family, that a similar practice may be traced through all the periods of Hebrew history.

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'Beginning with the Persian epoch, we find such names as Nehemiah, Schammai, Belteshazzar, which betray an oriental origin, and show that Jewish appellatives followed the growth of the living language. In the Greek period we encounter the names of Philip,1 and his son Alexander, and of Alexander's successors, Antiochus, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, Antipater;3 the names of Greek philosophers, such as Zeno and Epicurus;" even Greek mythological names, such as Jason and Menelaus. Some of these names will be recognised as occurring in the New Testament itself. When we mention Roman names adopted by the Jews, the coincidence is still more striking. Crispus, Justus, Niger, are found in Josephus, as well as in the Acts. Drusilla and Priscilla might have been Roman matrons. The Aquila of St. Paul is the counterpart of the Apella of Horace. 10 Nor need we end our survey of the Jewish names with the early Roman empire; for, passing by the destruction of Jerusalem, we see Jews in the earlier part of the middle ages calling themselves Basil, Leo, Theodosius, Sophia, and, in the latter part, Albert, Crispin, Denys.'

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To this we may add, that the same process is still in operation. Among the familiar names of Jews in London, there are numbers which indicate the countries from which the families they belong to came: Spanish and Portuguese, as De Castro, Garcia, Lopes, Mendoza; Italian, as Montefiore; German, as

1 Matt. x. 3; Acts vi. 5, xxi. 8. JOSEPHUS, Antiq. xiv. 10, 22. 2 Acts xix. 33, 34. See 2 Tim. iv. 14.

3 I Macc. xii. 16, xvi. 11; 2 Macc. iv. 29.

JOSEPHUS, Antiq. xiv. 10. 4 Zunz adduces these names from the Mishna and the Berenice inscription.

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Jason, JOSEPHUS, Antiq. xii. 10, 6; perhaps Acts xvii. 5-9; Rom. xvi. 21. Menelaus, JOSEPHUS, Antiq. xii. 5, I. See 2 Macc. iv. 5.

6 Acts xviii. 8.

9

9 Josephus, Vit. 68, 65; B. J. iv. 6, 1. Compare 1 Cor. i. 14; Acts xviii. 7; Col. iv. II.

10 HOR. I Sat., v. 100. Priscilla appears under the abbreviated form of

Prisca, 2 Tim. iv. 19.

Herschell, Rothschild, Goldsmid; besides a number of Polish names ending in ski. English names are as yet few, or, being English, we do not well distinguish them as belonging to Jews. Davis is, however, a very common name among them.

Dean Alford's note on the change of name appears to me, on the whole, the most satisfactory. This notice,' he says, 'marks the transition from the former part of his history, where he is uniformly called Saul, to the latter and larger portion, where he is, without exception, known as Paul. I do not regard it as indicative of any change of name at the time of this incident, or from that time : the evidence which I deduce from it is of a different kind, and not without interest to inquirers into the character and authorship of our history. Hitherto, our evangelist has been describing events, the truth of which he had ascertained by research, and from the narratives of others. But henceforward there is reason to think that the joint memoirs of himself and the great apostle furnish the material of the book. In those memoirs the apostle is universally known by the name PAUL, which superseded the other. If this was the first incident at which Luke was present, or the first memoir derived from Paul himself, or, which is plain, however doubtful may be the other alternatives, the commencement of that part of the history which is to narrate the teaching and travels of the Apostle Paul, it would be natural that a note should be made, identifying the two names as belonging to the same person.'

Forty-seventh Week-Seventh Day.

MARK.-ACTS XV. 37.

THE labours of Paul and Barnabas in Cyprus seem to have terminated at Paphos. From that place they embarked for the near coast of Pamphylia, the province lying west of Paul's native Cilicia. On reaching the coast, the vessel probably sailed up the river Cestius, and landed its passengers at the city of Perga, seven miles from the coast, to which the river was then navigable. Of Perga little is known; but there was a noted temple to Diana upon an eminence, and the city cele

brated a great annual festival in honour of the goddess. The site, which is very beautiful, is now marked only by some Grecian ruins of walls and towers, columns and cornices, a fine theatre and a stadium, a broken aqueduct, and sundry scattered tombs. The sole inhabitants are the shepherds who encamp with their flocks among the ruins.

The apostolic party made, however, no stay in this placeperhaps waiting just long enough to settle their route, unless this had been previously indicated by divine authority. Paul had already preached the gospel in Cilicia, and in the districts east thereof. It seems to have been now his desire to make the glad tidings known in the districts west and north-west of Cilicia, as he knew there were in those parts many settlements of Jews in important Gentile cities. It was probably in the consideration of this matter that John Mark declined to go any farther; at all events, it was at Perga that he parted company from his uncle Barnabas and from Paul, and hastened back to Jerusalem. Whether he did this with the consent or approbation of Barnabas, is not clear; but it is certain that Paul highly disapproved of the step, and regarded it with considerable displeasure. We may therefore conclude that Mark was in the wrong, or, at least, that he had no motive for the separation, which Paul considered adequate. It is quite possible that he entertained some scruple at receiving idolatrous Gentiles into the Christian church, or was dismayed by the dangers and difficulties of the attempt. Perhaps the dangers of the way, in the proposed inland journey, disheartened a young man who had not before been from home. The lawless and predatory character of the tribes inhabiting the highlands separating the plains of this coast from the interior table land, was notorious in ancient times; and there was no route Paul ever followed which more than this abounded in those 'perils of robbers,' of which he speaks in one of his Epistles. 2 Cor. xi. 26. It may be, however, that this step of Mark was taken from a desire to rejoin Peter, whose convert he probably was, and in whose company he appears to have taken great delight; for he may have heard or supposed that Peter had by this time

returned to Jerusalem, it being known that Herod-Agrippa was now dead. As good as any of these suppositions is this -that the young man was home-sick, and longed sore after his mother's house. It would seem that his mother Mary was a widow, and probably had early become such; so that Mark had been reared up in his own nest, under his mother's wing. Probably he was an only son, even her only child. Now, we all know what kind of character is usually formed under such bringing-up. A mother-bred youth, especially if the only child of that mother, and she a widow, usually receives such hothouse culture as badly fits him to endure the sharp air and gusty winds of practical life. The hardening of such a character is the most distressing moral process to which life is subject. Tender to touch as the mimosa; morbidly sensitive to every influence from without; even the kindness of men seems rough, while neglect wounds, and unkindness kills. Apt to see offence where love is meant; mortified to be no longer the first object of thought and solicitude to all around; such a young man, in his first adventure from home, cannot possibly find any society in which his self-esteem will not be deeply wounded. An earnest craving for home arises; and that absence from it which a hardier character sustains with comparative ease, soon becomes intolerable.

We take this to have been very nearly the case of Mark; and we can conceive that, while in this frame of mind, the society of his earnest seniors, even though one of them was his uncle, became distasteful to him. We cannot well answer respecting Barnabas; but of Paul we know, that in the midst of his generous tenderness of heart, he felt it his duty to enforce upon those who were or were to be ministers of the gospel, the necessity to endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ,' a duty which, as practically enforced in daily life upon a young man in this position, was likely to be at first exceedingly unpalatable.

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Notwithstanding this weakness, Mark remained sound at the core; and when Paul and Barnabas were about to set out upon their second missionary journey from Antioch, Mark was willing

VOL. VIII.

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to accompany them. His uncle was quite ready to take him; but Paul had not the same confidence in his steadiness, and, mindful of the probably serious inconvenience which his previous desertion had occasioned, refused his company. The result was a very painful misunderstanding between him and Barnabas, and the rupture of their plan of co-operative labour. Barnabas chose to part with Paul rather than with his nephew, and took him with himself, leaving Paul to pursue his own course with Silas.

It was probably from his steady and faithful conduct during this journey with his uncle, that Paul, who must have heard of it, restored him to his good opinion, and admitted him to his friendship. It appears that he was with Paul during his first imprisonment at Rome,' and, when the Epistle to the Colossians was written, was about to undertake a journey to Colosse for him. He there speaks of Mark as 'a fellow-worker unto the kingdom of God,' and a comfort' to himself; and in his latest letter, written not long before his death, he asks Timothy to bring Mark to Rome with him, being, as he says, 'profitable to me for the ministry.'

Mark seems, however, to have more generally laboured in the society of Peter, who calls him his son.3 It is clear that he was with Peter when this was written; and the general ecclesiastical tradition is, that he was the companion of his travels, and acted as his amanuensis. Indeed, it is generally understood that the Gospel which bears Mark's name was written under Peter's superintendence, and may be essentially regarded as Peter's Gospel.

It is said that Mark was sent by Peter into Egypt, to plant Christianity in that region. Here, having his residence chiefly at Alexandria, he laboured with such diligence and success, that a flourishing Christian church was ere long established; and the evangelist then extended his labours into Lybia, and still farther west, returning always to Alexandria. Certain it is, that the Christian church in Egypt has always regarded St. Mark as its founder.

1 Col. iv. 10; Philem. 24.

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2 2 Tim. iv. II.

1 Pet. v. 13.