iUtll!lj!!JIJ /!l! 'ill ^l ''I ill ;i! Wl; IN i iM':! ri"!!'ii Li.^^M^ ii!i>nii!ii' / / 1/ rij^-y i»' rm t.ki^'i t-ii.e ov .im\ . T? 3 tl 71 a.u. ■^TT" i4 i JEWISH ANTIQl/ir/if^ OR, A COURSE OF LECTURES ON ^f)t ®!)rf£ Jpirst 33oofes GODWIN'S MOSES AND AARON. TO WHICH IS ANNEXED A DISSERTATION ON THE HEBREW LANGUAGE. BY THE LATE REV. DAVID JENNINGS, D.D. Ct)f fiintlj dPtJitton, MfbtSrU antJ CorrfftrlJ. LONDON: PRINTED FOR THOMAS TEGG AND SON, 73, CHEAPSIDE; R. GRIFFIN AND CO., GLASGOW ; T. T. AND H. TEGG, DUBLIN J ALSO J. AND S. A. TEGG, SYDNEY AND HOBAUT TOWN. 1837. LONDON : BRADBUHY *N1) EVANS, PRINTERS, VVHITEPHIAHS. THE PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. The learned and worthy Author originally composed the following Treatise for the private use of those theolo- gical pupils, who studied under his own direction ; and it is now offered to the public, as deserving the perusal of all who would obtain an intimate acquaintance with the sacred oracles, especially with the Old Testament ; as well as of those whose profession leads them more directly to the study of divinity. Many passages of the word of God are here skilfully explained and illustrated, and many more may be so, by a judicious application of that knowledge of Jewish Antiquities, which is comprised in these Lectures. The representation made in them of the rites, customs, and opinions of the Jews, chiefly respects those which are found in Sci'ipture j for the clear understanding of which, besides carefully examining and comparing the accounts given in the sacred code, and deriving as much light as possible from that fountain, the Author hath called in the assistance of Josephus and Philo, and, on some occasions, of the Jewish rabbies, ^\,K7/Ov5 (' y^y^^ IV PREFACE. as well as of a great variety of other writers, both ancient and modern, who have treated concerning the Jews and their affairs. Of the rabbinical writers he had indeed a very mean opinion, both in respect to the credit due to them, as relaters of ancient fact, or of established customs and opinions ; and in respect to their judgment, as inter- preters of Scripture. Maimonides, Aben-Ezra, and Abar- banel, are the most eminent of this class, and almost the only persons amongst them who discover a judicious and rational turn of mind. Of Maimonides in particular it is said, that he was the first Jew who ceased to trifle, •' qui desiit desipere." But even these authors, though more respectable than most of their brethren, come too late to have much stress laid upon their report of the sentiments and practices of the ancient Jews, if not sup- ported or countenanced by Scripture, or by some other writer of more antiquity and greater authority than themselves. Though the learned Author chose to execute his de- sign upon the plan of the three first books of Godwin's Moses and Aaron, his work, nevertheless, doth not con- sist of detached remarks on the text of that writer, but of distinct and complete dissertations on the subjects treated of by him, and on some others which he hath omitted ; insomuch that it is not necessary to have recourse con- tinually to Godwin, in the perusal of the follovving volume ; which must have been the reader's disagreeable task, had this work been a collection of short notes and observations. In one or two places, the Editor hath taken the liberty of inserting, either from Godwin or from Hottinger's Notes upon him, what seemed necessary to complete the subject, and render the discourse regular PREFACE. V and uniform ; particularly in the chapter on the gates of Jerusalem, which, in the Author's MS. copy, consisted merely of what the reader will here find on the miracle which our Saviour wrought at the pool of Bethesda ; situated, as some suppose, near the Sheep Gate. Never- theless, though it is not requisite frequently to turn to Godwin in perusing this work, for a complete view of the subject, yet if the correspondent chapters in the two treatises are read in conjunction, we shall see reason, on the comparison, to entertain the higher opinion of the in- dustry with which our learned Author hath collected his materials, and of the judgment and skill with which he hath discussed the particular subject before him. The Editor hath taken care all along to insert the words of the text of Scripture which occur, and which in the manuscript were only quoted by the chapter and verse. The Author might reasonably expect from his pupils, that the passages referred to should be carefully consulted ; but it would have been irksome and tedious to the generality of readers, to be continually turning to passages of Scripture in order to understand the meaning of the Author's observations upon them, or reasoning from them. And the necessity the Editor was under of introducing the texts obliged him to make some small alterations in the phraseology, especially in the connec- ^tive particles and sentences, and even a few transposi- tions, in order to introduce them consistently with the regularity and uniformity of the whole. The references to authors, either for proof or illustra- tion, which are very numerous, have for the most part been carefully examined, and made very particular, for the benefit of those who are disposed to consult the autho- VI > I'UKFACE. rities on which the Author relies, or those writers who have treated more hirgely on the subject. For want of producing his authorities, Lewis's Jewish Antiquities, which are otherwise valuable, are very unsatisfactory to a man who is desirous, not only to know what hath been said, but by whom it hath been said, and what credit it deserves. With respect to the Dissertation on the Hebrew Lan- guage, it may be observed, that the Author once thought more highly of the antiquity and authority of the Ma- soretic readings, and of the vowel points, than he did after perusing the ingenious and learned Dr. KennicDtt's two dissertations, especially his second on the Hebrew text ; by which the Author, as well as the generality of the learned word, was convinced, they deserved not that extravagant and superstitious regard, which the credit of the two Buxtorfs, and of some other eminent Hebrai- cians in the last age, had procured them from men of letters. Once in particular he expressed his sentiments on this subject to the Editor, and gave some general idea of his intended alteration in the Dissertation on the Jewish Language ; which, it is presumed, he was pre- vented from accomplishing by the declining state of his health for some time before his decease. The Editor hath endeavoured to supply this little defect in some measure, by inserting a few references to, and observa-* tions from. Dr. Kennicott, and by softening a few ex- pressions, in conformity with the Author's latest senti- ments on this head. The reader will observe some digressions, in the earlier part of the work especially, to subjects which have an affinity to those of which the Author is treating. Some of PREFACE. Vll these the Editor liath thrown into notes, and might perhaps have done it with a few more, particularly in the chapter on the patriarchal government. As most of these relate to illustrations of Scripture, the Author was willing to indulge himself in them; declaring to his pupils, that he never thought himself out of his way while he was explain- ing the sacred oracles. However, these digressions are not numerous, and chiefly at the beginning of the work. Though this volume professedly treats of the subjects which are contained in the three first books of Godwin, yet several things are occasionally introduced relative to the subjects of his three last books ; which was one reason why the Author did not proceed to the particular con- sideration of them. Another was, that the three first books comprise all the subjects which relate to the sacred or ecclesiastical antiquities of the Hebrews, and which are peculiarly requisite to the understanding of the Jewish, and, consequently, in some measure, of the Christian scheme of theology. This piece of Godwin, styled Moses and Aaron, the method of which our Author chose to follow, hath been annotated and commented upon by a variety of authors. One of the most judicious, who have favoured the public with their lucubrations, is Hottinger. There are two sets of annotations in manuscript, one by the learned Witsius, which he read to his students in the university of Leyden j a copy of which was in the hands of Dr. Jennings, who hath been, in a few instances,, and but in a few, beholden to it. Another annotator, whose per- formance is yet in manuscript, was the late Mr. Samuel Jones, of Tewkesbury. His work, of which are several copies extant, is written in neat Latin, and contains very viii PREFACE. valuable remarks, which discover his great learning and accurate knowledge of his subject. From this writer the Editor hath inserted a note at page 331, and in a few other places. Dr. Jennings never saw Mr. Jones's Anno- tations, though there is a similarity in a few of their observations, they having both been in possession of a copy of Witsius. But the Doctor's own work surpasses the performances of both these learned writers, as in some other respects, so particularly in compass and variety, and as it contains the opinions and improvements of later authors : and it is hoped will answer the end for which it was originally composed, and is now published, — the advancement of religion and learning, and the knowledge of those oracles of God, which are able to make us wise to salvation. PHILIP FURNEAUX. CONTENTS. BOOK I. Chap. I. . Chap. II.. Chap. III. Chap. IV. . Chap. V. . Chap. VI. . Chap. VII. Chap. VIII. Chap. IX. . Chap. X. . . Chap. XI. . Chap. XII. Chap. XIII. CONCERNING PERSONS. Page , Of the Fonn of the Hebrew Commonwealth . . ] Of the Publicans and Taxes . . .50 Israelites and Proselytes . . . 61 Of their Kings .... 100 Of the High-priests, Priests, Levites, and Nethinim . 116 Of the Prophets . . . . 208 Of the title Rabbi . . . .247 Of the Nazarites and Rechabites . . .252 Of the Assideans and Karraites . . 261 Of the Pharisees . . . , 266 Of the Sadducees and Samaritans . . 276 Of the Essencs . • . . . 281 Of the Gaulonites and Herodians . 287 BOOK II. CONCERNING PLACES. Chap. I. . . Of the Tabernacle and Temple . .291 Chap. II. .. Of the Synagogues, Schools, and Houses of Prayer . 317 Chap. III. . Of the Gates of Jesusalem, and of the Temple . . 334 Chap. IV. . Of the Groves and High Places . . .340 Chap. V. ., Of the Cities of Refuge . . . . 344 h CONTENTS. BOOK III. CONCERNING TIMES. Page Chap. I. . . Of Days, Hours, Weeks, and Years . . 347 Chap. II., . Of their Feasts . . . . 362 Chap. III. . Of the Sabbath . . . .370 Chap. IV. . Of the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread . 388 Chap. V. .. Of the Feast of Pentecost . . . . 419 Chap. VI. . Of the Feast of Tabernacles . . . 424 Chap. VII.. Of the feast of Trumpets and New Moons . . 434 Chap. VIII.. Of the Day of Expiation . . 442 Chap. IX. . Of the Sabbatical Year, or Seventh Year's Rest . 4.56 Chap. X. . . The Jubilee. . . . . .46.5 Chap. XI.. . The Feasts of Purim and of Dedication . . 470 APPENDIX. Concerning the Lansrnage of the Jews . . . . 471 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. BOOK I. CONCERNING PERSONS. CHAPTER I. OF THE FORM OF THE HEBREW COMMONWEALTH. The ancient state and form of the Hebrew government may be distinguished into patriarchal and special. The patriarchal uni- versally prevailed in the first ages. By special we mean the government peculiar to the people of Israel, from the time of their entrance into Egypt to the end of their polity. Of the Patriarchal Form of Government. I. The patriarchal form (so called from -n-arpia, familia, and apxij)v, princeps) is defined by Godwin to consist in " the fathers of families, and their first-born after them, exercising all kinds of ecclesiastical and civil authority in their respective households ; blessing, cursing, casting out of doors, disinheriting, and punishing with death." It is natural to suppose that Adam, the father of all mankind, would be considered as supreme amongst them, and have special honour paid him as long as he lived ; and that when his posterity separated into distinct families and tribes, their respective fathers would be acknowledged by them as their princes. For as they could not, in any tolerable manner, live together without some kind of government, and no government can subsist without some head in whom the executive power is lodged, whom were the children so likely, after they grew up, to acknowledge in this capacity, as their father, to whose authority they had been used to submit in their early years? And hence those, who were at first only acknowledged as kings over their own households, grew B 2 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. insensibly into monarchs of larger communities, by claiming the same authority over the families which branched out from them, as they had exercised oyer their own. However, the proper patriarchal government is supposed to have continued among the people of God until the time of the Israelites dwelling in Egypt ; for then we have the first intimation of a different form of govern- ment among them. Our author hath perhaps assigned greater authority to the patriarchs than they reasonably could or did claim and exercise ; at least, the instances he produces to prove they were ordinarily invested with such a despotic power, " in civilibus et sacris," as he ascribes to them, are not sujfficiently convincing. That there was some civil government in the first ages, is supposed to appear from the history of Cain, who was not only banished, but was apprehensive he should be punished with death, for the murder of his brother Abel. " And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth ; and from thy face shall I be hid ; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth ; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me;" Gen. iv. 13, 14. Where nDl« adhamah, which we render, the earth, may signify his native country, viz. that part of the world where Adam dwelt, where himself was born, and where his nearest kindred and acquaintance lived : this word, as well as pK arets, being frequently applied to a particular coun- try, as to the land of Canaan, Gen. xxviii. 11; to the land of Egypt, Exod. viii. 17 ; and to several others *. By " the face of God from which he was hid," or banished, is properly meant what the Jews called the Shechinah, a shining light or glory, in which God was wont to manifest his presence, and to present himself as a visible object of worship, and from which he gave oracles, as he did afterward in the Jewish taber- nacle over the mercy-seat; though St. Chrysostom understands his being " hid from the face of God," of the Divine Being's withdrawing his gracious presence from him, and putting him from under his protection. Many have thought, that upon his being thus banished from the divine presence, he turned idolater, and set up the worship of the sun as the best resemblance of the Shechinah, or visible divine * Vid. Stockii Clav. in verb. CHAP. I.] PATRIARCHAL GOVERNMENT. 3 glory ; and thus they account for the early introduction of that most general and most ancient kind of idolatry. The reason why this lighter punishment of banishment was inflicted on him, instead of that severer one of death, which his crime had merited, is supposed to be either, first, that he might continue a living example of divine vengeance, in order to deter others from the like crime, whereas, had he been put to death, the criminal and his punishment might soon have been forgotten : or, secondly, as Grotius conceives, because, there being yet but few inhabitants in the world, it was fit he should be suffered to live for the propagation of the species; or at least an example of severity was less requisite, as there were not many who were likely to be exposed to such outrages *. However, it appears that Cain, being sensible of his deserts, was afraid the punishment of death would be inflicted on him : for he adds, " I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth ; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me : " that is, either as a common enemy, or at least as one banished and outlawed, and not under the protection of the government. It follows. Gen. iv. 15, " And the Lord said unto him, There- fore whoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him seven- fold : " that is, as some understand it, to the seventh generation ; or it may rather be a definite number for an indefinite f ; and so the meaning is, he shall endure many punishments, or shall be severely punished. " And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should slay him." Many are the conjectures, both of Jews and Christians (some of them ridiculous enough), concerning this raai-k. Some will have it, God stigmatised him with a brand in his fore- head, to denote his being accursed; others, that he had a wild aspect, and bloody eyes, which rolled in a horrid manner. The fathers, in general, suppose, that he had a continual trembling of the body, so that he could hardly get his food to his mouth. This opinion is favoured by the Septuagint, which renders " a fugitive and a vagabond," orfi/wv kui rpefxoy, lamenting and trembling. Others tell us, that wherever he went the earth shook under him. And another notion (as well founded as any of the former) is, that * De Jure Belli ct Pacis, lib. i. cap. 2, sect. 5. •]■ Instances of this you have in Psalm xii. 6 ; cxix. 164 ; and Prov. xxiv. 16, and many oUher places. B 2 4 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK J. he bad a horn growing out of his forehead, to warn people to avoid him. Le Clerc imagines, that God ordered him to wear some distinguishing garment, perhaps of some glaring colour, as a mark or sign upon him for his preservation ; like the blood upon the door-posts of the Israelites' houses, Exod. xii. 13 ; or the scarlet line in Rahab's window, Josh. ii. 18; for had he been clothed only with the skins of wild beasts, as in those days men generally were, after the fashion of their first parents, Gen. iii. 21, he would have been very liable, whenever he had wandered in the woods and thickets, to have been shot at by some hunter, and perhaps killed through mistake. A similar instance you have in the fable of Cephalus and Procis. However, Dr. Shuckford's opinion is the most probable, who renders the words m« pp^ rnn' Dty>i vejasem Jehovah lecain oth, " God gave to Cain a sign," or token, probably by some apparent miracle, that he would providentially protect him ; so that none that met him should kill him *. In this sense the woi-d niK oth is used when the rainbow is called the m« oth, that is, the sign or token of the covenant which God made with Noah ; whereby he assured him, that he would drown the world no more ; Gen. ix. 12 — 17: and when Gideon desired that the angel would show him a sign, or some miraculous token, that he brought him a commis- sion from God, and that he should be able to destroy the Midian- ites; Judges vi. 17 : see also Psalm Ixxxvi. 17. Another article in the history of the antediluvian ages, which is supposed to intimate that there was a civil government then sub- sisting, is the story of Lamech. " Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice ; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto ray speech : for I have slain a man unto my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged seven-fold, truly Lamech seventy and seven-fold ; " Gen. iv. 23, 24. This speech, which is introduced without any connexion with the pre- ceding history, has given interpreters not a little trouble. The Jewish Rabbies attempt to explain it by the help of a story, per- haps of their own invention ; that Lamech, as he was hunting, being informed by a certain youth that a wild beast lay lurking in a secret place, went thither, and unawares killed Cain, who lay hid there, with a dart ; and then, upon finding his mistake, in a fit of rage for what he had done, beat the youth to death ; so that ♦ Shuckford's Connect, vol. i. p. 8. CHAP. I.] PATRIARCHAL GOVERNMENT. 5 Cain was the man he had slain by wounding him ; and the youth, the young man he had killed by hurting, or beating him. But as this story is without any foundation in Scripture, we have no reason to look upon it in any other light than as a mere fable ; though St. Jerome says it was received as true by several Chris- tians. Jacobus Capellus, in his Historia Sacra et Exotica, fan- cies that Lamech, being in a vapoury humour, was boasting of his courage, and what he would do if there was occasion : " I would, or will, kill a man, if he wounds me ; and a young man if he hurts me." But this version offers too much violence to the Hebrew text : Onkelos, who wrote the first Chaldee paraphrase on the Pentateuch, has given us an easier sense, reading the following words with an interrogation : " Have I slain a man to ray wound- ing, and a young man to my hurt?" and accordingly he para- phrases it thus : " I have not killed a man, that I should bear the sin of it; nor have I destroyed a young man, that my offspring should be cut off for it" Dr. Shuckford has improved this inter- pretation, by supposing that Lamech was endeavouring to reason his wives and family out of their fear of having the death of Abel revenged upon them, who were of the posterity of Cain. As if he had said, " What have we done, that we should be afraid .'' We have not killed a man, nor offered any injury to our brethren of any other family ; and if God would not allow Cain to be killed, who had murdered his brother, but threatened to take seven-fold vengeance on any that should kill him ; doubtless they must expect much greater punishment, who should presume to kill any of us. Therefore, we may surely look upon ourselves as safe under the protection of the law, and of the providence of God." Having thus considered those parts of sacred history which are produced as evidences of a civil government in the early ages of the world ; we now proceed to examine the particular instances alleged of that despotic power of the patriarchs, which our author ascribes to them. The first is of Noah, who pronounced a curse upon Canaan — " Cursed be Canaan ; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren ;" Gen. ix. 25. It may reasonably be believed, that Noah, being the second father of mankind, had, for a considerable time, the honour and authority of universal monarch, as Adam had before him. Some insist upon it, that Nirarod was the first that drew off a party from 6 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. their allegiance to Noah ; and, setting up for a king, proved an oppressive tyrant. Accordingly, his being called yiwn ^'2:^ ^ibbor baarets, which the Septuagint renders yiym cm ttjs yr}^, Gen. x. 8, may refer, not to his stature, but to his power ; for Hesychius makes yiyas to signify the same as Svfao-njy, io-xvpos, poteris, rohustus. Nimrod is expressly said to have set up " a kingdom," ver. 10 ; and just before, ver. 9, "to have been a mighty hunter before the Lord." Which the Jerusalem Paraphrast interprets of a sinful hunting after the sons of men, to turn them off from the true religion. But it may as well be taken in a more literal sense, for hunting of wild beasts ; inasmuch as the circumstance of his being a mighty hunter, is mentioned with great propriety, to introduce the account of his setting up his kingdom ; the exercise of hunting being looked upon in ancient times as a means of acquiring the rudiments of war * ; for which reason, the principal heroes of heathen antiquity, as Theseus, Nestor, &c., were, as Xenophon tells us, bred up to hunting. Besides, it may be supposed, that by this practice Nimrod drew together a great company of robust young men to attend him in his sport ; and by that means increased his power. And by destroying the wild beasts, which, in the comparatively defenceless state of society in those early ages, were no doubt very dangerous enemies, he might, perhaps, render himself fai'ther popular; thereby engaging numbers to join with him, and to promote his chief design of subduing men, and making himself master of nations. But to return to Noah, and to the instance which our author assigns of his patriarchal authority, in denouncing a curse upon Canaan. Unless it could be proved, that all the patriarchs were endowed with a prophetic spirit, as it was evident Noah was, when he fore- told the fate of his three sons and their posterity, it will by no means follow from the instance before us, that the authority of the patriarchs generally reached so far as to pronounce effectual blessings and curses on their children and subjects. In short, in this affair, Noah seems to have acted rather as a prophet than as a patriarch : no argument therefore can be drawn from his con- duct on this occasion, to prove the extent of the patriarchal power. * Vid. Xenophon. Cyrop. lib. i. p. 10, edit. Hutch.; Philon. lud. de Joseph, ab initio, apud opera, p. 411, edit. Colon. Allobrof;. ct eundem de Vita Mosis, p. 475. See these and other authors cited by Bochart in his Geographia Sacra, lib. iv. cap, 12. CHAP. I.] PATRIARCHAL GOVERNMENT. 7 Some difficulties occur in this piece of sacred history, which we cannot pass over without attempting at least to explain them. 1st. It is inquired in what Ham's crime consisted. The history informs us, that he " saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without ; " Gen. ix. 22. Now merely seeing might be accidental, unavoidable, and no way cri- minal. We must, therefore, suppose, there was something more in the case than is plainly expressed. Some Jewish doctors make his crime to be castrating his father Noah, to prevent his having any more sons, lest his share in the division of the world should not be as large as he wished; which conceit some very grave authors have seriously refuted, from these v,'ords : " Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him ;" ver. 24. They argue, that if Ham had performed so painful an operation upon his father, the anguish would undoubtedly have awoke him, and the criminal had been taken in the very fact. Mr. Vander Hart, professor of the oriental languages in the University of Helmstad, is of opinion, that Ham's crime was com- mitting incest with his father's wife. But if we may suppose the narrations of Moses to be thus disguised, there will be hardly any depending upon a single fact he relates. The most probable, therefore, as well as the easiest account, is this, that Ham told his bi'ethren of what he had seen, in a scornful manner. It is said " he told his brethren without ; " perhaps in the street, publicly before the people, proclaiming his father's shame with contempt and derision ; the very sin to which such exemplary vengeance was afterward threatened : " The eye that raocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it;" Prov. xxx. 17. 2dly. It is inquired, why Noah denounced the curse, not on Ham himself, but on his son Canaan ; Gen. ix. 25. It might very likely be a reason why Canaan is here so parti- cularly mentioned by Moses, that hereby the Israelites might be encouraged to war against the Canaanites, who were the posterity of this Canaan ; when they knew, that by a curse they were devoted to subjection and slavery ; and that on this account, they might be assured of victory over them. But as to the reason of the curse being denounced on Canaan: 1st. Some by Canaan understand Canaan's father; which is a very harsh interpretation. 8 JEWISH ANTFQUITIES. [BOOK I 2dly. The opinion of the Hebrew doctors is, that Canaan first saw Noah in an indecent posture, and made a jest of it to his father Ham. For proof of this, they allege the words already quoted, ** Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him ; " ver. 24. By ftopn lil hmo hakatan^ which we render Noah's younger son {Jilms parvus)^ they understand his grandson. But this, also, is too forced an interpretation. For as bnj gadhol, magnus, is elsewhere applied to Japhet, to signify his being the elder. Gen. x. 21, so ]irip katan, parvus, is most naturally, in this place, to be understood of the younger son. 3dly. The easiest solution of this difficulty, I conceive, is this that what is commonly called a curse, in this place, is rather prophecy ; so that the words, " cursed be Canaan," Gen. ix. 25, would better be rendered, " cursed shall Canaan be,*" that is, the posterity of Canaan, who from him were called Canaanites ; for the blessings which Noah emphatically pronounced upon his two other sons, related to their posterity ; as is evident from the following words : " God shall enlarge Japhet, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem ; "" ver. xxvii. Now though the Canaanites suffered for their own sins (Lev. xviii. 24, 25, and Gen. xv. 16), yet it was a present punishment inflicted upon Ham, to be informed by the spirit of prophecy, that one branch of his posterity would prove so exceeding vile as to fall remarkably under the curse of God, and be made a slave to the posterity of his brethren. Which leads us to inquire, 3dly. What is meant by his being a " servant of servants : " " Cursed be Canaan ; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren." This may easily be determined from the use of the like phrase on other occasions. Sanctum sanctorum signified the most holy place in the Jewish tabernacle and temple; and canticum canticorum^ the most excellent song. In like manner, servus servorum, a servant of servants, is the basest and vilest of servants, that is, a slave ; and very remarkably was the prediction fulfilled eight hundred years after, when the Israelites, who were descended from Shem, took possession of the land of Canaan, subduing thirty kings, killing a vast number of the inhabitants, laying heavy tributes on the remainder, or driving them out of their country, and using the Gibeonites, who saved themselves by a wile, though not properly as slaves, yet as mere drudges for the service of the taber- nacle ; and when, afterwards, the scattered relics of the Canaanites, CHAP. I.] PATRIARCHAL GOVERNMENT. 9 at Tyre, at Thebes, and at Carthage, were all conquered and cut off" by the Greeks and Romans, who were descended from Japhet *. The second instance which Godwin produces of the despotic power of the patriarchs, is Abraham's turning Hagar and Ishmael out of his family; Gen. xxi. 9, &c. When Abraham left his father's house, and came into the land of Canaan, being there sui juris, and subject to none, he doubtless exercised a patriarchal jurisdiction in his own family ; in which he was succeeded by Isaac and Jacob. But as for his turning his concubine and her sons out of doors, when he had a child by his lawful wife, it is too common a case to be an evidence of any singular authority vested in the patriarchs, and peculiar to those ages. The third instance is that of Jacob's denouncing a curse upon Simeon and Levi, — *' Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce ; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel;" Gen. xlix. 7. But this might have been more properly alleged as an instance of prophetic inspiration than of patriarchal authority ; it being among the predictions which, under a divine afflatus, Jacob delivered concerning the posterity of his twelve sons. And very remarkably was this prediction fulfilled. The tribe of Simeon, upon the division of the land of Canaan, had not a separate in- heritance assigned them by themselves, but only a portion in the midst of the tribe of Judah ; Josh. xix. 1.9. And when they were afterward increased, they acquired possessions where they could, far from the rest of their brethren ; 1 Chron. iv. 39. 42. And if the Jewish tradition be credible, that many of them, want- ing a livelihood, engaged in teaching children, and were employed as schoolmasters in all the other tribes of Israel, it was a further accomplishment of Jacob's prophecy. As for the tribe of Levi, it was remarkably scattered among the other tribes ; having no tract of land assigned it, in the manner they had, but only certain cities (with a little land about them), out of all the other tribes. See Josh. xxi. passim. Howbeit, as this tribe manifested an extra- ordinary zeal against idolatry in the affair of the golden calf, Exod. xxxii. 26 — 28, the curse was taken off", or rather turned into • See Philippi Olearii dispntat. liistorico-moral. do Cham, malcdict. Lips. 1707 ; and Apiid Thesau. nov. theologico-pliilolog. toui. i. p. KiH, Lugd. Bat. et Anjstcl. 1732. 10 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. a blessing, ver. 29, for it was consecrated of God to " teach Jacob his judgments, and Israel his laws,"' Deut. xxxiii. 9, 10 ; and the Levites had the tenth of all the increase of the land assigned them, throughout all the country. The fourth instance of patriarchal authority, which is alleged, is of Judah ; who, when he was informed that Tamar, his daughter- in-law, had played the harlot, and was with child by whoredom, said, " Bring her forth, and let her be burnt;" Gen. xxxviii. 24. From whence it is inferred, that Judah, as a patriarch, was in- vested with supreme authority in his own house, and even with power of life and death. But to this it is objected, 1st. It is not probable that Judah should be invested with such authority, while his father Jacob was still hving : much less, 2dly. That he should have such a despotic power over Tamar, who was not one of his family ; for, after the death of Onan, she had returned to dwell in her own father's house; ver. 11. Nor, 3dly. If he had possessed such a power, is it likely he would have been guilty of so much injustice and cruelty, as to put her to death, when she was with child ? Perhaps therefore Judah might speak only as a prosecutor : " Bring her forth to -her trial, in order that she may be burnt after her delivery." For though the law of Moses, which enacted that adultery should be punished with death, Lev. xx. 10, was not yet given, burning seems, however, to have been the punishment of that crime, which custom had esta- blished. We find it practised by the Philistines, who were not under the law of Moses. When Samson's v^^ife had married another man, " they burnt her with fire ;" Judges xv. 6. It is farther to be considered, that though Tamar had lived a widow since the death of Onan, yet she was legally espoused to his younger brother Shelah, and only waited till he was of proper age for the consummation of the marriage, and therefore she was con- sidered as a wife, and consequently as an adulteress. Of the Special Form of the Hebrew Government. Having thus examined the hints of the patriarchal form of government which are to be found in the only authentic history of those early ages, we proceed, II. To consider the special government of the people of Israel, from the beginning of their national polity to its final dissolution. Here I shall distinguish this large tract of time into four periods : CHAP. I.] HEBREW GOVERNMENT. 11 1st. From their entrance into Egypt to their entrance into Canaan. 2dly. From their entrance into Canaan to the captivity. 3dly. During the captivity ; and, 4thly. From the captivity to the destruction of Jerusalem. I. The first period is, from their entrance into Egypt to their entrance into Canaan, which may conveniently be subdivided into two lesser periods. The former takes up the time of their sojourning in the land of Egypt; the latter, the time of their migration through the wilder- ness, from Egypt to Canaan. First. As to the state and form of their government while they sojourned in Egypt. No doubt, while Jacob and Joseph lived, they were their own masters, and were governed by their own laws. And though afterwards, " when another king arose that knew not Joseph,'^ they were enslaved by the Egyptians, yet we may perhaps discern the shadow, at least, of some form of civil government still subsist- ing among them. God commanded Moses to "gather the D^ipr zikenim^ elders of Israel, together, in order to deliver to them the message with which he was sent to their nation; " Exod. iii. 16. And " Moses and Aaron went, and gathei*ed together all the elders of the children of Israel ]" chap. iv. 29. By elders some understand the judges in their civil courts ; because we find this title afterwards applied to such judges, Deut. xxi. 2, xix. 12, and in several other places. But it is an objection of no small weight against this opinion, that when Moses had brought the Israelites out of Egypt, there were no such judges among them ; but Moses judged all himself, to his exceeding great trouble; Exod. xviii. 13, &:c. By 'the elders, therefore, spoken of before, during their abode in Egypt, may only be meant the wisest and gravest men in the highest esteem among them, or at most, according to Mr. Selden, the heads of their tribes *. As for the ontou^ shoferim, officers of the children of Israel, Exod. V. 14, which they had amongst them at this time, they seem to have been appointed, and set over them, by the Egyptians, merely for the purpose of overseeing the work they were em- ployed in. • Uxor. Hebr. lib. i. cap. 15. 12 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. So that, upon the whole, we have only very dark and uncertain hints of any special form of government among the Hebrews during their abode in Egypt. But, Secondly. The form of their government is far more conspicuous in and during their migration through the wilderness from Egypt to Canaan. Presently after they had left Egypt, the Theocracy was set up among them, that is, God condescended to be their king, as well as their God. The word deoKpana, formed by Joseph us from Otos, Deus, and Kpareco, impero, very happily expresseth that peculiar government which God exercised over the people of Israel. To them he stood in a threefold relation. First. As their Creator, in common with the rest of mankind ; and, therefore, as the Lord of their consciences, he required from them all the duties of the moral law. Secondly. He was their God, as they were a visible church, separated from all the nations of the earth to be his peculiar people. In this character he prescribed the peculiar forms and distinguishing rites and ceremonies of their religious worship. Thirdly. He was their proper king, the sovereign of their body politic, in which character he gave them judicial or political laws relating to government and civil life ; he ordered a royal palace to be built for his residence among them, I mean the tabernacle in which he dwelt, or manifested his special presence, by the Shechinah, as the Jews call it ; that is, by a bright cloud, or glory, appearing over the mercy-seat, betwixt the two cherubim in the innermost room of that palace, Lev. xvi. 2 ; on which account he is said to " dwell betwixt the cherubim," Psalm Ixxx. 1 ; and to " sit betwixt the cherubim," Psalm xcix. 1. From thence he gave forth oracles, or signified his will concerning matters of importance to the state, which were not determined by the body of written laws ; Lev. i. 1. It should seem, the common way of giving these oracles was by an audible voice. In this manner, we are expressly informed, the oracle was given to Moses, when he went into the tabernacle to consult it; Numb. vii. 89. And it may be inferred from the phrase by which the oracle is usually expressed, " Jehovah spoke, saying," or *• Jehovah said." However that was (which w^ill be considered more fully in its proper place), it sufficiently appears, that by the oracle, or by Jehovah himself, all laws were enacted, war was proclaimed, and CHAP. I.] THE THEOCRACY. 13 magistrates were appointed ; in which three things the summa potestas, or sovereign authority, of any state, consisteth *. 1st. Laws were enacted and promulgated immediately by the oracle, or voice of Jehovah. Thus, when the laws of the two tables were given at mount Sinai, the voice of Jehovah was heard by all the people ; Deut. v. 22, 23. But the majesty in which God manifested himself on that occasion was so very awful, that it struck them with amazement, and a kind of horror ; therefore the rest of the laws were, at their request, communicated more privately to Moses, and by him to the people. Yet they were all given immediately, by the oracle, or voice of Jehovah. " The Lord spake unto Moses, saying," is the usual preface to every body or parcel of laws. Now these laws are an evidence that Jehovah acted as their king, as well as their God, since they contain a number of forensic, as well as moral and ceremonial precepts, relating to their civil polity and government, to their magistrates and judges, their estates and inheritances, their trade and commerce, and even to the form of their houses, their food, and their apparel. God enacted all their laws, and no power was vested in any one else, either to make new, or repeal old ones. 2dly. God, as king, reserved to himself the sovereign right of proclaiming war and making peace with their neighbouring nations. He proclaimed war with the Amalekites, Exod. xvii. 16, and with the Midianites, Numb. xxxi. 1, 2 ; and therefore a certain history ©f the wars of the Israelites, now lost, is called " the book of the wars of the Lord ; " Numb. xxi. 14. Jehovah commanded, and even headed, their armies in their marches and in their battles. Thus the tabernacle, or royal tent, led their marches through the wilderness ; from thence, by the rising and falling of a miraculous cloud over it, was the signal given when they should proceed, and when they should rest; Numb. ix. 17, 18. By this extraordinary appearance, or token of the divine presence, was the course, as well as the time, of their marches directed ; for " the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way ; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light ; to go by day and night;" Exod. xiii. 21. To these miraculous signals those words of Moses refer, " When the ark set forward, Moses said. Rise up. Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered, and let them * Vid. Conring. de Rep. Heb. sect. vii. et seq. 14 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I- that hate thee, flee before thee. And when it rested, he said. Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel;" Numb. x. 35, 36. We may remark by the way, with Taubraan in his notes on Virgil, that it proceeded, probably, from a tradition of this usual appearance of the God of Israel, that the heathen poets frequently represent their deities as appearing in a cloud, with a peculiar brightness in it. Now, God himself undertaking to lead their marches, it was great presumption in them ever to march without his signal or order ; and when, therefore, they would thus have marched into Canaan, Moses sharply expostulates with them, *' Wherefore now do you transgress the commandment of the Lord ? But it shall not prosper. Go not up, for the Lord is not among you, that ye be not smitten before your enemies ; " Numb. xiv. 41, 42. Which words suggest a sufficient reason of their being sometimes defeated, though Jehovah himself was their king and general. The whole direction of the siege of Jericho, and the manner of taking it, Josh, vi., are a further illustrious instance of Jehovah's immediate conduct of their military aflairs. 3dly. God in his royal capacity appointed all officers in the state. Thus he made Moses his viceroy or prime-minister ; and Joshua not only the successor of Moses after his death, but an associate with him, or his deputy and lieutenant, during his life : for so Dr. Patrick understands that order which God gave to Moses concerning Joshua, " Thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient;" Numb, xxvii. 20. Onkelos, indeed, and the Hebrew doctors, understand by the word Tin hod, which we render *' honour " in that place (but which more commonly signifies glory), the splendour which shone in the face of Moses, after he came down from the mount, part of which, they supposed, was now imparted to Joshua, in order to make him appear more venerable in the eyes of the people. Upon which, they say, Moses's face shone like the sun, Joshua's like the moon. But they should have observed, that Moses is ordered to put some of his glory or honour upon Joshua ; which cannot be understood, with any pro- priety, of that miraculous lustre which Moses had no power to impart, but may very naturally be interpreted of the honour result- ing from his authority and post in the government, in which Joshua was now to be joined with him. CHAP. I.] THE THEOCRACY. 15 We further observe, to this purpose, that when Jethro suggested to Moses, that, for his ease in the government, he should appoint a number of inferior officers under him, he (being doubtless informed by Moses of the extraordinary constitution of the Hebrew state) did not propose he should do it without a special order from Jehovah, but that he should consult the oracle : " If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure," &c. ; Exod. xviii. 23. And thus, likewise, when any doubt arose about the meaning of any law which God had already given ; or when any case occurred which the law had not expressly provided for, Jehovah himself must be consulted about it. As in the case of those who were defiled by a dead body, and therefore could not keep the passover on the day appointed. Numb. ix. 6 — 10 ; in the case of the sabbath-breaker, Numb. xv. 34, 35 ; and of Zelophehad's daughters, about the right of inheritance ; Numb, xxvii. 5 — 7. From which instances it plainly appears, that God stood in the peculiar relation to the Israelites, of their king as well as their God. When, therefore, they afterwards desired a king " to judge them, like the other nations," God says, they had " rejected him, that he should not reign over them ; " 1 Sam. viii. 7. And Samuel upbraids them with this their rebel- hon : " Ye said, a king shall reign over us, when the Lord your God was your king," 1 Sam. xii. 12 ; that is, in the same sense in which the kings of other nations are their kings ; otherwise, the desiring an earthly king would not have been inconsistent with the sovereignty of Jehovah, and their allegiance to him. Since, then, Jehovah himself was the king, as well as the God, of Israel, it follows, that the priests and Levites, who were the more immediate and stated attendants on his presence, in the royal tent or palace, as the tabernacle or temple may be styled, and to whom the execution of the law was in many cases committed, were properly ministers of state and of civil government, as well as of religion. Thus, to them it belonged to declare who were clean and who were unclean ; who should be shut out of the congrega- tion, and who should be admitted into it. The people were to inquire of the law from their mouth, and that in respect to civil as well as religious matters ; and they were appointed to teach Jacob God's judgments and Israel his laws, " even all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses ; " Lev. x. 1 1 ; that is, the forensic laws, as well as the moral and ceremonial precepts. 16 JEWISH ANTlj^UITIIiS. [BOOK 1. Hence we are naturally led to conceive of a double use of the sacrifices which were offered by the priests in behalf, and at the charge of the people ; of which they had a share, as the per- quisites of their office : 1 mean, that, besides their typical and religious use, they were also intended for the support of the state and civil government ; inasmuch as these ministers of state were chiefly maintained by them. So that the allotments to the priests, out of the sacrifices, may be considered as designed, like the civil- list money in other nations, for the immediate support of the crown and the officers of state. On these principles we are enabled to account for Paul sacri- ficing, as we are informed he did, after the commencement of the Christian dispensation. Acts xxi. 26 ; an action which has been severely censured by some, as the greatest error of his life. Hereby he not only gave, say they, too much countenance to the Jews, in their superstitious adherence to the law of Moses, after it was abrogated by Christ ; but his offering these typical sacrifices, after the antitype of them was accomplished in the sacrifice of Christ, was a virtual denial of Christ, and of the virtue of his sacrifice, which superseded all others. PauPs long trouble, which began immediately after this affair, some have looked upon as a judgment of God upon him for this great offence. But if this action was really so criminal as some suppose, one cannot enough wonder, that so good and so wise a man as Paul was should be guilty of it ; and that the apostle James, and the other Christian elders, should all advise him to it ; ver. 18. 23, 24. It is likewise strange, that we find no censure ever passed on this action by any of the sacred writers ; not even by Paul himself, who appears so ready, on other occasions, to acknowledge and humble himself for his errors and failings. On the contrary, he reflects with comfort on his having complied with the customs of the Jews, in order to remove their prejudice against him and his ministry, and against the gospel which he preached, and to win them over to embrace it : " Unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews ; and this I do for the gospel's sake ;" 1 Cor. ix. 20. 23. To elucidate this point, we are to consider that there was a political as well as typical use of sacrifices ; and that though the typical ceased upon the sacrifice of Christ, yet the political con- tinued, till God in his providence broke up the Jewish state and polity, about forty years after our Saviour's death. Till that time, it was not merely lawful, but matter of duty, for good subjects to CHAP. 1.] JESHURUN. 17 pay the dues which were appointed by law for the support of the government and magistracy. Now of this kind was the sacrifice which Paul offered ; and in this view they were paid by Chris- tians dwelling in Judea, as well as by those who still adhered to the Jewish religion. So that, upon the whole, this action, for which Paul has been so much censured, probably amounts to nothing more than paying the tribute due to the magistrate by law ; which the apostle enjoins upon all other Christians in all other nations ; Rom. xiii. 6. From this account of the Theocracy, and of the peculiar rela- tions in which God stood to the Hebrew nation, we may also perceive in what sense, and how far, the Levitical sacrifices could make atonement for sin. This they are often said to do ; and yet it is asserted in the Epistle to the Hebrews, chap. x. 4, " that it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins;" that is, sins against God as our Creator and the Lord of conscience. But, besides the typical reference which the Jewish sacrifices had to the great atonement by the sacrifice of Christ, they may be supposed to make a proper and equitable atonement for transgressions of the peculiar law of the Theocracy, or for sins committed against God, merely as king of the Jews. It is enacted in the law of Moses, Lev. v. 15, 16, that if a person " had committed a trespass, and sinned through ignorance in the holy things of the Lord (that is, by applying to his own private use what should have been paid to God as king, or to the priests his ministers), he should make amends to the full value in money ; adding to it a fifth part more, and a ram for a trespass-offering ; with which the priest should make atonement for him, and it should be forgiven him." Now, in the case of a sin of ignorance, this might well be deemed an equitable and full compensation, and so a proper atonement for the sin, or trespass. But if this, or any other trespass, was committed presumptuously, that is, wilfully and audaciously, in contempt of the divine Majesty and his authority, that circumstance i*endered it a sin against God, as the Lord of conscience ; for which, therefore, no brutal sacrifices could atone ; but it is said, " That soul shall be cut off from among his people ;" Numb. XV. 30. We have only further to observe, upon this form of govern- ment, which was peculiar to the Hebrews, that as God himself was their king, so Moses was his viceroy, in whom the supreme ecclesiastical as well as civil power, under God, was lodged. By c 18 JKWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. him Aaron and his sons were put into the priesthood ; the royal palace, or tabernacle, was built by his direction ; by him it was consecrated ; he gave the nation the whole body of their laws ; he was commander-in-chief of all their forces. All this did Moses by commission from God, or rather God did it by Moses. So that though the servant of God, yet, as chief among men, he is called king in Jeshurun ; Deut. xxxiii. 5. For though govern- ment by kings, properly so called, was not set up till the days of Saul ; yet the title was more ancient, and given to persons of high rank and great authority, though they were never crowned, never attended with royal pomp, nor invested with the regalia : in par- ticular it was applied to the Judges. When Abimelech was made judge in Shechem, it is said, they made him king, Judges ix. 6 ; and when there was no judge in Israel, it is said, " there was no king;" Judges xvii. 6. Thus, in after ages, the Roman dictators likewise, to whom Godwin compares the Hebrew judges, are sometimes called kings, both by the Latin and Greek historians. It is not, therefore, difficult to account for Moses's being called king, though he was only God's lieutenant or viceroy. But it is not so easy to account for Israel's being called Jeshu- run. Some derive the word from "^wjashar, rectus, just or righteous, and so make it to signify a righteous people. Montanus renders it rectitudo, and so does the Samaritan version. But it seems a considerable objection against this sense, that Israel is called Jeshurun at the very time that they are upbraided with their sins and their rebellion : " Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked," &c., Deut. xxxii. 15. It is replied, Jeshurun is the diminutive of iu>^ jashar (for nomen auctum in fine est nomen diminutivum) , and so imports, that though, in general and on the whole, they were a righteous people, yet they were not without great faults. Perhaps Cocceius has given as probable an interpretation as any. He derives the word from liu; shur, which signifies to see, behold, or discover; from whence, in the future tense plural, comes ^^w jashuru, which, with the addition of Nun paragogicum, makes Jeshurun ; that is, the people who had the vision of God *. This makes the name Jeshurun to be properly applied to Israel, not only when Moses is called their king, but when they are upbraided with their rebellion against God; since the peculiar manifestation which God had made of himself to them, was a great * Ultima Mosig, sect. 973. CHAP. I.] GOVERNMENT UNDER JOSHUA. 19 ao-crravation of their ingratitude and rebellion. We now proceed to the Second period of the Hebrew history, which commences with their entrance into Canaan under the command of Joshua, and expires at the long captivity. Joshua, the successor of Moses, and captain-general of Israel, was of the tribe of Ephraira. His original name was i^tyin Ho- slieang. Numb. xiii. 8. It was changed by Moses, no doubt by God's command, into iJiyiri'' Jehoshuang^ ver. 16. Now since both these names signify the same, namely, a Saviour, from ))\i}^ jashang, salvavit, he hath saved; it is inquired, for what reason his name was thus changed ? To account for this, two conjectures are offered. First, that it was in order to put an honour upon him, by add- ing one of the letters of the name of Jehovah to his name ; as God changed Abram's name into Dm:2« Abraham ; adding n to it, from his own name, say the Jews ; Gen. xvii. 5. Thus ^sm^rv Jehoshuang may signify salvator Dei ; and he was made even in his name a more eminent type of Christ, who bore the same name with him, Jesus, or Joshua ; and who is called, Luke iii. 6, o-atTripiov tov Qeov, " the salvation of God *." But if this reason for the change of Joshua's name be thought too cabalistical. The second may, perhaps, be more satisfactory ; viz. that the name i^WiTi Hosheang comes from the imperative of hiphil, and signifies, save ; and perhaps his parents, by giving it, meant to express their wish, that he might prove a saviour to Israel. But );!ni}yrv Jehoshuang comes from the future tense, and signifies salvabit^ will save. So that Moses, by making this change, predicted and promised what his parents had wished. Joshua had been Moses's minister', Josh. i. 1, and had attended upon him in his highest employments. When he was called up by Jehovah into the mount, to receive the two tables of the law, it is said, that " Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua; " Exod. xxiv. 13. And he is said " to stand before Moses," Deut. i. 38, not surely as a menial servant, but as his first minister ; for Joshua was one of the heads of the children of Israel, and a ruler in his tribe ; as were all the twelve spies whom Moses sent to search out the land of Canaan, of which number Joshua was ; Numb. xiii. 2, 3. 8. He only and Caleb brought a good and true report of that * Vid. Alting. de Cabalist. C 2 20 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. land, encouraging the people to invade it, and assuring them of success, Numb. xiv. 6 — 9 ; while the other ten gave such a dis- couraging account of the gigantic stature and valour of the inhabit- ants, of the number and strength of their fortified towns, and perhaps also of the unhealthiness of their country (which seems to be their meaning in saying, that " the land eateth up the inhabit- ants thereof"). Numb. xiii. 32, that the people were disheartened, and inclined to make themselves a captain, and return into Egypt ; Numb. xiv. 2 — 4. God was hereupon so much displeased, because they showed such ingratitude and infidelity, notwithstanding the many wonders he had wrought for them in Egypt, and in the desert, and notwithstanding the repeated assurances he had given them of the conquest of Canaan, that he sentenced all of them who were twenty years of age and upwards, except Caleb and Joshua, to wander in the wilderness for forty years, till they were con- sumed; that none of them might enter into the pi'omised land. And as for those to whose false reports this rebellion was owing, they were all destroyed by a sudden death ; ver. 36, 37. But as for Joshua, he not only lived till the Israelites entered into the land of Canaan, but had the honour, as their captain-general, to conduct them. He had before been appointed Moses's successor by the oracle, or by Jehovah himself, and had been solemnly ordained to that oflSce, while Moses was living. Numb, xxvii. 15 — 23 ; and after his death the people acknowledged him for his successor, promising to pay him the same obedience which they had paid to Moses; Josh. i. 16, 17. However, though he suc- ceeded Moses, as God's viceroy or lieutenant, and had the same authority, military and civil, which his predecessor had ; yet, in some respects, he was much inferior to him ; and therefore he could not be " that prophet, like unto Moses, whom God had promised to raise up unto his brethren," Deut. xviii. 15, as the modern Jews aflSrm, and some Christians have too easily granted, he was. For, besides that he had not the honour of being a law- giver, as Moses had (by whom the whole body of laws w'hich God intended for his people, was delivered), I say, besides this, he was never admitted to that immediate and familiar manner of con- versing with God, with which Moses was favoured ; for " with him the Lord spake face to face, as a man speaks to his friend," Exod. xxxiii. 1 1 ; whereas when Joshua wanted to consult the oracle, he was to stand before the " priest, wdio should ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urira;" Numb, xxvii. 21. In both these CHAP. 1.] JUDGES. 21 respects, neither Joshua, nor any other prophet, was " Hke unto Moses ; " except he to whom that prophecy is apphed by the apostle Peter, Acts iii. 20 — 22, and in whom alone it was accom- plished, even our Lord Jesus Christ. Our author says, that after Joshua succeeded Judges. But it may be questioned, whether the judges were properly successors to Joshua, in the same office, as he had been to Moses. For, as the law had been given by Moses, and as the land of Canaan had been conquered, and the tribes of Israel settled in the peaceable possession of their inheritance, by Joshua ; there seems to have been no further occasion for " a man to be set over the conffre^a- tion, who might go out before them, and Avho might go in before them, and who might lead them out, and who might bring them in," which was the office of Joshua; Numb, xxvii. 16, 17. As, therefore, the legislative office which Moses had possessed, ex- pired at his death, so did the office of Joshua, as prcefectus ordi- nariiis, and captain-general for life, at his. Hereupon the Hebrew government became aristocratical ; excepting that, in respect to the peculiar supremacy of Jehovah, it was monarchical *. In the Hebrew commonwealth, every city had its elders, who formed a court of judicature, with a power of determining lesser matters in their respective districts. The rabbies say, there were three such elders, or judges, in each lesser city, and twenty-three in greater. But Josephus speaks of seven judges in each, without any such distinction of greater or less ■]-. We often read in Scrip- ture of the elders of the cities ; but the number of them is not determined ; probably that was left discretional. For instance, we read of the elders of Gilead, who went to fetch Jephthah and make him their captain. Judges xi. 5, 6 ; of the elders of Succoth, Judges viii. 14 ; and of the elders of Bethlehem, where Boaz lived ; Ruth iv. 2. 4. 9, compared with chap. i. 1. In short, that there were elders in every city, appears from the law, directing and regulating the conduct of the elders of any city, on occasion of a person's being found dead in or near it; Deut. xxi. 1 — 9. Sigo- * Aristocracy (so called froQi a^iirrog, optimum, and x^anu, impero) imports, that the supreme government is lodged in the optimales, or nobles. Such is the- present form of government in Venice and in Holland. Dcniocrai'y (from S>;^5f, populus, and xaariu, impero) means, that the supreme authority is in the people, who exercise it by persons of tlicir own order. Such is the government of Basil, and of some of the free cities of Germany. Monarchy (from iJ-ovog, solus, and ao^^ti, imperium) is, when the supreme authority is lodged in a single person, as in Fnance and Spain. The English constitution is i)lainly a mixture of all three, inasmuch as the supreme authority is lodged jointly in tlie king the lords, and tlie commons. -f- Antiq. lib. iv. cap. viii. sect. xiv. edit, llavei'c. 22 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. nius * supposes these elders and judges of cities were the original constitution settled in the wilderness by Moses, upon the advice which Jethro gave him, Exod. xviii. 21, 22; and continued by divine appointment after the settlement in the land of Canaan. Whereas others imagine the Jethronian prefectures were a pecu- liar constitution, suited to their condition while encamped in the wilderness, but laid aside after they came into Canaan. However that be, it is certain there was a court of judges and officers appointed in every city by the law of Moses ; Deut. xvi. 18. How far, and in what respects, these judges differed from the elders of the city, is not easily determined; and whether they were different persons, or the same. Perhaps the title elders, may denote their seniority and dignity ; and that of judges, the office they sus- tained. As for the officers, w^^dw shoterim, mentioned along with the judges f, they were, according to the account given of them by Maimonides and the rabbins, much like those whom the Roman law calls officiales et executores, and the New Testament -rrpaKropas, Luke xii. 58, who attended the court, to keep the people in order, with a staff and a whip, and to execute the orders and decrees of the judges. Josephus styles them J bailiffs or officers under the judges ; and we find them, on some occasions, employed as public criers: Deut. xx. 5. 8, 9 ; Josh. i. 10, 11. However, the rabbles place them next under their wise men and doctors, and above their scribes or clerks. And indeed they seem to have been persons of some consideration, by Joshua's assembling them along with the elders, heads, and judges ; not to hold any court of justice, but to hear his farewell charge and exhortation before his death ; Josh, xxiii. 2; xxiv. 1. The lower courts of justice, in their several cities, were held in their gates : " Judges and officers shalt thou make in all thy gates;" Deut. xvi. 18. The gate among the Hebrews seems to answer to the forum among the Romans, and to the ayopa among the Greeks, which was the name given to any common place of resort, whether for the keeping of markets or the holding courts of judicature. In the former sense, the word gate is used, when Elisha foretels at what low rates provisions would be sold on the morrow, in the gate of Samaria; 2 Kings vii. 1. According to * De Rejnib. Heb. lib. vi. cap. vi. t See Patrick on the text last cited. X Ubi supra. See also Matt. v. 25, where 'vytyi^trm is used ia the same sense as it is by Josephus. CHAP. I.] THE SANHEDRIM. 23 the latter sense, Israel is exhorted to " execute the judgment of truth and peace in her gates," Zech. viii. 16; and so in the law we are now explaining, they are commanded to " make judges and officers in their gates." In either sense, that is, as denoting in general a place of public concourse, the word is used, when it is said of the virtuous woman, " Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates ;" Prov. xxxi. 31. Each tribe had its respective prince. They are called the heads of the thousands of Israel, Numb. x. 4 ; and were the same, per- haps, with the twelve captains of the host mentioned in the second chapter of Numbers ; and their office, therefore, related chiefly, if not entirely, to military affairs. We read also of the princes of the congregation, who presided in judiciary matters, Numb, xxxii. 2 ; Josh. ix. 5 ; xvii. 4. These probably were the same with the Jethronian prefectures, of whom we spake before, and who are called elders, and also princes and nobles, on account of the dignity of their office; Exod. xxiv. 9. 11. Tliey were in number seventy, as appears by the account of their institution, which we have in the book of Numbers, chap. xi. 16, 17. 24, 25; though I rather apprehend that to be an account of their being confirmed in their office, and perhaps invested with some additional authority, and endowed with some miraculous gift to qualify them for it ; for we find there were seventy elders before, at the time of giving the law at mount Sinai ; Exod. xxiv. 1. 9. 14. Whether the consistory of seventy elders was a perpetual, or only a temporary institution, is a matter of dispute. The Jews, and after them Grotius, Selden, Lightfoot, and several other Christians, have affirmed, it was the same that became afterward so famous under the name of Sanhedrim; to which even their kings and high-priests were subject. But others conceive the institution of the seventy elders was only temporary, for the assist- ance of Moses in the government, before the settlement in the land of Canaan ; and that the Sanhedrim was first set up in the time of the Maccabees. On the former side, the rabbies are zealous assertors of the high antiquity of the Sanhedrim ; and though they allow, that its session was sometimes interrupted and discontinued for years together, especially in the times of the kings ; they leave no stone unturned to prove, that the court, nevertheless, subsisted from the time of Moses. 24 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I, Tlie first argument they produce is taken from this passage in the book of Numbers, chap. xi. 16 : " The Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy of the elders of Israel ; " which the Talmud interprets, that " they may be a Sanhedrim to my land;" that is, a holy, standing, perpetual council, throughout all genera- tions. For wherever we meet with the word '■b li, unto me, the rabbles think it signifies a thing established by God to all genera- tions. For instance, when he says of Aaron and his sons, "They shall minister unto me in the priests' oflfice," Exod. xxviii. 41 ; and of the Levites, " They shall be mine," or unto me, Numb. iii. 12 ; and of the whole nation, " Unto me the children of Israel are servants," Lev. xxv. 55 ; and when the like is said of the sanc- tuary, the sacrifices, the altar, and many other things; in all these cases they understand the word ''b li to import a perpetual institution. 2dly. It is argued, that if Moses needed the assistance of such a council, much more was it requisite after his death ; and it is by no means probable, that any one would presume to abrogate so jirudent an institution of his, in any age after him. 3dly. We read of the elders and judges of Israel, not only after the death of Moses, but after the Israelites were settled in the land of Canaan : Josh. xxiv. 1 ; Judges ii. 7. Now by these the rabbies understand the seventy elders, or Sanhedrim ; and to the same purpose they interpret a passage of the Psalmist concerning the " thrones of judgment," that are " set," or do sit, in Jeru- salem, Psalm cxxii. 5. The like reference to the Sanhedrim they find in the title of the forty-fifth Psalm, where the Targum inter- prets shoshannim, those that sit in the Sanhedrim of Moses. And thus Dr. Lightfoot understands the expression concerning the Scribes and Pharisees, who are said to sit in Moses's seat, Matt, xxiii. 2 ; that is, in the Sanhedrim, which was instituted by Moses. 4thly. In order to prove, not only that the Sanhedrim subsisted in the days of Zedekiah, but likewise that its power and authority were superior to the king's, they allege the following passage of the prophet Jeremy : " Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death ; for," &c. " Then Zedekiah the king said. Behold, he is in your hand ; for the king is not he that can do any thing against you ; " Jer. xxxviii. 4, 5. l>y the princes here spoken of they understand the elders, or members of the Sanhedrim. These are the chief arguments which are produced to prove CHAP. I.] THE SANHEDRIM. 25 that the Sanhedrim, so famous in the latter ages of the Jewish pohty, was instituted by Moses, and always subsisted after his time. On the other side, several arguments are brought to show, that the court of the Sanhedrim was of no higher antiquity than the time of the Maccabees, and was then first set up. The first is, That we do not find in Scripture one word of any such high court, either in the limes of the judges, or of the kings; and it is as preposterous to suppose a Jewish historian should not mention the Sanhedrim, if such a court there were in those times, as that a Latin historian should write a history of the Roman affairs without ever mentioning the Senate. 2dly. We find, in perusing their history, that the people generally followed the king, whether in the practice of idolatry, or in the worship of Jehovah ; which it is hard to account for, if such a court had then subsisted, with an authority superior to that of the king. 3dly. It plainly appears, that both the judges and the kings exercised a despotic power, and did all things according to their own will, without consulting the Sanhedrim ; as doubtless they would and must have done, if such a court of superior authority had then existed: "And he said. This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you, he will take your sons, and appoint them for himself," &c. ; 1 Sam. viii. 11. See also 2 Sam. x. 2; and 1 Kings iii. 16 — ult. 4thly. It is said in the book of Judges, that " in those days there was no king in Israel ; therefore every man did that which was right in his own eyes ; " Judges xvii. 6 ; xxi. 25. But if there had been such a national court as is pretended, of superior autho- rity to a king, or a judge, there being " no king" could not have been assigned as the reason of the people's living without any government. 5thly. The story of the Levite, who was so vilely abused at Gibeah, sending an account of his wrongs to the twelve tribes. Judges xix. 29, 30, evidently shows there was then no such national court as the Sanhedrim ; for if there had been so, to that he would naturally have applied. Upon the whole, then, it appears most probable, that the insti- tution of the seventy elders was only temporary, to assist Moses during the abode of the Israelites in the wilderness ; and perhaps also to assist Joshua, till they were settled in Canaan ; but that 26 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [boOK I. afterward tliey assembled no more, and that the Sanhedrim, so famous in later ages, was set up in the time of the Maccabees. As for the judges, which we read of after the death of Joshua, they seem to be raised up and appointed only on particular occa- sions ; but were not jircefecti ordinarii, like Moses and Joshua ; nor were they continued in their office during life, but only as long as there was occasion ; for instance, to deliver Israel from the power of some oppressor. Only it is said, that " Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life ; " which seems to be mentioned as a particular case; 1 Sam. vii. 15. As for the other judges, Godwin compares them to the Roman dictators, who were appointed only on extraordinary emergencies, as in case of war abroad, or conspi- racies at home, and whose power, while they continued in office, was great, and even absolute. Thus the Hebrew judges seem to have been appointed only in cases of national trouble and danger. Othniel, the first judge, was raised up to deliver Israel from the oppression of Chusan-rishathaim ; Judges iii. 8 — 10 : Ehud, the second, to deliver them from the power of Moab, who had oppressed them eighteen years; Judges iii. 14, 15; and Gideon, on occasion of their oppression by the Midianites ; Judges vi. 33, 34. The power of the judges, while in their office, was very great; as appears from Gideon's punishing the elders of Succoth ; Judges .viii. 16. Though their power does not seem to have been limited to a certain time, as that of the Roman dictators, which continued for half a year ; yet it is reasonable to suppose, that when they had performed the business for which they were appointed, they retired to a private life. This Godwin infers from Gideon's refusing to take upon him the perpetual govern- ment of Israel, as being inconsistent with the Theocracy; Judges viii. 23. That the judges were not properly successors to Joshua in his office, as not being ■prafecti ordinarii, is ai'gued, 1st. From there being no mention of the appointment of a suc- cessor to Joshua, as there was to Moses ; nor any one actually made judge till some years after his death, when Othniel was raised to that office on a particular occasion. 2dly. From its being represented as so criminal a thing for the people to desire a king, and even to amount to a " rejecting God, that he should not reign over them;" 1 Sam. viii. 5 — 7. Now the difference betwixt judges and kings was but very little. CHAP. I.] THE JUDGES. 27 They seem to have had the same authority and power; only the judges were never crowned, nor attended with such pomp, nor • invested with such regaha as kings were: if therefore the judges had been perpetual dictators, succeeding one another regularly and without intermission, why should the people desire a king; or where was the great evil of it when they did ? Was it the sole purport of their request, that their judges might have the title of kings ? They had this before ; for when there was no judge, it is said " there was no king in Israel." Or was it only, that their judges might be crowned, and have the regalia? This was a matter of very little moment, and hardly worth disputing about. Their desire, then, plainly was, that they might have a judge, or king, in perpctuum, as the stated supreme officer in the govern- ment, like other nations ; and not merely on extraordinary occa- sions. Now this was altering the constitution and form of government which God had established ; and on this account their motion was so displeasing to Samuel, and to God himself. However, on the other hand, in order to prove the judges were perpetual dictators, and in their office quite different from kings, it is objected and argued, 1st. That Samuel had made his sons judges, 1 Sam. viii. 1 ; and it was nothing but the ill government of these new judges that made the people desire a king, ver. 3 — 5. Therefore the kingly office was different from that of the judges ; consequently the judges might have been perpetual dictators, notwithstanding the people now desired a king. But to this it may be answered, that the title judge was usually applied, not only to the one supreme officer under God, such as Othniel, Barak, &c., but also to inferior magistrates; Josh. viii. 33 ; xxiii. 2, and elsewhere. Now it is not said, that Samuel made one of his sons the judge, kot e^oxrjv, that is, by appointing him to be his successor, or his partner in the government ; but that he made them both judges; and they were judges in Beersheba, that is, inferior magistrates, whose office it was to dispense and execute the laws of Jehovah. 2dly. It is alleged, that the judge, kot e^oxiv, is spoken of as a stated officer in the Hebrew commonwealth : " Thou shalt come unto the priests, the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days;'' Deut. xvii. 9. Consequently there must always be a judge. But those on the other side of the question reply, that toQti>n !7«i 28 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. veel hassophet may as well be rendered "or unto the judge;" meaning, in case there should be any judge at that time. And this sense they apprehend is confirmed by its being said, "-The man that will not hearken to the priest, or to the judge, even that man shall die," ver. 12. Sdly. The chasm or interregnum betwixt Samson and Samuel, when there was no judge, is mentioned once and again as an extraordinary thing, and a calamitous circumstance to the nation ; Judges xvii. 6 ; xviii. 1 ; xix. 1 ; xxi. 25. Therefore, ordinarily, there was one supreme judge over all the other officers and ministers of state. But it is replied, this will not prove that they had perpetual judges ; but only that it was a calamity to be without a judge at a time when such an officer was so much wanted. It is made a question, what time that was which is here referred to, when " there was no king, or judge, in Israel.*" The order of the history leads us to conceive, it was betwixt Samson and Samuel. But Dr. Patrick is of opinion, that those five last chapters of the book of Judges are a distinct history, in which the author gives an account of several memorable transactions which fell out in or about the time of the judges, whose story he would not interrupt by intermixing these matters with it, and therefore reserved them to be related by themselves, in the second part, or appendix. Wherein he first gives an account how idolatry crept into the tribe of Ephraira, then how it was propagated among the Danites ; after which he relates a most heinous act of adultery, committed in the tribe of Benjamin ; which introduces the his- tory, first, of the almost total destruction of that tribe for their countenancing that detestable fact ; and then, of its restoration. Now, on such extraordinary occasions, they should have appointed a judge, especially when the inferior officers so shamefully neglected their duty. These Hebrew judges were in all fifteen, from Othniel the first to Samuel the last; before whose death the form of government was changed, and Saul was made king. We may remark, that the Carthaginian Suffites, the chief officers and magistrates in that state, whom both the Greek and Latin historians frequently mention*, seem evidently to have derived their title from the Hebrew word D^toaty shophetim : which affords * Lhni Hist. lib. xxviii. cap. 37 ; lib. xxx. cap. 7. CHAP. I.] JEPHTHAH's VOW. 29 one argument, among several others, of the Carthaginians being originally Canaanites, driven out of their country by Joshua ; since by this it appears, that their ancient language was Hebrew, the language of the Canaanites *. Procopius Gazaeus observes, that the histoiy of the judges is of excellent use to represent to us the mighty power of true religion to make a nation happy, and the dismal calamities which impiety brings upon it. And, therefore, the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews has thought fit to propound several examples of the power of faith out of this book; as of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, and Samuel ; who, being animated by this principle, did great things for their nation, and obtained signal victories over their enemies f. There is no affair related in this book, which has been made so much a matter of controversy, as that of Jephthah's vow; which, therefore, we shall now take into consideration. Concerning JephthaJis Voiv. It has been earnestly disputed, both among Jews and Christians, whether Jephthah did sacrifice his daughter. And very consi- derable men have appeared on each side of this question. Not but if Jephthah had been a heathen, I suppose, we should have had no more difficulty in understanding the account given of this matter in the book of Judges, chap, xi., of his sacrificing his daughter, than we have in understanding Homer's account of Agamemnon's sacrificing his daughter Iphigenia, or Idomeneus his son, of a real sacrifice. I do not know that it is so much as pretended, that the Hebrew text will not admit of such a sense, or even that it is not the most natural one which the words will bear. But that a judge of the Hebrew nation, who were worshippers of the true God, and whose law did not admit of human sacrifices, should be guilty of this grossest act of heathen superstition, is what several of the Jewish rabbies can by no means admit ; and many learned Christians, not knowing how to reconcile such a barbarous, as well as superstitious, murder with the good character which is given of Jephthah in the Epistle to the Hebrews, chap. xi. 32 (where his name stands in the catalogue of those ancient * Vid. Bochart. Geograp. Sacr. partii. lib. i. cap. xsiv. apud Opera, torn. i. p. 473. edit. Lugd. Bat. 1712. t Patrick on Judges, at the beginning. 30 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [boOK I, worthies who were illustrious instances of the power of faith), have endeavoured to soften the account of this inhuman sacrifice, and to introduce a milder sense. For this purpose the art of criti- cism hath been diligently applied to the Hebrew text, in order to make it signify no more than that Jephthah devoted his daughter to perpetual virginity, for the honour and in the service of God. Among the Jews, rabbi Joseph, and rabbi David Kimchi, and rabbi Levi Ben Gerson *, have espoused this side of the question ; as among the Christian writers, have Estius, Vatablus, Junius, Grotius, Drusius, Heinsius, Glassius, and Le Clerc. In favour of the milder sense, that Jephthah devoted his daughter to perpetual virginity, it is alleged, 1st. That she desired time, before the vow was performed upon her, to bewail her virginity, not the loss of her life, Judges xi. 37. From whence it is concluded, that it was not death, but perpetual virginity that she was devoted to suffer ; and the reason, they say, why Jephthah was so troubled when his daughter met him, ver. 35, was, because she being his only child, ver. 84, and he now obliged by his vow to devote her to perpetual virginity, his family would soon be extinct in Israel. But to this it is replied, that to die childless was accounted by the Jews a very sad calamity. Hence it was denounced as a heavy curse on Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah : " Thus saith the Lord, Write this man childless ; " Jer. xxii. 30. And therefore Jephthah's daughter bewailed her virginity, or her dying childless, more than the loss of her life. 2dly. It is alleged, in favour of the notion of her being devoted to perpetual virginity, that the words, nna^-ni^ min!^ lethannoth lebath Jephthah, Judges xi. 40, which we render, " to lament the daughter of Jephthah," should be rendered, as in the margin, "to talk with the daughter of Jephthah ; " that is, to visit and comfort her in her recluse life. To support this sense of the woi'd m^nb lethannoth, they allege the following expression in this book of Judges, " There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord," Judges v. 11; where, they observe, the verb run thana is rightly rendered, and can only mean, to rehearse. But to this argument it is replied, that, allowing this sense of the verb, it will not at all contradict the notion of her being sacri- ficed ; for then the meaning of this passage will be, that " the * Selden. de Jure Nat. et Gent. lib. iv. cap. xi. CHAP. I.] JEPHTHAH's VOW. 31 daughters of Israel went yearly to rehearse the tragical story of the daughter of Jephthah." Or even if we render the word n;n thana, as in the margin, to talk ; yet D'nb ni:nb tethannoth lehath would rather signify to " talk concerning," than to " talk with," as ''b-''"iD« imri-lif is to "say of me," or "concerning me," not " with me," Gen. xx. 13 ; and ^-'n']T jetzavveh-lah^ signifies, " he shall give charge concerning thee," not " with thee ; " Psalm xci. 11. And thus nnti'-nn^ m:n!:' lethannoth lehath Jeplithah, signifies to talk concerning the daughter of Jeplithah, and not with her. So that this critique is not at all inconsistent with the notion of her being sacrificed, but rather confirms it. 3dly. The chief critical argument in favour of her being devoted to perpetual virginity, is taken from this clause in Jephthah's vow. Judges xi. 31, n^l^J inTi'brrJiJm rx^rrh rfm vehaja laihova vehanrpia- lithifm gnolath : where, they say, the P'au should be understood not copulatively, but disjunctively ; and then the meaning is, " Whatsoever cometh to meet me, shall either be the Lord's, or I will offer it up for a burnt-offering ; " that is, in case it should be a creature fit for sacrifice. Thus Glassius, in his Philologia Sacra, understands it ; and so Drusius, and several others ; and they produce some other texts, where the Vau is used disjunc- tively ; as where it is said, " He that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death;" Exod. xxi. 17, compared with Matt. XV. 4. Again, " Asahel turned not to the right hand, or to the left," 2 Sam. ii. 19 ; where the Fan cannot signify and. In like manner the conjunctive q^ie, in Latin, is sometimes used in a disjunctive sense. Thus Virgil — Again, Aut Pelago Danaum insidias, suspectaque dona Praecipitare jubcnt, subjectisque urere flammis. Saxum ingens volvunt alii, radiisque rotaium Dietricti pendent. iEncid ii. 1. 37. JEnvUl vi. 1 610. Now, taking the Vau in this sense in the passage before us, the meaning will be, " I will devote it to God, or it shall be offered for a burnt- offering." But to this it is replied, that every thing sacrificed was offered or devoted to God ; but every thing devoted to God was not sacri- ficed. Therefore it would be as improper to say, I will either devote it to God, or offer it in sacrifice, as it would be to say. 32 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. animal ant homo ; or homo aut Pctrus ; or, I will ride either on a four-footed beast or a horse ; because a horse is a four-footed beast. Besides, in other parallel texts, where vows are expresed, like this of Jephthah's, and where the Vau is used in the same manner as it is here, nobody will suppose it should be taken disjunctively. As in Hannah's vow, 1 Sam. i. 11 ; "I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head ;" nobody understands it thus, " I will either give him to the Lord, or no razor shall come upon his head." So in Jacob's vow, " Then shall the Lord be my God; and this stone, which 1 have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house ; " Gen. xxviii. 21, 22. You see, then, that the words of the Hebrew text will hardly bear any other sense than is agreeable to the more common opinion, that Jephthah did devote his daughter to death, and actually sacrifice her. However, let us attend to the reasons which some have offered, why the text should be interpreted in the milder sense, even though it should oblige us to depart from the more natural meaning and construction of the words. 1st. Some of the Jewish rabbies seem to think it necessary, for the honour of their nation, to vindicate Jephthah's character at any rate from the blemish of murder, which, if committed, must have been a double or triple crime, as a murder, as a most unna- tural murder of his own daughter and only child, and also as a heathenish rite of sacrificing, which the Lord God did by no means permit. But, surely, it is hardly worth their while to labour so earnestly, as some of them have done, to vindicate Jephthah's character for the sake of their national honour, while the lives and actions of so many of their wicked kings are on record in the sacred history, particularly of Ahaz, who " made his son to pass through the fire according to the abominations of the heathen," 2 Kings xvi. 3; of Manasseh, who "caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom," 2 Chron. xxxiii. 6 ; which, if it did not mean their burning them to death, in sacrifice to their idols, was at least a rite of lustration (as the heathens called it), by which parents dedicated their children to the worship and service of their false gods. 2dly. It is pleaded, that Jephthah is not censured in any part of sacred history for what he did on this occasion, which, they sup- CHAP. I.] JEPHTHAIl's VOW. 33 pose, if he had been guilty of so abominable a crime as sacrificing his own daughter, he would have been. To this it may be replied, that if every action, mentioned in the sacred history without censure, must therefore be concluded to be lawful and good, many actions, which we are sure were contrary to the positive law of God, and others which were immoral in their own nature, must be held lawful. As Samson's marrying a Philistine contrary to the law, which forbad the Jews to marry out of their own nation ; his lewdness with Delilah ; and his re- vengeful spirit, which he manifested to the last, and carried to such an extreme as to sacrifice his own hfe, that he might " be avenged on the Philistines for his two eyes." Another argument against the more literal sense of this history is, 3dly. It cannot be thought that God would have given victory and success to Jephthah in his expedition against the Ammonites, upon his making so wicked a vow as this, of offering a human sacrifice. But it is to be considered, that the private interest of Jephthah was not so much concerned in this expedition as the public interest of the whole Jewish nation ; and why might not God succeed him in his war against the Ammonites, notwithstanding his faults, for the sake of delivering his favourite people, whom he had taken under his special protection, as in many other cases he had given success to wicked instruments, for accomplishing the wise and holy designs of his providence and grace? But, 4thly. The chief reason which has induced many Christians to soften the story of Jephthah's unnatural murder and sacrifice, is his being mentioned in the catalogue of believers, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, chap. xi. 32. From whence it is concluded, that he was not merely a good man, but a man of eminent piety, as all whose names are in that catalogue are supposed to be. And, taking this for granted, they argue. How can it be thought that a good man, nay, an eminently good man, should deliberately commit so horrid a crime, which was doubly contrary to the divine laAv, as to murder and sacrifice his own daughter? To this it is replied, 1st. That there are great infirmities and faults of good men re- corded in Scripture, which, perhaps, considering all circumstances, were as heinous as this action of Jephthah's. As David's de- bauching the wife of Uriah, and then perfidiously procuring the death of her husband ; and Solomon's idolatry, of whom, though 84 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. it is not expressly said that he offered any human sacrifices, yet we read that he went " after Milcom, the abomination of the Am- monites," 1 Kings xi. 5 ; which is anotlier name for Molechj as the same idol is called : he " built an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, and JMolecli, the abomination of the cliildren of Ammon ;" ver. 7. Now it being well known, that human sa- crifices were commonly offered by the heathens to the idol Molech, it is not an improbable inference, from the passages just cited, that Solomon offered them. However that be, if Solomon, tlie son of David, who lived in times of great light, and had enjoyed the advantage of a religious education far beyond what Jephthah had done; if he practised the idolatrous worship of the Moabites and Ammonites, is it any wonder Jephthah should be led by a blind superstition to sacrifice his daughter? It is certain Jephthah iiad had, comparatively, but mean advantages for the knowledge of religion, and the law of God. In his younger days he dwelt at Gilead, on the other side Jordan, very remote from Shiloh, where the tabernacle was, where the public ordinances of divine worship were celebrated, and which, therefore, in those times, was the fountain of knowledge and religion among the Jews. After his father's death, his brethren drove him out of the family, upon which he went and dwelt in the land of Tob, a country no where else mentioned in Scripture, but it was, undoubtedly, out of Ca- naan, and therefore a heathen country. And now, when he returned into the land of Israel, the true religion was even there at a very low ebb, according to the account we have of the state of it amongst the Israelites in those days: "The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the Lord, and served him not;" Judges x. 6. And though we read, indeed, ver. 16, that they had put away the strange gods, before Jephthah's return, yet the knowledge of the law of God could not be revived on a sudden. Probably, therefore, as Jeph- thah had lived among the heathen, with whom human sacrifices were commonly practised, and had little opportunity of acquaint- ance with the law of Jehovah, he might, at that time, think the highest honour he could pay to the God of Israel was to offer him a human sacrifice. Now, all this considered, will not his unavoid- able ignorance plead strongly in his excuse ? And may we not suppose he was a man of a pious turn, and had a zeal for God, CHAP. I.] JEPHTHAh's VOW. 35 though not according to knowledge, when he made and performed this vow ? 2dly. Shall I venture to suggest a query, whether Jephthah's name, being inserted in the catalogue of believers, or of those who are remarkable instances of the power of faith, is sufficient to prove that he was a good man ? The design of this chapter is plainly to show the power of faith in several different views of it, and as acted on several different objects. Therefore, though all the persons whose names are here mentioned, were, no doubt, remarkable instances of tlie power of faith, of one kind or another, yet it is not, perhaps, so certain, that they all had justifying and saving faith. The first person mentioned in this catalogue is Abel, whose faith, as it rendered his sacrifice more acceptable to God than that Q^ his brother Cain, must be supposed to respect the promised antitype of the ancient expiatory sacrifices, or the atonement of Christ. Soon after, Noah's faith is celebrated, for his believing God's threatenings of the universal deluge ; and then the faith of Abraham and the patriarchs, by which they " looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God ;" and which, therefore, made them easy and contented with their so- journing and unsettled condition in this world. All these are said to "die in faith;" Heb. xi. 13. After several other names, and instances of the power of faith as acted upon particular pi'omises, the apostle mentions some of the Jewish heroic generals, whose faith in God's promise, of protecting and supporting their nation, inspired them with extraordinary courage in fighting for the Is- raelites against their enemies and oppressors, so that " by faith they subdued kingdoms." Yet, if a man might have the faith of miracles, so as to remove mountains, and not be a good man, as the apostle elsewhere supposes, 1 Cor. xiii. 2, might he not have this particular faith inGod's promise of supporting the Israelitish nation, for which Rahab, and Gideon, and Barak, and Samson, and Jeph- thah, are here celebrated, and at the same time not be a good man? It will be replied, perhaps, 1st. That after the catalogue of those names it is added, Heb. xi. 38, " of whom the world was not worthy," I answer, That seems to be said, not of the victorious generals, who are mentioned along with Jephthah, but of another class of believers, who are mentioned after them, namely, the confessors and martyrs, who had been so unworthily treated by the world. D 2 36 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. 2dly. Is it not intimated in the two last verses of this eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, that all those whose names were before recited are now made perfect? "These all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promises, God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." We answer, The verb reXeicov, and the adjective rf'Kftos, are ap- plied by the Greek writers to maturity of age ; and thus, in the New Testament, reXetwi/ 8e eanv T] (TTfpea rpocjir], Hcb. V. 14, " Strong meat is for them that are of full age." Again, " In malice be ye children, but in understanding be ye men," reXetoi yivea-de, 1 Cor. xiv. 20. And avr]p reXeios, Eph. iv. 13, signifies a perfect or full- grown man*. Now, the apostle represents the chui'ch under the former dispensation, when those persons lived of whom he had been speaking before, as in a state of minority, but under the gospel dispensation as advanced to a state of maturity. The meaning, therefore, seems to be, that though God had vouchsafed some ex- traordinary measures of faith to particular persons, under the for- mer dispensation, yet he did not then raise his church to that state of maturity to which he had now advanced it. I shall close this dissertation with some arguments in confirma- tion of the more commonly received opinion, that Jephthah did sacrifice his daughter, and that he intended a human sacrifice when he made this vow. Of this sentiment is Josephus, the Chaldee Paraphrast, and several famous rabbies. Some of them, indeed, founded their opinion on a mistaken sense of this passage in Leviticus, " None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed, but shall surely be put to death," nDV nia motltjumath, chap, xxvii. 29. From whence they concluded, that in some cases human sacrifices might be offered in conformity to the law of God. Whereas that text either means, according to Dr. Sykes, that evei-y person who is devoted to the special service of God, as Samuel was by his mother, shall not be redeemed, but shall die in that devoted state \ and he gives several instances, where ma nav moth jumath is thus applied to a natural death, as when God said unto Adam, " In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," Gen. ii. 17 ; and when the Lord said of the murmur- ing Israelites, " They shall surely die in the wilderness," Numb. • See Xenoph. Cyropaed. lib. i. p. 6, edit. Hutch. 1738, where reAetof; a.vZpa.aiv may be translated, viris adeptis plenum cetatem, full-grown men. CHAP. I,] JEPHTHAH's VOW. 37 xxvi. 65, though they were not sacrificed or executed, but died a natural death*; — or else the text in Leviticus, according to Mr. Selden, is to be restrained to such as were devoted to death by the appointment and law of God; as the inhabitants of Jericho, Josh, vi. 17 ; and such of the Israelites as in case of war did not obey military orders, and perform the charge laid upon them ; in par- ticular the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead, who complied not with the general summons to go and fight against Benjamin, Judges xxi. 5. 8 — 10. And perhaps it may extend to all who had been guilty of any crime that was made capital by the law of God, and so the design of it was no more than to restrain inferior magistrates from pardoning capital offenders, which was the prerogative of God only, as their kingf. Most of the ancient Christian writers are of opinion, that Jeph- thah actually sacrificed his daughter, and so is Dr. Lightfoot |. Now the chief reasons which are alleged in favour of this opinion, besides that it agrees to the more natural meaning of the Hebrew text, are, 1st. That there is no rule nor precedent in Scripture, to justify the practice of devoting persons to perpetual virginity : but, on the contrary, this is spoken of as one of the antichristian corruptions of the " latter times, when men should depart from the faith, and give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils ;" 1 Tim. iv. 1. Nor was there any office belonging to the temple service to be performed by women, except, perhaps, that some of the daugh- ters of the Levites assisted by their voices in the temple choir, as some think is intimated in this passage of the first book of Chro- nicles, "And God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. All these were under the hands of their father, for song in the house of the Lord, with cymbals, psalteries, and harps, for the service of the house of God, according to the king's order, to Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman ;"" 1 Chron. xxv. 5, 6. However, Jephthah was not a Levite, and therefore his daughter could bear no part even in that service, nor hath nun- nery any countenance, either in the Jewish or Christian law : and to suppose, therefore, that Jephthah devoted his daughter to per- petual virginity, is to suppose him acting as contrary to the law of God, as if he had sacrificed her. * See Sykcs' Principles and Connexion of Natural and Revealed Religion, chap. xiii. f- Sclden de Jure Nat. et Gent. lib. iv. c.ip. vi x. X Serm. on Judges xi. 39, vol. ii. p. 121.'>. 38 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK T. 2dly. What could lie expect to come out of the door of his house to meet Inm, but a human person? Can we think that' Jephthah had his dog in his thoughts when he made this vow, — a creature that was particularly excepted from being in any sense sanctified and devoted to God, as any clean beast might be ? Lev. xxvii. 9. 11, compared with Deut. xxiii. 18. 3dly. If he had intended no move than the sacrifice of a bul- lock, or a i-am, what need was there of such a solemn vow ? If he had meant a brutal sacrifice, he would surely have vowed to sacrifice hecatombs, rather than a single animal, on so great an occasion; or, like Jacob, he would have vowed to give the " tenth of all his substance unto the Lord;" Gen. xxviii. 22. 4thly. We read, that it was a " custom in Israel, that the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jeph- thah ;" Judges xi. 39, 40. Now the Hebrew word pn chok, which we render custom, signifies a statute or ordinance of lasting obli- gation. Thus it is peculiarly applied to the law which God gave by Moses in the following passage : " Behold I have taught you statutes (o'lpn chukkim) and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep, therefore, and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations which shall hear all these statutes," □''pHM-^i col-hachukkim, Deut. iv. 6, and so in many other places. This custom, therefore, of the daughters of Israel, seems to be intended for an annual rite 171 perpetuum, and not that they went yearly to talk with her as long as she lived. It is highly probable, that Homer grounded his fable of Aga- memnon's sacrificing his daughter Iphigenia on some tradition of Jephthah's sacrifice. And indeed the name Iphigenia seems to be a corruption of Jephthigenia, the daughter of Jephthah. Ovid, who has dressed up the story in his way, makes Diana put a stag in her room, and seems, therefore, to have blended the tradition of Abraham's sacrifice with that of Jephthah*. But to return to the consideration of the Hebrew government. We have distinguished the time in which God exercised a spe- cial authority over the people of Israel into four periods, and are now upon the second of them, namely, from their entrance into Canaan to the captivity. We have gone through the government of the judges. We proceed now to the reign of the kings. • Vid. Capelli Diatrab. de voto Jephth. per totum; apud criticos sacros in Jud. xi., and Mr. Hallet's note on Heb. ix. 32. CHAP. I.] THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY. 39 This continued, saith Godwin, fi'om Saul to the captivity of Babylon, about 530 years. But as, in the course of this work, we shall have a chapter by itself concerning the Jewish kings, I shall only for the present observe, that they were of two sorts, those that reigned over the whole Hebrew nation, who were only three, Saul, David, and Solomon, and those that reigned over some of the tribes only. And these were, 1st. The kings of the house of David, who were twenty in num- ber, if you reckon Athaliah the queen, who usurped the throne for six years, after the death of her son Ahaziah ; 2 Kings xi. These kings reigned over the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, until Nebuchadnezzar carried Zedekiah, the last of them, captive unto Babylon. They took their title from the larger tribe, and were called kings of Judah. 2dly. The kings of Israel, who reigned over the other ten tribes, from the time of their rebellion against Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, to the Assyrian captivity. These kings were of several different families, and were in all nineteen, from Jeroboam, the first, to Hosea, the last. We now proceed to the third period, which takes in the time of the captivity, and concludes with the end of it. As the Hebrew nation was divided into two distinct kingdoms, so each kingdom suffered a distinct captivity ; the one is called the Assyrian, the other the Babylonish. The Assyrian captivity was that of the ten tribes, which was begun in the reign of Pekah, king of Israel, when Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, conquered a part of his country, and carried away the people captive to Assyria; 2 Kings xv. 29. It was after- ward completed by Salmanassar, who took Samaria, the capital of the kingdom of Israel, after three years' siege, and went up through the land, and carried away the residue of the people cap- tive into Assyria ; 2 Kings xvii. 5, 6. The people of the kingdom of Israel had greatly corrupted the worship of God, and had been very much given to idolatry, ever since their separation from the kingdom of Judah. It is said, that " they walked in the statutes of the heathen, and served idols ;" ver. 8. 12. And it is no wonder, therefore, that, when they were removed into Assyria, multitudes of them fell in with the idolatrous worship and customs of that country, becoming mixed with the Assyrians, and in time losing the very name of 40 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. Jews and Israelites, insomuch that the greater part of the ten tribes, as a pecuhar people and visible church of God, were quite lost in that captivity. The Babylonish captivity was that of the kingdom of Judah, or of the two ti'ibes who adhered to the house of David. It was begun by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, in the reign of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar " bound in fetters, to carry him to Babylon. And he also carried away some of the vessels belonging to the house of the Lord, to furnish his own temple in Babylon ;" 2 Chron. xxxvi. 6, 7. From hence begun the period of the seventy years' captivity. The people, buoyed up by their false prophets, were induced to believe, that these sacred vessels should be shortly brought again from Babylon ; but Jeremiah assured them of the contrary, and that all the remaining vessels should be carried after them ; Jer. xxvii. 16, 17. 21, 22. Ac- cordingly, about nine years afterward, in the reign of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar made a second descent against Judah, and " be- sieged Jerusalem, and took it, and carried away the king, and all the nobles, and the great men, and officers, and ten thousand cap- tives, to Babylon, with all the treasure of the house of the Lord, and the treasure of the king's house ; and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon had made for the temple ; " 2 Kings xxiv. 10 — 16. But the word y^P'"^ vaikatzetz is not well rendered " cut in pieces," since it appears, by a passage in Daniel, that these vessels were preserved entire, for " Belshazzar, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank wine in them ; " Dan. V. 2. The verb j>yp katzatz signifies ",to cut off; " as in the following passage of the second book of Samuel, "David com- manded his young men, and they slew them, that is, Rechab and Baanah, the murderers of Ishbosheth, and cut off, ^•^^p''^ vaikatzetzu, their hands and their feet,'" &c., 2 Sam. iv. 12* ; where it is used in the same form as it is in the passage before us, in which, there- fore, it can mean no more than the vessels being cut off from their stands or bases, and taken away from the temple. Again, eleven years after this, in the reign of Zedekiah, Nebu- zar-adan, the Babylonian general, came and sacked and burnt Jerusalem, and the temple, and carried away the remainder of the sacred vessels, together with all the Jews who remained in the * So also, 2 Kinga xvi, 17, Ahaz " cut off'' the borders of the bases, &c. ; and chap. x\-iii. 16, Hezekiah "cut off" the gold from the doors, &c. Hallet's Notes and Dis- courses, vol. i. p. 1. CHAP. I.] RETURN FROM CAPTIVITY. 41 country (except some poor people, whom he left to till the land), captives into Babylon ; 2 Kings xxv. 8. &c. Four years after this, which was the twenty -third of the seventy, or from the beginning of the Babylonish captivity, Nebuzar-adan again invaded the land of Israel, and seized upon all the Jews he could meet with, and sent them captive to Babylon ; Jer. Hi. 30. This was done probably in revenge for the murder of Gedaliah, whom Nebuchadnezzar had made governor of the land, but whom Ishmael killed ; Jer. xli. 2. Upon the murder of Gedaliah, Jo- hanan, the son of Kareah, and many of the people that were left, fled into Egypt for fear of the king of Babylon: ver. 16—18; chap, xliii. 4 — 7. So that all the Jews that Nebuzar-adan now found, and made captive, amounted to no more than seven hundred and fifty persons. Thus was the captivity of Judah completed, and the land was made desolate, none of its former inhabitants being now left in it. But though the captivity of Israel and of Judah had different beginnings, the former commencing a hundred years before the latter ; yet they ended together, when Cyrus, the king of Persia, having conquered both the Chaldeans and Assyrians, and obtained universal monarchy, issued out a decree for restoring the Jews to their own land, and for rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple ; Ezra i. 1 — 3. This is that famous Cyrus, who, one hundred and forty years before the temple was destroyed, and two hundred years before he was born, was mentioned bv name, in the pro- phecy of Isaiah, as designed by God for restoring his people : Isa. xliv. 28; xlv. 1 — 4. It is not improbable, that prophecy might have been shown to Cyrus by some captive Jews, perhaps by Daniel, which might be a means of moving him to accomplish it. This appears to have been the opinion of the Jews in the time of Josephus, which they had probably received by tradition. For he makes Cyrus say, in his decree, " Because the supreme God hath apparently made me king of the world, I believe him to be he, whom the people of IsraeF adore ; for he predicted my name by his prophets, and that I should build his temple at Jerusalem in the land of Judea*."" Upon this decree, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin assembled out of the several provinces of the kingdom of Babylon, and put themselves under the conduct of Zerubbabel, the grandson of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, who was made their governor, and * Aiitif|. lil>. xi. cap. i. sect. i. edit. Havcrc. 4i! JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. of Joshua the high-priest, to the number of forty-nine thousand six hua(h-c(l and ninety-seven persons, and returned to their own hind; Ezra ii. And though the ten tribes, in their national capacity, were never restored, but the most part continue in their dispersion to this day, insomuch that the Assyrian captivity put a final period to the kingdom of Israel; yet, as the decree of Cyrus extended to all the Jews, several persons belonging to the ten tribes now joined themselves to Judah and Benjamin, and returned with them to their own land. We read, therefore, that among the sacrifices offered at the feast of the dedication of the temple, on its being rebuilt, there were " twelve he-goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel; " Ezravi. 17. Again, we read of " twelve bullocks" being sacrificed " for all Israel ;"" Ezra viii. 35. From whence it is highly probable, that some of all the ten tribes were now returned ; though still it appears, that great numbers of the Jews, probably most part of the ten tribes, who still adhered to the old religion, remained among the heathen in the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus ; whom Dr. Prideaux takes to be the Ahasuerus mentioned in the book of Esther, and for which opinion he ofTers substantial reasons. This, therefore, must have been near eighty years after their first return, in the reign of Cyrus. It was at this time that Ezra, a descendant from Seraiah the high-priest, and on account of his great learning called the scribe, obtained an ample commission from Artaxerxes for his return to Jerusalem, with all his own nation who were willing to accompany him ; Ezra vii. Upon this, many more of the Jews returned to their own land. Yet, after all, few of the ten tribes, in comparison with those of Judah and Benjamin, ever returned from their dispersion. It appears, that at the time of Haman's conspiracy, which must have been four or five years after the second return under Ezra, there were still a multitude of Jews dispersed through the various pi'ovinces of the Persian empire, besides those who had mingled with idolaters, and era- braced their religion. Dr. Prideaux thinks it was by the favour of Esther that Ezra obtained his commission, and was, made governor of the Jews in their own land ; which government he exercised for thirteen years. After him succeeded Nehemiah, who had a new commission granted him by Artaxerxes, in the twentieth year of his reign, with full authority to repair the wall of Jerusalem, and fortify it, in the same manner as before it was dismantled by the Babylonians. CHAP. 1.] RETURN FROM CAPTIVITY. 43 It may reasonably be conjectured, that queen Esther''s interest with the king did not a little contribute to obtain this farther favour for the Jews ; and so much, indeed, seems to be hinted in the history of this transaction, where it is particularly remarked, that when Artaxerxes gave this new commission to Neheraiah, " the queen was sitting by him ; " Neh. ii. 6. Nehemiah's commission superseded that of Ezra, who therefore now resigned his government, and employed himself in collecting and publishing a new and correct edition of the Scriptures, and in restoring the worship of God to its original purity *. We proceed to the fourth period of the Jewish history, which contains about six hundred years, from the end of their captivity to the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Jewish polity. The Jews, who, after the return from the captivity, were settled again in their own land, were no longer divided into two king- doms, as they were before ; but were all one people, and under one government; which yet varied in its form through several succeeding ages. 1st. Upon their return from the captivity, Judea became a province of the Persian empire, and was tributary to the Persian monarch ; as appears from the letter which the enemies of the Jews wrote to Artaxerxes, in order to prevent the rebuilding of Jerusalem ; in which are these words, " Be it known now unto the king, that if this city be builded, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom^ and so thou shalt endamage the revenue of the kings;" Ezra iv. 13. Notwith- standing which, though tributary, they enjoyed their own religion, and were governed by their own laws ; and their governors, though they acted by virtue of a commission from the court of Persia, were, nevertheless, of their own nation ; as Zerubbabel, Ezra, Neheraiah. 2dly. This state of things, and this form of government, con- tinued for upwards of two hundred years, until the time of Alexander the Great ; who, having destroyed the Persian empire, and established the Grecian universal monarchy, the Jews became subject to him and his successors. Yet they were not properly conquered by him, as all the neighbouring nations were ; God having preserved them by a special and very extraordinay pro- vidence, which is thus related by Josephusf. * See Pridcaux's Connect, part i. book v. ■f Antiq. lib. xi. cap. viii. sect. iii. — v. edit. Havcrc. 44 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. When Alexander was engaged in the siege of Tyre,, he sent to .laddua, the Jewish higli-priest, for auxihary troops, and necessa- ries for his army. Jaddua excused himself, alleging his oath to Darius. Alexander, being greatly incensed, resolved to take a severe revenge. As soon, therefore, as he had made himself master of Tyre, and of Gaza, he marched against Jerusalem. Jaddua, in his pontifical robes, accompanied by the other priests in their proper habits, went out, by divine direction, in solemn procession to meet Alexander. As soon as the king saw him, he hastened toward him, and bowed down to him with a religious veneration of that sacred name which was inscribed on the golden fillet round his tiara. While all stood amazed at this extraordi- nary behaviour, Parmenio alone ventured to inquire of him, why he, who was adored by all, should himself pay such devotion to the Jewish high-priest. He replied, he did not pay it to the high-priest, but to the God whose priest he was ; for that when he was at Dio in Macedonia, and was deliberating how he should carry on the war against the Persians, this very person, in the very habit he now wore, appeai'ed to him in a dream, and encou- raged him to pass over into Asia ; assuring him, that God would give him the Persian empire. Having said this, Alexander gave his hand to Jaddua, and entered Jerusalem with him in a very friendly manner, and under his direction offered sacrifices to God in the temple. Here Jaddua showed him the prophecy of Daniel, which predicted the overthrow of the Persian empire by a Grecian king. At which he was so pleased, that he ordered the Jews to request whatever was agreeable to them. Upon this Jaddua petitioned, that they might enjoy their own laws and religion, and be excused from paying tribute every seventh year, because in that year they neither sowed nor reaped. All which he freely granted. After the death of Alexander, the Jews became subject and tributary to the kings of Egypt, or Syria; as by various turns of pi'ovidence, one or the other extended their dominion and power into those parts. The former were called Lagii, or Lagides, from Lagus, the father of Ptolemy the First ; the latter, Seleucii, or Seleucides, from Seleucus Nicanor, king of Syria. The Jews, at length, were miserably persecuted and distressed by Antiochus Epiphanes, the eighth of the Seleucian kings, about one hundred and seventy years before Christ. He is generally sujiposed to be that " vile person," of whom Daniel prophesied CHAP. I.] RETURN FROM CAPTIVITY. 45 under that appellation, chap. xi. 21, &c. ; and he actually proved altogether as profane and cruel as the prophet represents him ; for he laid siege to Jerusalem, and took it by storm, and in two days' time massacred forty thousand of its inhabitants, and sold as many more to the neighbouring nations for slaves. He im- piously forced himself into the temple, and into the holy of holies ; he sacrificed a great sow upon the altar of burnt-offering, and caused broth to be made of some part of the flesh, and to be sprinkled all over the temple. He afterward plundered the sacred edifice of all its golden and silver vessels and utensils, to the value of eighteen hundred talents of gold ; and having made the like plunder in the city, he left it, after he had, to the further vexation of the Jews, appointed Philip, a Phrygian, to be their governor ; who was a man of a cruel and barbarous temper. Upon this, 3dly. Their state and form of government was changed by the Maccabees. When Antiochus had issued out a decree, that all nations under his dominion should conform to his religion, and worship the same gods, and in the same manner, that he did, which decree was le- velled chiefly against the Jews, he sent commissioners to execute it in Judea. One of them, named Apelles, came to Modin, where dwelt JMattathias, a very honourable priest, and zealous for the law of his God ; he was the great-grandson of Asmonseus ; from whence it is probable the family had the name of Asmoneans ; though others derive that title from the Hebrew word D^it^tyn chashmannim, which signifies magnates or proceres. This Matta- thias, with his five sons, fell upon the king's commissioner, as he was endeavouring to persuade the people to sacrifice to idols, and slew him and all his attendants. After which he retired into the mountains ; whither many of the Jews following him, they formed an army, and stood upon their defence. Afterward, leaving their fastnesses, they went about the country, destroying the heatlien altars and idolaters, and restoring the worship of God according to the law, wherever they came. iMattathias, who was aged, died the next year, and was succeeded in the command of the army by his son Judas ; who took for the motto of his standard, mi camo-ka baelcm Jehovah. — Exod. xv. 11. " Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods ?" This motto is said to have been written, not at length, but only by the first 46 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [boOK I. letter of each word •'^30 ; as /-*. S. Q. R., for populus senatusque IloDianus, was written on the Roman standard. These four initial letters are generally supposed to have formed the artificial word Maccabi ; from whence this Judas has been commonly called Judas Maccabaeus ; and those that sided with him, and fought under his standard, were termed Maccabees, lliis is the opinion of Buxtorf, Prideaux, and almost all the learned. But Dr, Kennicot doubts of this derivation, since in some ancient manuscripts the name is written with a p instead of a 3 *. But whatever was the original of the word Maccabaeus, it afterward became a general name for all such as suffered in the cause of the true religion, under the Egyptian or Syrian kings. Accordingly, it is applied by the an- cient Christian writers to some who died many years before Judas set up his standard f. The Jews enjoyed their liberty under a succession of the Asmo- nean princes, though not without frequent wars and confusions, for near a hundred years ; till Aristobulus, endeavouring to wrest the crown from his elder brother Hyixanus, raised a civil war ; which gave the Romans an opportunity to conquer Judea, and to reduce it into the form, first of a tributary kingdom, and afterward of a Roman province. This brings us to the last state of the Jews before their utter destruction as a nation. 4thly. They were subject to the Romans, and governed by kings appointed by the Roman emperors; as by Herod, and af- terward by his son Archelaus, and then by a succession of Roman perfects, till the period of their state and polity, when the " sceptre entirely departed from Judah, and the lawgiver from between his feet," according to Jacob's celebrated prophecy, which Godwin speaks of at the end of his first chapter. But as his account of it, and of the controversies concerning its meaning and accomplish- ment, is very imperfect, I shall here give a more full and complete one. * See his second Dissert, on the state of the printed Hebrew Text, p. 535. •f If the common derivation of the name Maccabees be the true one, it was probably the original of artificial names, made of initial letters ; which have since been miicli used both by Jews and Christians. Thus, among the Jews, Rambam signifies Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon ; and Ralbag stands for Rabbi Ijevi Ben Gerson. We have likewise modern instances of the same sort of devices in our own country. About the year 1640 there were several treatises published against Dioces.an Episcopacy under the n.ameSmectymnuus, which was made of the initial letters of the names of five divines, who were the authors of those pieces — Stephen Marshal, Edmund Calani), Thomas Young, Matthew Newcomen, and Wil- liam Spurstow. The word Cabal is of the same kind, being made of the initial letters of the names of five lords in Charles the Second's reign, who caballed together, as we may now express it, to make the king absolute ; Cliiford, Arlington, Buckingham, Anthony Ashley Cooper, and Lauderdale. CHAP. I.] Jacob's i'Uophecy. 47 Concerning Jacob's Prophecy. " The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the ga- thering of the people be ;" Gen. xlix. 10. And here, 1st. I will consider the literal meaning of the words : And, 2dly. Their prophetic import. 1st. As to the literal meaning of those words, concerning which any doubt has been made, they are these four, ^nim shebhet, the sceptre; ppno mechokek, the IsiWgivei' ; vb:^^ raglaiv, his feet; and nb- Shiloh, which our translators have not ventured to render by an English word, but have retained the original. As it is an arra^ Xfyofifvov, and nothing in the context will certainly determine from what root it is derived, interpreters are much di- vided about its signification. Le Clerc is for deducing it from the Chaldee word nbu^ shelali, cessavit, to cease, and so makes it to signify the end. Accordingly he represents the sense of this prophecy to be, " that from the time the sceptre came into the tribe of Judah, it will contnme in it, till that tribe be at an end."" But this opinion has been confuted by Monsieur Saurin *. The translators of the Arabic and Syriac versions seem to have read ^hm shelo, illins, his, or to him, and so render it, " whose it is," that is, the kingdom. And not much different is the Septuagint * See his Disc. Histor. disc. xli. CHAP. I.] Jacob's prophecy. 49 version, which renders rrb'ty Shiloh, ra aTroKei/xeva avra, donee veniant quce reposita sunt ei, or, according to other copies, w aTrcoKftrai, he for whom it is reserved. Others derive it from Vw shil, which they will have to signify a son, because rp^ty shileiah signifies something that belongs to the birth. But I take the most probable opinion to be, either that Shiloh comes from thtii sMlach, misit, to send, writing n for n, and so it signifies him that is sent, or whom God would send ; under which character our Saviour is often spoken of in the New Testament (and this is the opinion of Jerome and Grotius) ; or else it comes from nbu^ shalah, tranquillus est, quievit, and so it signifies peaceable, or a peace-maker ; answerable to that name of the Messiah, w^vm ity sar shalom, the prince of peace ; Isa. ix. 6. But let the original of the word rh^m Shiloh be what it will, it is almost universally acknowledged to mean the Messiah; in particular by all the Targuras, as well as by many other ancient and modern Jews, as well as Christians. Having thus considered the literal meaning of the words of this prophecy, we are, 2dly. To inquire into its prophetical import, and the time of its accomplishment. According to the learned Joseph Mede, in his discourse on this prophecy, the sceptre, and the lawgiver, are pretty much synony- mous terms, importing any power or majesty of govei*nment, under what form or name soever ; and the meaning of the sceptre not departing from Judah is, not that it should not cease from having a king, or being a kingdom ; but that it should not cease from being a state or body politic, or from having a power of govern- ment and jurisdiction within itself, till the Messiah came. Accord- ingly, it is observable, that Judah, with the little appendage of Benjamin, was the only tribe in which ihe sceptre did, in this sense, continue to the end of the Jewish polity. For it entirely departed from the other ten tribes at the Assyrian captivity. As for the last clause of the prophecy, " to him shall the gathering of the people be," Mr. Mede understands it of another event, which should also be accomplished before the sceptre departed from Judah, namely, the conversion of the Gentiles to the Christian faith. When, therefore, our Saviour foretells the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish state, he adds, " This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness to all nations, and then shall the end come;" Matt. xxiv. 14. But Dr. Patrick inclines to Waginseil's sense ; which is, that there should be either king or governor among the Jews till E so JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. the coming of Christ ; for the Vau before ppno mechuhek ma)' as well be understood disjunctively as copulatively : in which case, " the sceptre" may refer to the royal government in the house of David ; and the *' lawgiver" (which, we observed before, is a word of a lower signification), to the form of government under Zerub- babel, the Maccabees, &c., till Judea was made a Roman province. For though some of these governors were not of the tribe of Judah ; the Maccabees, for instance, who were priests of the tribe of Levi ; nevertheless the tribe of Judah was the centre of the state, or the seat of government. And he further observes, that these two forms of government, signified by the sceptre and the lawgiver, nearly divided the whole time, from the beginning to the endof Judah's authority, into two equal parts, there being a little more than five centuries under each. However, presently after our Saviour's birth, the Jews lost even their Q^ppno mechokekim, or governors, as they had before lost the sceptre ; and the administration of public affairs was no longer in their own hands *. CHAPTER II. OF THE PUBLICANS. Before we treat of the publicans, or tax-gatherers, it will be proper to premise something concerning the Jewish taxes. Of the Taxes. It was observed, in a former lecture, that as the law of Moses was the only codex juris, or body of law, enacted by God, the king of Israel, for the government both of church and state ; and as the priests were appointed to dispense it, they are properly to be con- sidered as ministers of state, as well as of religion ; and therefore * Mede's Diatribje, disc. viii. ; Kidder's Demonst, of the Messiah, part iii. chap. vii. ; Samin's Discours. Histor. disc. xli. ; Patrick in loc; Prideaux's Connect, sub. A. C. 8, vol. iv. p. 932, edit. x. ; Bishop Sherlock's third dissert, in his Disc, on Prophecy ; Bishop of Bristol (Newton) on the Prophecies, vol. i. p. 94, &c. An account of the various inter- pretations, both of the Jews and Christians, may be found, not only in these authors, but in Le Clerc in loc, and especially in Martin. Helvic. de vaticin. Jacobi, apud Critic. Sacr. torn. viii. ; Huet. Demonst. Evang. prop. ix. cap. iv. ; Christoph. Cartwright. electa Tar- gumico Rabbin, in Gen. ; and Jacobi Altingii Schilo, seu de Patriarchae Jacobi vaticinio. On the general subject of the preceding chapter, see Spencer de Theocratia Judaica ; apud Leges Hebraeor. ; AVitsius de Theocrat. Israelitica ; and especially Mr. Lowman's Civil Government of the Hebrews. CHAP. II.] HEBREW TAXES. .31 the tithes, and the portion of sacrifices, wliich the law assigned for their maintenance, were in the nature of taxes, payable for the sup- port of the government. Besides these, we read of no other stated taxes appointed by the law ; except a poll-tax of half a shekel, which, when they were numbei'ed in the Avilderness, was levied upon every man from twenty years old and upwards ; and it is said to be designed for " a ransom, or atonement, for his soul," and to be " appointed for the service of the tabernacle of the con- gregation ;*" Exod. XXX. 12 — 16. It is not provided that this tax should be paid annually; but being intended for the ransom of their souls, or as an act of homage and acknowledgment to God of their being his redeemed people, there was equal reason, in the opinion of the Jewish doctors, for its constant subsistence, as for its original appointment ; and being devoted to the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, by which they understand their daily sacrifice and offerings, salt for the sacrifices, wood for the altar of burnt-ofFering, incense, show-bread, &c., which were con- stant national charges ; from hence they infer, that the tax to support them must be national, and annual, or stated. But Gro- tius is of opinion, that this poll-tax, at least in the former ages of the Hebrew commonwealth, was not annual ; but only levied on peculiar exigencies ; as when the free-will ofTerings, dedicated by the princes and people to maintain the house of the Lord, were not sufficient (for we read of large donations for that purpose in David's time, which seem to render the poll-tax needless, 1 Chron. xxvi. 26, 27) ; or, when some extraordinary expense, about the sanctuary and its service, occurred ; as for repairing the temple in the reign of king Joash ; who " gathered the priests and the Levites, and commanded them to collect from all Israel money to repair the house of the Lord from year to year ;" and, on account of their dilatoriness, the order being repeated, *' proclamation was made thi'ough Judah and Jerusalem to bring in the collection that Moses, the servant of God, laid upon Israel in the wilderness;" 2 Chron. xxiv. 5, 6. 9. Now one can hardly suppose this tax would have been levied by proclamation, unless it had been occa- sional, and not stated and annual. In Nehemiah's lime it was also levied by a new ordinance ; for which there would have been no occasion, if the law of iVIoses had made it perpetual *. On account of the people's poverty, it was, at this time, lowered from one-half * Spe Lowman's Civil Govern, of the He1>r. p. SR, ct seq. K 2 52 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES, [bOOK T. to one-third of a shekel ; Nehem. x. 32, 33. This third of a shekel Aben-ezra will have to be an additional voluntary contribution, over and above the annual tax of the half shekel. But, considering the low circumstances the Jews were now in, and how they had been impoverished by the late captivity, that is not probable *. If we suppose this poll-tax was not, by divine appointment, stated and annual, but only levied on public exigencies, we may, perhaps, be able to account for David's numbering the people being represented as so heinous a sin, 2 Sam. xxiv.; 1 Chron. xxi. ; for which different interpreters have given very different reasons. The common opinion is, that his sin consisted in his pride and vanity, which made him desirous of knowing how populous and powerful his country was. Ralbag, who is followed by Abarbanel, conceives it lay in making flesh his arm, and confiding in the mul- titude of his subjects. Some make it consist in infidelity, and mistrust of God's promise to Abraham, that he would " increase his seed like the stars of heaven, which no man should be able to number;" Gen. xv. 5. However, if Grotius be right about the poll-tax, it may incline one to adopt Dr. Lightfoot's opinion, that " God gave up David to a covetous thought to number the people, that he might lay a tax upon every poll f ." And if so, we cannot wonder his sin is represented as so heinous: the guilt was very complicated, being, besides avarice, a contradiction to the law of God, in levying the tax when there was no occasion for it, and an act of tyranny and oppression on the people. But to return. However it was in former times, this tax certainly became annual and stated in the later ages of the Jewish commonwealth ; having, perhaps, been made so by the Asmonean princes ; who being high-priests, as well as possessed of the sovereign civil authority, would very likely be for increasing the ecclesiastical revenues, by converting that occasional tax into a stated one. We have the testimony of Josephus, that this tax was paid annually; for he saith, Vespasian commanded every Jew to pay the annual tribute of two drachmae to the capitol, which had been formerly paid to the temple at Jerusalem 1^. Now bishop Cumberland informs us, that the Attic drachm answered to the fourth part of * See Aben-ezra in loc, and Grotius on Matt. xvii. 24. f Harmony of the Old Test, sub Anno Mund. 2988, Davidis, 39. J De Bell. Jiul. lib. vii. c.ip. vi. sect. vi. edit. Haverc. : see also Dion Cassius, lib. Ixvi. cap. vii. p. 1082, edit. Reiraari, 1752. CHAP. II.] HEBREW TAXES. 53 the Jewish shekel, which weighed half an ounce avoirdupois * ; two drachms, therefore, answered to the half shekel, being in value of our money a little more than one shilling and two-pence. Mr. Seldenf thinks, that this was the tax Cicero refers to, when, in his ovation pro Flacco, he speaks of" gold, sent every year in the name of the Jews out of Italy, and all the provinces, to Jeru- salem |." This I take to be the tribute which was demanded of Christ, Matt. xvii. 24; not only because it is called StSpa^^a, which signifieth two drachms, and so answereth to the Jewish half shekel ; but because the reason which he allegeth, why he might have excused himself from paying it, ver. 25, 26, shows it was a tribute paid, not to the Roman emperor, as Salmasius thinks §, but to God, for the service of his temple: so that Christ, being the Son of God, might have pleaded an exemption. It may possibly be objected, that if this tribute was a stated annual tax, payable by every Jew, how came the collectors to inquire of Peter, " Doth not your Master pay tribute?" To this it is replied, 1st. They might be in doubt, whether he would choose to pay it at Capernaum, where at that time he was, which, very likely, they could not have obliged him to do ; or at his own town of Nazareth, or at Jerusalem. Or, 2dly. The meaning of the question may be, whether he would pay it then, on the spot. For the doctors tell us, that, on the first day of the month Adar, notice was given, throughout all the country, for men to make this payment ; and officers were appointed to sit in every city of Judea to receive it; yet nobody was obliged to pay it immediately ; but if they did not pay it in a certain prefixed time afterward, they were then compelled. These taxes, namely, the tithes, the sacrificial offerings, and the poll-tax of the half shekel (whether annual or occasional), are all the taxes expressly levied by the Mosaic law. We read, indeed, of an extraordinary contribution for the building of the tabernacle, which God ordered Moses to recommend to the people, Exod. XXV. 2 ; and which they made so liberally, that their lawgiver thought proper to restrain them by proclamation ; Exod. xxxvi. • See his Essay on Jewish Weights and Measures, chap. iv. t De Jure Nat. et Gent. lib. vi. cap. .xviii. apud Opera, vol. i. torn. i. p. 691, edit. Londini, 1726. X Ciceronis Oper. vol. v. sect, .\xvii. p. 34.5, edit. Olivet. Genev. 1758. § Salmasii ad Johannem Miltonum responsio, p. 272. 54 Ji:WISH ANTIQUITIES. [booK I. 3 — 7. However, this was not in the nature of a tax, but a free gift, every one giving as he pleased. As for the expenses of war, in which the Israehtes were often engaged, it is to be considered, that they held their estates by military tenure ; for it appeareth from the exemptions allowed some persons on particular occasions, from attending military service, Deut. XX. 5, &c., that all others were bound to attend *. So that the Israelitish troops were a militia maintained at their own ex- pense ; which was the reason of Jesse's sending provisions to his sons in Saul's army; 1 Sam. xvii. 17, 18. There was ordinarily, therefore, no need of taxes to defray the charges of war. When the Israelites came to be governed by kings, who, like other monarchs, affected pomp and magnificence, no doubt, some taxes were necessary to defray that extraordinai-y expense, and to support the dignity of the crown : and though these taxes were not properly of God's appointment, any more than the regal govern- ment itself, yet the Jews look upon this law in the book of Deuter- onomy, " Neither shall the king greatly multiply to himself silver and gold," Deut. xvii. 17, as implying a permission to levy neces- sary taxes on the people ; only God, foreseeing they would in time change the form of government which he had appointed into a monarchy, like that of other nations, restrains their kings by this prohibition from levying expensive taxes on the subject. It should seem, Solomon did not sufficiently regard this restraint; for he multiplied to himself, not only " horses and wives," contrary to the law, ver. 16, 17, but also "silver and gold;" so that the people groaned under the burden of taxes ; which proved the imme- diate occasion of the revolt of the ten tribes from his son and suc- cessor Rehoboam ; 1 Kings xii. 4. How these taxes were levied does not appear in the scripture history. After the captivity, the Jews were tributary to the Persians, as is plain from the letter which their enemies wrote to Artaxerxes, to prevent the rebuilding of Jerusalem ; in which they inform him, that if the city be built and fortified, then the Jews " will not pay toll, tribute, and custom, ;" Ezra iv. 13. We have no account how the toll, tribute, and custom, here mentioned, were levied. By the first of these words, Grotius undei'stands a poll-tax ; by the second, a duty upon commodities and merchandise ; and by the third, a tax upon their land : but Witsius, a land-tax, or rather a " See Lownian's Civil Government of the Hebrews, chap. iv. p. 52. CHAP. 1!.] HEBREW TAXES. 55 tax on property in general, by the first; a poll-tax, by the second; and a toll collected on the road from merchants, who travelled with their goods from place to place, by the third *. However that be, it is pi'obable the whole tribute to the Persian monarch was paid by the chief governor of Judea, out of the taxes which he levied on the subject. When Pompey conquered Judea, and put an end to the Asmo- nean race of kings (which Godwin says was about sixty years be- fore Christ), the Jews became tributary to the Romans. But he is mistaken in supposing, as he seems to have done, that the pub- licans, so often mentioned in the New Testament, subsisted among them immediately from that conquest : for publicans were tax-ga- therers in the Roman provinces. Now Judea was not reduced into the form of a province till the reign of Augustus, and some years after our Saviour's birth. Till then it was only a dependent kingdom, governed by its own kings ; though not, as formerly, natives and chosen by the Jews, but appointed by the Roman emperors. Herod, who succeeded Antigonus, the last of the Asraoneau race, was not a Jew, but an Idumean f . Archelaus, Herod's son and successor, having committed many flagrant acts of mal-administration and tyranny, both the Jews and Samaritans sent ambassadors, to accuse him before Augustus. Upon which he was summoned to Rome, where not being able to clear himself of the crimes charged upon him, which were fully proved, he was deposed from his principahty, after he had reigned ten years. This happened An7io Dom. 8, or in the 12th year of our Saviour's age :};. Augustus took this opportunity to reduce Judea into the form of a Roman province, and sent Publius Sulpitius Quirinius, after- ward made president of Syria (the same who, according to the Greek way of writing his name, is called Cyrenius by St. Luke, chap. ii. 2), to seize the country over which Archelaus had reigned ; and with him Coponius, a Roman of the equestrian order, to take * Miscell. torn. ii. exercitat. xi. sect. xxi. p. 289. ■}■ This hath made some suppose, that the sceptre departed from Judah, according to Jacob's prophecy, upon the accession of Herod. But that must be a mistake ; since he acceded above thirty years before Shiloh, or the Messiah, caoie. The truth is the sceptre was still amongst them, though he who swayed it was not a native. X Dionysius E.xiguus, a Roman abbot, who lived in the sixth century, and was the author of the Christian Era, fixed it, by mistake, four years after the birth of Christ. Sec Dnpin's History of Ecclesiastical Writers, cent. vi. p. 42; Dr. Cave's Historia Literaria, sub anno 533, p. 333, edit. Genev. 1720; et Usserii Annales, aetat. mundi vii. ab init. p. 568, edit. Genev. 1722. 56 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. upon him the government, under the title of procurator of Judea, yet in subordination to the president of Syria. It should seem the emperor had formed this design several years before, when he or- dered the public census, or enrolment, of the subjects of the empire to extend to Judea ; which occasioned the Virgin Mary's being at Bethlehem at the time of her delivery, ver. 1 — 5. But the reduc- tion of Judea to the form of a province was not till twelve years after; and then taxes were first paid by its inhabitants immediately to the Roman state. For though the people of dependent king- doms paid them to their own princes, and whatever the Romans received was from them, yet those of the provinces paid them directly to the Roman government, or to the officers which the senate appointed to collect and receive them. The subject we have been upon naturally leads me to consider a difficulty, which hath occasioned the learned not a little trouble — the reconciling St. Luke's account of the enrolment, or census of the land of Judea, with Josephus. Concerning the Census in the time of Augustus. According to the Jewish historian, Josephus, Cyrenius was not governor of Syria till ten or twelve years after our Saviour's birth, after Archelaus was deposed, and the country brought under a Roman procurator *; whereas St. Luke says, avrj) ^ aTroypa^i? irparj] tyevero rjyejj.oi'evovTos ttjs Suptas Kvprjviov ; which we render, " And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria," Luke ii. 2 ; yet this, according to him, was before the death of Herod, the father and predecessor of Archelaus, and in the same year when Christ was born. Now as, on the one hand, it cannot be supposed, that a writer so accurate as Luke (were he considered only as a common histo- rian) should make so gross a mistake as to confound the enrolment in the reign of Herod with that taxation under Cyrenius, which happened many years after ; so, on the other hand, it is hard to conceive that Josephus should be mistaken in an affair of so public a nature, so important to his own nation, and so recent when he wrote his history. To remove this difficulty, 1st. Some have supposed a corruption of the original text in Luke ; and that, instead of Cyrenius, it ought to be read Satur- * Antiq. lib. xvii. cap, xiii. sect. ii. v. ; et lib. xviii. cap. i. sect, i, ed. Haverc. CHAP. 11.] THE PUBLICANS. 57 ninus, who, according to Josephus, was prefect of Syria within a year or two before Herod's death. 2dly. Others have thought it probable, that the original name in St. Luke was Quintilius ; since Quintilius Varus succeeded Saturninus, and was in the province of Syria when Herod died. But all the Greek manuscripts remonstrate against both these solutions. Therefore, Sdly. Mr. Whiston and Dr. Prideaux suppose that the words, "In those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world (or, as oiKovfxevrj may be rendered, the whole land) should be taxed," ver. 1, refer to the time of making the census ; and the subsequent words, " This taxing was first made when Cy- renius was governor of Syria," ver. 2, to the time of levying the tax. Dr. Prideaux imagines this will answer all objections *. 4thly. Herwaert, and after him Dr. Whitby, render the text in this manner, " And this taxing was first made before that made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria f . Sthly. Dr. Lardner has given the easiest and best solution of this difiiculty, rendering the words thus : " This was the first assessment of Cyrenius, governor of Syria." Which version he hath supported by substantial criticism ; and likewise rendered it highly probable, that Cyrenius (afterward governor of Syria, and, at the time St. Luke wrote, well known by that title) was employed in making the first enrolment of the inhabitants of Judea in the reign of Herod |. Of the Publicans. Judea being now added to the provinces of the Roman empire, and the taxes paid by the Jews directly to the emperor, the publicans were the officers appointed to collect them. Now the ordinary taxes which the Romans levied in the pro- vinces were of three sorts : 1st. Customs upon goods imported and exported; which tri- bute was therefore caWed portorium, from partus, a haven. 2dly. A tax upon cattle fed in certain pastures belonging to the Roman state, the number of which being kept in writing, this tribute was called scriptura. * Winston's short View of the Harmony of the Evangelists, prop, xi., and Prideaux'* Connect, part ii. bookix. sub anno 5 before the Christian era, vol. iv. p. 917 — 922, edit. 10. t Herwaert's Nova et Vera Chronologia, p. 189, and Whitby in loc. I See Credibility of the Gospel History, part i. vol. ii. book ii. ch. i. i58 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [hOOK I. 3(lly. A tax upon corn, of which the government demanded a tenth part. This tribute was called decuma. We read of opos and riKos, translated " tribute and custom;" Romans xiii. 7. Concerning the precise and distinct meaning of these words, the critics are much divided. Grotius makes opos to signify a tax upon lands and persons ; and rtkos, custom upon goods and merchandise. Lipsius, by rikos understands a tax upon a real estate; by vai; of which sort was Zaccheus ; Luke xix. 2. As they were much superior to the common publicans in dignity, being mostly of the equestrian order, so they were generally in their moral character. They are mentioned with great respect and honour by Cicero ; " Flos," saith he, " equitum Romanorum, ornamentum civitatis, firmamentum reipublicae, publicanorum ordine continetur \. " He likewise calls them " ordinem mihi commendatissimum §." But as for the common publicans, the collectoi's or receivers, as many of the socii were, they are spoken of with great contempt, by heathens as well as Jews ; and particularly by Theocritus, who said, that " among the beasts of the wilderness, bears and lions are the most cruel; among the beasts of the city, the publican and parasite |j." The reason of the general hatred to them was, doubtless, their rapine and extortion. For, having a share in the farm of the tribute, at a certain rate, they were apt to oppress the people with illegal exactions, to raise as large a fortune as they could for themselves. Besides, publicans were particularly odious to the Jews, who looked upon them to be the instruments of their sub- jection to the Roman emperors, to which they generally held it sinful for them to submit. For among the laws in Dueteronomy concerning the kings, there is in particular the following : " One from among thy brethren shalt thou set over thee ; thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, who is not thy brother ; " chap. xvii. Societatum, who were the Mancipes, Orat. pro Plane, vol. v. sect. ix. p. 545, et sect. 13, p. 548, et Epist. F.imil. lib. xiii. ej)ist. ix. ; and tlic Digests mention the Socii vectigalium, lib. xxxix. tit. iv. leg. ix. sect. iv. " Called Fidejussores in the Digests, ubi siipi-a, leg. ix. ab init. t PrcBH signifies a surety for money, as vas does a surety in criminal mattci-s. X Orat. pro Plancio, apud Opera, vol. v. sect. ix. p. 544, edit. Olivet. § Epist. Famil. lib. xiii. epist. x. .ipud Op. vol. vii. p. 442. Vid. ctiam cpist. ix. per totum, et Epist. ad Attic, lib. i. cjjist. xvii. vol. viii. p. 80. II Vid. Hammond on Matt. ix. 10. Tlie twelfth law, under the fourtli title, in the thirty-first honk of the Digests, is prefaced with these remarkable words : " Quantpe audacise, quantsc temcritatis sint publicanorum factioncs, nemo est qui nc>-tiat." 60 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK f» 15. Now paying tribute to the Roman emperor they looked upon to be a virtual acknowledgment of his sovereignty. This, therefore, was a heavy grievance, and created an aversion to the collectors, as the instruments of illegal oppression, apart from all consideration of their rapacious practices. Accordingly, in the New Testament, we find them joined with harlots and heathens, and persons of the most profligate and infamous characters ; and it was intended for a severe reproach of our Lord Jesus Christ, when he was said to be "a friend of publicans and sinners;" Luke vii. 34. Hence that ensnaring question was put to him, with a design " to entangle him in his talk," Matt. xxii. 15. 17, ** Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar?" If he had denied it, it would have been judged an offence against the state ; and if he had affirmed it, it would probably have exposed him to the rage and resentment of the people. It was on pretence of freeing them from this tributary yoke, that Judas of Galilee, or (as Josephus calls him) Judas Gaulanites, excited an " insui'rection in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him ;" Acts v. 27. Of this Josephus gives a particular account*, and saith, that when the census was first extended to Judea by Cyrenius, after Archelaus had been deposed by Augustus, the Jews were greatly chagrined at it ; but at the persuasion of Joazer, the high-priest, they generally submitted. Yet, it seems, much against their wills ; for when this Judas excited the people to rebellion, and to assert their liberty, they heard him, saith the historian, " with incredible pleasure," and made an insurrection on that account, under him as their leader. Tertullian-j- imagined, that the publicans, among the Jews, were all heathens ; which, not understanding Hebrew, he grounded on a spurious text in the Septuagint :}:. This opinion is confuted by the instances of Matthew and Zaccheus, who both appear to be Jews, by their names and their history. The latter is expressly said to be a son of Abraham ; and as for Matthew, we may be assured, that our Lord, who, at present, was sent to none but the lost sheep of the house of Israel, would not have • Antiq. lib. xviii. cap. i. sect, i, edit. Haverc. •f De Pudicitia, sect. ix. p. 561, C. edit. Rigalt. X Deut. xxiii. 18, in the Greek. The words are, ovk fCTTat riKiff(popo; a-rro ^vyarepwv IffpoTjX, KOI OVK ecfTcii TfXiff'KOfj.evog OTTO viaiv l(rpaTj\. They were probably at first a gloss in the margin, or inserted in the text of the Seventy from some other version ; and are strangely misunderstood by Tertullian, who supposes Te\e(raub. Paris, 1620. 6i? JKWISII AN TIOUITIKS. [bOOK T. the third article, the women thanked God that he had made them as it pleased him. If this form was, indeed, as ancient as the time of the apostle, it may naturally be supposed that he referred to it in this passage, where he is showing that the peculiar prerogatives and privileges which the Jews enjoyed under the Old Testament, were by the gospel equally extended to the Gentiles ; and that all who believe in Christ, without regard to their nation, worldly con- dition, or sex, are admitted into his church, and made partakers of his salvation. We now come to consider the distinction of the members of the commonwealth of Israel, into Hebrews and Proselytes. 1st. As to the Hebrews : The learned are divided concerning the derivation and meaning of this word, which so often occurs both in the Old and New Testament. We find it first applied to Abraham, Gen. xiv. 13 ; and in a multitude of places to his poste- rity, to distinguish them from all other people ; particularly from the Egyptians, Gen. xliii. 32 ; and the Philistines, 1 Sam. iv. 9. The more common opinion concerning its meaning, maintained by the Jewish rabbies, and espoused by Buxtorff the son *, is, 1st. That it is appellatio patronymica, a family name, from Eber, who was the great grandson of Shem, and Abraham's great, great, great, great grandfather ; that is, he was a lineal descendant from Eber in the seventh generation f. Two queries will naturally be started upon this opinion : 1st. Why Abraham and his posterity should take their name from so remote a progenitor as Eber ; — or if from a remote one, why not from Shem, the first father and founder of the family after Noah? 2dly. Why this appellation should be given to Abraham and his family, rather than to any other of Eber's posterity ? In answer to the first query, the rabbies tell us, that Eber was a man of singular piety ; that the primitive religion and language were preserved by him and his family ; and that Abraham and his posterity are called Hebrews, because they spoke the same lan- guage, and professed and practised the same religion, that Eber did. But this reason seems to have its principal foundation in the national pride of the Jews, who would have us believe, that their language was spoken in Paradise, and their ancestors peculiarly • See his Dissert, de Lingua Hebraiwa Conservjitione, apud Dissertat. Philolog. Theolog. p. 147, Basil. 1662. -f- See the genealogy of Abralmm's family, Gen. xi. 10, &c. CHAP, in.] HF.HRKAVS, 63 favoured of God above all other people, even long before the call of Abraham. But Le Clerc has rendered it highly probable, that the Hebrew was the language of the Canaanites, and that Abraham, whose original tongue was the language of the Chaldee (for he came out of Ur of the Chaldees, Gen. xv. 7), learnt it, as Isaac and Jacob and their families did, by dwelling in the land of Canaan*. However that be, it remains to be proved, that the Hebrew lan- guage is the same which Eber spoke. What they say of his singular piety is gratis dictum ; and their account of the true reli- gion being preserved in his family down to Abraham's time, by no means agrees with Joshua's saying, that the ancestors of the Israel- ites, who in old time dwelt " on the other side of the flood, even Terah, the father of Abraham, served other gods ;" Josh. xxiv. 2. The second query is, Why the name Hebrew should be given to Abraham and his family, rather than to any other of Eber's posterity ; for Eber had other sons and daughters, besides Peleg, his son in the line of Abraham? Gen. xi. 17. The common reply is, because the blessings of the covenant of grace were limited to that line of Eber's posterity, which reached down to Abraham. On this account, as it is supposed, Shem is called " the father of the children of Eber ;" and not so much because he was their natural progenitor; which he was, likewise, of many other families and nations. And as the posterity of Isaac and Jacob, and not that of Ishmael and Esau, are called the children of Abraham, so the posterity of Eber are the children of Shem, Still the idolatry of Abraham's nearer progenitors may be urged as an objection ; and it is reasonable to ask, whether, the blessings of the covenant were continued to those fathers or ancestors of Abraham, who served other gods ? Indeed, that they were limited to Shem's posterity in the line of Eber, before the calling of Abra- ham, is gratis dictum. This opinion also of the rabbles savours too much of the before-mentioned pride. But, 2dly. There is another opinion concerning this appellation, as applied to Abraham and his posterity, which hath a greater appear- ance of probability : that it comes from the preposition i::^ gnehher, trans ; from whence those that lived beyond, or to the east of the river Euphrates, were called by the Canaanites and others who lived on the west, ^j'^.Tj gnibhrim. Thus Abraham's family, before * See his Prolegom. to the Pentateuch, diss. i. 64 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. his call into Canaan, is said to have dwelt -,n:n I3r:i hengnehher hannahar, trans Jiuvium^ Josh. xxiv. 2 ; meaning, beyond the river Euphrates ; which being the greatest river in that part of the world, or that was known to the ancient inhabitants of the adjacent coun- tries, they used to call it " the river," Kar (^oxnv. And the people who lived east or west of it, styled those on the other side, " the people beyond the river," that is, trans Euphratenses. Thus the enemies of the Jews, who wrote from Judea to king Artaxerxes in Babylon, styled themselves " thy servants on this side of the river,'' Ezra iv. 11 ; and the king in his answer directs to them " beyond the river ;" ver. 17. In the Chaldee, indeed, the phrase is the same in both places, mni 12i> gnahhar naharah, trans Jluvium ," and else- where we meet with this expression, Hadarezer " brought out the Assyrians that were beyond the river;" 2 Sam. x. 16. Now it is according to this phraseology, so common in Scripture, that Le Clerc understands the account we have, that " Shem was the father of all the children of Eber," Gen. x. 21, that is, of all the people who dwelt east of the Euphrates ; translating ini? ^n ba col bene gnehher, omnes qui trans Jluvium degunt. He takes 'lii? ''ii bene gnebher to be a Hebraism, denoting the inhabitants of the country beyond the Euphrates. So the sense of the text is, that all this eastern part of the world was peopled by Shem's posterity. It is supposed that the Canaanites called Abraham, in their lan- guage, the Hebrew, because he came lli?n bengnebher, from beyond the river. Thus Josephus says, that Niger, the president of Idu- mea, was called Ilfpatrr^s, because yevoi rjv sk ttjs mpi lopBavrjv irepaias, quod a ti'ans-Jordanensi regione oriundus esset *. And hence the posterity of Abraham acquired the appellation of U'^y:) gnibhrinif or Hebrews. It is evident the Seventy understood the word in this sense, for they translate Abraham the Hebrew, Gen. xiv. 13, Abraham irfparrji, transitor. Thus, among the ancients, Theodoret f , and Jerome |, as well as some others §, and among the moderns, Grotius and Le Clerc, understand the word Hebrew. On the whole, according to this opinion, Hebrew signifies much the same as foreigner among us ; or one that comes from beyond sea. Such were Abraham and his family among the Canaanites ; and his postei-ity, learning and using the language of the country, * De Bello Jud. lib. ii. cap. xx. sect. iv. editc Haverc. f In Gen. qnaest. 60. J In lesai xix. 18. § See Buxtorfii Dissert. Philolog. Theolog. dissert, iii. p. 141, 142. CHAP. III.] HEBREWS. 65 Still retained tlie appellation originally given them, even when they became possessors and settled inhabitants. In which circumstance the chm'ch of Israel was, in some sort, a type of that larger church of the Gentiles, which was to be called and gathered to Christ, and " to forget her own people and her father's house," Psalm xlv. 10 ; as Abraham's family being called out of an idolatrous nation, no longer retained the name of the people from whence they sprung, but were afterwards called Hebrews or foi*eigners. It is further very probable, that the Israelites being called D^U c/erim, strangers, in David's time, 1 Chron. xxix. 15, might refer to their fathers having come into the country over the 'iJ gar^ alveua, that is, the Euphrates. It is, however, objected to this opinion, 1st. That according to this sense of the word, the posterity of Ishmael and Esau might as well have been called Hebrews as the posterity of Isaac and Jacob, they being equally the posterity of Abraham the foreigner, who come nni?! bengnebher^ from beyond the river. To this it may be replied, that very probably they were called Hebrews while they continued in Abraham's family ; but after- ward, when they separated themselves from it, and were incorpo- rated into the Canaanitish and other nations by intermarriage, they were no longer looked upon as foreigners, and so lost that name. Besides, there were personal reasons for Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob being called Hebrews, which did not affect either Ishmael or Esau. Abraham was born beyond the river, where he passed the younger part of his life. Isaac would not marry a Canaanite, but went beyond the river for a wife. Jacob did the same, and dwelt there for upwards of twenty years ; and there all his children, except one, were born. But none of these reasons held for continuing the same appellation to Ishmael and Esau, and their posterity. 2dly. It is objected, that the word Hebrew is a name or title of honour. As such St. Paul uses it, 2 Cor. xi. 22: "Are they Hebrews? So am I." And can we suppose that Jews would glory in being foreigners, and in their ancestors coming out of an idolatrous country? To this it may be answered, that names are often used in a good or bad sense, very ditlerent from the import of their derivation. The word knave hath now a very bad meaning, though it is derived from gnnvus, diligent or active, and though formerly it F 66 JKWISII ANTIQUITIES. [lU)OK I. signified a servant, in whom diligence is a very good quality. Who, when he glories in being an Englishman, considereth the derivation and original signification of the word English ? Be- sides, it was really an honour to the Jews, that God was pleased to call Abraham, the father and founder of their nation, out of an idolatrous country, in which he had been born and educated, and to separate him and his posterity from all other nations, to be his peculiar people and visible church. A farther reason of St. PauFs glorying in his being an Hebrew, and consequently a farther answer to this objection, will be shortly produced. 3dly. Another objection against the second, and in favour of the first opinion, is taken from Balaam's prophecy : " And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Ashur, and shall afflict Eber," Numb. xxiv. 24, two branches of Shem's family ; Gen. x. 22. 24. Now, if it be admitted, that the Assy- rians were called by the name of Ashur, because he was their primogenitor; can it be reasonably denied, or doubted, that the Jews are called Hebrews from Eber ? I reply. If by Eber be, in this place, meant the Jews, this argu- ment will have considerable weight. But if the prophecy refers to Alexander's conquest, which Grotius says is very plain, quod nemo non videt, then Eber cannot here mean the people of Israel, since they were not afflicted by Alexander, as other nations were, but remarkably and miraculously preserved from his ravages. If, therefore, we take the word Eber to come from i:ii.> gnehher, trans, it must here mean, as Grotius and Le Clerc understand it, the other nations (as well as the Assyrians) that lay east of the river Euphrates. Thus much for the derivation and import of the word Hebrew. There is a very remarkable appellation which the apostle Paul, after glorying in his being " of the stock of Israel, and of the tribe of Benjamin," applies to himself, namely, that he was " an Hebrew of the Hebrews ; " Phil. iii. 5. By this expression Godwin un- derstands an Hebrew both by father's and mother's side. But if this be all that the phrase imports, there seems to be very little occasion for the apostle's using it immediately after having de- clared, that he was " of the stock of Israel, and the tribe of Ben- jamin ; " which, on Godwin's supposition, is the same as an Hebrew of the Hebrews ; for the Jews were not allowed to marry out of their own nation : or if they sometimes married proselytes. CHAP. III. 3 HEBREW OF THK HEBREWS. 67 yet their number was comparatively so small among them, espe- cially while they were under oppression, as they were at that time by the Romans, that methinks Paul would hardly have men- tioned it as a distinguishing privilege and honour, that neither of his parents were proselytes. It is therefore a much more proba- ble sense, that a Hebrew of the Hebrews signifies a Hebrew both by nation and language, which multitudes of Abraham's posterity, in those days, were not; or one of the Hebrew Jews, who per- formed their public worship in the Hebrew tongue ; for such were reckoned more honourable than the Hellenistic Jews, who in their dispersion having, in a manner, lost the Hebrew, used the Greek language in sacris, and read the Scripture out of the Septuagint version. We meet with this distinction amongst the converted Jews, in the Acts of the Apostles : " In those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians or Hellenists against the Hebrews;" Acts vi. 1. This is what St. Paul probably meant by his being a Hebrew, as distinguished from an IsraeUte ; 2 Cor. xi. 22. " Are they Hebrews ? So am I. Are they Israelites ? So am I." In one sense, these were convertible terras, both signifying Jews by nation and religion ; but in the sense just mentioned, there were many, in those days, who were Israelites, but not Hebrews. St. Paul was both, not only an Israelite by birth, but a Hebrew, and not an Hellenistic Jew. Godwin expresses himself inaccurately, when he saith, that those who lived in Palestine, and who, as using the Hebrew text in their public worship, were opposed to the 'EAX/ji/to-rat, are called Hebrews, or Jews. For, though Hebrew and Jew are converti- ble terms, when opposed to Gentiles, as denoting the seed of Abraham, and professors of the Mosaic religion, see Jer. xxxiv. 9 ; yet, as opposed to the ''eXKyivkttm, they are not convertible terms, there being Hebrew Jews and Hellenistic Jews; for it is said, that when " they, who were scattered by the persecution that arose about Stephen, travelled into several countries, preach- ing the word to none but Jews only," yet they spoke, npos rovs 'EXkTfvia-Tas, to the Hellenists or Grecians ; Acts xi. 19, 20*. * In the strictest sense, this appellation D'nin* Jehudim, lovSaioi, or Jews, belongs only to the posterity and tribe of Judah. Hebrews, in the full extent of the word, were the posterity of Abraham the Hebrew ; Israelites, the posterity of Jacob, or Israel ; and Jews, the posterity of Judah, one of the sons of Israel. But after the division nf Abra- ham's and Israel's posterity into two kingdoms, under Rehoboam and Jeroboam, the one was called thr kingdom of Judah, because the tribe of Judah had the greater part of it, F 2 68 JEWISH ANTIQUITIKS. [bOOK /. In order to conilrm the sense which 1 liave given of the word 'EXXrjma-Tai, in Opposition to the appellation Hebrews, it is proper we should take notice of the distinction between the 'EXXj?i/f? and 'E\\r)vi(TTai. The former were Greeks by nation, and as such dis- tinguished from Jews, Acts xvi. 1 ; xix. 10; and the Greek em- pire having been rendered by Alexander in a manner universal, and their language being then the most common and general, the appellation Greeks is sometimes given to the whole heathen world, or to all who were not Jews ; llom. i. 16 ; ii. 9. These Greeks, called 'EXkrjviKoi. by Josephus, are always styled 'EWrjvfs in the New Testament. On which account Grotius, un- derstanding by the 'EXKrjvKTTai, or " Grecians, to whom some of those who were dispersed on the persecution which arose about Stephen, preached the Lord Jesus," Acts xi. 19, 20, Greeks by nation, concludes there is a mistake in the text, and alters it ac- cording to the Syriac and Vulgate versions : " certe legendum," saiih he, "wpos Tovs'EXXrjuas." So indeed the Alexandrian manu- script reads, but is supported by no other copy. And which, I think, is decisive against it, it is evident, from the words imme- diately preceding, that these Grecians were by nation Jews, and not Greeks, it being expressly said, that those who were scattered on the persecution " preached the gospel to the Jews only.*" As for the 'E\\r]V€s, or Greeks, mentioned in St. John's Gospel, chap, xii. 20, as being come to Jerusalem at the passover to worship in the temple, and likewise those mentioned in the Acts, as worship- ping along with the Jews in the synagogues ; chap. xiv. 1 ; xviii. 4; they were doubtless Greeks by birth and nation, yet prose- lytes to the Jewish religion. There is a distinction made between Jews and proselytes. Acts ii. 10 ; but none between Hebrews and proselytes, because a proselyte might be either an Hebrew or an Hellenist, according to the language in which he performed pubhc worship. That the Hellenists, or Grecians, were Jews, is further argued from the account we have, chap. ix. 29, that when at Jerusalem St. Paul " disputed against the Grecians, they went about to slay and also because the kinws were of tliat tribe ; the other, consisting of ten tribes, was called the kingdom of Israel. From hence arose a distinction between Jews and Israelites. Thus, by the Jews wliich tlie king of Assyria drove from Elath, 2 Kings xvi. 6, are meant the subjects of the kingdom of Judah ; for to that kingdom Elath had been restored by Azariah some years before ; 2 Kings \iv. 22. But as the ten tribes were afterward, in a manner, lost in the Assyrian captivity (as hath been shown before), and the kingdom of Judah only continued through succeeding ages a body politic, the name Jews came to be applied indifferently to all Hebrews and Israelites. CHAP. III.] NEW TKSTAMICNT GREEK. 69 him," as the Jews at Damascus had done hefore, ver. 23. Now had these Grecians been strangers of a different nation, it cannot be imagined they durst have attemj^ted to kill a Jew, among his own countrymen, in the capital, and without a formal accusation of him before any of their tribunals. Upon the whole, the 'EXX7;i/io-roi, or Grecians, being Jews who used the Greek tongue in their sacred exercises, the Hebrew Jews and Grecian Jews were distinguished in those days, in like manner as the Portuguese and Dutch Jews are among us, not so much by the place of their birth (many being born in England, others abroad) as by the language they use in their public prayers and sermons. I have already observed, that the language which the Grecians used in. sacris, was that of the Septuagint, which is likewise the language of the New Testament. It hath been, therefore, by some called the Hellenistic tongue, to distinguish it from pure Greek, while others, rejecting the distinction, assert the purity of the New Testament Greek. A considerable dispute hath here- upon arisen in the learned world, with which it is proper we should not be unacquainted. Concerning the Lamjuage of the Nexo Testament. Scaliger, observing that the phraseology in the New Testament agrees with that of the Septuagint, calls it the Hellenistic dialect. Heinsius imagined it to be a language different from the pure Greek, as the Italian is from the Latin, and peculiar to the Hel- lenists ; a people, he supposes, who dwelt in Asia, and in several of those eastern parts. He was opposed by Salmasius *. Pho- cenius, also, engaged in this controversy, and maintained the purity of the New Testament Greek. To him Gataker replied in his piece, De Stylo Novi Testamenti. The common opinion is, that the Greek of the New Testament is neither pure, nor a new language ; but may properly be called the Hellenistic dialect; inasnmch as the words are sometimes used in a different sense, and different construction, from what they are in other authors. There is, also, a mixture of Latin, Persic, and Syro-chaldaic words, besides solecisms and Hebraisms. 1st. The following Latin words are mentioned: KoBpavnjf, qua- * " Hebrwus notnen gcntis est," siiitli S;ilmasiiis, " Hclleuistcsilialecti. Hoc convcnit omnibus lioiiiiiiibus yra'ic scicntibiis ct l(iiiiicii(il)us, quia gciucin iiuii donotat, si-il oiiiiieiu honiiiicni tAArjz/iloi/Ta." Dc Liii^'iia llillciiislica Coiiiiiicut. p. l!)l, cilil. \av^A. IJat. 1643 ; ill support of wliicli piece be published the same year lii» Funus Lin^'ua- ilelicuis- titac, agaiust licinsiu&'s Kxereitat. dc llellcnistia ct Ling. Hellenist. 70 JKWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOKI. drans, Matt. v. 26 ; Kr^vao^, census, chap. xvii. 25 ; drjvafjiop, denarius, chap, xviii. 28 ; Xeyeme, legioj chap. xxvi. 53 ; irpaiToapiov, pr(Btorium, chap, xxvii. 27 ; Kovo-rwSia, custodia, ver. 65 ; o-mKovKaTccp, spiculator, Mark vi. 27 ; KfVTvpiiov, centwio, chap. xv. 39 ; KoKutvia, colonia, Acts xvi. 12 ; a-ovbapiov, siularium, chap. xix. 12 ; paKeWov, macellum, 1 Cor. X. 25; peplipava, memhrana, 2 Tim. iv. 18. Instances of Latin phrases are a-vpliovkiov Xa^eiv, concilium capere, Matt. xii. 14; epyao-tav ^owai, operam dare, Luke xii. 58. Besides Latin, there are, 2dly. Persic words ; as payoi, magi, Matt. ii. 1 ; ya^a, thesaurus. Acts viii. 27 (the proper Greek word is 6r]aavpos) ; and likewise yaCo4>v\aKiov, John viii. 20. There are also, 3dly. Syro-chaldaic words ; as, A/3/3a, Mark xiv. 36 ; AKeXtapa, Acts i. 19; l3ri6e(T8a, John v. 2; ^(pcpada, Mark vii. 34; ToXyoda, Matt, xxvii. 33; KopjBav, Mark vii. 11; paKa, Matt. v. 22: and whole sentences ; as, E\m, EXwt, \a[ipa aa^axdavi, Mark xv. 34 ; fiapav a6a, 1 Cor. xvi. 22 ; TaXida, Kovp.i, Mark V. 41. Various instances of solecisms are alleged; as, j) Kmvrj SiadtjKTj ev TO) aipare pov, ro vnep vpwv fKxvvopfvov, for fKxvfopeucp, whicll it should be in regular construction with ra> mpan, Luke xxii. 20. And the following : otto lr]aov Xpi.(TTOv, 6 paprvs, 6 tvkttos — rw ayairqaavTi r]pas — Kai fTTOir](Tfv rjpas^ &C., IleV. i. 5, 6. Again, 6 vikcov, 8m(T(o avTco, &C., chap. iii. 21. In like manner, 6 vLKa>v, TrotTjo-co avrov a-rvXov, &c., ver. 12. And also, Tr]v bo^av avTOv, — Tr\T]pr}s xap'''"os'j &C., Jolin i. 14. Several methods have been taken to make out the granmiatical construction of these passages. But the attempt is needless; Gataker * having shown, that such solecisms are common in the purest Greek writers : and, indeed, they are often looked upon as beauties, rather than blemishes. Hebraisms are observed in abundance, and that both in words and phrases, in construction and in figures. In the first place, Hebraisms in single words are of three sorts : — such as are properly of a Hebrew extract : such as are indeed of a Greek extract, but used in a different sense from what they are in other authors, and in a manner conformable to the Hebrew : and words, new coined, to translate "Hebrew words by. 1st. There are words of an Hebrew extract, which have either a Greek termination, as Meo-o-uiy, John i. 42 ; ^aravas, Matt. iv. 10 ; o-iKfpa, Luke i. 15, potus inehrians, from 1'Dm shechar : or others Aiinot. in Maic. Antonin. lib. iii. s.ect. iv. CHAP. III.] NKW TKSTAMKNT GREEK. 71 which retain the Hebrew termination, as AWrj^ovia, Rev. xix. 1 ; (7u/3a6)^, Rom. ix. 29; A/3a3Swi/, Rev. ix. 11. 2dly. There are Greek words, used in a different sense from what they are in other authors, and in a manner conformable to the Hebrew ; as /3t^Aof for a catalogue, like itiD sejihei- ; (3i^\os yfvea-ews irjaov Xpicrrov, Matt. i. 1 ; C]n« ni^M 15D sepher toledhoth Adam, Gen. v. 1. Ety, /ita, ei/, is always a cardinal, except in the New Testament, where it is frequently an ordinal, like iri« achedh, in Hebrew ; as, rr^s tjlus n hcngnehlier hajjarden, Deut. i. 1 ; that is, near Jordan, for he never went over it into Canaan ; Deut. xxxii. 52. There are, 3dly. Some words new coined, to translate Hebrew words by ; as avadrjpaTi^co, ibr DIH cliaram ; 6 Se rjp^uTO ai'a6epaTi(ew Kai opvveiv oTt OVK oiba TOV avdpMnov, &c., Mark xiv. 71. ^nXayx^vi^opai, a word formed to translate dh^ racham, inthne dilexit : 6 8( Itjo-ovs — fin-f, onXayxviCo- pai fnt TOV o^Xoi'^ ort 1760V fjptpai Tptis ir pair pfvovtri pot, Kai ovk (x.^v(ti ti (jiaywai^ 72 JKWl.SH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. Matt. XV. 32. XapiToo), to translate pn chaiian, gratiosus fait : O (lyyeKos irpos avrrju fine, Xotpe, Ke^apirw/xej/r/, L/Ukc 1. 28. Secondly. Hebraisms in phrases, are either, 1st. Such as have not been used by other Greek autliors : as seeing of hfe and death, for Uving and dying : nto-Tet Ei/co^ neTerfOrj rov fiT] ibeiv davarov, Heb. xi. 5. In hke manner the Hebrew, mo-n«1^ w!'! velo jireh-mavetk ; Psalm Ixxxix. 49 Heb., 48 Engl. Again, e^f\r{kv6oTas eK Trjs oacjivos A^paa^, is analogous to the follow- ing expression: " All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, ir)")' ''WVjofoejerecAo, who came out of his loins," &c.. Gen. xlvi. 25 Heb., 26 Engl. Or, 2dly. Such as have not been used by other Greek writers in the same sense as in the New Testament ; as, to hear the voice of a person, signifies, to obey : lias 6 wv (k ttjs a\r]6etas, uKovei p.ov TTjs ^a>vr]i, John xviii. 37, parallel with ^um'' h^\h ni)DU^ "'D chi sheman/jta lekol ishteka ; Gen. iii. 17. To eat bread, signifies, to sit down to a meal ; Ov yap vmrovTM ras x^i-P^s nvrwv, orav aprov ea-diwaiv, Mat(. XV. 2, which is an expression parallel to this, " And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon ; for they heard, nrh ^h^Di^'' du^ '^j chi shamjochelu lachem, that they should eat bread there;" Gen. xliii. 24 Heb., 25 Engl. There are also pleonasms in the Greek Testament, such as do not occur in other Greek authors. As, 'Enapai ow o irjo-ovi tovs o(p6a'\p.ovs Kai Ofaaapivoi on noXvs, &c. " When Jesus then lift up his eyes and saw a great company," Sec, John vi. 5. Parallel to this in the Hebrew, «-i>i VVi^-n« Dm2« «u;n vajjissa Abraham eth- gneinaiv vajjare : " And Abraham lift up his eyes, and saw the place,*" &c. Gen. xxii. 4. Again, Op.o&up.aSoi' rjpau vT]v npos tou Qeov, KM fiTTov, " they lift up their voice to God with one accord, and said," Acts iv. 24: like the following in the Hebrew : " And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lift up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, "irD«''i «"ip^i ibip i^w^^ vajjissa koJo vajjikra vqijomer f Judges ix. 7. A gain, EKxeij/as Ti^v xftpa ijyj/^aTO uvtov 6 Ir/croDSj " JcsUS put forth llis hand, and touched him," 6cc. ; Matt. viii. 3. Like that expression concerning Noah, «n^i nnpi n> nbw') vajjishlach jadho vajjakkacheha vqfjabhee ; " And he put forth his hand, and took her" (the dove), "And pulled her in unto him into the ark;" Gen. viii. 9. Thirdly. There are constructions in the New Testament, which arc said to be Hcbiaisins ; as, CHAP. III.] NLW TESTAMENT GREEK. 73 1st. The feminine gender for the neuter : Ai^oi' ov aTreSow/xacrai/ 6t oiKoSofj-ovvTes.) avTOs (yevrjSr] etj Ke(j)uKr]v ycovias' irapa Kvptou tyfViTo av-nj^ Kai ((TTi Bavixaa-TT], &c. ; Matt. xxi. 42. n«t nn^n mrr^ n«o n;D u?«-;b nriTi n^bSi i^'^'n lifijetJiah leroslt pinnah^ meeth Jehovah hajethah zoth hi niphlath, &c. ; Psahn cxviii. 23. In hke manner, •^rhvtxt} ir\r\n U^pi« nm.^ mn''-n«a acliath shaalti meeth Jehovah othah abakkesh ; Psalm xxvii. 4. Some, indeed, make K€ audpconop eyevero, Mark ii. 27. 2dly. A noun repeated twice to express a distribution into seve- ral parts : as, " He commanded them all to sit down, a-vpTToa-ta avfiTTotTia, by companies, and they sat, wpacnai npaauu, in ranks," Mark vi. 39, 40 : like this Hebrew expression, " He delivered them into the hands of his servants, "ni» ^1)) (jnedher, gnedher, every drove by themselves ;" Gen. xxxii. 16. Again, " He called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth, Svo Sw, by two and two," Mark vi. 7 ; like the follov.'ing Hebrew phrase, " of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee, Hi?nu; rri^nu; shibhngmdi shibhngnah, by sevens ;" Gen. vii. 2. The regular expression is ava 8vo, as it is in the parallel place, Luke x. 1. 3dly. The superlative degree expressed by the addition of eeos: " In which time Moses was born, and was aareios rw Bew, exceeding fair ;" Acts vii. 20. Thus, in Hebrew it is said, " Nineveh was, D^n^H^ nl:''nj-'i^:i? ^?«V gadholah lelohim, an exceeding great city: Jonah iii. 3. 4thly. Some verbs are said to be used with different construc- tions from what they are in other Greek authors ; as npoa-KVPfco with a dative case : Xcn-pos fXdoiv Tvpoa-iKwei avTco, Matt. viii. 2. Again, Kcu Tvpoa-tKvvrjauv avTu, Jolin ix. 38; wlicrcas in other authors it governs an accusative. So also eii>ai eis rt, for eivai n, is said to bo an Hebraism: "For this cause shall a man leave lather and mothei*, and cleave to his wife, km ea-ouTiu oi 8vo eis (TupKu puw," IMatt. xix. 5. " Unto them who be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, 6vtos eyev>]6ri 6is KecpaXTji^ ywvias,'" 1 Pet. ii. 7. Thus in Hebrew, " God is the Lord, and he hath enlightened us," ^jh iwi vajjaer lunti ; Psalm cxviii. '21. Fourthly. There are Hebrew figures observed in the New Testament ; as, 1st. Enallage of the case, person, number, and goider. Enal- 74 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. lage of the case, 'o vikmv, doxra avrw, See., Rev. ii. 26 ; 'o viKuiv, ttoitjo-qi avTov, rtev. 111. 12 5 EXaXrjcrf TzpoQ tovs irarepas T]p.a)V, rw A/3paa/x, (cat rD:i?-by ^navp katsaphti gnal-gnammi, &c., thou didst show them no mercy, D''Dni DhIp nnty-sb lo-samt laliem rachamim ;" Isa. xlvii. 6. Enallage of number: "At that time Jesus went rot? aa^^aa-t 8ia Tcop cnropificov. Matt. xii. 1. And, Of gender : " Not holding ttjv Kecj^aXt^v, e^ ov, the whole body by joints and bands," &c.; Col. ii. 19. 2dly. Pleonasms are said to be borrowed from the Hebrew. I have mentioned some already, and shall add the following : " That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gen- tiles, f(f) ovs eTTLKeKkyjTUi to ovop.a pov iw ai^rous," ActS XV. 17. ThuS in the Hebrew, " Every place," &c. in D3!?:i-pid inn lti?« asher tidhrok caph-raglechem ho : Josh. i. 3. Again; " To the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, ottov rpec/>6rai eKei," Rev. xii. 14. Sinnlar to this instance in the Hebrew: "Then said Saul to his servant. Well said ; come, let us go : so they went unto the city tyt* C:ty-"it2;« D^n!?«n asher-sham ish Haelohim ;" 1 Sam. ix. 10. Again, Pilate said, Adaos fipi anoTov aiparos, &c.. Matt, xxvii. 24; and St. Paul, OTt Kadapos eyco airo tov aip-aros Ttavrav, ActS XX. 26, where ano secmS to be redundant. The following is a similar Hebrew expression : "When David heard it, he said, 'ijns 'OT?3— •'D:« ^3 naki anchi — middeme Ahner ; 2 Sam. iii, 28. 3dly. Ellipsis is a common figure in the New Testament, after the manner of the Hebrew : for instance, "Behold I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and Scribes, Kai f|' avr^v anoKreveire Kai aTavp(0(T€Tf, Kai e^' avTcov paaTiywiTfTe," &C. ; Matt. Xxiii. 34. Like the following expression in the Second Book of Kings : "And Jehu went — into the house of Baal, and said unto the worshippers of Baal, Search and look, lest there be here with you mir nnji;:: mengnabhdhe Jehovah f 2 Kings x. 23. CHAP. III.] NEW TESTAMENT GREEK. 15 However, after all the exceptions to the purity of the New Testa- ment Greek, it hath as able critics among its advocates as any that have appeared on the contrary side, particularly ]\Ir. Black- wall, who, in his Sacred Classics, maintains the language of the New Testament to be not only pure, but very elegant Greek. He hath vindicated, with great learning, the several passages ex- cepted against, producing parallel ones out of the purest authors. He denies there are any solecisms, having not only well supported the suspected places, but generally shown a peculiar beauty in them. It is a remark of Mr. Addison, that the most exquisite words and finest strokes of an author are those which often appear the most doubtful and exceptionable to a man who wants a relish for polite learning, and which a sour undistinguishing critic attacks with the greatest violence. TuUy observes, that it is very easy to brand or fix a mark, upon what he calls verhum ardens, a bold, glowing expression, and to turn it into ridicule by a cold, ill- natured criticism. Blackwall acknowledges the New Testament hath words and expressions not to be found in any classic author ; nor could it be otherwise, when it treats of things which the heathens had no ideas of, nor any words for. New names must be given to new things. In this respect no other liberty is taken than is freely done by Tully, Plato, and the greatest geniuses of all ages. As for the mixture of foreign words, especially Latin, there are not many. However, in the use of these few, the sacred writers are equally to be vindicated, at least, with the Greek classics, who have many foreign, particularly Persic words. For, as the most eminent of them flourished at a time when the empire of the Persians was of vast extent, and had a great influence on the affairs of Greece, many of their words became familiar to, and were adopted by the Greeks. In the times of the apostles and evangelists, the Roman empire having extended its conquests over all the countries where Greek was spoken, by that means Roman words and phrases crept in, as before Persic had done. As to Hebraisms, the reason why the New Testament writers mingled them with their Greek, does not seem to be owing so much to their being Hebrews, as to their discoursing of many things relating to the Mosaic law, and capable of being well expressed in the Hebrew language, which could not be expressed so happily, if at all, in any other. So that if they had declined using the Hebrew idiom, they must have invented new words and 76 jr,\vjsn ANjiouniKs. [uooki. phrases, which would not have been easily or soon understood. Mr. Blackwali observes, that in common morals, in matters of conversation and liistorical narrative, they use the same words and phrases with Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, &c., and that they do not more differ from the classics in their form of expression, than these do from one another. A great many expressions, originally Hebraisms, have, by the best authors, been transplanted into the Greek tongue, and are now become proper and genuine phrases. But the sacred writers, being better acquainted with the Hebrew language, have remark- ably enriched their style from that inexhaustible mine, to which the Greeks had little access. Upon the whole, he is confident, that if a man reads the New Testament with a heart as much prepossessed in its favour as when he sits down to Virgil or Homer, he will find incidents and sentiments therein, expressed with more natural propriety and energy than can be found in their writings, though in every age since they wrote they have been the objects of universal admiration. I am loth to dismiss the subject we are upon, without giving you an abstract of this author's critique upon the several writers of the New Testament *. St. Matthew, saith he, hath all the characters of a good his- torian ; truth and impartiality, clearness of narration, propriety and gravity of diction, and order of time well observed. The two next evangelists often borrow his very words and form of expres- sion, when they are on the same subject, and yet each has his proper style. St. Mark has a comprehensive, clear, and beautiful brevity. He sometimes uses the repetition of words of the same original and like sound, as the most vigorous authors do : such as anfareyaaav ttjv areyy^v, IVlark ii, 4 ; ev rrj avaaracrei urav avaaracri^ chap. xii. 23 ; Kna-eas, rjs eKTiaev, chap. xiii. 1 9. St. Luke"'s style is pure, copious, and flowing. He acquaints us with numerous historical passages, not related by the other evange- lists. He is justly applauded for his politeness and elegance by some critics, who seem, however, to magnify him in order to depreciate his brethren, notwithstanding he hath as many He- braisms and peculiarities as any of them. The style of St. John is grave and simple, short and conspicu- * See vol. i. part ii. chap. vii. CHAP. HI.] NEW TESTAMENT MIllTEUS. 77 ous, always plain, and sometimes low ; but he reacheth to the heavens in the sublimity of his notions. He has frequent repeti- tions, in order to press his important doctrines with more close- ness and vehemence. He often takes one thing two ways, both in the affirmative and negative : as, " He that hath the Son hath life ; but he that hath not the Son, hath not life." St. Paul is admired for the copiousness and variety of his style, for the loftiness of his sentiment, for the dexterity of his address. He has every charm of eloquence, and shows himself, occasionally, master of every style. " If any," saith Mr. Locke, " hath thought St. Paul a loose writer, it was only because he was a loose reader ; for he that takes notice of his design, will find there is scarce a word or expression he makes use of, except with relation and tendency to his present main purpose." Erasmus passes a bold censure upon St. James, when he saith, " The epistle under his name does not everywhere express the apostolical gravity and majesty*." But other learned and judi- cious persons have imagined they have discovered in that epistle, vigorous and expressive words, a beautiful simplicity, natural and engaging sentiments, lively figures, and substantial eloquence. Where can a finer description of the malignity and mischief of an unbridled tongue be found, than in his third chapter? The emphasis and eloquence of that sublime description of the divine munificence and immutability, in the seventeeth verse of the first chapter, is greatly and justly admired -f-. St. Peter"*s style expresses the noble vehemence and fervour of his spirit. He writes with that quickness and rapidity, some- times neglecting the formal niceties of grammar (as is common with sublime geniuses), that you can scarcely perceive the pauses of his discourse, and the distinction of his periods. His descrip- tion of the conflagration and future judgment, 2 Pet. iii., is a raastei'-piece. He makes us see, as it were, the heavens and the earth wrapt up in devouring flames, and hear the groans of an expiring world, and the crush of nature tumbling into universal ruin. And how solemn and moving is the epiphonema, or prac- * Vid. Annot. in cap. v. sub fine. -|- Tlie first words of tliat passage are a fine hexameter. Xiaffa, ^offii ayaSx, xai Tuv ieopf)/ia TiXsiov. * A small transposition of the next words, will make another hexameter, EfT et-xa rui (furut -rarpat xara/iaii/av avuS-iv. How natiinljy do sublime sentiments give birth to poetical uuuibcr?, a<< well as poetical expressions ! 78 JKWISII ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. tical inference, " Seeing, therefore, all these things must be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness; " ver. 11, Origen saith, that " Jude hath wrote an epistle, of few verses, indeed, but full of vigorous expressions of heavenly grace *." This apostle adopts the sentiment, and frequently the words of St. Peter, in the second chapter of his second epistle, though sometimes he leaves out some of his words, at other times he enlarges, and gives a different turn to the thought. These two writers are very near akin, in subject, style, vehemence, and just indignation against impudence, lewdness, and debauchers of sound principles. They answer one another in the New Testament, as the prophecy of Obadiah and part of the forty-ninth of Jeremiah do in the Old. After Mr. Blackwall hath fully vindicated the writers of the New Testament, and set them, at least, upon a level with the best classics, he shows, in the last chapter, what advantages they have over them in various respects. The greater part of the second volume is a critique upon the versions and various lections of the New Testament, which it is beside our present purpose to consider. We return, now, from this digression, to the subject of Jewish Antiquities. The Genealogies of the Hebrews. Godwin observes, that " the whole body of Israel, or the Hebrew nation, was divided into twelve tribes, and that public records were kept, wherein every one's genealogy was registered, to manifest to what particular tribe he belonged." This appears from the following passage in Chronicles : " The acts of Reho- boam — are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer, concerning genealogies ? " 2 Chron. xiii. 15 : wn'^T^Th lehithjaches, in genealogizando, that is, probably, in their genealogical tables of the royal families of the house of David ; in which, also, it seems was interspersed some account of the lives and actions of the kings ; the acts of Rehoboam being not only written in this book, but likewise the " acts of his son Abijah, his ways and his sayings;" 2 Chron. xiii. 22. In the fifth chapter of the First Book of Chronicles, after an abstract of the genealo- gies contained in the book of Genesis, and of some of the tribes * Comment, in Matt. .\ii. 5,*), p. 223, D. edit. Huet. Colon. 1685. CHAP. HI.] GENEALOGIES OF THE HEBUEWS. 79 of Israel to the time of the captivity, it is added, " All these were reckoned by genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel," ver. 17 ; that is, the genealogical tables were then drawn up, which afterwards were continued down to the captivity, the names of several persons being inserted, who did not live till after the days of Jotham and Jeroboam. And then, after a genealogical table of the other tribes in the three next chapters, it follows, " So all Israel were reckoned by genealogies ; and behold they were written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah;" chap. ix. 1. Where, by '* the book of the kings," cannot be meant those two historical books, which now pass under that name, these genealogies not being written therein, but some authentic public record of their genealogies, called " the King's Book," probably as being under his custody ; of which it is not unlikely there was a duplicate, one copy kept by the king of Judah, the other by the king of Israel, for it is called " the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah." The story of Herod's destroying the records of the genealogies, which Godwin mentions, is related by Eusebius in his Ecclesias- tical History *. Yet it does not seem that the Jews lost all account of their genealogies from that time, for they continued their distinction of tribes long after. St. Paul says he was of the "tribe of Benjamin;" Phil. iii. 5. St. James writes to the "twelve tribes that were scattered abroad;" James i. 1. And, later still, Josephus gives the genealogy of his own family in his Life, and says, " I give you this succession of our family, as I find it written in the public tables f. " And he adds, that " all their priests were obliged to prove their succession from an ancient line ; " and if they could not do it, they were to be excluded from officiating as priests. From whence it appears, there were public genealogical tables of their tribes and families as late as Josephus, who lived at the destruction of Jerusalem. By the way, therefore, it may be reasonably presumed, that both St. Matthew and St. Luke copied their genealogies of Christ, the one of the line of Mary, the other of Joseph, out of the public records which were deemed authentic vouchers. The apostle, accord- ingly, represents it as a thing evident to the Jews, that " our Lord sprung out of Judah;" Heb. vi. 14. It was so by their own genealogical tables, which the sacred historians faithfully copied. * I>il). i. ca|). vii. ]). 24> edit. Reading, Cantab. 1720. f Jo!se])h. in vitfi, H-ct. i. ad fin. ajiiid Opcr. toin. ii. p. I,(dil. Huviiv. 80 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. If there were any errors in lliose tables, they were not accountable for them, their business was only to transcribe without alteration ; tampering with them might have created suspicion, and given the Jews some colour for denying that our Lord " sprung out of Judah," according to the ancient prophecies concerning the Messiah. Upon the whole, we must either conclude, that Eusebius had been entirely misinformed concerning Herod's burning the genea- logical records, or that if one copy (perhaps that which was laid up in the archives of the temple) was destroyed, there were others in private hands, from whence another public copy was afterwards transcribed, and deposited in the same place. It is probable, that after the dispersion of the Jews, upon the dissolution of their polity, the genealogical tables came to be neglected, and so gradually perished. Some imagine, that their frequent intermarriages with the people of the countries into which they were dispersed, made them designedly discontinue them ; that the corrupt mixture and debasement of their blood might not appear. However that be, it is certain they have long since been lost. From hence an argument is formed by Christians, that the Messiah must be already come ; since, if he be not, it can never be proved, that he is of the tribe of Judah and family of David. But to this the Jews reply, that either Elias, or some other inspired priest or prophet, shall come, and restore their genealo- gical tables before the Messiah's appearance ; — a tradition, which they ground on a passage in Nehemiah, chap. vii. 64, 65, to this effect : The genealogical register of the families of certain priests being lost, they were not able to make out their lineal descent from Aaron ; and therefore, " as polluted, were put from the priesthood ;" the " Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim." From hence the Jews conclude, that such a priest will stand up, and restore and complete the genealogies of their families : though others suppose these words to import, that they should never exercise their priesthood any more ; and that, " till there shall stand up a priest with Urim and Thummim," amounts to the same as the Roman proverb, ad Grcecas calendas, since the Urim and Thummim were now absolutely and for ever lost. CHAP. Iir.] PROSELYTES. 81 The Proselytes. We now come to the proselytes ; who were not of the natural posterity of Abraham, but joined themselves to the people of Israel, and were, by the Greeks, styled Upoa-iKvroi, ano rov 7rpou; '-IJ gere shangnar, joroselyti portce. The former became complete Jews, and were in all respect united to the Jewish church and nation ; the latter did not embrace the Jewish religion, yet were suffered to live among the Jews under certain restric- tions. Nevertheless the former, as well as the latter, are some- times distinguished from Jews, that is, from native Jews. Thus in Acts, chap. xiii. 43, we read of the Jews, and religious pro- selytes, at Antioch in Pisidia; who must have been proselytes of righteousness, because none were called proselytes of the gate (if any such there were), who did not dwell in the land of Israel. As for the proselytes of righteousness, the Scripture gives us no other account of the manner of their admission into the Jewish church, but by the rite of circumcision. In the book of Exodus, among the regulations concerning the passover, this is one, " When a stranger will sojourn with thee, and will keep the pass- over to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it ; and he shall be as one that is born in the land;" chap. xii. 48. Where these two things are farther observable : 1st. That when a man thus became a proselyte, all his males were to be circumcised as well as himself; whereby his children were admitted into the visible church of God, in his right, as their father. 2dly. That upon this he should be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of the Jewish church and nation, as well as be subject to the whole law : he should be as one '* born in the land." • Piiilo. .Tiid. lil). i. ; dp Monnrrh. apud Opcrn, p. CTl, edit. Colon. Allobr. IfilS. G 82 JEWISH ANTigunrri.s, [book i. To this brief account whicli the Scriptme gives us of the admis- sion of proselytes, the rabbies add a much larger one, of the pre- paration for their admission, of the form of their admission, and of the consequences and effects of it. First, The preparation for the admission of proselytes con- sisted, according to them, of three articles : 1st. An examination : 2dly. Instruction: 3dly. Their making a profession of their faith, and of their obedience to the Jewish law. 1st. The person that offered himself to be a proselyte, was examined by three of the magistrates concerning the causes that moved him to it; whether it was the love of any Jewish woman, the fear of any temporal punishment, the prospect of riches, or of any worldly advantage ; or whether it was a sincere love to God and his law ? When he had given a satisfactory answer to these questions, he was then, 2dly. Instructed in the Jewish religion, and particularly in the doctrine of rewards and punishments. And after this, 3dly. He solemnly professed his assent to the doctrines which had been pi-oposed to him, and promised to persevere in the faith and practice of the law of God till death. Secondly, As to the form and manner of admitting proselytes, the rabbies make it to consist of three articles, — circumcision, baptism, and sacrifice. 1st. To the Scripture account of the requirement of circumci- sion, in this case, they add, that though the proselyte was a Sama- ritan, or of any other nation who used that rite, some blood must, nevertheless, be drawn afresh from the part which had been cir- cumcised. 2dly. The proselyte, whether male or female, must be baptized by the immersion of the whole body into water ; and this must be performed in a river, fountain, or pond, not in a vessel. Some ground this proselyte baptism on the instruction which Jacob gave to his " household, and all that were with him," when they were to make a new consecration of themselves to God, — " Put away the strange gods from amongst you, and be clean," Gen. XXXV. 2; where, by " being clean," they understand their being baptized, or their bodies being washed with water. They farther suppose, that the Israelites " being baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea," mentioned by St. Paul, 1 Cor. x. 2, CHAP. III.] . PROSELYTES. 8j means their entering into the Mosaic covenant by the rite of bap- tism; and that when, therefore, in after ages, any became prose- lytes, or entered into this covenant, they also were baptized. Godwin seems to think John's baptism was of this sort. But, it is certain, that could not properly be proselyte baptism ; because he administered it to such as were Jews already, and he had no commission to set up a new dispensation, to which people should be admitted by this or any other rite. He only gave notice, that the kingdom of God, or the gospel dispensation, was at hand ; but it did not commence till after his death, namely, at our Saviour"'s resurrection : and proselyte baptism was a form of professing a new religion, at least new to the person professing it, and of his being admitted a member of a church of which he was not one before. It was, therefore, I say, of a very different nature from John's baptism. His is rather to be considered as one of those " divers washings," in use among the Jews on many occasions ; for he did not attempt to make any alteration in the Jewish religion as settled by the Mosaic law, any more than to erect a new dispen- sation. And as these washings were intended, not only for " the purifying of the flesh," but to be signs and symbols of moral pu- rity ; so the rite of baptism was, in this view, very suitable to the doctrine of repentance, which John preached. It is a further supposition of Godwin's, that our Saviour con- verted this Jewish proselyte baptism into a Christian sacrament. Upon this notion Dr. Wall * hath founded an argument for bap- tizing children as well as adult persons ; because, when a pai-ent was proselyted, all his children were baptized, as well as all his male childi'en circumcised. But as baptism was administered, according to the Jewish doctors, only to the children born before his proselytism, not to any born afterwards, nor to his more distant posterity, who were esteemed holy branches, in virtue of springing from an holy rootf ; some infer, that under the Christian dispen- sation baptism is only to be administered to converts from Judaism, Mahoraetanism, Paganism, or some other religion, and to their descendants born before their conversion and baptism, but to none •born after. Mr. Emlyn, in particular |, insists upon this argument against the constant and universal obligation of infant baptism. * See the Introduction to his History of Infant Baptism. t It was a maxim with the rabbies, " Natiis baptizati habetur pro baptizato." This restriction of baptism to children born before their parents' proselytism, rests on the same authoriiy as the custom of baptizing any children of proselytes, which appears from Dr, Wall. + Previous Question to several Questions about valid and invalid Baptism, G 2 84 JEWI.tll ANTIQUITIES. [boOK I. But, after all, it remains to be proved, not only that Christian baptism was instituted in the room of proselyte baptism, but that the Jews had any such baptism in our Saviour's time. The ear- liest accounts we have of it are in the Mishna and Gemara * ; the former compiled, as the Jews assert, by Rabbi Juda, in the second century, though learned men in general bring it several centuries lower; the latter, not till the seventh century. Tliere is not a word of it in Philo; nor yet in Josephus, though he gives an account of the proselyting of the Idumeans by Hyrcanus. Indeed, on this occasion, he mentions only circumcision as the rite of ini- tiation, and saith, that upon receiving this rite, and living according to the Jewish law, they from that time became Jewsf. And not- withstanding he speaks of John's baptism, yet it is under a very different notion from the proselyte baptism spoken of by the mish- nical rabbies. *' This good man," saith he, " did Herod kill, who exhorted the virtuous, just, and pious, to come to his baptism ; for he looked upon baptism to be acceptable to God, when used, not for purging away certain offences, but for purifying the body, the soul having been before cleansed by righteousness |." So that he makes John's baptism to be of the nature of the Jewish purifica- tions, or ceremonial washings, without having any reference to proselyte baptism ; which, on this occasion, he could hardly have failed mentioning, if it had been then in use. It is alleged, however, in favour of its antiquity, that it is men- tioned by Arrian, who lived A. D. 150 ; for, speaking of a philo- sopher's obligation to act agreeably to his character, he hath this illustration : " If we see any one change his profession," or become a Jew, " we do not for that reason style him a Jew, but regard him as an hypocrite. Yet when he discovers the disposition and man- ners of one who is baptized, tov /3e^a^/xej/ov, and enlisted in that sect, then he both is, and is called, a Jew§." But to this it is replied, that nothing was more common than for the heathens to confound the Jews and Christians. Even Festus, • The Mishna is a collection of the Jewish traditions and explanations of several pas- sages of Scripture. The Gemara is a sort of glossary on the Mishna; and these together make up the Talmud. There are two Gemaras, that of Jerusalem and that of Babylon, the latter of which is most valued. The Jerusalem Gemara, Father Morin proves from the work itself, in which mention is made of the Turks, could not have been wrote till the time of Heraclius, about the year 620. The Gemara of Babylon was begun by one Asa, in the beginning of the seventh century, and on account of the wars between the Saracens and Persians, discontinued for seventy-three years, and then finished by one Josa. t Antiq. lib. xiii. cap. ix. sect. i. torn. i. p. 659, edit. Haverc. I Antiq. lib. xviii. cap. v. sect. ii. tom. i. p. 883, 884, edit. Haverc. § Couiment. in Epictet. lib. ii. cap. ix. p. 192, edit, Cantab. 16.55. GHAP. III.] I'KOSELVTES. 85 who governed for some time in Judea, seems to have taken the Christians only for a sect of the Jews ; Acts xxv. 19, 20. Sueto- nius speaks of an insurrection made by the Jews, " impulsore Chresto*." And it is most hkely that Arrian meant Christians in the place alleged, because in his time many persons became prose- lytes to Christianity, but few or none to Judaism, the Jews, who were scattered amongst all nations, being every where oppressed and despised. Besides, if he had spoken of proselytes to Judaism, it is highly probable he would have mentioned their circumcision, for which the heathens derided them, rather than their baptism, which was not so very foreign to some of the heathen rites of purification. Upon the whole, it is more likely the Jews took the hint of proselyte baptism from the Christians, after our Saviour's time, than that he borrowed his baptism from theirs ; which, whenever it came into practice, was one of those additions to the law of God, which he severely censures ; Matt. xv. 9. To this it is probable Justin Martyr refers, in his dialogue widi Trypho, when, among the Jewish heresies or sects, he mentions that of the jSanria-rai, baptizers -f". From hence it should seem, that in his time, about the middle of the second century, proselyte baptism was a novel practice, and had not yet universally prevailed. However that be, there wants more evidence of its being as ancient as our Saviour's time than I apprehend can be produced, to ground any argument upon it in relation to Christian baptism. We, therefore, dismiss this form of the admission of proselytes as uncertain J. 3dly. The rabbies tell us, the proselyte was to offer a sacrifice on occasion of his admission, in the presence of three witnesses, not mean, but respectable and honourable persons. Thus much concerning the form and manner of admitting pro- selytes. Thirdly. We are to consider the effects and consequences of being made a proselyte. 1st. The proselyte was now considered as born again. It was a saying among the Jews, that " when a man is made a proselyte, he is like a new-born infant," and " he hath a new soul." This is * Sueton. in vit. Claudii, cap. xxv. sect. xii. ; ct Annot. in loc. torn. ii. p. 87, edit. Pitisci. f Apml Opera, p. 307, A. edit. P.iris, IGi:). :]: On the subject of proselyte baptism, sec Liglitfoot, Ilor. Heb. ad Matl. iii. 6, and Harm, ad Joh. iii. 23. Selden, de Jure Nat. et Gent. lib. ii. cap. ii. ; particularly Wall's Introduction to his History of Infant Baptism, and Gale's Reflections on AVall, Ictt, ix. x. 86 JKWISII ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. supposed to throw some light on our Saviour's reproof to Nico- demus, " Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not these things?" John iii. 10; that is, what being " born again" means? For, it seems, Nicodemus, apprehending a Jew was never to be a proselyte to any other religion, did not know how to understand it otherwise than of " entering a second time into the womb, and being born," ver. 4. Whereas he, who was a master in Israel, and probably a member of the great council or Sanhedrim, might have been expected to comprehend the force of our Lord's phrase- ology from the common use of the like expressions concerning those who became proselytes *. 2dly. The bond of natural relation, betwixt the proselyte and all his kindred, was now dissolved. Wherefore it was a maxim with the rabbies, that a proselyte might lawfully marry his own mother, or his own daughter, born before he became a proselyte, they being now no more related to him than any other women : though such marriages were looked upon as indecent, and on that account not permittedf . Some have supposed our Saviour refers to the proselyte's renunciation of his natural relations when he saith, " If any man come unto me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple ;" Luke xiv. 26. And that the same is alluded to in the following passage of the Psalmist : "Hearken, O daughter, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people and thy father's house ;" Psalm xlv. 10. Tacitus, in his character of the Jews, having mentioned their custom of cir- cumcision, as adopted by proselytes, adds, " They then quickly learn to despise the gods, to renounce their country, and to hold their parents, children, and brethren in the utmost contempt J." And very probably this unnatural contempt, which the Jewish doctors taught proselytes to entertain of their nearest relations, might be one thing on account of which they are said to have " made them twofold more the children of hell than themselves;" Matt, xxiii. 15. 3dly. The proselyte was now to all intents and purposes a Jew§, and entitled to a share in the privileges and blessings of such. * See Lightfoot, Horse Heb. in loc. ■f Lightfoot, Hor. Heb. ad Job. iii. 3, and Seldcn, de Jure Nat. et Gent. lib. v. cap. xviii. J Tatit. Histor. lib. v. cap. v. § Consult Numb. xv. 1.5, Esth. viii. 17, and Joscphiis, in the place .ibove cited con- cerning the Idunicans, where liC saith, that being circumcised and living according to the law of Moses, they were from that lime Jews, to Konrov loudaiov. CHAP. III.] PROSELYTES. 87 He was to be treated with the utmost respect and kindness * : no native Jew might upbraid him with his former idolatry and wicked- ness. Yet it is certain the Jews were in general apt to look with a very evil eye upon proselytes, especially on those who had been Samaritans ; for they thought themselves allowed to hate Sama- ritans, even though they became proselytes, because their ances- tors obstructed the rebuilding the temple and the holy city ; and for this they would never forgive them, though by admitting them as proselytes they declared their faith and hope that God had for- given them. According to the rabbies, proselytes were excluded from many civil advantages, or privileges of the commonwealth, to which Israelites by descent were entitled f . Certain it is, the law made a difference between one nation and another, as to what is called ''entering into the congregation of the Lord;" Deut. xxiii., be- ginning. Edomites and Egyptians had this privilege in the third generation, ver. 7, 8 ; though their immediate children were ex- cluded, their grandchildren were admitted. An Ammonite or Moabite was excluded even " to the tenth generation," saith the law, or, as it is added, " for ever;" which the Jews take to be explanatory of the tenth generation, ver. 3. The law was cer- tainly thus understood in Neheraiah's time : " On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people ; and therein was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not enter into the congregation of God for ever, &c. ; and it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude ; " Nehem. xiii. 1 — 3. Bas- tards were, likewise, under the same exclusion to the tenth gene- ration, though not for ever; Deut. xxiii. 2. It is not certain what is meant by not " entering into the con- gregation of the Lord." It cannot be, as Ainsworth rightly ob- serves 'I, not adopting the faith and religion of Israel, and entering into the church in that respect; because it was lawful for all so to do ; Exod. xii. 48, 49. The Hebrew doctors generally under- stand by it, a prohibition of the Israelites marrying with such per- sons as are here excluded §. To this it is objected, that " he who * See a remarkable passage in Philo, lib. i. de MonarcLia, apud Opera, p. 631, 632, F, G. A. edit. Colon. Allobv. 1G13. f \'i(i. Sclilen, dc Jure Nalnrse ct Gent. lib. ii. cap. iv. Oper. toni, i. p. L04 — 1J)(J ; ct do Scyuedr. lib. ii. cap. viii. toin. ii. p. 1396, ct seq. edit. Lond. 1720". \ In loc. § Vid. Seldeu, dc Jure Natura; et Gent. lib. v. cap. ,\vi. Opera, torn. i. p. •)T6. 88 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. is wounded in genitaUhus, cut sunt attriti vel amputati testes, or who is totally castrated, cui abscission est veretrum, is, likewise, excluded," ver. 1. Now, say they, it would be superfluous to forbid women to marry with such persons, because it cannot bo supposed they would. It may nevertheless be replied, though such a prohibition might probably be needless, when this their defect was known, it might be requisite to forbid such persons marrying, when it was secret, as they might be inclined to do for several politic reasons. Dr. Patrick, therefore, understands by the mixed multitude, which in the forecited passage of Nehemiah, we are told, was separated from Israel by this law, such as were born of strangers, who were not allowed to partake of the rites of marriage with Israelites. But the opinion concerning entering into the congregation, most commonly received among Christian writers, is, that it signifies being permitted to bear any office in the Jewish commonwealth. And it is certain, said Dr. Patrick, the Hebrew word hrtp kahul, which we render congregation, does in many places signify, not the whole body of the people of Israel, but the great assembly of elders. Those who prefer this sense, assign as a reason why eunuchs of all sorts were excluded as well as strangers, that they are generally observed to want courage, and are therefore unfit for government. We proceed now to the other sort of proselytes, whom the Jewish doctors style liJty nj gere shangnar, " strangers of the- gate," from an expression which several times occurs in the Mosaic law, " The stranger that is within thy gate," see Deut. xiv. 21. Or otherwise they are called su^in ''iJi gere toshahh. Thus in Levi- ticus we read of " strangers that sojourned " among the Israelites, d^jH D^'ntyinn hattoshabim haggarim, Lev. xxv. 45. These were foreigners, who did not embrace the Jewish religion (and are, therefore, improperly called proselytes), yet " were suffered to live among the Jews," under certain restrictions. As, 1st. That they should not practise idolatry, nor worship any other god beside the God of Israel ; which, under the Theocracy, was crimen Icesce majestatis, and therefore not to be tolerated : " He that sacrificeth unto any god, save the Lord, he shall utterly be destroyed ;" Exod. xxii. 20. 2dly. That they should not blaspheme the God of Israel : " He ihat blasphemeth the name of the Lord shall surely be put to CHAP. HI.] PROSELYTES. 89 death ; as well the stranger as he that is born in the land f Lev. xxiv. 16. And perhaps also, 3dly. That they should keep the Jewish sabbath ; so far at least as to refrain from working on that day. For in the fourth com- mandment the obligation of observing the sabbatical rest is ex- pressly extended to the " stranger that was within their gates ;" Exod. XX. 10. So long as they lived under these restrictions in a peaceable manner, the Israelites were forbid to " vex or oppress them ;" Exod. xxii. 21. Nevertheless they might buy slaves out of their families, as well as of the heathen that were round about them ; Lev. XXV. 44, 45. But of their brethren, the Israelites, they were forbid to make slaves, ver. 39, 40. It was lawful to lend upon usury to these strangers, though it was not to an Israelite ; Deut. xxiii. 20. They might eat that which died of itself, which was prohibited to an Israelite ; Deut. xiv. 21. By the stranger, therefore, who was forbidden to " eat blood and that which died of itself," Lev. xvii. 12. 15, we must necessarily understand a proselyte of righteousness. And such also, the Jewish doctors say, is the stranger mentioned in the fourth commandment, who was obliged to keep the sabbath ; it being, in their apprehension, unlawful for any uncircumcised person to observe the law of Moses, because it was given peculiarly to Israel : " Moses com- manded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob;" Deut. xxxiii. 4: in particular the law concerning the sabbath : " Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the sab- bath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign betwixt me and the children of Israel for ever;" Exod. xxxi. 16, 17. But in concludincj from hence, that none except native Israelites, and such as had joined themselves to their church, were obliged by the law of the sabbath, they seem to forget, that it was given to Adam, and consequently to all mankind ; Gen. ii. 3. There is no impropriety, therefore, in supposing, that these uncircumcised strangers were compre- hended in the fourth commandment. Besides, it seems reason- able, that they should be obliged to rest on the Jewish sabbath, lest their working or recreations should disturb and hinder the devotion of the Israelites. These strangers were, moreover, permitted to worship the God of Israel in the outer court of the temple ; which for that reason was called "the court of the Gentiles;" to which there is a re- 90 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [boOK I. ference in the charge given to the angel in the book of the Reve- lation, to measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein ; but the court which is without the temple, to leave out, and measure it not; because it is given to the Gentiles; Rev. xi. 2. Betwixt this and the inner court, where the Israel- ites assembled, there was a wall, to which the apostle Paul al- ludes : " For he is our peace, who hath made both (Jews and Gentiles) one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;"" Eph. ii. 14. For such worshippers as these strangers, and for their acceptance with God, Solomon prayed at the dedication of the temple : " Moreover, concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country, for thy name's sake (for they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched-out arm), when he shall come and pray toward this house, hear thou in heaven thy dwell- ing place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for ; that all the people of the earth may know thy name to fear thee, as do thy people Israel;" 1 Kings viii. 41 — 43. The numbers of these strangers, who dwelt among the Isi*ael- ites, were very considerable ; we find no less than one hundred fifty-three thousand six hundred of them, in Solomon's time, em- ployed in servile labour, 2 Chron, ii. 17, 18. This is the sum of what can be gathered from Scripture con- cerning the i:Diy •'"i: gere shangnai\ or ^ityin tosliabh. But the talmudical rabbies have made proselytes of all these strangers and sojourners*, at least, of all who were in the land of Israel when the Jews were their own masters, and not in subjec- tion to any foreign power ; for they confess, in that case, there was no preventing heathens dwelling among them, even though they refused to submit to the restrictions of the law ; they say, therefore, there were no proselytes of the gate in such times : but that at other times no Gentile was permitted to dwell in the land of Israel, without being a proselyte of the gate ; that is, without submitting to, and obeying the seven precepts, which the rabbies pretend God gave to Noah and his sons, and which, according to them, comprised the law of nature, common to all mankind. These have been usually styled the septem prcecepta Noachida- rum -j- ; by which they were required to abstain from idolatry, * Vid. Seidell, do Jure Natura5 ct Gent. lib. ii. cap. iii. ■j- Vid. Selden, de .lure Naturae et Gent. lib. i. cap. x.; ct Shickard. de Jure Regio, cum Notis Carpzov. j). 333, ct seq. CHAP. II J.] PROSELYTES. 91 from blasphemy, from murder, from adultery, from theft : to insti- tute judges to maintain the laws ; and not to eat the flesh of any animal, cut off" while it was alive. Maimonides saith, the first six precepts were given to Adam, and the seventh to Noah *. But what creates a suspicion, that this is all invention of the talmudists, is, that there is no mention of these seven precepts being given to the Noachidae, in Scripture, in Onkelos, in Jose- phus, or in Philo ; and that neither Jerome, nor Origen, nor any of the ancient fathers, appear to have been in the least acquainted with them. However, something like the seventh was undoubtedly given to Noah and his posterity : " The flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat ;" Gen. ix. 4. Under this restriction, they had, presently after the flood, permission to eat all sorts of animal food : " Every moving thing, that liveth, shall be meat for you ; even as the green herb have I given you all things," ver. 3. From whence it has been generally concluded, that the antediluvians used only vegetables ; which seems, indeed, to be the only kind of food God allotted for man at his creation ; Gen. i. 29, 30. Nevertheless, immediately after the flood, the permission is extended to " every moving thing that liveth ; " that is, to all kind of animals that are fit for food, without any such distinction between clean and unclean as was afterward made under the Jewish law. Some have, indeed, maintained the contrary opinion ; supposing, that the use of animal food was included in the general grant of power and dominion which God gave to Adam over the brute creation ; Gen. i. 26 — 28. The chief arguments to prove that animal food was not used before the deluge aref, 1st. That God's grant of the use of his creatures for food to Adam, is expressly restrained to the vegetable creation. 2dly. The scripture history is wholly silent concerning the use of animal food before the flood. 3dly. If animal food had been then permitted, there could have been no reason for this new grant which God gave to Noah. The chief arguments, alleged on the other side, are taken, 1st. From the history of Abel's sacrifice; which is said to have * De Regibus, cap. ix. ab init. apud Crenii Fascicul. noniitn. p. 13-3. •}• On tliis debate consult Heidegger. Histoi. Paliiaich. torn. i. cxciiil. xv. 92 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. consisted of the " firstlings of his flock, and the fat thereof;'" Gen. iv. 4. Now, it luiving never been usual to offer any thing in sacri- fice to God, but what was useful to man, it is concluded from this account, that animals were at that time used for food. Neverthe- less, this will not follow, because Abel's flock might be kept for the sake of the milk and wool, which render these creatures exceed- ingly serviceable. It must be owned, that the particular mention of the fat, in the account of this sacrifice, might incline one to think it was a peace- oflTering ; the fat of which was consumed upon the altar, and the flesh eat by the person at whose charge the offering was made, and by the priests : Lev. iii. per totum ; chap. vii. 15. 33. But the affix of the word pi!?h chelbehen, which we translate " the fat thereof," should rather be rendered, " of them ;" namely, of the firstlings of his flock: intimating, not that he offered the fat of the animal, but the fattest or best amongst them. The word i^n che- lehh is often used for the best of its kind, whatever be the thing spoken of. Thus nan ihu chelebh chittah is well rendered " the finest of the wheat:" Psalm Ixxxi. 16; cxlvii. 14. The fat of the oil and the fat of the wine, mean the best of their kind, as our translators have rendered it; Numb, xviii. 12. The "fat of the land," means the best of its produce ; Gen. xlv. 18. Thus it seems most natural to understand the word n^rr chelehh, in the pre- sent case; importing that Abel brought the best of his flock for an offering to the Lord : this we suppose was a whole burnt- offer- ing, or sacrifice of atonement ; which, according to the law after- ward given to Moses, was entirely consumed on the altar, except the skin, which was the priest*'s fee, for killing and offering it ; Lev. vii. 8. There were many other sorts of sacrifices afterward appointed by the law of Moses, which had a political, as well as religious use, as we showed in a former lecture. But the design of the whole burnt-offering was entirely religious, to impress the con- science with a sense of the deserved punishment of sin, and to typify the great atonement which Christ, in due time, was to offer. There was the same reason, therefore, for these sacrifices before the time of Moses, as there was afterwards ; and it is probable, that they were instituted presently after the fall, and that of the skins of the animals slain for sacrifice, God made those garments for Adam and Eve, which are spoken of in the third chapter of (lenesis, ver. 21 ; that is, directed them to make them ; as Jacob is CHAP. III.] PROSELYTF.S. 93 said to have made his son Joseph a coat of many colours, Gen. xxxvii. 3, or ordered it to be made. Upon the whole, tlie history of Abel's sacrifice affords no proof of men's eating animal food before the flood. We proceed, there- fore, 2dly. To another argument in favour of this opinion, built upon the distinction of the creatures into clean and unclean, before Noah entered into the ark ; Gen. vii. 2. Novr it is alleged, that we can- not conceive of any cleanness or uncleanness in those animals them- selves ; but merely as some are more fit for food than others, or as God is pleased to permit the use of some, and not of others; and therefore it is said, this distinction of them before the flood must imply, that animal food was used at that time. To this it has been replied by some, that the distinction is used by Moses, in his history of those early times, proleptically. Cyre- nius is called governor of Syria by St. Luke, in relating what he did at the time of our Saviour's birth, though he was not made governor of Syria till several years after. So, we may suppose Moses, in his history of the deluge, ranges the animals that went into the ark, into clean and unclean, according to the distinction afterward made betwixt them by the law, and well known when he wrote. This answer, perhaps, hath too much the air of a subter- fuge to be perfectly satisfactory. Suppose then we make this reply, that the terms " clean and unclean" do not here respect the distinction afterward made by the Jewish law ; but a natural difference, which may be observed in most of the creatures that God allowed or forbid to be eat by the Jews. The clean have no upper cutting teeth, their fat hardens into suet, they rise up with their hind feet first ; in all which respects they are the reverse of the unclean. Such a distinction, therefore, men would naturally make, not only when animal food came to be used, but probably before. However, suppose it should respect the use of them for food, it will not follow, because God commanded above three times as many more of the clean creatures, than of the unclean, to be pre- served in the ark, that men used them for food before the flood. It seems more probable, that this distinction was now first made, and a greater number of those which were most fit for food pre- served, merely because God intended to permit the use of them in a very short time. There is another question on this head, which should be a little 91: JEWISH ANTIOUITIKS, [hOOK I. considered before we dismiss the subject : For what reason were the antediluvians not allowed to make use of animal food, as well as Noah and his posterity after the flood ? The more commonly received opinion is, that it was to preserve their lives, that the world might be speedily replenished with in- habitants ; because the free use of flesh would impair their consti- tution, and shorten their days. Their longevity is accordingly imputed to their sobriety, and the simplicity of their diet, and in particular to their living only on vegetables. But this would make God's grant of animal food to Noah a curse instead of a blessing. Besides, it is not certain, that the moderate use of it is at all preju- dicial to health. If it were, why hath God formed us with teeth so peculiarly adapted to the mastication of it, and with a stomach suited to digest it ? Beverovicius, a learned physician *, is so far from being convinced, that eating flesh is unsalutary, and tends to shorten men's lives, that, among several causes of the longevity of the antediluvians, one, which he assigns, is their eating raw flesh ; the best and most nourishing parts of which he supposes to be car- ried off* in dressing by the action of the fire. But though there is great reason to conclude the antediluvians eat no flesh, I can see no good reason to impute their longevity to abstaining from it, or to believe, that it was for the sake of their health God did not allow them to use it. I shall take the liberty myself to oflTer a conjecture. Supposing the lives of animals were no longer before the flood, and conse- quently their increase no greater than at present, while the lives of men w^ere ten times as long, and their increase consequently ten times greater ; there was then an evident reason why animal food was not permitted, from the insufficient number of animals ; inso- much that the use of them would, probably, in a few years have destroyed the whole species. For now men's lives are shortened, and their increase ten times less, there is only such a proportion betwixt the human and brutal species, as ordinarily prevents the want of animal food, without overstocking us. Divine wisdom, therefore, did not make this grant till it thought fit to contract the life of man ; which w-as immediately after the deluge. Godwin, who relies on the authority of the talmudical rabbles for his account of the proselytes of the gate, produces out of the Scripture history four instances of such proselytes : Naaman the * Vid. ejus Thesaurum Sanitatis. lib. iii, et apud Heidegger. Histor. Patriarch, torn. i. exer. xiv. de eorum long. sect. xx. CHAP. HI.] PUOSF.I.YTF.S. 95 Syrian, 2 Kings v. ; Cornelius the Roman centurion, Acts x. ; the Etliiopian eunuch, Acts viii. 27 ; and those devout men, avSpes fvXa^fis, " out of every nation under heaven," who are said to be dwelling at Jerusalem, Acts ii. 5. But none of these are sufficient to support the rabbinical account of such proselytes. 1st. As for Naaman, who was by birth a Syrian, and general of king Benhadad's army, he appears to have been a Gentile idolater. But being miraculously cured of his leprosy by the power of the God of Israel, and the direction of his prophet Elisha, he renounced his idolatry, acknowledged this God to be the only true God, 2 Kings V. 15, — " Behold, now I know, that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel," — and promised, for the time to come, that he would worship none other but Jehovah ; ver. 17. He also requested the prophet, that he might have two mules"" load of earth to carry home with him from the land of Israel, most probably in- tending to build an altar with it in his own country ; as seems indeed to be implied in the reason with which he enforces his re- quest — " Shall there not, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth : for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt-offering nor sacrifice to other gods, but unto Jehovah," iibi supra. This request seems to have been partly founded on a super- stitious opinion he had conceived of some peculiar holiness and virtue in the earth of the country ; so that he supposed an altar built of it would be more pleasing, and render his sacrifice more accept- able, to God, than if it were made of any other materials. Perhaps he had formed this notion upon finding such a miraculous virtue in the water of Jordan, that barely washing in it had effected his cure ; and he concluded, therefore, the earth must have likewise some extraordinary virtue. Yet he did not conceive this was owing to any thing peculiar in the nature of that water and that earth ; but that God had miraculously infused into them this virtue ; and he thought it, therefore, best to worship him at an altai;of that earth which he had peculiarly sanctified. Or, it may be, by this symbol of an altar built of the earth of the land of Israel, he meant to signify his communion with that people in the worship of the true God. He further desired this earth might be given him by the prophet, probably supposing his consent and his blessing upon it would render it more efficacious for the acceptableness of his sacrifice, than if he had taken it without his permission. He further says, " In this the Lord pardon thy servant, that 96 JEWISH ANTIOUITIKS. [bOOK I. when my master goes into the liouse of Rimmon, to -worship there, and he leaneth upon my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon ; when I bow down in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing," ver. 18 : which some understand to be a reserve, denoting he would renounce idolatry no far- ther than was consistent with his worldly interest, with his prince's favour, and his place at court. But if so, the prophet would hardly have dismissed him with a blessing, saying, " Go in peace;" ver. 19. Others therefore suppose, that in these words he begs pardon for what he had done in times past, not for what he should continue to do. They observe, that •'n^ihntyii hishtachvethi, though rendered in the future tense by the Targum, and by all the ancient versions, is I'eally the preterperfect ; and they, therefore, understand it, "when I have bowed myself," or " because I have bowed myself" in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant. With this sense Dr. Lightfoot agrees *, and it is defended by the learned Bochart in a large dissertation on the case of Naaman. Yet to me it does not seem very probable, that, if he meant this for a penitential acknowledgment of his former idolatry, he should only mention what he had done as the king's servant, and not his own voluntary worshipping tiie idol. The more probable opinion, therefore, is, that he consulted the prophet, whether it was lawful for him, having renounced idolatry and publicly professed the worship of the true God, still, in virtue of his office, to attend his master in the temple of Rimmon, in order that he might lean upon him, either out of state, or perhaps out of bodily weakness ; because if he attended him, as he had formerly done, he could not avoid bowing down, when he did. To this the prophet returns no direct answer ;, lest, if on the one hand he had declared it unlawful, he should have too much discouraged this new convert, before he was well established in the true religion; or if, on the other, he had declared it lawful, he should seem to give coun- tenance to idolatry. He, therefore, made no other reply, but "Go in peace." After this we have no further mention of Naaman. But in the following account of the wars betwixt Syria and Israel, Benhadad seems to have commanded his army in person : from whence Mr. • Vid. Hor. Hebr. in I.nke iv 27- CHAP. Ill] PROSELYTES. 97 Bedford * infers, that Naarnan was dismissed from the command, for refusing to worship Rimmon. But the premises are not suf- ficient to support the conclusion ; for it appears that Benhadad had commanded his army in person twice before ; once in the siege of Samaria, 1 Kings xx. 1, and once at Apliek, ver. 26. Yet from the total silence concerning Naaman it is probably enough conjectured, that he either died, or resigned, or was dismissed, soon after his return. Well ! but though Naaman renounced idolatry, and became a worshipper of the true God ; yet he could not be a proselyte of the gate, according to the account the talmudists give of these prose- lytes, because he did not dwell in the land of Israel, but returned into Syria. If, therefore, he became a proselyte at all, it must have been a proselyte of the covenant ; though, perhaps, when he lived in another country, there was no need, in order to his being an ac- ceptable worshipper of the true God, for his submitting to the whole Jewish law. We are rather, therefore, to account him a pious Gentile, than a Jewish proselyte. Tradition reports, that Gehazi, the prophet's servant, being struck with the leprosy, moved Naaman to erect a hospital for such unhappy persons at Damascus. Thevenot tells us, that there is such a hospital, richly endowed, just by the walls of that city, which OM'ns Naaman for its founder f . It may not be amiss to observe from Dr. Patrick, that Naaman's was the only miraculous cure of the leprosy, recorded in the Scrip- ture history, till Christ the great prophet came into the world. And how beneficent a miracle it was, we may conclude from the account which Maundrell gives of that disease in those parts of the world |'. He says, it differs much from that which is found amongst us ; it defiles the whole surface of the body with a foul scurf, deforms the joints, particularly at the wrists and ancles, which swell with a gouty scrofulous substance, very loathsome to look on. The legs of those that are affected with this distemper, look like an old bat- tered horse's ; in short, it may pass for the utmost corruption of the human body on this side the grave. The next Scripture instance of the proselytes of the gate, men- tioned by Godwin, is Cornelius, the Roman centurion; whose character is, that he was " a devout man, and one that feared God * See his Scripture Chronology, p. G'27, edit. Lond. 1730. f See his Tnivels to the Levant, part ii. hook i. chap. iv. X See his second Letter to Mr. Oshorn, at the end of liis Journey from Aleppo to Jeru- salem, p. 150, 151, edit. 7. Oxford, 1749. H 98 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. with all his house, who gave alms to the people, and prayed to God always ;" Acts x. 2. Yet it is evident, he was in no sense a Jewish proselyte, because, in the account of the Jews themselves, he was an unclean person, such a one as it was not lawful for them to keep company with. Nor would Peter have gone into his house, if he had not been instructed so to do by a special revelation ; which appears from the manner of his justifying this visit to Cornelius, so . contrary to the received maxims of the Jews : " Ye know,"" saith he, " that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company with, or come unto one of [another nation ; but God has showed me that I should not call any man common, or unclean ; therefore came I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent for ;" Acts x. 28, 29. The Jewish Christians at Jerusalem, like- wise, blamed Peter for this visit : " Thou wentest," say they, " to men uncircuracised, and didst eat with them," chap- xi. 3 ; which shows, that they did not look upon him at all as a proselyte, for with such they might lawfully converse and eat. However, he was, indeed, of the character St. Peter mentions, one " who feared God, and wrought righteousness, and was accepted of him," chap. x. 35 ; notwithstanding, he was no way related to the Jews, except in the worship of the one true God. We may observe farther, that Cornelius could not be a proselyte of the gate, according to the talmudists' account, because the Jewish nation was at that time under the Roman yoke ; and in these circumstances, according to them, there could be no such proselytes. That he was not a proselyte of the covenant is plain, because he and his family and friends were the first fruits of the Gentiles. He was, therefore, in no sense a Jew, or a proselyte. As for the Ethiopian eunuch, whom Philip converted to the faith of Christ, and baptized, Acts viii. 26, et seq., he also is improperly reckoned among the proselytes of the gate, for the same reason that Naaman is, because he did not live in the land of Judea ; and for the same reason that Cornelius is, because the Jews were not then their own masters, but subject to a foreign power ; for at such a time, the rabbles say, there could be no proselytes of the gate. He seems to have been rather a proselyte of the covenant, or completely a Jew : not only from his reading the Scripture, but because he had taken so long a journey to " worship at Jerusalem," ver. 27, at the feast of Pentecost ; one of the three grand festivals, when all the Jewish males, who were able, were, according to the law, to attend the worship of God at the national altar. He had CHAP. III.] PROSELYTES. 99 taken, I say, a very long journey; for his country was doubtless the Ethiopia in Africa, where, about that time, queen Candace reigned ; as we learn from Strabo*, and from Dion Cassius f, who informs us that Petronius, the prefect of Egypt, marched an army against Candace into Ethiopia, where he ravaged the country a considerable time, till the deep sands and excessive heats obliged him to return: which event was but about ten or eleven years be- fore the affair here related of the eunuch. And Pliny, speaking of that country, saith, " there reigns Candace," '* quod nomen multis jam annis ad reginas transiit J." Probably this eunuch, who was treasurer of Ethiopia, had been made a proselyte by those Jews who spread themselves from Alex- andria in Egypt into that country. But the present Ethiopians, or Abyssines, who are Christians of the Greek church, maintain that the Jewish religion was universally embraced in their country, from the days of Solomon. It hath been a constant tradition among them, that the queen of Sheba, who went to visit him, was their empress ; that she had a son by him, named David ; who, as soon as he was of a proper age to undertake such a journey, was sent by her to Jerusalem, to receive his father's blessing, and to be in- structed in the law of Moses ; that being made thoroughly acquainted with the Jewish religion, he was sent home, with several priests and Levites to assist him in introducing it into Ethi- opia ; and they were so successful in their mission, that in a few years it was embraced by the whole body of the people, and con- tinued to be the public profession till the promulgation of the gospel in that country. It is a tradition likewise among them, that the eunuch, bap- tized by Philip, was steward to their empress, and that, returning home, he converted his mistress and the Avhole empire to the Christian faith. Though we cannot depend upon this latter story, yet it must be owned to have a far greater air of probability than the fable of the queen of Sheba and her son, and, indeed, than most of the tradi- tional stories of the first conversions of countries §. The last instance which Godwin produces of proselytes of the gate, is, " The devout men, out of every nation under heaven, who * Strabo, xvii. p. 820, edit. Casaiib. Paris, 1620. ■f Dion. lib. liv. sect. v. torn. i. p. 734, edit. Reimari. X Plin. Histor. Natural, lib. vi, cap. xxLv. in fin. vol. i. p. 740, edit. Harduin. Paris, 1685. § Geddes's CLurch History of Ethiopia, p. 8. H 2 100 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. dwelt at Jerusalem," and are mentioned in the Acts, chap. ii. 5. But these devout men are expressly said to be Jews ; that is, Jews by religion, not by nation ; for they belonged to several nations. And though they are afterward distinguished into Jews and pro- selytes, ver. 10, that doubtless means such as were born of Jewish parents, though in a foreign country, and who had been brought up in their religion ; or such as were born of Gentile parents, and had become proselytes to it. Besides, there is the same reason against acknowledging them to be proselytes of the gate, as there is against acknowledging Cornelius and the eunuch to be such ; namely, that the Jews were at that time subject to the Roman power. Upon the whole, there does not appear to be sufficient evidence in the Scripture history of the existence of such proselytes of the gate as the rabbles mention ; nor indeed of any who with propriety can be styled proselytes, except such as fully embraced the Jewish religion *. CHAPTER IV. OF THEIR KINGS. The alteration made in .the form of the Hebrewconstitution, which originally was a proper Theocracy, by setting up the regal govern- ment, hath been already considered. As it was plainly an act of rebellion against God to make any change in his original settle- ment, the Jews are therefore charged with " rejecting him, that he should not reign over them, when they desired to have a king to judge them like all the nations ;" 1 Sam. viii. 5, 6, 7. Nevertheless, as he permitted divorces, " because of the hardness of their hearts," Matt. xix. 8, in like manner, foreseeing the perverse dispo- sition they would have, after their settlement in Canaan, to such an alteration, he was pleased to give them some rules beforehand, concerning their choice of a king, and the manner of his adminis- tration ; Deut. xvii. 14, to the end. Some of the rabbles, in order * Concerning the proselytes of tlic gate, vid. Jlaimon. de Regibus, cap. viii. sect. x. xi., et cap. ix. x., cum notis Leydcckcr, apud Crenii Fascicul. nonum, vel Leydeck. de Republ. HcbrsDor. lib. vi. cap. vii. Concerning the proselytes of righteousness, vid. Maimon. de Vctito Concubitu, apnd Ley- decker, de Repviblica Hebra-or. lib. vi. cap. vi. p. 3G4, et seq. Auistel. 1704, ct Seldcn, de Juic Nat. ct Gent. cap. ii. supra citat. ct cap. iii. CHAP. IV.] LAWS ABOUT KIXGS. 101 to exculpate their nation from the charge of rebellion on this occa- sion, would have this permission and regulation amount to an injunction to choose a king. Mainionides tells us *, out of the Babylonish Gemara f , that Moses gave the Israelites three express commandments, to elect a king, to destroy Amalek, and to build a temple, after they were possessed of the land of Canaan. He ob- serves, that they accordingly chose Saul for their king, before they declared war against the Amalekites. But if this had been designed and understood as a command, they would no doubt have chosen a king presently after their settlement in Canaan, and not have delayed it for upwards of three hundred years J. We cannot sup- pose, but Samuel would have put them upon choosing a king in obedience to the law of God, long before they desired one ; and not have blamed them, as he did, when they expressed that desire ; 1 Sam. X. 19. Many of the rabbles are, therefore, of a contrary opinion § ; and so is Josephus, who imputes this desire of a kingly government II to the intolerable corruption which had crept into all the courts of justice through the baseness and avarice of Samuel's two sons f . And he introduces his account of the regulations in Deuteronomy concerning their kings, with observing, that they ought not to have effected any other government, but to have loved the present, having the law for their master, and living ac- cording to it, for it was sufficient that God was their ruler **. That their desire of a king was displeasing to God, seems also to be intimated in the prophecy of Hosea, " I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath ;" Hos. xiii. 11 : referring to Saul, the first king, on occasion of whose election God expressed his displeasure by terrible thunder; 1 Sam. xii. 17, 18; and to Zedekiah, the last king, whom he suffered, together with his sub- jects, to be carried captive to Babylon. Maimonides, indeed, pretends that the sin, for which the people were reproved by Sa- muel, did not consist in their desiring a king, but in their coming to him in a tumultuous and disrespectful manner, and asking a • De Rcgibus, cap. i. ab init. •f- Sanlicdrin, cap. xxiii. in excerptis Cocceii, cap. xi. sect, vi, X Si petitio regis absolute'^, inquit Abaibanel, fuit Icgitiina, ct piteceptum legis, et non pec- catum fuit, nisi in motlo petendi, vcl in fine, tempore, aut intcntione ejus; quare Joshua et caiteri judices Isiaclis, ipsum sceuti, nunquam cogitarunt dc rcge in Israele constituendo, cum hoc ipsis pra-ceptuni cssct, quum ingrcdcrentur tcrram ? C^uomodo omnes transgrcssi sunt hoc praeceptum, cum esscnt in terra post ejus occuputioncm et divisioncni .' Nullum hactenus interpretum vidi, qui dc hoc egerit, ct ad hoc aliquid respondent. Abarhanel, Dis- sert, ii. de Statu et Jure Regie, ad calcem Buxtorfii Disscrtatiouum, p. 427, edit. Basil, I0'(j2. § Vid. Abarbanel, ubi supra, p. 424, et seq. || Agreeably to 1 Sam. viii. 5. ^ Antiq. lib. vi. cap. iii, sect. iii. edit, Ilavcrc. ** Lib. iv. cap. viii. sect. xvii. 102 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. king, not in obedience to the divine command, but because they disdained his government *. This, however, is by no means agree- able to tlie Scripture account, which evidently lays the blame on the desiring a kingf, not on the manner in which that desire was expressed : " The thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people, jn all that they say unto thee ; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them;" 1 Sam. viii. 6, 7. The law therefore, in the seventeenth chapter of Deu- teronomy, must be looked upon, not as a command, nor hardly as a permission, to choose a king :j: ; for if they had supposed it to amount even to a permission, no doubt they would have alleged it to Samuel ; nor is it easy to see how " their wickedness would then have been so great in asking a king," as it is represented to be. It must be considered, therefore, rather as a restraining law, that in case they would have a king, it should be under such limitations as God then prescribed, which are the eight following: — 1st. That the choice of the person to be their king God would reserve to himself They must not say, " I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me ; but thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose ;" Deut. xvii. 14, 15. Accordingly he appointed Saul, by lot, to be their first king, 1 Sam. x. 21 ; and David, by name, to be their second king ; 1 Sam. xvi. 12. He likewise chose Solomon to be David's successor, 1 Chron. xxviii. 5 ; and, after him, he made the kingly government hereditary in David's family ; 1 Kings ii. 4. Nevertheless, this divine choice and appointment only re- strained the people from making any other person king than him whom God had nominated ; but it did not actually invest him with the regal authority; that was done by an act of the people §. Thus, after God had appointed David to be king, in token of which he had been anointed by Samuel, 1 Sam. xvi. 13; yet the men of Judah anointed him king over the house of Judah, whereby they declared their concurrence, and acceptance of him for their king ; * De Regibiis, cap. i. sect. ii. ■f In regardutioue Samuelis, inquit Abarbancl, semper attribuitur peccatum petitioni regis absolute, &c. Ubi supra, p. 427. J Abarbancl makes several judicious observations, to show it was no command, in his Dissertation above quoted, p. 436, et seq. § Per " ponere regem," inquit Abarbancl, intelligitur ejus constitntio per populuni ; sed electio divina facta fait per prophetam, mediante unctionc. Abarbancl, Dissert, iii. p. 451, ad calccm Bu.xtorf. Dissert. PJiilolog. Thcolog. edit. Basil, 1662. CHAP. IV.] LAWS ABOUT KINGS. 103 2 Sam. ii. 4. And upon the death of Solomon, though the crown was then hereditary, " all Israel came to Shechem to make his son Rehoboam king;" 1 Kings xii. 1. 2dly. The king must be a native Israelite, not a Heathen, nor a Proselyte. " One from among thy brethren shalt thou set over thee ; thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, who is not thy brother;" Deut. xvii. 14, 15. It may naturally be inquired, what occasion was there for this limitation, when God had reserved the choice of the person to himself? I answer, more effectually to unite the people against any foreign invader, and any one who might attempt to seize the crown. The Mishna relates *, that when king Agrippa, an Idumean proselyte, met with this text, as he was reading in public, he burst into tears, because he was not of the seed of Israel. The people, however, encouraged him, crying out, " Fear not, Agrippa, thou art our brother ;" probably because the children of Esau, from whom the Idumeans are de- scended, are called in Deuteronomy the brethren of the Jews ; Deut. ii. 4. 3dly. The king was not to multiply horses ; an-d is particularly forbid, therefore, sending to Egypt for them, Deut. xvii. 16, where was the chief breed of those animals in that part of the world. The Egyptian cavalry, which invaded Judea in the reign of Rehoboam, consisted of twelve hundred chariots, and sixty thousand horse- men ; 2 Chron. xii. 2, 3. The reason of the king's being pro- hibited to multiply horses hath been commonly thought to be, to restrain him from affecting unnecessary pomp, expensive to him- self, and burdensome to his people. If so, Solomon was egregiously guilty of transgressing this law, who had horses brought out oi Egypt, 1 Kings x. 28 ; and, according to the account in the First Book of Kings, had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, 1 Kings iv. 26 ; or, according to the lower account in Chronicles, four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, 2 Chron. ix. 25. Perhaps these two accounts are best reconciled, by allowing ten horses to each stall, mentioned in Chronicles. Or, the word signifying either stable or stall, in Chronicles it may mean the former, in Kings, the latterf. Dr. Warburton, in his Divine Legation of Moses, supposes it was the true and sole design of this law to forbid the Jews the use of cavalry in their armies, which, he says, God did on purpose to * IVIisli. in Sota, sivc tic iixorc ailulteiii suspccUi, cap. vii. sect. viii. edit. Suiciiiiusi), torn. iii. ]). '2G({. t Stockii Clavis iu verb. 104 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. make it manifest tliat he protected that nation by a special provi- dence *. If so, Solomon does not seem to have violated this law so grossly as hath been commonly imagined ; for though he kept such a multitude of chariots for state, and had twelve thousand horsemen for his life-guard, yet it does not appear that he had any cavalry designed for war. 4th]y. The king is forbidden *' multiplying wives to himself, that his heart turn not away," Deut. xvii. 17 ; the most natural exposition of which law is, that it prohibits polygamy, or having more wives than one. For it is not here said " He shall not greatly multiply," as it is in the next clause concerning silver and gold, but simply, " he shall not multiply." The rabbies, indeed, enlarge the number of wives allowed the king to eighteen, and understand the law as only forbidding his having moref, which they attempt to ground on David's having six wives, a list of whom we have in the Second Book of Samuel, chap. iii. 2 — 5, compared with what the prophet afterward tells him, that if he had not offended God, he " would moreover have given him such and such things," chap. xii. 8, which they interpret of twice as many wives more, in all eighteen];. And, in their opinion, no king should have a greater number than God would have allowed David. Solomon, without doubt, heinously transgressed this law, who had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines ; 1 Kings xi. 3. And the sad effect was, what this law was in- tended to prevent, that they " turned away his heart from God."" 5thly. The king is also forbid "greatly to multiply to himself silver and gold ;" Deut. xvii. 17. This Solomon did in a remark- able manner ; for it is said, that the " weight of gold that came to him in one year was six hundred, threescore, and six talents, besides what he received from the merchantmen, and in particular from the traffic of the spice merchants, and from the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the country ; and that, besides a vast quantity of targets and shields, all of beaten gold, and a throne overlaid with gold, all his drinking vessels, and all the ves- sels of the house of the forest of Lebanon, were of this precious metal ; silver being in Jerusalem, in a manner, as plenty as stones, and little esteemed in his days ;" 1 Kings x. 14 — 27. Notwith- * Sensus est, inquit Abaibancl, rcgem sibi non debere multiplicave cquos ex terra vel sua vel alionini ; neqiie confidere suae multitudini et potentix-, non equis et cquitibus nume- rosis, sed unicam suam fiduciam debere esse Deum. Ubi supra, p. 440. t Mish. Sanhedrin, cap. ii. sect, i v. torn. iv. p. 217, edit. Surenhus, et Gemar. in ex- cerptis Cocceii, cap. ii. sect. viii. X R. Ob. de Bartenora in Mish. capite supra citato, p. 118, CHAP. IV.] LAWS ABOUT KINGS. 105 Standing no particular reason is given for this prohibition of mul- tiplying silver and gold, we may easily conceive the design of it was, partly to prevent the king's oppressing the people with taxes, in order to enrich himself, as seems to have been done by Reho- boam, whose treasurer the people, therefore, stoned, 1 Kings xii. 18, and partly to restrain liim from luxury, the common effect of riches ; lest the king's example should debauch and enfeeble the nation, and prove its ruin, as the wealth, and consequent luxury of the Persians, proved the destruction of their empire. The rabbles, indeed, observe, that this law foi'bids only the king's mul- tiplying gold and silver to himself, or to his own private coffers, but not to the public treasury, or for national exigencies*. 6thly. The king is enjoined to write for himself a copy of the law in a book, out of that which is before the priests and Levites, Deut. xvii. 18 ; that is, from the authentic copy kept in the sanc- tuary. Interpreters differ about the meaning of the word nityo mishne, which we render a copy. The Seventy translate it to bivTepovofXLov, and the Vulgate deuteronomium, that translation gene- rally following the version of the Seventy ; from whence some have imagined that the king was obliged to transcribe only the book of Deuteronomy f. Montanus renders it duphan, which version agrees with Maimonides's interpretation of this law, that " the king was to write the book of the law for himself, besides the book that was left him by his father ; and if his father had left him none, or if that were lost, he was to write him two books ofthelawj. ; the one he was to keep in his archives, the other was not to depart from him, unless when he went to his throne, or to the bath, or to a place where reading would be inconvenient. If he went to war, it accompanied him ; if he sat in judgment, it was to be by him§."" But the word does not import any more than a single exemplar or copy ||. Joshua is said to have engraved on the stones, which he erected on Mount Ebal, a copy of the law, niu^o )nishne, a second, of which the autograph was the first ^. The design of the precept was, undoubtedly, to rivet the divine laws more firmly in the memory of the kings, of which, and of their obligations to observe them, they became, through the neglect * Maimon. dc Regibus, cap, iii. sect. iv. ; Mishn. Sanhedria, cap. ii. sect. iv. ; et Mai- mon. in loc. torn. iv. p. 210, edit. Suvenhus. i" Vid. Abarbauel, Coinmeut. in loc. sive Dissert, ubi supra, p. 441. X Tiiis was likewise tiie o])inion of many other Jewish doctors. Vid. Carpzov. Annot. ad Scbickard. Jus. Reg. p. !!"2. § l)e Regibus, lib. iii. sect. i. {{ And so the Mishna understands it, Sanhedrin, cap. ii. sect. iv. 5[ Vid. Leydecker. Not. ad Maimon. dc Regibus. lib. ii. sect. i. 106 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [boOK I. of this precept, so ignorant in the clays of the good king Josiah, that he was strangely surprised at what he heard read out of this book of the law*, when it was found in tlie temple, after he had reigned about eighteen years ; 2 Chron. xxxiv. 18, et seq. 7thly. The king was bound to govern by law: for it is en- joined him, that he read in this copy of the law all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them ; Deut. xvii. 19. Instead of making his own will his law, as the absolute monarchs of the East generally did, he was to rule according to the law which God had given by Moses. When Samuel, therefore, told the people the manner, toQU^ro rnishjjat, of the king that should reign over them, 1 Sam. viii. 11, describing a most arbitrary and tyrannical one, who would take their sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, &c., we must not understand him here, as some do, to lay down the rightful authority of the king of Israel, but only the practice of the arbitrary monarchs around them (for they had desired to have a king like the neighbouring nations, ver. 5), in order to divert them from so injudicious and ill-advised a project f. Accordingly, iD^mn mishpat is better ren- dered manner in our English version, than jus in the Vulgate and 8iKaicoiia in the Septuagint. In some other places the word signifies merely a manner or custom, without implying any legal right. Thus Joseph interprets the dream of Pharaoh's butler, that he should again deliver the cup into his sovereign's hand, after the "former manner," when he was in office; Gen. xl. 13. Again, David is said to have destroyed all the inhabitants of the places on which he made inroads, while he was with Achish king of Gath, lest any of them should report. So did David, and so will be " his manner," all the time that he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines ; 1 Sam. xxvii. 11. Nay, the word is used even for a very corrupt and illegal custom : and " the priests' custom • It is the opinion of Abarbanel, that tliis book was the autograph of Moses, which no doubt was a discovery that would occasion equal pleasure and surprise. To confirm this opinion, Leusden observes that miD tJtorah, having the He emphatic prefixed in 2 Kings xxii. 11, signifielh that very book of the law whicli was wrote nU'D Ta bejudh Moseh, by the hand of Moses, as it is expressed in the parallel place in Chronicles, wliich Dr. Ken- nicott observes, is a phrase which only occurs there, and naturally means one particular MS., namely, the original. Leusd. Philolog. Hebroeo. mixt. Dissert, xxvi. sect. xv. p. 175, edit. 2;' Kennicott's Second Dissert, on the Heb. Text, p. 299, 300. See also Leland's Answer to Christianity as Old as the Creation, vol. ii. cliap. iv. p. 123 — 126, ■ Dublin edit. 1733. f This is the opinion of Abarbanel, who' quotes with approbation the following decision of Rabbi Jehuda : " Ista (de jure et judicio regis) non fuerunt dicta, nisi ad eos perterre- faciendos.'' Ubi supra, p. 446. CHAP. IV.] INAUGURATION OP KINGS. 107 with the people was," as the expression is in relation to a very unjustifiable practice of Eli's sons; 1 Sam. ii. 13. That the king was bound by law, appears from the story of Ahab, who desired to purchase Naboth's vineyard; yet because the lawforbad the alienation of lands from one tribe or family to another, he could not obtain it, till he had got Naboth condemned and executed for blasphemy and treason, whereupon his estate became forfeited to the crown ; or the king, however, seized it ; 1 Kings xxi. 1 — 16. From hence it appears, that the Hebrew monarch was only God's viceroy, or lieutenant, governing in all respects by his laws, which he could not alter, under pretext of amending or improving, nor abrogate or repeal on account of any pretended or apprehended inconvenience arising from them ; and in matters of importance, when the law was not clear and certain, he was not to enact and determine by his own authority, but to consult the oracle, or God himself. 8thly. The king is charged to be humble, and to govern his subjects with lenity and kindness, not as slaves, but as brethren, Deut. xvii. 20. Thus David, addressing himself to his subjects, styles them his brethren, as well as his people ; 1 Chron. xxviii. 2. The first Christian emperors imitated this example of the Hebrew kings ; particularly Constantine the Great, who, in his epistle to the people of Antioch, styles them his brethren, whom he was bound to love*. And he concludes his letter to Eusebius with these words, 6 Geos o-e 8iacj)v\a^oi, abe\(pe ayairrjTe, " May God preserve you, beloved brotherf." Other instances of the like sort may be found in Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History ;|, and in his Life of Constantine §. Having considered the form of the kingly government, we pro- ceed to the rites of inauguration, by which the person whom God had appointed to that office was actually invested with the royal dignity. First. He was anointed. Godwin, following the talmudical rabbles Ij, asserts, that all kings were not anointed, but those only in whom the succession was broken ; and then the first of the family was anointed for his successors, except in cases of dissension, * Euseb. de Vit. Constant, lib. iii. cap. l.v. -f- Ibid. cap. Ixi. ij: Lib. X. cap. v. ct vii. § Lib. ii. cap. xlvi. ct lib. iii. cap. x.v. II Maimon. dc Rcgibus, cap. i, sect. x. xii. ct Comment in Mishn. tit. C'hciitliolii, cap. i. ; et Bartenor. in eundcm loc. torn. v. p. 237, edit. Suvcnliiis. See testimonies out of the Talmud, and other authors, in Selden, de Success, in Pontificat. lib. ii. c.np. ix. apud Opera, vol. ii. torn. iii. p. 192, 193. 108 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. when there was required a renewed unction for the confirmation of his authorit}'. They say, therefore, Solomon, as \vell as liis fatlier David, was anointed, I Kings i. 39, because of the dispute between Adonijah and him, concerning the succession to the crown ; and hkewise Joash, the son of Ahaziah, 2 Kings xi. 12, because the succession liad been interrupted by AthaUah's usurpation. But this opinion has no sufficient foundation in the sacred history ; on the contrary, it seems moi'e probable, that all kings were anointed; because king, and the anointed, seem in the following passages to be synonymous terms : " He shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed," 1 Sam. ii. 10 ; and again, " David said unto him," that is, to the Amalekite who informed him that he had killed Saul, " How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thy hand to destroy the Lord's anointed ?" 2 Sam. i. 14 ; and, in his lamentation on this occasion, he hath these expressions, " the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil ;" ver. 21. These last words lose in a manner all their emphasis, supposing that no kings were anointed except the first of a family, or only in case the right of succession to the crown was uncertain. Nay, it should seem from this passage, that those kings whose right of succession was doubtful, which had occasioned their being anointed, were on this supposition more sacred than others. Farther, we read that Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, when he was made king in his father's stead, was anointed, 2 Kings xxiii. 30, though there does not appear to have been any doubt or dispute about the succession. The Hebrew doctors represent it to be the peculiar privilege of the kings of the family of David to be anointed with the same holy oil which was used in the consecration of the high-priest ; and tell us, that the kings of the ten tribes Mere anointed with common oil *. But this opinion is hardly to be reconciled to a passage in the book of Exodus, where the use of the holy oil is appropriated to the consecration of Aaron and his sons, and the anointing any other person with it is expressly prohibited ; Exod. XXX. 31, 32. They pretend, that a dispensation for the use of the holy oil, to anoint the kings, was afterward revealed to some prophet ; but of this they produce no sort of evidence. It appears, * Talmud. CherithoUi, cap. iii. ; vid. Hotting, de Jure HebrEeor. leg. cix, p. 138, See also Schickard, de Jure Regie, cap. i. theor. iv. sect. x.xxi. p. 78, 79. edit. Carpzov. Lipsiee, 1674. CHAP. IV.] INAUGURATION OF KINGS. 109 indeed, that the oil with which Solomon v/as anointed was taken out of the tabernacle ; 1 Kings i. 39. But that might as well be common oil, a considerable quantity of which was kept there for the use of the lamps, and which Zadoc the priest might have readier at hand on this occasion than any other. However, the following passage in the Psalms is alleged in favour of the opinion, that kings were anointed with the holy oil: "I have found David my servant : with my holy oil have I anointed him ;" Psalm Ixxxix. 20. But, as the person there spoken of, under the name of David *, undoubtedly means Christ, to whom alone a great part of what is said in that context will agree ; therefore by the holy oil must be understood the influence of the Divine Spirit, which was " given to him without measure ;"" John iii. 34. And even if we suppose here is an allusion to the anointing of David, the Jewish king, yet the oil used on the occasion might possibly be styled holy, not because it was of that peculiar composition pre- scribed in the thirtieth chapter of Exodus, but because it was typical of the influence of the Holy Spirit. We i-ead of two different sorts of vessels, in which the oil where- with kings were anointed was contained, the one called ^s poc/;, which we translate a phial, 1 Sam. x. 1 ; the other called pp heren, a horn, 1 Kings i. 39. Concerning the difference between these two vessels there are various conjectures. Some make it to lie in the matter of which they were formed ; apprehending the '75 jxick was made of metal, either gold or silver, and the pp keren of horn. Others place the difference in the shape ; and tell us, that the pyi keren was like a horn, and the "[S pack like a bottle. Others conceive the difference lay in the capacity of the vessels ; and that the pp keren contained a larger, the "jQ jxick a smaller quantity. The rabbies make the anointing with the oil out of one or the other of these vessels, to be ominous of a longer or shorter reign. Accord- ingly they tell us, that Saul and Jehu were anointed out of the "]ti pack, 1 Sam. x. 1 ; 2 Kings ix. 3 (in the former of which texts pack is rendered in our English version a phial, in the latter, a box), to denote the shortness of their reigns; but David and Solo- mon out of the p.p keren, 1 Sam. xvi. 13, and 1 Kings i. 39, to denote the long succession of David's familyf. But these are mere conjectures. • It ought constantly to be iciiicnibcicd here, that David, in tlic Hebrew, signifies a person beloved, which eminently agrees to the Messiah. f R. David Kinichi in 2 Reg. ix. Sec Schickard. do Jure Regio, cap. i. tlicor. iv. p. 79 ; Gcmara, tit. Chcrithoth. Sec Carpzov. not, (ni) in loc. Schickard, jam. citat. 110 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. It is farther inquired, whose office and proper business it was to anoint the king ; since we read of the ceremony's being performed by prophets and by priests: by prophets, as by Samuel, who anointed Saul and David ; and by one of the sons of the prophets, who was sent by Elisha to anoint Jehu, 2 Kings ix. at the beginning : by priests, as by Zadoc, at the inauguration of Solomon, and by Jehoiada at the coronation of Joash ; 2 Kings xi. 12. Here some distinguish between private and public anointing; the former, they suppose, was before the inauguration, and betokened the person's advancement to the throne some time afterward, which, they say, was performed by a prophet. The latter was at the time of the inauguration ; and this, they say, was performed by the priests, as in the case of Solomon and Joash *. As to the manner of performing this ceremony, all the account we have in Scripture is, that the oil was poured upon the head. When Samuel anointed Saul, he " took a phial of oil, and poured it on his head;"" 1 Sam. x. 1. And when the prophet anointed Jehu, it is said, he poured the oil on his head ; 2 Kings ix. 6. From hence it seems probable, that the kings were anointed in the same plentiful manner as the priests were at their consecration ; the ointment, or oil, was poured upon the head in such a quantity as to run down upon the beard, and even to the skirts, or rather the collar, of the garment ; for so imiD ''^-bii gnal-pi middothaiv means in the following passage of the Psalmist, " It," that is, brethren's dwelling together in unity, " is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, that went down, fjnal-jn middothaiv, to the skirts, or the collar, of his garments," Psalm cxxxiii. 2 ; pi signifying the hole in the midst of the robe of the ephod through which the head was put, and which was bound about, that it might not be rent ; Exod. xxxix. 22, 23. The Jewish doctors, however, inform us of a difference between the manner of anointing a king and a priest ; that the priest was anointed in the form of a Greek Chi, or St. Andrew's cross; and the king in the form of a circle round his headf; and likewise, that the king must be anointed in the open air, and near a fountain ; which they ground upon the history of Solomon's being brought to Gihon, which was a fountain, or brook, near * Vid. Scacchi Myrothecium, iii. cap. xlix. 1. p. 1060, ct scq. edit. Amstel, 1701, t Obadias de Bartenora, ct Maimon. in Mishn. tit. Cberithoth, cap. i. torn. v. p. 237, edit. Surenhiis. See passages of other authors in Selden, de Success, in Pontificat, lib. ii, cap. ix. apud Opera, vol, ii. torn. iii. p. 193 — 195. CHAP. IV.] INAUGURATION OF KINGS. Ill Jerusalem, and there anointed by Zadoc ; 1 Kings i. 38 *. But from that particular circumstance in Solomon's inauguration, I see no reason to conclude it to have been a law for all succeeding kings to be anointed at fountains. The talmudists, indeed, find a mystery in the kings being anointed by a fountain, as if it were intended to signify the desired perpetuity of his kingdom, or that it might continue like a fountain, which runs perpetually, and is never dryf. We have only one remark more to make on this head; and that is, that the custom of consecrating of any thing to God by a pro- fusion of oil upon it, appears to have been very ancient, from the instance of Jacob's anointing the pillar at Beth-el ; Gen. xxviii. 18. But when it began, and how it was first introduced, we can- not so much as guess, any farther than that probably it was by a divine institution. We find it in use, through the whole Mosaic dispensation, in the dedication both of men and things to the immediate service of God. It was designed as emblematical of the gifts and graces of the Spirit of God, which are therefore expressed by unction in the New Testament; 1 John ii. 20. 27. And as Christ excelled all others in these gifts and graces, he was eminently called n^WD Massiach, or Messias, from nii>a mashach, to anoint. Which title is also given, in a lower sense, to the priest, Lev. iv, 3, and also to the kings of Israel, 1 Sam. xii. 3. 5. We proceed now to the second ceremony at the inauguration of a king, which was, crowning him. There is a reference to it in these words of the Psalmist, "Thou preventest him," that is, the king, " with the blessings of goodness : thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head ;" Psalm xxi. 3. And we read expressly of its being performed at the inauguration of king Joash ; 2 Kings xi. 12. What the form of the royal crown was, we do not pre- tend to determine; only observing, that the word '■)): nezer, by which it is expressed, being used for the high-priest's crown, Exod. xxix. 6, which was merely a fillet or ribband bound round the head, with a plate of gold on the front of it, Exod. xxviii. 36, 37 ; it is probable the royal crown was much of the same shape, or like the diadem which we see on the heads of the ancient Roman kinss on their medals. It seems to have been the custom of the * Vid. Maituon. de Regibus, cap. i. sect, xi., and a remarkable passage out of tlic Jciu- salein and Babylonish Talmud, apud Scliickard. Jus Regium lIebr«or. ; and C'arp- zovii notas, p. 71, 72, edit. Lips. 1G74. ■|- The Talmud referred to above ; and Ralbag and Abarbanel iu 1 Kings i. 33 ; with other rabbinical commentators, apud Carpzov, notas, ubi supra. 112 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. Jewish kings, as well as those of the neighbouring nations, to wear their crown constantly when they were dressed. King Saul had his crown on when he was slain in the battle of Gilboa, 2 Sam. i. 10 ; and the king of the Ammonites, when he headed his army in war ; for when David had reduced Rabbah, the royal city, he took the king's crown from his head, and put on his own : 2 Sam. xii. 30. From this custom it may reasonably be inferred, that the ancient crowns were much less in size and weight than those which are now used by the European kings. Yet the crown of the king of the Ammonites, just mentioned, is said to " weigh a talent of gold, with the precious stones," uhi supra. Now a talent being reckoned to be one hundred and twenty-five pounds, such an enormous load on the head no man can be supposed to have carried, as a part of his ordinary dress. Bochart apprehends, with great probability, that the word hpwn mislihal denotes, not the weight but the value of the crown * ; for though the verb hpm shakal, in the Hebrew, like jjendere in the Latin, related originally to weight ; by which, before the invention of coins, metals were exchanged in traffic; yet, as we have shown in our lectures on medals, this word came afterward to be applied to the payment of money, when the custom of weighing it was laid aside. Thus the Sep- tuagint renders bpu^ shakal hynnav, estimare, in the fifty-fifth chap- ter of Isaiah and the second verse ; and accordingly the noun hpiri:i j^MWmay properly denote, not the weight of the crown but its value, by reason of the jewels that were set in it. Our translators, it seems, with several other learned men, suppose an enaloge numeri in the text; it being in the Hebrew H'lp'' p^i vechenjokrah, and a precious stone; which, however, the Jews interpret more literally, of one jewel only; and this, R,abbi Kimchi tells us, was a magnet, by means of which this weighty crown was so supported in the air as to be no load to the man that wore it. But the con- ceit, of a magnet's being attracted by the air, is a piece of philoso- phy worthy only of a Jewish rabbi. Josephus says, this jewel was asardonyxf: Avhich notion, Bochart conjectures, might arise from the ancient Jews playing, in their manner, with the phrase D5^a n^Di> gnateretli malcam, the crown of the king. The word dSbn malcam having the same letters with d:j'po milcom, the name of the god of the Ammonites, they made the expression to signify the crown of that god, who is otherwise called Moloch : and * Hieroz. part i. lib. ii. cap. xxxviii, -f Antiq. lib. vii. cap. \u. in fine, edit. Haverc. CHAP. IV.] INAUGURATION OF KINGS. 113 Moloch, it seems, or Molocas, is the Eastern name of the sardonyx ; for Epiphanius *, speaking of the sardius, adds, eo-rt Se Km aXXos (Xidoi) 2ap8ovv^, OS KaXetrm MoAo;(ay '[". The third ceremony at the inauguration of a king was the kiss of homage, which the Jews call the kiss of majesty. With re- spect to Saul we are informed, that "Samuel took a phial of oil, and poured it on his head, and kissed him;" 1 Sam. x. 1. This ceremony is probably alluded to in the following passage of the Psalmist, " Kiss the son, lest he be angry," &c. Psalm ii. 12 ; that is, acknowledge him as your king, pay him homage, and yield him subjection. Fourthly. The acclamations of the people attended the cere- mony of inauguration. Thus, in the case of Saul, we are informed, that " all the people shouted and said, God save the king ; " 1 Sam. X. 24. And when Zadoc anointed Solomon, " they blew the trumpet and said, God save king Solomon ; " 1 Kings i. 39. It may be proper also to mention under this head, the royal robes, which, probably, were put on the king at his coronation. These, no doubt, were very rich and splendid, as may be con- cluded from our Saviour's declaring, in order to set forth the beauty which God had imparted to the lilies of the field, that "even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these ; " Matt. vi. 29. This allusion is the more apposite, if, as Josephus saith, Solomon was usually clothed in white |. And on this supposition, it is probable this was the colour of the royal robes of his' successors. But it being likewise the colour of the priests' garments, the difference between them must be supposed to lie in the richness of the stuff they were made of. Upon this notion, that the ancient Jewish kings wore white garments, the rabbies call persons of distinguished birth and high rank o^lirt choriin, albati, in opposition to those of obscure birth and mean condition, whom they call a^ilti^n chasliuchim, tenehrosi, obscuri. To this distinction St. James is supposed to allude, chap. ii. 2, when he saith, if there come into your assembly a man (v ea-dtjTi. XajLiTT , which some render, in a white garment; and a poor man tv eaO^TL ^vmipa, in a dark or dirty one. This criticism, how- ever, wants a better support than the opinion of Josephus and the rabbies concerning the colour of the robes of the Jewish kings ; * De duodccim (Jumniis in Vestc Aaionis, cap. i. a]>ucl Opera, torn. ii. p. '2'2-5, 2'26, edit, Petav. Colon. lb'!i"2. f Sec Bocliart. Ilieioz. part ii. lib, v. cap. vii. X Antiq. lib. viii. cap, vii. sect. iii. torn. i. p. 410, edit. Haverc. 114 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. it being certain that the word Xa/^Trpos is applied by tlie Greek writers to any gay colour. Thus Plutarch saith *, that weak eyes are offended, npos unav to XajxTrpov. And Xenophon applies the word to such as are clothed in purple, or who are adorned with bracelets and jewels, and splendidly dressedf. In the book of the Revelation, Xafinpos is used to signify the brightness or splen- dour of the morning star, Rev. xxii. 16; and likewise, in general, such things as are pleasant and agreeable to the sight. Thus in the prophetic doom of the great city Babylon, it is said, " all things which were dainty and goodly, TaXnrapa, KaiTaXafnrpa, are departed from thee," Rev. xviii. 14 ; that is, the things which St. John elsewhere expresses by " the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes;" 1 John ii. 16. Our author's conjecture, therefore, that the Roman soldiers putting a purple, and Herod a white, gar- ment on Christ, when in derision they clothed him as a king, was in conformity to the customs of their respective countries, is very pretty and ingenious, but not sufficiently supported : it being far from certain that white was the royal colour amongst the Jews. Something, however, concerning the ceremonies used at the inau- guration of their kings, in the latter ages of their polity, may be conjectured with probability from the mock ceremonies which were paid to our blessed Saviour ; see Matt, xxvii. 29. It may not be improper to add a few words concerning the state and grandeur of the Jewish monarchs : which consisted, partly, in the profound respect that was paid them ; of which we have many instances in their history ; and, partly, in their attend- ants and guards ; particularly the Cherethites and Pelethites, of whom we have frequent mention in the histories of David and Solomon. That they were soldiers, appears from their making part of David's army, when he marched out of Jerusalem on occasion of Absalom's conspiracy, 2 Sam. xv. 18 ; and likewise when they were sent against the rebel Sheba, the son of Bichri ; chap. XX. 7. That they were a distinct corps from the common soldiers is evident from their having a peculiar commander, and not being under Joab, the general of the army ; 2 Sam. viii. 16. 18. They seem, therefore, to have been the king's body-guard, like the Praetorian band among the Romans. The Cherethites were originally Phihstines (see 1 Sara. xxx. 14, and 16, compared, and Zeph. ii. 5), who were skilful archers; and it is therefore • CiUt. a Stephano. f Cj-ropsed. lib. ii. p. 115, et 117, edit. Hutch. 1738. CHAP. IV.] STATE AND GRANDEUR OF KINGS. 115 supposed, that after the Israehtes had suffered so much by the Phihstine archers at the fatal battle of Gilboa, 1 Saui. xxxi. 3, David not only took care to have his people instructed in the use of the bow, 2 Sam. i. 18, but having made peace with the Philis- tines, hired a body of these archers (it may be with a view of in- structing his own people), and. made them his guards. With these were joined the Pelethites ; who are supposed to have been native Israelites, for we find two of the name of Peleth among the Jewish families ; one of the tribe of Reuben, Numb. xvi. 1 ; another of the tribe of Judah, 1 Chron. ii. 33. The Chaldee Paraphrase every where calls the Cherethites and Pelethites, archers and slingers. Their number may probably be gathered from the tar- gets and shields of gold, which Solomon made for his guards, which were five hundred: see 1 Kings x. 16, 17, compared with 2 Chron. xii. 9—11. As an article of the state and magnificence of the Jewish kings, it may be proper to mention Solomon's royal throne, which was raised on six steps, adorned with the images of lions, and overlaid with ivory and gold; 1 Kings x. 18 — 20. The last honours paid the king were at his death. It is said, the royal corpse was carried by nobles to the sepulchre, though it were at a very considerable distance *. However this be, we read of public mourning observed for good kings : 2 Chron. xxxv. 24 ; see also Jerem. xxii. 18 ; and xxxiv. 5. Yet notwithstanding this royal state and grandeur, they were only God's viceroys, bound to govern according to the statute law of the land, which they, as well as their subjects, were required to obey. The rabbies tell us, that their violation of some laws was punished with whipping by order of the Sanhedrim ; an account v.-hich is so utterly im- probable, especially as not a single instance can be produced of this punishment being inflicted, that it would not deserve to be mentioned, were it not espoused by such learned men as Seldenf, Schickardj, and Grotius§. Besides what hath been observed * Schickard. Jus Regium, cap. vi. ; tlieor. xix. p. 415—417, edit. Carpzov. Lipsian, •f Selden, de Synedr. lib. ii. cap. ix. sect. v. apud Opera, vol, i. torn. ii. p. 1437, though afterward, having recited the arguments on both sides, he cxpressctli liimself more doubtfully, lib. iii. cap. i.\. sect. v. in fine. + Schickard. dc Jure Rcgio, cap. ii. thcor. vii. p. 141, 142, edit, Carpzov. § Grot, do Jure Belli et Pads, lib. i. cap. iii. sect. xx. 2, p. 79, 80, edit. Gronov. Hag», com. 1G«0. To account for this flagellation, he supposes it was not inflictc.i on the king by any others, as a punishment ; but was a voluntary infliction of his own, as a token of his penitence. But this is not agreeable to the representation given by tho Hebrew doctors, I 2 116 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. against this nolion by Leusden*, and Carpzoviusf, I apprehend I have rendered it at least probable, that the Sanhedrim, to whom the rabbies ascribe such extraordinary powers, did not exist till the time of the Maccabees. CHAPTER V. OF THE HIGH-PRIESTS, PRIESTS, LEVITES, AND NETHINIMS. With respect to the priests, we propose to inquire, • 1st. What sort of officers in the Hebrew commonwealth they were: and, 2dly. To whom it appertained to execute that office. Our first inquiry is, what sort of officers the priests were, who are called in the Hebrew Cin:; cohanim. The reason of this in- quiry is, because we find in Scripture the title cohanim applied to the officers of state, as well as to the ministers of the sanctuary. Thus, in the Second Book of Samuel, David's sons are said to have been cohanim; 2 Sam. viii. 18. That they were not minis- ters of the sanctuary is certain, because they were of the tribe of Judah, not of Levi, to which tribe the ecclesiastical ministry was by the law expressly limited. Their being called cohanim, there- fore, can mean no other than as our translators render the word, chief rulers, or principal officers of state. And so, indeed, this title seems to be explained in the parallel place in Chronicles, where the sons of David are said to have been Y^on vb o^jii^^in harishonim lejadh hammelek, primi ad manian recjis, " chief about the king;" 1 Chron. xviii. 17. Thus also Ira, the Jairite, is called "vrh fns cohen-U- David, which our translators render, "chief ruler about David ; " 2 Sam. xx. 26. But more commonly the title cohanim is given to the minister of the sanctuary, who offered sacrifices, and other ways officiated in the public worship. Hence arises that uncertainty, whether Potipherah and Jethro, the former the father-in-law of Joseph, the latter of Moses, were ecclesias- tical or civil persons ; which our translator's have expressed by calling them priests in the text, and prince in the margin : Gen. xli. 45; Exod. ii. 16. The true reason of the different applica- * Leusden. Philoloj. HcbrsDO mixt. dissert, xxv. sect. x. p. 167 — 169, edit, sccund. Ultiaject. 1682. + Xot. ad Scliickard. loc. supra citat. CHAP, v.] PRIESTS. 117 tion of the word colianhn seems to be, that in the primary sense it imports those that minister to a king. They who were i^on ^h Irjadh hammeleh, about the king, or his ministers, were called his 2^:nD cohanim. And therefore, as God is a king, he had his cohanim as well as earthly monarchs, or such as attended on his special presence in the sanctuary, and ministered in the sacred service. Accordingly, having taken upon himself the character of the king of Israel, he commanded Moses to consecrate Aaron and his sons, ^"r p^p lecahen li, Exod. xxx. 30, to be his coha?iim. Accordingly, God's cohanim are said to come near unto the Lord (Exod. xix. 22; Numb. xvi. 5), as the ministers of state come near to a king, and attend in his presence. It has been made a question, in which sense we are to under- stand the word p'z cohtn in the following passage of the Psalmist: " Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek ; " Psalm ex. 4. Many of the later rabbles, who think David is the person there spoken of, understand by fn!3 cohen, a king, in the civil and political, since it is certain David was not a cohen in the ecclesiastical, sense*. But in this they are undoubtedly mistaken ; for not only is it certain from several quotations, in the New Tes- tament, of the Psalm, wherein this passage is contained, that it relates to Christ t ; but the word cohen is no where used to sig- nify a king, but always one that ministers to a king. Melchize- dek, it is true, was a king in Salem ; nevertheless it was on ac- count of another office which he executed, that he is called a cohen, Gen. xiv. 18 ; namely, as he ministered in sacris, or in the solemnities of divine worship. He was a king over men, but at the same time a cohen to the most high God. Of these sacred or ecclesiastical cohamin, we propose to discourse, and proceed to inquire, 2dly. To whom it appertained to execute the office of an eccle- siastical cohen, or priest, especially in offering sacrifices. In order to resolve this question, it will be necessary to distin- guish the sacred rites into private, domestic, and public. It is supposed, that in the most ancient times every private person was allowed to offer sacrifices for himself. When Cain and Abel brought each of them an offering to the Lord, there is no mention of any priest officiating for them, though it does not appear that * R. David Kimclii in loc. •|- And so it is understood by the ancient rabbie?. See Owen on the Hebrews, vol. i. exercitat, ix. sect. xxvi. 118 JEWISH ANTIQUITIKS. [bOOK T. eitliev of tlioin sustained any public character, or had been conse- crated to the sacerdotal office ; see Gen. iv. The talmudists, indeed, are of opinion, that they brought their sacrifices to Adam, that he might offer them on their behalf; but of this there is not the least hint in the sacred history *. When a sacrifice was offered, or rather sacred rites were performed, for a family, it seems to have been done by the head of it ; thus Noah sacrificed for him- self and family. Gen. viii. 20 ; and likewise Jacob, Gen. xxxv. 3. Job " offered burnt-offerings for his daughters and his sons, ac- cording to the number of them all ;" chap. i. 5. It has been com- monly supposed, rather than proved, that the priest's office was hereditary in every family, descending from the father to the eldest son. When, in process of time, several families were combined into nations and bodies politic, the king, as head of the commu- nity, officiated as priest for the whole. Thus Melchizedek was both king and priest in Salem ; and Moses, as king in Jeshurun (which is another name for Israel), officiated as priest in the solemn national sacrifice offered on occasion of Israel's entering into covenant with God at Horeb. Moses sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice upon the altar, and upon the people ; Exod. xxiv. 6. 8. Indeed, the sacrifices are said to have been oflTered by "young men of the children of Israel, whom Moses sent or appointed," ver. 5 : that is, says the Targum of Onkelos, by the first-born of the sons of Israel, who were the priests and sacrificers, till the Le- vites, being appointed instead of them, had the priesthood settled in their tribe. The Arabic and Persic versions favour this opinion. However, it is to be observed, that ::'"");.'■- nangnnrim, which we render young men, does not always signify those who are young in years, but those who are fit for service ; and accordingly it is ap- plied to ministers, or servants of any kind : Gen. xiv. 24 ; xxii. 3 ; 2 Sam. xviii. 15; 1 Kings xx. 14. There is no necessity, therefore, that we should understand by the oni'-i nangnarim^ whom Moses sent to offer burnt-offerings, and to sacrifice peace- offerings, proper priests, consecrated to that office ; for they might be only servants, employed to kill and prepare the sacrifices, while he, as priest, sprinkled the blood of them on the altar, and on the people. Moses is, therefore, by the Psalmist, called a priest: ** Moses and Aaron among his priests;" Psalm xcix. 6. But when God made a more perfect settlement of their constitu- t ion, and gave them his law at Sinai, he allotted the public sacer- * Vid, Heidegger. Histor. Patriarch, tom.i. exerciut. v. p. 17". CHAP, v.] PRIESTS. 119 dotal office to Aaron and his sons, and entailed it on their posterity ; and though the whole tribe of Levi, to which Aaron belonged, was appointed to the service of the sanctuary, namely, to perform the lower offices relating to the public worship, yet it was now made a capital crime for any, besides Aaron, and his sons and descendants, to officiate as priests, in the more solemn acts of ofTer- ing sacrifices, burning incense, and blessing the people. Insomuch that when Korah and his companions (diough Korah was of the tribe of Levi) attempted to invade the priest's office, Numb. xvi. 10, God executed his vengeance upon them in a very remarkable man- ner, as a warning to all others, ver. 31 — 33, and confirmed the priesthood anew to Aaron and his family by the miracjilous sign of the budding of his rod; chap. xvii. It was now no more lawful for the king, than for the meanest of the people, to officiate in the priest's office. This is evident from the remonstrance which Aza- riah and his companions made to king Uzziah, when he " went into the temple of the Lord, to burn incense upon the altar of in- cense" (perhaps out of a vain ambition of imitating the heathen kings, who in many places executed the priesthood, and that he might in all respects appear as great as they) ; and from the judg- ment which God inflicted upon him for it; 2 Chron. xxvi. 16. 21. Here a considerable difficulty arises, in that after the giving of the law (by which the priesthood was limited to Aaron's family), we have an account of several kings, judges, and prophets, taking upon them to officiate as priests, sacrificing and blessing the people, who yet were not of the family of Aaron, nor of the tribe of Levi, without any censure passed upon them; nay, it should seem, with the divine approbation. Samuel, who was of the tribe of Ephraim, was waited for, that, according to his custom, he might bless the sacrifice, 1 Sam. ix. 13. And, on another occasion, he " offered a lamb for a burnt-offering to the Lord ;" 1 Sam. vii. 9. Both which acts did properly belong to the priest. King Saul offered a burnt-offering, 1 Sam. xiii. 9 ; and David offered " burnt-oflerings and peace-offerings before the Lord, and blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts;" 2 Sam. vi. 17, 18. Solomon, like- wise, blessed the people, as well as prayed in the public congrega- tions, at the dedication of the temple ; 1 Kings vii. 54. And the prophet Elijah sacrificed a bullock ; 1 Kings xviii. 30. The common solution of this difficulty is, that these kings and prophets caused the priests to perform the sacrifices for them, and 120 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK 1. are said to do what was done by their order. But this sense of the expressions used on these occasions, is too forced to be easily ad- mitted. What Elijah is said to have done, in particular, in the forecited passage, seems evidently to have been done by himself; and cannot, without great force upon the words, be understood of any other person's doing it for him. The difficulty, therefore, is perhaps better solved by supposing, that when these persons acted as priests, they did it not, as being heads of the people, but as being- prophets, and under the special direction of the Spirit of God, who had, no doubt, a right to dispense with his own laws, and sometimes did, on extraordinary occasions. Some, on this principle, interpret the words of Samuel to Saul ; " The Spirit of the Lord shall come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy; then do thou as occasion shall serve thee, for God is with thee," 1 Sam. x. 6, 7 ; that is, according to ihem, when thou art thus endowed with the Spirit, thou mayest follow his directions upon all emergencies, without regarding the letter of the law. Though this will not ex- cuse his sacri^cing, because from his own account it appears, that he did not do it by special divine direction, but contrary to his judgment ; he " forced himself to it," according to his own expres- sion, " and did it out of fear;" 1 Sara. xiii. 11, 12. With respect to the difl'erent orders and ranks of priests, and of other ministers about the Jewish temple-service, Godwin saith, they were three. Priests, Levites, and Nethinims ; and he adds, they may be paralleled with ministers, deacons, and subdeacons in the primitive church ; and over them the high-priest was chief. In this manner the Papists pretend to found their ecclesiastical hier- archy on the Jewish establishment ; comparing the pope with the high-priest, the clergy with the priests, the lay monks and cathedral officers, such as their singing men and boys, &c., with the Levites and Nethinims. But the author has not produced, from the New- Testament, his evidence of such a distinction of ministers in the primitive Christian church as he here speaks of. There we have not the least intimation of two sorts of deacons, the one preachers, the other not ; but only of one sort, whose province was to take care of the poor, and of the other temporal matters relating to the church *. But to return. The priesthood was entailed on the posterity of Aaron, in whom the succession was continued, Exod. xxviii. 43, and xxix. 9 ; and * See the account of their institution and office. Act* vi., at the beginning. CHAP, v.] PRIESTS. 121 he having four sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazai* and Ithatnar, 1 Chron. vi. 3, they, together with their father, were consecrated to the sacerdotal office. It was not long before Nadab and Abihu were both struck dead by fire from heaven. The crime, thus severely punished, was their presuming to burn incense in the tabernacle with other fire than that which God had commanded to be used, Lev. x. 1, 2, and which he ordered to be kept constantly burning on the altar, having been first lighted by a flash from hea- ven, whereby the first victims that were offered on the altar, after it was erected, had been consumed in the presence of the people ; Lev. ix. 24. As, immediately upon this, Aaron and all the priests were forbid to drink wine, or any other intoxicating liquors, when- ever they went into the tabernacle, " lest they should die," Lev. x. 9, the Jews, with some reason, conclude, that the crime of these two priests was their being drunk when they went to officiate in the tabernacle. Nadab and Abihu thus dying before their father, and leaving no children, 1 Chron. xxiv. 2, there i-emained Eleazar and Ithamar, in whose posterity the family of Aaron, or of the priests, was distinguished into two branches. Godwin saith, that " the high priesthood was tied or limited to the line of Aaron's first born,*" that is, to the line of Eleazar, who immediately succeeded his father in the office of high -priest, Numb. xx. 26. 28, and v/as suc- ceeded by his eldest son Phinehas, who had the dignity confirmed to him, and entailed on the line of his posterity, for the pious zeal which he shovv^ed against idolatry and lewdness. *' Behold, I give him my covenant of peace, saith God, and he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood ;" Numb. XXV. 12, 13. However, this promise must be understood conditionally, in case the eldest branch of his house was fit to dis- charge this high office, or did not forfeit the dignity by some noto- rious wickedness ; for upon any such failure in the line of Phinehas, it was to be transferred to the eldest branch of the line of Ithamar. Accordingly, we find there were several changes from one line to the other, between the death of Aaron and the captivity of Israel. It first continued through seven successions in the line of Eleazar, and was then translated to the line of Ithamar, in the person of Eli, who was both high-priest and judge in Israel. That he was of the family of Ithamar, not of Eleazar, is concluded from his name not being inserted in the genealogy of Eleazar, 1 Chron. vi. 3, &c. ; and from Josephus's saying that he was of the family of 122 JEWISH ANTIQUITIKS. [bOOK I. Ithamar *. Eli, then, was the first of that line who was raised to this high dignity, and in his family it continued till the reign of Saul, who caused Ahimclech, the son of Ahitub, to be slain, and probably transferred the priesthood to Zadoc, who was of the Phinchan line: for in David's time we find Zadoc joined with Abi- athar (who had escaped the massacre of the priests of Ithamar's line) in the execution of the high priesthood; 2 Sam. xx. 25. It may be presumed, that Zadoc having been advanced by Saul, and being also of the eldest line of Aaron's family, David did not choose to depose him, and therefore joined him with Abiathar, whose father and otlier relations had lost their lives on his account, and whom he had acknowledged as high-priest, and had accord- ingly inquired of the Lord by him, presently after his father's death ; 1 Sam. xxiii., beginning. And thus Zadoc and Abiathar continued partners in this dignity through the reign of David. It is said, indeed, in the account of this king''s principal officers and ministers in the Second Book of Samuel, that " Zadoc, the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar, were the priests ;" 2 Sam. viii. 17. In this passage here are two things which require explanation : the first is, that Ahimelech is said to be the son of Abiathar, whereas Abiathar was the son of Ahimelech. But this difficulty is removed by the easy supposition, that Abiathar might have a son, called after his father Ahimelech. The second is, that Ahimelech, instead of his father Abiathar, is joined as priest with Zadoc. The most probable solution of this is, that Abiathar, through indolence or sickness, not much attending to the duty of his office, his son Ahimelech commonly officiated for him ; and on that account he, rather than his father, is named with Zadoc, as executing the priest's office. Afterward, when Solomon was fixed on his throne, he degraded Abiathar for his treason in the con- spiracy of Adonijah, 1 Kings ii, 27, and put Zadoc in his room, ver. 35, that is, established him in the office alone : and in his line the succession continued till the captivity. But though Abiathar was turned out of his office, it seems he was still honoured with the title of high-priest as before ; for, presently after, we find him named with Zadoc, as in David's time ; 1 Kings iv. 4. The truth is, he was now reduced to the same rank which the eldest branch of the line of Ithamar held, before the translation of the priesthood to Eli, that is, he was second in the ecclesiastical dignity. This probably was the case with Zephaniah, mentioned by the prophet * Antiq. lib. v. cap. ult. CHAP, v.] PRIESTS. 123 Jeremy, who styles " Seraiah the chief, and Zephaniah the second priest,"" Jer. hi. 24, these two being the eldest branches of the two lines of Aaron's family. Many have been the conjectures concerning the reason of the first translation of the high priesthood from Eleazar's to Ithamar's family, in the person of Eli. One is, the idolatry which Micah in- troduced among the Israelites, which the high-priest is supposed to have countenanced and encouraged ; see Judges xviii. To this it may be objected, not only that this idolatry seems to have been peculiar to the tribe of Dan, or rather to a small part of that tribe which settled at Laish, ver. 28—30; but that, though the history of this affair is placed near the end of the book of Judges, it is generally thought to have happened soon after the death of Joshua *, before there was " any judge in Israel f ;" that is, at least three hundred years before the translation of the priest- hood out of Eleazar's fomily. And it cannot be supposed, that if the degradation of that family had been the punishment of this sin, it would have been so long delayed. Dr. Lightfoot conjectures, that God's depriving Eleazar's family of the pontifical dignity for several successions, was on account of the ignorance or carelessness of the high-priest, in suffering Jeph- thah to sacrifice his daughter^ ; whence you will observe, it was his opinion he did actually sacrifice her. After all, nothing can be advanced here beyond bare conjecture, the Scripture no where informing us of the reason for which the line of Eleazar was thus degraded. But, considering how many legal imperfections would disqualify a man for that high dignity, it is no wonder that the lineal succession was often interrupted, and the second priest, or the head of one line of Aaron's family, placed above the natural successor in the other line. However, it has been generally thought, and with reason, that some enormous crime was the cause of the first translation from the family of Eleazar to that of Ithamar; partly, because God had by covenant entailed the suc- cession on the Phinehan line, as was observed before ; and partly, because the next translation back again, from the line of Ithamar to that of Eleazar, was on account of the sins of EU's sons. " I chose the house of thy father Aaron," saith God to Eli by the * Josephus seems to have been of this opinion concerning the early date of Micah's ido- latry ; for he places the story of the lievite, related in the next chapter, soon after the death of Joshua. Anliq. lib. v. cap. ii. -f- See ver. ] ; and likewise above, book i. chap. i. p. 46. f Lightfoot's Harmony of the Old Testament, on Judges xi, xii, sub Anno Mundi, 2819. 124 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. prophet, " to offer up incense and sacrifices upon mine altar. Why then do ye kick at my sacrifices? Therefore, though I said that thine liousc sliould stand before me for ever, now be it far from me. Behold the days come, that thou shalt see an enemy in thine habitation, and I will raise me up a faithful priest;" 1 Sam. ii. 27, &c. l>y an enemy, or rival (as some would translate the ■word "lY tsaj-), may probably be meant the eldest branch of the other line, who, though set aside for a time, was to be reinstated in the supreme dignity. There appear, by the Scripture account, to have been thirty high-priests from Aaron to Jozedeck, who was carried captive into Babylon : yet we cannot be sure there were no more, since the Scripture no where professes to give us an exact list. After the captivity, the regularity of succession was little regarded. The Jews acknowledge that some got into the office by money* ; and it is said, that some of the high-priests destroyed one another by witchcraft. Whether we give credit to this account or not, it shows that several of them, in those latter ages of the Jewish church, wisre corrupt and vicious men, and left a very bad character behind them. Some rabbies reckon eighty high-priests, from the return from the Babylonish captivity to the destruction of the second temple ; others eighty-four or eighty-five f . We now proceed to consider, 1st. The consecration of the Jewish priests to their ofiice ; and, 2dly. The office itself, to which they were consecrated ; show- ing, under both heads, in what respects the high-priest and the inferior priests were alike, and wherein they differed. In discoursing of the consecration of the high-priest, Godwin begins with the anointing of him, as one thing wherein he differed from the inferior priests. But the Scripture mentions his being clothed with the pontifical garments, as previous to his unction : " The holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons* after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them ;" Exod. xxix. 29. Viil. Baitenoia, et Maimon. in Mislin. tit. Joma. cap. i. sect. iii. torn. ii. p. 208, edit. Surenhus. •|- On the succession of the high-piiests, consult Selden ileSuccessionein Pontificatvim ; Reland. Antiq. Hcbijc. part ii. cap. iii. ; and Prideaux's Connect, parti, book i. sub anno 656 ante Cluistum. Sehlcn's second book Dc Successione in Pontif. contains a large account of the rabbies of tlie inquiries which were made previous to tlie initiation of the high-priest, whether he was next in blood, and born of a marriage allowed by the law ; whether he was of a proper age, that is, arrived to puberty ; whether lie had a'ny bodily defect, or was addicted to any vice which disqualified him.' The like inquiries are said to have been made, mutati? mutandis, concerning the common priests, previous to their consecration. CHAP, v.] ANOINTING OF THE PRIESTS. 125 There was still another ceremony, previous both to anointing and clothing, and common to the high-priest and to the inferior priests, namely, their being washed with water: " Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congre- gation, and shalt wash them with water ;" ver. 4. From hence, some explain those words of our Saviour to John the Baptist, when he desired to be baptized of him : " Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness," Matt. iii. lo ; that is, being about to enter on his priestly office, it became him to be baptized, or washed, according to the law which he was subject to ; or, as the apostle expresses it, " was made under;" Gal. iv. 4. Others think, that " fulfilling all righteousness'"' here means, owning and complying with every divine institution, which John's baptism was *. Be this as it will, the ceremonial washing of all the priests was, doubtless, designed to be typical of that purity of heart and life which is declared to be essential to the ministers of the gospel ; 1 Tim. iii. 2. 7, and elsewhere. We now proceed to consider the unction, which was another ceremony at the consecration of the priests. Godwin represents this anointing (which term, he seems to think, intimates the pro- fusion of the oil used on the occasion) as peculiar to the high- priest ; whereas the second priests, he saith, were only sprinkled with this oil, mingled with the blood of the sacrifices. But in this lie is undoubtedly mistaken ; for as the ceremony of sprinkling was common to Aaron and his sons. Lev. viii. 30, so also was the anointing. Thus the Lord spake unto Moses, " Thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office ;" Exod. xxx. 30. Again, it is said, " These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests, who were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest's office, even Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar;" Numb. iii. 3. There seems, however, to have been this diflference between the high-priest and the common priests, that every high-priest was anointed at his consecration, at least before the captivity ; whereas none of the common priests were anointed after the inmiediate sons of Aaron. Every high-priest, I say, was anointed ; only when Eleazar succeeded his father in the high priesthood, the ceremony of anointing seems to have been omitted at his consecration, be- cause lie had been anointed before, when he was consecrated a common priest. There is no other account, therefore, of the cere- * Witeii Misccll. torn. ii. lib. ii. dissert, ii. sect. 47. 126 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. niony of his instalment, but his being clothed with his father's pontifical garments ; Numb. xx. 28. That the succeeding high- priests were anointed at their consecration, may be certainly inferred from that perpetual law concerning the high-priest (mean- ing not only Aaron, but any of his successors in that office), wherein he is called " the priest that is anointed ; " Lev. iv. 3 ; see also ver. 16. And this being the distinguishing cha- racter of the high-priest, it may likewise be inferred, that the common priests, the successors of Aaron's sons, were not anointed. Maimonides and the talmudical rabbies speak much of a sacerdos ad bellum iincius, or priest anointed for war, who, they say, was anointed with the same oil that the high-priest was, as being little inferior to him in dignity, though in the sanctuary he ministered only as a common priest, and wore no other garments than they did. His proper office, as they inform us, was to attend the camp in time of war, and encourage the people to the battle, according to the following law : " And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach, and speak unto the people, and shall say unto them. Hear, O Israel, you approach this day unto battle against your enemies : let not your hearts faint ; fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them. For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save youf Deut. xx. 2 — 4. Maimonides saith, that when he, who is anointed for the war, standing on a high place, before the whole army, hath pronounced these words in the holy tongue, another priest under him pro- claimeth it to all the people with a loud voice : and then the anointed priest saith, " What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it ? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it. What man is there that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet eaten of it ? Let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it. What man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her ? Let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in battle, and another man take her ;" Deut. XX. 5 — 7. Thus much the anointed priest speaketh, and the officer proclaimeth it aloud to the people. Afterward the officer himself speaketh, and saith, " What man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted ? Let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart," Deut. xx. 8 ; and CHAP, v.] ANOINTING OF THE PRIESTS. 127 another officer proclaims it to the people *. Now, though it may be very naturally supposed, that some of the priests attended the camp, as a kind of chaplains to the regiments, and as having some particular service assigned them, which made their presence neces^ sary, namely, to blow with the trumpets. Numb. x. 8, 9, and to encourage the people ; nevertheless, that there was one priest peculiarly consecrated to this service, and of superior dignity to the common priests, does not appear in Scripture ; and we have, therefore, no I'eason to believe (notwithstanding this rabbinical fiction) that any priests, after the sons of Aaron, were anointed, but the high-priest only. The ointment, or oil, with which the priest was anointed, is described, and there is a receipt for making it in the book of Exodus, chap. xxx. 23 — 25. It was compounded of spicy drugs, namely, myrrh, sweet cinnamon, sweet calamus, and cassia, mixed with oil olive. Maimonides pretends to tell us the manner of making this mixture. " Each of these four spices," sailh he, *' was pounded separately : then they were all mixed together, and a strong decoction of them made with water, which, being strained from the ingredients, was boiled up with the oil, till the water was all evaporated f." The rabbles are very positive, that no more of this holy oil was made after that which Moses made, for anointing the tabernacle, and the first set of priests J. And they ground their opinion on the following passage, which they understand as a prohibition of making it in any future time : " This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations. Upon man's flesh it shall not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it ; it is holy, and shall be holy unto you. Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut oft" from his people ;" Exod. xxx. 31—33. But this only means, as Christopher Cartwright justly observes §, that none of it should be made for any private or profane use ; not that when it was necessary for the holy purposes for which it was appointed, no fresh quantity should ever be made by the original receipt. Indeed, I can see no reason why a receipt should be given for making it, if no more was to be * Maimon. de Kcgibiis, cluip. vii. sect. i. — iv. -f- De Appaiatu Tem])li, cap. i. sect. i. apiiil Crcnii Fasciculum Scxtuni, p. 84, et seq. ; Comment, in Mislin. tit. Chcritliotli, cap. i. sect. i. torn. v. p. '237, 238, eilit. Surenhus; Hotting, de Lcgibus Hcbraeor. sect. cvii. cviii. ; et Schickard. Jus Regium Helrseor. cum notis Carpzov. theor. iv. p. 63, et seq. :j*Vid. Talmud. Cheritbotli, cap. i.; et Schickard. Jus Regium; et Carpzov. not. p. 67 — 71. § Electa Targumico-Rabbinica in Exod. xxx. 33. 128 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. made after that first parcel. Besides, the quantity made by Moses ■with one hin of oil, a measure, according to Bishop Cumberland, little more than a wine gallon, could not be much more than was sufficient for anointing the tabernacle and all its furniture, the altar and all its vessels, the laver, and Aaron and his four sons ; ver. 26 — 30. Or if any after all remained, it could not be sufficient for anointing the succeeding high-priests for many ages; nor would it keep so long, but evaporate and be dried up. The rabbles, indeed, always dexterous at unravelling difficulties, tell us, it was miraculously preserved *, like the pot of manna in the ark of the covenant, and was multiplied like the widow's cruse of oil, 1 Kings xvii. 14. They, however, acknowledge it was lost in Josiah's time, about fifty years before the destruction of the temple, and that after that no more high-priests were anointed f . But if by the " two anointed ones," spoken of by Zechariah, " that stand by the Lord of the whole earth," Zech. iv. 14, are meant (as Kimchi and many others understand that passage) Joshua the high-priest, and Zerubbabel the governor, who acted as king of the Jews, this will be an evidence, that anointing was used, even after the captivity. Eusebius is of opinion, that it continued in use till our Saviour's time J. As to the manner of performing this ceremony, the rabbies relate it with as much particularity and confidence as if they had been eye-witnesses of it. They tell us, indeed, they had the account of it from their wise men, and they had it from the pro- phets, who had seen it performed. They inform us, that the oil was poured on the top of the priest's head, which was bare, so plentifully, as to run down his face upon his beard to the collar of his robe ; and some say, that he who anointed him, drew on his forehead, with his finger, the figure of the Greek Caph, or Kappa, the first letter of the word p3 colien. Whereas others make it to be the figure of the Greek Chi§, which some suppose was for the first letter in xp"^, luigo, and xp't^^o^? undus, in which they discover a great typical mystery. But all which can with any certainty be depended upon is that very brief account given us in Leviticus : " And Moses poured the anointing oil upon Aaron's head;" Lev. " Scliickanl, iibi siipin, p. 69 ; Talniiul. C'herithotli, cap. i. et iii. ; vid. Hottinger. tie Juris Ilfbiieor. Legibus, leg. cix. ex. p. 138, 139, edit. Tiguii, 1655. t Talimul. Clieritliotli, cap. i. ; et Maiuion. de Ajjparatu Teuipli, cap. i, sect. viii. ; vid. Schickard. ubi supra, p. 0'9, 70. X Euscb. Dcmonst. Evang. lib. viii. p. 387, edit. Paris, 1628. § Vid. de Baiteuora et Jlaimonidem in Mislin. tit. Chcrithoth, cap. i. sect. i. et Selden, de Success, in Pontifical, lib. ii. cap. ix. CHAP, v.] GARMENTS OF THE PRIESTS. 129 viii. 12. And by the Psalmist, when he compares brotherly love and unity to " the precious ointment on the head, that ran down upon Aaron's beard, that went down to the skirts," or the collar, " of his garments ;" Ps, cxxxiii. 2. Some suppose, that, at the consecration of the high-priest, this unction was repeated seven days together, an opinion which they ground upon a passage in the book of Exodus, where that " son of Aaron, who is priest in his stead,*" that is, high-priest, is enjoined, " when he cometh into the tabernacle of the congregation, in order to minister in the holy place, to wear those garments, in which he was anointed and consecrated, seven days;" Exod. xxix. 29, 30. But it does not follow, that tiierefore he was to be anointed seven times over. The high-priest being represented in the New Testament as a type of Christ, Godwin very reasonably supposes his unction to be typical of those extraordinary gifts and influences of the Spirit with which the human nature of our Lord was endowed, and which, in allusion to this type, are expressed by anointing him : " God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows;" Psalm xlv. 7. It is observed, that this spiritual unction of Christ was not performed at once, but at three different times, each effusion being more plentiful than the former. The first was at his birth, and in his minority ; and it appeared in the extraordinary wisdom which he discovered at twelve years old, insomuch, that when at that early age he taught in the temple among the scribes and doctors, " all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers;" Luke ii. 47. The second was at his baptism, when the Spirit of God descended like a dove, and lighted upon him ; Matt. iii. 16. The third, and most com- plete, was upon his ascension, when he " received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, which he shed forth upon his disciples;" Acts ii. 33. The prophecy of the Psalmist, contained in the forty- fifth Psalm, to which I referred above, relates, I apprehend, not so much to the two former unctions, which were designed to qualify him for his ministry on earth, as to that which he received after his ascension, in reward of his humiliation and obedience. The second part of the ceremony of consecration was enrobing the pi'iests with the sacerdotal vestments. These were eight, four common to the high-priest and inferior priests, and four peculiar to the high-priest. The former were the drawers or breeches, the coat, the girdle, and the bonnet or turban ; Exod. xxviii. 40 — 42. K 130 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. The latter, the robe, the ephod, the breast-plate, and the holy crown. All these garments, especially those peculiar to the high- priest, were exceeding rich and sumptuous ; the colours gay, and disposed in a beautiful contrast ; they were ornamented with rich embroidery, and set off with gold and jewels ; and, no doubt, they were very graceful in their shape and form, according to the taste of those times. Little, indeed, can be advanced with certainty concerning the fashion of several of these vestments, Moses having left us hardly any thing more than their names. Josephus, indeed, hath given a particular description of them all *, and, doubtless, a very faithful one, according to their fashion in his time. But who can say, how far it might have altered during many ages, and in such various changes as the Hebrew commonwealth had under- gone, from the time of Moses ? The account given by the rabbies is very different from his ; and St. Jerome's, as to some of these garments, different from both. The moderns, who have set before us lively descriptions, in wi'iting, and in pictures, vary so much, that some of them seem to have furnished the world with new models for masquerade habits, rather than to have delineated the real fashion of the pontifical vestments f. This caution premised, we shall endeavour to give you the best account we can of these garments, in the order in which they were put on. The first was the ii-''DJ2d micJmese-badh, which we render ** linen breeches ;"" Exod. xxviii. 42. And according to Josephus, it much resembled the modern garment, which we call by that name ; for he says it was fastened round the middle, efi^aivovrav fis (nvTo Tcov TToBav, thc feet or legs being put into it J. Its use was ^* to cover their nakedness," as it is expressed in the book of Exodus ; that is, for the sake of decency, when they stood aloft on the altar, and the people were beneath them, or even when they were on the ground, stooping to perform any part of the sacred service. Moses has left us no description of these drawers, only that they were made of linen, and that they were to " reach from the loins even to the thighs :" that is, according to the rabbies, to the bottom of the thighs, or to the knees. They also inform us, that the waistband was a little above the navel, and near the heart; and that they were tied about the waist with a string, run t- ■ • * Antiq. lib. iii. cap. rii. torn. i. p. 138, edit. Haverc. f Among others, compare Braunius de Vestitu Sacerd. p. 646, 647. 655, edit. 170] ; pr Witsii Miscell. torn. i. lib. ii. dissert, ii. sect. xl\-iii., vdih Calmefs Dictionary, under the word priest. X Antiq. ubi gupi-a, sect. i. p. 139. CHAP, v.] GARMENTS OF THE PRIESTS. 131 through the waistband, in the manner of a purse. This garment was common to the high-priests and to the inferior priests *. That no such garment was wore in Noah's time, seems evident, from the story of his being uncovered in his tent, Gen. ix. 21 ; nor by the Jews in the time of Moses, except by the priests, and that perhaps only when they were officiating at the ahar, as may be reasonably conjectured from the law in Deuteronomy against the immodest woman, Deut. xxv. 11 ; for if it had been commonly wore, she could not easily have committed the crime for which she was condemned to lose her hand. Probably, in David's time, it was worn only by the priests, which may be the reason that when Hanun, king of the Ammonites, " shaved off half the beards of David's servants," or ambassadors, " and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their posteriors," and dis- missed them in this disgraceful and indecent condition, " they were greatly ashamed ;" 2 Sam. x. 4, 5. That this garment was not used among the Romans, in latter times, even by their priests, appears from Martial's ludicrous description of one who was sacrificing ; Ipse super viiides ai-as luctantia pvouus -Dum resecat cultro colla, premitque manu, Ingens iratis apparuit hernia sacris f • Suetonius's account of the manner of Julius Caesar's death, makes it more than probable that he wore no such garment. " Utque animadvertit undique se strictis pugionibus peti, toga caput ob- volvit : simul sinistra manu sinum ad ima crura deduxit, quo hones- tiuscaderet; etiam inferiore corporis parte velata :j:." Upon the whole, it may be reasonably concluded, that the use of this decent garment had its origin from the divine institution of the Jewish priesthood. The second garment, which was put on after the breeches, was the njn:3 chethoncth, or coat, as it is called in our translation; Exod. xxviii. 40. It was made of linen; Exod. xxxix. 27. We have no description of the fashion of it in Scripture, except in the visionary appearance of Christ to St. John, in the form and habit of a priest. Rev. i. 13 ; and he is said to be evbebvyLtvos iro^pr], " clothed with a garment down to the feet," which perfectly agrees with the description the Jewish writers give of the cheth' oncth; who say, that it reached down to the feet; and that it * Maiinoa. de Apparatu Templi, cap. viii, sect, xviii. p. 146; Crenii Fasciculi Sexii. t Lib. iii. epigram. 24. J la Vita Jul. Cses. cap. Ixxxii. k2 132 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. likewise had sleeves which came down to' the wrist, and was tied about the neck, in the same manner as the breeches about the waist; so tliat it was not much unlike a long shirt*. It was common to the high-priest and the inferior priests ; except that, perliaps, the tunic of the high-priest was rather made of finer linen, or wove in a more curious manner; for it is called piyn n:n2 chethonefh tashbets, which we render the " broidered coat;" Exod. xxviii. 4. Ainsworth translates it, "a coat of circled work ;" and observes, that it differed from broidered work, because that was of various colours, whereas this coat was all white, but wove in circles, or round hollow places, like eye's. The same word, he remarks, is used afterwards, ver. 11, for ouches, or hollow sockets, in which jewels M'ere set. Dr. Lightfoot con- ceives this tunic to be a sort of diaper, wove in some figure, as circles or checkers -f-. The high-priest, when he went into the holy of holies on the day of expiation, was clothed only in the vesfes alhcB, as they are commonly called, or the garments of the common priests. Lev. xvi. 4 ; yet the tunic which he then wore is supposed to be somewhat different from, and perhaps meaner than theirs; that it might be more suitable to the peculiar service and deep humiliation of that day. This is thought to be inti- mated, in the coats made in common for Aaron and his sons being called ti**d> n;nD chethoneth shesh, Exod. xxxix. 27 ; whereas the tunic which the high-priest wore on the solemn feast day, is called ^li-nin;! diethoneth-badh ; Lev. xvi. 4. The shesh is imagined to be a fine sort of Egyptian linen, such as was Avorn by their princes ; for with it Pharoah clothed Joseph ; Gen. xli. 42. Some take it to be a fine cotton ; whereas the word ni: hadh, is supposed to im- port a common and meaner sort J. Braunius is of opinion, that there was no difference between the shesh and the hadh, as to the fineness of the stuff, the michnese hadh, or linen breeches, being spoken of as made of "^rii^s tyty shesh moshzor, " fine twined linen," as our translators render it. And the only difference between them, which he assigns, is, that the hadh (being derived from inn hadhadh, solus) was made of a single thread, and the shesh (which word signifies six) was composed of * Maimon. de Appanitu Templi, cap. viii. sect. xvii. apud Creuii Fascicul. Sextom, p. 146. " De longitudine tunicanmi, erant ilia; talarcs, quarum manica: pertinebant ad volam niamis, ct ])ro latitudine luanus patebant." See otlier testimonies apud Brauuium de Vcstitu Saccrd. lib. ii. cap. ii. sect. vii. p. 461 , edit. 1680, sect, cccxli. p. 372, edit. 1701. ■f Temple Service, cliap. iii. i Vid. Cunseum de Repub. Hcbr. lib. ii. cap. i. ; et Leusdeu. Philol. Hebr, mixt. dis- sert. XAvii. p. 179, 180. • CHAP, v.] GARMRXTS OF THE PRIESTS. 133 several, perhaps six, threads twisted together. He supports this sentiment by the testimony of Maimonides, and various other Jewish doctors *. The third garment was the to:n« ahnet, or girdle: Exod. xxviii. 40. This was likewise made of the t^u; shesh, or fine twined linen, and curiously embroidered with a variety of colours ; Exod. xxxix. 29. Moses has not acquainted us either with the length or breadth of this girdle. But Josephus and the rabbles have given us the measure of it, though their accounts are very dif- ferent. It went, according to Josephus, twice about the waistf . But Maimonides makes it to be thirty-two ells long \. If this account be true, the use of it seems to have been, not only to bind the tunic close and tight, but to serve for a warm upper garment, by swathing the body from the arms to the waist ; and also to strengthen the back for the laborious work of killing, dressing, and burning the sacrifices. However, Josephus's account seems the more probable; partly, because so warm a dress would, in that warm climate, have been highly inconvenient, especially when they were engaged in the most laborious part of their em- ployment, or were tending the fire on the altar; and partly, because in the visionary appearance of Christ in the priest's habit, referred to before, he is said to be " girt about the paps with a golden girdle :" an expression which renders it unlikely that the greater part of his body was swathed with it ; rather intimating, that it was tied once or twice about the breast. Josephus informs us §, that it was tied in a knot before, the ends of it hanging down for ornament to the feet ; but that when the priest was about any work, which obliged him to stoop, and the ends of the girdle would be in his way, he threw them over his left shoulder. Mai- monides makes the breadth of the girdle to be three fingers |[, Josephus four ; and he adds, that it was wove hollow, like a snake's skin, and so served for a purse, as well as a girdle^; to which use, indeed, in ancient times girdles were commonly applied both among the Jews and Romans. Hence Horace saith, " I bit e6, quo vis, qui zonam perdidit**." And " zonam perdere" is a * Vid. Biiiun. de Vestitu Saccrd. Hebr. lib. i. cap. ii. sect. iii. p. 23 — 25, edit. Amstcl- 1680; alias, sect. xvii. — xix. p. 17 — 19, edit. 1701; cap. vi. sect. viii. p. 131 — 134> edit. 1680 ; sect. xcii. xciii. p. 101 — 103, edit. 1701 ; cap. vii. sect. i. — iv. p. 137 — 141, edit. 1680; sect, xcv xcviii. p. 10.5—109, edit. 1701. •]- Antiq. lib. iii. cap. vii, sect. ii. torn. i. p. 140, edit. Ilavcrc. X Dc Appaiatu Templi, cap. Tiii. sect. xix. apud Crcnii Fasciciil. Sextum, p. 146, 147. § Antiq. ubi supra. || Maimon. ubi supra. % Joseph, ubi supra. •" Epistolanmi, lib. ii. epist. ii. 1. 40. 134 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. Latin phrase for being a bankrupt. And hence also, when our Saviour sent out his disciples to preach, he enjoined them to " provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass, eis rm (ava^, in their purses," or girdles ; Matt. x. 9. The fourth garment was mi?n:io mighangvotli, the bonnet, or bonnets, as we render the word, Exod. xxviii. 40. It was also made of the u/ty sAcWa, or fine twined linen: Exod. xxxix. 28. The Scripture is wholly silent, both as to the fashion of it, and the quantity of linen that composed it. According to the rabbies** description of it, it was much like the Turkish turban ; they say, it consisted of a slip of linen sixteen ells long, wound round the head*. Josephus saith, it was like a helmet made of linen, one wreath being plaited and folded over another, and a thin cap, suited to the shape of it, put over all, to prevent its unfolding or growing slack j-. The high-priest's head-dress is indeed expressed by another word, which we render a mitre ; but the Jews reckon the mitre and the bonnet to be the same, only folded up in a somewhat different manner, according to the dignity of the person that wore it. They describe tlie mitre, as wound into a broader and more beautiful form, like the Turkish turban; whereas the bonnet was made into a more conical figure, though not into a point like the Persian turban ; and this is what Josephus means, when he calls the bonnet aKavov'^. The sacerdotal vestments, peculiar to the high-priest, were the robe, the ephod, the breast-plate, and the holy crown. These are commonly called the vestes aurece, to distinguish them from the plain or linen garments §, already described ; for they were richly ornamented with gold and jewels. The first was the ^''i'D meyignil, or blue robe, which was wore over the linen vest. We have the description of it in the book of Exodus : " And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue, and there shall be an hole in the top of it, in the midst thereof; it shall have a binding of woven work, round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of an habergeon, that it be not rent. * Maimon. de Apparatu Templi, cap. viii. sect. ii. et xix. p. 140, 141, et 146, apud Crenii Fasticul. Sext. Vid. Braunium de Vestitu Sacerd. lib. ii. cap. iv. sect. xi. xii. p. 612, 513, edit. 1680 ; sect, ccclxxxviii. ccclxxxix. p. 414, 415, edit. 1701. ■\ Ubi supra. , I Aiitiq. lib. iii. cap. vii. sect. iii. torn. i. p. 141, edit. Haverc. Vid. Braunium de Vestitu Sacerd. lib. ii. cap. iv. sect. xiv. xv. edit. 1680; sect, cccxci. cccxtii. p. 418, et seq. edit. 1701. § Maimon. de Apparatu Templi, cap. -^-iii. ab init. GHAP. v.] GARMENTS OF THE PRIESTS. 135 And beneath, upon the hem of it, thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof, and bells of gold between them round about; a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about;" Exod. xxviii. 31 — 34. It is called the robe of the ephod, not only because it was wore along with, and next under it, but because, says Maimonides, it was girded with the ephod*; that is, the girdle of the ephod served for this robe as well as for the ephod itself, and bound these two garments, toge- ther, to the body. It is not certain of what stuff this robe was made; but as it was coloured, it is not probable it was linen; because that takes the dye the worst of any sort of stuff of which garments are made. Some, therefore, will have it to be made of wool, others of cotton : the Syriac version, and after it the old Flemish, make it to be yellow silk. But as to the colour, though we are not very certain of the meaning of the Hebrew word n^3n techdeth, yet it seems reasonable to follow the Septuagint, which renders it hyacinth ; and so does the Chaldee Paraphrase. What occasions the uncertainty in this case is, that there is both a stone and a flower called the hyacinth ; the stone yellow, and the flower blue. But considering that the ephod, which was wore over the upper part of this robe, was embroidered with scarlet and gold, and that golden bells hung at the bottom of the robe itself, it is more likely that the colour was that of the hyacinth flower than that of the stone, since the gold and scarlet would show to more advantage on blue than on yellow ; and therefore, we translate the word nban techeleth, blue. Round the bottom of this robe, in the manner of a fringe, there were little golden bells, and balls of blue, purple, and scarlet, in the shape of pomegranates, which hung interchangeably. We are not informed in the Scripture of the number or size either of the bells or pomegranates. But the rabbles, who are not content to be supposed ignorant of any thing, have supplied both these defects; assuring us, that the number of each was just seventy- two f, the number of the elders of Israel ; and that each pomegra- nate was as large as an egg J. Now since the bells, in order to their making a becoming and graceful appearance, must be sup- posed to be as large as the pomegranates, and likewise allowing a * Ubi supra, cap. x. sect. iii. p. 1.54, Crciiii Fascic. Scxt. + Maimon. de Apparatii Tcnipli, cap. iv. p. 148, Cienii. Fascic. Sexti. X R. S. Jarchi ad Exod. xxviii. 31 ; vid. ejus verba apud Braun. de Vestit. Sacerd. lib, ii. cap. V. sect, xviii. p. 665, 566, edit. 1680 ; sect, ccccxxii, p. 453, edit. 1701. 136 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. proper space between each bell and pomegranate, for the sounding of the bells, one cannot well admit less room than a nail of a yard, or two inches and a quarter, for each ; which, multiplied by the whole number of bells and pomegranates, amounts to one hundred and forty-four nails, or nine yards : an incredible circumference indeed, about double the size of a modern hoop petticoat! This robe is said by Josephus*, and the rabbiesf, to be without sleeves, having a hole on each side, to put the arms through. Moses describes it as having a hole at the top, to put the head through ; and saitli, that this hole had a strong binding round it, to prevent its being rent, in putting it on and off: Exod. xxviii. 32. This hole in the top of the robe is expressed in the Hebrew by imw-i ^Q phi-roshu, the mouth of his head ; or through which the priest put his head : or by W'^ri-''^ phi-hammengnil, the mouth, or hole, of the robe ; Exod. xxxix, 23. This will explain what is meant by the Psalmist, when he describes the precious ointment, that was poured on Aaron's head, as running dov/n " to the skirts of his garment,"" rnna-^D jyhi-muklothaiv, Psalm cxxxiii. 2 ; the mouth, or collar of his robe ; as our translators have rendered the word phi in another place, Job xxx. 18, and Ainsworth in this ; agreeable to which is Bishop Patrick's paraphrase. I can see no foundation, therefore, for that very disagreeable idea, suggested by the generality of our metrical translators, not excepting even the ingenious Dr. Watts ; that the oil was poured in so profuse a quantity on Aaron's head, as to descend, not only upon his beard, but to the bottom of his clothes ; which, indeed, it is not probable God would have directed to be made in so expensive and beautiful a manner, if they had been designed to be smeared with oil, and thereby to be utterly spoiled. I take the case to be, that the hair of his head and beard was to be well anointed to the extremity, which probably reached as low as the collar of his robe. This was graceful and ornamental, according to the fashion of that country, and those times. Hence we read, not only of " wine that maketh glad the heart of man, but of oil to make his face to shine," Psalm civ. 15, or his outside; for so CJQ panhn frequently signifies, in opposition to his heart : referring probably to the anointing the hair, which was then the fashion. Hence it is, likewise, that David, among other expres- * This is undoubtedly ihc meaning of the following words in Josephus : Kai oQev ai Xeipej StetpyovTai, (rx'. 17 — 46 ; and Sheringhani in Jouia apud Mislina Surcnhusii, cap. viii. sect. v. not. xi. torn. ii. p. 2.31, 252. II Vid. Selden. de Success, in Pontif. lib. ii. cap. vii. Oper. vol. ii. p. 183, pra;sertim de Syncdr. lib. iii. cap, ii. sect. iii. Op. vol. i. tou). ii. p. 1689 — 1711. 146 JBWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. nacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the aUar to minister in the holy place;" Exod. xxviii. 43. And again, they are styled " the clothes of service, to do service in the holy place ; and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and his sons* garments, to minister in the priest's office;" chap, xxxix. 41. Accordingly, Josephus, speaking of the pi'iests, saith, they were habited like the common people ; adding, he only who ministers wears the sacred vestments*. It is reasonably supposed, that some of the " chambers built round about against the wall of the temple," 1 Kings vi. 5, were vestries, in which the priests dressed for their ministry, and laid up the sacred vestments when the ser- vice was over. This is confirmed by the following passage in Ezekiel's vision of the temple and the holy service : " When they go forth into the outer court, even into the court of the people, they shall put off their garments, wherein they ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers ; and they shall put on other gar- ments;" Ezek. xliv. 19. This remark, perhaps, may furnish us with the best account of Paul's not knowing the high-priest, Ananias, when he appeared before him in the Sanhedrim, Acts xxiii. 5 ; because, being not engaged in any duty of his ministerial function, he had not on his pontifical robes, nor was distinguished by any particular habit; and as in those times the high-priest was often changed by the Roman power, so as rather to have become an annual officer, than, as he ought to have been according to the law of Moses, one for life, and as Paul was now grown a stranger at Jerusalem, it is very probable he might never have seen him before ; or, if he had, in his pontifical robes in the temple, where he had lately attended for seven days successively. Acts xxi. 27, he might not have taken such particular notice of his person, as readily to know him again in another place and another dress. This I take to be an easier solution than to render ovk rideiv (as some do), " I acknowledge him not to be high-priest," on account of his procuring the office by corruption and bribery ; or to sup- pose, with Dr. Whitby, that the same prophetic impulse which had moved him to utter that prophecy against him, *' God shall smite thee, thou whited wall," Acts xxiii. 3, did not suffer him to consider, just at that time, that it was the high-priest to whom he spoke. Godwin saith, the high-priest might not wear his sacred gar- * Vid. Joseph, dc Bell. Jud. lib. v. cap. v. sect. vii. ; and Selden's observations on the passage, in his Treatise dc Syncdr. ubi supra, p. 1711. CHAP, v.] SACERDOTAL VESTMENTS. 147 ments abroad in the city, unless on some urgent occasion ; as when Simeon the Just went forth to meet Alexander. But his name, according to Josephus, was not Simeon the Just, but Jaddua *, his grandfather f . 2dly. The sacerdotal vestments were provided at the expense, not of the' priests, but of the people :|:. As for the pontifical vesfes aureos, which were exceeding rich and costly, they are sup- posed to have been provided out of the public treasury ; and the other sacerdotal garments, either the same way, or by free-will offerings. We are told, Ezra ii. 68, 69, that when some of the chief of the fathers came to see the temple, which M-as rebuilding after the captivity, they gave according to their ability unto the treasure of the work, not only gold and silver, but a hundred priests' garments. Again, the Tirshatha (or Nehemiah the go- vernor) gave to the treasury (beside gold and silver there men- tioned), five hundred and thirty priests' garments, Nehem. vii. 70; and the rest of the people gave sixty-seven, ver. 72. The talmudists and Maimonides say, that all free-will offer- ings of that sort must be given to the whole congregation, that is, to the officers who managed its concerns ; insomuch that if the mother of a priest brought her son a garment, it was to be given, not to him, but to them §, and they might assign the use of it to whom they pleased. Indeed, it does not seem likely the sacerdo- tal garments should be the property of particular priests, and worn by them only ; especially when the priests were divided, as they were in David's time, into twenty-four courses, and each inferior priest officiated at the temple only a fortnight in a year. They were designed therefore for the common use of the priests, as they came in their turns to minister. 3dly. The rabbies say, that when the garments of the inferior priests were grown foul, they were not washed, but cut into shreds, to make wicks for the lamps of the sanctuary ; and when the high-priest's vestments were left off, they were put to no far- ther use, but hid in some secret place ||. But of this the Scripture says nothing. * Aiitiq. lib. xi. cap. viii. sect. iv. v. torn. i. p. 580 — 582 ; see also an account of tLe affair in Prideaux's Connect, part i. book vii. sub .inuo 332 ante Christ. t Compare Joseph. Antiq. ubi supra, sect. vii. p. 582, with lib. xii. tap. ii. sect. iv. p. h^9. J Maimon. de Appar.itu Teuipli, cap. viii. sect. vii. p. 142, Crenii Fascic. Sext. § Gemar. Hierosolyni. tit. Shek. cap. iv ; see this, and a quotation from the Babylo- nian Geniara, and from Maimonides, in Braunius de Vestitu, lib. ii. cap. xxis'. sect. xv. p. 839, edit. Anistel. 1(J80; cap. xxv. sect, dccviii. p. 6G7, edit. 1701. II Vid. Braun. ubi supra, cap. xxv. sect. xi. p. 858 — 861, edit. Amstel. 1680; cap. xxvi. sect, dccxx. p. 682, 683, edit. 1701. L 2 148 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. 4thly. You will observe, that neither the high-priest, nor those of the lower order, wore any thing, either on their hands or feet, while they were employed in their ministry. There is no garment assigned to either in any Scripture catalogue. The sacrificial services, in which the priests were chiefly employed, would not conveniently admit of their wearing gloves ; and in public wor- ship, to be barefoot seems to have been reckoned a token of reverence even before the giving of the law: for when God appeared to Moses in the bush, he commanded him to " put his shoes from off' his feet, because the place whereon he stood was holy ground;"" Exod. iii. 5. In those days this was a usual token of I'everence during diviqe worship, when men considered themselves as in the more immediate presence of God. It was fit, therefore, Moses should express the same kind of religious vene- ration in a place which God, by manifesting himself in so extraor- dinary a manner, was pleased to render, ^?;-o tempore, a temple or holy place. For the same reason, Joshua is commanded to pay the like homage before the " captain of the host of the Lord," Josh. V. 15, who was undoubtedly " the angel of God's presence, in whom his name is," even the divine Aoyo?; for it is said, Joshua " fell on his face to the earth, and worshipped him ;" ver. 14. This we cannot suppose he would have done if he had esteemed him only a created angel ; or that, if he had done it, his worship would not have met with such a rebuke as the angel gave to St. John, — " See thou do it not ; for I am thy fellow servant : wor- ship God ;" Rev. xxii. 9. The Jewish priests, according to the rabbies, were required to be superstitiously exact in this ceremony; for if any thing intervened between their feet and the ground, they imagined their ministry would be null and invalid *. It may not be improper here to remark, that as the Jews ac- counted it a token of reverence to have their feet bare in public worship, so likewise to have their heads covered. This was accordingly the practice, not only of the priests but of the people, as at this day it is, in token of their modesty and humility, and of their accounting themselves unworthy to look up in the more immediate presence of God. Thus, on the Divine appearance to Moses in the bush, it is said, " he hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God;" Exod. iii. 6. And on the extraordinary manifestation of the Divine presence to Elijah, he " wrapped his face in his mantle;" 1 Kings xix. 13. On the same account, • Md. Mish. tit. Zebbac. cap. ii. sect. i. ; R. Bartenor. et iMaimou. iu loc. torn. v. p. 10, edit. Surenluis. ; et Maimon. de Ratione adeuudi Templi, cap. v, sect. svii. xix. p. 202, 203, C'lenii Fasciculj Sexti. CHAP, v.] SACERDOTAL VESTMENTS. 149 perhaps, the angels were represented in vision to Isaiah, as cover- ing their faces with their wings in the presence of Jehovah, Isa. vi. 2 ; to have the head uncovered, being esteemed a mark of con- fidence. For which reason, in those places where the Israelites are said to have " marched out of Egypt with a high hand," the Chaldee Paraphrast renders it " bareheaded," that is, with bold- ness and intrepidity. The ancient Romans, likewise, performed their sacred rites with a veil or covering on their heads, as appears from these lines in Virgil : — Quin, ubi transuiissse steterint trans aqiiora classes, Et positis aris jam vota in littore solves ; Purpureo velare comas adopertus amictu : Ne qua inter sanctos ignes in lionore Deorum Ilostilis fades occurrat, et omina turbet. ^ncid, iii.i. 403, &c. Again, Spes est pacis, ait. Turn numina sancta precamur Palladis armisonae, quae prima accepit ovantes : Et capita ante aras Phrygio velamur amictu. Ibid. 1. 543, &c. The Grecians, on the contrary, performed the sacred rites bare- headed. " Illic (nempe in £Ede Saturni) Groeco ritu, capite aperto, res divina fit," saith Macrobius *. St. Paul, therefore, writing to the Corinthians, who were Greeks, declares, that " every man praying or prophesying, with his head covered, dishonoureth his head," 1 Cor. xi. 4 ; thereby teaching us, that though the circum- stances of dress, as well as gesture, in divine worship, are in themselves indifterent ; yet such are proper to be used, as the custom of the country where we dwell has rendered significative of humility and reverence. 5thly. The sacerdotal vestments are all supposed to have a moral and typical signification, though the more immediate design of them, especially of the pontifical vestes cuircce, was " for glory and for beauty;"" Exod. xxviii. 2. For the whole ceremonial worship had '-a shadow of good things to come,"" Heb. x. 1 ; and it is said of the priests in particular, that they " served unto the example and shadow of heavenly things,"" chap. viii. 5. Concern- ing the typical and spiritual meaning of these vestments, as pretty commonly represented by Christians, consult IMather"'s sermon on this subject in his " Types Unveiled." As for the Jews, they * Saturnal. lib. i. rap. ym. p. 222,223, edit. Gronov. Lugd. Bat. 1070. 150 ' JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. discover a world of philosophy in thorn. Josephus * makes the high-priest's Hnen garment represent the body of the earth ; the glorious robe, heaven ; the bells and pomegranates, thunder and lightning. Or otherwise, the ephod of various colours is the uni- verse ; the breast-plate, the earth in its centre ; the girdle, the sea ; the onyx stone on each shoulder, the sun and moon ; the twelve stones in the breast-plate, the twelve signs of the zodiac, or the twelve months in the year; the mitre, heaven; and the golden plate with the name of God» engraven on it, the splendour of the Divine Majesty in heaven. Philo philosophises on them in a similar manner f . But the talmudical doctors assign them a more religious and moral signification ; the eight garments denoting circumcision, which was to be performed on the eighth day ; and each garment being to expiate a particular sin — the breeches, uncleanness; the girdle, theft ; the ephod, idolatry ; the breast-plate, perverse judgment ; the bells, evil speaking ; the mitre, and the golden plate on the forehead, pride and impudence ^. The Cocceian divines, who have great talents at allegorizing, find out in them, in a manner, all spiritual blessings and graces. Braunius, in particular, makes the mitre signify wisdom ; the robe, righteousness ; the breeches, sanctification ; and the girdle, redemp- tion : all which " Christ is made of God unto believers ;" 1 Cor. i. 30. By the other vestments are denoted the principal benefits of the gospel ; election and adoption, by the ephod and the pec- toral ; vocation, or eflfectual calling, by the bells ; faith, by the golden crown, &c. §, These divines, as well as some of the ancients, have permitted their fancies to make excursions beyond the bounds of reason and good sense. Nevertheless, those who will admit of no typical meaning in any of these things, go into a contrary extreme. It will be happy, if we can hit the just medium, in attempting which the Scripture will be our best guide. Three rites of the consecration, both of the high-priest and the common priests, their washing, anointing, and clothing, being con- sidered, there remains a 4th. The offering certain sacrifices according to the prescription • Antiq. lib. iii. cap. vii. sect. nit. torn. i. p. 156, 157, edit, Haveic -|- Philo. Jud. de Somniis, apiid Opera p. 463, 464 ; de Yita Mosis, lib. iii. p. 518— 521 ; de Monarch, lib. ii. p. 636, 637, edit. Colon. Allobr. 1613. I Vid. Braini. de Vestitu Sacerd. Hcbrseor. lib. ii. cap. x.wi. sect. ix. x. p. 878 — 881, edit. Anistel. 1680 ; cap. .xxvii. sect, dcc.xlv. dccxlvi. p. 707 — 709, edit. 1701. § Ubi supra, sect. xvi. xvii. p. 887— 889, edit. Amstcl. 1G80 ; sect, dccliii. dccliv. p. 713—715, edit. 1701. CHAP, v.] CONSECRATION OF THE PRIESTS. 151 in the book of Exodus, chap. xxix. These were a young bullock and two rams, beside unleavened bread, cakes, and wafers, ver. 1, 2 : the bullock for a sin-offering, one ram for a burnt-offering, both which were entirely consumed with fire, ver. 13, 14. 18 : and the other ram and the bread in the nature of a peace-offering, part only of which was consumed on the altar, and the rest eat by the priests, for whom the sacrifices wei'e offered, ver. 19 — 28. The first of these sacrifices, which was the sin-offerincp, was to signify, that till their sins were expiated, they were not fit to per- form any acceptable service, much less to offer sacrifice, or make atonement for the sins of the people. The second, which was the holocaust, or whole burnt-offering, was in the nature of a gift or present, whereby they were recom- mended to God. The third was a peace-offering, on which they made a feast, and by that were initiated into his family *. The ram of the peace-offering is called in the Hebrew c'k!?d b'Ht eil milhiim, aries impletionum, ver. 22 ; which Ainsworth renders the " ram of filling the hand ;" because " the part which was to be consumed on the altar, was first put into the hands of Aaron, and into the hands of his sons," ver. 24. Rabbi Solomon gives a different reason for the ram's being called Cw'r^D h'Vt. eil milhdm, from f*r^ male, phmis vel completus est ; because the offering of this sacrifice completed the consecration, and thereupon the priests were fully invested in their office. Accordingly, the Septuagint renders L>'?J mishmarotli, from I^Dti^ shcnnar, custodivit, Nehem. xiii. 30. The Septuagint renders both thesfe words by ecj^rjixepim, in which they are followed by St. Luke, who saith that Zacharias the priest, the father of John the Baptist, was f| e(j)r]^fpcas A/3ta, of the course of Abia ; Luke i. 5. The word f(f)r]nepia is derived from the form of the Athenian republic. The country of Attica was divided into ten ^vXus, or tribes ; fifty persons were chosen out of each tribe, who composed the senate ; and each fifty sat and governed for one day in their turns. Hence * :Maimoii. de Appaiatu Teiupli, iibi supra. t Josepb. ml Shekalim, cap. v. R. Solom. in 2 Kings xii. + Maimon. ile Appaiatu Templi, cap. iv. sect .xviii. ubi supra. § See Lightfoot's Temple Service, ubi supra. CHAr. v.] THE COURSES OF THE PRIESTS. 163 their Apxn, or form of government, was called e^rnxtpos ; because their governors were daily changed according to a regular rota- tion*. Now there being a considerable resemblance between this division and succession of the Attic senators and that of the Jewish priests, the Septuagint applies the v;ord ecjiT^iMfpia to the courses of the priests ; though somewhat improperly, because they shifted not daily, but weekly, as is concluded from its being said in Chronicles, that the porters of the gate Avere relieved by their brethren every seven days, 1 Chron. ix. 25 ; and if the inferior officers relieved one another weekly, it is reasonable to suppose the priests did so too. There is the more reason for this con- clusion, because the courses of the priests and of the porters are mentioned together in the account of Solomon's confirming the regulation which his father David had made : " He appointed, according to the order of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charge, the porters also by their courses at every gate ; " 2 Chron. viii. 14. The time of shifting the courses seems to have been the sabbath ; for the priests are described by this periphrasis, " Those that enter in on the sabbath ; " 2 Kings xi. 5. So that each course attended the service of the sanctuary, for a week, twice a-year. The Jewish writers say, the first circulation of the courses began on the first sabbath of the month Nisan, answering to our March and April ; and the second on the first sabbath of the month Tizri, answering to our September and- October; and so they make two circulations to complete the year. But whereas there were but twenty-four courses, which therefore in this double circulation would fill up only forty-eight weeks, or eleven months, they say the weeks of the three great feasts were not taken into this account; for then all the courses attended, being all obliged by the law to appear before the Lord; Exod. xxiii. 17. If so, the double circulation of the twenty-four courses would very near complete the Jewish year. Each course had its respective head, or chief. These are called, "chief men of the houses of their fathers;" of whom there were sixteen, and consequently sixteen courses, of the posterity of Eleazar, and eight of the posterity of Ithamar ; 1 Chron. xxiv. 4. These chiefs of their respective divisions were called D-inrn ^^m sare haccohanim, princes, or chiefs of the priests : Ezra viii. 24 ; * Vid. Joseph, Scaliger. de Emcndatione Tcmpor. lib. i. p. 25, aud 62, 63. ISI 2 1G4 jiwisH ANTiouniKS. [book I- chap. X. o. These were probably the npxi-fpw^ or chief priests, so often mentioned in the New Testament: Matt. xvi. 21; xxvii. 12. 41 ; John vii. 32 ; xviii. 8 ; Acts ix. 14, &c. These chief priests are, in several places, mentioned together with the elders, scribes, and pharisees of chief note, as being fellow-members of the Sanhedrim, the supreme court of judicature. The order in which the several courses were to serve was de- termined by lot, 1 Chron. xxiv. 5; and each course was, in all succeeding ages, called by the name of its chief at the time of its first division. Thus Zacharias is said to be of the course of Abia, the eighth course ; of which Abijah, or Abia, was the chief in David"'s time; ver. 10. And Josephus says*, he himself was of the first course, or the course of Jehoiarib, upon whom the first lot fell; ver. 7. As the great number of the sacerdotal order occasioned their being first divided into twenty-four companies, so in after-times the number of each company grew too large for them all to minister together; for there were no less, according to Josephus, than five thousand priests in one course, in his timef. The Jewish writers, therefore, tell us, that the ministry of each course was divided according to the number of the houses of their fathers that were contained in it|. For instance, if a course consisted of five such houses, three served three days, and the other two, two days apiece. If it contained six, five served five days, and the other, two days. If it contained seven, the priests of each house served a day§. And they farther inform us, that the particular branches of the service were assigned by lot to each priest, whose turn it was to attend on the ministry ; as who should kill the sacrifices, who sprinkle the blood, who burn the incense, &c. || Thus St. Luke tells us, that " according to the custom of the priest's office, it was the lot of Zacharias to burn incense, when he went into the temple of the Lord;" Luke i. 9. The rabbies say, but four of the courses returned from the captivity, those mentioned in Ezra, namely, " the children of Jedaiah of the house of Joshua, the children of Lnmer, the children of Pashur, and the children of Harim ;" Ezra ii. 36 — 39. And they tell us in what manner " Joseph. Vita, ab initio. -j- Joseph, contra Appion. cap. ii. vol. ii. p. 477, edit. Havercamp. X Maimon. ile Apparatii Templi, cap. iv. sect. xi. p. 113, Cienii Fascicul. Sext. § Talmud. Hieros. in Taanith, cap. iv. et Thosaph. ad loc. See the passage quoted by Lightfoot, Temple Service, chap. vi. snb tine. II Mishn. Tamidh, cap. iii. sect. i. torn. v. p. 2S1, edit. Surenhus. CHAP, v.] or THF, LF.VrlF.^. 10,5 tlie priests were divided by lol into twenty-four courses, wliicli were still called by the ancient names *. 13ut it may be objected to this account, that Pashur was not the ancient head or name of any of the twenty-four courses ; and that in the catalogue of the priests who returned from the captivity, which we have in the twelfth chapter of Nehemiah, there are the names of several others of the chiefs or heads of the courses, besides the three mentioned by Ezra; as Shechaniah, who was the head of the tenth course; Abijah, the head of the eighth ; Bilgah, the head of the fifteenth; and Jojarib, who was the head of the first course. It is probable, that the chief of each course was always called by the name of him who was its chief at its first division in the days of David. Not only were the priests divided into twenty-four courses, but the lievites, and indeed the whole people of Israel, as will be seen when we come to speak of the viri stationarii, whom our author mentions toward the close of this chapter. The Levites being, in the larger sense of the w^ord, the posterity of the patriarch Levi, the third son of Jacob by Leah, were one of the twelve tribes of Israel ; but in a more restrained and peculiar sense, they were a lower order of ecclesiastical persons, inferior to the priests, and their assistants in the sacred service. In this subordinate capacity were all the males of the tribe of Levi, beside the family of Aaron, who were the priests; and it is very observable, that the posterity of Moses were no more than common Levites, while the descendants of his brother Aaron were advanced, by the appointment of his law, to the dignity of the priesthood ; 1 Chron. xxiii. 13, 14. A plain evidence that Moses was influenced by no worldly or ambitious views; or rather, that he was not the contriver and author of the law which he gave to Israel, but received it from God : for had he framed it, it is natural to suppose, he would have made some better provision than he did, for his sons, and for the grandeur of his house, and not have advanced his brother's above his own. Indeed, the Levites were appointed to the service of the sanc- tuary by God himself, for the following reason: — When he miraculously destroyed all the first-born of the Egyp- tians, Exod. xii. 29, he spared the first-born of the Israelites, and, in order to preserve the memory of the miracle, and of that great deliverance from their bondage in Egypt which it occasioned, he was pleased to appoint, that for the future all the first-born males • Talmud. Hieros. et Thosaph. ad Taanitli, ubi supra. 160 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. "should be set apart uiilo himself:" Exod. xiii. VJ — Hi; Numb, viii. 17. But afterward, upon the sons of Levi discovering an extraordinary zeal against idolatry in the case of the golden calf, Exod. xxxii. 26 — 28, he was pleased to assign the honour of attending his immediate service to that whole tribe, instead of the first-born of Israel ; Numb, iii. 12,13; chap. viii. 18. And that it might appear there was a just substitution of the Levites for the first-born, number for number, he ordered an estimate to be made of both ; and when, on casting up the poll, the first-born were found to exceed the Levites by two hundred seventy-three, the surplus was redeemed at the price of five shekels a-head, which was paid to the priests for the use of the sanctuary ; Numb. iii. 14, to the end. The Levites, originally, were distinguished into three classes, or families, from the three sons of Levi, Kohath, Gershon, and Me- rari, called Kohathites, Gershonites, and Merarites ; though after- ward by David, as we have already observed, they, as well as the priests, were divided into twenty-four courses : 1 Chron. xxiii. 6 > chap, xxviii. 11, 13. A great part of the service assigned them, on their first institution in the wilderness, was peculiar to the state of the Israelites at that time, namely, taking down the tabernacle, setting it up, and carrying it about, as they removed from place to place*. To the Kohathites was committed the charge of the most sacred things, the ark of the testimony, and all the instruments of the sanctuary. The Gershonites were to take down, carry, and put up, the curtains of the tabernacle, and its covering of badger skins, and the veil, or curtains, which served for a door ; as also the curtain which formed the court round it. The Merarites had the care of the boards of the tabernacle, with the bars, pillars, and sockets, both of the tabernacle and of the court. When the Israelites were settled in the land of Canaan, and the tabernacle was no longer carried about as before, the service of the Levites was of course changed, and became much easier. On which account, in David's time, they were thought fit to enter on their office at twenty years old, 1 Chron. xxiii. 24, 27, 28; whereas they were not admitted, by the original appointment of Moses, till they were twenty-five or thirty, and were discharged at fifty, Numb. iv. 3. 23. 43, and chap. viii. 24, 25 ; probably because their service was then very laborious, and required great bodily strength. I say, they were not to enter on their office till they * See the respective service of the classes in the fourth chapter of Numbers. CHAP, v.] OF THE LF.VITES. 167 were twenty-five or thirty years old ; — the account in the fourth chnpter of Numbers saith, they are to " do (he work of the taber- nacle of the congregation from thirty years old and upward ;" and in the eighth chapter it is said, that, " from twenty-five years old and upward they should go in to wait on the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.*" In order to reconcile these two accounts, some suppose, that from twenty-five to thirty years of age they attended only to learn the duties of their oflice, but did not actually perform any part of the service till they were fully thirty. This is the opinion of Maimonidcs*. But other rabbles f tell us, they entered on the easier and lighter parts of the service, such as keeping watch at the sanctuary, and bearing a part in the choir, at twenty-five ; but did not meddle with the more laborious till thirty. The Jews indeed inform us, that the Levites passed through four different degrees. From one month old to their twentieth year they were instructed in the law of God ; from twenty to twenty-five in the functions of their ministry ; from thence to thirty they served a sort of apprenticeship, beginning to exercise themselves in some of the lower branches of the sacred service; and lastly, when they attained their thirtieth year, they were fully instituted in their office. Some have observed much the same degrees among the vestal virgins, which perhaps were borrowed from the Jewish Levites. Thirty years they were bound to the strictest chastity ; the first ten of which were spent in learning the mysteries of their profession ; the second ten they ministered in holy things ; and the last ten were employed in bringing up young novices %. Some have thought, and in particular our author, that the apostle alludes to these degrees of the Levites, when he tells Timothy, that they who perform the office of a deacon well, purchase to themselves a good degree, naKov ^aBjxov ; 1 Tim. iii. 13. Moses ordered, that at the age of fifty the Levites should '* cease waiting upon the service of the tabernacle, and should serve no more ;" Numb. viii. 25. Yet he immediately adds, " they shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation, to keep the charge, and shall do no service." It seems, therefore, they were not dismissed ; but while they were exempted from all laborious employment, continued to execute the easier part of their ministry ; and, probably, instructed the younger Levites in the duties of their office. * De Apparatix Templi, cap. iii. sect, vii.; and also the Babylonish Gcmai-a, Cholin, cap. i i" Abeu-Ezra or Numb, viii, X Diony*. Halicarn. lib. ii. 168 JEWISH ANTIQUITIIIS. [boOK I. We have seen before, that the Levites were originally divided into three families. In David's time they were distinguished into three classes, to each of which a different service was assigned ; and proijably each was divided into twenty-four courses. Tiie first class were " to wait upon the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord ;'"* that is, to assist the priests in the exercise of their ministry, " to purify the holy things, to prepare the shew- bread, and flour, and wine, and oil for the sacrifice: and sometimes to kill the sacrifice," when there v.'as more work of the sort than the priest could conveniently perform ; 1 Chron. xxiii. 28, 29 ; 2 Chron. xxix. 34; and chap. xxxv. 10 — 14. So that it was not necessary that the sacrifice should be slain by the priest, as some erroneously suppose, alleging against the consideration of Christ's death as a proper sacrifice, that he must, in that case, in the cha- racter of a priest, have slain himself. The second class of Levites formed the temple choir : the divi- sion of this class into twenty-four courses is expressly recorded in the twenty-fifth chapter of the First Book of Chronicles. Some imagine there were women singers, as well as men, in the temple choir; because in the book of Ezra, among those wdio returned from the Babylonish captivity, there are said to have been two hundred, Ezra ii. 65, and elsewhere we read of two hundred forty-five, Nehem. vii. 67, singing men and w^omen. The Jewish doctors will, indeed, by no means admit there were any female voices in the temple choir : and as for those mi"iti»D meshorcroth, as they are called in the Hebrew, they suppose them to be the wives of those who sung*. Nevertheless, the following passage makes it evident, that women, likewise, were thus employed: — "God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters; and all these were under the hands of their father for song in the house of the Lord, with cymbals, psalteries, and harps, for the service of the house of God ;'' 1 Chron. xxv. 5, 6. Instrumental music was first introduced into the Jewish service by Moses, and afterward, by the express command of God, was very much improved with the addition of several instruments in the reign of David. When Hezekiah restored the temple service, which had been neglected in his predecessor's reign, it is said, that " he set the Levites in the house of the Lord, with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet ; for so was * Reland. Antiq. part ii. cap. vi. sect. vi. p. 235, third edit. 1717. CflAP. v.] THE TEMPLE MUSIC. 169 the commandment of the Lord by his prophets ;" 2 Chvon. xxix. 2a. The instruments originally appointed in the law of Moses were only two ; namely, the n^vii'-n chatsotseroth, or silver trumpets, Numb. X. 2, which they " were to blow in their solemn days, and over their burnt-offerings, and over the sacrifices of their peace- offerings," ver. 10 ; and the "i5iti^ shophai', or cornet, as the word is rendered in the following passage of the Psalmist : " With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord the King ;" Psalm xcviii. 6. Here it is expressly distinguished from the trumpet, though in many other places, in our version, it is confounded with it. As we are informed, that the nT^aiu; shophe- roth, used at the siege of Jericho, were of" rams"" horns," Josh. vi. 4, it is probable this instrument was made of horn, and is therefore properly rendered a cornet. It was appointed by the law to be blown througliout the land, when they proclaimed the year of jubilee, on the day of atonement ; Lev. xxv. 9. It may be observed, that as no other instruments are prescribed by the ritual, besides the trumpet and the cornet, it is likely they were the only ones at that time in use among the Jews, and which they had skill to play on, except we reckon the r]in toph, or timbrel, which was used by the women; Exod. xv. 20. But as that was properly a sort of tabor, without any variety of notes, used only to accompany the voice, it hardly deserves to be ranked among the musical instruments. It is not indeed likely the Israelites, who were a poor labouring people, but lately come from working at the brick- kilns, should have much skill in music at the time of their receiv- ing the law ; only some could make shift to sound the horn, or the trumpet, which therefore M'as all the music that could then be prescribed to attend the sacrifices. But when they were grown more polite and skilful, in the reign of David, several other instru- ments were added by divine direction. When some, therefore, plead for instrumental music in Christian worship, as pleasing to God, though not commanded, from the notion of its having been first introduced into the Jewish worship by David, without any divine institution, notwithstanding which God approved of it, they commit two mistakes. For David did not introduce any part of the temple music without an express divine injunction : " So was the commandment of the Lord by his prophets."" And it was not first brought in by him, but by Moses, who prescribed it to attend the sacrifices, so far as it could be practised in those times. And when, in after-ages, they were more skilful in music, and capable 170 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. of performing the service in a better manner, they were required so to do ; nevertheless, not one new instrument was then added without divine direction and ai)pointment. But to return to the temple choir. The music there used was both vocal and instrumental : " As well singers as players on instruments shall be there;" Psalm Ixxxvii. 7. In David's time there were appointed three masters of the band of music, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, 1 Chron. xv, 17 ; M'hose names are prefixed to some of tlie psalms, perhaps because they set them to music. Asaph's name is inscribed to the fiftieth, seventy-third, and ten following psalms ; Heman's to the eighty- eighth ; and Ethan's to the eighty-ninth. There was also^ over all the rest, one chief musician, or head master of the choir, to whom several of the psalms are inscribed, or to whose care it was entrusted to have them set to music, and performed in the taber- nacle or temple. At the time of writing the thirty-ninth, sixty- second, and seventy-seventh psalms, this master's name was Jeduthun. The vocal music was performed by the Levites. The Hebrew doctors say, the number of voices must not be less than twelve, but might be moi*e without limitation *. They add, that the youth, the sons of the Levites, bore a part with their fathers in the choir ; which they ground on this passage in the book of Ezraf, " Then stood Joshua with his sons, Kadmiel and his sons, and sung together by course, in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord;" chap. iii. 9 — 11. As for instrumental music, though it was performed chiefly by the Levites, yet, the rabbles say, other Israelites who were skilful, if they were men of worth and piety, might bear a part %. This they ground on the account we have, that on occasion of David's fetching the ark from " Kirjath-jearim, he and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments ;" 2 Sam. vi. 5. In the temple choir there were both wind and stringed instru- ments ; the chief of the former was the n^iyvn chatsotserah, which we have spoken of before. The name of it is supposed to have had an affinity with, and to be formed from its sound. \Ye find that this music attended at the service of the altar. Thus when Solomon and all the people offered sacrifices at the dedication of * Gnerachin in Mishn. cap. ii. sect, vi.; ^Nlaimon. et Bartenor. in loc. et Gemara, fol. 11.6; Maimon. de Appar. Templi, cap. iii. sect. iii. t Glossa, ibid. t Maimou. de Apparatu Templi, ubi supra. CHAP, v.] THE TEMPLE MUSIC. 171 the temple, " the Levites played on instruments of music, and the priests sounded trumpets before them;" 2 Chron. vii. 6. And when Hezekiah purified the house of the Lord, and restored the temple service, and on that occasion offered sacrifices, " the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets," 2 Chron. xxix. 26; and so likewise in many other places. Jn both these passages the priests are said to sound the trumpets, and not the Levites, who played on other instruments. And thus, when David brought up the ark out of the house of Obed-edom, the Levites were appointed to be singers with instruments of music, psalteries, harps, and cymbals, and the priests did blow with the trumpets, 1 Chron. xv. 16 — 24, as it was prescribed in the law of Moses, " The son of Aaron the priest shall blow with the trumpets ;" Numb. x. 8. According to the Hebrew doctors, there must be two trumpets at least. Numb. x. 2, and not more than a hundred and twenty *, because that was the number used when the ark was brought into Solomon's temple ; 2 Chron. v. 12. They say, that in singing the psalms, the voices and instruments made three intermissions or pauses, which they call Ci''p^Q pero/dm, from p-)ti parah, rvpit ; and that then the priests sounded the trumpets. So that Dr. Lightfoot says the trumpets were never joined with the choir in concert, but sounded only when the choir was silent -j-. However, in this he is undoubtedly mistaken ; for on the occasion above referred to, of bringing the ark into the temple, we find the trumpets, and voices, and cymbals, and other instruments of music, united in one grand chorus : " The trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound in praising the Lord ; and they lift up their voices with the trumpets and cymbals, and instruments of music, and praised the Lord ;" 2 Chron. v. 13. Another wind instrument in use among the Jews, was the hhn chain, the pipe, flute, or hautboy. The rabbles say, it was used only on twelve days in the year;]:; but it does not appear in Scrip- ture, that it was ever used in the temple service. It is said, indeed, in Isaiah, "Ye shall have gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mount of the Lord, to the Mighty One of Israel;" Isa. xxx. 29. But that may probably allude to the people's having music playing before them, when * jMaiiiioii. lie App.iratu Tompli, cap. iii. sect. iv. Crciiii Fascic. Scxti, p. 103; !Mishn. in Giiciacliii), cap. ii. Fcct. v.; ct de Bavteiior. in loc. ; ot Maimoii. in scot. vi. p. 197, 108, torn. V. edit. Suicuhus. -|- Temple Service, chap. vii. sect. ii. + Maimon. «bi supra, sect, vi.: ^Misliu. in Gnevacliin, cap. ii. sect. iii. p. 19G, lora. v. 172 JKWISII ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. they came in companies tVom all parts of the countr}', to pay their worship at the national altar on the three grand festivals. The b-bn chain, might be a common instrument, used on that occasion, though not in the temple choir. The other musical instruments, chiefly used in the sacred service, were the 'ch^: nrblKtUnu m^JD Jdnnorotli, and the cn^VD metsiltaim, which in the fifteenth chapter of the First Book of Chronicles we render psaltries, harps, and cymbals ; 1 Chron. xv. 16. The hii nehliely and the '^;d khinor, the psaltery and harp, are both said to be stringed instruments. Josephus describes the kinnor as having ten xo/'Snt, or strings (which, as the word signifies, were all open notes, in the manner of our harps, or harpsichords) ; and the nebhel as having twelve cfidoyyoi, notes or sounds; produced by stopping with frets in the manner of our viols ; for so Dr. Lightfoot ima- gines these two words should be explained. Josephus fiirther saith, that the kinnor was struck likrjKTpo, with a quill, as we play on the dulcimer ; and the nebhd twanged with the fingers, as we play on the lute *. But if they had got into the way, by stopping, of playing several notes on one string, in Josephus's time, I much suspect they had not that contrivance in David''s ; because he seems to speak of an instrument of ten strings as the grandest and most excellent of all, on account of the number of its strings : Psalm xxxiii. 2 ; xcii. 3; cxliv. 9. Whereas if they had had the way of stopping them, as we do the violin, I can see no sufficient reason, why such a number of strings should be reckoned a mark of excellence, when fewer would have reached as large a compass as they had ever occasion for. It seems, therefore, as if ten open strings, or ten notes, was the whole compass of their music in those days. And to this time the eastern music hath but a small compass of notes. The b)iW tseUsel, which both the Septuagint, in 1 Chi'on. xv. 16, and Josephus f translate Kvnl3a\ou, the cymbal, seems to have been neither a wind nor stringed instrument, but something made of metal, which gave a sound with striking upon it, without any variety of notes, like a bell. Josephus gives no other description of cymbals, but that they were great and broad, and made of brass. Mr. Lampe has written a treatise de Cymhalis Veterum. And Sir Richard Ellis, who hath one on the same subject in his Fortaita Sacra, shows the ancient cymbals were generally two " Joseph. Antiq. lib. vii. cap. xii, sect. viii. edit. Haverc. ; and Lightfoot's Temple Service, ubi supra. f Ubi supra. CHAP, v.] THE TEMPLE MUSIC. 173 brass hemispheres, or basons, which the musicians struck against one another with great address, in time to the song or other music which they accompanied. This is the instrument to which the apostle alludes, when he compareth a professor of religion without charity or love, to " the sounding brass or tinkling cym- bal ;" 1 Cor. xiii. 1 . The Hebrew name !?v?v tselfsel, is probably taken from its repeated, uniform sound ; and so may the Greek word liKaKaC'iv, which we translate by a like, namely, tinkling. Perhaps our kettle-drums may be supposed to succeed the cymbals of the ancients, though, if the rabbles say right, there was but one cymbal in the temple concert *, and it could not, therefore, answer the same end our kettle-drums do ; which are always placed in pairs, and being tuned at a fourth to each other, make an agreeable bass to the trumpet. There are some other instruments, of which we have no remain- ing description, nientioned in the hundred and fiftieth Psalm, as used in praising God, but whether in the temple-service does not appear. The use of instrumental music in public worship was one of the typical ceremonies of the Jewish religion, which is abrogated, therefore, with the rest, by the gospel dispensation, and there is no revival of this institution in the New Testament. The ancient fathers were so far from })ractising or approving in- strumental music in Christian worship, that some of them would hardly allow it was used in the Jewish, but put allegorical inter- pretations on the texts that mention it. The unknown author of the Commentary on the Psalms, in St. Jerome's works, makes the instrument of ten strings, to signify the ten commandments, in Psalm xxxiii. 2, and xliii. 4, &c. And he hath this notable obser- vation on the following passage, " Praise him with stringed instruments and organs,'" Psalm cl. 4 : that the guts being twisted by reason of abstinence from food, and so all carnal desires sub- dued, men are found fit for the kingdom of God, to sing his praise. St. Basil calls musical instruments the invention of Jubal, of the race of Cain f. And Clement of Alexandria says, they are better for beasts than men:}:. That musical instruments were not used even in the Popish church in Thomas Aquinas's time, about the year 12o0, appears from this passage in his questions §: " In the old law, God was praised both with musical instruments and human voices ; but the Christian church does not use instruments * Misbn. ubi supra, sect. v. ; M.iiraon. iibi supra, sect. iv. -|- Comment, in Isaiah, cap. v. apud Oper. tom. i. p. 56", edit. Paris, 1618. I Psedag. lib. ii. cap. iv. init, § Secunda sccundse Quc«tio .\ci. art. iv. condus. ir. 1T4 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. to praise him, lest she should seem to Judaize." So that it seems, instrumental music hath been introduced into Christian worship within about the last five hundred years, in the darkest and most corrupt times of Popery. It is retained in the Lutheran church, contrary to the opinion of Luther, who, as Eckard confesses, reckoned organs among the ensigns of Baal. Organs are still used in some of the Dutch churches, but against the minds of their pastors; for in the national synod at Middleburgh, anno 1581, and in that of Holland and Zealand, anno 1594, it was resolved that they would endeavour to obtain of the magistrates, the laying aside of organs, and the singing with them in churches *. The Church of England also, in her homilies, strongly remonstrates against the use of organs, and other instruments of music in churches. In tlie homily on the place and time of prayer, after mention of piping, singing, chanting, and playing on organs, which was in use before the Reformation, we are exhorted " greatly to rejoice, and give thanks to God that our churches are dehvered out of these things, that displeased God so sore, and so filthily defiled the holy house and place of prayer." I only add, that the voice of harpers and musicians, and of pipers and trum- peters, is mentioned among the glories of the mystical Babylon, "that mother of harlots and abominations of the earth, whom God will destroy with the sword of his mouth, and with the bright- ness of his coming ;" Rev. xviii. 22. But to return to the Levites. The third class were the porters, to whose charge the several gates of the courts of the sanctuary were appointed by lot; 1 Chron. xxvi. 1. 13. 19. "They waited at every gate ; and were not pei'mitted to depart from their service ;" 2 Chron. xxxv. 15 : and they attended by turns in their courses, as the other Levites did ; see 2 Chron. viii. 14. Their proper business was to open and shut the gates, and to attend at them by day, as a sort of peace-officers, in order to pre- vent any tumult among the people ; to keep strangers, and the excommunicated and unclean persons, from entering into the holy court; and, in short, to prevent whatever might be prejudi- cial to the safety, peace, and purity of the holy place and service. The rabbles assign several particular works to these porters, as brushing the gate, cleaning the gilding, &c., which probably be- longed to their office, as they had the charge of the sacred buildings, but of which there is no occasion to speak distinctly. * Vid. Apolog. (Hicmanni) pro Ministris in Angla Nonconfoimistis, p. 139. CHAP, v.] THE LEVITES, 175 They also kept guard by night about the temple and its courts ; and they are said to have been twenty-four *, including three priests, who stood sentry at so many different places. There was a superior officer over the whole guard, called by Maimonides f " the man of the mountain of the house;" he walked the round as often as he pleased ; when he passed a sentinel that was standing, he said, " Peace be unto you ;" but if he found one asleep, he struck him, and he had liberty to set fire to his garment. This custom may, perhaps, be alluded to in the following passage : " Be- hold, I come as a thief," that is, unawares ; " blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments;" Rev. xvi. 15. The hun- dred and thirty-fourth Psalm seems to be addressed to these watchmen of the temple, " who by night stand in the house of the Lord ;" in which they are exhorted to employ their waking hours in acts of praise and devotion. Thus the Levites, as it is said in the First Book of Chronicles, were employed in the work day and night; 1 Chron. ix. 33. Godwin observes, ''that some of the Levites had the charge of the treasures of the temple." It is said, that " of the Levites, Ahijah was over the treasures of the house of God, and over the treasures of the dedicated things ;" 1 Chron. xxvi. 20. But I do not conceive it was a distinct class of Levites that was entrusted with the treasures and dedicated things, but rather that herein they acted as assistants to the priests, or as inferior officers under them, it appearing that the high-priest, and others of the chief of the j)\"iests, had the charge of those things as well as the porters, who might probably have the immediate care of them under their superior direction. "■ The king commanded Hilkiah, the high-priest, and the priest of the second order, and the keepers of the doors, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal," &c. ; 2 Kings xxiii. 4. Godwin adds, that " others of the Levites were overseers and judges," cD'lI> sliuterim, and C't^sty shophefim, as they are called in the First Book of Chronicles, chap, xxiii. 4 ; where six thousand Levites are said to have been appointed to these offices in David's time. For though God had ordered, in the law of Moses, that they should appoint c^'ostr shophethyi, and C'.aii; sho- terim, in all their gates, Deut. xvi. 18; yet it should seem, that order and appointment had been much neglected ; the heads of the * Maimon. de j^dificio Tcmpli, cap, viii. sett. iv. Crenii Fascicul, Scxti, p. 70. t Ibid, sect, X. p. 71,72. 176 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. tribes, perhaps, having taken upon them to judge and determine controversies in tiieir respective tribes, only in causes of great mo- ment allowing an appeal to the king ; for that David used, himself, to act as judge, and determine controversies between his subjects, may be concluded from the following passage : " When any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absa- lom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou?" &c., 2 Sam« XV. 2. But when David was introducing his son Solomon to the throne, he was desirous of settling the inferior courts, according to the original institution, well knowing that was the likeliest way of preserving the peace, and consulting the welfare of the nation. Ac- cordingly, he restored these judicatories to their ancient order, and constituted Levites to be officers and judges. We have had an occasion already to speak of the distinction be- tween the D^asiy sliophetim and CiDty sliotcrhn ; and we then observed, that the D''tDQm shophetim were the superior magistrates or judges, as may be concluded from that title's being applied to the chief magistrate under God, or the temporary viceroy, for se- veral ages. As for the D''"ii3ii^ shoterim, they seem to have been the inferior officers in the judicatory courts, who attended the superior, and are therefore continually mentioned along with them, who, by whatever title they are distinguished, whether judges, rulers, elders, or captains, still had their D''ia'^ shoterim: Deut. i. 15; xvi. 18; Josh. viii. 33 ; 2 Chron. xix. 11 ; Prov. vi. 7. But in this account of David's appointment of the Levites to their offices, 1 Chron. xxiii. 4, quoted above, the ^•^'I'lDW shoterim are placed before the D'-lDQty shophetim : so likewise in Josh. viii. 33. From hence Dr. l^atrick conjectures, we are not to take them for inferior persons, but for men of great authority, whom the Targum calls governors, who, like our justices of the peace, saw good order kept and the laws observed, while the province of the judges was the deciding causes in their several courts. Some think their judicial authority extended no farther than their own tribe, and the judging and determining controversies which arose among the inferior priests and Levites, especially about matters relating to the sacred ministry. But this opinion is hardly consistent with the account we have, that " Jehosaphat set of the Levites, and of the priests, along with the chief of the fathers of Israel, for the judgment of the Lord, and for controver- sies,"" 2 Chron. xix. 8 ; that is, all sorts of causes, both ecclesi- astical and civil. And the Levites were the antou? shoterim, officers, CHAP. V.]] THE LEVITES. • 177 " under Araaziah, who was chief in all matters of the Lord ;" and " under Zebadiah, the ruler of the house of Judah for all the king's matters," ver. 11. Upon the whole, it should seem the magistracy belonged, not to the Levites, or any class of them, merely as Levites, but only as they generally addicted themselves more to the study of the law, and had more leisure to attend on the duties of the magistracy, than other persons who were employed in secular business. The magistrates of different ranks, both the D''tDati; shophetim and Dntoty shoterhn *, were very generally, though not always, chosen out of that tribe. And thus the prophetic curse which Jacob pronounced upon Levi, that his posterity should be scat- tered amongst the tribes of Israel, Gen. xlix. 7, was remarkably accomplished (though in effect converted into a blessing), not only in respect to the appointment of their habitation (of which we shall take notice hereafter), but likewise of their offices and employ- ments ; more of them, than perhaps of all the other tribes together, being officers and judges throughout the whole country; and, probably, as the rabbies tell us, some of them were generally directors of their seminaries of learning f. Godwin observes, that the consecration of the Levites, in Mo- ses's time, began at the twenty-fifth year of their age ; in David's, at the twentieth; and "here," saith he, '' we may note the liberty granted to the church in changing ceremonies." But he would undoubtedly have spared this note, if he had attended to what Da- vid declares, namely, that he had appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites (which included the time of their entering on their ministry), and all the service of the house of the Lord, by the express order of God himself. " All this," says David, " the Lord made me understand in a writing by his hand upon me;" 1 Chron. xxviii. 13. 19. It does not, therefore, appear from hence, that there was any such liberty given to the church under the Old Testament, as our author mentions, but rather the contrary ; and, I apprehend, it will be hard to find it any where, either in the Old Testament or in the New. As for the consecration of the Levites, when they were offered by the priest, it is said, " Aaron shall offer them before the Lord * See above, p. 2 2 — 24. t Sec the authorities in Vitriiiga dc Synag. Vetcre, lib. i. part ii. cap. viii. p. 364, 3(<5, wlio, however, looks upon this to be a rabbinical fiction. Dr. Lightfoot supposes the forty- eight cities of the Levites to have been a kind of universities. Sec his Harmony on Matt. ii. 4. 178 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. for an offering of the children of Israel," Numb. viii. 11. But the literal translation is, " Aaron shall wave them for a wavering, or wave-offering, before Jehovah."' The Targum renders it, "Ele- vabit Aaron Levitas elevatione coram Domino." This is a manifest allusion to an ancient sacrificial rite, namely, wavin g the sacrifices before the Lord. This waving was of two kinds ; one called noilh ternmah, from ai'n rum, elevatus est, which, they say, was performed by waving it perpendicularly upward and downward ; the othei*, rrQiin tenuphah, from Si: nuph, arjitare, movere, which the Jewish writers tell us was performed by waving it horizontally, toward the four cardinal points, to denote the consecration of what was thus waved to the Lord of the whole earth *. And this word is applied to the consecration of the Levites in the passage before quoted. The Septuagint renders it by a^ajpifw ; and as this word is used, in the history of the Acts, for the separation or consecra- tion of Paul and Barnabas to the ministry of the gospel among the Gentiles, Acts xiii. 2, Godwin conceives, it is in allusion to the consecration and separation of the Jewish Levites to the ministry of the tabernacle. The same Greek word occurs concerning Paul in the Epistle to the Romans, where he saith of himself, that he was a0co/3i(7/xei/os fis evayyeXtoj/, set apart for the gospel ; Rom. i. 1. However, he may here allude, perhaps, to his having been a Pha- risee, or iL>l"ia pharosh, which coming from ti^lQ pharash, separavit, signifies a(^copto-/xei'os ; and as before his conversion he gloried in being a Pharisee, acpapKrixevos ets vo^ov, so he now does in being acpapKr/ifvos eis evayyfXiov. Another ceremony, at the consecration of the Levites, was im- position of hands : " Thou shalt bring the Levites before the Lord, and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon them;" Numb, viii. 10. By the bi^'^^W'' ''jI bene Israel, children of Israel, some Jewish doctors understand the first-born f, in whose room the Levites were substituted; ver. 17, 18. And their laying their hands, every one on the head of his substitute, had the same sig- nification as the Levites laying their hands on the heads of the bullocks that were to be sacrificed for them, ver. 12, or to suffer and die in their room and stead ; that is, denoting not only their consecration to God, but their substitution to attend the service of God at his tabernacle, instead of the first-born. Or, if by the b^*'^ll>> >jn bene Israel, we understand, with Dr. * Abarbanel, Bechai, and Levi Ben Gerson, quoted by Outram, de Sacrificiis, p. 162. ■f Vid. Ainsworth in loc. CHAP, v.] THE LEVITES. 179 Patrick, the elders, as representatives of the whole assembly men- tioned in the words preceding, we may suppose their laying their hands on the Levites was a form of benediction ; as wlien Jacob laid his hand on Ephraim and Manasseh, and said, " God, before whom my fathers walked, bless the lads;" Gen. xlviii. 15, 16: and as when little children were brought to our Saviour, that he might bless them, he laid his hands upon them; Matt. xix. 15. This ceremony, used at the consecration of the Levites, came afterward into use at the consecration of other persons into either civil or sacred offices. Joshua was consecrated captain-general of the tribes of Israel by imposition of the hands of Moses; Numb, xxvii. 18. And the same rite continued in the Christian church at the ordination of officers, both ordinary and extraordinary ; particularly of the seven deacons, Acts vi. 6 ; of Barnabas and Saul to a special service, to which God called them, Acts xiii. 2, 3 ; and of ordinary pastors, 1 Tim. iv. 14, especially chap. v. 22. There is a difference, which Godwin observes, between x"po^fo-ta and x"poT-oi/ta, the former signifying the consecration of a person to an office by the imposition of hands ; the latter, his election or choice by holding up of hands. It is derived from an ancient custom of the Athenians in the choice of their magistrates, among whom the candidates being proposed to the people, who signified their choice by holding up their hands, he who had most, was looked upon as duly elected *. Thus there was a brother, xftpoTovr]6(is airo T, to the Most High God, at Jerusalem |. And hence Tertul- lian, in his apology to the Romans, says, " cujus (Judseae sc.) et Deum victimis, et templum donis, et gentem foederibus, aliquandiu honorastis§.'" The Jews accounted their holocaust the most excellent of all their sacrifices. Accordingly it is so styled by Philo, in his book de Victimis, who begins with it, and assigns this reason for giving it the preference, that it redounds solely to the divine honour, being entirely consumed with fire, and leaving therefore no room for selfishness or avarice ||. Moses likewise begins the law con- cerning sacrifices with those relating to the holocaust or burnt- offering, Lev. i. initio ; and informs us, that the creatures proper for sacrifices were bullocks, sheep, or goats, and turtle-doves or young pigeons ; ver. 5. 10. 14. The doves and pigeons were chiefly for the poorer sort of people, who could not go to the price of bullocks and sheep. The law enjoins a person who had been * 'EBvo'av Tcp All, Kai wAoKavroKTav rovs ravpov;' ewfira Tip 'HAitf), Kai iiKoKavrutaav Tovs iinrov;, CyrojKcd. lib. viii. p. 464, edit. Hutehius. 1738. f jMaituon. de Ratione Saciificionim faciendonmi, cap. iii. sect. ii. p. 300, Crenii. Fascic. Se.Kti. J De Legatione ad Caium, apud Opera, p. 801, E. edit. Colon. Allobr. 1613. § Tertnllian. Apoloi:i; gnolall vadiattaah, Psalm xl. 6, 'OXonavTapara km nepi upapTias, burnt-oflPerings, and sin-ofFerings ; " Heb. x. 6. Thus nept apapnai ought undoubtedly to be rendered, where it is said, " God sending his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, /cat -rrept apupnas, and, by a sin-oflTering, condemned sin in the flesh ;" Rom. viii. 3. According to the Scripture account, these sacrifices were offered, 1st. For all sins of ignorance or inadvertency against what are commonly called the negative precepts, or with respect to things forbidden. The case stated in Leviticus is, '' If a soul shall sin, through ignorance, against any of the commandments of the Lord, concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them." Notwithstanding this general mode of ex- pression, the rabbies limit the law to those sins of ignorance, which, if they had been committed knowingly and wilfully, would have incurred the penalty of " cutting off; " and they tell us they were forty-three in number, which they pretend exactly to enume- rate*. But the words are express against this rcxbbinical restric- tion, " If a soul shall sin through ignorance, mi."2 h^:}'2 miccol mitsoth, against any of the commandments of the Lord ; " Lev. iv. 2, 3. 13, 14. 22, 28. 27, 28. Besides, we find these sacrifices * Maimon. de Sacrificiis, tractat. W. cap. i. sect. ii. — iv. Du Yiel, Lond. 1683. CHAP, v.] SACRIFICES. 201 enjoined incases where the penalty of being " cut off" could not be incurred ; particularly, 2dly. On occasion of legal pollution ; as at the cleansing of a leper, Lev. xiv. 19, and the purification of a woman after child- bearing, chap. xii. 6, and other legal pollutions, specified in the fifteenth chapter of Leviticus, ver. 19. 29, 30. In the common sin-offering, whether private or public, the fat only was burnt upon the altar, and part of the blood put on the horns of the altar, and part of it poured at the foot of it ; chap. iv. 25, 26. But the flesh was the due of the priest, to be eaten in the courts of the tabernacle of the congregation, chap. vi. 25, 26 ; and by these, and by the trespass-offerings, were the priests chiefly maintained in the weeks of their attendance on the temple service. Besides many particular occasions, on which these sacrifices were offered, there were also constant sin-offerings at stated seasons, as on every new moon a kid of the goats. Numb, xxviii. 15 ; and on the fifteenth day of the passover month, one goat, and so for seven days successively, ver. 22. 24; on the day of the feasts of trum- pets, a kid, chap. xxix. 5 ; and at the feast of tabernacles, a kid for seven days together, ver. 7. 11, et ser/. There were also sin-offerings of a more solemn nature, offered on extraordinary occasions, of which the priests had no part, but they were entirely consumed with fire ; not, however, on the altar, as the holocausts were, but without the camp, or upon the ground in the open field ; only the kidneys and the fat were burnt on the altar of burnt-off^ering, and part of the blood poured out at its foot; and part of it the priest carried into the sanctuary, with some of which he tinged the horns of the golden altar of sweet incense, and with the rest he sprinkled seven times before the Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary; Lev. iv. 4. 6 — 10. 17 — 19. 21. Of this sort was the high-priest's sin-offering bullock, when he had sinned through ignorance, " according to the sin of the people ;" ver. 2, 3. The sacredness of his office was an aggravation of his sin beyond that of others, and his dignity rendered his example in doing evil more hurtful than theirs, for which reason a more solemn sacrifice was appointed to be offered for his sins, even of ignorance, than for those of the common people. Of this kiod, also, was the high- priest's sin-offering bullock on the day of expiation, chap. xvi. 6 ; only with this difference, that the blood of it was sprinkled, not be- fore the veil of the sanctuary, but before the mercy-seat, in the holy of holies ; ver. 14. 202 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. Of this sort likewise was the sin-ofFering bullock for the sins through ignorance of the whole congregation, chap. iv. 13. The Jewish writers are of difierent opinions concerning the occa- sion of these sacrifices. Some by the whole congregation under- stand the Sanhedrim, and imagine their sin to be, that they had mistaken in judgment, and by that means misled the people *. Others interpret it of any general popular defection from the law of God, which through their ignorance of the law was not presently attended to -f-. Thus when Hezekiah restored the true worship of God, after the temple had been shut up and the daily sacrifices omitted for a considerable time, he offered "a. sin-ofFering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah ;" 2 Chron. xxix. 21. The sacrifice of Christ, which he offered for the sins of his people, is resembled in Scripture to the sin-offering of the congregation, because he offered it for all of them in the general, as when he is said to be "made sin," that is, a sin-offering, " for us ;" 2 Cor. v. 21. And his sacrifice is represented to be of the same kind with those whose blood was brought within the sanctuary for sin, and whose bodies were burnt without the camp: " The bodies of those beasts," saith the apostle to the Hebrews, " whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high-priest for sin, are burnt without the camp. Wherefoi'e Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate;" Heb.xiii. 11, 12, compared with Lev. xvi. 27. The burning of those sacrifices without the camp is to be understood therefore as typical, not only of Christ"'s suffering without the gates of Jerusalem, as the apostle applies it ; but, probably, likewise of his suffering for the salvation of Gentiles, who were without the camp of Israel, as well as Jews ; and the bringing the blood of those sacrifices into the holy place was a figure of Christ's presenting the merits of his death for us, in his heavenly intercession. The third kind of sacrifices were called D^oty« ashamim, which we render trespass-offerings X. They so greatly resembled the sin-offerings, that it is not easy to distinguish between them. The occasions on which they were offered were much the same ; nay, sometimes the same oblations are indifferently called sin-offerings * Maimonides, and the rabbles in general. Vid. Outram de Sacrificiis, lib. i. cap. xiy. sect. i. p. 149, 150.; and Hottinger de Juris Hebrseor. Leg. c.xviii. p. U7, 148, edit. Tigur. 1655. t Aben-Ezra. Vid. Outram, sect. i. ad finem, et sect. ii. p. 150 — 152. X See the laws concerning them, Lev. v. and vi. and xiv. 12, 13, and xix. 20 — 22, and Numb. vi. 12. CHAP, v.] SACRIFICES. 203 or trespass-oiferings, particularly in the following passage : " And he shall bring his trespass-offering, tdii»« ashamo, unto the Lord, for his sin which he hath sinned, wton ^ti♦^^ inj^tsn i^i' gnal chattatlio asher cliata ; and if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass whicli he hath committed, «'j?n "^ti^t^ iDii^t^ ashamo ashe?- cluda, two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, the one for a sin-offering, n^ton^ lechatfath, and the other for a burnt- offering ;" Lev. V. 6 — 8. Where it is remarkable, that the offence committed is called indifferently a sin and a trespass ; and the sacri- fice offered, a trespass-offering and a sin-offering. Nevertheless, there are some circumstances in which these two kinds of sacrifices are observed to differ. Sin-ofterings were sometimes offered for the whole congregation ; trespass-offerings never, but for particular persons. Bullocks were sometimes offered for sin-offerings, never for trespass-offerings. The blood of the sin-offerings was put on the horns of the altar, that of the trespass-offerings was only sprinkled round about the bottom of the altar : whence some have concluded, the difference between the sin-offerings and the tres- pass-offerings lay only in these circumstances. But others conceive there must have been some greater difference between them, which was the reason of their being offered with these different circum- stances. Yet what that difference was, is variously conjectured by many learned men, rather than asserted by any. Dr. Lightfoot, from the rabbles *, makes the difference to lie in this, that both in- deed were offered for the same sort of transgressions, but the nwt^ asham, or trespass-offering, was to be offered, when it was doubtful whether a person had transgressed or not. As, suppose he had eat some fat, and was afterward in doubt, whether it was the fat that belonged to the muscular flesh, which was lawful to be eaten; or the fat of the inwards, which was unlawful; then he was to offer an du;h asham. But if it were certain, and he knew that ' he had trespassed, he must offer the n^tsn chattaah, or sin-offer- ing f. Maimonides is of opinion, that the offences for which the Da>« asham was offered, were inferior to those for which the n«an chattaah was offered J. Bochart, on the contrary, is of opinion, that the offences expiated by cii'« asham, were more grievous than those expiated by ns'Dn chattaah §. Aben-Ezra makes nt^tr'n chat- taah to signify a sacrifice offered for purging offences committed * Sec, in particular, R. Aburbancl, Exord. Comment, in Levit. p. 307. -|- Lightfoofs Temple Service, chap. viii. 1 More Nevochim, part iii. cap. xlvi. p. 486, edit, et vers. Buxtorf. Basil. 1629. § Hieroz. part i. lib. ii, cap. xxxiii. 204 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [l500K I. tlirougli ignorance of the law ; aiy« asham for such as were com- mitted through forgetfuhiess of it *. Others, again, make tlie dif- ference to be, that the rM^-Cif] chattaah was for offences proved by witnesses ; the xiw^ ashani for secret faults, known to others only by the offender's confession. For it is said, " If his sin which he hath sinned, yhii. nin hodlicuu/ elalv, come to his knowledge, then he shall bring his offering;" Lev. iv. 28, Now j.mn hodhancj is of a passive signification, and here therefore imports, if his fault be made known to him, by some other person, then he must offer a sin-offering ; ver. 29. But elsewhere it is said, '•' When a person is guilty of any of the things before mentioned, he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing, and he shall bring his trespass- offering ;" Lev. V. 5, 6. And, to mention only one opinion more, others think the nt^ton cliattaah had respect chiefly to offences against God ; and Qty« asJiavi, chiefly to offences against men. To this purpose Dr. Outram observes, that in all cases where the Dii>« asham is required, there was some wrong or injury done him, except in the case of the Nazarite defiled by the dead. Numb, vi. 12, and of the leper. Lev. xiv. 12. But as both these were to be purged with a chattaah as well as an asham, he apprehends they afford no material objection to this general rule f. The fourth sort of sacrifices were a^abty shelamim, or peace-offer- ings ; so called, not as being intended to make peace with God, but rather to preserve it. Burnt-offerings, sin-offerings, and trespass- offerings, were all offered under the notion of some offence com- mitted, and some guilt contracted, which they were the means of removing ; but in the peace-offerings the offerer was supposed to be at peace with God, and the oflfering was made rather in a way of thankful acknowledgment for mercies received, or as accompanying vows for the obtaining of farther blessings ; or, in a way of free devotion, as a means of preserving and continuing peace with God. Thus the peace-offerings are distinguished into sacrifices of thanks- giving, votive offerings, and voluntary or free-will offerings ; Lev. vii. 11, 12. 16. The sacrifice of thanksgiving, M'hich the Septua- gint renders dvata tt^s mvea-eas, is evidently referred to in these words of the Epistle to the Hebrews : " By him let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God;" Heb. xiii. 15. Some peace-offerings were re- quired, by the law, to be offered at certain times, and on particular * Aben-Ezra ad Lev. quoted by Outram, de Sacrificiis, p. 144. t Outram dc Sacrificiis, lib. i. cap. xiii. per totum, p. 135—147, especially sect. viii. p. 143—145. CHAP, v.] SACRIFICES. 205 occasions ; as on the feast of Pentecost, Lev. xxiii. 19 ; by a Naza- rite, wlien he had accomphshed his vow. Numb. vi. 14 ; and at the consecration of the priest; Exod. xxix. 28. But generally it was referred to the devotion and free-will of the people, to offer these sacrifices when and how often they pleased. The peace-offerings might be either of the flock or the herd, Lev. iii. 1 — 6 ; that is, either of beeves, or sheep, or goats, and either male or female. But birds were not allowed, the reason of which was, probably, because they were too small to admit of being divided into three parts : one for the altar, another for the priests, and a third for the offerer, without bringing the sacrifice into contempt. In all peace-offerings, the fat, that is, the suet, as also the kid- neys, were burnt upon the altar. Lev. iii. 3 — 5 ; and if the sacrifice was of the fiock, that is, a sheep or a goat, the rump or tail was burnt along with them, ver. 9 — 11. I'he breast and the right shoulder were the priest"'s due, and they are called the wave-breast and the heave-shoulder, Lev. vii. 34, because of the ceremony of waving them this way and that, and upward and dovv'nward, which was done by the owner of the sacrifice, as the form of his presenting them to God. These portions of the peace-offerings were allotted toward the mainte- nance of the priests, during the weeks of their attendance at the sanctuary ; for they were not permitted to carry them home with them unto their own houses in the country ; but they and their families were to '' eat them in the place which the Lord should choose;" that is, the place of his public most solemn worship by sacrifice ; Deut. xii. 18. Along with these peace-ofterings, at least with those of thanks- giving, there was also offered bread of fine flour, and oil, both leavened and unleavened, made into cakes and wafers, which were hkewise the priest's due ; Lev. vii. 12, 13. The rest of the flesh of the peace-offerings belonged to the owner of the sacrifice, with which it was usual to make a feast, and entertain his friends, either on the day of the sacrifice, or the next day at farthest ; for if any of the flesh remained till the third day, it was to be burnt, ver. 17. Thus the lewd woman in the Proverbs is represented as inviting an unwary youth to a feast upon her votive peace-ofierings ; Prov. vii. 14. These feasts were often kept in the courts of the temple, or in some of the buildings adjoining, where there were cook-rooms, and conveniences for dressing the flesh of the sacri- 206 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. fices, as appears very probable from the account of the solemn Passover which Josiah kept at the temple, that the Levites " roasted the Passover with fire, according to the ordinance : but the other holy offerings sod they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the people. And afterward they made ready for themselves and for the priests;" 2 Chron. xxxv. 13, 14. In like manner they did at Shiloh, before the temple was built; where the sons of Eli, instead of contenting themselves with the breast and shoulder, which the law assigned them for their due, brought up a custom of sticking a three-pronged fork or hook into the caldron where the peace-offering was boiling, and taking whatever it brought up ; 1 Sam, ii. 13, 14. The Gentiles, likewise, who borrowed many of their sacrificial rites from the Jews, used sometimes to hold the feasts of their peace-off"erings in the temples of their gods. Hence St. Paul, in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, speaks of their " sitting at meat in the idol's temple ;" 1 Cor. viii. 10. But they did not always feast upon this flesh with their friends ; they sometimes sold it in the common market, as is plainly intimated in the fol- lowing passage of the same epistle, " Whatever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience' sake," 1 Cor. X. 25, that is, as the context leads us to understand it, not in- quiring whether it had been offered in sacrifice to an idol. Thus much for the different sorts of sacrifices, in respect to their signification and use. 2dly. Sacrifices may be divided, in respect to the persons that offered them, into public and private. 1st. The public sacrifices were oflfered for the whole people of Israel ; as two lambs for burnt-oflferings every day, one in the morning, the other in the evening ; which are called the continual burnt-offering, Exod. xxix. 42 ; two lambs more, that is, four, on every sabbath-day. Numb, xxviii. 9, 10 ; two young bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs, for a burnt-offering, and a kid of the goats for a sin-offering, every new moon, ver. 11. 15; and the same sacrifices every day of the feast of unleavened bread, and of the first-fruits, ver. 17, et seq. On the day of the feast of trumpets, on the great day of expiation, and at the feast of tabernacles, there were also extraordinary public sacrifices appointed ; Numb, xxix. Beside these and some other stated public sacrifices, there were occasional public sacrifices sometimes oflfered ; as the sin- offering of the congregation, when they had sinned through igno- CHAP, v.] SACRIFICES. 207 ranee ; Lev. iv, 13, 14. And on occasion of the war with the Benjamites, " all the children of Israel offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord ;" Judges xx. 26. 2dly. Private sacrifices, offered for particular persons, were either stated or occasional. Of the former sort was the paschal lamb sacrificed annually for each family ; and the high-priest's sin-offering for himself, on the day of expiation ; Lev. xvi. 6. To this there is a reference in the following passage of the apostle : " Into the second" tabernacle, or holy of holies, " went the high- priest alone every yeai', not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people ;" Heb. ix. 7. Occasional private sacrifices were offered on account of any trespass committed against the law, or any legal pollution con- tracted, any vow made, any blessing received, &c. 3dly. Sacrifices are again to be distinguished, in respect to the subject-matter of them, into bloody or unbloody, or into animal and vegetable. The animal sacrifices were of one species of the herd ; namely, the bullock, or cow, including the calf; two of the flock ; namely, sheep and goats : and two of the fowls ; namely, doves and pigeons. The unbloody, or vegetable sacrifices, of which we are to speak at present, were the nni^ minchoth, and CiDi nesachim, meat- offerings and drink-offerings. As for the tithes and first-fruits, we shall have occasion to speak of them hereafter. The meat-offerings were either attended with drink-offerings, or they Avere offered alone. 1st. The meat-offerings, attended with drink-offerings, called D''3D3 mn:o minchoth nesachim, were fine flour, salt, and oil, made either into thick cakes, or thin wafers, and baked either in a pan or oven. The drink-offering was of wine, which was poured out at the base of the altar. These meat and drink offerings were a sort of appendages to the sacrifices; they were offered along with all the burnt offerings, except of birds, and with the peace-offer- ings, Numb. XV. 3, &c. ; but not with the sin-offerings, except that which was offered at the cleansing a leper ; Lev. xiv. 10. 2dly. The meat-offerings alone, which were not offered along with animal sacrifices, were either public or private. The public were the wave-sheaf. Lev. xxiii. 10, 11. and the twelve cakes of shew-bread ; Lev. xxiv. 5. The private were either enjoined by the law, as that of the 208 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. priest at his consecration, Lev. vi. 20, and that which the jealous husband was to offer. Numb. v. 15; or they were allowed in case of poverty, when the persons could not afford a more costly sacri- fice ; Lev. V. 11. The meat-offerings were all of white flour, except that of the jealous husband, which was of barley meal, without any mixture ; and the wave-sheaf, which was not ground into flour ; all the rest were fine wheat flour, seasoned with salt ; Lev. ii. 13. Some were mixt with oil, or frankincense, or both; ver. 15. Some were offered unbaked, others baked. Some were eat by the priests, without bringing them to the altar at all ; as the leavened cakes and the shew-bread. Some were wholly consumed on the altar, as every meat-offer- ing for a priest; Lev. vi. 23. But as to the most of them, a memorial or small part was con- sumed on the altar ; the rest belonged to the priest ; Lev. ii. 2, 3. Thus I have given you a brief account of the Jewish sacrifices. 1 shall only farther observe, that if a person, obliged by the law to offer any of these sacrifices, refused to do it, he was punished even with " cutting off." But the Jews were generally so zealously attached to their law, that there was very rarely an occasion for in- flicting punishment upon this account. If a man, who lived at a great distance from Jerusalem, had fallen under an offence, which required him to make a sin or a trespass offering, the rabbles say, he might defer it till the next solemn festival, when all were obliged to appear before the Lord at the national altar *. CHAPTER VL OF THE PROPHETS. Concerning the prophets, we shall first consider the name, and then the duty and business of the prophetic office. As to the name, there are three different words, by which pro- phets are denominated in Scripture : namely, b^^n: nm n«i roeh, chozeh^ luibhi, which are all found in one passage, where we read of Samuel ns^in haroeh, Nathan ^'-riin hannahhi, and Gad ninn hachozeh ; 1 Chron. xxix. 29. The word ^''13 nabhi, is by some * See on this subject Maimonides de Saciificiis, Abaibanel's Exordium Comment, in Levit., and Outram de Sacrificiis. CHAP. VI.] OF THE PROPHETS. 209 derived from m:: ho, venit, intimating that God came to the pro- phet by the divine afflatus. Thus Ezekiel saith, mi 'D wnni vat- tubo bi ruxLch, which we render, " and the spirit entered into me," Ezek. ii. 2. Some hght, perhaps, niay be hereby given to that remarkable promise of Christ, '* If any man k)ve me, he will keep my words, and 1 and my Father will love him, and we will come and make our abode with him," John xiv. 23 ; namely, by the con- tinual influence of the Spirit on his heart. But others derive ^''33 nabhi from IM nubk, provenin;, from whence comes i'-i niblt, rjennen, friictus, a word metaphorically applied to speech, which is called the fruit, n''3 nihil, of the lips, Isa. Ivii. 11); and it is said the mouth of the just bringeth forth y\j'' janubh, wisdom ; Prov. x. 31. Prophecy, therefore, being the fruit of the lips in consequence of divine inspiration, the prophet is called w^n: nabhi. In the first place wherein this word occurs, it is applied to Abraham: " Restore the man his wife, for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live; but if thou restore her not, thou shalt die ;" Gen. xx. 7. Where a ii.'2i iiahhi is supposed to be a friend of God, whom he would not suffer to be wronged, and whose prayers were very prevalent with him. Accordingly by the Psalmist God is represented as saying, " Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm ;" Psalm cv. lo. And from the following passage of Jeremiah, it appears to have been the special business of the D't^i^ ncbhiim, or prophets, to pray for tlie people : " If they be prophets, and if the word of the Lord be with them, let them now make intercession to the Lord of hosts," &c. ; chap, xxvii. 18. And their prayers are supposed to be very prevalent with God : " Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people;" chap. xv. 1. When, therefore, God was determined to bring judgments upon the Israelites, he forbad Jeremiah the pro- phet to pryy for them : " Then said the Lord unto me, Pray not for this people for their good;" chap. xiv. 11. The other two names of a jirophet, MiH chozdi and Mt^i roeJiy seem to be synonymous, both signifying, one (hat seeth or dis- cerneth ; the former from Min chazah, and the latter from Ht^T raah, vidit. And, indeed, it is hard to say, how these three names or titles differ in their signification. It should seem, the word nsi rock was the more ancient deno- mination of the prophet : but in the days of Samuel the word k^3j nabhi was grown into more common use ; as appears from the P 21ft JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. following passage : " He that is now called a prophet, t^'5: nabhi, was beforetime called a seer, n«l roeh ; 1 Sam. ix. 9. Here a considerable difficulty ariseth ; for we do not any where meet with the word nt^^i roeh in the Scripture history before this time, whereas the word ^''li nahhi is common in the writings of Moses ; who is thei'efore by some supposed not to have been the author of the Pentateuch, a word commonly occurring therein, which it seems was not used till long after his days. One solution that has been offered is, that the word M'-n^ nabhif though in common use in the days of Moses, was not used in tbe same sense as ri«"i roeh was in the days of Samuel, namely, for a revealer of secrets, or a man by whom God was to be consulted ; but that anciently it only signified a friend of God, one who had an intimacy with him. But this is hardly reconcileable with the character of a i^''^: nahhi, or prophet, described in several places of the Pentateuch (Numb. xii. 6 ; Deut. xiii. 1 ; and chap, xviii. 22), as one to whom God makes himself known by visions, or dreams, who gives mii'aculous signs of his divine mission, and foretells things to come. And surely such a one must be as capable of revealing secrets as any ni^l roeh, or seer, in after-times. Others solve the difficulty, by supposing the word nt*1 roeh was anciently in vulgar use, and being esteemed a low word, which would have been unsuitable to the purity and dignity of Moses's style, he for that reason always uses the politer word «'12 nahhi ; but that in Samuel's time H"'nj nahhi was also grown into common and vulgar use. No doubt there might be words in the Hebrew, as there are in our language, which are decently enough used in con- versation, but are hardly thought proper for the pulpit, or for any grave compositions. Of this sort might have been the word n«^ roeh ; but as the language grew more refined, it was of course dropped, and the more polite word 7iahhi substituted in its room, both in conversation and in writing. It is observed in confirma- tion of this opinion, that the word n«"i roeh is but very seldom used in the sacred writings. After all, I know not whether two lines of Horace, in his Art of Poetry, will not suggest the easiest solution of this difficulty : Multa reuascentur, qiise jam cccidere; cadentque Qua' nunc sunt in honoie vocabula, si volet usus. L. 70,71. The word w^ln: nahhi might have been common in the days of Moses, it might hav€ grown much out of use in some centuries CHAP. VI.] OF THE PROPHETS. 211 afterwards, when tii^l roeh was used instead of it ; and nevertheless, be revived and become common in the days of Samuel. Thus much for the name ; we now come to consider the thing, or the duty and business of a prophet. A prophet, in the strict and proper sense, was one to whom the knowledge of secret things was revealed, that he might declare them to others *, whether they were things past, or present, or to come. The woman of Samaria perceived our Saviour was a pro- phet, by his telling her the secrets of her past life ; John iv. 19. The prophet Elisha had the present conduct of his servant Gehazi revealed to him ; 2 Kings v. 26. And most of the prophets had revelations concerning future events ; above all, concerning the coming and kingdom of the Messiah : " He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began ; " Luke i. 69, 70 f . Nevertheless, in a more lax or analogical sense, the title prophet is sometimes given to persons who had no such revelation, nor were properly inspired. Thus Aaron is said to be Moses's prophet : " The Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet," Exod. vii. 1 : because Aaron received the divine messages, which he carried to Pharaoh imme- diately from Moses ; whereas other prophets receive their messages immediately from God himself. In this respect, as Moses stood in the place of God to Pharaoh, so Aaron acted in the character of his prophet. The title of prophets is given also to the sacred musicians, who sung the praises of God, or who accompanied the song with musical instruments. Thus "the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun," are said to " prophesy with harps, with psal- teries, and with cymbals," 1 Chron. xxv. 1 ; and they prophesied, it is said, " according to the order of the king ; " ver. 2. Upon which R. S. Jarchi remarks, they prophesied when they played upon these musical instruments. We also read in the story of Saul's advancement to the kingdom of Israel, that he met " a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery and a tabor, and a pipe, and a harp before them ; and they prophesied, and he with them ;" 1 Sam. x. 5. 10. What kind of * JIaiiHon. Prasfat. in ISIishn. p. 4, edit. Siircnliiis. Appellabant Prophetam, Viden- teui, quod res futuras, aiitcquam cxistercnt, prpevidcret. -|- The rabbies say, all the prophets prophesied concerning the Messiah. Vid. Cod. Sanhedriu, cap. xi. sect. x.\.\;vii. p. 3(32 ; Cocceii excerpt. Gcmar. p2 ^12 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. prophecy this was is evident; it was praising God with spiritual songs, and the melody of musical instruments. Perhaps Miriam, the sister of Aaron, may be called a prophetess only on this account, that she led the concert of the women, who sung the song of Moses with timbrels and with dances; Exod. xv. 20, 21. Thus the heathen poets, who sung or composed verses in praise of their gods, were called by the Romans imtes, or prophets ; which is of the same import with the Greek npocjirjTris, a title which St. Paul gives to Epimenides, a Cretan poet; Tit. i. 12. This notion of prophets and prophesying may give some light to the following passage in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, chap. xi. 5 : " Every woman, praying or prophesying with her head uncovered, dishonoureth her head." Prophesying cannot be understood in the stricter sense of foretelling things to come, nor even of interpreting the holy Scriptures by divine inspiration ; in "which sense the word seems to be used, when the apostle, dis- coursing of spiritual gifts, prefers the gift of prophecy above all others, because, saith he, " he that prophesieth speaketh unto men for edification, and exhortation, and comfort ; "" 1 Cor. xiv. 3. However, neither of these kinds of prophesying will suit with the design of the apostle, when, in the passage we are now consider- ing, he speaks of a woman''s prophesying in the church or con- gregation ; for there she was not permitted to speak, nor so much as to ask a question for her instruction, nuich less to teach and instruct others ; ver. 34. In order to solve the difficulty, some would have the word npocjirjTevovcra to be taken passively, and to signify, a hearing or being present at prophesying : but this is an acceptation of the term contrary to the rules of grammar, and with- out example either in Scripture or in any profane author. Besides, though she may properly enough be said to pray, as joining with the minister, who is the mouth of the congregation to God ; yet with no propriety can she be said to prophesy, only as attending on the preaching of the minister, who is considered as the mouth of God to the congregation. Perhaps, then, prophesying may here mean (as we have shown it does mean in other places) praising God in psalms and hymns. And thus praying and prophesying are fitly joined together, these being the two parts of public worship, in which the whole congre- gation is supposed to unite *. * Vid. Medc's Diatrib. disc. xvi. on 1 Cor. xi. .5, p. 58, et scq. ofliis Works. Smith, in his Discourse on Projiliecy, apprehends that singing ^Yas called pro])h(cy, ^vhen the CHAP. VI.] OF THE PROPHETS. 213 We have observed, that a prophet, in the strict and proper sense, was one, to whom the knowledge of secret things was re- vealed, in order that he might declare them to others. Of such prophets the talmudists reckon forty-eight from Abraham to Ma- lachi, and seven prophetesses *. It is remarkable, that though, to make up their catalogue, they take in Eldad and Medad, men- tioned in the book of Numbers, chap. xi. 26 ; concerning whom, however, it does not appear that they revealed any secret ; but their prophesying was no more than exhorting the people to obe- dience to God, to which they were moved, and in which they were assisted by the Holy Spirit, as were the rest of the seventy elders, ver. 25; notwithstanding this, I say, they do not admit Daniel into the listf, nor place his writings among those of the prophets, but only among the hagiographa|; which they reckon of the least authority of all the canonical books. The reasons they assign for it, as they are recited by the authors of the Ancient Universal History §, are, 1st. That Daniel was a courtier, and spent his life in luxury and grandeur, in the service of an uncircumcised king. 2dly. That the spirit of prophecy was confined to the land of Canaan, out of which he lived all his life. And some have added a 3d reason ; namely, that he wiis made a eunuch, according to Isaiah's prophecy, which he delivered to Hezekiah, 2 Kings xx. 18 : and such were excluded from entering into the congreofation of the Lord : though Aben-Ezra vindicates him from this impu- tation ||. R. Johanan is represented in the Gemaraas casting a still more injurious reflection on him ; namely, that he stole into Egypt to buy hogs, at the time Nebuchadnezzar set up his golden image, and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego, were thrown into the fiery furnace for refusing to worship it if. songs or psalms were composed under the influence of the Divine Spirit, to the sound of musical instruments. Perhaps some of the prophets having uttered such inspired compo- sitions to music, might give occasion to the more general application of the term to all who sung divine hymns, accompanied with instrumental music. Sec Smith's Select Discourses, p. 230. 232. ■ * Vid. jNIegill. fol. xiv. i. ct R. S. Jarchi ad loc. ; vid. etiam notaui Vorstii ad p. 124; Maimon. tract, dc Fundament. Legis. edit. Amstcl. 1680. •f* Vid. Cocccii excerpt. Gemar. Cod. Sanhcdr. cap. xi. sect. xvi. p. .324, edit. Amstel. 1629. Hi (nempe Haggicus, Zacharias, ct !Malachias) praestabant ipsi, qui essent pro- phcta', quuui Daniel non fuerit prophcta. Ipse illis major ob visam visioncm. ^ Maimon. I\Iorc Ncvoch. part ii. cap. xlv. ]i. 318, ^Jl.O, edit. Bnxtorf. Basil, 1G29. § Hist, of the .lews, book i. chap. vii. sect. iii. sub fin. note. || Aben-Ezra in Daniel. IT Vid. Cod. Smhedrin, cap. xi. sect. xiii. apud Cocceii, excerpt. Gemar. p, 320, edit. Amstel. 1629, 214 JEAVISir ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. After all, it is easy to discern wliat was the true cause of the rancour which many of the rabbles have discovered against this eminent prophet : it is because he has so clearly predicted and ascertained the time of the Messiairs coming, which is long since elapsed ; and because of the great advantage which the Christians have hereby obtained in their arguments against the Jews. There- fore, I say, though their historian Josephus was so far from deny- ing him the title of a prophet, that he has in several respects given him the preference to the rest of the prophets *; and not- withstanding the high character that is given of him in the pro- phecy of Ezekiel, chap. xiv. 14, wherein he is ranked with Noah and Job, men of eminent righteousness and piety ; nevertheless, several of the rabbles, though not all f, have spitefully endea- voured to sink his character below that of a prophet, or even of a good man. JNIalachi has been commonly reckoned by the Christians the last prophet j under the Old Testament dispensation, with whom the spirit of prophecy ceased four hundred eighty-six years before Christ. Nevertheless Josephus mentions several others, who during those ages predicted various future events by the spirit of prophecy; as one Judas an Essene §, Sameas||, Mahanem^; and Hlrcanus the high-priest, the fourth of the Asmonean princes from Judas Maccabeus, is said by Josephus to be honoured with three of the highest dignities, being a prophet, as well as prince and high- priest. In his Antiquities he gives two instances of his prophetic gift **. However that be, we have good authority to add John the Baptist to the list of prophets under the Old Testament, though his history Is recorded in the New ; for he lived and pro- phesied before the kingdom of God, or the Messiah's kingdom, was set up. Accordingly our Saviour distinguishes the time in which John the Baptist lived from the time of the kingdom of God, or the gospel dispensation. " Among those that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist, but he that is least in the kingdom of God Is greater than he," * Antiq. lib. x. cap. xi. sect. vii. p. 543, edit. Ilaveic. -|- Vid. Hottiuger. Thesaur. Philolog. lib. ii. cap. i. sect. iii. p. oil, edit. Tigiir. 1649. J So saith the Talmud likewise. Vid. Cocceii excerpt. Geniar. Sanhedr. cap. i. sect. xiii. p. 156. Tiadunt Magistri, ex quo mortui sunt propbeta; posteriores, Hagga?up, Zacharias, Malacbias, ablatus est Spiiitus Sanctus ab Israele. § Antiq. lib. xiii. cap. xi. sect. ii. p. 665, edit. Haverc. lou^av r/va Eo-fl-sjvov fn^ to II Lib. XV. cap. i. sect. i. p. 740. f Ibid. cap. x. sect. v. p. 777. **' Lib. xiii. cap. x. sect. iii. p. 662 ; and cap. xii. sect. i. p. 666. CHAP. VI.] OF TIIK PUOPHETS. 215 Luke vii. 28; that is, on account of the clearness of the gospel revelation, by means of which ordinary Christians may know more of the glories of divine grace, than any of the Old Testa- ment prophets, or even John himself knew. On the same account we may add to the list of the Old Testa- ment prophets, Zachariah, the father of John, " who was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied," Luke i. 67 ; and likewise Simeon, and Anna the ])rophetess ; chap. ii. 2o. 36. Indeed, some of the Jewish rabbies will not allow that the spirit of pro- phecy ever quite departed from them ; but they tell us of a cer- tain 8a8ovxia, or torch of prophecy, one shining when another was set. R. Kimchi gives us this mystical gloss upon the following passage in the First Book of Samuel : " And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see, and ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep, that the Lord called Samuel," chap. iii. 2 — 4; — I say, K. Kimchi, glossing on these wovds, saith, " This is spoken mystically concerning the spirit of prophecy ; according to the saying among our doctors, The sun riseth, and the sun setteth ; that is, ere God makes the sun of one righteous man to set, he makes the sun of another righteous man to rise." But, leaving the Jewish whims and fables concerning the num- ber of their prophets, we proceed to inquire concerning the manner in which the revelation was made, both by God to the prophets, and by them to the people. However, before we directly consider the manner in which God revealed secrets to the prophets, it will be proper to premise a few words concerning the qualifications of a prophet, or the pre-requi- sites to a man's receiving the spirit of prophecy. The first and most essential qualification of a prophet was true piety. This is the constant sense and opinion of the Jewish doctors *. To which agree those words of St. Peter, " Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost;" 2 Pet. i. 2L Yet this general rule is not without exceptions ; for God, on special occasions and for particular purposes, sometimes vouchsafed the prophetic spirit to bad men ; as to Balaam, " who loved the wages of unrighteousness." However, it may well be supposed, that none but good men were stated prophets, so as to *■ Maiinon. Moreh Nevoch. part ii. c.ip. x.xxii. p. 284, 21G JEWISH ANTIOUrj'IRS. [BOOK I. be frequently favoured with the divine afflatus; and especially, that none but such were honoured witii being employed as the writers of any part of the canon of Scripture; insonuich, that the assertion of St. Peter concerning the written prophecies of the Old Testament, is true without exception. We may, perhaps, reasonably account for the ceasing of the spirit of prophecy from among the Jews in the latter ages of their polity, till it was revived at the coming of our Saviour, from their universal degeneracy and corruption in religion and morals. 2dly. The mind of the prophet must be in a proper posture and frame for receiving the divine afflatus, or prophetic spirit ; that is, say the doctors, it nmst not be oppressed with grief, or disturbed with passion of any kind. Their tradition says, that Jacob did not prophesy all the time of his grief for the loss of Joseph; nor Moses for a long time after tlie return of the spies, who brought an evil report of the land of Canaan, because of his indignation against them *. And by the holy spirit, which David prays might not be taken away, but restored to him. Psalm li. 10, 11, the Chaldee Paraphrast, and the Hebrew commentators, under- stand the spirit of prophecy, which, they say, was withdrawn on account of his sorrow and grief for his shameful miscarriage in the matter of Uriah. And when he prays, that God would " make him to hear joy and gladness," ver. 8, they understand it of a cheerful frame of mind, which would fit hirn for receiving the pro- phetic afflatus ; and " the free spirit, with which he prays he might be upheld," ver. 12, they interpret of a spirit of alacrity and liberty of mind, free from the oppression of grief, or discom- posure of passion. In order to prove, that passion disqualified a man for i*eceiving the prophetic afflatus, they allege the story of Elisha, in the third chapter of the Second Book of Kings: when the kings of Judah, and Israel, and Edom, in their distress for water during an expe- dition against Moab, came to Elisha, to inquire of God by him, the prophet seems to have been moved with indignation against the wicked king of Israel, addressing him in the following man- ner : " What have I to do with thee ? Get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother ; surely if it were not that I i-egard the presence of Jehosaphat, the king of Judah, I would not look upon thee, nor see thee;"" 2 Kings iii. 12, 13. However, being willing to oblige Jehosaphat, '•' he called for a * Maimon. Moreh Nevoch. cap. xxxvi. p. 295, 296. CHAP. VI.] OF THE PROPHETS. 217 minstrel ; and it came to pass when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him;" ver. 15. The use of the minstrel seems to be to calm his passion and compose his mind, that he might be fit to receive the divine afflatus. This may perhaps suggest to us one reason, why the prophets practised music., see 1 Sam. x. 5; namely, because of its tendency to compose their minds, and to free them from all such melancholy or angry passions, as would render them unfit for the spirit of prophecy. We find this remedy successfully applied to Saul's melancholy : " And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp and played with his hand; so Saul was refreshed and was well, and the evil spirit de- parted from him ; " 1 Sam. xvi. 23. This evil spirit was perhaps originally nothing but melancholy^, or grief and anguish, which, however, through divine permission, was wrouglit upon and heightened by the insinuations of some evil spirit, which., at times, it seems, instigated him to prophesy: " It came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit came upon him, and he prophesied in the midst of the house," 1 Sam. xviii. 10 ; which the Targum of Jonathan renders " insanivit in medio domils;" and Rabbi Levi Ben Gershon glosses upon it thus: "He spake in the midst of the house very confusedly, by reason of the evil spirit." But why this should be called prophesying is not easy to determine, unless he sometimes sung in his raving fits, since singing is called prophesying, as we have already shown. Mr. Henry supposes, Saul pretended a religious ecstasy, imitating the motions and ges- tures of a prophet, with a design to decoy David into a snare, and put him off from his guard, and perhaps, if he could kill him, to impute it to a divine impulse. However that was, Saul's original disorder was probably melancholy, for which music was a proper remedy. And so it is often still tbund to be ; particularly for the deep melancholy occasioned by the bite of a tarantula, which is ordinarily cured by this means. You may see a great variety of instances of the powerful effects of music in calming the passions of the mind, and in some cases curing the disorders of the body, produced by Bochart in his Hierozoicon*. We come now to consider the manner in which Clod revealed secrets to the prophets; which the apostle saith was Tro\iiTpono3i, " in divers manners," Heb. i. 1, as by dreams, visions, inspirations, voices, and angels. • Part i.' lib. ii. cap. xliv, p. 461—465, Oper. vol. ii. 1712. 218 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [boOK I. 1st. By dreams and visions. I join these together, since they seem to be sometimes used as synonymous terms ; and visions import no more than prophetic dreams. Thus Nebuchadnezzar's dream is called the visions of his head ; Dan. ii. 28. And so is Daniel's dream, chap. vii. 1. This is properly what we are to understand by a " vision of the night," in the book of Job, chap. XX. 8 ; and God is said to speak " in a dream, in a vision of the night ; " chap, xxxiii. 14, 15. And in Genesis, God "spake unto Israel in the visions of the night ; " chap. xlvi. 2. Nevertheless, in some other places, visions seem to be distinguished from dreams ; as in the following passage : " Your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions;" Joel ii. 28. When a vision is distinguished from a dream, I conceive it denotes the representation of things made to the imagination of the pro- phet while he is awake. Perhaps the difference between prophetic dreams and visions may be much the same as between common dreams and a delirium in a fever ; in which the patient, though awake, imagines he sees things and persons that are not present, and of which therefore his senses give him no notice. Such was the vision that St. Peter saw in a trance or ecstasy ; Acts xi. 5. For he saw it, not upon his bed in the visions of the night, but on the house-top about noon, while he was at prayer; chap. X. 9, 10. Such perhaps was Paul's vision of the third heavens, 2 Cor. xii. 1, 2. 4 ; though whether this was not more than a vision, Paul himself could not inform us : " Whether in the body, I cannot tell ; or out of the body, I cannot tell ; God knovveth.'" That is, whether celestial objects were represented to him in a vision only ; or whether his soul was really for a time separated from his body, and translated into tiie heavenly regions. However, by the way, we may surely conclude, from St. Paul's uncertainty on this head, that the soul is something quite distinct from the body, which can exist and act, and receive and under- stand celestial things in a state of separation from it; otherwise the soul must have had this vision in the body, or not at all, and it could have been no doubt with St. Paul, whether at this time he was in the body or out of the body. Again, the word vision is applied, not only to such imaginary representations, but to real miraculous appearances made to the senses. Thus the angePs appearing to Zachariah in the temple is called a vision ; Luke i. 22. Sometimes the word is used in a laxer sense, for any kind of divine revelation ; as the voice which CHAP. Vr.] OP THE PROPHETS. 219 tbe child Samuel heard in the tabernacle, is called a vision, though it does not seem to have l)een accompanied with any sensible ap- pearance ; 1 Sam. iii. 15. The books of the prophecies of Isaiah, Obadiah, and Nahum, are expressly called their visions; though it does not seem probable, that all the revelations contained in them, were conveyed to the prophets by visionary representations. It has been inquired, how the prophets could certainly distin- guish these prophetic dreams and visions from common dreams, and from enthusiastical and diabolical delusions ; for which pur- poses several criteria have been assigned by Jewish and Christian writers ; for instance, 1st. Divine dreams and visions are said to have been known by the extraordinary majesty and splendour of the appearance, or the strength and vigour of the representation made to the prophet, and the liveliness of his perception of it ; see Dan. vii. 8 ; viii. 27 ; X. 8 : which, sometimes, was such as the feeble powers of nature could hardly sustain *. 2dly. During the divine ecstasy, the prophet had the full exer- cise of his reason f ; whereas diabolical possessions and inspira- tions threw him into a fit of madness. So Virgil describes the Sybil, when the prophetic afflatus came upon her, as perfectly distracted and raving. Siibito non vultus, non color unus, Non comptee mansere comae : sed pectus anhelans, Et rabie fera corda tumeut ; niajorque videii, Nee mortale sonaiis : Afflata est Numine quando Jam propriore Dei. TEncid. vi. 1. 47, et seq. 3dly. The subject-matter of divine visions and revelations, it is supposed, was always serious, weighty, and important ; such as it became the wisdom, and holiness, and majesty of God to reveal. After all, if we are content without being wise above what is written, we must frankly acknowledge, we do not certainly know what those criteria were. But of this we may be sure, and it is sufficient, that God, who has an absolute power over the hearts * Maimon. de Fundament. Legis, caj). vii. sect. iii. p. 92. 103, edit, et interpret. Verstii. Amstcl. IGflO. ■f This is agiccablc to the definition wliicli ^raimonides gives of prophecy, that it is an influence of the Deity, first upon the rational, and then upon the imaginative faculty, by the mediation of the active intellect. Vid. Moreh Nevocli. part ii. cap. xx.wi. p. 292 ; compare cap. xxxviii., especially p. 300. De veris prophetis tantum loquutns simi, ut ncuipe excipiam cos, — qui nulla rationalia, neque sapientiam habent, sed nudas tantilui imaginationes, et cogitationes. Reason, therefore, according to this judicious rabbi, was always in exercise during the prophetic ecstasy. 220 .tp:wisii antiquitiks. [book i. and spirits of men, can give any man certain evidence and assu- rance in his own breast, that a revelation, which he is pleased to vouchsafe, does indeed come from him ; otherwise, God would be supposed to be the most impotent of all rational beings, who, while he is capable of conveying his mind to his creatures, is incapable of making- them sensible that he does so. When Jacob awoke out of his sleep, he certainly knew (by what cri- terion we cannot tell) that the visionary dream, with which he had been favoured, was of God; Gen. xxviii. 16. Pharaoh, though a heathen king, knew his dream was extraordinary and pro})lietic, as appears by his spirit being so troubled about it, and by his sending for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt to explain it to him ; Gen. xli. 8. And Nebuchadnezzar was sure he had had an extraordinary prophetic dream, though he could not recollect it. Otherwise we cannot suppose he would have been so exceeding angry at* the w-ise men of Babylon, for not revealing and explaining it to him; Dan. ii. 12. And no doubt God gave Abraham likewise such irresistible evidence and assurance, that it was he who commanded him to sacrifice his son Isaac, as overcame all the reluctance of paternal affection, and whatever reason might object against so unnatural a sacrifice, or he would never have set about it. Thus much for the criteria by which the prophets might know, that their dreams or visions, and other revelations, came from God. Before we have done with this head, it will be proper to inquire, by what criteria other persons might judge and be assured, that the revelations which the prophets delivered, were true divine reve- lations. Here it must be observed, that if the prophet delivered any thing that was contradictory to the invariable law of nature, it was to be rejected, and he was to be treated as a false prophet, even though he produced miracles in evidence of his mission from God ; Deut. xiii. 1 — V). For it was a much more supposeable case, that the devil might counterfeit miracles, than that God would contradict the immutable law of nature. But if nothing which the prophet delivered was contrary to that law, then his divine mission might be evidenced various ways : — 1st. By the sanctity of his own life *, which afforded very pro- bable ground to believe, that he did not counterfeit and pretend * Maimon. de Fundament. Legis, cap. vii. sect i. ii. p. 87 — 89, edit, et intei-pret. Vorstii, Amstel. 1680. CHAP. VI.] OF THE PROPHETS. 221 revelations which had not been made to him. Upon this evidence, Herod regarded John the Baptist as a divine prophet. He " feared John, knowing that he was a just man and holy;" Mark vi. 20. 2dly. By the testimony of other prophets of undoubted veracity*. Thus Moses bore testimony to Joshua, when he gave him a charge in the name of God before all the congregation ; Deut. xxxi. 2o. And John the Baptist, whom the Jews acknowledged to be a pro- phet, bore w'itness to Christ ; John i. 29, 30. odly. Sometimes his mission was proved by miracles ; as the mission of Moses to the people of Israel, Exod. iv. 1 — 10, and afterward to Pharaoh, chap. vii. 9. 4thly. At other times by some sudden and remarkable judgment from God, upon such as slighted and rejected the message he de- livered in the name of the Lord : as on Jeroboam, when he com- manded the man of God to be taken into custody for the prediction he delivered, 1 Kings xiii. 1 — 6 ; and in the case of Elijah's call- ing down fire from heaven, to consume the captains and troops of the king of Samaria ; 2 Kings i. 9 — 12. 5thly. By the accomplishment of his predictions; whereas, if what he foretold did not come to pass, he was to be treated as a false prophet ; Deut. xviii. 22. Yet this rule was not to hold con- cerning the predictions of judgments, but only of good things or favourable events ; see Jer. xxviii. 9. But as for prophetic threat- enings, they were supposed to be conditional, and that the judg- ments or punishments denounced might be averted by repentance. It is evident, the Ninevites understood Jonah's predictionof the destruction of their city in forty days in this sense, though deli- vered without any condition expressed ; Jonah iii. 4. Otherwise, they would have had no encouragement to repent, in hopes that thereby the judgment might be averted ; ver. 9. It was, therefore, no evidence against Jonah's being a true prophet, commissioned of God, that this his prediction was not fulfilled f. It is very proper, while we are upon the subject of prophetic dreams and visions, to inquire whether the accounts oi" the several symbolical actions, said to be done by the prophets, are histories of real facts, or only relations of their dreams and visions. Such as Isaiah's walking naked and barefoot three years, "for a sign and wonder " upon Egypt and Ethiopia, chap. xx. 2, 3 ; Jeremiah's hiding his girdle in a rock by Euphrates, chap. xiii. 4, 6 ; * Maiuion. dc Fiindiinient. Lcgis, cap. x. sect. ).\. j). 147. t M;iiii)on. de Fundament. Lcgis, cap. x. sect. ii. — viii. 222 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. Ezekiel's mock siege of Jerusalem, chap. iv. ; Hosea's taking a wife of whoredom, chap. i. 2 ; and several others. Learned men, of considerable reputation, have been divided in their sentiments on this question. Abarbanel and R. Solomon among the Jews, and the generality of Christian writers before Calvin, understood these narratives in the literal sense, as his- tories of real facts. On the other side, Aben-Ezra and Mai- monides *, and, since Calvin, several other Christian writers take them to be only relations of prophetic dreams and visions. The principal argument alleged to prove these actions were really done, is, that several of them are said to be signs to the peo- ple: as Isaiah's walking naked and barefooot, Ezekiel's mock siege of Jerusalem, chap. iv. 3, and his removing his household goods ; chap. xii. 6. Now, it is said, how could that be a sign to any people, which never was presented before them, but only acted in the imagination of the prophet? To this, however, it may be replied, that these expressions, " this shall be a sign," or " I have set thee to be a sign to the house of Israel," were a part of the dream or vision ; the prophet imagining not only that he saw and did certain things or actions, but that he heard such declarations concerning the end for which they w^ere designed. These were, therefore, imaginary signs, given to imaginary persons ; but when afterward the vision was revealed to the real persons, for whose use it was intended, it must have the same effect upon them (provided they believed it to be a divine vision) as if it had been a real fact, and transacted before their eyes. And thus what was done in vision was properly a sign to them to whom it was declared and applied by the prophet. On the other hand, to prove that these symbolical actions of the prophets were done only in imagination, or that the accounts of them are mere narratives of the prophets' dreams or visions, it is alleged, 1st. That several of the things said to be done, are highly im- probable, if not impossible to be really performed. For instance, that Isaiah should walk naked and barefooted three years together, summer and winter, even if you understand by his being naked, merely being without his upper garment : that Jeremiah should send yokes to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, Jer. xxvii. 3 ; and that he should take so long a * Vid. Maimon. Moreh Nevoch. partii. cap. xlvi. CHAP. Vr.] OF THE PROPHETS. 223 journey as from Jerusalem to the Euphrates, Avhich is about five hundred miles, to hide his girdle in a rock ; and that after it was rotted, he should take the same long journey to fetch it back again, chap. xiii. 4. 6, 7 ; and that he should take a wine-cup from God, and carry it up and down to all nations, far and near, even all the kingdoms which are upon the face of the earth, and make them drink it, — is more than improbable; chap. xxv. 15 — 29. So like- wise that Ezekiel should actually eat a roll, which God gave him, chap. iii. 1.3; and that he should lie upon his left side three hun- dred and ninety days together, and after that forty days together on his right side, with bands upon him that he could not turn from one side to the other, chap, iv., is not only extremely improbable upon several accounts, but hardly possible to be done in the time allotted to this whole affair; for it all passed between the prophet's seeing his first vision at the river Kebar, which was on the fifth day of the fourth month, in the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's cap- tivity, chap. i. 1,2, and his sitting in his house with the elders of Jud-ah on the fifth day of the sixth month of the sixth year, chap, viii. 1 ; that is, within a year and two months. Now the Jewish year, being lunar, consisted of three hundred fifty-four days, and their month of twenty-nine days and thirty days alternately ; there- fore a year and two months (three hundred fifty-four, twenty-nine, and thirty, added together) could amount to no more than four hundred and thirteen days ; which falls short of the number of days, during which the prophet is said to lie on his side, namely, four hundred and thirty days, by seventeen days. And if you de- duct also, from the four hundred and thirteen days, the seven days which he sat among the captives at Telabib, chap. iii. 15, there remain but four hundred and six days; which are twenty-four days short of four hundred and thirty. The only colour of an answer which I have met with to this argument, is, that possibly this might be an embolymean year, in which a whole month was intercalated ; as it was once in three years ; or, more exactly, there were seven embolymean years in nineteen, in order to reduce the lunar year to the solar. On this supposition, indeed, there will be time enough for the prophet's lying on his side, in the literal sense, four hundred and thirty days. But this solution is too subtle for common readers. Four hundred and thirty days, with the addition of seven days when the prophet sat at Telabib, amount to nearly a year and three months in common computation ; and can it be thought the sacred writer would have 224 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. allotted but a year and two months for the whole affair (supposing it to be a history of real fact), without the least hint how the glaring contradiction, which would stare every body in the face on the first reading, might possibly be reconciled ? To this head of impossibilities we may refer God's bringing Abraham abroad into the field, and showing him the stars, Gen. XV. 5 ; since it appears, that it was not yet sun-set : " when the sun was going down," it is said, " a great sleep fell upon Abraham ;"" ver. 12. From whence it is manifest, that his going out before to view the stars, his ordering several living creatures for sacrifice, and his driving away the fowls that came down upon the carcasses, were all performed in prophetic vision only ; as is indeed intimated when it is said, "The word of the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision f ver. 1. 2dly. There are some things said to be done by the prophets, in their narratives of these symbolical actions, which could not be reall}' done without sin; and therefore we may conclude, that neither did God order them, nor did they really do them ; but all was transacted in the prophet's imagination, in a dream or vision only. Thus the prophet Hosea is said, at the command of God, to take a wife of whoredom, that is, a whore ; and to have three children by her, which are called the children of whoredom, that is, bastards ; IIos. i. 2. Those who will have this to be a real fact, allege, that she is called a wife of whoredom ; which intimates, they say, that though she had been a lewd person, yet the prophet was legally married to her. But they forget, that the children which she bore him are called children of whoredom. Besides, he is ordered to " love another woman, an adulteress," chap. iii. 1, and is said to have bought or hired her for " fifteen pieces of sil- ver, and a homer and a half of barley, to abide with him many days," ver. 2, 3 : circumstances whicli evidently point out a lewd mistress, not a lawful wife. Now can it be supposed, that the prophet Hosea. the chief scope of whose prophecy is to discover sin, and to denounce the judg- ments of God upon a people that M'ould not be reformed, would himself be guilty of such an immoral and scandalous practice as to cohabit with one harlot after another? Much less can it be thought, that God would have commanded him so to do. It is far more likely, that the whole narrative is a relation of his prophetic dreams, in which matters were represented to his senses, that would by no means have been fit to be done in reality ; which dreams fur- CHAP. VI.] OF THE PROPHETS. 225 nished out an awakening and very instructive parable to the people of Israel and Judah, who were intended by the two harlots. 3dly. A farther argument to prove, that these symbolical actions were only performed in the imaginations of the prophets, is drawn from their own narratives, by the learned Mr. Smith, in his Dis- courses on Prophecy *. He observes, that the prophets use adifferent style, when relating their imaginary symbolical actions, and when speaking of what they really did. In the former case they com- monly speak in the first person, as " I did so and so," and " the Lord said so and so to me;" whereas in the latter case they speak of themselves in the third person, after the manner of historians relating a matter of fact. Thus, after an account of one of these symbolical actions, namely, the prophet's getting a potter's earthen bottle, and taking with him the ancients of the people, and the ancients of the priests, and conducting them to the valley of the son of Hinnom, and there breaking the bottle before them, Jer. xix. ; it follows, " then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the Lord had sent him to prophesy, and he stood, in the court of the Lord's house ;" ver. 14. Now Mr. Smith supposes, that when the prophet thus spoke of himself in the third person, he related some real fact ; and that Jeremiah, there- fore, really wore a yoke on his neck, M'hich the false prophet Hananiah broke; chap, xxviii. 10. However, this observation will hardly hold universally; for Hosea relates the story of his cohabiting with the former adulteress in the third person, chap, i., and of his cohabiting with the second in the first person, chap. iii. Yet there is no reason to believe one was real fact, any more than the other. Though this argument, therefore, must be acknow- ledged to be ingenious, no stress can be laid upon it. And so the two former arguments, it is presumed, are sufficient to satisfy us, that many of the Scripture narratives of the symbolical actions of the prophets are only relations of their prophetic dreams or visions. 2dly. Another way, in which secrets were revealed to the pro- phets, was by inspiration ; that is, when something was suggested to the mind of the prophet while he was awake, without any such scenical representation to his imagination or fancy as is made in dreams and visions. The Jewish writers distinguish inspiration into several degrees, the chief of which, and indeed all that are * See Smith's Select Discourses, Discourse on Prophecy, chap. vi. p. 218, 2d edit. Cum bridge, 16 7. '5. 226 JEWISH ANTIQUITIKS. [liOOK I. worth notice, are what they call ii>^pn mi ruach hukhodhcsh, or the Holy Spirit, and the (jradus Mosaicus, the degree of Moses, which they make to be the highest of all. The 1st, tyipn mi 7'nach hakkodhesh, is thus distinguished by Maimonides, When a man perceives some power to arise within and rest upon him, which urgeth him to speak ; insomuch that, under this impulse, he either discourses concerning arts and sciences, or utters psalms and hymns, or useful and salutary pre- cepts for the conduct of life, or matter political and civil, or sacred and divine ; and that while he is awake, and has the ordinary use and vigour of his senses ; this is such a one, concerning whom it is said, that he speaks by the Holy Spirit *. And thus St. Peter says, that " prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost ;"" 2 Pet. i. 21. Such was the inspiration of Zacharias, of whom it is said, that ** he was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied," Luke i. 67 ; and also of his wife Elizabeth, who " was filled with the Holy Ghost, and'^pake with a loud voice," &c., ver. 41, 42. What they delivered was immediately suggested to their minds by the Holy Ghost. This kind of inspiration was calm and gentle, and did not throw the prophet into those fears and consternations, and disorders of body, which the prophetic dreams and visions some- times did f ; but he continued, all the time the afflatus was upon him, in full possession of himself. And by this circumstance divine inspiration was distinguished from the pseudo-prophetical spirit of the heathens, and other pretenders to prophecy ; which if it did indeed, without dissimulation, enter into any person, its energy seems to have been merely on the imagination or fancy, which was thereby so disturbed, that the prophet was thrown into a sort of fury or madness. Thus Virgil represents the Sybil as distracted and raving when the prophetic afflatus came upon her, in a passage quoted before. The Pythian prophetess is described by Lucan % as full of fury, when she was inspired by the prophetic spirit, and uttering her oracles with her hair torn, and foaming at the mouth, with many antic gestures. And Cassandra is repre- sented by Lycophron as prophesying in the same manner §. This sort of enthusiastic ecstasy was accounted by the primitive * Maimon. More Nevocli. part ii. cap. xlv. p. 317. ■\ See Jer. xxiii. 9; Ezek. iii. 14; Dan. vii. 15, viii. 27; Hab. iii. 2; aad perhaps to this class we may also refer Isa. xxi. 2, 3, though Jonathan the targumist and some others understand the prophet as here speaking in the person of the Chaldeans, and repre- senting the liorrors and anguish that should come upon them. X Luran, lib. v. 1. 142 — 218, passim. § Lycopli. Cassandr. ab init. CHAP, vr.] OF THE PROPHETS. 227 fathers to be a sure diagnostic of a false prophet. Hence Mil- tiades made it an objection against the Montanists * ; and Clemens Alexandrinus saith of those who made false pretences to prophecy, that they prophesied being in an ecstasy, like the servants of the devil f. Tertullian, who was a friend to the Montanists, grants they were sometimes ecstatical in their prophetic dreams or visions, but denies they fell into any rage or fury, which he seems to admit is the character of a false prophet |. St. Jerome, in his preface to Isaiah, says, " the prophets did not speak in ecstasies, neither did they speak they knew not what ; nor were they, when they went about to instruct others, ignorant of what they said them- selves." St. Chrysostom is of the same opinion §. '* It is the property of a diviner," says he, " to be ecstatical, to undergo some violence, to be tossed and hurried about like a madman ; but it is otherwise with the prophet, whose understanding is awake, and his mind in a sober and orderly temper, and he knows every thing he saith." Hence we may infer what opinion these fathers would have entertained of the ecstatic fits of the modern French prophets, Quakers, Methodists, and Moravians. The energy of the pseudo-prophetic spirit is farther represented as irresistible by the prophets themselves ; so that they could not withstand it, nor suppress its dictates, but must immediately utter what it suggested. Thus Virgil represents the Sybil, in her raving fit, as striving, but in vain, to shake off the prophetic afflatus, while it returned upon her with so much the more violence, and forced her to utter prophecies. At Plicebi nomlum patiens, immanis in antro B.icchatur vatcs, magnum si pectore possit Excussisse Deiim ; tanto magis ille fatigat Os rabiilum, feia cordadomans finitqiie pi'emendo. TEncid, vi. 1. 77, Sec. On the contrary, the true prophets were only juvenis iniserae, bcUique propinqui Dura rudimcnta ! .Eueid, xi. 1. 152 — 157. CHAP. VI.] OF THE PROPHETS. 233 Bible instead of Homer or Virgil. The practice appears to have been as ancient as Austin, who lived in the fourth century. He mentions it in his hundred and ninth epistle to Januarius ; and though he disallows it in secular, he seems to approve it in spiritual affairs. Dr. Prideaux says it obtained mostly in the west, especially in France, where for several ages it was the practice, on the conse- cration of a new bishop, to consult the Bible concerning him, in this way of divination, by which they made a judgment of his life, and manners, and future behaviour ; and this they made a part of their public offices *. We have many instances in history of the use of these Sortes Sanctorum, as they were called, though they were condemned by the council of Agda, anno 506, at the time they were beginning to take footing in France f . However, blind superstition prevailed above the decree of the council for several ages, till more light and knowledge springing up at the Reformation, those fooleries, which had so long obtained among Heathens, Jews, and Christians, are now in a manner extinguished. Thus nnich for the third way of revelation by voices. As for the fourth, namely, by angels, there seems to be no reason to make it, as the Jews do, distinct from the three former ; since Moses received the law that was revealed to him by the •' ministry of angels ;" Gal. iii. 19. Probably the visions which the prophets saw, as well as the voices which they heard, were formed by angels: see Isa. vi. 3; Dan. viii. 16, 17 ; Rev. v. 2, &c. And how far their ministry might be employed in suggesting things more immediately to the minds of the propliets, who can pretend to determine ? Thus much for the manner in which God revealed secrets to the prophets. Godwin observes, that, for the propagation of learning, colleges and schools were in divers places erected for the prophets. The first intimation we have in Scripture of these schools is in a passage of the First Book of Samuel, where we read of '' a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, a ta- bret, a pipe, and a harp before them, and they did prophesy ;" 1 Sam. X. 5. They are supposed to be the students in a college of prophets at ni*::: f/ihnath, or " the hill, ' as we render it, " of God." Our translators elsewhere retain the same Hebrew word, " Prideaux's Connect, part. ii. book v. p. 4G3, 464, edit. 10. Sec also Du Frcsnc's Gloss;ir. ill voc. Sortes S:nKtoriini. t Canon, xlii. Du V'm\ I'^ccles. Hisl. Anno .50t">, vol. vi. p. 1 \1. 234 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. as supposing it to be tlie proper name of a place, 1 Sain. xiii. 3 ; " Jonathan smote the garrison of the PhiHstines that was in Geba." Some persons have imagined, that the ark, or at least a synagogue, or some place of public worship, was at this time at Geba, and that this is the reason of its being styled in the former passage D"'n!?«n ni?:iJ gibnath Haelohim^ the hill of God. We read afterwards of such another company of prophets at Naioth in Ra- mah, " prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them ;" I Sam. xix. 19, 20. Ramah, otherwise called Ramathaim- zophim, was Samuel's birth-place, where his parents lived ; 1 Sam. i. 1, compared with ver. 19. Some imagine it was called csv tso- phim, from MQV tsaphah, speculatus est, because of the school of the prophets, or seers, that was there ; for this title nsy tsopheli, is given to the prophet Ezekiel : " I have made thee a watchman, nay tsopheh, to the house of Israel ;" Ezek. iii. 17. The students in these colleges were called sons of the prophets, who are frequently mentioned in after-ages, even in the most de- generate times. Thus we read of the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel, 2 Kings ii. 3 ; and of another school at Jericho, ver. 5 ; and of the sons of the prophets at Gilgal, chap. iv. 38. It should seem, that these sons of the prophets were very numerous; for of this sort were probably the prophets of the Lord, whom Jezebel cut off; " but Obadiah took an hundred of them, and hid them by fifty in a cave ;" 1 Kings xviii. 4. In these schools young men were educated under a proper master, who was commonly, if not always, an inspired prophet, in the knowledge of religion and in sacred music (see 1 Sara. x. 5, and xix. 20), and were thereby qualified to be public preachers, which seeitis to have been part of the business of the prophets on the sabbath-days and festivals ; 2 Kings iv. 23. It should seem, that God generally chose the prophets, whom he inspired, out of these schools. Amos, there- fore, speaks of it as an extraordinary case, that though he was not one of the sons of the prophets, but an herdman, " yet the Lord took him as he followed the flock, and said unto him. Go, pro- phesy unto my people Israel ;" Amos vii. 14, 15. That it was usual for some of these schools, or at least for their tutors, to be endued with a prophetic spirit, appears from the relation in the Second Book of Kings, of the prophecies concerning the ascent of Elijah, delivered to Elisha by the sons of the prophets, both at Jericho and at Bethel ; 2 Kings ii. 3. 5. The houses in which they lived were generally mean, and of their own building; chap. CHAP. VI.] OF THE WISE MEN. 235 vi. 2 — 4. Their food was chiefly pottage of herbs, chap. iv. 38, 39, unless when the people sent them some better provision, as bread, parched corn, honey, dried fruits, and the like : 1 Kings xiv. 3 ; 2 Kings iv. 42. Their dress was plain and coarse, tied about with a leathern girdle : Zech. xiii. 4 ; 2 Kings i. 8. Riches were no temptation to them, therefore Elisha not only refused Naaman's presents, but punished his servant Gehazi very severely for clandestinely obtaining a small share of them ; 2 Kings v. 15, &c. This recluse and abstemious way of life, together with the meanness of their attire, gave them so strange an air, especially among the courtiers, that they looked upon them as no better than madmen; chap. ix. 11. It was, perhaps, the uncouth dress and appearance of the prophet Elisha, which made the children at Bethel follow and mock him ; chap. ii. 23. The freedom which the prophets used in reproving even princes for their evil deeds, frequently exposed them to persecution, imprisonment, and some- times to death, under the reigns of wicked kings, such as Ahab and Manasseh. Nevertheless, in the main they were much re- spected, and treated with great reverence and regard by the better and wiser sort of people, even those of the highest rank ; I Kings xviii. 7 ; 2 Kings i. 13, and xiii. 14, This is all we certainly know of the prophets and their schools*. As for the account which some have ventured to give, of their living in perpetual celibacy, poverty, and the like, in the manner of the monks and friars among the Papists, it is mere fancy and imagination ; it being certain, that several of the prophets were married, and had children, particu- larly Samuel, Ezekiel, and Isaiah, whose wife is called a pro- phetess ; Isa. viii. 3. And it was the widow of one of the sons of the prophets, whose oil Elisha miraculously multiplied ; 2 Kings iv. 1. Huldah, the prophetess, dwelt in Jerusalem in the college, chap. xxii. 14, probably in the college of the sons of the prophets, her husband Shallum being, it is likely, one of the number. So much for the prophets. Next to the prophets, Godwin speaks of the wise men, c^o^n chachamim, from Din chacham, sapnit ; a title applied in general to such as were skilful in the law, and who taught and explained it to others. Dr. Lightfoot, from the rabbles, speaks of a certain officer in the Sanhedrim, who was called the Dl^n chocham, kut f^oxqv. But in what his dignity and office consisted is very uncer- Vidc Vitring. dc Synag. Vet. lib. i. part ii. rap. vi. vii. 236 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. tain*. ^\'hat the wise men were in the Scripture sense of that appellation appears from hence, that those who in the twenty-third of St. Matthew are called aocfjoi, ver. 34, in the parallel place in St. Luke are styled unoa-ToXot, chap. xi. 49, not meaning in particular those twelve disciples of Christ, who were ordained to be witnesses of his resurrection, and the first preachers of his gospel ; for the apostles, or wise men here spoken of, were such as in former ages had been killed by the Jews, Matt, xxiii, 35, and they are called aTToa-ToKoi, from mroa-TeWa, mitto, Only as being sent from God : as it is afterwards expressed, " O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest, rovs anea-TaXfjifvovsTrpos avrrjv, persons whom God hath sent;" ver. 37. The difference between prophets and wise men, in those passages, is, probably, that the former spoke, sometimes, at least, by inspiration, and occasionally pre- dicted things to conTe ; the latter were uninspired preachers, well skilled in the Scriptures, and sent of God by a providential mission, as ordinary ministers now are. In the First Epistle to the Corinthians, the apostle seems to speak of certain wise men with some degree of contempt : " Where is the wise ? Where is the scribe ? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" Chap. i. 20. But perhaps he here refers, not to the Jewish 'D^D^m cJiachamim, but to the Gentile philosophers, who, as Godwin ob- serves, affected to be called ao(l)oi, till Pythagoras introduced the more modest title (I)CKo(to^ol. There is no great reason to doubt that this was his meaning, because the wisdom of the wise, ver. 19, of which he spoke just before, signifies the wisdom of the heathen world, by which, as he afterward declares, they knew not God, ver. 21 ; which was true, not of the Jews, but only of the Gentiles : and these Grecian (to^oi were the persons to whom the preaching of Christ crucified was foolishness ; ver. 23. Again, when the same apostle says, that he is a debtor (robots re km avoijrois, Rom. i. 14, he means the learned and unlearned, to the philosophers and common people. It is farther observed, that the title D3n chacham, with the Jews, and a-o0os, with the Gentiles, were given to such as were skilful in manual arts. Homer accounts such to be taught by Minerva, the goddess of wisdom. Eu s/Sw iropr.g u-TroinfioffvvKriv Afwns. Iliad, xv. 1. 411. * See Horse Hcbraicae in Luc. x. 25. CriAP. VI.] OF THE SCRIBES. 237 And to this some tliink the apostle alkides, when he compares himself to a (ro(})os apxi-'r^si:c, 17'^8. i?46 jEWisn ANTIQUITIES. [book I. irregularities, and mysteries in them. Thus the great vau in the word, pnj f/nchon, in the forty-second verse ol' the eleventh chapter of Leviticus, is to signify that it is just the middle of the Penta- teuch. The last letter both of the first and last word of this sen- tence in the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy, ver. 4, " Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one Lord," is of an extraordinary size, in order to denote the extraordinary weight of that sentence, and the peculiar attention it deserves. The caph in the word ■nro'^h Uhhckotliah, in the second verse of the twenty-third chapter of Genesis, where Abraham is said to weep for Sarah, is of a lesser size, to signify the moderation of his mourning, she being an old woman. They are, fourthly, supposed to be the authors of the keri and chethibh, or the marginal corrections of the text in our Hebrew Bibles ; among which they have noted transpositions of letters in some words, as ^'ni''jebuchar, for I'^tv jechubar, in the ninth chapter of Ecclesiastes, and the fourth verse ; and one word put for another, as •'jrii ubene for jm uben, in the forty-sixth chapter of Genesis, and the twenty-third verse. But we shall have occasion to take farther notice of the keri and chethihh, when we come to treat of the Hebrew language. From this short specimen of the works of the Masorites, you will probably conceive a higher opinion of their industry and dili- gence than of their judgment. As for the irregularities in the letters, upon which they have commented, it being reasonable to suppose that these happened at first by mere accident in tran- scribing, they would have discovered more good sense if they had corrected them, than in devising reasons for them, and assigning mystical interpretations to them. Dr. Prideaux saith, those who were the authors of the Masora now extant, were a monsti'ous trifling set of men, whose criticisms and observations went no higher than numbering the verses, words, and letters, of every book in the Hebrew Bible, marking which was the middle word, verse, or letter, in each of them, and making of such other poor and low remarks concerning them, as are not worth reading or regarding, whatever Richard Simon the French- man may say to the contrary *. The D'-su/m durshanim, whom Godwin supposes to be intended • Sec Prideaux's Connect, part i. book, v, sub anno 446. For a larger account of the Masorites and their works, consult, besides the authors already quoted, Buxtoifii Tiberias ; Carpzovii Critica Sacra, part i. cap, vi. ; and Walton. Prolcgom. viii. ad Bibl. Polvglot. CHAP. VI.] OF THE MASORITES. 247 by the disputers of this world, mentioned in the first chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, ver. 20, were likewise a sort of Scribes or doctors of the law. There was a threefold exposition of the law in vogue among the Jews, in their later and corrupt ages ; the first, a literal explication of the written law, which they called «"ipo mikra ; the second, consisting of the traditions of the fathers, styled the riiU^o mishna, with a comment upon them styled the niaji gemara, both together called the tahmid ; the third, a mystic and allegorical exposition of the Scriptures, called u^"na mi- drash, or commentary kut eioxnv *. The apostle's allegory of Sara and Hagar, with their sons, by which he illustrates the two cove- nants, in the Epistle to the Galatians, chap, iv., is somewhat in this style, and was, therefore, admirably suited to the taste of the persons whom he is there addressing. The Cabalists likewise were a sort of mystical doctors, who dis- covered a world of mystery in the letters of the sacred text, either by considering their numeral power, or by changing and trans- posing them in different ways, according to the rules of their art. By these means they extracted senses from the sacred oracles, very different from those which the expression seemed naturally to im- port, or which were ever intended by the authors f. We have before oflfered some reasons for believing that by the (ro(pos, mentioned in the first chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, ver. 20, are meant Gentile philosophers, and not, as Godwin seems to imagine, Jewish teachers of traditions. Whe- ther the disputer of this world, av^rjTrjrrjs tov ukovos tovtov, referred to the Jewish allegorical doctors, or the Gentile natural philosophers, as distinguished from the moral philosophers, called a-ocpoi, is diffe- rently conjectured by the learned, but very hard to be determined with certainty. CHAPTER VII. OF THE TITLE RABBI. The title Rabbi, with several others from the same root, nm rabhabh, magnus est, vel multiplicatus est, began first to be assumed, • Vid. Lightfoot. Ilor. Hebraic, in Luc. x. 25. ■f A large account of the cabalistic art, as practised, not only by Jews, but by hcithens and Christians, may be seen in Basnage's History of the Jews, book iii. chap. x. — xxviii. ^4S JLWISII ANTIQUITIES. [UOOK 1. according to Godwin, as a distinguishing title of honour by men of learning, about the time of the birth of Christ. We find it an- ciently given, indeed, to several magistrates and officers of state. In the Book of Esther, it is said, the king appointed ifT'^ i':-^D col- rah betho, which we render " all the officers of his house ;"■ chap, i. 8. In Jeremiah we read of the l!^on ^T) rabhe liammelek, " the princes of the king ," chap. xli. 1. In the Book of Job, it is said, that the D''n'^ rabbim, which we render " great men, are not always wise,*" chap, xxxii. 9 Engl., 10 Heb. ; a rendering, which I appre- hend well expresses the original meaning of the word. It was not therefore in those days properly a title of honour, belonging to any particular office or dignity, in church or state ; but all who were of superior rank and condition in life, were called a^n rabbim. We do not find the prophets, or other men of learning in the Old Tes- tament, affecting any title beside that which denoted their office ; and they were contented to be addressed by their bare names. But as religion and true knowledge declined among them, their pride discovered itself in affectation of titles of honour. Thus, in the first ages of the Christian church, during the prevalence of truth, and of piety and humility, the ministers of Christ had no other titles, but the mere names of their office, apostles, pastors, &c., whereas, in the later corrupt ages of ignorance and pride, a number of titles of honour were invented, to support their dignity, and conciliate the respect and reverence of the people; as masters, doctors, &c. The first Jewish rabbi, said to have been distinguished with any title of honour, was Simeon, the son of Hillel, who succeeded his father as president of the Sanhedrim ; and his title was that of Rabban *. ^He is supposed by Altingius to have been the Simeon who took the infant Jesus in his arms, and blessed him, Luke ii. 25 ; and for this reason, as he conceives, he is seldom mentioned by the later rabbles, though he was a man of such honour and dig- nity, and the first who was distinguished by their favourite title f. Others think it hardly probable, that the Simeon who was directed by the Holy Ghost to pay that respect to our Saviour, was the president of the Sanhedrim ; for Gamaliel, the president's son, was tutor to St. Paul, who received no favourable notion of Christianity from him, as in all probability he must have done from the son of * Lip;htfoot's Harmony on Luke ii. 25. t Alting. de Schilo, lib. iv. x.\i. torn. v. Oper. p. 99 ; Lightfoot, iibi supra ; and Horm Hebr. Luke ii. 2.5. CHAP. VII.] OF THE TITLE R^&BI. 249 that Simeon who took our Saviour in his arms and blessed him. Besides, had he, who did this, been president of the great council, _^St. Luke in all likelihood would have taken notice of so extraordi- nary a circumstance, instead of mentioning him only as " a certain man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon *." The later rabbies tell us, this title was conferred with a good deal of ceremony. When a person had gone through the schools, and was thought worthy of the degree of rabbi, he was first placed in a chair somewhat raised above the company ; then were delivered to him a key and a table-book : the key, as a symbol of the power or authority now conferred upon him, to teach that knowledge to others, which he had learned himself; and this key he afterward wore as a badge of his honour, and when he died, it was buried with him: the table-book was a symbol of his diligence in his stu- dies, and of his endeavouring to make farther improvements in learning. The third ceremony in the creation of a rabbi was the imposi- tion of hands on him by the delegates of the Sanhedrim, practised in imitation of Moses"'s f ordaining Joshua by this rite, to succeed him in his office: Numb, xxvii. 18; Deut. xxxiv. 9. And then, Fourthly, they proclaimed his title :{:. According to Maimonides, the third ceremony was not looked upon to be essential ; but was sometimes omitted. They did not always, saith he, lay their hands on the head of the elder to be or- dained ; but called him rabbi, and said, Behold thou art ordained, and hast power, &c* § We find this title given to John the Baptist, John iii. 26 ; and frequently to our blessed Saviour ; as by John's disciples, John i. 38, by Nicodemus, chap. iii. 2, and by the people that followed him ; chap. vi. 25. It has been made a question, whether our Lord had taken the degree and title of rabbi in the Jewish schools. Vitringa main- tains the affirmative II, alleging that he was called so by Judas, Matt. xxvi. 25, who he supposes would not have complimented him with a title, to which he had no right. It may be replied, that " See Witsii Miscell. torn. i. lib. i. cap. xxi. sect, xiii — xvi. j>. "^89 — 292, edit. Traject. 1692. ■f Maimon. Tractat. Sanliedrin, cap. iv. ; vid. Selden de Synedr. lib. i. cap. xiv. Opera, vol. i. torn. ii. p. 1088, 1089. :{: See, on the creation of a rabbi, Altins;. in Oratione de Promot. Hebr. § Maimon. Sanhedr. cap. iv. ; see Selden, ubi supra, and Lightfoot's Hor. Htltr. Acts siii. 3. II A'itring. de Synag. Vetcre, vol. ii. lib. iii. i)art i. cap. vii. p. "Of!, 707. 2o0 JEWISH ANTIQUITIliS. [noOK I. this being before Judas discovered his treason, and while he asso- ciated with the disciples, he no doubt affected to speak as respect- fully to Christ, as any of the rest. Vitringa insists upon another argument, to prove that Christ must have taken the degree of I'abbi ; alleging, that otherwise he could not have preached publicly in the temple, and in the syna- gogues, as we know he did. But this is built on a mistake in fact. Any Israelite might preach publicly in the temple, or in the synagogue, by the permission of the ruler of it, as we observed in a former lecture *. Mr. Selden takes the other side of the question f , denying that Christ had ever taken this degree. And for this opinion several arguments may be alleged. 1st. It appears that he had had no education in the rabbinical schools, as those who were honoured with this degree must have had; John vii. 15. 2dly. He expresses his disapprobation of the title, and charges his disciples not to assume it. Matt, xxiii. 7,8:" Be not ye called rabbi," &c. Which, as Mr. Selden shows, was a prohibition of their taking that degree; but was not intended absolutely to con- demn the use of the title as a mark of civility to those public teachers who might not in form have taken the degree ; a practice, at that time, common among the Jews, as giving the title of doctor to the minister of the parish, whether he hath taken the degree or not, is now among us J. The reason of our Lord forbidding his disciples to be called, or to affect the title of rabbi, was, doubtless, 1st. To caution them against that pride and haughtiness which generally went along with it. For, though the rabbles pretended to slight the honour, and it was a maxim with them, " Love the work and not the title § ;"' it is certain, nevertheless, they were ex- cessively proud and vain of it, insomuch that they were highly offended, if any person spoke to them without giving it to them ; a remarkable instance of which Wagenseil relates || : "A certain rabbi sent a letter to another, and forgot to give him his title ; but only called him in plain terms, friend. At which he was so highly incensed, that he immediately sent a messenger to that rabbi, * See above, p. 243. f Selden, dc Synedv. Ilebiaeor. lib. ii. cap. vii. sect. viii. Opera, vol. i. torn. ii. p. 1373. * Selden, de Synedr. lib. ii. cap. vii. sect. .\. Opera, vol, i. tom. ii. p. 1378 — 1383. § See Mai monides as quoted by Lightfoot, Hor. Hebraic. Matt, xxiii. 7; and Piike Abhoth, lib. i. cap. x. ; ct Ob. dq Bartenora in loc. II Wagenseil in Sola, annot. v. in cap. i. sect. x. c.xccrpt. Gcmai;c, p. 10.''. CHAP. VII.] OF THE TITLE RABBF. 251 charging him to call him Anan, Anan (which was his name), with- out giving him the title rabbi." This, it seems, was the keenest revenge he could take on him for so gross an affront. And Dr. Lightfoot tells us, from one of their rabbinical books, that the Sanhedrim excommunicated certain persons twenty-four times for not giving due honour to the rabbles *. 2dly. The design of our Saviour's forbidding his disciples to be called rabbi was probably also, that they might not take upon them to lord it over the faith and consciences of men, as the rabbles did, who pretended to little less than to be infallible guides of faith and conscience ; insomuch that it was looked upon as a crime for any person not to hearken to the rabbles, or to disbelieve or doubt of the truth of what they taught. Hence Gamaliel advises the igno- rant among the Jews " to get themselves rabbles, that they may no longer doubt of any thing f;" and Rabbi Eleazar says, "he that separates from the school of the rabbles, or teaches any thing which he has not heard from his master, provokes the Divine Majesty to depart from Israel J." Maimonides tells us, that men of the degree of rabbi were also called Abba, or father ; and that " he who will be holy, must per- form the words of the fathers §." Hence our Saviour forbids his disciples taking the title of father as well as rabbi; Matt, xxiii. 8,9. These are the teachers and guides to v.hom the apostle seems to refer, when he saith, Rom. ii. 17—20, " Behold thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law ; and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law ||." The reason of our Saviour's prohibiting his disciples to be called rabbi is expressed in these words, " Be not ye called rabbi, for one is your master, even Christ," Kadr^yrjrqs, your guide and conductor, on whose word and instructions alone you are to depend in matters * Horae Hebraic. Matt, xxiii. 7. -f- Pirke Abhotli, cap, i. sect. xvi. wliich precept MaimoniJcs and Bartenora (in loc.) rcalrain to ritual observances. :|; Talmud Babylon, tit. Bcrachotli, fol. xxii. ii. ; sec Lightfoot, Horac Hcbr. Matt, xxiii. 7. 5 Maiinon. in Prspfat. Tractat. ; Pirke Abhotli, Jlishn. toni. iv. p. 39;{. II Sec Whitby on Matt, xxiii. 8, 9. _ 252 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. of religion and salvation. Accordingly the inspired apostles pre- tend to nothing more than, as the ambassadors of Christ, to deliver his instructions; and for their own part, they expressly disclaim all dominion over the faith and consciences of men ; see 2 Cor. v, 20 ; chap. i. 24. The Jewish writers distinguish between the titles Rab, Rabbi, and Rabban. As for Rab and Rabbi, the only difference between them is, that Rab was the title of such as had had their education, and taken their degree, in some foreign Jewish school ; suppose at Babylon, where there was a school or academy of considerable note ; Rabbi was the title of such as were educated in the land of Judea, who were accounted more honourable than the others *. But as for Rabban, it was the highest title; which, they say, was never conferred on more than seven persons, namely, on R. Simeon, five of his descendants, and on R. Jochanan, who was of a dif- ferent family -f. It was on this account, it should seem, that the blind man gave this title to Christ, Mai'k x. 51 ; being convinced that he was possessed of divine power, and worthy of the most honourable distinctions. And Mary Magdalene, when she saw Christ after his resurrection, " said unto him, Rabboni," John xx. 16, that is, my Rabban, like my lord in English; for rabbon is the same with rabban, only pronounced according to the Syriac dialect. CHAPTER VIII. OF THE NAZARITES AND RECHABITES. Godwin makes a threefold distinction of Nazarites, which we shall find to be merely a distincdo nominis, as the logicians express themselves, and not a divisio generis in species. The first sort, called Nazarites, from 'iTJ nazar, separavit, are mentioned several times in the Old and New Testament ; the second, whose name is derived from the city Nazareth, are occa- sionally mentioned in the New ; for the third, who rejected the five books of Moses, and were therefore termed Nazarites, according to Godwin, from liyj nasar, dissecuit, because they cut off or excluded these books from the canon of Scripture; finding no mention of them either in the Old Testament, or in the New, * Elias Levita in Tislibi, voce m. -|- See Lightfoot's Harmony on Luke ii. 25. CHAP. VIII.] OF TIIK NAZARITES. ^oS I think they deserve no farther notice: it is chiefly the first sort that we are now to consider. The first person to whom the title -in: nazir is applied is Joseph, who, in the forty-ninth chapter of Genesis, is said to be rn« vn nezir echaiv, which we render " separated from his brethren," Gen. xlix. 26; but the Vulgate, "Nazaraei inter fratres suos." Moses gives him the same title, in the blessing which he pro- nounced on his posterity in the Book of Deuteronomy : " Let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren," Deut. xxxiii. 16 ; vrti^ "in: nezir echaiv. He is called 'in: nazir, not because he was of any particular sect, or such a Nazarite as those concerning whom we ai'e discoursing ; but for one or other of the following reasons : either because he was separated from the society of his brethren by their malice toward him ; or from their evil practices and examples, by the grace of God ; or was advanced by Provi- dence so high above them in dignity and honour. The Septuagint espouses the last-mentioned reason, reading vn« ""li nezir echaiv, in Genesis, (m Kopvc^rfi av -qyna-aTo aSfXcpoov, super caput fractum, quorum dux fait; and in Deuteronomy, em Kopv4>r]s do(aa-6fis en aSfXcjiois, super verticem glorijicatus in fratrihus. Hence the word It: nezer is sometimes used for a royal or sacerdotal crown or diadem : " Thou hast profaned his (the king's) crown, nu nezer, by casting it to the ground;" Psalm Ixxxix. 23. Again, " They made the plate of the holy crown (of the high-priest) of pure gold ;" Exod. xxxix. 30. But whatever was the reason of Joseph's being called nn nazir, the word came afterward to denote a particular sort of separation and devotedness to God ; and on that account was applied to the Nazarites, who were accordingly of two sorts — such as were by their parents devoted to God in their infancy, or even sometimes before they were born, and such as devoted themselves. The former are called Nazarai nativi, and were Nazarites for life ; the latter Nazarcei votivi, who ordinarily bound themselves to observe the laws of the Nazarites only for a limited time. In the number of the Nazara^i nativi, or perpetual Nazarites, were Samson, Judges xiii. 5; Samuel, 1 Sam. i, 11; and John the Baptist, Luke i. 15. All that we can discover in their way of life, which was peculiar, was, that they were to abstain from wine and intoxicating liquors, and were not to shave their heads, but let their hair grow to its full length. It is true, neither 254 jr.wibir ANTiQUiriiis. [book r. Samuel nor John the Baptist are expressly called Nazarites, as Samson is. Nevertheless, as one law of the Nazarites is mentioned to which Samuel was obliged, namely, that no razor should come upon his head ; and another to which the Baptist was obliged, that he should drink neither wine nor strong drink ; it is reasonably presumed they were both under obligation to observe all the laws of the perpetual Nazarites. The rabbies insist that Absalom was a perpetual Nazarite, because he wore his hair so long, that when he polled it, it weighed two hundred shekels ; 2 Sam. xiv. 26. But as this circumstance is mentioned immediately after the account of the beauty of his person, ver. 25, it leads one to conclude, that he wore his hair so long, rather for ornament, than on any religious account. Besides, his polling it at the end of the year is an evidence against his being a perpetual Nazarite. The rabbies, indeed, have framed a rule for the perpetual Nazarites, on purpose not to exclude Ab- salom ; affirming, that when their hair grew very heavy and troublesome, they were allowed to cut it to the length in which it was ordinarily worn by other people, but not to shave it quite off; and this, they say, was the reason of Absalom"'s polling his head every year, because his hair grew so exceeding heavy, that what he cut oft" weighed " two hundred shekels, after the king's weight *." We shall not stay to dispute this point with the rabbies, because it is of no great consequence. But the amazing weight of Absa- lom's hair demands our particular attention. Dr. Cumberland, in his Essay on Jewish Weights and Measures, shows, that a Jewish shekel of silver was equal to half an ounce avoirdupois. Conse- quently, two hundred shekels is six pounds and a quarter ; an incre- dible weight for the hair of one man's head ! Various are the conjectures of the learned in order to remove this difficulty. Some suppose the shekel here spoken of was less than the common shekel ; and they observe his hair is said to weigh " two hundred shekels after the king's weight, ' not according to the common shekel of the sanctuary. Now, should we suppose the shekel here meant to be a weight in gold equal to the value of the silver shekel, or half ounce, that would reduce the weight of the hair to about five ounces. Others imagine there has been an error in transcribing the • Vid. R. de Bartenor. ; et Maimon. Comment, in Mishn, tit. Nazir, cap. i. sect. ii. torn. iii. p. 148, edit. Surenhiis. CHAP. VIII.] OF Till-; NAZARITIS. 'iJo Hebrew copy ; that the number of shekels being expressed by the numeral letter :: caph, which stands for twenty, the transcriber mis- took it for 'I resh, which stands for two hundred ; a mistake which might easily be made if the lower part of the caph was not very plain. Others again are of opinion, that the two hundred shekels de- note, not the weight but the value of the hair ; the Jewish women having been used to purchase it to adorn themselves. It cannot, indeed, be easily supposed, that the king's son sold his hair. But the verb ^pty shakal, rendered " he weighed," may be taken imper- sonally *, to signify, it was weighed at the rate of two hundred she- kels, perhaps by the barber, whose perquisite it might be. Where we cannot arrive at certainty, we must be content with probabihty ; and, I apprehend, either of these conjectures is suf- ficiently probable to relieve the difficulty in the text. We return to the Nazarites : I have only farther to observe con- cerning the Nazarcei nativi, that they were not bound to the same strictness as the votivi, who must not touch any dead carcass, nor so much as enter the doors of a house where a deceased person was, Samson, who was a Nazarceus nativus, made no scruple of taking honey out of the carcass of a lion, Judges xiv. 8, 9 ; and Samuel hewed Agag in pieces ; 1 Sam. xv. 33. As for the Xazarcei votivi, who bound themselves by a vow to observe the law of the Nazarites for a certain time, suppose a month (the rabbles say it could not be for a less time, though it might be for a longer) f , their laws, which are contained in the sixth chapter of the Book of Numbers, are these: — 1st. That they should abstain from wine, and from all inebriating liquors, and even from eating grapes, during the time of their sepa- ration; Numb. vi. 3, 4. 2dly. That they should let their hair grow without cutting it till the days of their vow were fulfilled, ver. 5 ; and then they were to have their hair shaved off' at the door of the tabernacle, and burnt under the altar ; ver. 18. It was probably from this custom of the Jewish Nazarites, that the Gentiles learnt the practice of conse- crating their hair to their gods |, of which Suetonius relates an instance in his life of Nero ; informing us, that he cut off his first * See many instances of this sort produced by Glassius, Philolog. Sacra, lib. iii. tract, iii. do Verbo, canon xxiii. p. 380, 301, edit. Amstel. 1711. f Misli. tit. Nazir, cap. i. sect. iii. p. 148, toni. iii. edit. Sureiilius. :{: Liician represents this as a very common custom, with which he him>*elf had com- plied, de Syria Dea, sub fin. 256 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. beard, and put it into a golden box set with jewels, and consecrated it to Jupiter Capitolinus *. When a Nazarceus votivus was polluted by touching any dead body, he was to " shave his head on the seventh day," that is, at the end of the time during which he was unclean, and " on the eighth day to offer a sin-ofFering and a burnt-offering for his puri- fication;" and then to "consecrate unto the Lord the days of his separation," bringing a " lamb of the first year for a trespass-offer- ing :" that is, he was to begin again the accomplishment of his vow, " the days which were before having been lost, because his separa- tion was defiled;" Numb. vi. 9 — 12. The Nazarite's shaving his head in case of pollution is not ordered to be done, as in case of the accomplishment of his vow, at the temple ; but might be done any where, it seems, in the country, provided it was not so far dis- tant as to prevent his offering the accustomed sacrifices at the temple the next day. However, some learned men have thought, that those who were at a great distance, or in foreign countries, might have their head shaved in the place where they were, and offer the appointed sacrifice at the temple the next opportunity, whether on account of accidental pollution, or at the accomplish- ment of their vow f. Thus they say Paul (according to others, Aquila \) did. Acts xviii. 18, who made his vow at Corinth, shaved his head at Cenchrea, and went soon afterward to Jerusalem to accomplish it by the usual offering §. 3dly. A Nazarite must not come near any dead body, while the vow was upon him ; Numb, vi, 6. It is to be observed, that women, as well as men, might bind themselves by this vow : " When either man or woman shall sepa- rate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite," then they shall do so and so; Numb. vi. 2. This the mother of Samson is advised by the angel to do, at least to submit to the rule of the Nazarites during the time of her gestation ; Judges xiii. 7. The institution of Nazaritism was no doubt partly religious, and it might also be partly civil and prudential. * Sueton. in Vit. Neronis, cap. xii. 11, p. 176, 177, totn. ii. edit. Pitisci, Traject. ad Rhen. 1690. j r r , j y Steph. Morin. dissert, viii. p. 103; Grotius, on Acts xviii. 18; Ancient Universal History, in the History of the Jews, book i. chap. vii. % Witsii Meletem. de Vita Pauli, sect. vii. xiii. p. 100, et xv. ad fin. p. 102 ; Gro- tins in loc. § Concerning St. Paul's vow, see Doddridge in loc. ; Lardner's Credib. vol. i. book i. chap. ix. sect. vii. ; Benson's History of Planting the Christian Religion, vol. ii. chap, v, sect. xiii. and chap. viii. sect. xi. ; Hammond in loc. ; Wolfii Cura; Philolog. in loc. ; and Mcinhard de Pauli Nazirspatu, apud Tliosaur. Philolog. Theolog. toui. ii. p. 47.S, especially cap. iv., Amstel. 1702. CHAP. VIII.] OF THE NAZARITES. 257 That it was partly religious is concluded from the following pas- sage of the prophet Amos, in which, among other extraordinary favours and blessings which God had vouchsafed to the Israelites, he tells them, " I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites," chap. ii. 11 ; that is, I inspired them with a more than ordinary spirit of devotion and piety, and induced them to take the Nazarite's vow, by which they were bound to the strictest sanctity, to give themselves to reading, meditation, and prayer: and, in token of their moral purity, carefully to avoid all legal pollution, and, in sign of their spiritual mortification, and as having their minds so taken up with divine contemplation as to be negligent of external ornaments, they were to let their hair grow without trimming. Moreover, they were to abstain from wine and all inebriating liquors during the days of their separation; just as the priests were forbidden to drink wine during their attendance on their ministry, "lest they forget the law," and their minds should be discomposed for the exercises of devotion. The interdiction laid on the Nazarites was more strict and severe than that laid upon the priests. The former were forbidden the total use of the vine, they might neither taste " any liquor made of grapes, whether wine or vinegai*, nor eat moist grapes, nor dried, neither any thing that came of the vine-tree, from the kernel even to the husk ;" Numb. vi. 3, 4. Which occasions Dr. Lightfoot's making the two following queries : — 1st. Whether the vine-tree might not be the tree in Paradise, which was forbidden to Adam, and, by tasting the fruit of which, he sinned and fell ? The Jewish doctors, he saitli, positively asserted this, without the least hesitation. 2dly. Whether the law about the Nazarites had not some refer- ence to Adam, while under that prohibition in his state of inno- cence? If the bodily and legal uncleanness, concerning which there are precepts so very strict in the thirteenth chapter of Levi- ticus; if the leprosy especially, the greatest of all uncleannesses, properly betokened the state and nature of sin ; might not the laws concerning Nazarites, which enjoined the strictest purity in the most pure religion, insomuch that Nazarites are said to be " purer than snow, and whiter than milk," Lam. iv. 7, be designed in commemoration of the state of innocence before the fall * ? But beside the religious, there might also be a civil and pru- * Lightfoot, Horse Ilcbr. in Luc. i. 1,5. S 258 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. dential use of this institution, the sobriety and temperance which the Nazarites were bound to observe being very conducive to health. Accordingly they are celebrated for their fair and ruddy complexion, being said to be both whiter than milk, and more ruddy in body than rubies, Lam. iv. 7 : the sure signs of a sound and healthy constitution. It may here be observed that when God intended to raise up Samson by his strength of body to scourge the enemies of Israel, he ordered, that from his infancy he should drink no wine, but live by the rule of the Nazarites, because that would greatly contribute to make him strong and healthy ; intend- ing, after nature had done its utmost to form this extraordinary instrument of his providence, to supply its defect by his own supernatural power *. Godwin mentions a second sort of Nazarites, who were so termed fron iv: natsar, from whence came Natzareth or Nazareth, the name of a town in Galilee, where Christ was conceived and brought up. Hence our Saviour was himself called a Nazarene, or Nazarite, Matt. ii. 23; for this name or title, as applied to Christ, is sometimes wrote i>ia^apr]vos, Mark xiv. 67 ; xvi. 6 ; Luke iv. 34 ; sometimes Na^opatoy, Matt. xxvi. 71 ; John xviii. 7, 8 ; Acts ii. 22 ; which words seem to be used by the evangelists in precisely the same sense ; accordingly the Syriac version renders both by the word notzrio. The evangelist Matthew, assigning as the reason for our Sa- viour's being called i, 257, lOtli edit. 264 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. Nevertheless, though the name D''«'ip karraim be thus modern, the sect boasts of their high antiquity ; for they say they are the fol- lowers of Moses and the prophets, as they undoubtedly are on account of their adhering to the Scriptures, in opposition to human traditions. Yet Dr. Prideaux says they did not reject all traditions absolutely, only refused them the same authority as they allowed to the written word. As human helps, conducive to their better understanding the Scriptures, they were content to admit them, but not to put them on a foot with the written oracles of God, as all the other Jews did *. The Karraites differ also from the rest of the Jews in this, that they read the Scriptures, as well as their liturgies, every where, both in public and private, in the language of the country in which they dwell : at Constantinople, in modern Greek ; in Caflfa, in Turkish, &c.f As the school of Hillel prevailed against that of Shamraai, the Rabbinists became the popular sect, and the Karraites were looked upon as schismatics and heretics, being loaded with much re- proach by the other Jews ; though in reality, of all their sects, they were the purest and most pious. They are frequently branded with the name Sadducees by the Jewish rabbies, by whom, I suppose, Godwin was led into the mistake which he commits, when he represents them as rejecting not only traditions, but all Scripture, except the five books of JMoses. The truth is, all the Sadducees agreed with the Karraites in rejecting traditions, but the Karraites by no means agreed with the Sadducees in rejecting the greater part of the Scriptures. As the Rabbinists interpret the Scriptures by the traditions which the Karraites reject, it is no wonder they differ in the sense of many texts, and practise the rites of worship in a different man- ner. Reland reckons up six articles of difference between the Karraites and other Jews : — 1st. The Rabbinists reckon the feast of the new moon, and the beginning of the month, by astronomical calculations ; the Karraites begin the month with the first appearance of the moon after the change. 2dly. The Rabbinists killed the paschal lamb in the after- noon, when the sun was declining; the Karraites not till after the sun was set. * Piideaux's Connect, part ii. book v. sub anno 107, vol. iii. p. 476. t Hottingeri Thesaur. Philolog, inter Addenda, p. 583, edit. Tigiir. 1649. CHAP. IX.] OF THE KARIIAITES. 265 3dly. The Rabbinists admitted the whole family to eat the pass- over ; the Karraites, none but the males, and of them only such as were of age. 4thly. The Rabbinists held, that what remained of the pass- over was to be burnt on the sixteenth day of the month, or, if that proved the Sabbath, on the seventeenth ; the Karraites, that it was always to be burnt on the fifteenth ; see Exod. xii. 10. 5thly. They differed about the meaning of the law concerning the offering of the sheaf of the first-fruits ; Lev. xxiii. 10, 11. The Rabbinists offered it the day after the passover ; the Karraites thought it was to be offered the day after the Sabbath next to the passover. 6thly. In the feast of tabernacles, the Rabbinists carry about branches and a citron, in a sort of procession ; the Karraites allow of no such ceremony *. It may not be improper to observe, that the Mohammedans are distinguished into two sects, in some measure analogous to the Rabbinists and Karraites among the Jews; namely, the Sonnites and the Shiites. The Sonnites are so called, because they ac- knowledge the authority of the Sonna, or collection of traditions concerning the sayings and actions of tiieir prophet, which is a kind of supplement to the Koran, directing the observance of several things there omitted, and in name, as well as design, answering to the Mishna of the Jews. The Shiites, which name properly signifies sectaries, or ad- herents in general, but is peculiarly applied to the sect of Ali, reject the Sonna as apocryphal and fabulous. These acknowledge Ali, the son-in-law of Mohammed, for his true and lawful succes- sor, and even prefer him to Mohammed himself. The Turks are Sonnites; the Persians Shiites. These two Mohammedan sects have as gi*eat an antipathy to one another as any two sects, either of Jews or Christians. So greatly is Spinoza mistaken, in pre- ferring the order of the Mohammedan church to that of the Roman, because no schisms have arisen in the former since its birth f. * Yid. Relandi Antiquitat. Hebiacor. part ii. cap. ix. sect. xii. ; see also, on the sub- ject of the Karraites, Trigland. dc Scctri Kara-oruiu ; Father Simon's Histoire Critique Vieux Testament, liv. i. ch. xxix., or the Latin edition, p. 14.5; and also his Disquisitioncs Critica;, cap. xii. ; R. Mardochanis Karseus, apnd Wolfii Notitiam Karxorum ; Basnage, Hist, of the Jews, book ii. chap. viii. ix. f Vid. Spinoz. Opera Posthuma, p. 613; and Sale's Preliminary Discourse to his Translation of the Koran, sect. viii. p. 175, 178, London, 1734. 266 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. CHAPTER X. OF THE PHAKISEES. The Pharisees derived their name, not, as some have supposed, from ti>"iQ pharash, exposuit, because they were in the highest repu- tation for expounding the law ; for it appears by the rabbies there were women Pharisees, to whom that office did not appertain : but either, as Godwin apprehends, from ttni3 pirresh, in the conjugation pihel ; or from 013 pha7'as, devisit, pco'titiis est, which is sometimes written with a ty siti ; see Mic. iii. 3 ; Lam. iv. 4. Q'^m")"',^ pherushim, in the Hebrew dialect, or pty^"^.Q pheriskhi, or «'tyna j^Z/er/s/?^, ac- cording to the Chaldee, signifies persons who were separated from others ; which name, therefore, was assumed by the Phari- sees, not because they held separate assemblies for divine worship, but because they pretended to a more than ordinary sanctity and strictness in religion. Thus in the Acts of the Apostles, the Pha- risees are said to be aKpi^earcm] mpea-is, the most exact sect of the Jewish religion, chap. xxvi. 5; agreeable to the account Josephus gives, that this sect W^aS thought eva-elBearepov eivai. rav uXXcov, tO be more pious and devout than others, and to interpret the law with greater accuracy *. In another place he saith, they valued them- selves on their exactness in the law, and on their skill in the inter- pretation of it; and seemed to excel all others in the knowledge and observation of the customs of their fathers f . It is very uncertain when this sect first sprung up ; but there is no doubt its date, as well as that of all other religious sects amons the Jews, ought to be fixed later than the death of Malachi, when the spirit of prophecy ceased from Israel. We read, indeed, of persons much of the same spirit and temper with the Pharisees in Isaiah, w'ho said, " Stand by thyself, come not near me ; for I am holier than thou ;" chap. Ixv. 5. But this only shows there were proud hypocrites before the sect of the Pharisees arose. I know not upon what authority Godwin makes Antigonus So- cheus to be the founder of this sect, three hundred years before * Joseph, de Bello Judaic, lib. i. cap. v. sect. ii. p. 63, Haverc. ; see also lib. ii. cap. viii. sect. xiv. p. 166. t A'ntiq. lib^ xvii, cap, ii. sect, iv. p. 830 : et in Vita sua, sect, xxxviii. p. l.S. CHAP. X,] OF THE PHARISEES. 267 Christ. Dr. Lightfoot thinks, that Pharisaism rose up gradually, and was long before it came to the maturity of a sect ; but when that was, he does not pretend todetermine*. It appears by Josephus, that in the time of John Hyrcanus, the high-priest, and prince of the Asmonean line, about a hundred and eight years before Christ, the sect was not only formed, but made a considerable figure : inso- much, that this prince thought it for his interest to endeavour to in- gratiate himself with the Pharisees, and gain them to his party. For this end he invited the heads of them to an entertainment, and, having regaled them, paid them the compliment to desire, that if they saw any thing in his administration unacceptable to God, or unjust or injurious to men, they would admonish him of it, and give him their advice and instructions, how it might be reformed and amended. Whereupon one Eleazar, a sour Pharisee, told him, " that if he would approve himself a just man, he must quit the priesthood, and content himself with the civil government. Upon that he was highly provoked, and went over to the Sadducees f . To what a height of popularity and power this sect was grown about eighty years before Christ, appears from another passage in Josephus X- When king Alexander .Tannaeus lay on his death-bed, and his Avife Alexandra was exceedingly troubled at the ill state in which she found she and her children would be left on account of the hatred which she knew the Pharisees bore to her husband and his family, he advised her by all means to caress the Pharisees, since that would be the way to secure her the affection of the bulk of the nation ; for there were no such friends where they loved, and no such enemies Mhere they hated ; and whether they spoke true or false, good or evil of any person, they would be alike believed by the common people. With this view he enjoined her, after his death, to commit his body to their disposal ; and at the same time to assure them, that she would ever resign herself to their autho- rity and direction. Do this, said he, and you will not only gain me an honourable funeral, but yourself and your children a secure settlement in the government. And so it accordingly happened ; his funeral was more sumptuous than any of his predecessors, and his queen was firmly established in the supreme administration of the nation. According to Basnage, one Aristobulus, an Alexandrian Jew, * Horse Hcbr. in Matt. iii. 7. -f- Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiii. cap. x. sect. v. vi. p. 062, 6fi3. j I'bi supra, cap. xv. sect, v. ; et cap. xvi, sect, i, p. C75, 676. ' 268 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [boOK T. and a peripatetic philosopher, who flourished about one hundred and twenty-five years before Christ, and wrote some commentaries on the Scripture in the allegorical way, was the author of those traditions, by an adherence to which chiefly the Pharisees were distinguished from other Jewish sects *. But it is by no means probable such a heap of traditions should spring up at once, but rather gradually ; and so, according to Lightfoot f , did the sect of the Pharisees itself, till at length it became the most considerable of all. Their distinguishing dogmata may be all, in a manner, referred to their holding the traditions of the elders, which they not only set upon an equal footing with the written law, but in many cases explained the former by the latter, quite contrary to its true intent and meaning. And thus " they made the commandment of God of none effect by their traditions ;" Matt. xv. 6. They pretended to derive these from the same fountain with the written word itself; for they say, that when Moses waited upon God forty days in the mount, he received from him a double law ; one in writing, the other traditionary, containing the sense and explication of the former — that Moses, being come to his tent, repeated it first to Aaron, then to Ithamar and Eleazar his sons, then to the seventy elders, and lastly to all the people. The rabbles farther inform us, that Moses at his death repeated the oral law again to Joshua ; that he delivered it to the elders, they to the prophets, and the prophets to the wise men of the great synagogue ; and so it was handed through several generations, till at length R. Judah Hac- codhesh, reflecting on the unsettled condition of his nation, after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish polity, and how apt these traditionary precepts would be to be forgotten in their disper- sion and oppression, committed them to writing about 150 years after Christ ;};, and called his book the Mishna, or the second law, of which we have formerly given an account. The dogmata of the Pharisees may be distinguished into doc- trinal and practical. The distinguishing doctrines maintained by this sect, were con- cerning predestination and free-will, angels and spirits, and the future state and resurrection. 1st. As to predestination and free-will, they went a middle way between the Sadducees, who denied the pre-determination of human * Basnage'8 History of the Jews, book ii. chap. ix. sect. ii. p. 110, London, 1708. t Lightfoot, Hor£e Hebr. Matt. iii. 7, sect. iii. + See p. 244, note*. CHAP. X.] OF THE PHARISEES. 269 actions and events, and the Essenes, who ascribed all things to fate and to the stars. Whereas the Pharisees, according to Josephus, ascribed some things to fate, but held that other things were left in a man's own power, so that he might do them or not * ; or rather, according to another account he gives f, they held, that all things were decreed of God, yet not so as to take away the freedom of man's will in acting. 2dly. The Pharisees held the doctrine of angels and separate human spirits, which the Sadducees denied ; Acts xxiii. 8. 3dly. As to the future state and resurrection, the Pharisees dif- fered both from the Sadducees and Essenes. For, whereas the former held that both soul and body utterly perished at death, and had no existence after it ; and the latter, that the soul would con- tinue to exist after death, but without any future union with the body ; the Pharisees maintained the resurrection of the bodies, at least of good men, and the future and eternal state of retribution to all men; Acts xxiii. 8. Josephus, who was himself a Pharisee, gives this account of their doctrine in these points, " ^vx^u Se naaav jxev a(f)dapTOV, fMerufdaivfiv Se eis irepov crcofia, rrju ratv ayadwu fiovr]v, rrjv fie rau na, passing into another or diiferent body, may only denote its receiving a body at the resurrection ; which will be another, not in substance, but in quality ; as it is said of Christ at his transfiguration, m fi8oS rov npoa-airov avrov hepov, " the fashion of his countenance was" another, or, as we render it, was " altered ;" Luke ix. 29. As to the opinion which some entertained concerning our Sa- viour, that he was either John the Baptist, or Elias, or Jeremias, or one of the prophets, Matt. xvi. 14, it is not ascribed to the Pharisees in particular; and if it were, I do not see how it could be founded on the doctrine of the metempsychosis ; since the soul of Elias, now inhabiting the body of Jesus, would no more make him to be Elias, than several others had been, in whose bodies the soul of Elias, according to this doctrine, is supposed to have dwelt since the death of that ancient prophet, near a thousand years before. Besides, how was it possible any person that saw Chi'ist, who did not appear to be less than thirty years old, should, according to the notion of the metempsychosis, conceit him to be John the Baptist, who had been so lately beheaded? Surely this apprehension must be grounded on the supposition of a proper re- surrection. It was probably, therefore, upon the same account, that others took him to be Elias, and others Jeremias. Accord- ingly, St. Luke expresses it thus : " Others say, that one of the old prophets is risen from the dead ;" Luke ix. 19. It may farther be observed, that the doctrine of the resurrec- tion, which St. Paul preached, was not a present metempsychosis, but a real future resurrection, which he calls " the hope and re- surrection of the dead;" Acts xxiii. 6. This he professed as a Pharisee, and for this profession the partisans of that sect vindi- cated him against the Sadducees, ver. 7 — 9. Upon the whole, therefore, it appears most reasonable to adopt the opinion of Reland, though in opposition to the sentiments of many other * Plato in Phccdro, p. 1223, B, C, D, E, edit. Ficin. Francof. 1602; et Diogen. Laert. de A'ilis Philos. lib. iii. de Vita Platonis, segm. Ixvii. vol. i. p. 204, 205. CHAP. X.] OF THE PHARISEES. 271 learned men, that the Pharisees held the doctrine of the resurrec- tion in a proper sense.* Thus far their doctrinal opinions appear to have been agreeable to the Scripture, excepting that one grand principle, that the tra- ditions of the fathers came from God, and were at least upon an equal foot with the sacred writings. This was the root, the nparov yJAfvBos, of various errors ; from hence proceeded most of the corrupt practical dogmata of this sect: Which we are now, 2dly. To consider. Hence they gave so erroneous an interpre- tation of many texts of Scripture, explaining them according to their traditions; which was the occasion of their transgressing the commandments of God, and making them of none effect ; Matt. XV. 3—6. Hence they fell into many very superstitious practices, in which they placed a great part of their i-eligion ; such as frequent washing their hands and their household furniture, beyond what the law required, Mark vii. 3, 4 ; fasting twice a week, Luke xviii. 12 ; and if we may credit the Talmud, practising many painful austerities and moi'tifications, whipping themselves, lying upon flints and thorns, and knocking their heads against walls till they made them bleed f. Hence being busied about trifles, and taken up with a multi- tude of rites and ceremonies, they forgot and neglected the great duties of morality. Thus, while they were superstitiously exact " in tithing mint, anise, and cummin, they overlooked the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and fliith," Matt, xxiii. 23 : and by thus placing their religion in things wherein true religion does not consist, they in a manner lost all notion of spiritual piety and godliness, and became the most finished hypocrites among the Jews. Pharisees and hypocrites are often joined together in the gospel history, and several instances of their hypocrisy mentioned, namely, their fasting, almsgiving, and making long prayers in the synagogues, and even in corners of the streets, on purpose "to be seen of men," and to gain their applause ; and " tor a pretence, the better to cover their secret wickedness:"" Matt. vi. 2. 5, 16; xxiii. * Reland. Antiq. Hcbr. part ii. cap. ix. sect. xiv. p. 278, tliird edit. Tiaject. Bat. 1717. Concerning the improbability of the Pharisees having held the doctrine of tlic metempsychosis in our Saviour's time, see Buddci Historia Eccles. Vet. Tcst.iment. torn, ii. per. ii. p. 1203. i- Mish. tit. Sotali, nap. iii. sect. iv. sub fin. cum not. Bartcnor ot "Wagcnseil. Sot.ih, excerpt. Gemar. cap. iii. sect. xi. ; Drusins do Tiibus Sectis, lib. ii. cap. xiv. p. 71, first edit. p. .523, edit. Trigland ; Buxtorf. Synag. Judaic, cap. xxv. p. 521 — 523, third edit. Basil. 1661. See Epiphanius, hocr. .\vi. sect. i. torn. i. p. 33, 34, edit. Petav. 272 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [book I. 5 — 7. 14. In sliort, tliey placed tlie whole of religion in outward ceremonial observances, and therefore took no pains or care to get their hearts purified : they freely indulged their pride and malice, and all other sorts of spiritual wickedness : on which account they are compared by our Saviour to whited sepulchres, Matt, xxiii. 27 ; and because they were very exact in their ritual observances, in which they abounded beyond others, they looked upon them- selves to be more religious, and the peculiar favourites of Heaven, and therefore " they trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others," Luke xviii. 9 ; and their pride being thus fed, they affected pre-eminence, and expected a greater share of respect than others; Matt, xxiii. 6, 7. From the same criminal principle they " made broad their phylacteries, and enlarged the borders of their garments ;" ver. 5. The phylacteries, called by the Jews p?sri tephillin, are little scrolls of parchment, in which are written certain sentences of the law, enclosed in leather cases, and bound with thongs on the fore- head and on the left arm. They are called in Greek (pvXaKnjpia, from (jivXaTTa), custodio, either because they were supposed to pre- serve the law in memory, or rather, because they were looked upon as a kind of amulets or charms to keep them from danger. Godwin gives an account from the rabbies of the sentences of the law written in the phylacteries, and the manner of writing and folding them up, whicii is sufficiently exact *. I shall only observe, that the making and wearing these phylacteries, as the Jews still do in their private devotions, is owing to a misinterpretation of those texts f , on which they ground the practice, namely, God's commanding them " to bind the law for a sign on their hands, and to let it be as frontlets between their eyes," &c., Deut. vi. 8. This precept evidently refers to the whole law of Moses, and not to the par- ticular sentences which they wrote in their phylacteries ; see ver. 6. The command of writing and binding this law as a sign upon the hands, and as frontlets between the eyes, ought doubtless to be understood metaphorically, as a charge to remember it, to meditate upon it, to have it as it were continually before their eyes, and to conduct their lives by it ; as when Solomon says, concern- ing the commandments of God in general, " bind them about thy neck, write them upon the table of thy heart :" Prov. iii. 1. 3 ; vi. * See ^lainion. Tephillin, sen ile Phylacteriis, AVageuseil, Sotah, excerpt. Gemar. cap. ii. sect. ii. not. x. p. 3.97—418, Altdoif! 1574; and Surenhusii Tabulae de Phylacteriis, prefixed to the first volume of his edition of the Mishna. •f See Le Clerc on Exod. xiii. 9. CHAP. X.] OF THE PHARISEES. 273 21. The precept, therefore, which we are now considering, to " bind the words of the law for a sign upon the hands, and as frontlets between the eyes," Deut. vi. 8, is to be explained by the sentence which precedes it, " These words, which I commanded thee this day, shall be in thine heart." In like manner it is said elsewhere, " Ye shall lay up my words in your hearts and in your souls ;" chap. xi. 18. However, the Jews understanding the fore- going precept, not metaphorically, but literally, wrote out the several passages wherever it occurs, and to which it seems to refer, and bound them upon their foreheads and upon their arms. It seems the Pharisees used to "make broad" their phylacte- ries. This some understand of the knots of the thongs by which they were fastened, which were tied very artificially in the form of Hebrew letters ; and that the pride of the Pharisees induced them to have these knots larger than ordinary, as a peculiar orna- ment. Others supposed they affected to M'ear the phylacteries themselves very large, as if they contained more of the law than was commonly worn by their neighbours, and were therefore a testimony of their extraordinai'y affection for it. It is imagined by some persons, that the phylacteries are alluded to in the book of the Revelation, chap. xiii. 16, where the subjects of antichrist are said to be distinguished by " a mark on their right hands and on their foreheads *." The Pharisees are farther said to " enlarge the borders of their garments," m Kpaamda Tcov iixariav, See Matt, xxiii. 5, before cited. These Kpacnreda were the .^''^''V tsifsith, the fringes which the Jews are, in the book of Numbers, commanded to wear upon the bor- ders of their garments. Numb. xv. 38, 39. The Targum of Onkelos calls them paoni clieruspedhin, which hath so near an affinity with the Greek word Kpaa-rredov, that there is no doubt but it signifies the same thing ; which is, therefore, an evidence, that the Kpaarneda Were the n^V'V tsitsitli. These were worn by our Sa- viour, as appears from the following passage of St. Matthew : " Behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his gar- ment," Kpaairedov tov ipariov, Matt. ix. 20. Again, the inhabitants of Gennesaret are said to have brought unto him their diseased, and to have " besought him, that they might only touch the hem * See a large account of the supeistition of tlie Jews concerning the ])liylactcries, in Ainsworth on Exod. xiii. 9 ; Buxtorf s Synilg. .Tudaica, cap. ix. and Lexic. Talmud, in voc. nbDn. Consult, also, on tliis subject, Spcnccri Dissert, dc Nat. et Orig. Pliylact. ad Cal- cem. torn. ii. do Lcgibus, edit. Cantab. 1727. 274 JEWISH ANTIQUITIEffi. [bOOK I. of his garment," Kpaaivehov tov liianov, Matt. xiv. 36. Kpaanebov rov ifxanov is, in both these passages, very improperly translated the " hem of his garment." It should have been rendered the fringe ; and it should seem tlie people imagined there was some peculiar virtue or sanctity in the fringe of our Saviour's garment above any other part, from their expectation of a miraculous cure by touch- ing it. It appears, indeed, the later Jews placed a great deal of sanctity in these fringes. Rabbi Menachem, on the fifteenth chapter of Numbers, saith, when any man is clothed with a fringe, and goeth out therewith to the door of his habitation, he is safe, and God rejoiceth, and the destroying angel departeth from thence, and that man shall be delivered from all hurt, and from all destruction *. Concerning the form of this fringe, we can only frame an uncer- tain guess from the two Hebrew words by which it is expressed, namely, nivif tsitsith, Numb. xv. 38, 39, and cbiJ gedhillm, Deut. xxii. 12; vv'hich is likewise rendered by the Chaldee Paraphrast pi3DTi5 cheruspedliin. The former, tsitsith, is used for a lock of hair, Ezek. viii. 3 ; the latter for a rope, such as Dalilah bound Samson with; Judges xvi. 11, 12. From hence it is inferred, that these fringes consisted of many threads, which hung like hair, and were twisted like a rope. It was also ordered by the law, that they should put upon the fringe a riband of blue, or a thread, as the word VT\t] pathil seems to be properly rendered in a passage of the book of Judges, where it is said concerning Sam- son, that he " broke the withs," with which he was bound, " as a thread, i^^na pethil, of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire," chap. xvi. 9; or else it may signify lace, as it is rendered in a pas- sage of the book of Exodus, chap, xxxix. 31, where the string, which fastened the holy crown to the high-priest's mitre, is ex- pressed by the same word used for this blue thread, or lace, upon the fringe of their garments. Whether, therefore, it was a blue thread twisted with a white through the whole fringe ; whether it was a blue lace, by which the fringe was fastened to the edge of the garment; or whether it was sewed along the head of the fringe, — is what we cannot take upon us to determine. The use of this fringe is said to be, " that they might look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them ;" Numb. xv. 39. Some conceive the fringe was to be a distinguishing badge, which God ordered the people of Israel to K. Menachem on Numb, xv., quoted by Ainsworth on Numb. xv. 39. CHAP, X.] OF THE PHARISEES. 275 wear on their clothes, in the nature of a hvery, that they might be known for his servants, who was not ashamed to own them for his pecuhar people; as he had before, for the same purpose, ordered them to wear a distinguishing mark in their fiesh, namely, circumcision. This account well agrees with the reason given for their wearing the fringe, " that they might look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them;" that is, that it might remind them, that as the servants of Jehovah, whose livery they wore, they were bound to do all that he had com- manded them. And as by this badge they were to be distin- guished from the servants of all other gods, so it was to be a guard upon them from idolatry ; accordingly it follows, " that ye seek not after your own hearts, and your own eyes, after which you used to go a whoring." Le Clerc * indeed suggests, that the Jews borrowed this fashion of wearing fringes from the Egyptians, because Herodotus, speak- ing of the Egyptians, says, fi>8e8vKaat Kidavas Xcveovs nept ra (XKeXea 6vcr(Tnv(OTovs, iiiduli swit turdcis lineis circa crura Jimbratis f . But why might it not as well be supposed, the Egyptians learnt it from the Jews, as the Jews from the Egyptians ? After all, there are some, Calvin in particular %, who suppose these fringes to be nothing but strings with tassels, at the four corners of their upper garment, which was made of a square piece of cloth, in the same fashion that was afterward worn by the Greeks and Romans. This opinion very well agrees with the precept in Deuteronomy, " Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters," wings, as the margin renders it, or I'ather corners, " of thy vesture, where- with thou coverest thyself;" chap. xxii. 12. And the proper use of these strings was to tie the corners together. Such strings the modern Jews have to their veils, and each string has five knots in it, besides the tassel, signifying the five books of the law. The rab- bies observe, that each string consists of eight threads, which, added to five, the number of knots, and likewise to the numeral value of the letters in the word n^'Vi' tsitsith, amounts to six hun- dred and thirteen, the number, according to them, of the precepts of the law. From hence they infer the importance of the com- * Clerici Annot. in Num. xv. 38. -}- Herodot. Eiitcrp. cap. Ixx.xi. p. 118, edit. Gronov. Lugd. B.nt. 1716. X Calvini Comment, in Dcut. xxii. 12, Opcr. toni. i. p. 522, Amstel. 1671 T 2 276 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [book I. mand concerning the n^-''^ tsitslth ; he who observes it, they say, in effect observing the whole law *. The Pharisees are censured by our Saviour for enlarging these fringes of their garments, which we may suppose they did partly from pride and partly from hypocrisy, as pretending thereby an extraordinary regard for the law. It is reported by Jerome, as quoted by Godwin, that they used to have fringes extravagantly long, sticking thorns in them, that, by pricking their legs as they walked, they might put them in mind of the law ■\. From the same corrupt fountain whence we have derived the other superstitions and corruptions of the Pharisees, even their attachment to the traditions, we may also trace their most unrea- sonable and malicious opposition to our Saviour. For, having learnt to interpret the prophecies of the Messiah in a carnal sense, and being strongly tinctured with the notion of his being designed to be a temporal prince and deliverer, no miracles could overcome their prejudices against the meanness of Christ"'s appearance, and persuade them that a person who made no pretence to civil autho- rity and military power, could possibly be " Messiah the prince," the " son of David, and the Saviour of Israel." They got him, therefore, apprehended, condemned, and executed, as an impostor J. CHAPTER XI. OF THE SADDUCEES AND SAMARITANS. As for the Sadducees, Epiphanius derives the name from pi"^ tsedhek, justitia §; but that derivation neither suits the word Sad- ducee, nor the true character of the sect. For so far were they from being eminently righteous, that they are commonly said to be * Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. cap. i,\. p. 1G4, edit. 3, Basil. KiCSl ; et Lex. Talmud, in voc. ■\ Concerning the fringes, sec Ainsworth on Nnnib. xv. 38, 39, Deut. xxii. 12 ; Bux- tortii Synag. Judaic, cap. ix. p. 160 — 170; et Lexic. Talmud, in voc. ri'vy ; Drusius de Sectis Judieor. lib. ii. cap, xvi. p. "Jb"?, edit. Trigland ; et Leusden. Philolog. Hcbraco- Mixt. dissert, xvii. p. 118, 119, edit. 2, Ultraject. 1682. \ See an account of the Pharisees in Drusius de Tribus Sectis Judieorum, lib.ii. cap. xii. nit. ; in Lightfoot, Hora; Hebr. Matt. iii. 7 ; in Basnage's History of the Jews, book ii. chap. X. xi. ; in CItrici Ecclcsiast. Histor. Prolegom. sect. i. cap. ii. p. 5 — 12 ; and in Prideaux's Connect, part ii. book v. vol. iii. p. 479—483, edit. 10. § Epiphan. adversus Haeres. lib. i. liccres. xiv. p. 31> C. edit. Petav. Colon. 1682. CHAP. XI.] OF THE SADDUCEES. 277 the most wicked and profligate of all the Jews ; neither were they given to boast of their own righteousness, as the Pharisees were. Another etymology, which '^I'heophylact mentions together with the former *, is therefore esteemed to be the more probable one, that their name was derived ano I'upeaiapxov 2a8o}K. This he bor- rowed from the Talmud, which tells us, that Sadoc was a scholar of Antigonus Sochaeus, president of the Sanhedrim about two hun- dred and sixty years before Christ; who having inculcated upon his scholars, that they ought to serve God out of pure love to him, and not in a servile manner, either for fear of punishment or hope of reward ; Sadoc, not understanding this spiritual doctrine, concluded there was no future state of rewards and punishments, and accord- ingly taught and propagated that error after his master''s death f . However that be (for I must confess with me talmudical stories have but little credit), this is said to have been the doctrine of the Sadducees. That they denied the resurrection, and that there are angels and spirits, appears from the account given of them in the New Testament : Matt. xxii. 23 ; Acts xxiii. 8. According to Josephus, they rejected the traditions of the Pharisees J ; they not only denied the resurrection of the body, but the life and existence of the soul after death : they likewise denied all divine decrees, and held that man was absolutely master of his own actions, with a full freedom to do either good or evil, as he thought proper ; that God did not influence him in doing either ; and that liis prosperity or adversity are placed within his own power, and are respectively the effect of his wisdom or his folly § ; a notion which in effect amounts to denying a providence, and to the subversion of all religion; so that they were, upon the whole. Epicurean Deists in all other respects, except that they acknowledged the world to have been created, and perhaps to be upheld and preserved by God. This historian gives them a very bad character as to their morals, and says, " they were a set of men churlish and morose toward each other, and cruel and savage to all besides H." However, we must remember, that Jose- phus himself was a Pharisee, of an opposite sect, and that such persons are very apt, from their mutual aversion, to misrepresent • Thcopliylact. Comment, in Matt. iii. 7, p. 18. -f- Mislin. tit. Pirke Abhoth, cap. i. sect. iii. ct Maiinon. in loc. Sec Lightfoot, Horae Hebraica;, in Acts xxiii. 8. ^ Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiii. cap. x. sect. vi. p. 60'3 ; lib. xviii. cap. i. sect. iv. p. 71, edit, llaverc. § Antiq. lib. xviii. cap. i. sect. iv. p. 871 ; De Bello Judaic, lib. ii. cap. viii. sect. xiv. p. 1G6 ; Antiq. lib. xiii. cap. v. sect. ix. p. 0"49. II De Bello Judaic, lib. ii. cap. viii. sect. xiv. p. lO'G. 278 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. and calumniate each other. Perhaps his account of the Sadducees is not without some tincture of pharisaical misrepresentation; for it can hardly be supposed, that men of such very corrupt principles, as he represents tiiem, should continue uncensured and uncon- demned by the Sanhedrim, much less be suffered to fill the highest posts in church and state, as we find they did ; it appearing that Caiaphas, the high-priest, who condemned our Saviour, was of this sect; Acts v. 17. Besides, the character given them by this his- torian is altogether inconsistent with their receiving, which all admit they did, the five books of Moses, even though it were true that they rejected all the other sacred books, which Godwin lays to their charge, but from which Scaliger endeavours to exculpate them *. Indeed, the silence of Josephus renders this charge upon them justly suspected; for though he often mentions them, and loads them with imputations of many corrupt principles and prac- tices, yet he never speaks of their rejecting any part of the holy Scriptures, which no doubt he would have done, if it had been fact. Nay, he says, that though they rejected the traditions of the fathers, they received ra yeypa/x^iepa, the written books f , an expression too general, and too much in their favour, to have flowed from his pen, if he could with any plausibility have accused them of rejecting any one of them. And even in the Talmud the Sadducees are in- troduced as disputing and arguing from passages in the prophets, and the Pharisees as answering them from the same books J, which implies, that those books were received by them ; nor are they ever accused by any of the ancient rabbies with rejecting them. Some of them, indeed, style them D''''mn clmfhiim, which is another name for the Samaritans. But, perhaps, that was only as a term of re- proach, which the Jews bestowed upon those whom they hated, as upon our Saviour, who, they said, was " a Samaritan, and had a devil ;" John viii. 48. However, the Samaritans admitting only the five books of Moses to be canonical, hence it hath come to pass, that the Sadducees being by the rabbies sometimes styled D''''ni5 cliuthiim, or Samaritans, hath been the occasion, without suf- ficient reason, of the Sadducees being supposed, as well as the * Elcnch. Trilia>vcs, cap. xvi. 'I" Anliq. lib. xiii. cap. x. sect. vi. p. 663. Asyax s/cs/va Ss/v riyii(rS at vofiixu. ra yiy^oft- fiivu, TO, a £K -TTa^ahotTiuq roiv -tcolti^uv f/,rt Ty,(iiv. The 'Word vofiixa is here applied to ra yiy^af/.fj.iva, the whole Scripture, as opposed to tradition ; and the word i/a/xuv seems to be used in the same comprehensive sense, lib. xviii. cap. i. sect. iv. p. 871. t Cod. Sanhedrin, cap. C'hclek, ab init. ; Vid. Reland. Antiq. part ii. cap. ix. sect. x. p. 273, edit. 3 ; Saddvicsei testimonium citant contra resurrectionem ex Job vii. 9, in Ilmedenu, fol. ii. col. iv., inquit Drusius, de Tribus Sectis Judxor. lib. iii. cap. ix. in margin. See especially Lightfoot, Horse Hebraic. John iv. 25. CHAP. XI.] OF THE SA5IARITANS. 279 Samaritans, to have rejected all the writings of the Old Testament except those of Moses. Scaliger's opinion seems to be more pro- bable, that they did not reject the prophets and the hagiographa, but only expounded them in a different sense from the Pharisees and other Jews *. It is a question of some difficulty, how the Sadducees could dis- believe the existence of angels, and yet receive even the five books of Moses as canonical Scripture, wherein are so many narratives of the appearance of angels. Probably their opinion concerning angels was, that they were not permanent beings, but temporary phantoms, formed by the divine power for particular purposes, and dissipated again when these were answered. In the time of Josephus this sect was not large, but it is said to be the richest, and that those of the gi'eatest quality and opulence generally belonged to itf; which we can easily credit, as we ob- serve in our day, that the great and rich are apt to prefer the plea- sure and grandeur of this life to any expectancy in a future ; and greedily to embrace such doctrines as tend to encourage their luxury and sensuality, by ridding their minds of uneasy reflections on the judgment-day and world to come;*:. Of the Samaritans. With the Sadducees Godwin joins the Samaritans, with whom he says they have a near affinity ; that is, on supposition of their rejecting all the sacred writings but the five books of Moses, which Origen§, Jerome ||, and Epiphanius ^, say the Samaritans did. The Samaritans were originally heathens, consisting of persons of several nations, to whom the king of Assyria gave the cities and lands of the Israelites upon the Assyrian captivity. They were called Samaritans from the city Samaria, the metropolis of the kingdom of Israel. When they first settled in the country, they practised only the idolatrous rites of the several nations from * Scaligcr, ubi supra ; Drusins ilc Tribus Sectis Judfcor. lib. iii. cap. ix. ; et Respons. ad Serar. Minerv. lib. ii. cap. xi. ; Rclaml. Aiitiq. part ii. cap. ix. sect. x. p. 273. f Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiii. cap. x. sect. vi. p. G0"3 ; lib. xviii. cap. i. sect. iv. p. 871. + See ail account of the Sadducees, not only in the authors before cited, but in Le Clerc's Histor. Eccles. Prolcgom. sect. i. cap. iii. p. 12 — 15; Basnage's History of the Jews, book ii. chap. \i. vii. ;. Bayle's Dictionary, article Sadducees ; and Lightfoot, Hoi-ae Hebr. Matt. iii. 7. § Origcn. contra Celsum, lib. i. p. 38, edit. Cantab. 1677 ; Comment, in Johan. apud Comment, in Scripturas, part, posterior, p. 218, edit. Huct. Colon. l()i)5. II Hieron. in Dialogo advorsus liUciferianos, as quoted by Pridcaux, part i. book vi. anno 409 ante Cliristum, vol. ii. p. ")!)7. ^ Epiphan. adversus Hsercs. lib. i. htcres. \k. Samaiit. sect. ii. torn. i. p. 24, edit. Pctav, Colon. 1G82. 280 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. whence they came ; but upon being infested with hons, which they supposed a judgment upon them for not paying due honour to the ancient god of the country, the king of Assyria sent a Jewish priest to instruct them in the worship of Jehovah ; upon which, out of the several customs and modes of worship of the nations to which they belonged, and the rites of the worship of Jehovah, they made up a very motley religion ; 2 Kings xvii. 24, et seq. Upon the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, and the re- building Jerusalem and the temple, the religion of the Samaritans received another alteration on the following occasion. One of the sons of Jehoiada, the high-priest, whom Josephus calls Manasseh*, married the daughter of Sanballat the Horonite ; but the law of God having forbidden the intermarriages of the Israelites with any other nation, Nehemiah set himself to reform this corruption, which had spread into many Jewish families, and obliged all that had taken strange wives immediately to part with them ; Nehem. xiii. 23 — 30. Manasseh, unwilling to quit his wife, fled to Sama- ria, and many others, who were in the same case with him, being also of the same mind, went and settled under the protection of Sanballat, governor of Samaria. From that time the worship of the Samaritans came much nearer to that of the Jews ; and they afterward obtained leave of Alexander the Great to build a temple on mount Gerizim, near the city Samaria, in imitation of the temple at Jerusalem, where they practised the same forms of worship. It is very common for people, who are nearly, but not entirely of the same religion, to have a greater aversion to one- another, than those whose sentiments and forms of worship are more different. So it was with the Jews and Samaritans. Hence it was the highest term of reproach among the Jews to call a person a Samaritan, as was before observed ; and so great was their nmtual animosity, that they would neither ask nor receive any favours from each other. The woman of Samaria, therefore, wondered that Christ, " being a Jew, would ask drink of her who was a Samaritan ;" John iv. 9. And when our Lord had occasion to pass through Samaria, as he was going to Jerusalem to keep one of the annual feasts at the temple, the Samaritans would give him no entertainment on his journey, not merely because he w^as a Jew, but because, designing to keep the feast at Jerusalem, he plainly preferred that temple above theirs ; Luke ix. 52, 53. As * Joseph. Antiq, lib.'xi. cap. viii. sect. i. ii. p. 578, 579. CHAP. XII.] OF THE ESSENES. 281 to what Godwin advances, that the Samaritans allowed of no com- merce with the Jews, which he grounds on the forecited passage, concerning the surprise of the woman of Samaria, that Christ, being a Jew, asked drink of her, who was a Samaritan ; and its being added as the reason of this, " for the Jews have no dealings with ov avyxpavrai, the Samaritans, John iv. 9 ;" — I say, the opinion, that the Samaritans permitted no kind of commerce with the Jews, is evidently confuted by our being informed, that while this con- versation passed between our Saviour and the woman, " the disciples were gone into the city " of Samaria, " to buy meat :" ver. 8. Nothing can be meant, therefore, by ov vTat, but that they would have no friendly intercourse, nor perform acts of mutual civility *. CHAPTER XII. OF THE ESSENES. The Essenes, though no notice is taken of them, at least by name, in any part of the Scripture history, were yet a considerable sect among the Jews, of whom both Josephus and Philo have given a large account ; the former in the twelfth chapter of his second book of the Jewish war, where he professedly treats of the three principal sects of the Jews, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes. He likewise speaks of them occasionally in several other parts of his works. Philo, in his book entitled Omnis prohus Liher-f, gives a very particular account of the dogmata and manners of this sect, nearly, though not quite, the same with that of Josephus. It is very possible there might be some little difference between the Essenes in Egypt and those in Judea; and Philo, who was an Alexandrian Jew, was ac- quainted only with the former; Josephus, an inhabitant of Judea, only with the latter. Pliny, the natural historian, hath left us some account of the Essenes in the seventeenth chapter of the fifth book of his history J. * Sec, concerning the Samaritans, RclaiiJ. Dissertat. Miscellan. vol. ii. dissert, vii. ile Samaritanis ; Pridcaux's Connect, part i. book vi. sub anno 409 ante Christum. -|- See also Philo de Vitti Contemplativa. X The several .iccounts are inserted at large in Dr. Prideaux's Connect, part ii. book v. sub fin. 282 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. These are the only ancient vvriters who speak of the Essenes, on whose narratives, as they were cotemporary with them, we may depend. As for what Epiphanius, and other ancient and modern authors liave said of them, it can only be by conjecture, any farther than they have taken their materials from those above mentioned. The etymology of the name has given grammarians and critics no little trouble. Josephus is silent upon it. Philo derives it from oa-ioi, holy, because of the extraordinary sanctity of the Essenes, though he confesses that derivation is not grammatical *, Epiphanius goes the farthest for the etymology of any, deriving the name from Jesse, the father of David f. Salmasius fetches it from a city called Essa, mentioned by Josephus, from whence he imagines this sect first sprung ;j:. Serarius hath given us, at least, a dozen different etymologies §. So various and uncertain are the conjectures of the learned on this subject. Godwin derives it from the Syriac word «d« asa, which signifies to heal or cui'e, because Philo calls those of the Essenes, who de- voted themselves to a contemplative life, Bepanevrai, tlterapeut^e, which is naturally derived from depanevetv, sanare ; yet not, as Godwin erroneously says, because they studied physic, according to the common acceptation of that word ; but because, saith Philo, they cure men's souls of those diseases which they have contracted by their passions and vices. Or otherwise, as he adds, they have this name, because they have learned to worship and serve that Being, who is better than good, more uncompounded than the number one, and more ancient than unity itself ||: for the word Gepairevrr^s signifies a Worshipper, or servant, as well as a physician^. These therapeidcB are distinguished from those whom Philo calls Practical Essenes, who were employed in the labours of husbandry and other mechanic arts ; though only in such as belonged to peace, for none of them would ever put their hands to the making swords or arrows, or any other instruments of v/ar**. * Philo in tractat. Omnis probus Liber, Oper. p. 678, C. Colon. Allobr. 1613; vid. Serar. Trihacres. lib. iii. cap. i. p. 109 ; J. Scaliger. Elencb. Tribares. Serar. cap. xviii. in init. -f- Epipban. Hseres. xix. lib. i. torn. ii. sect. iv. p. 120, edit. Pctav. X Salinas. PHnian. c.xercitat. in Solinum, cap. xxxv. p. 432, edit. Ultrajcct. § Serar. Tiibocres. Judasor. lib. iii. cap. i. p. 106 — 110, edit. Trigland. J 703. 11 Philo de Vita. Conteiuplativa, ab init. Oper. p. 688, B, C ; Valesiiis, in bis notes on Eusebius's EclIcs. Tlistor. lib. ii. cap. xvii. p. 66, not. 3, endeavours to prove, against Scaliger, that the ThcrapeiUa;, so largely described by Philo, are not to be reckoned in the number of the Essenes. ^ Vid. Lexic. Constantin. in verb, *• Pbilo Tractat. quod Omnis probus Liber, Oper. p. 678, E, D. CHAP. XII.] OF THE ESSENES. 283 Both Josephus and Philo give a surprising account of their austere way of hfe. Their houses were mean ; their clothes made of wool without any dye ; they never changed their clothes or shoes, till they were quite worn out : their food was plain and coarse, and their drink water : they neglected all bodily ornaments, and would by no means anoint themselves with oil, according to the fashion of those times. Nay, if any one of them happened to be anointed against his will, he would presently wipe off the oil, and wash himself, as from some pollution. They lived in sodalities, and had all their goods in common ; their morals were very exact and pure, and they kept the sabbath more strictly than any of the Jews *. In the account which Godwin gives of the dogmata of this sect, collected from Josephus and Philo, he asserts, that the Pythago- reans forbad oaths, and so, saith he, did the Essenes f . But this, I apprehend, is a mistake as to the Pythagoreans, and perhaps, also, as to the Essenes. The former, it is well known, used an oath on important occasions, and held it to be most sacred ; swear- ing by the number four, which they wrote by ten dots, in the form of a triangle ; so that each side consisted of four dots, • thus : ^^^ Some have imagined Pythagoras took the hint of this from the Nomen Tctragrammaton of the Jews % ; and that, having likewise acquired some notion of the Trinity, he intended to express it by the triangle, which is called his Trigonon Mystimm. As for the Essenes, Josephus saith, that before any are admitted to eat at the common table, they bind themselves by solemn oat to observe the rules of the society §. Godwin likewise maintains, that the Pythagoreans used only inanimate sacrifices ; and so, saith he, did the Essenes: they sent gifts to the temple, but did not sacrifice. But how will this account of the Pythagoreans agree with the story mentioned by Diogenes * Philo, iibi snpra, p. C78 — 680; Joseph, dc Bello Juihiic. lib. ii. cap. viii. sect. ii. — xiii. p. 160 — 165. •j- Josepli. de Bell. .Jiul. ubi supra, sect. vi. ; Pliilo, ubi supra, ]>. 0'79, C. ± Diog. Lacrt. in Vila Pj tbag. lib. viii. segui. -xx.xiii. ; liUciaii. Dialog. Vitarum iUictio, Oper. torn. iii. p. 103, cum Annot. Cognati, p. 131, edit. Basil.; ct Galci Philosoph. General, lib. ii. cap. iii. sect. ii. p. 173. \lh. . , § Joseph, dc Bell, vbi supra, sect. vii. p. 1G3. In the former passage, sect. \i., his expression is, to §€ ef^viniv aurois 'FspiiaruTcii, x-'Z"^ ''"' '^"^ c^ic^^ims vxoXetfifiuvoiiri;, though here he saith, t^iv Ss Tr,; xoivng ai^aa-^ui T^oif^iv, e^Kov; uvtoi; nfjuivni (p^iy.udni, x.. 2;2j|UJv«/, and the like in other places. 284 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK I. Laertius and others *, tliat Pythagoras himself sacrificed a heca- tomb, upon his discovering what is called the Pythagoric theorem, namely, that in a right-angled triangle, the square of the hypo- thenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the sides ? As for the Essenes, it is not easy to reconcile their not using animal sacrifices with the profound veneration which they professed for the five books of Moses, in which so many animal sacrifices are enjoined. Josephus indeed saith, they send their gifts, avadr^^ara, to the temple, but oflier no sacrifices there, by reason of the diffe- rent rules of purity which they have instituted among themselves. And therefore, being excluded the common temple, they sacrifice apart by themselves ; ms dva-ias eniTeXova-i : the word Ova-ias imports animal sacrifices that were slain f . 3dly. Godwin saith, the Essenes worship toward the rising sun ; and this he grounds on a passage in Josephus ; on the authority of which some have charged them with worshipping the sun itself. The words are, Ilpos ye fJ^rju to Qdov iSttos evo-e/Sety* npiv yap avatTxei^v tov 'liXcou, ov8eu BeyyovTM rwv ^e^rfKav, iruTpiovs he rtvas ets avrov ev)(as, acnrep iKerevovrei aj/aretXot J. If 'UXiov, indeed, be the antecedent to avrov, it must imply that they prayed to the sun itself. But this is not necessarily the construction ; for though to eeiov, which is of the neuter gender, cannot be the antecedent to avrov, yet avrov may very well be supposed to agree with eeoi^ understood §. Accordingly, Dr. Prideaux translates the words thus, " They are, in whatever pertaineth to God, in an especial manner religious ; for before the sun is risen, they speak of no common w^orldly matter, but till then offer up unto God their prayers in ancient forms, received from their predecessors ; supplicating particularly in them, that he would make the sun to rise upon them." If this criticism be not admitted, it is nevertheless much more easy to suppose an error in the copy, avrov for avTo, than that the Essenes, who had a more * Diog. Laert. de Vitis Philosopliorum, lib. viii. Vit. Pythagor. segm. xii. p. 497, Amstel. 1692. Cicero represents Cotta as giving no credit to this story, because, as he apprehends, Pythagoras never used animal sacrifices ; Cicer. de Natura Deorum, lib. iii. cap. xxxvi. But it is related also by Athcnosus, Deipnosoph. lib. x. p. 418, F, edit. Casavib. 1598. See also Plutarch, in Comment, non posse suaviter Vivi secundum Epicur. Oper. torn. ii. p. 1094, B, Francof. 1620. -f Joseph. Antiq. lib. xviii. cap. i. sect. v. p. 871. Yet Dr. Ibbotson (see his note in loc.) renders the word, tp' a.urui ra; 6u(na.g fjririkovri, very differently from the transla- tion used above, which is that of Dr. Prideaux ; his version is, " in seipsis sacrificia pera- gunt, i. e. sese ipsos Deo vovebant et consccrabant," edit. Haverc. J Joseph, de Bello Judaic, lib. ii. cap. viii. sect. v. p. 161, 162. § See AViLchneri Antiquitates Ebseor. vol. ii. sect. vii. cap. v. sect. Ixii. p. 775, 776, GottingSB, 1742. CHAr. XII.] OF THE ESSENES. 285 than ordinary zeal for the law of Moses, sliould be guilty of such gross idolatry as to worship the sun. There was a notion first started by Eusebius *, and eagerly embraced by many Roman Catholics f , that the Therapeutaj were Christian ascetics or monks, converted and instituted by St. Mark : which improbable suggestion Godwin refutes by the following ar- guments : In Philo's treatise concerning the Therapeutae, or de Vita Contemplativd, there is no mention of Christ or Christians, the evangelists or apostles. Again, the Therapeutae are not men- tioned as a new sect, as the Christians then were : on the conti'ary, he styles their doctrine " a philosophy derived to them by tradi- tion from their forefathers ;" and saith, " they have the commen- taries of the ancients, who were the authors of this sect;}:."" Again, the inscription of Philo's treatise is not only irepifiiov dfooprjriKov, but also TTfpi LKfTclcs. llistor. lib. ii. cap. xvii. p. G(>, aJ fin. capitis. -|- Seraii Tiilixics. lib. iii. cap. xvW. :{: Pbilo de Vita C()ntcn]i)lativa, Oper. p. ().91, C. § Philo de T^egation. sect. iii. cap. xvii. ad Caiiini, ab init. II Sec this opinion of Eusebius well confuted likewise by Valesius, Euseb. Ecclcs. Hist, lib. ii. cap. xvii. p. (if!, not. 1 , edit. Reading, Cantab. 1720, and by Scaliger in his Elcnchus Trihseres. Seraii, caj). xxix. 5[ Plin. Histor. Natur. lib. v. cap. xvii. ** Philo in Tiactat. quod Omnis probus Liber, Opcr. p. G78, C ; ct do Vita Contem- plativa, p. 690, E ; Joseph. Antiq. lib. xviii. cap. i. sect. v. 286 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK I. Essenes is by some accounted for from their cremetic life, which secluded them from places of public resort ; so that they did not come in the way of our Saviour, as the Pharisees and Sadducees often did. Others are of opinion, that the Essenes, being very honest and sincere, without guile or hypocrisy, gave no room for the reproofs and censures which the other Jews deserved ; and therefore no mention is made of them. But though they are not expressly mentioned in any of the sacred books, it is supposed, and not without reason, that they are referred to by St. Paul, in the second chapter of his Epistle to the Colossians ; '' Let no man," saith he, " beguile you of your reward, in a voluntary humility, and worshipping of angels, in- truding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind : which things have indeed a show of wisdom, in will-worship and humility, and neglecting of the body ;" chap, ii. 18. 23. What is here said of a voluntary humility, and ne- glecting the body, is in a peculiar manner applicable to the Essenes ; and by Josephus it appears, that they had something- peculiar among them relating to the angels : for he saith, " that when they received any into their number, they made them solemnly swear, that they would keep and observe the books of the sect, and the names of the angels, with care •'■." What is said of" in- truding into things not seen," is likewise agreeable to the charac- ter of the therapeutic Essenes, who, placing the excellence of their contemplative life in raising their minds to invisible objects, pretended to such a degree of abstraction and elevation, as to be able to dive into the nature of angels, and assign them proper names, or rightly interpret those already given them ; and like- wise to pry into futurity, and foretell things to come f. Upon which it is highly probable, "they were vainly puffed up by their fleshly mind." Moreover, the dogmata to which St. Paul refers in the following words, " Touch not, taste not, handle not," ver. 21, are such as the Essenes held, who would not taste any plea- sant food, but lived upon coarse bread, and drank nothing but water X ; and some of them would not taste any food at all till after sun-set §; and who, if they Avere touched by any that were not of their own sect, would wash themselves, as after some great * Joseph, de Bello Judaic, lib. ii. cap. viii. sect. vii. sub fin. p, 163. -|- Joseph, de Bello Judaic, lib. ii. cap. viii. sect. xii. p. 165. + Philo de Vita Coutemplativa, p. 692^ B, p, 696, D. § Philo, ubi supra, p. 692, A. CHAP. XIII.] OF THE HERODIANS. 287 pollution *. Perhaps there might be a sodality of Essenes at Colosse, as there were in many other places out of Judea ; and that some of the Christians, too much inclined to Judaism, might also affect the peculiarities of this sect ; which might be the rea- son of the apostle's so particularly cautioning against themf. CHAPTER XIII. OF THE GAULONITES AND HERODIANS. The Gaulonites were not a religious sect, but a political faction, raised up and headed by Judas of Galilee, who is mentioned in the fifth chapter of the Acts ; ver. 37. Josephus calls him lovbas TiwXavLTris in the first chapter of the eighteenth book of his Antiqui- ties;}:; yet in the title or contents of that chapter, and in the fifth chapter of the twentieth book, he is styled lovSas tov TaXiXaiov §. Judas the Gaulonite, therefore, and Judas of Galilee, were the same person, indifferently called by one or the other of those names, because Gaulona, his native country, which lay beyond Jordan, was otherwise called Galilee, or Galilee of the Gentiles, Matt. iv. 15, et alibi, to distinguish it from the other Galilee on this side Jordan. This Judas, it seems, had raised and headed an insurrection against the Roman government, on occasion of the tax which Augustus levied on Judea, when he reduced it into the form of a Roman province ||. This party was soon suppressed, and we read no more of it in the New Testament; unless, perhaps, as Godwin conjectures, those persons were some of this faction, otherwise called Galileans, whom Pilate slew as they were performing the sacred rites at the altar, and thereby mingled their blood with their sacrifices ; Luke xiii. 1. As for the Herodians, they are passed over in silence both by Josephus and Philo, and only known by being mentioned in three passages of the New Testament history. We find them com- * Joseph, iibi supra, sect. x. p. 164. •j- Concerning the Esscncs, besides the references above, see Seraii Tiihsercsis, Drusius f/, in which, must either signify " near to which," in which sense the particle fv is sometimes used * ; or rather, I apprehend, eu r), in which, refers not to Ki^coTou, the ark, immediately preceding, but to the remote ante- cedent, a-Krjvt] ff \(yo[M{inj uyia ayicov, the sccond tabcrnacle, or holy of holies ; and is parallel to the expression which just before occurs, aKtp'u yap Karea-Keuaa-dr) jj Trpcort], " there was a first tabernacle made, wherein, ev v, was the candlestick and the table," &.c. That the tabernacle and all its furniture were typical and em- blematical of spiritual blessings f , we are assured by the apostle ; Heb. ix. 9, and x. 1, et alibi. But for the particular meaning of these several mysteries we refer to VVitsius''s Dissertation de Taber- naculi Mysteriis, in the first volume of his Miscellanea J. Of the Temple. Having taken a survey of the tabernacle, we proceed to the temple at Jerusalem, which was built much after the model of the former edifice, but every way in a more magnificent and expensive manner. According to the opinion of some persons, there were three dif- ferent temples ; the first built by David and Solomon ; the second by Zerubbabel, and Joshua the high-priest; and the third by Herod, a little before the birth of Christ. The Jews acknow- ledge only two § ; for they do not allow the third to be a new temple, but only the second rebuilt. And this best agrees with the prophecy of Haggai, chap, ii, 9 ; that " the glory of this latter house, namely, Zerubbabel's temple, should be greater than that of the formei'," which undoubtedly was said in reference to the Mes- siah's honouring it with his personal presence and ministry. The first temple was built by David and Solomon. David pro- vided materials for it before his death, and Solomon raised the edifice. It stood on Mount Zion, Psalm cxxxii. 13, 14 ; which was the general name of a range of hills in that neighbourhood. The name of that particular hill on which the temple stood, was Mo- riah ; 2 Chron. iii. 1 . The Jews will have it to be the very spot on which Abraham went about to sacrifice Isaac ; and where Adam * See Whitby in loc. t Vid. Deyling. Observ. Sacr. part i. obser. xvii. p. 68. 4: On this subject consult Buxtorf's Exercitat. de Area Foederis. And with respect to the tabernacle, as well as all its furniture, read Joseph. Antiq. lib. iii. cap. vi, § Vid. Reland. Antiq. Hebr. part i. cap. vi. sect. ii. p. 58, elit. 1717, and the passages of the Talmud there quoted. CHAP. I.] THE TEMPLE. S09 paid his first devotions after his creation, and sacrificed after his fall. This hill had been purchased by David of Araunah, or Oman, king of the Jebusites *. It is remarkable, that though in the Second Book of Samuel we have an account that " David purchased the threshing floor of Oman, with the oxen, for fifty shekels of silver," chap. xxiv. 24 ; in the First Book of Chronicles it is said, " he gave to Oman, for the place, six hundred shekels of gold ;" chap. xxi. 25. To solve this diflficulty, some learned men, observing that the words f]D3 kassaph, and nm zahah, which we render silver and gold in these two passages, are both used sometimes for money in general, ima- gine that the former sum was fifty shekels of gold, and the latter six hundred shekels of silver ; and if so, both amount to much the same value, about five hundred and forty-seven pounds. But it seems an easier and more natural supposition, that the former sum was for the floor, oxen, and wooden instruments only, and the latter was afterward paid for the wiiole hill, whereon David chose to build the temple -j-. The expense of erecting this magnificent structure was prodi- gious; and, indeed, according to the common acceptation of the Scripture account, next to incredible ; the gold and silver only, which was provided for that purpose, amounting to upward of eight thousand millions sterling, 1 Chron. xxii. 14; xxix. 4. 6, 7; which, says Dr. Prideaux, was sufficient to have built the whole temple with solid silver %, and greatly exceeds all the treasures of all the monarchs in Christendom. But it may be observed, that the number of these talents, by which the gold and silver is computed, is mentioned only in the book of Chronicles, which was undoubtedly written after the return from the Babylonish captivity, as appears from its mentioning Cy- rus's decree for the building the temple, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 22, 23; and from its carrying the genealogy beyond Zerubbabel, who was one of the chiefs that returned from Babylon, 1 Chron. iii. 19 ; and it is not, therefore, improbable, that at the time of writing this book the Jews might compute by the Babylonish talent, which was " 2 Sam. xxiv. 23, where the literal version is, " All this did Ar.iunah, the king, give unto the king." f Capcl, in his Critica Sacra, lib. i. cap. x. sect. x. p. 37, supposes, that these different numbers are cuing to the blunder of some tiansciiber, and are therefore most easily recon- ciled by admitting a various lection. And ni.any of this le-irned man's conjectures, to his immortal honour, are condrmed by the Ilebicw manuscripts, as Dr. Kenr.icott hatli had occasion to observe ; and perhaps this may appear in various other instances, when that gentleman hath finished his grciit work of the collation, in which he is now engajicd. :|: Pndcaux's Connect, part i. book i. vol. i. p, 7, 8, note q. 810 jEwisu ANTiQun'ii::s. [book 1/. little more than half the Mosaic talent, or perhaps by the Syriac talent, which was but one-fifth of the Babylonish ; and thus the whole mass of gold and silver would be reduced to a comparatively moderate quantity, and yet be abundantly sufficient to build a most magnificent temple. The plan, and the whole model of this structure, was laid by the same divine Architect as that of the tabernacle, namely, God him- self; chap, xxviii. 11, 12. We may reasonably, therefore, con- clude, it was the completest building that was ever erected ; and it is no improbable conjecture of those who are for deriving all the Grecian orders and just ornaments in architectui'e from this temple. It was built, as was said before, much in the same form with the tabernacle, only every way of larger dimensions. It was sur- rounded, except the front, or east end, with three stories of cham- bers, each five cubits square, which reached to half the height of the temple ; and the front was graced with a magnificent portico, which rose to the height of an hundred and twenty cubits.- So that the shape of the whole was not unlike some chuixhes we have seen, which have a lofty tower in the front, and a lower aisle run- ning along each side of the building. The utensils for sacred service were the same as in the taber- nacle ; only several of them, as the altar, candlestick, &c., wei*e larger in proportion to the more spacious edifice to which they belonged. This first temple was at length plundered by Nebu- chadnezzar, king of Babylon, of all its rich furniture, and the building itself destroyed, after it had stood, according to Jose- phus, four hundred and seventy years, six months, and ten days, from its dedication *. Though other chronologers, as particularly Calvisius and Scaliger, reduce the number of years to four hun- dred and twenty-seven or eight ; and Usher, to four hundred and twenty-four, three months, and eight days f. The second temple was built by the Jews upon their return from the Babylonish captivity, under the influence and direction of Zerubbabel their governor, and of Joshua the high-priest, with the leave and by the encouragement of Cyrus, the Persian em- peror, to whom Judea was now become a tributary kingdom. This is that Cyrus, of whom Isaiah had prophesied by name two hundred years before he was born, and had predicted his encou- • Antiq. lib. x. cap. viii. sect. v. p. 528, edit. Haverc. t Usser. Annul. A.M. 3416, p. 71, and Scaliger de Emend. Temp. p. 400, edit. Colon. Allobr. 1629. CllAF. I.] THE TKMPLi;. 311 raging the rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple ; chap. xliv. 28 ; xlv. 1. It is probable that Daniel had showed Cyrus this pro- phecy, and that Cyrus refers to it in his proclamation for rebuild- ing the temple : " The Lord God," saith he, " hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem ;" Ezra i. 2. He also restored the sacred utensils which Nebuchadnezzar had put in the temples of his god ; and not only gave leave to the Jews to rebuild their temple, but en- couraged his own people to assist them with presents for carrying on the work; chap. i. 4. Upon which the foundation of a new building was laid, with great rejoicing of the people ; only some old men, who remembered the glory of Solomon's temple, and had no expectation that this, which was erecting by a few poor exiles, just returned to their own country, could ever equal that in mag- nificence, wept with a loud voice, while others were shouting with joy ; chap. iii. 12, 13. However, the work, which was thus cheerfully begun, went on but slowly, partly for want of zeal for God's honour and worship, for which they were reproved by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, and partly, also, through the envy and malice of their neighbours, the Samaritans, who, by their ill offices at court, prevailed with the emperor to put a stop to the work ; chap. iv. 23, 24. At length, after an intermission of about thirteen years, it was vigorously reassumed under the en- couragement of the emperor Darius, and completely finished in the sixth year of his reign; chap. vi. 15. Upon which the new temple was dedicated with great solemnity and much rejoicing ; ver. 16, 17. That there was really a very considerable difference and disparity between the old and this new temple is very certain, not only from the old men's lamentation before mentioned, but from the follow- ing passage of the prophet Haggai: " Who is left amongst you, that saw this house in its first glory ? And how do you see it now ? Is it not in your eyes, in comparison of it, as nothing?" chap, ii. 3. And also from the promise which God gave them, in order to comfort them on this occasion, that he would raise the glory of this latter ten)ple above that of the former, by the presence of the Messiah in it; ver. 9. The Jews tell us, the second temple wanted five remarkable things, which were the chief glory of the first temple : the ark and mercy-seat: — the divine presence, or visible glory in the holy of holies, which they call the Shechinah : — the holy fire on the altar. 312 JKWlSli ANTIQUITIES. [liOOK H# which bad been first kindled from heaven : — ihe Uiiin and Thuni- iiiim : — and the spirit of prophecy. This temple was plundered and wretchedly profaned by An- tiochus Epiphanes, who not only rifled it of all its riches, but caused it to be polluted by sacrificing swine's flesh upon the altar. He also caused the public worship in it to cease *. It was afterward purified, and the divine worship ret;tored by Judas Maccabaeus, on which occasion the temple, or at least the altar, was dedicated anew, and an annual festival was instituted in commemoration of this happy event. This is the feast of dedica- tion which we read of in the Gospel of St. John, cliap. x. 22, and which is said to be in winter, and could not, therefore, be kept in remembrance of the dedication of the temple of Solomon ; for thai was in the seventh month, which is just after harvest, 1 Kings viii. 2 ; nor of Zerubbabers temple, which was dedicated in the month Adar, in the spring. It must, therefore, be the festival which was instituted by Judas Maccabaeus, on his having purified the temple and altar from the pollution of Antiochus. This feast was cele- brated for eight days successively, from the twenty-fifth day of the month Casleu, answering to our December ; 1 Maccab. iv. 59. And it is also mentioned by Josephus as a festival to which great regard was paid in his time f . This festival is still observed by the Jews ; yet not as a time of rejoicing, but of mourning, on account of the destruction of their temple, and the calamities which have befallen their nation. When this second temple was grown old, and out of repair, having stood five hundred years, king Herod, in order to ingra- tiate himself with the Jews, and to perpetuate his own memory, offered to rebuild it : which brings us. Thirdly. To Herod's temple, which was a far more magnificent structure than Zerubbabers, and came much nearer to the glory of Solomon's. Tacitus, the Roman historian, calls it " Immensae opulentite templum," a temple of immense opulence X- Josephus says, it was the most astonishing structure he had ever seen or heard of, as well on account of its architecture as its magnitude, and likewise the richness and magnificence of its various parts, and the fame and reputation of its sacred appurtenances §. As * Joseph. Aiitiq. lib. xii. cap. v. sect. iv. p. 609, edit. Havere. ; and I Maccab. i. '20 — 21, and 45—47. f Antiq. lib. xii. cap. vii. sect. vii. p. 617, edit. Havere. ;f Tacit. Histor. lib. v. sect. viii. p. 202, edit. Glasg. 1743. § Josopli. de Bell. Judaic, lib. vi. cap. iv, sect. viii. p. 386, edit. Havere. ciiAi'. 1.] riii; iKiMFLi:. 318 lor Rabbi Jehuda, the compiler of the Talmud, and other more modern writers, who have given us descriptions of this temple, which none of them had ever seen, we can have little dependence on their accounts, especially as they differ so much from one an- other, each having, in a manner, erected a separate edifice; to which one cannot help suspecting, that the strength of imagina- tion has sometimes contributed more largely than the knowledge of history. But Josephus was himself a priest in the temple he describes, and wrote soon after its destruction, when, if he had given a false, or remarkably inaccurate account, he might have been contradicted by numbers who had viewed it as well as him- self. For that reason, he is to be credited beyond any of the rest *, though one cannot avoid suspecting, that even in his description there is some panegyric exceeding the bounds of truth, intermixed with faithful and exact narrative ; for instance, when he tells us of some stones in the building forty-five cubits long, five high, and six broad. That there were, indeed, some extra- ordinary large stones, may be collected from the following passage of the evangelist Mark : " And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him. Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!" chap. xiii. 1. And in Luke they are styled "goodly stones;" chap. xxi. 5. But I apprehend it would puzzle all the mathematicians of the present age to contrive machines by which stones of such prodigious weight and size, as those mentioned by Josephus, could be raised and managed. We are to consider he wrote before the invention of })rinting, when books could not be soon and easily published and dispersed into many hands, as they now are. It is possible, therefore, a vain desire of exalting the glory of his nation, might prevail with him, in some cases, above a strict regard to truth, when it was pi'obable, none, who were able to contradict him, might ever see his book ; or if they should, and were of his own nation, they would not be inclii>ed to do it f. Hitherto we have only considered the tcmi)le itself, which con- sisted of the portico, the sanctuary, and the h(jly of holies. But this was only a small part of the sacred building on the top of * See his Description of the Temple, do Bell. Judaic, lib. v. cap. v. p. 331, et seq. + There is, however, a surprising account in Mr. Maundrcl's Travels, j). 13S, edit. 1749, Oxon, of the size of seme stones, which, lie saith, he saw lumsclf in a wall wliicli encompassed the temple of Balhec ; one stone was twcnty-onc, and two others eacli twenty yards long, four yards deep, and as many broad. And the authors of the Universal His- tory quote D© La Roqur, a l'"'rrnth autlior, as giving the same account, 314 JKWJSll ANTIQUITJKS. [BOOK 11. Mount Moriali ; for the temple was surrounded with spacious courts, making a square of half a mile in circumference. The first court, which encompassed the temple and the other courts, was called the court of the Gentiles ; because Gentiles were allowed to come into it, but no farther. It was inclosed with a wall, twenty cubits high, on the top of which were chambers, or galleries, supported by the wall on the outer side, and by rows of columns on the inside ; as the sides of the Royal Exchange, or the Piazzas in Covent Garden are. These piazzas of the temple are called aroai. by Josephus, and in the New Testament ; which we translate porches, though not very properly, for the English word porch conveys a very different idea from the Greek word oroa, which is better rendered piazza. That on the east side was called Solomon's piazza (see John x. 23; Acts iii. 11), because it stood upon a vast terrace, which he built up from the valley beneath, four hundred cubits high, in order to enlarge the area on the top of the mountain, and make it equal to the plan of his intended building. As this terrace was the only work of Solomon's remaining in Herod's temple, the piazza, that stood upon it, still retained the name of the former prince. Of the same kind with these piazzas were doubtless the five (TToai, which surrounded the pool of Bethesda ; John v. 2. The pool was probably a pentagon, and the piazzas round it were de- signed to shelter from the weather the multitude of diseased persons who lay waiting for a cure by the miraculous virtue of those waters. Within this outward great court was a less court, of an oblong, rectangular figure, near to the west end of which the temple stood. Into this court none but Israelites might enter. It was also sur- rounded with a wall, and adorned with piazzas, in the manner of the great court. The rabbles speak of two walls, and a space be- tween them of ten cubits broad, which they call the b'inion. nii>i>; fully than he had done himself, but leaves tlio dispute undetermined. I] Lightfoot, Hor. Ilebr. in Matt. iv. "iii, ad linein. f5'2'i JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK II. ill onler that they miglit inform themselves of their dogmata, and not condemn them unlieard and unknown. And under all these characters, Christ and his apostles were admitted to this privilege. He that gave liberty to preach was termed hpx^'^vvayayos ; w Inch word is sometimes used in a larger sense, for any one of the officers who had power in the affairs of the synagogue. Thus in the thir- teenth chapter of the Acts, ver. 15, we read of the Apxivwaycoyoi, rulers of one synagogue. Sometimes it is used in a stricter sense, for the president or chief of those officers ; as in the following pas- sage of St. Luke : " And the ruler of the synagogue, Apxt- V 2 324 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [boOK II. The second part of the synagogue service was prayer. For the performance of which, saith Dr. Prideaux, they had liturgies, in which are all the prescribed forms of the synagogue worship. The most solemn part of these prayers are eighteen collects, which, according to the rabbles, were composed and instituted by Ezra, in order that the Jews, whose language after the captivity was cor- rupted with many barbarous terms, borrowed from other languages, might be able to perform their devotions in the pure language of their own country. This is the account which Maimonides gives out of the Gemara, of the origin of the Jewish liturgies *. And the eighteen collects, in particular, are mentionedin the Mishna f . However, some better evidence than that of the talmudical rabbles is requisite in order to prove their liturgies to be of so high an antiquity ; especially when some of their prayers, as Dr. Prideaux acknowledges, seem to have been composed after the destruction of Jerusalem, and to have reference to it;}:. It is evident they were composed when there was no temple, nor sacrifices ; since the seventeenth collect prays, that God would restore his worship to the inner part of his house, and make haste with fervour and love to accept the burnt sacrifices of Israel, &c. § They could not, therefore, be the composition of Ezra, who did not receive his commission fiom Artaxerxes to go to Judea till more than fifty years after the second temple was built, and its worship restored. However, Dr. Prideaux, not doubting but they were used, at least most of them, in our Saviour's time, and consequently that he joined in them ||, whenever he went into the synagogues, as he legom. ix, sect. xiv. p. 60), that no Greek version was ever used in any Jewish syn.ngogues. In support of the opinion we have espoused, besides Scaliger and Walton, see in particular, Hody de Bibliorum Textibus, lib. iii. part i. cap. i. p. 224 — 233. * Maimon. de Preribus et Benedict. Sacerdot. cap. i. sect. i. — ix ex Gem. tit. Bara- choth, fol. xxxiii. col. i. ; et Megill. fol. xviii. col. ii.; see Vitringa, lib. i. part ii. cap. xii. p. 414—416. f Mishn. tit. Barachoth, cap. iv. sect. iii. p. 14, edit. Surcnhus. J Connect, part i. book vi. vol. ii. p. 538, note d, 10th edit. 1729. § Prideaux, ubi supra, p. 541,542. The fifth, tenth, eleventh, and fourteeulh collects have the same allusion and reference as the seventeenth. See the original prayers in Maimonides de Ordine Precum ; or in Vitringa (de Synag. Veterc, lib. iii, part ii. cap, xiv. p. 1033 — 1038), who observes, that the Talmudists will have the seventeenth col- lect, which prays for the restoration of the temple worship (rediic ministerium Leviticum in Adytum Domus tuse, as he translates it), to have been usually recited by the king in the temple at the feast of tabernacles; which is such an absurdity, that it confutes itself, and shows how little the Jewish traditions concerning the antiquity and use of their litur- gies are to be depended upon. II Supposing these forms were used in our Saviour's time, it will not follow, that he joined in them, or worshipped God by them, because he frequently attended the Jewish synagogues ; which he might do for other reasons. And indeed many of thera, as the author of the Letter to Dr. Prideaux in the Occasional Paper (vol. iii. numb. iii. p. 14 — 17) justly observes and shows, were such as he cannot be supposed to have joined in, not bei::^ cousisieiu with his character aud circumstances. CHAP. 11.] THE SYNAGOGUES. 325 did every sabbath-day, Luke iv. 16, infers from hence two things^ as hesaith, for the consideration of Dissenters:. 1st. " That our Saviour disHked not set forms of piayov in public worship." 2dly. " That he was content to join with the public in the meanest forms (for such he allows these Jewish forms to be) rather than separate from it." " And this," says he, " may satisfy our Dissenters, that neither our using set forms of prayer in our public worship, nor the using of such forms as they think not sufficiently edifying, can be objection sufficient to justify them in their refusal to join with us in the use of them *." As both these inferences are built upon the supposition, that forms of prayer were used in the Jewish church in our Saviour'3 time, if that cannot be satisfactorily proved, they stand upon a very pi-ecarious foundation. And though the Doctor is pleased to say there is no doubt of it, yet, unless he could produce some better and earlier evidence than the talmudical rabbies, I think there is great reason to withhold our assent. If they were in use so early as the Jewish writers'pretend, it is strange there should be no hint of it in the Old Testament and in the Apocrypha ; and if they came into use in or before our Saviour's time, some intima- tion of it might naturally have been expected in the New Testa- ment. Nor is the total silence of Josephus and Philo, and all other writers previous to the talmudical rabbies, easy to be ac- counted for on supposition that such liturgical forms were then in use. However, granting they were then used, and that our Saviour ordinarily attended the Jev/ish public worship, at that time very corrupt, and loaded with ceremonies of mere human invention ; it may, nevertheless, be doubted how far his example in this case will oblige us to join with a national church in any forms of worship, which we apprehend to be corrupted from the divine institution : for, 1st. Though our blessed Saviour, for wise reasons, was present at the corrupt worship of the Jewish church, he frequently remon- strated against their corruptions. The argument, therefore, drawn from hence, for our complying wHth human inventions and corruptions in the worship of God, seems not quite remote from * The same avgument is U6ed by Dr. Whitby on Luke iv. Ifi; by Archbishop Tillot- 5.011, serm. cxxxv. vol. iii. p. 227, fol. ; by Dr. Bennct, in his Brief History of Forms of rrnyer, chap. i. — iii., and by scvcr.il others. 326 JKWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK II. that which Cardinal Bellarmine uses fur the worship of angels ; " St. John fell down before an angel, in order to worship him ; and ■vvli_y are we blamed for doing what St. John did ?" To which Archbishop Tillotson properly replies, Because St. John was reproved by tire angel for doing what he did. In hke manner when we are asked, why we cannot comply with corrupt foniis and human inventions, as Christ did? — we may reply. Because he remonstrated against such corrupt forms and human inventions, and reproved the Jews for them. Indeed, if this argument proves any thing, it proves too much ; it proves that we must not only comply with corrupt modes and forms in divine worship, but that we must at the same time continue to bear our testimony against such corruptions ; and this, w^e apprehend, would not only be dis- agreeable to our Christian brethren with whom we differ, but would ordinarily be the cause of more uncharitable contentions, and give a more mortal wound to the peace of the church, for the sake of preserving which the example of Christ is so strongly urged upon us, than a quiet and peaceable separation. Not to add, 2dly. That if we are under an obligation, from the example of Christ, to comply with the established worship in any nation, I apprehend we must be under the like obligation to comply with it in every nation, to be Episcopalians or Presbyterians, Papists or Protestants, according to the law and constitution of the country in which we reside. 3dly. Though our Saviour for a time complied with the corrupt worship of the Jewish church, he nevertheless afterward dissented, and set up another church, and another form, in opposition to theirs ; enjoining on his disciples a nonconformity to the rites of the Jewish church, and a strict and close adherence to him as their lawgiver, and to his institutions as their rule, and not to suffer themselves to be again entangled with the yoke of carnal and ceremonial ordinances, but to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made them free ; to own and submit to his authority alone as obligatory on conscience, and to oppose every usurpation on his sovereignty, and every invasion of the rights of his subjects. Which leads me to observe, 4thly. That the argument is built on this mistaken principle, that the Church of England is a national estabhshed church, on the same, or as good authority as the Jewish church was. That, indeed, was a divine establishment; and all persons born in the land of Israel, and of Jewish parents, being considered hh members CHAP. II.] THE SYNAGOGUES. f?27 of it, were therefore bound to conform to its rites and worship, at least so far as they vvere consonant to the divine institution. But is there a divine establishment of any national church under the gospel dispensation? If the New Testament gives us no other idea of the churches of Christ, but their being voluntary societies, uniting, under the laws of Christ, for public worship, and other purposes of religion ; then is no man born a member of any church, but every one is at liberty to join himself to that, whose constitu- tion and worship appear to him most agreeable to the rule of Scripture, and most for his own edification. And since the unity which the gospel recommends does not consist in the uniformity of rites and modes of worship, but in harmony of affection, and in the mutual love of all Christians; it follows, that the peace of the church is not broken by quiet and conscientious nonconformists, but by those who are bitter and violent against their fellow- christians for not approving tho:>e human forms of which (hey are fond and tenacious *. The third part of their synagogue service was expounding the Scriptures, and preaching to the people. The posture in which this was performed, whether in the synagogue or other places (see Matt. V, 1, and Luke v. 3), was sitting. Accordingly, when our Saviour had read the m^iosn liaphtaroth, in the synagogue at Na- zareth, of which he was a member, having been brought up in that city; and then, instead of retiring to his place, sat down in the desk or pulpit, it is said, " the eyes of all that were present were fastened upon him," as they perceived by his posture that he was going to preach to them ; Luke iv. 20. And when Paul and Barnabas went into the synagogue at Antioch, and sat down, thereby intimating their desire to speak to the people, if they might be jiermitted, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, and gave them leave; Acts xiii. 14, 15. The synagogues were used, not only for divine service, but for holding courts of justice, especially upon ecclesiastical affairs. And as among us, lesser punishments are often inflicted in the court, as soon as judgment is given, for instance, burning in the hand ; so among the Jews, the punishment of beating or whipping * See Mr. Rohinson's Review of the wise of Liturgies, in answer to Dr. Beniicl, chap, iii. p. 49, ct scq. ; mid the Letter to Dr. Piidciiux in the Oceabioiml. Paper, vol. iii. numb. iii. If any are desivoiia (il hciiig ucquaintcd with the Jewish forms, and with their loaniicr of diochargiiia the duty of pnbUc prayer, as described by the rabbits, they may have amj>Ic salisfncliiMi in Vilring.i, dc Syiiag. Vctcrc, lib. iii. pari ii. cap. .\iii. — .wiii., or in Bu.vloif. de Synag. .fudaica. 328 JEWISH ANTIQLITILS. [BOOK II. was often inflicted in the synagogue, while the court was sitting : See Matt. x. 17 ; Luke xii. 11 ; Acts xxii. 19. To this use of the synagogues, for holding judiciary courts, Dr. Whitby thinks St. James refers, when he says, " If there come into your assembly, ft? rrjv yTj, which never signifies in the New Testament an assembly of Christian worshippers. 2dly. From the word irpoa-aTrok-q-^ia being used to express the partiality here censured, in the clause immediately preceding : " INIy brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons, ev raia ■npoaamoki^ylri.ms,'''' ver. 1. Now this term is most commonly, if not always, used for a partial respect of persons in judgment ; like the instance here mentioned, favouring a rich man's cause before a poor man's. 3dly. The phrase " Sit thou under my footstool,'' ver. 3, most naturally refers to courts of justice ; where the judge is commonly exalted upon a higher seat than the rest of the assembly ; but it cannot be well applied to assemblies of worshippers. 4thly. The apostle's accusing them, on account of this conduct toward the poor, with being partial judges, ver. 4; and reminding them, that the rich were the persons who " drew them before the judgment-seats," ver. 6, seems very natural, if we understand him in Uie pi'eceding passage as dis- coursing concerning courts of judicature. 5thly. The apostle says, such a respect of persons as he here speaks of, is contrary to the law, and those who are guilty of it are " convinced of the law as transgressors ;" ver. 9. Now there was no divine law against distinction of places in worshipping assemblies, into those which were more or less honourable ; this must therefore, no doubt, refer to the law of partiality in judgment : " Ye shall do no unrighteous- ness in judgment; thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty ;" Lev. xix. 15: see also Deut. i. 17. The talmudists say*, it was a x\Aq, that when "a poor man and a rich man pleaded together in judgment, the rich • Vid. HoUingcr. de Juri- Hcbifror. Lcgibii>, leg. cixlii. i>. 3()1, edit. Tigur. I0"5o. CHAT. II.] Till': SCHOOLS. S'29 should not be bid to sit down, and the poor to stand ; but either both shall sit, or both shall stand." To this rule, or custom, the apostle seems to refer, when he insinuates a charge against them, of saying to the rich man, " Sit thou here in a good place, and to the poor, Stand thou there;" James ii. 3. So that, upon the whole, by the synagogue is not here meant, as is commonly understood, the church assembly for worship, but a court of judicature, in which men are too apt to favour the cause of the rich against the poor. With respect to the schools amongst the Jews, it should be ob- served, that besides the common schools, in which children were taught to read the law, they had also academies, in which their, doctors gave comments on the law, and taught the traditions to their pupils. Of this sort were the two famous schools of Hillel and Shammai, and the school of Gamaliel, who was Paul's tutor; Acts xxii. 3. In these seminaries the tutor's chair is said to have been so much raised above the level of the floor, on which the pupils sat, that his feet were even with their heads. Hence St. Paul says, that " he was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel." These academies were commonly furnished with several tutors, of whom one was president, and from whom the school was denomi- nated. They were called p;i"i-no hefh-rabbonin ; whereas the in- ferior schools were called fnn-n''l beth-rabhan, as having only one master. The doctors in these academies not only read lectures to their pupils, but held disputations or conferences, at which other persons might be present, and propose questions to them. It was perhaps in one of those schools, which were kept in some apartment in the courts of the temple, that Mary found her young son Jesus, ''sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing and asking them ques- tions ;" Luke ii. 46. Or it might be even in the Sanhedrim, which. Dr. Lightfoot says, was the great school of the nation, as well as the great judicatory *. In order to prove that these schools were different from the syna- gogues, Godwin observes, that Paul, having disputed for the space of three months in the synagogue, " because divers believed not, but spake evil of that way, then departed from them, and separated his disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus ;" Acts xix. 8 — 10. This argument is grounded on a supposition, that this school of Tyrannus was a Jewish academy ; which is very un- ' l.iglilfoot, I rr.niioiiN on .Tolni iii. 10, 330 JKWl.MI ANlIQlJlTlIiS. [book II. likely, considering it was at Ephesus. Besides, it does not seem probable, that, on account of the Jews opposing and blaspheming the gospel, St. Paul should merely retire from a Jewish synagogue to a Jewish school. Was he likely to meet with less opposition amongst the same people by teaching in a different place? Tiie truth seems to be, that he departed from the Jews, as being under obstinate and invincible prejudices, and taught among the Gentiles, in the school of one Tyrannus ; and that for the space of two years : so that all the inhabitants of Asia heard the word of the Lord, Greeks as well as Jews. Some take Tyrannus to be the proper name of a Gentile philosopher, who favoured St. Paul, and lent him his school to preach and dispute in ; others, to be a tide or name of place or office, rvpawos signifying, in the Greek language, a king or prince; and accordingly the Chaldee Paraphrase, which often bor- rows words both from the Greek and Latin, renders the Hebrew word ^:)'^D zarne, which we translate lords in the books of Joshua and Judges (Josh. xiii. 3; Judges xvi. o. 8), by "■r.^to tiirne. Thus Phavorinus interprets rvpawos by apxa>v TrcoXews. It may, therefore, in this place signify a magistrate ; which interpretation seems to be favoured by the addition of nm^. Nevertheless it must be owned, Tivos is sometimes joined with a proper name; as nm St/Licova, Mark XV. 21, and TeprvWov Tivos, Acts xxiv. 1. However, \( hy rvpavuov Tivos we understand a certain magistrate of Ephesus, o-xoX?; may sig- nify his hall or gallery, in which people used to meet for discourse : a sense in which the word is very commonly used both by the Greeks and Latins. Others, again, take a-xoXn here to signify a yi'ixvaaiov, in which wrcsticrs and other combatants in the public games exercised themselves ; and which, perhaps, had been built at the expense of one Tyrannus, and therefore bore his name *. With respect to their oratories, or wpoaevxai, it is a question among the learned, whether they were different from their schools or synagogues. It is said, that our Saviour " went up into a moun- tain to pray, and continued all night," fv rrj TTpoaevxn rov Gfov, wllicll can hardly bear the sense our translators have put upon it, *' in prayer to (iod;" Luke vi. 12. Beza indeed renders it, " pernoc- tavit illic, orans Deum :" but acknowledges he is forced to depart from the Greek, " ut planius loqueretur." But Dr. Whitby infers from the use of parallel phrases, such as " the mount of God," «' the bread of God," " the altar of God," " the lamp of God," which aie all of them things consecrated or appropriated to the ser- * Viil. Su'iihuni Thesaurus in veil), Scliola. CHAP. 11.] THE IIIOSLUCILE. 331 vice of God, that Trpoaevxr] To-u Oeov might in like niannor signify " an oratory of God," or a place that was devoted to his service, especially for prayer. In the same sense he understands the word in the passage of the Acts, wherein we are informed, that Paul and his companions, on the sabbath-day, went out of the city by a river side, OK {vofii((To Trpoaevxri ftvai, which we render, " where prayer was wont to be made." But the Syriac renders it, " quoniara illic vide- batur domus precationis ;"" — because there was j)erceived to be a house of prayer : and the Arabic, "ad locum quendam qui putabatur esse locus orationis ;" — to a certain place, which was supposed to be a place of prayer : ov fvofjuCero, where there was taken, or feigned to be * — or where.; according to received custom, there was -j- — or where there was allowed by law |, — a proseucha, or oratory, and where, therefore, they expected to meet an assembly of people. Mr. Mede observes, that it should have been ov evoniCero irpoa-fvxn yivio-Oai, not fivai, to expi'ess where prayer was wont to be made : and De Dieu seems to be of the same opinion. That the Jews had houses, or places for prayer, called irpoarfvxM, appears from a variety of passages in Philo §; and particularly in his oration against Flaccus he complains, that their irpoo-ivxat were pulled down, and there was no place left in which they might wor- ship God and pray for Caesar [[. And Josephus, in his Life, mentions the proseuchae more than once, and speaks of the people's being gathered tis rrjv npoa-evxqv^. To the same purpose is the following passage of Juvenal, if he be rightly understood by God- win, Vitringa **, and others: — Ede ubi coiisistas ; in qua tc qua-ro I'loseiiclia ? Sat. iii. 1. 296 tf. * Mede's Diatiib. disc, xviii. p. 07 , of his AVoiks. And Dc Dicu, Aniuiadvcrs. in Acta xvi. ] 3. t Eisner. Obscrv. Sacr. in loc, where he ojiposes Bos, who (in his Exercitat. Philolog. in loc.) had endeavoured to show, tliat ttiofti^iTi) was redundant, and that the passage oiighi to be translated simply," where there was a proseucha." + Lardncr's C!redibil. part i. vol. i. book i. cap. iii. sect. iii. p. 239, 3d edit. 17-11. Erasmus Scluuidius (in loc.) supports this sense of ivof/.iZiTt> by some passages in Aiislo- jibanes. Consult Sca]>ula and Constantine in verb. ^ Vid. in Flaccum, et I>cgat. ad Caiiim passim. II riiil. in Flacc. apud Opera, p. 7.52, F, edit. Colon. Allobr. 1()13. ^1 Joseph, in Vif. sect. liv. et Ivi. p. 27, torn. ii. edit. Ilavcrc. ** Vitring. de Synag. Vefere, lib. i. part i. cap. iv. p. 119. ft The late learned Mr. Samuel .Jones, of Tewkesbury, in his MS. Lectures on C.'odwiii, liatii tiic following note on this p.assage of Juvenal : — " Aulor noster et ctiam Vitringa ahique pocUini his verbis Synagogam Juda:orum in- nuissc piitant. Sed alitt^r milii videlur. Nam in hoc loco dc Judtcis nil habcl ; inducii vero Ihnbritinu), Romanum quidem, non Judieum, do contumeliis, quibus paupcies adi- ciebanl cbrii pclulruilesque juvcnes, conquercntcm, et refcrentcm verba talium jiivcnum r"gantium paupcrcm quendam, i\ quo (.onclics ct porra menditasscl, ct quo in loco .id uien- 332 JENVJSH ANTIQUITIES. [UOOK II. Among those wlio make tlie synagogues and proseuchffi to be ditlerent places, are the learned Mr. Joseph Mede * and Dr. Pri- deaux f ; and they think the difference consists, partly, in the form of the edifice ; a synagogue, they say, being (Bdificium tectum, like our houses, or churches ; and a proseucha being only encompassed with a wall, or some other mound or enclosure, and open at the top, like our courts \. They make them to differ in situation ; synagogues being in towns and cities, proseuchae in the fields, and frequently by the river-side §. Dr. Prideaux mentions another distinction, in respect to the service performed in them ; in syna- gogues, he saith, the prayers wei-e offered up in public forms in common for the whole congregation; but in the proseuchae they prayed, as in the temple, every one apart for himself. And thus our Saviour prayed in the proseucha into which he entered. Yet, after all, the proof in favour of this notion is not so strong, but that it still remains a question with some, whether the syna- dicandum stave assuctus erat. Quinetiam baud veiisimile est Romanes mendicandi causa synagogas frequcntasse, quum ipsi tunc temporis paupenimi habebantur et nncndici, ut ex hoc ipso aliisque constat poetis. Insuper quum poeta dicit; in qua te qua?ro Proseurhu ? Innuit, quod pluiimce erant tunc temporis Romae Proseucha;. Non autem verisimile est plurimas ibi fuisse syiiagog-as, quia Judsei tunc temporis pauperes erant et exosi et sape ab Imperatoribus longe ab urbe discedere jussi. "Tumebus, ut banc quae autoris est sententiam probet, citat locum Cleomedis. Extat ille locus, lib. ii. p. 204, ^uy-XiK-/-,; S-iuoicc; ^sS-i&ija/v, ubi Epicurum in sua, de qua gloria- batur, locutione vocibus corruptis, ridiculis et absurdis usum fuisse dicit ; quavum quasdam perstringit, quasi a-To /j-iirr,; t-/,; -prpoffiv^y,; xa.i rcat s-r' avrriq ■r^oaiToviiTu»i louiaiica, Tiva xai ^apaxfi^eepxy^-va xai xara 7ro7.u toiv i^-z'itchv raviivoTi^a.. Sed de Synagogis Judseorum non videtur loqui. Tempore enim Epicuri, nempe circa Ptolomjei Philadelplii setatem, lingua Gneca in synagogis, dum precab.mtur, uses fuisse Judaos, baud verisimile est ; et si usi fuissent, an eas Epicurus, homo gentilis et irreligiosus, frequentaret, ut inde verba depromeret ? Et si ita fccisset, an necesse esset ete voces essent corrupts; et h\imiles ? Porro, quod non de synagogis, sed de lotis ubi mendicantes stabant, egit, constare mihi videtur ex voce "rpouiTOvvruiii., quae non in synagogis precantibus, optime verb alibi mendi- cantibus, convcnit. Nee quicquam est hoc in loco, quod cujusquam in animum suspi- cionem inducerct, Cleomedem de Judseis egisse, nissi sola vox loviatxa. Sed ut ea vox hie videtur absurda, et a contestu aliena, ita nullus dubito, quin corrupta est. In versione de Judseis ne vcrbum quidem ; Ioi/Sa/«a autem redditur 'vulgaria;' versionis igitur autor non legit louoaixa, sed I'hiuTixoc, aut talem aliquam vocem. Eodem modo ex iS/sav, Act. xxiv. 23, aliqui conflaveruut louSaiuv, ut in quibusdam editionibus extat, et ad loeum uotat Erasmus — n»oi7£i/;^;>j ideo apud profanos hosce autorcs erat locus publicus, in quo pauperes stipem petebant." * Ubi supra, p. 65, et seq. •f Connect, part i. book vi. vol. ii. p. 556, et seq. 10th edit. X See the account which Epiphanius gives of the Jewish Proseuchae, Haeres. lib. iii. ^om. ii. haeres. Ixxx. sect. i. Oper. vol. i. p. 1067, 1068, edit. Petav. § See a decree of the people of Halicarnassns, in fovour of the Jews (Joseph. Antiq. lib, xiv. cap. x. sect, xxiii. p. 712, edit. Haverc), in wbich are the following words — ^^oXTXi ■hf/.iv loviociuv ran; liiii/Xof/.lvt>u; — Taf 'Z'ooo'iu^a; Toutr^cti '^aij; rti ^xXxinr>! xara ts sraTgMv lio;. The custom of building proseuchae by the water-side seems to have been derived from another custom of the Jews, namely, their washing before prayer (vid. Eisner. Observ. Sacr. in Acts x\\. 13), though De Dieu supposes it to be derived from the exam- ple of Isaac. Tbere is a remarkable passage in Philo, wbich shows how fond tlie Jews were of praying by the sides of rivers, or on the sea-shore, Phil, in Flacc. p. 760, D, E, edit. Colon. Allobr. 1613; see also de Vit. ]Mosis, lib. ii. p. 510, F; and Tertullian (ad Nationes, lib. i. cap. xiii. Oper. p. 50, edit. Rigalt.), among sevenil Jewisli rites, mentions Orationes litoralcs. CHAP. 11.] THE PIKJSLUClI.i:. '^"'S gogues and the proseucliae were any thing more than two diff'erent names for the same place ; the one taken from the people's assem- bling in them, the other from the service to which they were more immediately appropriated ; namely, prayer. Nevertheless, the name proseuchge will not prove, that they were appropriated only to prayer, and therefore were different from synagogues, in whicli the Scriptures were also read, and expounded ; since the temple, in which sacrifices were offered, and all the parts of divine service were performed, is called oikos niJoa-evxT]^, a house of prayer ; Matt. xxi. 13. And we find St. Paul preaching in the proscuchee at Philippi, in the forecited passage of the Acts, chap. xvi. 13. Dr. Prideaux ac- knowledges, that in our Saviour''s time synagogues were called by the same name with the proseuchae; and so both Josephus * and Philo f seem to use the word %. Mr. Mede lays great stress upon that passage in the book of Joshua, wherein he is said " to set up a pillar under an oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord," chap, xxiv. 26, to prove, that there were proseuchae, even in Joshua'*s time, distinct from the tabernacle ; arguing, that because the law expressly forbad planting trees near to God's altar, Deut. xvi. 21, therefore this sanctuary of the Lord by the oak could not be thi^ tabernacle, which had the altar by it, but was one of the proseu- chae, which were very often inclosed with trees §. But Bishop Patrick observes, that though it was sinful to plant trees near to God's altar, it was not so to set up the sanctuary under or near the trees which had been planted before, especially when it was done only for a short time. And he farther remarks, that the words "by," or, as it may be rendered, in " the sanctuary of the Lord," do not necessarily refer to the oak, but may be connected with " the book of the law of God," mentioned in the former clause : " Josluui wrote these words in the book of the law of God (and took a groat stone, and set it up under an oak), that was by, or in, the sanctuary of the Lord :" that is, he wrote these words in the book of the law of God, that was in the sanctuary of the Lord ; the intermediate • See the passages liefore quoted from the Life of Josephus, where the proscucha, in wliich the people assembled in a great multitude, seems to have been the great synagogue at Tiberias. f Philo speaks of many proseuchae in the city of Alexandria : ^aXXai Ji (T^ttivxai sc.) iiiri xoS iKcc(rTot TfirifiK Tr.s -KoXius (Lcgat. ad Caium, p. 782, F) ; and of one in particu- lar, which he styles jKiyio-T*? xai 5r!p;)^3TJT» (p. 78.^, A); and it w.ts, no doubt, that very celebrated and m.ignificent synagogue of which tlie Jerusalem Talmud gives a very pornpous description. Vid. Vitriiig. lib. i. part i. cap. xiv. p. 2j(). + Vid. Vitring. de Synag. Vctere, lib. i. part i. cap. iv. p. 119—129; et Witsii Mele- tem. de Vit. Pauli, sect. v. vi. p. 70, 71. § PLilo Legat. ad Caium, p. 782, F, ro-.f /xtt {•rcortuKn') ilivt^cTiiar.Tat. 334 JF.Wr.SII ANTIQUITIKS. [iJOOK H. words being inserted in a parentiic^is. Theic is a similar instance of a remote connexion in the following passage of the book of Ge- nesis: "And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the Lord de- stroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar," Gen. xiii. 10; where the connexion is, he " beheld all the plain of Jordan, as thou comest unto Zoar, that it was well watered every where," &c. CHAPTER III. OF THE GATES OF JERUSALEM AND OF THE TEMPLE. Jerusalem, saith Godwin, had nine gates ; or rather, according to the authors of the Universal History, ten ; five from west to east-by-south, and five from west to east-by-north. By south. By norti\. 1. Dung-gate. 1.- Valley-gate. 2. Fountain-gate. 2. Gate of Ephraim. 3. Water-gate. 3. Old-gate. 4. Horse-gate. 4. Fish-gate. 5. Prison-gate, or miplikadJt. 5. Sheep-gate. This account is very little, if any thing, different from the plan of the city prefixed to the Polyglot. But Hottinger, in his notes on Godwin *, hath given a very different description of the situation of these gates, which he endeavours to trace by the account of the order in which they w-ere erected after the captivity, in the book of Nehemiah ; where the sheep-gate is mentioned first, which he places on the west side of the city, and toward the south ; princi- pally for these two reasons ; because he supposes it was the same with the gate which Josephus calls TrvXr] ea-a-rjvcov, that is, not the gate of the Essenes, it being improbable that a gate of the city, which must of course be common to all sorts of persons, should be called by the name of a particular sect ; but the word Josephus uses is, he imagines, only the Hebrew word }wn hatsan, oris, with a Greek termination ; and if so, ttvXt] fo-a-rjvav, which Josephus saith was on the west side of the city, literally signifies the sheep-gate. * Tliomae Goihviiii Moses et Aaron, &c. illustrati, emendati et prsecipuis tlieniatibus audi, studio Joh. Henr. Ilottingeri. p. 302. et seq., 24 edit. Fraiicof. adMffnuni, 1716. CHAP. III.] THt: POOL OF BETHF.SDA. S?>'i Another reason tor his assigning it this situation is, that the fisii- gate, which is next mentioned in Nehemiali, is placed by most on the west, with great probability, saith Hottinger, because large quantities offish were brought into the city from that quarter; and because this situation seems to be assigned it in the following pas- sage of the Second Book of Chronicles : "Now Manasseh built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish-gate." Thus, beginning at the south-west, he proceeds to the west, and so by the north, quite round the city ; assigning the several gates their situation, according to the order in which they are mentioned in the sacred history. Spanheim places the sheep-gate on the east *, Light foot on the south f ; and in this, and several other respects, the topography of Jerusalem is a matter of great uncertainty. Godwin informs us, that near the slieep-gate was situated the pool of Bethesda ; tm ttj npoiSaTiKt], saith the evangelist John, where our translators take the word ayopa to be understood, and accord- ingly have rendered it "by the sheep-market;" others, with God- win, supply the noun nvXr], and render it " the sheep-gate ;" which is the more probable sense, referring to the gate mentioned under this name by Nehemiah. And if this gate was situated near the temple, as is most commonly supposed, perhaps it was so called because the sheep and other cattle for sacrifice were usually drove in through it. This pool of Bethesda demands our particular attention, on account of the miraculous cures w-hich are ascribed to it in the Gospel of St. John, chap. v. 2 — 4. It is there called Ko\vij.^>]0pa ; a word, which, though it be rendered piscina by Beza and the Vulgate, yet does not properly signify a fish-pond, but rather a bath or pool for swimming, from Ko\vn!iau), nafo. The Syriac therefore renders it, according to the Polyglot translation, locita haptisterii. Its proper name in the Hebrew or Syriac language was Bethesda; which BochartJ, Gomarus, and some others, derive from rvi beth, domus vel locus, and nu;w ashadh, effudit. So that, according to this etymology, BrjOtaba est locus ejf)isionis ; that is, as they conceive, either a reservoir for rain water, or a kind of cesspool, that received the waste water which run from the temple. • Spanheim. Hierosol. VeterisTopogr.ipIi. Descrip. p. 50, Oper. Geograph., &c. laigd. Bat. 1701. -f Lightfoot's Harmony on Jolin v. 2. * Bocliai't. CiVograph. lib i. oa]). .vx.\iv.; Opor. lorn. i. p. 614, edit. Liigd. Bat. 1707. ^:^G jLAVisH AXTiournics. [book ir. M'agenseil * produces a passage from the Talmud, concerning a small stream issuing from the sanctuary, and proceeding to the gate of the city of David, by which time it was become so con- siderable, that persons in particular cases, especially women, used to bathe in it. And as he supposes the water daily used in the temple service, in washing the hands and feet of the priests, the victims, vessels, &c., was somewhere or other collected into a vesei-voir; if that was called the pool of Rethesda, he professes he should incline to explain the word by effnsionis Homus. But, on the whole, he declares himself uncertain. Others, with greater probability, derive the word from no beth, domtts, and the Syriac t^iti^n chesdo, gratia vcl misericordia ; and so the name signifies the house or place of mercy, because of the miraculous healing virtue with which God mercifully endowed the water of that pool ; and this is indeed the most extraordinary thing to be observed concerning it. The evangelist says, that " an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water; whosoever then, first after the troubling the water, stepped in, was made whole of what- ever disease he had ;"" and, therefore, there lay at this pool, in the five porticos that surrounded it (of which we have already taken some notice), " a multitude of impotent folk, as blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water."" Now it is dis- puted, whether the virtue of these waters, and the cures performed by them, were miraculous or natural. Dr. Hammond contends for the latter, and imagines that the healing virtue of this bath was owino- to the warm entrails of the victims being washed in it : that the angel, who is said to come and trouble the water, was only a messenger sent by the high-priest to stir up the bath, in order to mix the congealed blood, and other grosser particles that were sunk to the bottom, with the water, that so they might infuse their virtue into it more strongly. By Kara Katpov, which we render " at a certain season," he understands at a set time, that is, at one of the great feasts, when a vast multitude of sacrifices were killed and oflTered, and by that means the waters of this pool were impreg- nated with more healing virtue than they would have at other times. But this sense of the passage, in which Dr. Hammond thinks himself countenanced by the authority of Theophylactf, * Sotah, cap. i. sect, xlvii. annot. iv. p. 308. •f An attentive reader of Theophylact's Commentary ill loc. will .easily perceive, that T)i. Hammond hath mistaken liis meaning ; for Theoj)liylact never intended to assert that ;hese miraculous cures were owing to the washing the entraih of the beasts slain for sacri- (HAP J If.] TUr. POOL OF BETHESDA. 337 appears improbable from almost all tiie circumstances of the story *. As, 1st. From the he:iliiig virtue of this water extending to the cure of all manner of diseases. For it is said, " he that stepped in was made whole of whatever disease he had."" Dr. Hammond indeed supposes, that " whatever disease he had," refers only to the three sorts of diseased persons before mentioned, namely, " the blind, lame, and withered." But that will not remove the objection, since no such healing virtue could ever be communicated to any other water by the same means, by washing the warm entrails of beasts in it, so as to render it effectual for the cure of all these diseases, or indeed of any one of them. 2dly. It is highly improbable, that the troubling or stirring up the water should increase its healing virtue; but rather, the stir- ring up the blood and faaces, that were sunk to the bottom, must make the bath so foul and fetid, that it would be more likely to poison than cure. 3dly. No good rciison can be given, on this supposition, why these medicinal waters should not have cured many persons as well as one only, the first that stepped in. The Doctor is indeed aware of this objection, and endeavours to evade it by supposing the bath might be so small, that it would hold but one at a time, and by the time one was cured, the healing particles were sub- sided, and therefore it could not heal another. But then, why could it not be stirred up a second time, and a third, and as many as there were persons to be cured? However, 4thly. The whole foundation of this supposition appears to be a mistake ; namely, that the entrails of the victims were washed in this pool out of the temple ; for Dr. Lightfoot shows that it was done in the temple, in the washing-room, as it was called, appointed for that purpose f . And, indeed, if this pool was near the sheep- fice ia the waters of this pool, which thereb) acquired, in a natural way, a sanative virtue. All he saith is, that by this wasliing the waterway sanctified, and become thereby the wore fit (for what ? for healing diseases by any natural quality hereby imparted to it? no; but) for receiving huvauiv ^uori^av, a divine power, by the operation of tiie angel, who came to it, not as to commaii water, but as to chosen water, vian a; ixXixru, and wrougiit tiic miracle, ^av/jt-aroij^yiiv. He says expressly, that the water did not heal by any virtue in itself, otiierwise these cures would have be<-n constant and perpetual ; but solely through the energy, ivi^yua, of the angel, who imparted to it its liejiling virtue. * See also an attempt to acco\int for the virtue of these waters in a similar manner, from natural causes, in a tract published by liartholine, a learned foreign physician, enti- tled, Paralytici Novi Testaraenti medico et philologico Commentario illustrati ; and repub- lished in Crenius's Fasciculus Quintus, vid. p. 313 — 333, and p. 390 — 411. -|- See Dr. Lightfoot's Desniption of the Temple, chap, xx.\i. ; and he supposes (ITor. lleb. John v. 2), that the pool of Pirtliesda was a batli, »iXvy.^nfi^a, in which tho-jc who were unclean piuificd thruiselvc^^. 338 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK II. gate, and if we suppose Hottingcr's, or even Lightfoot's account of the situation of that gate to be true, it was then at too great a dis- tance from the temple to be used as a washing-place for the entrails of the beasts slain for sacrifice. Upon the whole, therefore, there is reason to conclude, that the healing virtue of this pool was miraculous ; that the angel was a heavenly angel ; and that the design and use of his coming was either to work the miracle, as God's instrument, by the use of the water ; or, at least, by troubling the water, and giving it some un- usual motion, to give notice to those who were waiting for a cure, when they might seek it. It is farther inquired, when this miraculous pool first received its healing virtue ? I take the most probable opinion to be, that it was about the time of, or not long before, our Saviour's coming; and very likely the chief intent of the miracle might be to give notice, by an illustrious type, of the speedy accomplishment of Zechariah's prophecy : " In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness ;" chap. xiii. 1. Thus the fountain of the blood of Christ to take away all sin, was afresh typified by the miraculous virtue which God put into this pool to heal all manner of diseases. And as the fountain of Christ's blood was to be opened at the passover, at which feast he was crucified, so Dr. Lightfoot imagines, that the miraculous cure was effected by this pool at that feast only *. It may seem a little strange, that there is no mention made of this miracle, either by Josephus, or the writers of the Talmud, who on all other occasions are ready enough to celebrate the miracles which God wrought for, and which did honour to, their nation. But supposing, which is highly probable, that the mira- culous virtue was first imparted to this pool about the time of our Saviour's coming, and that it ceased at his death, whereby it plainly appeared that this miracle was wi'ought in honour of Christ, we need not wonder that Josephus passes it over in silence, since he could not relate it without reviving a testimony to Christ, greatly to the discredit of his own nation, who rejected and crucified him. And as it is not recorded by Josephus, it is not unlikely, that the memory of it was lost among the Jews, at the time when the Tal- mud was written, which was not till several hundred years after- ward f . * Horse Hebraic. John v. 4. f There are two very learned dissertations on this subject in the second volutEC of the CHAP. III.] THE GATES OF THE TEMPLE. 339 Concerning the gates of the temple, Godwin observes, that there were two of principal note, both built by Solomon ; the one for those that were new married, the other for mourners and excom- municated persons. The mourners, he saith, were distinguished from the excommunicated by having their lips covered with a skirt of their garment ; none entered that gate with their lips uncovered but such as were excommunicated. The Mishna saith, "All that enter, according to the custom of the temple, go in on the right- hand way, go round, and go out on the left-hand way ; except a person, cui accidit aliquid, who is rendered unclean by a particular circumstance, who goes round and enters on the left. And being asked why he does so, if he answer, Because I mourn, they reply, He who inhabits this house comfort thee. If he answer. Because I am excommunicated, the reply is, according to 11. .lose. He who inhabits this house put it into thy heart to hearken to the words of thy companions or brethren, that they may receive thee *." It appears from hence (at least according to the opinion of the mish- nical rabbles), that excommunicated persons were not excluded from the temple though they were from the synagogue, as we learn from several passages in the evangelist John, chap. ix. 22; xii. 42; xvi. 2 ; where such persons are said to be anoawaycoyoi, excluded from the synagogue. Not that we are to infer from this, that the Jews accounted their synagogues more holy than the temple ; but it shows what was, and should be, the true intent of excommuni- cation, namely, the shaming and humbling an offender, in order to bring him to repentance ; on which account he was excluded the society of his neighbours in the synagogue ; but not his eternal destruction, by driving him from the presence of God in the temple, and depriving him of the use of the most solemn ordi- nances, and the most effectual means of grace and salvation. The temple was the common place of worship for Israelites ; by allow- ing him to come thither they signified, that they did not exclude him from the common privilege of an Israelite, though they would not receive him into their familiarity and friendship. How much heavier is the yoke of antichrist than the Jewish yoke of bondage ! How much more cruel is the excommunication of Popery, which deprives persons of all their liberties and privileges, of their goods Thesaurus Noviis Thcolngiro Pliilologicus : one by .foaii. Connwl. Hottingenis de Piscina BetlicsJa ; the other hy David Ebersbacli, do Miracido I'istiii.-o Hellicsda-. The last con- tains a full reply both to Bartholinc and Hammond. See al>o Witsii Misccll. toni. ii. exercitat. xi. sect. liv. — Ix. p. 314 — 320. " Mish. tit. Middoth, cap. ii. sect. ii. ; et Maimon. in lot. torn. v. p. 334, 33.5, edit. Surenhus. ; Lightf. Hor. Hcbr. 1 ('or. v. 5. z 2 340 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK II. and lives, and consigns over their souls to be tormented in hell for ever, — how infinitely more cruel, 1 say, is this modern excom- munication than even that of the wicked and barbarous Jews, who crucified the Lord of glory ! CHAPTER IV. OF THEIR GPOVES AND HIGH PLACES. We have several times had occasion to observe, that in order the more effectually to guard the Israelites from idolatry, the blessed God, in instituting the rites of his own worship, went directly counter to the practice of the idolatrous nations. Thus, because they worshipped in groves*, he expressly forbad "the planting a grove of trees near his altar;" Deut. xvi. 21 f. Nor would he suffer his people to offer their sacrifices on the tops of hills and mountains, as the heathens did X, but ordered that they should be brought to one altar in the place which he appointed ; Deut. xii. 13, 14. And as for the groves, which the Canaanites had planted, and the idols and altars which they had erected on the tops of high mountains and hills for the worship of their gods, the Israelites are commanded utterly to destroy them ; ver. 2, 3. The groves and high places do not seem to have been different, but the same places, or groves planted on the tops of hills, pro- bably round an open area, in which the idolatrous worship was performed, as may be inferred from the following words of the * Hsec (nemora sc.) fuere numinum templa, priscoqiie ritu simplicia rura Deo praecel- lentem arborem dicant. Nee magis auro fulgentia atque ebore simulaclira quam lucos et ipsa silentia adoramus. Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. xii. cap. i. p. 4, torn. iii. edit. Harduin. 1685. See also Lucian. de Sacrif. torn. i. p. 355, C, D, edit. Salaiur. 1619. These groves Plutarch calls aXa-fi ^iav, the gloves of the gods, which he saith Niima frequented, and thereby gave occasion to the story of his commerce with the goddess Egeria ; Plutarc. in Nunia, p. 61, F, Oper. torn. i. edit. Francof. 1620. They are expressly enjoined, by the laws of the twelve tables, as a part of the public religion, Lucos in agris habento. Vid. Duodecim. Tabular. Fragm. tit. Ubi coleudi ad calcem Cod. Justiniani, p. 751, apud Corp. Juris Civil, edit. Lips. 1720. t See Spencer's learned dissertation on this and the following verse, de Leg. Hebra;or. lib. ii. cap. xxvii. xxviii. X Sophocles introduces Hercules asking Hylhis, whether he knew Mount CEta, which was sacred to Jupiter ? " Yes," saith he, " for I have often sacrificed upon the top of it." Trachin. v. 1207, 1208,tom. ii. p. 325, edit. Glasg. 1745. And Strabo saith of the Per- sians, a.ya.'Kfta.ra, x»; ^u/Aaug ouk i^^vovrai, ^voixri §£ iv u-^nXu roTca tov ov^avov nyovfitvoi Aia ; Geograph. lib. xv. p. 7S2, C, edit. Casaub. 1620. See also Herodot. Clio, cap, csxxi. p. 55, sect. 131, edit. Gronov. ; Xenophon. Cyr. lib. viii. p. 500, 3d edit. Hutchins ; and Appian (de Bello Milluid. p. 361, 362, sect, ccxv., edit. Tollii, Amstel. 1670) saith, that Mithridates sacrificed to Jupiter according to the custom of his country, s-ri ceov u^vXiiu, upon a high mountain. CHAP. IV.] GllOVES AND HIGH PLACES. 841 pn)pliet Hosea : *' I'liey sacrifice upon the tops oi' mouiitains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks, and poplars, and elms ;" chap. iv. 13. The u?e of groves for religious worship is generally supposed to have been as ancient as the patriarchal ages ; for we are informed, that " Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord;" Gen. xxi. 33. However, it is not expressly said, nor can it by this passage be proved, that he planted the grove for any religious purpose ; it might only be designed to shade his tent. And this circumstance perhaps is recorded to intimate his I'ural way of living, as well as his religious character ; that he dwelt in a tent, under the shade of a grove, or tree, as the word bu^i^ cshel, may more properly be translated ; and in this humble habitation led a very pious and devout life. The reason and origin of planting sacred groves is variously conjectured; some imagining it was only hereby intended to render the service more agreeable to the worshippers, by the plea- santness of the shade * ; whereas others suppose it was to invite the presence of the gods. The one or the other of these reasons seems to be intimated in the forecited passage of Hosea, " They burn incense under oaks, and poplars, and elms, because the shade thereof is good;" chap. iv. 13. Others conceive their worship was performed in the midst of groves, because the gloom of such a place is apt to strike a religious awe upon the mind -j- ; or else, because such dark concealments suited the lewd mysteries of their idolatrous worship %. I have met with another conjecture, which seems as probable as any, that this practice began with the worship of demons, or departed souls. It was an ancient custom to bury the dead under trees, or in woods. " Deborah was buried under an oak, near * Tliis seems, according to Virgil, to have been the reason of Diilo'a building tlic temple of Juno in a delightful grove : Lucus in urbe fuit media, Isetissimus umbrfl: Hie templum Jimoni ingcns Sidonia Dido Condebat. yEneid, lib. i. v. 4-lo. + " Si tibi occurrit," siiith Seneca, Epist. xli. " vetuslis arboribus, ct solitam altitudineni cgrcssis frequens lucus, ct conspcctum coeli dcnsitatc ramorum alioruin alios protcgentiuui submovens : ilia proceritas sylvic, ct sccretuin loci et admiratio umorrc, in apcrto tani densse atque continua-, fidcm tibi numinis facit. Et siquis spcciis saxis pcnitus cxesis montem suspendeiit, non manufactus, scd naturalibus causis in tantani laxitatem excavatus : animum tuum quadam religionis suspicionc percutict." See also a remarkable passage in Virgil, JEnc\A, viii. v. 347, et seq. X For proof of tlie lewdness and obscenity of many of the religious rites of the heatbcn, vid. Herodot. Eutcrp. cap. Ixiv. p. 112, 113, edit. Gronov. et Clio, sect, cxcix. p. 80; Diodor. Sicul. lib. iv. init. ; Valcr. Maxim, lib. ii. cap. vi. sect. xv. p. 18j, 18o, edit. Ttiysii. Lugd. Bat. 1655; Juvenal, sat. ix. v. 2A : and what Euscbius Kiith of a jrove on Mount Libanus, dedicated to Venus, in bib Life «f Constantino, lib. iii. cap. Iv. Compare 1 Kings xiv. 23, '2A. 342 JEWISH ANTiQUiTiKs, [book II. Bethel," Gen. xxxv. 8 ; and the bones of Saul and Jonathan under a tree at Jabesh ; 1 Sam. xxxi. 13. Now an imagination prevailing among the heathen, that the souls of the deceased hover about their graves, or at least delight to visit their dead bodies, the idolaters, who paid divine honours to the souls of their departed heroes, erected images and altars for their worship in the same groves where they were buried* ; and from thence it grew into a custom afterward to plant groves, and build temjiles, near the tombs of departed heroes, 2 Kings xxiii. 15, 16 f; and to sur- round their temples and altars with groves and trees '^ ; and these sacred groves being constantly furnished with the images of the heroes or gods that were worshipped in them, a grove and an idol came to be used as convertible terms ; 2 Kings xxiii. 6. We have before observed, that these sacred groves were usually planted on the tops of hills or mountains, from whence they are called in Scripture moi bamoth, or " high places." Perhaps such an exalted situation was chosen by idolaters, in respect to their chief god, the sun, whom they worshipped, together with their inferior deities, on the tops of hills and mountains, that they might approach as near to him as they could §. It is no improbable conjecture concerning the Egyptian pyramids, that they were in- tended as altars to the sun, as well as very likely for sepulchral monuments, like these ancient groves. Accordingly, they are all flat at the top, to serve the purposes of an altar. It is said, that altars to the sun, of the same form, though not so large as the pyramids, were found among the American idolaters ||. There might be another reason for planting the sacred groves on the tops of hills and mountains ; namely, for the sake of retire- ment from noise and disturbance in their acts of woi'ship^. And * Plato, after having declared his approbation of the sentiment of Hesiod, that when any of the golden age died they became demons, and the authors of great good to mankind ; and after having asserted, that all who died bravely in war were entitled to be ranked in the same class, reckons, among the honours they deserved, their sepulchres being esteemed and worshipped as the repositories of demons — u; ^ai/iovot ovria fii^aviuffofiiv ti y.a.t ■r^offx.u- •jwo/jt-iv ocvruv rag (rixa.;. De Repiibl. lib. v. p. 662, D, E, edit. Ficin. Fi-ancofurt. 1602. -f See Arrian's description of the tomb of Cyrus, de Expedit. Alexandr. lib. vi. p. 435, edit. Blancard. Amstel. 1678. I On account of the custom of planting trees near temples, " the poets," as Strabo in- forms us, " styled all their temples groves, even those which had no plantations around them." Geograph. lib. ix. p. 412, D, edit. Casaub. 1620. § Tacitus speaks of some places, which were thought "maxime coelo propinquare, pre- cesque mortalium a Deo nusquam proprius audiri.'" Annal. lib. xiii. sect. Ivii. p. 281, edit. Glasg. 1743. II Sec Young's Historical Dissertation on Idolatrous Corruptions in Religion, vol. i. p. 222—228. ^ " Lucos et ipsa silcntia adoramus," saith Pliny, in a passage before cited. CHAP. IV.] GROVES AND HIGH PLACES. 343 on this account, probably, the worshippers of the true God had also their proseuchae, or places of retirement for worship, gene- rally on hills or high places. Accordingly we read, that Christ " went up into a mountain apart to pray;" Matt. xiv. 23. And at his transfiguration he retired with three of his " disciples, to the top of a high mountain apart;" chap. xvii. 1. I see no reason, therefore, to conclude, that those high places, of which we read in the Old Testament, where holy men and worshippers of the true God paid their devotion, were the sacred groves of the idolaters, but rather they were Jewish proseuchae, or synagogues. Such were the high places by the city where Samuel lived, and where he sacrificed with the people, 1 Sam. ix. 12 — 14 ; and upon the hill of Gath, where was either a school of the prophets, or they had been thither to pay their devotion when Saul met them ; see 1 Sam. x. 5 — 13. And of the same sort was the great high place at Gibeon, where Solomon sacrificed, and where God ap- peared to him in a dream ; 1 Kings iii. 4, 5. The grand difficulty on this head is how to reconcile their sacri- ficing in other places beside the national altar, as Gideon did at Ophrah, Judges vi. 24 ; Manoah in the country of Dan, chap, xiii. 16 — 20 ; Samuel at Mizpah, 1 Sam. vii. 10, and at Bethle- hem, chap. xvi. 5 ; David in the threshing-floor of Oman, 1 Chron. xxi. 22 ; and Elijah on Mount Carmel, 1 Kings xviii. 30, ct seq., — with the law in the book of Deuteronomy, " Take heed to thy- self, that thou offer not thy burnt-offerings in every place that thou seest. But in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, there thou shalt offer thy burnt-ofTerings, and there thou shalt do all that I commanded thee;" chap. xii. 13, 14. The best solution, I apprehend, is, that it was done by special divine direction and command, God having an undoubted right to supersede his own positive laws, when and in what cases he pleases ; and as this is expressly asserted to have been done in David's case before mentioned, 1 Chron xxi. 18, it may the more reasonably be supposed in all the rest. This may intimate to us the true solution of another difficulty, how to reconcile the law which prescribes an altar " of earth only to be made in all places where God should record his name," Exod. XX. 24, with the order which Moses received to make a brazen altar in the court of the tabernacle» Some have supposed, that the brazen altar was filled with earth 844 JEWISH ANTIQUl'JtES. [bOOK 11. and stones, and so was an altar of earth, tliough cased with brass. But the real solution I take to be this : " In all places where I re- cord my name," means, in whatever particular place, beside the national altar, I shall cause my name to be recorded, by command- ing my servants to sacrifice unto me, there thou shalt make an altar of earth. The reason of God's appointing such plain and inartificial altars, on these special occasions, was in all likelihood to prevent that superstitious veneration which the people would probably have en- tertained for them, as having a more than ordinary sanctity in them, if they had been more expensive and durable; whereas being raised just to serve a present exigence, and presently pulled down, or falling of themselves, they could not administer any temptation to superstition or idolatry. But to return : Though some places were called by the name of high places, which had never been polluted with heathen idolatry, and in which God was acceptably worshipped, nevertheless, all which had been actually so defiled the Israelites are commanded utterly to destroy ; insomuch, that it is left upon record, as a stain and blemish upon the character of some of the more pious kings of Judah, that they did not destroy them, but suffered the people, who were very prone to idolatry, to sacrifice in them : which is the case of Asa, 1 Kings xv. 14 ; Jehoshaphat, chap. xxii. 43 ; and several others. CHAPTER V. OF THIi CITIES OF REFUGE. The Latin word asylum, used for a sanctuary, or place of re- fuge, has so near an affinity with the Hebrew word bt;t?« eshel, a tree or grove, as to make it pi'obable, that the sacred groves, which we spoke of in the last chapter, were the ancient places of refuge, and that the Romans derived the use of them from the eastern nations. So we find in Virgil, that the asyla were groves * : Hinc lucum ingentem qucm Romulus acer asylum ftettulit. j^neid, viii. 1. 