mountains are his pasture, And he search eth after every green thing. Gmelin observes that the onager is very fond of salt. Whether the “deserts” of the above text were salt marshes, or salt deserts, is of very little consequence; the circumstance shows the correctne of the Hebrew poet. In Daniel we read that Nebuchadnezzar dwelt with the OREDIA . We need not suppose that he was banished to the deserts, but was at most kept safely in an enclosure of his own park, where curious animals were kept for state and pleasure. If this be correct, then the ORUD was somewhat, at least, of a rarity at Babylon; and it might be of a kind different from the PARA , as it is denoted by another name. May it not be the Gicquetei of Profe or Pallas, the wild mule of Mongalia which surpa es the onager in size, beauty, and perhaps in swiftne .