The women of Nazareth, “where He was brought up,” as well as in some other parts of the Holy Land, wear strings of coins in their hair, and the quantity worn is considered a test of the position and wealth of her family. The coins are but small and thin, even when new, and therefore it is not unusual after the wearing of years, for one to break off from its string. To lose one is considered a great misfortune, and therefore when such an accident occurs, the owner to this day will “light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it.” Nor is this all, for, when the search has been successful, she stands in her door, and summons her friends, by clapping her hands, to share her joy. A friend of the writer once saw a crowd of women standing before a house in Nazareth, all clapping their hands, and uttering shrill cries of delight. She inquired the cause, and was almost startled to hear the reply of the dragoman, “She has called her friends and her neighbors to rejoice with her, for she has found the piece which she had lost.”—R. A. W.
“We may meet a shepherd walking at the head of his little flock.... The life of an Eastern shepherd is not exactly that of an English shepherd. Before sunrise every morning he starts out with his flock to seek pasture, and walking before them, leads them along the plain, or down into the valley, or up the mountain side, moving along slowly and quietly, sometimes, if the pasture is scanty, having to wander over many a mile in the course of the day. At noon he always seeks out some cool spring or fountain, where he and they may drink. Having satisfied their thirst, they all lie down and rest for two or three hours. Not unfrequently several flocks meet at the same spring, and lie down together for the midday repose. But when the heat of the day begins to lessen, we shall see one of the shepherds rise, and, giving his own peculiar call, walk away from the assembled flocks towards the green pastures. Immediately his own sheep, one by one, separate themselves from the rest and follow him, for they know his voice. No dog is needed to separate the flocks, and no sheep will be following the wrong shepherd.”—Mrs. Macintosh.
A simple explanation of these words, which have perplexed many commentators, may be found in the fact that to this day, in the East, money is always “wrapped up” before being presented, as shopkeepers in our own country wrap up half-pence when giving change; and for public collections, or offertories, the coins given are folded up in paper. The prophet is here lamenting the wickedness of the people, “There is none upright among men; “ and corruption had extended even to those in high places, “The prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire,” for the bribes for which he longs, and the people are compelled, to give (as they still are in the East), “so they wrap it up,” i.e., their gift, ready for presentation to their greedy superiors.