342. * Mr. Jones supposes, that the reason why these groves were couf-idered as places of veftige, was the opinion which prevailed, that the demons, to whom they were dedicated. CHAP, v.] CITIES OF REFUGE. 345 And God's altar appears to have been the asylum of the Jews, be- fore the cities of refuge were appointed ; Exod. xxi. 14. Some persons have imagined, that all the cities of the Levites, in number forty-two, were asyla. But that appears to be a mistake ; for in the book of Numbers, chap. xxxv. 6, among the cities that were given to the Levites, only six are mentioned as appointed to be cities of refuge. These asyla were not only intended for Jews, but for Gentiles, or for strangers, who dwelt among them ; ver. 15. They were not designed as sanctuaries for wilful murderers, and all kinds of atrocious villains among the Jews, as they were among the Greeks and Romans *, and now are in Roman Catholic coun- tries f , but merely for securing those who had been guilty of invo- luntary homicide, Deut. xix. 4 — 10, from the effects of private revenge, until they were cleared by a legal process. And it is ob- servable, that the Israelites are commanded to " prepare the way, ' that is, to make the road good, *' that every slayer may flee thither"" without impediment, and with all expedition ; ver. 3. And, as God- win observes, the rabbles inform us, among other circumstances, that at every cross road was set up an inscription, Asylum! Asy- lum ! Upon which Hottinger remarks, that it was probably in allusion to this custom that John the Baptist is described as " the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the ;ilTorJcd their assistance to those who fled to them for protection. " Asylorum ongo luihi deduccnda videtur ex antiquorum crga mortuos rcverentia, et opinionc conmi potcntia? openi ferendi sii]>plicibu8. lUi, qui a potentioribus mctuebant, ad sepulchra virorutn cxi- niionun confugiebant." Vid. Stnccam in Troad. act iii. Ita Plutarch us Tliesci scpulchruin fiiisse asylum dicit in vita Thesei, sub fin. lie observes, that God never aj)pointcd bis altar for an asylum ; nevertheless, it was so considered before the giving of the law in Kxodus concerning the cities of refuge. On which account he imagines, that the origin of asyla was not a divine institution, but that God, by his appointment of cities of refuge, pcrliaps intended to check and restrain the superstitious and idolatrous use of groves and altars for this purpose. Annot. MS. in Godwin! Mos. et Aaron. * Privilcgia asylorum, inquit Jonesius, summa crant, cer'a enim in illis supplicibus salus, noc ullus indc sub quovis praetcxtu ad painum extrahcndus, "hiSuKotri ya^ ii aiiioct uTctvia. iKinuouiTi. Pausan. lib. ii. p. 108, 1. 45, edit. Xyland. Hanov. 1613. Nee do eo qui in asylum confugcrat, judicium instituebaut, ncc examinabant, an talis vitoc dignus crat, an non. Eum veio Diis relinqucndum censcbant. Ita Leotycidam, quamvis proditionis rcuni, nunquam extrahere conati sunt Laccda;monii. Pausan. lib. iii. p. 171,1. 44, et scq. Ita Livius, lib. xliv. cap. xxi.\. Sanctitas tenipli insula^quc inviolatos prKestabat omncs. Et idem dc cujuslibet gcnciis maleficis, quinctiam obaralis, tcstatur Tacitus ; Ann.al. lib. iii. cap. Ix. Verum est quod aliqui aliquando hac violarunt privilcgia ; scd ii habcbantur hominuui scclcstissimi, nee a pana ab hominibus erant- liberi, nisi nimia cos tuebatur po- tcntia. Vid. Thucyd. lib. i. sect, cxxvi. p. C9, 70, et feet, cxxxiv. p. 174, 175, edit. Hudson. Saltern veio violatorum horum privilcgiorum acerrimi, vindices habcbantur Dii. Vid. .Tuslin lib. viii. cap. i. ii. ; Pausan. lib. i. p. 3(i, 1. '20, et scq. ; et lib. vii. p. 4 15, 1. 50, et scq. p. 447, 1. .37, edit. Xyland. Hanov. 1(J13. t Middlcton's Letter from Rome, p. 156 — 158, of his Misccllan. Woik?, vol. v. octavo. 346 JEWISH ANTlQUnilCS. [book II, Lord, make his paths straight;" Luke iii. 4 — 6. He was the Messiah's forerunner, and in that character was to remove the ob- stacles to men's flying to him as their asylum, and obtaining (T(i)TT)piov Tov Otov. the salvation of God. For any thing farther on this subject we refer to Godwin's Moses and Aaron, especially with Hottinger's notes. BOOK 111. CONCKRiNING TIMES. CHAPTER 1. OF DAYS, HOURS, WEEKS, AND YEARS. The Hebrews, in common with other nations, distinguished their days into natural, consisting of twenty-four hours ; and artificial, that is, from sun-rise to sun-set. Concerning the natural day, it is inquired when it began and ended. Godwin conceives the ancient Jews had two different beginnings of the natural day ; one of the sacred or festival day, which was in the evening ; the other of the civil or working day, which was in the morning. That the sacred day began in the evening is certain from the following passage of Leviticus : '* From even unto even shall ye celebrate your sabbaths," chap, xxiii. 32; and also from the following words in the book of Exodus: " In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall cat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even ;"" chap. xii. 18. Nevertheless, the passage which our author alleges out of the evangelist Matthew, " In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week," chap, xxviii. 1, does not so certainly prove, that the civil, natural day began in the morning. For " the first day of the week " may there be under- stood of the artificial day ; as indeed the word enKJiOiXTKovcrT] * seems to imply. In like manner, though we begin the natural day at mid- night, yet we speak of the day breaking or dawning a little before sun-rise. That the Jews began the day, not at evening, but at midnight, or in the morning, at the time of their migration out of Egypt, appears from hence, that the fifteenth day of the month, * Sec ou this word Dr. Macknight'e Coniniciitary in loc. 348 JEWISH ANTKiuniiis. [bookiii. in which they departed from Egypt, is said to be the morrow after the passover, which was kept on tlie fourteenth day in the evening; Numb, xxxiii. 3, compared with Exod. xii. 6. But neither will this prove, that they reckoned the beginning of their civil and sa- cred day from a different epocha. It is more probable, that, before their departure out of Egypt, they began all their days, both civil and sacred, with the sun's rising, as the ancient Babylonians, Per- sians, Syrians, and most of the eastern nations did *. And, at the time of their migration, God ordered them to change the beginning, not only of the year and of the week, but likewise of the day, from the morning to the evening, in opposition to the customs of the ido- latrous nations, who, in honour to their chief god, the sun, began their day at his rising. Cocceius, who supposes, that only the sacred day began in the evening, finds out this mystery in it, that God appointed the sab- bath of the Jewish church to begin with the night, in order to signify the darkness of that dispensation, compared with the sub- sequent one of the gospel; the light of divine knowledge beihg in those times like that of the moon and stars in the night, but under the Christian dispensation, like that of the sun in the day-|-. It has been commonly supposed, that the epocha, or beginning, of the natural day was originally in the evening ; " The evening and the morning," saith Moses in the book of Genesis, "were the first day;" chap. i. 5. And if so, we are to conclude, that the idolaters had changed the beginning of the day to the morning, in honour of the sun ; and that God restored it, by the law which he gave to the Jews, to its original epocha. But learned men are not agreed about the meaning of this passage, and the reason of Moses's set- ting the evening before the morning. Le Clerc J begins the first day from the creation of the chaos, and by the evening he under- stands all the time it remained in darkness, before the production of light. But this opinion does not well agree with the import of the Hebrew word '2')'}^ffnerebh, the evening, from^'^y gnarabli,mis- cuit ; which therefore denotes twilight, in which there is a kind of mixture of light and darkness ; rather than total darkness, such as there was before light was produced. Others think it more natural to date the beginning of time, and the succession of day and night, from the first production of light. But as for the reason of Moses's setting the evening before the * Petav. dc DocUina Tcnipoium, lib. vii. p. 609. ■f Vid. Cotccii Comment, in Lev. xxiii. s^cct. xviii. Ojicr. torn. i. p. 173. * lu loc. CHAP. I.] HOURS. 349 morning, the most probable opinions are those of Coccciusand Lyra. Cocceius understands the words in the following manner, that the light moved away from the place or hemisphere, on which it first appeared, and was succeeded by darkness; and when it returned to enlighten the same hemisphere again, the first day was com- pleted *. So that, according to him, the evening signifies the light moving away, which it began to do from its first appearance. The other opinion is, that the two parts of the natural day, namely, the artificial day and artificial night, are denominated from the terms which complete them, from the evening, which is the end of the day, and from the morning, which is the end of the night ; and so the evening and the morning make up one natural day ; namely, from morning to morning f. But whatever were the reasons of Moses's setting the evening before the morning, or the night before the day, his expression has plainly been followed by other writers, and in other languages. Hence days are expressed in the book of Daniel by ^'p'2.-'2ri)) gnerehli- boker, evening and morning; chap. viii. 14. Hence also is the use of the Greek word wxdrjfiepov ; 2 Cor. xi. 25. And may we not observe some faint traces of the same original in the English lan- guage, in our computing time by nights rather than by days ; as, in the words sennight, fortnight, &c. ? With respect to the artificial day and night, I observe, that the Hebrews divided the night into four watches, as appears from St. Matthew, who speaks of the fourth watch of the night, chap. xiv. 25 ; and from St. Mark, who styles these watches, the even, mid- night, cockcrowing, and the morning ; chap. xiii. 35. Nevertheless, it should seem that they anciently divided the night into an odd number of watches, probably into three ; since we read in the book of Judges, of " the middle watch ;" chap. vii. 19. It is probable these watches had their rise, and their name, from the watchmen who kept guard at the gates of the city and of the temple by night, and who relieved one another by turns. And if anciently there were but three watches, then each watched four hours ; and more in the winter, when the nights are above twelve long. But that being found too tedious and tiresome, the number of watches was afterward increased to four. We, therefore, never read of the middle watch in the New Testament. The day was divided into hours ; which are reckoned to be of two sorts, less and greater. The lesser hours were twelve, as * Vid. Coctcii Cur. prior, in Gcu. i. 5. f WA, Lyr. apuJ Poli Svnops, in loc. 350 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK Iir. appears from the following question in the evangelist John, " Are there not twelve hours in the day ?" chaj). xi. 9. Each of these was a twelfth part of the artificial day. Herodotus observes, that the Greeks learned from the Babylonians, among other things, the method of dividing the day into twelve parts. But whether the Hebrews deiived it from the Babylonians, or the Babylonians from the Hebrews, cannot now be known *. Nor does it appear how ancient this division of the day into hours, among the Hebrews, was. The first hint in Scripture, which seems to imply such a di- vision, is a passage in the Second Book of Kings, chap. xx. 9 — 11, where we read of the shadow's going back twenty degrees on the sun-dial of Ahaz. But the history gives us no intimation what those degrees were, or what portion of time was marked by them. The mention of this dial suggests a question which has occasioned much dispute among the learned : Whether the miracle of the shadow's going back was wrought upon the sun, or only upon the dial ? Vatablus, Montanus, and several moderns observe, that there is not a word said of the sun's going back, but only of the shadow upon the dial ; which might be effected by the divine power, per- haps by the ministry of angels, obstructing or refracting the rays of the sun, or altering the position of the dial, so as to make the sha- dow retire without changing the motion of the sun itself. The Jews, in general, are of the contrary opinion, with which Arch- bishop Usher agrees ; who says, that the sun and all the heavenly bodies went back, and as much was detracted from the next night as was added to this day f . The arguments on this side of the question are, 1st. The words of Isaiah, chap, xxxviii. 8, that " the sun re- turned ten degrees." But this may possibly be meant only of its shadow, especially in so poetical a writer as Isaiah. 2dly. That the miracle was observed at Babylon, from whence Meradach-Baladan sent to inquire about it, 2 Chron. xxxii. 31 ; which could not have been the case, unless it had been wrought on the sun itself, and not merely on the dial of Ahaz. To this it is answered, that it does not appear the miracle was observed at Babylon ; rather the contrary. For it is said, " The princes of Babylon sent to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land ;" not as a thing they themselves had seen in their own country, which must have been the case, if the miracle had been wrought on the * Herodot. Euterp. cap. cix. p. 127, edit. Gi'onov, f Usser. Annal. A. M. 4001. CHAP. I.] HOURS. 351 sun ; but wliich they had heard reported as done in the land of Israel *. To return to our subject : the first mention we have of hours in the Old Testament is in the book of Daniel, particularly in the fourth chapter ; where Daniel, upon hearing Nebuchadnezzar's dream, is said to have been astonished for one hour, ver. 19, TM}W shaiignali. But that word is of too general a signification to prove that hours, in the modern sense of the term, were then in use ; it seems rather to import any portion of time ; and perhaps, in the decree of Nebuchadnezzar, that all who refused to worship his image should be cast into the fiery furnace, it might as well be rendered that minute or moment, as *' the same hour ;" chap. iii. 15, And, in the present case, it is not very likely, that a poor Jewish slave, as Daniel was, should stand as one stupid, a whole hour, in the presence of so great a monarch as Nebuchadnezzar. On the whole, I do not find that the antiquity of the Jewish hours can be traced and ascertained by any thing that is said in the Old Testament. Besides the twelve lesser hours (which, as they are supposed to be equal divisions of the artificial day, must be of different lengths at different times of the year, and which are the same that we now call Jewish hours), Godwin, with many others, speaks of the greater hours ; which are said to be four, each containing three of the lesser hours ; the first beginning at sun-rise (and not at six o'clock, as Godwin erroneously says), and holding till about nine. The second ended at noon, the third in the middle of the after- noon, and the fourth at sun-set. However, this division of the day into greater hours is not sufficiently supported by the passages of Scripture which Godwin quotes in proof of it. And several learned men, very skilful in these matters, have doubted whether any such hours were in use among the Jews. Mayer f thinks he has proved, that the greater hours were in use in the days of Nehemiah, from the following passage : " They read in the book of the law one fourth part of the day, and another fourth part they confessed and worshipped the Lord their God ;" chap. ix. 3. This, however, will prove no more, than that they had skill enough, in those times, to divide the day, upon occasion, into four parts ; but that these divisions were called the greater * Vossius (le Origiiic ct Piogicbsu IdolohUiia;, lib. ii. cap. i.\. p. 179, Aaistel. lfiC8. \ Joliaiinis jMaycri Tinttat. do Tempoiibus ct Fcstis Diebus Hcbrueor. part i. cap. s. sect. xiv. xvii. p. 08 — 70, "Jd edit. Amstel. 17'24. 352 jF.wisri ANTIQUITIES. [poor in. hours, or that this was a stated division of the day, does not appear. Since, then, the use of the greater hours is so uncertain, even in our Saviour's time, we must not rely on them, as Godwin does, for reconciHng the different accounts of the evangehsts, concerning the time of our Lord's crucifixion. St. Mark says it was at the third hour, chap. xv. 2o; whereas, according to St. John, chap, xix. 14, it was about the sixth hour when he was arraigned before Pilate. Some endeavour to remove this difficulty by the supposi- tion, that St. John's Gospel was written after the destruction of Jerusalem *, and that he therefore uses the computation of the Romans, who began the natural day, as we do, from twelve o'clock at night; accordingly the sixth hour, when Pilate condemned Christ to be crucified, was six in the morning : but St. Mark uses the Jewish computation, according to which the third hour answers to our nine in the morning, at which time Christ was nailed to the cross. This is an ingenious way of reconciling the two evangelists ; and, provided it could be made appear that St. John uses the Roman computation in any other part of his history, we should readily acquiesce in it. But, I apprehend, the contrary is very probable from the following passage in the fourth chapter, ver. 6 — 8 : " Jesus, therefore, being wearied with his journey, sal thus on the well ; and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water; Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. For his disciples were gone away into the city to buy meat." Now it is not so probable, that the disciples should be gone to procure provisions for their refreshment on their journey at six in the morning as at twelve at noon ; much less is it likely, that Christ was wearied with his journey at so early an hour ; and if St. John uses the Jewish computation in this part of his history, it is hardly consistent with the character of a good historian to use the Roman in another part of it ; at least, without giving notice of the change. Perhaps, therefore, an easier way of solving this difficulty is to admit the reading of the Cambridge manuscript, which has rpirr], the third, instead of eKTrj, the sixth hour, in the preceding passage. And this reading is confirmed by Nonnus's Paraphrase f , and by Peter of Alexandria, or who- * That St. John's Gospel -was written, not after, but before the destruction of Jerusa- lem, see proved by Dr. Lardner, in liis Supplement to the Second P;.rt of his Credibility, vol. i. chap. ix. sect. is. x. p. 391 — 44.5. f See the passage in Dr. Lardnet's Ciedibility, part ii. chnp. rxxviii. vol. xi. p. 63. CHAP. I.] HOURS. 353 ever was the author of the fragment prefixed to the Chronicoii Paschale *; who expressly asserts, that it was rpm] in the original copy f, which, he saith, was at that time preserved with great care in the church of Ephesus +. Before we quit the subject of the Jewish hours, it is proper to take notice of the hours of prayer, which we find mentioned in Scripture. Peter and John, it is said in the Acts, " went up into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour;" chap. iii. 1. This, indeed, refers to the public prayers, oflTered up in the temple at the time of the evening sacrifice. But the Jews had also stated hours for private prayer, at least when they did not attend those which were public. It was Daniel's custom to pray three times a day, which he would not omit, though he was liable on that account to be cast into the den of lions; Dan. vi. 10—12. The same was the practice of David : " Evening, and morning," saith he, "and at noon, will I pray;" Psalm Iv. 17. From whence we learn not only how frequently, but at what times of the day that duty was commonly perfoi-med. It is generally supposed, that the morning and evening prayers were at the time of offering the morning and evening sacrifice, that is, at the third and ninth hour. And the noon prayer was at the sixth hour, or twelve o'clock ; for it is said, that " Peter went up on the house top to pray, about the sixth hour;" Acts x. 9 : though Ludovicus Capellus makes the morning and the noon prayer to correspond to the morning and evening sacrifices. According to him, the morning prayer was performed any time between sun-rise and the fourth hour; the noon prayer, between the sixth hour and sun-set; and evening- prayer, any time between sun-set and break of day§. We find in Scripture no express institution of the stated hours of prayer. The Jews say, they received them from the patriarchs ; the first hour, from Abraham; the second from Isaac; and the third from Jacob 1 1. From hence the Papists have borrowed their canonical hours ; as they call certain prayers, which are to be repeated at certain * Consult Cave, Hist. Literar ad init. sect. iv. •f- Chronicon. Paschale, in Praef. auctoris de Pasrhate, p. 5, edit. Du Fresno, Paris, 1C88. X See tbis matter discussed by Dr. AVhitby in bis Annotations on Mark xv. '2.'>, and by Pfaffius in bis Dissertatio Critica de genuinis librorum Novi Tcstamenti Lectionibus, cap. viii. p. 151 — 1G2, edit. Anistcl. 1709, wlio particularly considers -wbat Mill hatli advanced against this reading on Mark xv. "25, and Jolin xi.\. 14. § Ludov. Capcllr in Act. iii. 1, apud. Crit. Sacr. See also Mislin. tit. Berachotb, cap. iv. ; Bartenor, et Maimon. in loc. ; et annot. Guisii et Snrenhus. toni. i. p. IH, 1-1, edit. Snrenbus. ]| Vid. Dnnii Pirr'tcr. in Art. iii. 1, five ap\id Clitic. Sacros. A A 354 JFWISII ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK Ilf. times of the day, namely, matins, lauds, vespers, and complins. Cardinal Baronius flmcies they were instituted by the apostles ; of which he imagines, that Peter and John going into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour, is proof sufficient. Indeed, if we reject this evidence, there is none to be produced of their being instituted earlier than the ninth century, in a capitular * of Hatto, or Hetto, bishop of Basil, directed to his curates, enjoin- ing that none of them be absent at the canonical hours f . From the Jews the Mohammedans have borrowed their hours of prayer, enlarging the number of them from three to five, which all Mussulmans are bound to observe ; the first in the morning before sun-rise ; the second, when noon is past, and the sun begins to decline from the meridian ; the third, in the afternoon, before sun-set; the fourth, in the evening, after sun-set, and before the day be shut in; the fifth, alter the day is shut in, and before the first watch of the night J. To these some of their devotees add two more ; the first, an hour and a half after the day is shut in, the other at midnight ; but these are looked upon as voluntary services, practised in imitation of Mohammed's example, but not enjoined by his law §. We now proceed to consider the Jewish weeks ; which, God- win observes, were of two sorts ; the one ordinary, consisting of seven days ; the other extraordinary or prophetical, consisting of seven years. As for the ordinary week of seven days, it is a division of time, which appears to have been observed by all nations, probably from the beginning of the world ||. It was first made by God himself, . who, after he had created the world in six days, " rested on the seventh, and blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it ;" Gen. ii. 2. 3. Fi'om whence every seventh day has been ever held sacred. To prove that this distinction of time prevailed in the first ages of the world, some allege the following passage of the book of Genesis : " In the end of the days, Dvo^ ypr:) mikkets jamim, Cain and Abel brought their offering to the Lord," chap. iv. 3 : that is, say they, at the end of the week, or on the sabbath-day ; for, ac- cording to the learned Gataker, there was then no other distinction * A capitular is an act passed in a chapter, that is, in an assembly held by religious or military orders, for deliberating on their affairs, and regulating their discipline. t Du Pin's Eccles. Hist. cent. ix. vol. vii. p. 142. X Sec Sale's Preliminary Discourse to his Translation of the Koran, sect. iv. p. 107. 109, edit. 1734. § De Dieu, Auimadversiones in Act. iii.l. II See Grotius, de Veritate Christiana Religionis, lib. i. sect. xvi. p. 45, 46, notis Clerici, Glasg. 1745 ; Sclden, dc Jure Nat, ct Gent. lib. iii. cap. xvi. — xix. CHAP. I.] WEEKS. S55 of days but into weeks *. We may, however, observe, with deference to so gi-eat an authority, that it is not impossible, nor improbable, that by this time they might have learned to distinguish time, by the changes of the moon, into months ; and by the course of the sun, and the revolutions of the seasons, into years. It is very evi- dent, that the phrase D'-D* fpa mikkets jamim does not always im- port the end of a week, from the use of it in the Second Book of Samuel, chap. xiv. 26 ; where it is said, that " at the end of the days, Absalom polled his head, because his hair was heavy on him ; and he weighed it at two hundred shekels." It cannot be imagined his hair should grow so heavy as to need polling every week. Probably, in this place, the phrase means, as we render it, "at every year's end." In the same sense the learned Ainsworth understands it in the passage in Genesis, which we are now consi- dering : " at the end of the year," when the fruits of the earth were 'ripe, " Cain brought of the fruits of the ground an offering unto the Lord." So God afterward appointed " a feast of ingathering," to be observed by the Jews in the end of the year, " when they had gathered in their labours out of the field;" Exod. xxiii. IG. The same custom prevailed among the Gentiles, who at the end of the year, when they gathered in their fruits, oflered solemn sacri- fices, with thanks to God for his blessings. Aristotle says f, that tlie ancient sacrifices and assemblies were after the gathering in of the fruits, being designed for an oblation of the first-fruits unto God. Again, days are put for years in the twenty-fifth chapter of Leviticus, ver. 29 : " within a year shall he redeem it :" in the He- brew, D''D'' jamim, which yet is immediately explained to signify a whole year. It is therefore probable, that it was at the end of the year Cain brought of his ripe fruits an oficring unto the Lord. Nevertheless, though the evidence of this passage, in favour of the antiquity of distinguishing time by weeks, fail us, we have other suflficient proofs of its being used in very early ages. It appears, that Noah divided his days by sevens, in sending the dove out of the ark, Gen. viii. 10 — 13, -and that the same division was used in Jacob's time ; for in the history of his marriage with Leah and Ra- chel, we meet with this expression, " Laban said, Fulfil her week, i»2iy shchlinanfj, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years ;" chap. xxix. 27. * Viil. Poli. Synops. in Gen. iv. 3. -f- Aribtot. Ethic, lib. viii. cup. i.v. gtili fincin. A A 2 o56 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK III. That the word i?nu^ shehlmaiuj here signifies a week of days, is plain from its being expressly distinguished from seven years ; and also because it was the custom in ancient times to keep marriage feasts for seven days. It is said of Samson's wife, that *' she wept before him the seven days, while their marriage-feast lasted," in order to obtain from hiiu the interpretation of a riddle, for explaining which " within the seven days of the feast," he had offered a reward to his guests ; Judges xiv. 12. 17. As for the extraordinary or prophetical weeks, they consisted of seven years each. And it is not unlikely, that this sort of compu- tation by weeks of years, which is used in the prophetic writings, owed its origin to the expressions in which Moses records the in- stitution of the year of jubilee : " Thou shalt number seven sab- baths of years unto thee, seven times seven years ; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years : then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound, and ye shall hallow the fiftieth year;" Lev^ xxv. 8 — 10. Accord- ingly a day is put for a year in Ezekiel, where three hundred and nineteen days means as many years, and forty days forty years ; *' I have appointed thee, saith the Lord, each day for a year ;" chap. iv. 5, 6. In the same sense seven days, or a week, is in the- prophetic style seven years. Of this sort are the seventy weeks in the ninth chapter of Daniel's prophecy, ver. 24, which appears from hence, that having occasion immediately after this prophecy to mention weeks in the ordinary acceptation of the word, he ex- pressly calls them, by way of distinction from the weeks he had been before speaking of, " weeks of days," chap. x. 1 — 3 ; for so is the expression in the original, which we render, '' three full weeks *." Besides, it is certain, that so many great events as are predicted to come to pass in the space of seventy weeks, could not be crowded into seventy weeks of days, which is less than one year and a half. The seventy prophetical weeks, therefore, amount to four hundred and ninety years. Months, with the Hebrews, take their name from the moon ; the word tynn diodhesh, being used by them to signify both a new moon, and a month ; because their months began with a new moon. And therefore they consisted of twenty-nine or thirty days ; for since the synodical lunar month is nearly twenty-nine days and a * Mayer de Temporibus et Festis Hcbrffior. part i, cap. x. sect. v. p. 65, edit. Anistel. 1724; Marshall's Chronolosrical Ticatist- on the Seventy Weeks of Daniel, p. 8, 9. Lond. 1724. " ■ - CHAP. I.] MONTHS. 3.57 lialf, they made their months to consibt of twenty-nine and tliiity days alternately ; so that what one month wanted of heing equal to the synodical course of the moon, was made up in the next; and by this means their months were made to keep even pace, pretty nearly, with the lunations. Thus was the Jewish calendar regu- lated by the law of Moses, which appointed the day of the new moon, or rather perhaps the first day of its appearance, to be a so- lemn festival, and the beginning of a month. But it should seem, that at the time of the deluge they were not come to this regula- tion; but then the years consisted of twelve months, and each month of thirty days. That the year consisted of twelve months, may be inferred from the time that Noah lived in the ark, namely, a year and ten days ; for the flood began on the seventeenth day of the second month of the six hundredth year of Noah's life (see Gen. vii. 11), and on the twenty-seventh of the second month, in the six hundred and first year of his life, was the earth dried; chap, viii. 13, 14 *. Now if the month consisted of thirty days, as we shall presently show that it did ; and if the year then in use was nearly either lunar or solar, thei'e must have been twelve months in the year ; for thirty multiplied by twelve is three hundred and sixty, that is, six days more than the lunar year, and five less than the solar. Perhaps the form of the year then used was the same after- ward used by the Egyptians, consisting of twelve months and five days. That the month, in Noah's time, consisted of thirty days, is made out thus. It is said in the account of the deluge, that " in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the fountains of the great deep were broken up," chap. vii. 11 ; and afterward it is said, " the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat ;" chap. viii. 4. From the beginning of the flood, therefore, to the time of the ark's resting, was just five months. Now the waters are said to have prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days, chap. vii. 24 ; viii. 3, 4 ; that is, till the time of the ark's resting ; and one hundred and fifty divided by five, the number of the months, gives just thirty days for each month. * lu the thirteenth verse it is said, that " in the six liundrcd and first year, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from the cartli, and Noah removed the covering of tho ark, and looked, and hehold tlie face of the ground was dry." This must be understood of the waters being so far dried from off the face of the Ciuth, that they no longer stood on ihe ground ; nevertheless, the earth was not sufficiently Imrdcucd to be fit for habitation till near two months after, when, on the twenty-scvcntli day uf tlic second month. Noaii left the ark. S58 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES, [bOOK III. From this account of the antediluvian months and years, we may infer the absurdity of the supposition, which Varro and others have made, in order to take off the wonder of men's Hving so long before the flood, as the Scripture history relates; namely, that their ages are to be computed, not by solar years, but by months; whereas it plainly appears, that they computed by months and years before the flood, as we now do, and that their years were nearly equal to ours ; and it cannot be thought so good an historian as Moses would use the word years for months only, in some part of his antediluvian history, and for twelve months in other parts of it. Besides, this way of computing will reduce the lives of the an- cient patriarchs to a shorter period than ours. Peleg, who is said to have lived two hundred and thirty-nine years, Gen. xi. 19, will be found in reality to have lived only about twenty years ; and Se- rug, who is said to have lived two hundred and thirty years, chap, xi. 23, must have lived but a little more than nineteen ; and both of them must have begot children before they were three years old, instead of thirty, according to the Scripture account. Godwin is undoubtedly mistaken, when he saith, " that the Jews before their captivity, counted their months without any names, ac- cording to their number, as the first, the second month, &c." For we meet with the names of months in the Scripture history long before that period ; as the manth Abib, Exod. xiii. 4 ; the moth Zif, 1 Kings vi. 1. 37 ; the month Bui, ver. 38; and the month Ethanim ; chap. viii. 2. We proceed now to consider the Jewish year, which was partly lunar and wandering, and partly solar and fixed. It consisted sometimes of twelve, and sometimes of thirteen synodical months ; ordinarily it consisted of twelve synodical months, amounting to three hundred and fifty-four days. As the years of this form fall eleven days short of the solar year, had they used them constantly, their months and festivals would have wandered in thirty-two years through all the seasons. But since the rites they were to perform at some of their festivals had a necessary connexion with a jDarti- cular season of the year ; as the offering the first-fruits of the wheat-harvest at the feast of pentecost, which must necessarily be kept in the summer, and their dwelling in booths at the feast of tabernacles, which would have been highly inconvenient in winter; it was necessary by some means to reduce the lunar years to the solar, that their months, and consequently their festivals, might always fall at the same season. This therefore they did by adding CHAP. I.] YEARS. 359 a whole month to the year, as often as it was needful, commonly once in three, and sometimes once in two years. This intercalary month was added at the end of the year, after the month Adar, and was therefore called "n^i veadar, or a second Adar *. The year was also distinguished into the civil and sacred year ; each of which had a different beginning. The civil began with the equinoctial new moon in autumn ; the sacred, or ecclesiastical, with the equinoctial new moon in spring. The civil, according to which all political matters were regulated, was the more ancient, and was perhaps the same with the patriarchal year, which we gave an account of before, and which is supposed to have origi- nally commenced at the creation. Hence, since this year began in autumn, some have thought it probable the world was created at that season, or in its autumnal state, with respect to that hemi- sphere in which Adam was placed f. But the premises, from which this inference is drawn, are somewhat uncertain, namely, that the ancient year was a fixed solar year, always beginning at the same season; whereas we have before shown, that the pa- triarchal year consisted of twelve months of thirty days each, which fell about five days short of the true solar year. Unless, therefore, we suppose, as some have done ;]:, that they added five days to their last month, according to the form of the annus Nabo- nassarins, or the Egyptian year §, which five days were called j;/xfpai e^Tayo^^fvM^ tliis year must liave been wandering, and the beginning of it have run through all the seasons. Nay, even supposing the addition of the ///^f/jai (miyofxevm, yet the neglect of five hours forty-nine minutes, by which the Egyjitian year fell short of the true solar year, would make the beginning of it wander through all the seasons in about fourteen hundred years ; so that, thougii it happened to begin at the autumnal equinox at the time when Moses regulated the Jewish calendar, it might have begun originally at another season. However, it is thought, that the feast of ingathering of the harvest, which must certainly be at autumn, being said to be " in the end of the year," Exod. * Miiimoii. dc Consccnitione Calcndaruin , cap. iv. sect. i. j). 35G, ad calccin tiactatus dc sacrificiis, edit, ct vers. Dc Veil, Lund. IGS.'J. ■f" Vid, Mayer, do Tcuijjoribus ct l"'csti8 llcbra'or. jiart i. tap. i. p. 4 — 17, .\iiistcl. ] 7'24 ; ct Fred. S|)aiiliciiiii C'liroiiol. Sacr. part i. cap. i ; Talinud, tit. Hosli. llaslianah, t-aj). i. ; Abarbaiiel dc l*riii(i|ii(), Aiuii ct C'oiiscciTitiouc Novihinii ad Calccui, lib. Gozri, p. .lt;5_'l-),'i, edit. I5u.\t shathah, Mbit, answers to the Greek a-vinroiriov, and primarily signifies con\potatio ; or perhaps, as we call it, a drinking bout. And as delicious liquors were always supposed to make a considerable part of an elegant entertainment, the word nnio mishtch is used, by a synecdoche, for a feast in gc- CJIAP. II,] FEASTS. 363 neral ; such as Abraham made at the weaning of Isaac, Gen. xxi. 8 ; Pharaoli on his l)irth-day, chap. xl. 20 ; Samson at his wedding, Judges xiv. 10; and Isaac lor Abimelech and his friends, who, it is expressly said, ate as well as drank ; chap. xxvi. 30. "A feast of fat things " is called nnu;o mishhli, as well as " a feast of wine ;" Isa. XXV. 6. And as the Hebrews sometimes denominated their feasts from drinking, so likewise from eating : " Jacob offered sa- crifice on the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread," &.c. ; Gen. xxxi. 54. Belshazzar made a great feast, snb lecliem (Dan. V. 1 ; see also Eccles. x. 19), which primarily signifies bread. At other times it was denominated from both: " Come, cat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I iiave mingled :" Prov. ix. 5 ; see also Eccles. ix. 7. It is Godwin's opinion, that the of/njm, or love feasts, of the pri- mitive Christians, were derived from the D''j;ri chh/fjim, or feasts upon the sacrifices, at which the Jews entertained their friends and fed the poor; Deut. xii. 18 ; xxvi. 12. Tiiere were also feasts of much the same kind in use among the Greeks and Romans. The former were wont to offer certain sacri- fices to their gods, which were afterward given to the poor. They had likewise j)ubHc feasts for certain districts, suppose for a town or city, toward which all who could afford it, contributed, in pro- portion to their different abiHties, and all partook of it in common. Of this sort were the 'S.vcrcriTia of the Cretans ; and the indina of the Lacedemonians, instituted by Lycurgus, and so called napa n;s (jnXuis (the X being changed into S according- to their usual ortho- graphy), as denoting that love and friendship which they were intended to promote among neighbours and fellow-citizens *. Tiie Romans likewise had a feast of tlie same kind, called r/ia- ristid; which was a meeting only of those who were akin to each other; and the design of it was, tliat if any quarrel or misunder- standing had happened among any of (hem, they might there be reconciled f. To this Ovid alludes in the second book of his Fasti : — Proxinia cognati dixcrc charistia cliari, Et vciiit ad socios turba propinqiia (Icos. \. <5I7. In imitation either of these Jewish or Gentile love feasts, or pro- bably of both, the primitive Christians, in each particular chinch, had likewise their love feasts, which were supplied by the contri- * Vid. Cragium dc R(']itild. ),nfcda;iii. lib. i. caj). ix. ; apiul (^roiiov. Tlifs;iur. (Jia'C. Auliq. vol. V. ]). 2.^41 ; ct Stuckii Aiiliqiiilat. Convivial, lib. i. nip. xxxi. ■f ^'aIc■l•. Muxini. lil>. ii. cap. i. sect. viii. p. \'M\. edit. Tliysii. Liigd. Hat. Ki'm. 364 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK III. bution of the members, according to their several abihties, and partaken of by all in common. And whether they were converts from among the Jews or Gentiles, they retained their old custom with very little alteration, and as their ayanai had been commonly annexed to their sacrifices, so they were now annexed to the com- memoration of the sacrifice of Christ at the Lord's supper ; and were therefore held on the Lord's day before or after the celebra- tion of that ordinance. It should seem at Corinth, in the apostle's days, they were ordinarily held before ; for when the Corinthians are blamed for unworthily receiving the Lord's supper, it is partly charged upon this, that some of them came drunk to that ordi- nance, having indulged to excess at the preceding love feast: " Every one taketh before, npoka^i^avd, his own supper, and one is hungry and another is drunken ;" 1 Cor. xi. 21 *. This shows, saith Dr. Whitby, that this banquet, namely, the love feast, was celebrated before the Lord's supper. But Chrysostom gives an account of it, as being in his time kept after it f. It is commonly supposed, that when St. Jude mentions certain persons, who were spots in the feasts of charity, ev rms ayaTvais, ver. -12, he means in the Christian love feasts; though Dr. Lightfoot and Dr. Whitby apprehend the reference in this passage is rather to a custom of the Jews, who on the evening of their sabbath had their Koivavia, or communion, when the inhabitants of the same city met in a common place to eat together |. However that be, all antiquity bears testimony to the reality of the Christian ayanai, or love feasts. Indeed, Suicer conceives they are referred to in the following passage of the Acts : " They," that is, the apostles, " con- tinuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and single- ness of heart ;" chap. ii. 46. And when it is said, that " the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables,"" chap. vi. 2, he supposes the tables mean these love feasts : which expression, I think, primarily refers to the tables of the poor of the church, or to the making a proper provision for them ; as appears from its having been mentioned as the ground of complaint of " the * See Whitby in loc. ■f Vid. Suiceri Thesaur. in verb uyefxri. This opinion is maintained by Mr. Hallet, in his Notes and Discourses, vol. iii. disc. vi. ; and by Dr. Chandler in Lis account of the Coiifcience in Nicholas- Lane, Feb. 13, 1734-5, between two Romish priests and somo Protestant divines, p. .55 — 62. % Whitby in loc. awA Lightfoot, HorK Hebraic. 1 Cor. x. lO". CHAP. II.] FEASTS. 365 Grecians against the Hebrews, that their widows were neglected in the daily ministration," ver. 1. To the love feasts he likewise re- fers the following passage concerning St. Paul : *' When he had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, he departed;" chap. xx. 11. But this may very naturally and properly be understood of the Lord's supper. Indeed, how far St. Paul might join in these love feasts with other Christians, be- fore they were abused, does not appear. But when he blamed the scandalous irregularities of the Corinthians, in their participation of the Lord's supper, which were very much occasioned by their pre- ceding love feasts, and in order to bring them back to its original simplicity and purity, gives them a very particular account of the primitive institution, 1 Cor. xi. 23, ct scq., in which there is not one word of these ar/apce ; he evidently condemns the addition they had made to this ordinance, which had occasioned so much sin, and so many disorders and confusions. However, the agapce were not wholly laid aside till some ages after. For they are mentioned by Ignatius *, by Clemens of Alex- andria f, by TertuUian j, and even by St. Jerome § and St. Austin || in the fourth century, as practised in their times. Dr. Lightfoot hath a peculiar notion concerning these Christian agapoi^ that they were a sort of hospitals for the entertainment of strangers, in imitation of those which the Jews had adjoining to their synagogues. And Gains, who is called " the host of the whole church," Rom. xvi. 23, he supposes to have been the master of such an hospital ; and that Phoebe, who is called the hiaKovoi of the church at Cenchrea, chap. xvi. 1, and those other women, who in the Epistle to the Philippians are said to labour in the gos- pel, chap. iv. 3, were servants attending these hospitals. Never- theless, he does not call in question the ancient use of love feasts together with the eucharist : to doubt of that, he says, would be to contradict all antiquity. But he seems to question, whether they were so ancient as the days of the apostles f . However, notwith- standing all the doctor has said, on the authority of the rabbies, of these Jewish hospitals, which he supposes the Christians to have imitated in their agapcc, it may reasonably be doubted, whether they had ordinarily such hospitals adjoining to their churches so " Epist. ad Smyrn. sect. viii. apud Cotcler. PatrcB Apostol. p. 37, vol. ii. edit. Cleiici 2, 1/24. f Paed:^. lib. ii. p. 141, B, et Strom, lib. iii. p. 430, C, D, ed. Paris, 1G41. X Apolog. cap. x.xxix. ]>. 32, edit. Rigalt. Paris, 1675. § .Ad Kiistoc. deCustod. Virg^in. epist. xxii. p. '2KC, D, Paris, \^1SS. II Contra Faiistuiii Maiiirli. lib. xx. ra](. xx. ^ .Sec Mor. Hebraic. 1 Cor. xi. 21. 366 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK III. early as the days of the apostles ; for as yet they had hardly any churches or buildings appropriated to Christian worship, but were forced to meet in private houses, and often secretly, to avoid the rage and violence of their persecutors. Nor can I think it so pro- bable, that the Corinthians, who were for the most part Gentile converts, should borrow the institution of such hospitals from the Jews, as that they should borrow their former custom, and that of their ancestors, in annexing love feasts to their sacrifices, and so adopt them into Christian worship. Godwin hath discoursed pretty largely on the ceremonies used by the Jews at their feasts. And under the head of salutation, as one of their preparatory ceremonies, he occasionally mentions the prophet Elisha's order to his servant Gehazi, " If thou meet with any man, salute him not ; and if any man salute thee, answer him not again ;" 2 Kings iv. 29. It is inquired, whether this is to be taken for a general prohibition of all ceremonies betokening civil respect, according to the usage of the modern Quakers ; or only as an injunction peculiar to the present occasion ? I apprehend, there is no reason to take it for a general prohibition, since in the Scripture history, we find such ceremonies of civil respect prac- tised by good men, without any censure passed upon them ; as by Moses to his father-in-law, Exod. xviii. 7 ; by Abraham to the three angels, whom he took for three men, Gen. xviii. 2 ; and afterward to the children of Heth ; chap, xxiii. 7. Besides, when our Saviour sent forth the twelve apostles to preach, he enjoined them to pay to all persons and families, where they came, the usual tokens of civility and respect : " When ye come into a house, salute it ;" Matt. x. 12. The reason, then, of Elisha's forbidding his servant either to give, or return, a salutation to any man, was probably either on account of the expedition which the prophet supposed his journey to the Shunamite required (for perhaps he did not understand her child was quite dead, when he ordered Gehazi to go and lay his staff' on it); or else it might be to keep the child's death, out of tenderness, a secret to the father, till he was raised to life again ; and if the servant so much as spoke to any person on the road, he might imprudently divulge it. This may enable us to account for a prohibition of the same kind, given by Christ to the seventy disciples, when he sent them " two and two before his face, to every city and place, whither he himself would come ;" Luke x. 1. 4. "Carry," saith he, " neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes, and salute no man by the way." We CHAP. II.] SALUTATIONS. 367 may with equal reason sujjposc^, that our Lord intended to forbid his disciples and ministers the use of shoes and purses, as the customary tokens of civil respect. His design was only to pro- hibit them while they were employed on that particular message. It is farther inquired, why he forbad it at this time? Dr. Light- foot, from the rabbies, observes, that it was the custom of the Jews, during the days of their mourning, not to salute any one. He conceives, therefore, that our Saviour would have his disciples appear like mourners ; partly as representing himself, who was a man of sorrow, that so from these messengers the people might guess, in some measure, what sort of person he was who sent them ; partly, as they were to summon the people to attend upon Christ, in order to be healed, both of their spiritual and their bodily diseases ; and it was, therefore, fit their behaviour should be mournful and solemn, in token of their fellow-feeling with the afflicted and miserable *. But the testimony of the rabbies is too weak a foundation to support this interpretation. The custom mentioned might have prevailed in their times without being near so ancient as our Saviour's. It may also be objected, that oui* blessed Lord was so far from desiring his disciples should appear as mourners, that he represents this to be unsuitable to their condition, while he, the bridegroom, was with them ; Matt. ix. 15. Perhaps, therefore, the prohibition of saluting any man by the way may be taken in a more general sense, as a caution against trifling away their time in compliment and ceremony. Or, if we under- stand it more literally, it might be designed to make the disciples appear as men in haste, and fully occupied, whose minds were intent on the dispatch of the most important business ; to awaken the people's attention to their message, and at the same time, like the symbolical actions of the prophets, to represent in a sensible manner the main drift and tenor of it, namely, that sinners should make all possible speed to fly from the wrath to come, and lay hold on eternal life, and for that cud should apply to Christ in earnest and without delay. The second preparatory ceremony, mentioned by Godwin, is washing the feet of the guests. However, it does not appear in the institution of any of the Jewish feasts, nor by any Scripture examples, that this was ever used, except when persons had defiled their feet by travelling. And, indeed, if it had been a constant • I.ightr.ii.t, Hor. Hcb. T,ur. x. J. 368 jKAVisir ANTiQUiTir.s. [book hi. custom, I can hardly tliink, tliat Simon the Pharisee, who civilly invited our Lord to an entertainment at his house, would have omitted it ; Luke vii. 44. The instance produced, namely, our Saviour's washing his dis- ciples' feet, John xiii. 5, is quite beside the purpose ; since that was plainly an extraordinary case, performed, not out of respect to any custom, but with a particular intent of instructing them in the duties of humility and condescending benevolence ; ver. 13--- 15. Besides, this was not done before they began supper, but in some interval of the meal, as appears from its being said of our Lord, that " he arose from supper, and laid aside his garments, and took a towel and girded himself,'" ver. 4. We conclude from hence, that the disciples had not washed their feet before supper ; for it is highly improbable that Christ should choose to set them an example of mutual condescension and benevolence by an action, which, if they had been washed before, was altogether needless *. It is Godwin's apprehension, that the six water-pots of stone, mentioned on occasion of the marriage at Cana of Galilee, John ii. 6, and said to be "after the manner of the purifying of the Jews," were designed for these complimental washings. But as the word Kadafuafios is commonly, if not always, used for the puri- fying or washing the whole body, as for the purifying of a woman after child-birth, Luke ii. 22, and of a leper after his cure, chap. v. 14 ; Mark i. 44 ; in both which cases the law prescribed that the body should be washed or bathed all over; some have thought it more probable, that these water-pots were such as were used for that purpose. And if we consider how many legal pollutions, unavoidably and frequently contracted, required this larger purification, especially among the women, it is likely that all persons, who could provide conveniences for it, would keep sufficient quantities of water in their houses ready for such occasions. According to this opinion, these water-pots must have been large vessels. How large is not certain. The text says, they " contained two or three iierprjTai apiece ;" a word which, though it properly signifies a measure in the general, was yet doubtless in common use for some particular measure ; othei-wise, this account of the contents of these water-pots would be altogether indeterminate, and convey no idea at all. It is pro- * That Washing the feet was not an usual preparatory ceremony, is shown at large by Buxtorf, in his Dissert. Philolog. Theolog. dissert, vi. do Csenas Domin. primse ritibiis et forma, sect. xxx. p. .302 — .306, Basil. ]G(;2. CHAP. II.] FEASTS. 369 bable, therefore, that as tlie word rod, in EngUsh, which primarily signifies a stick to measure with, of any length, is yet appropriated to that particular measure of length which is most used in measuring lands, namely, five yards and a half, the word i^fTprjTi^ was particularly appropriated to that measure of capacity which was most used by the Jews in measuring liquids, and that was the nn bath. This is still more probable, because the Septuagint renders the word bath, by iifrpn-ru, in the fourth chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles, ver. 5. Now the bath, according to Dr. Cumberland, contains seven gallons and a quarter. Each water-pot, therefore, may be supposed to contain about twenty gallons, and all of them, when filled to the brim, as they were when our Saviour turned the water into wine, about a hundred and twenty *. As to the design of this miracle, we are not to suppose that Christ produced so great a quantity of wine, merely or chiefly for use of the guests at that entertainment. Besides the grand purpose of displaying his divine power, he might hereby intend to make a handsome present to the new-married couple, as such a quantity of excellent wine undoubtedly was, in grateful return for their favour in inviting him and his disciples to the marriage feast. As to the third preparatory ceremony, pouring out oil, I can find no sufficient evidence of this being in common use. The woman's anointing our Saviour's head with ointment, which St. Luke men- tions, chap. vii. 37, 38, and to which Godwin refers, was without doubt an extraordinary case. As to the n^l^ haracliah, or benediction of the bread and wine, from whence many others suppose, as well as Godwin, that our Saviour borrowed the rites which he used in the celebration of his supper ; the authority of the rabbinical writers, who mention this harachah, is too precarious to furnish a certain conclusion, that it was in use among the Jews in our Saviour''s time. The correspond- ence between the sacramental rites and those of the Jewish bai-a- cluih, as practised in the days of the talmudical rabbics, may be seen at large in Buxtorf on this subject f. The last thing which Godwin mentions as remarkable in the feasts of the Jews, was their table gesture % '• and this was reclining * Sec on tliis subject a Dissertation of Hostus, in tlie Critic! Sacri, vol. ix. -f" Buxtorf. Dissertationes Philolog. Tiicolojj. dissert, ile Cu3n!r Domin. prinuT; ritibus ct forma. X Vid. Buxtorf. ubi s\ipra, sect. x,\.\ii. — .\1. p. ;506 — ^iO.O ; et I.iigbt/oot, Ilonc Hcbr. in Matt. xxvi. 20. D V, '^70 JFAVISII ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK ITT. on couches after the manner of the Romans *, the upper part of the body resting upon the left elbow, and the lower lying at length upon the couch. When two or three reclined on the same couch, some say the worthiest or most honourable person lay first ; Light- foot says, in the middle f . The next in dignity lay with his head reclining on the breast or bosom of the first ; as John is said to have done on the bosom of Jesus at supper; John xiii. 23. And hence is borrowed the phrase of Abraham's bosom, as denoting the state of celestial happiness ; Luke xvi. 22. Abraham being esteemed the most honourable person, and the father of the Jewish nation, to be in his bosom signifies, in allusion to the order in which guests were placed at an entertainment, the highest state of felicity next to that of Abraham himself. CHAPTER IlL OF THE SABBATH. The word sabbath, from nnti^ shabath, quievit, is used in Scrip- ture, in a limited sense, for the seventh day of the week, which, by the Jewish law, was peculiarly consecrated to the service of God ; and, in a more extensive sense, for other holy days, as for the an- nual fast, or day of atonement, on the tenth of the month Tizri, Lev. xxiii. 32 ; and, in the New Testament, the word aa^^arov is sometimes used for a week : " I fast twice in a week,"" Nrjarevco 8ls Tov aa^jBarov, Luke xviii. 12; and fiia aajS^aTcou signifies the first day of the week; Matt, xxviii. L But commonly the word sabbath is peculiarly appropriated to the seventh day. In the sixth chapter of St. Luke, we read of the a-alSiSaTojv devre- ponpcoTov, ver. 1 ; the explaining of which has given the critics and commentators not a little trouble. Some allege there were two sabbatliS in the year, each of them called the first, in respect to the two different beginnings of the year, the civil and the sacred, 'ihat the Jews had some peculiar regard to the first sabbath in the year, appears from a passage in Clemens Alexandrinus, tav ^j? * Plutaichi Sympos. lib. v. problem, vi. p. 769. 780, edit. Francofurt, 1620. See the accubitus of the Romans described, with a delineation from some .intique marbles, by Hieron. Merciirialis, de Arte Gymnast, lib. cap. xi. Amstel. 1672. t Hora: Hebr. John xiii. 23. CHAP. III.] THE SABBATH. 371 (T(Xt]v;] 4>avr), aafi^arov ovk. ayovai to Xfyofitvov, npcoTov *, " Nisi lutia appareat, sabbatum non celebrant quod primum dicitur," &c. Now, as their year had two different beginnings, one with the month Tizri in autumn, the other with the month Nisan in spring, there were consequently two first sabbaths, of which this, according to the computation of the civil year, was the second, and is therefore called btvTfpoTTpcoTov, or the second-first sabbath. Grotius, whose opinion is followed by Dr. Hammond, conceives, that when any of the solemn yearly feasts fell on the sabbath-day, that sabbath had a special respect paid to it, and was called fxfya, or (which Dr. Hammond saith is the same thing) a-a^fSarov npuTop. Now, of these prime or first sabbaths, there were three in the year, at the passover, at pentecost, and at the feast of tabernacles. The first of them, that is,\vhen the first day of the passover fell on the sabbath-day, was called TrpcoTOTrpcorov a-a^^arov, or the first prime sab- bath. The second, that is, when the day of pentecost fell on the sabbath, was called devTeponpcoToi', which, he apprehends, was the sabbath here intended -f. But as neither Grotius nor Hammond have produced any passage, in which either the word npuroTrpoTov, or TpiTOTTpcoTou, occurs, this interpretation remains doubtful and uncer- tain. Sir Isaac Newton imagines this a-a^^arop beuTeponparov was the second great day of the feast of the passover : as we call Easter- day, high Easter, and its octave, low Easter, or Low Sunday ; so it seems St. Luke styles the feast, on the seventh day of the unlea- vened bread, the second of the two prime sabbaths %. To this sense Dr. Doddridge objects, that though the seventh day of un- leavened bread was to be an holy convocation, yet the law expressly allowed the Jews to dress victuals on it, Exod. xii. IG ; and there- fore the Pharisees could have had no pretence for charging Christ's disciples with breaking the sabbath by their plucking and rubbing the ears of corn on that day, as they did; Luke vi. 2. Theophylact §, who is followed by J. Scaliger||, Lightfoot^, and Whitby, makes the a-aji^aTov devreponpuTov to be the first of the seven sabbaths between the passover and pentecost, or the first sab- bath after the second day of unleavened bread, from whence the fifty days to pentecost were computed ; Lev. xxiii. IJ, 1(5. There • Strom, lib. vi. p. 636, A, edit. Paris, 1741. ■f- Grotii et Hammondi Annot. in lor. J Sir Isaac Newton's Observations on the Prophecies of Daniel ntu\ the Revelation, p. 1 il. § Comment, in loc. II Sralig. de Pimendat. Temp. lib. vi. p. .5.57, edit. Colon. .Allobr. 1 (i"2 1 . ^ Lightfoot, JIor.T Hebraic, in loc. et in Matt. xii. 1 . B B 2 •^72 JF.WISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOKIII. want only instances of tlie word SfvTfpoSevTepov being used for the second, and bevrepoTpiTov for the third of these sabbaths, to confirm this sense beyond dispute. However, though it be not quite free from uncertainty, it seems to stand as fair in point of probabihty as any of them *. Thus much for the word sabbath : we proceed to treat of the thing. It hath been controverted, both among Jews and Christians, whether the sabbath was first instituted immediately after the crea- tion, and given to Adam and Eve in Paradise ; or whether the account of God's blessing the seventh day and sanctifying it, which Moses mentions in connexion with God's resting on the seventh day, when the work of creation was finished, Gen. ii. 3, is to be understood proleptically of his appointing that day to be observed as a sabbath, not at that time, but by the Israelites many ages afterward. Limborch f, Le Clerc J, and some other learned men, are of the latter opinion. But surely it is more natural to understand this passage as relating to the time in which it is placed in the series of the history, that is, to the first ages of the world, previous to the fall. The chief reason for understanding it proleptically is, that there is no mention of the sabbath afterward, in the sacred history, till the time of Moses, that is, for about two thousand five hundred years. However, the same argument will hardly be admitted in the case of circumcision, of which there is no express mention in Scripture, or, however, no instance recorded of the observation of it, from the settlement of the Israelites in Canaan, to the circum- cision of Christ. Nevertheless, as this rite was the sign of the covenant with Abraham and his posterity, and the characteristic of the peculiar people of God, its being constantly observed cannot reasonably be called in question, especially as the heathen are called " the uncircumcised," in contradistinction to the Israelites, which implies, that it was practised constantly by the latter. The silenc: of history with respect to the continuance of a rite or custom, welt known to have been instituted or adopted, is no argument against such continuance, provided the reason on which the institution was originally grounded, remains the same. It can by no means be concluded, that because there is no express mention of the observa- tion of a sabbath in the patriarchal history, therefore no sabbath * See Whitby and Doddridge in loc. •f Limborc. Theolog. Cliristian. lib. v. cap. xxviii. sect. vii. — ix. p. 478, 479, edit. Amstel. 1715. + Clerici Anuot. in Gen. ii. 3. CHAP, rir.] the sabbath. 373 was observed in those times. On the contrary, that the sabbath was instituted at the time to which Moses's relation of the institu- tion of it refers, and was inconsequence hereof observed by the pa- triarchs, is at least probable, from their distinguishing time by weeks of seven days, Gen. viii. 10 — 12 ; xxix. 27 ; for which it is not easy to account on any other supposition than of some positive divine appointment, there being no ground in nature for such a di- vision *. The changes and quarters of the moon would not occa- sion it to be adopted, a lunar month being more than four times seven days, by above a day and a half. It is a farther confirmation of this argument, that all heathen nations, many of whom cannot be supposed to have had any knowledge of the law or history of Moses, divided their time in the same manner as the patriarchs and the Jews did, by weeks of seven days. And it appears by their most ancient writers, Homer and Hesiod in particular, that they accounted one day of the seven more sacred than the rest. Hesiod styles the seventh day the illustrious light of the sun : Homer saith, Then came the seventh day, which is sacred or holy f . Now, can we suppose they should all agree in this division of time, unless from a divine institution imparted to our first parents, from whom it was derived by tradition to their posterity? Some have apprehended, as we have already observed, that " the end of the days," when Cain and Abel are said to have " brought their offerings to the Lord,'' Gen. iv. 3, means the end or last day of the week, that is, the sabbath-day. But should this expression be thought to signify more probably the end of the year, when the fruits of the earth were ripe, it is not, however, unlikely that the day, when " the sons of God " are said in the book of Job to come to " present themselves before the Lord," chap. i. 6, was the sabbath, when pious persons (styled in Gene- sis "the sons of God," chap. vi. 2) assembled for public worship. It is farther observed by Dr. Kennicott, that when the sabbath is first mentioned in the time of Moseo, namely, in the sixteenth chapter of the book of Exodus, it is not spoken of as a novel * See a remarkable passage, to this ]iur]>osc, of Johannes Pliiloponiis, in Witsii yEgypt. lib. iii. cap. ix. sect. ii. p. 241,242. f See Clemens .Mcxandiiniis, Strom. lib. v. p. - afresh consulted on this occasion, it was now determined the execution for this ofience should be by stoning ; ver. 3o. The second clause of the threatening, " that soul should be cut off from among his people," is commonly supposed to relate to secret violations of the sabbath, of which there being no wit- nesses, they could not be punished by the magistrate ; and there- fore they should be punished by the immediate hand of God. The same phrase is used concerning the punishment of incestuous and unlawful conjunctions, which are generally practised secretly, and therefore can be punished by none but God ; see Lev. xviii. 29. Thus much for the institution of the Jewish sabbath. We now proceed, Secondly, To consider the duties that belonged to it; which are, to remember to keep it holy, to abstain from all work and worldly business on that day, and to sanctify it. The first duty of the sabbath is to remember to keep it holy, Exod. XX. 8, which may import two things : 1st. The commemoration of blessings formerly received ; and, 2dly. Preparing themselves for the due observance of it. 1st. The word " remember" hath naturally a retrospect to those former blessings which they were particularly to recollect and conunemoratc on the sabbath. And they were chiefly two, — 380 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK III. God's creating the world, and his dehvering their nation from bondage in I'^gypt. The first was a blessing common to the Jews and the rest of mankind; and is accordingly assigned as the reason of God's appointing a sabbath to be kept by Adam and all his posterity; Gen. ii. 3. This reason, therefore, for the obser- vation of the sabbath was not peculiar to the Jews, but common to them and all others, on whatever day it was kept. But besides this reason mentioned in the book of Exodus, on occasion of the institution of the Jewish sabbath, chap. xx. 11, there was a farther reason assigned in the book of Deuteronomy, chap. v. 15, whicii was peculiar to themselves, namely, their deliverance from their bondage in the land of Egypt. 2dly. To "remember the sabbath to keep it holy," may farther imply, that they should not forget to prepare themselves before- hand for the right observance of it. The sabbath began at six, the preparation at three o'clock in the afternoon, and then they got every thing in readiness, for which they had occasion, and the procuring or providing which was prohibited on the sabbath, or inconsistent with the strictness which the law required on that holy day. The whole preceding day, according to Godwin, was a kind of preparation, which, saith he, will appear by the particulars then forbidden : First, on this day they might go no more than three parsas, ten of which a man might go in an ordinary day : Secondly, judges might not sit in judgment upon life and death : Thirdly, all sorts of artificers were forbidden to work, three only excepted, shoemakers, tailors, and scribes, who were allowed to employ themselves during half the time allotted for preparation, the two former in repairing apparel, the last in getting ready to expound the law *. It was usual to give notice of the approach of the sabbath, by blowdng the trumpet from some high place -f. Rhenferd con- cludes, that the rinti^n 'jdid nmssak hassabath, or, as our version renders it, the covert for the sabbath, which king Ahaz took away from the temple, 2 Kings xvi. 18, was some kind of watch-tower, from the top of which the priests used to proclaim in this manner the approach of the sabbath ;{;. But it may as well signify a canopy, under which the king used to sit in the court or porch of the temple on the sabbath-day, which Ahaz probably took away, to * Conceruiiig the preparation for the sabbath, see Buxtoifii Syiiag. Judaic, cap. xv. -|- Mainion. in Tract. Sabbath, cap. v. sect, xvrii. xix. ; Leusden. Philolog. Hcbr£Po- Mixt. dissert, xxxvi. sub fin. ij: Vid. Rhenferd. opus Philolog. dissert, xviii. CHAP. III.] THE SABBATH. 381 express his contempt of the sabbath, and his nyt intending to come to the temple any more. The second duty of the sabbath was to abstain from all manner of work or business ; from the labour of their trades and callings, Exod. xxxi. 15; buying and selling, Nehem. x. 31; carrying burdens, Jer. xvii. 21 ; and travelling. The law enjoins, that " no man should go out of his place on the sabbath-day ;" Exod. xvi. 29, which could not be meant to confine them to their houses, since the sabbath was to be celebrated by a holy convocation. Lev. xxiii. 3, or by the people's assembling for public worship. It can only, therefore, be understood as forbidding them to travel any farther than was necessary for that purpose ; how far that might be, the law does not determine, but leaves it to every one's discretion, according as the synagogue or place of worship, when the Jews came to be settled in Canaan, might be nearer or more remote. But the rabbles, the expounders of the law, have fixed it at two thousand cubits *, or about two-thirds of an English mile. This they ground, partly on Joshua's appointing the space of two thousand cubits between the ark and the people, when they marched into Canaan, Josh. iii. 4, and partly, on two thousand cubits being assigned for the suburbs of the cities of the Levites all around them, Numb. xxxv. 5 ; beyond which, say they, it was not lawful for them to travel on the sabbath-day. The Chaldee Paraphrase, on Ruth i. 16, says, " Naonn said unto Ruth, we are commanded to keep the sabbath and good days, and not to go above two thousand cubits." The same measure is assigned in the Ba- bylonish Talmud f. This, in alPprobability, was the distance of Mount Olivet from Jerusalem, it being said, Acts i. 12, to be a sabbath-day's journey J. Again, the Jews were forbid " doing and finding their own pleasure on the sabbath ;" which, I conceive, is to be understood of recreations and diversions ; and " speaking their own words," that is, talking about worldly matters, making bargains, &c. ; Isa. Iviii. 13. They were likewise forbid kindling fires in their habitations on " Vitl. Meyer, de Tcmporibiis et Festis Diebus Ilebrecor. part ii. cap. ix. sect, xxxix. xl. p. Ib8. iOU; Hottingcr. Juris llcbrajor. Leges, leg. xxiv. p. 32 — 34; Lightfooc, Hora! Hebraic, in Luc. xxiv. 50, ct Act. x. 12. i Cod. Gnerubin, fol. 4!J, 1, ctfol. .51, 1 ; Vid. Meyer. Ilottinger. et Lightfoot, ubi s>ij>ra. ^ See Voightii Dissert, de Via Sabbatlii ; ct Waltbcri Dissert, de Itincre Sabbathi, in Act. i. 12, apud Tliesaur. Theolog. I'hilolog. torn. ii. p. 417, et scq. p. 423, et seq. Anistel. 1702. 382 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [hOOK ITT. the sabbath-day ; Exod. xxxv. 3. This law, it is supposed, was not intended to prohibit their having fires on the sabbath, to keep them warm in cold weather, but only to dress their meat, or for any other work. They were to dress their victuals for the sabbath the day before, that no servile labour, or as little as possible, might be done on the day itself, and that their servants might rest as well as themselves ; chap. xvi. 23. Nay, the sabbatical rest was ordered to extend even to the beasts of labour; they were not to be set to work on that day ; chap. xx. 10. The ancient doctors inculcated the rest of the sabbath with a very superstitious rigour, forbidding even all acts of self-defence on that day, though assaulted by their enemies. Upon this principle a thousand Jews suffered them- selves to be slain on the sabbath, not making the least resistance, in the beginning of the Maccabean wars*; 1 Mac. ii. 31 — 38. Upon which Mattathias and his followers reflecting, that if they went on to act upon this principle, they must all be destroyed in like manner, decreed, upon a full debate of the matter, that for the future, if they were assaulted on the sabbath, they should de- fend themselves, and it was lawful for them so to do ; ver. 39 — 4 If. However, though they would defend themselves against a direct attack, they would do nothing to hinder the enemy's works ; which Pompey observing, as he was besieging Jerusalem in favour of Hyrcanus against his brother Aristobulus, ordered that no assault should be made on the sabbath, but that the day should be em- ployed by his army in carrying on their works, such as filling up the ditches with which the temple was fortified, placing their bat- tering engines, &c., by which means h^ took the city, and brought the Jews under subjection to the Romans, who at length took away both their place and nation :j:. Thus their traditionary precepts, by which in many cases they made void the law of God, proved, in the end, to be one means of their utter destruction. Nevertheless, the modern or rabbinical doctors have regarded the rest of the sabbath, if possible, more superstitiously still : they advance thirty-nine negative precepts concerning things not to be done on that day, besides many others which are appendages to them. Two of these may serve as a specimen of the whole : grass might not be walked upon, lest it should be bruised, which is a sort of threshing : and a flea must not be caught, while it hops * .loseph. lib. xii. cap. vi. sect. ii. p. 612, edit. Haverc. ■\- Joseph, ubi supra, et sect. iii. + Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiv. cap. is', sect. ii. — iv. p. 689; see the story in Pride.iux's Connect, part ii. book vi. sub anno fi3, vol iv. j). 620, 621. CHAP. III.] THE SABBATH. 883 about, because that is a kind of hunting. They acquaint us also with many positive precepts which run much in the same strain ; that they should put on clean linen, wear better clothes than on any other day, eat once in six hours *, &c. But the true key for understanding the law of God concerning the sabbatical rest was given us by our Saviour, when he said, " The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath," Mark ii. 27 : it was in- tended for his benefit, for his rest and religious improvement, and not as a yoke of bondage, restraining him from works of necessity or mercy. And this leads to the consideration of The third duty of the sabbath, which is, to " sanctify it;" Deut. V. 12. It is inquired what this means? Some would have it to import no more than abstaining from work and labour. Le Clerc contends for this opinion, and alleges in support of it, the follow- ing passage of Jeremiah : " Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath-day, neither do ye any work ; but hallow ye the sabbath-day, as I commanded your fathers ;" chap, xvii. 22. 24. Doing no work on the sabbath, and hallowing or sanctifying it, are plainly used as expressions of the same import. As for what is called in Leviticus, " the holy convocation to be kept on the sabbath," chap, xxiii. 3, he supposes it means what the Greeks call TravrjYvpis, an assembly for feasting and pleasure f. Vitringa espouses the same sentiment J. The Jewish doctors are of a contrary opinion ; they make the sanctification of the sabbath to consist, not merely in rest and idleness, but in meditation on the wonderful works of God, in the study of the law, and in instruct- ing those who are under them §. They tell us farther, that the ninety-second Psalm was composed by Adam for the devotion of this day j|. \^'e shall not insist on the last particular; in other respects their opinion seems to be agreeable to Scripture and the reason of things, because, 1st. The word sanctify, applied eitlier to persons or things, usually imports not only the separation of them from common lise, * Munster. in Exod. xx. 2 ; Mishn. torn. ii. tit. Sabbath ; Maimon. tract. Sabbath, passim; Lcusden. Pliilolog. Hebrao-Mixt. dissert, xxxiv. xxxv. de Sabbatho, pracsertiin, sect. vi. p. 235, 2d edit. ; and Biixtorf. dc Synag. Judaic, cap. xv. p. 322, cap. xvi. p. 351 — 364, edit. Basil. 1661. f Clerici Comment, in Exod. xx. 8. X De Sjiiag. A'etere, lib. i. part ii. cap. ii. especially p. 289 — 294. Spencer maintains the same opinion, De Legibus Hebraior. lib. i. cap. v. sect. viii. — x. vol. i. p. 67 — 88, edit. Cantab. 1727. § Vid. Meyer, de Tcmporibns et Fcstis, part ii. cap. ix. sect. Ix. et scq. p. 197, &c. ; Christoph. Cartwrigbt. Electa Targiim. Rabbin, in Exod. xx. 8. II See the title of this Psalm in the ("haldcc Paranhrase. 384 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [book III. but the dedication of tliem to the more immediate service of God. To sanctify the sabbath, therefore, according to the true import of the word, is not only to refrain from common business, but to spend the day in the pecuhar service of God, or in rehgious exercises and acts of devotion. 2dly. Double sacrifices being appointed to be offered on the sab- bath. Numb, xxviii. 9, 10, is an intimation that it was intended to be a day of extraordinai-y devotion. 3dly. The u^ip ''«1po mikre kodhesh, or holy convocations to be held on tlie sabbath, Lev. xxiii. 3, are most naturally to be under- stood of assemblies for religious worship ; as in the following pas- sage of Isaiah : " The Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, wip ''^^ipD tjiikre kodhesh, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night ;" chap. iv. 5 *. 4thly. That such religious assemblies were anciently held on the sabbath is argued from the Shunamite's husband inquiring of her why she wanted to go to the prophet's house, when it was neither new moon nor sabbath ? 2 Kings iv. 23. Which seems to imply, that it was customary to go to his house on sabbath-days ; and it may reasonably be supposed to be for the sake of religious worship performed there, when probably the prophet preached for the instruction of the people. This may likewise be inferred with great probability from the following passage of the Acts : " Moses, of old timef, hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath-day ;"" chap. xv. 2L 5thly. We may argue, with Manassel) Ben-Israel, that, as idle- ness is usually productive of a great deal of evil, if tueins titution of the sabbath had been merely to render people idle one day in the week, it would have been very hurtful instead of beneficial %. Upon the whole, we conclude, that the sabbath was to be sancti- fied by acts of devotion, and especially by meeting together in so- lemn assemblies for public worship. Of this opinion is Josephus, who mentions it as an excellent institution of Moses, that, not thinking it sufficient for the Israelites to hear the law once or twice, * See above, p. 365. •\- Vm'jit K^^aioi/. from Mncicnt generations, or tlie first ages. Vid. Marckii Svllog, Dissertat. I'hilolog. Thcolog. cxercitat. xvi. sect. vii. p. 454, 455, Rottcrod. 17'21. X Manass. Coiiciliat. in E.\od. li^.a^st. xxxv. See the passage ut large in C'artwriglit, iibi supra. CHAP. I] I.] THE SABBATH. 385 or oftener, he commanded them every week to lay aside all worldly business, and to assemble in public to hear the law read and expounded *. Philo saith much the same thing f. Thirdly. In the last place we are to consider the ends for which the sabbath was instituted, which were partly political and partly religious. 1st. There is a political end assigned for this institution ; namely, that the beasts of burden, as well as servants and other labouring people, might be refreshed by resting one day in seven, which would be a means of recruiting their vigour and preserving their health : " That thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid and the stranger may be refreshed ;" Esod. xxiii. 12. Some of the Jewish doctors, by the servants that were to rest on the sabbath-day, understand only such as were circumcised. Un- circumcised slaves, they say, might work on the sabbath, as an Israelite might on any other day J.. Whereas the weekly rest, ex- tending to the labouring beast, surely much more included all labouring servants, of whatever religious denomination. By the way, this may suggest a good reason why the civil magistrate, whose province is not religion, but merely the civil weal, should nevertheless maintain the observation of the sabbath, because a weekly day of rest is evidently conducive to the civil and national welfare. 2dly. The religious reason for this institution was twofold ; partly to keep up a thankful remembrance of blessings already received, and partly to be a means of their obtaining and enjoying future and heavenly blessings. The blessings already received, of which the sabbath was insti- tuted to be a memorial, were chiefly two, — their creation, and their deliverance from bondage in Egypt. 1st. It was appointed to be kept in memory of God's creating the world, which is the reason assigned for the first institution, Gen. ii. 2, 3, because " on the seventh day God ended his work, which he had made," or, as the word b'D''^ vaiclial should rather be rendered, " he had ended his work," for he did not work on the seventh day ; it follows, " he rested on the seventh day from all his works which he had made, and blessed the seventh day, and sanc- tified it, because that in it he had rested from all his work." Tiiis, * Joseph, contra Api-ion. lib. ii. sect. xvii. p. 403 ; sec also ,\iiliq. lib. xvi. cap. ii. sect. iv. p. 788, edit. Havcic, t Pbilo in Vit. Mosis, lib. iii. p. 5-2!), 530, edit. Colon. Allobr. 1G13. + Maimon. dc Sabbato, cap. x.\. sect. xiv. See Ainsworth on Exod. xx. In. C C 386 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK III. however, is not to be understood of his ceasing from any farther operation and action, the contrary to which our Saviour asserts : " My Father worketh hitherto, and I work," John v. 17 ; that is, in preserving, ordering, and governing the world. It is therefore commonly understood to mean, that he ceased from creating any new sorts or species of creatures ; so that his power has ever since been exerted only in continuing and increasing the several species which he formed on the first six days. And certain it is, no in- stance can be given of any new sort or species having been since brought into being. Though various kinds of mules have been produced by creatures of different species, both in the animal and vegetable world, yet such are not to be reckoned distinct species, since none of them ever propagate their kind. As for God's resting, we are not to understand it as opposed to toil or weariness ; for '^ the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, neither is weary ;" Isa. xl. 28. But it merely imports his ceas- ing to work as he had done for the preceding six days. Thus the word Mlii> shabath is used for the manna's ceasing to fall. Josh. v. 12, and for the Israelites ceasing to be a nation ; Jer. xxxi. 36. Nevertheless, it may probably import likewise, the complacency or delight which he took in the works he had made, which were " all very good ;" since in the twentieth chapter of Exodus, God's rest- ing on the seventh day is expressed by the verb mi niiach, ver. 1 1 ; the same word which is used for his acceptance of Noah's sacrifice ; " The Lord smelt a savour of rest," or, as we render it, *' a sweet savour," Gen. viii. 21 ; importing, that his thankfulness and devo- tion, expressed by his sacrifice, were as grateful to God as sweet odours are to us. To preserve, therefore, a remembrance of his creating the world in six days, and his resting from his work on the seventh, God instituted a weekly sabbath, commanding men to work six days, and to lay aside all their worldly employments on the seventh. And no doubt the right remembrance of God's cre- ating power, wisdom, and goodness, must include adoration, thank- fulness, and praise to the great Creator. 2dly. The other blessing, which the Jews in particular were to commemorate, was their deliverance out of the Egyptian bondage; which is mentioned as the special reason of their being commanded to keep the sabbath ; Deut. v. 15. The learned Mr. Mede endea- vours to prove the seventh day of the Jewish week, which was ap- pointed for the sabbath, to be the day on which God overthrew Pharaoh in the Red Sea, and thereby completed the deliverance of his people from the Egyptian servitude. And whereas a seventh CHAP. III.] THE SABBATH. 387 day had before been kept in memory of the creation (but to \\ hat day of the Jewish week that answered we cannot certainly say), now God commanded them to observe for the future this day of their dehverance, which was the seventh day of their week, in com- memoration of his having given them rest from their hard labour and servitude in Egypt *. And both these reasons for their ob- serving the sabbath implied their obligation to observe it with devotion, gratitude, and praise. The other religious end of the sabbath was to be a means of their obtaining and enjoying future and heavenly blessings. This is a principal design of all acts of devotion and worship ; such as we have already shown ought to accompany the observance of the sabbath. The Jews accounted this holy day to be a type of the heavenly rest. On this notion the apostle evidently grounds his discourse in the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrew-s, ver. 1 — 11. Origen makes the sabbath an emblem of that rest we shall enjoy when w^e have done our work, so as to have left nothing un- done which was our incumbent duty-j-. In the same manner the Jewish doctors speak of the sabbath. It was a common proverb among them J, " Non datum est sabbatum, nisi ut esset typus futuri seculi." Remarkable to the same purpose are the words of Abar- banel § : "Sabbata dixit in plurali numero,quandoquidem praeceptum de sabbato non solum designat fundamentalem ilium articulum de creatione mundi, verum etiam, mundum spiritualem, in quo erit vera quies, et vera possessio. Illic vera cessatio erit, ab omnibus operibus et rebus corporeis. Habemus ergo duo sabbata, unum corporale, in memoriam creationis, alterum spirituale, in memoriam immortalitatis animse et oblectationis post mortem." The Jews, therefore, by no means count the sabbath a burden, but a great blessing : they have it in high veneration, and affect to call it their spouse ||. Leo of Modena tells us, that so ftir are the modern Jews from being inclined to shorten the sabbath, that they make it last as long as possible, prolonging their hymns and prayers, not only out of devotion to God, but charity to the souls of the damned, it being a received opinion among them, that they suffer no torments on the sabbath ^. * Medc's Diatrib. on Ezek. xx. 10. -|- Origen. contra Cclsiini, lib. vi. p. 317, edit. Spencer. Cantab. 1G77. + Via. nuxtovf. Florilcg. llcbr. p. 299. § On E.vod. xx.\i. 13. II Sclden, de Jure Nat. ct Gent. lib. iii. cap. x. Opcr. vol. i. p. 32(), 327 ; Buxtorf. Synag. .Tudaic. cap. xv. p. 2.09, 300, edit. Basil. KiGl. f[ On the subject of the sabbatli, consult Sclden, de Jure Nat. ct Gent. lib. iii. ca]). viii. ct seq. ; Capclli Dispntatio de Sabbatho, apud Comment, et Not. Critic, in Vet. Test. p. 2()3, et seq. Amstcl. 1609 ; Spencer, de Leg. Hcbr. lib. i. cap. v. sect. vii. et seq. c c 2 388 JEWISH ANTIQUITILS. [boOK 111. CHAPTER IV. OF THE PASSOVER AND FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD. The Jewish festivals were either weekly, as the sabbath; monthly, as the new moons ; or annual, as the passover, the pentecost, the feast of ingathering or of tabernacles, and the feast of trumpets ; to which we may add the annual fast, or day of expiation. Besides these, there were others that returned once in a certain number of years ; as the sabbatical year, and the jubilee. Of the anniversary feasts, the three former were the most consi- derable, the passover, the pentecost, and the feast of tabernacles. At each of these all the males were to appear before the Lord at the national altar: Exod. xxiii. 14. 17 ; xxxiv. 22, 23 ; Deut. xvi. 16. The design of this was, partly, to unite the Jews among them- selves, and to promote mutual love and friendship throughout the nation, by means of the whole body of them meeting together so often : to which the Psalmist seems to refer, when he saith, " Jeru- salem is builded as a city that is compact together : whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord ;" Psalm cxxii. 3, 4. And it was, partly, that as one church they might make one congrega- tion, and join in solemn worship together; for I apprehend the Scripture idea of one particular church is only one worshipping assembly. And it was farther, by so large an appearance and con- course of people, to grace these sacred festivals, and add greater solemnity to the worship ; and, partly, likewise, for the better sup- port of the service and ministers of the sanctuary ; for none were to appear before the Lord empty, each person was to bring some gift or present with him, according to his ability, and as God had blessed him; Deut. xvi. 16, 17. Farther, as the Jewish sanctuary and ser- vice contained in them a shadow of good things to come, and were typical of the gospel church, this prescribed concourse from all parts of the country to the sanctuary might be intended to typify the gathering of the people to Christ, and into his church, from all parts of the v\orld, under the Christian dispensation. Hence the apostle, in allusion to these general assemblies of the Israelites on the three grand feasts, saith, " We are come to the gcnei'al assembly and church of the first-born;" Ileb. xii. 23. CHAP. IV.] AXNUAL FEASTS. 389 The law required only the males to appear before the Lord on these solemn occasions. But, though the women were exempted from a necessity of attending, yet they were not excluded if they pleased to do it, and could with convenience ; as appears from the case of Hannah, who used to go with her husband yearly to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts in Shiloh, 1 Sam. i. 3. 7 : and from the case of the Virgin Mary, who went with her husband Joseph every year at the feast of the passover to Jeru- salem; Luke ii. 4L Mr. Mede assigns three reasons for the women's being exempted from the duty of attending the feasts : — 1st. The weakness and infirmity of the sex, they not being able, without much trouble and danger, to undertake so long a journey from the remote parts of the country. 2dly. The hazard of their chastity in so vast a concourse of people. 3dly. The care of their young children, and other household affairs, which must have been wholly abandoned if they, as well as the men, had been absent from their houses so long at the same time *. To these reasons probably another and more considerable may be added, namely, the legal uncleannesses to which they would be liable in so long a journey. Though the law required all the males to appear before the Lord, in the place he should choose, at these three feasts ; no doubt it was to be understood with some restriction, it not being likely that young children or decrepit old men could give their attendance f . Mr. Mede X conceives the law is to be understood of all males within the age of service from twenty to fifty years old ; for at fifty all were emeriti, even the priests and Levites serve not after that age : but as to the age at which persons en- tered on service, that was different ; the priests might not serve before thirty, nor the Levites liefore twenty-five ; but the laity were capable of employment at twenty, as appears from a passage in Numbers, where God commands Moses " to take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upwards, all that were able to go forth to war ; " Numb. i. 3. But if, according to the rabbles, ciiildren came under the obligation of the law when they were twelve years old, this perhaps * Mede's Diatrib. discourse xlvii. on Dent. xvi. 16, Works, p. 261. f These, among others, are expressly excepted, Mishn. tit. Chagigah, cap. i. sect. i. torn, ii. p. 413, edit. