THE PALMS OF EUROPE AND AFRICA. 55 



the sacred volurae. It was one of the trees 

 with Avhich the Israehtes were dh-ected to con- 

 struct the temporary tents in which they were 

 to dwell during the feast of tabernacles. " And 

 ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of 

 goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the 

 boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook ; 

 and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God 

 seven days," Lev. xxiii. 40. In later days, the 

 Pharisees and Sadducees maintained a contro- 

 versy on the point, whether these branches were 

 to be used in making booths, or were to be 

 carried in procession. The latter was insisted 

 on by the Pharisees, and it is also the sense 

 given by Josephus, and was probably that acted 

 on in our Saviour's days, as it is still the prac- 

 tice maintained by the modern Jews. When 

 the observance of the religious institutions of 

 the Jews was restored by Nehemiah , after their 

 neglect in consequence of the captivity, they 

 sought instruction from the Scriptures. " And 

 they found written in the law which the Lord 

 had commanded by ]\roses, that the children of 

 Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the 

 seventh month : and tliat they should publish and 

 proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, 

 saying, Go forth unto the mount and fetch 

 olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle 



