http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom09.xxii.ii.html:
Some think that there is here an allusion to an
ancient custom of putting the tears of mourners
into lachrymal urns or bottles. In the Roman
tombs there are found small vials, or bottles of
glass or pottery, usually called ampulloe, or
urnoe lachrymales, which, it has been supposed,
contained tears shed by the surviving relatives
and friends, and were deposited in the sepulchres
of the deceased as memorials of affection and
sorrow. If in this passage there is a reference
to this custom, it must have existed at an early
period among the Hebrews. It may however be
doubted, whether there is any such allusion. “It
is only a modern conjecture that these bottles
‘found in the Roman tombs’ have been deposited
there for such a purpose, and there is no trace
of such a custom in ancient writings or
sculptures. Some think they were intended to
contain the perfumes used in sprinkling the
funeral pile. On some of them there is the
representation of one or two eyes, and this seems
to favor the former view.” Illustrated
Commentary on the Bible Let it also be observed,
that the word , nod, here translated bottle,
means a sort of bottle which had no resemblance
to these Roman urns. It was made of a goat’s or
kid’s skin, and was used by the Hebrews for
keeping their wine, their milk, and their oil.
Compare 1 Samuel 16:20; Joshua 9:13; Judges 4:19;
Matthew 9:17. “Besides,” as Bishop Mant remarks,
“the treasuring up of the Psalmist’s tears shed
by him during his own sufferings, seems a very
different thing from the offering up of the tears
of surviving relations or friends, as memorials
on the tomb of a deceased person.” The
expression, “Put thou my tears into thy bottle,”
may be viewed as simply meaning, Let not my tears
fall unnoticed; let my distress and the tears
which it has wrung from me be ever before thee,
excite thy compassion, and plead with thee to
grant me relief. As the choicest things, such as
wine and milk, were put into bottles, the
Psalmist may also be understood as praying that
his tears might not only be noted by God, but
prized by him. The , nod, was of large capacity,
and used for churning as well as for wine. It may
therefore contain a reference to the large
quantity of tears which David’s affliction forced
from him. Harmer’s Observations, volume 2, pp. 121, 122.
At 04:04 PM 1/14/2010, you wrote:
>beautiful
>
>2010/1/14 Max Richards <[log in to unmask]>
>
> > psalm 56 KJV
> >
> > > 8
> > > Thou tellest my wanderings:
> > > put thou my tears into thy bottle:
> > > are they not in thy book?
> >
> > !!
> > Can this comment be correct ? -
> >
> > At the time, it was a Jewish custom for women to collect their tears in a
> > small
> > flask they hung on a cord around their neck when their husband was gone for
> > a
> > long period of time. When the husband returned, they would give him this
> > flask to
> > show how much they missed him.
> >
> > Max
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > This email was sent from Netspace Webmail: http://www.netspace.net.au
> >
Announcing The Whole Island: Six Decades of Cuban
Poetry (University of California Press).
http://go.ucpress.edu/WholeIsland
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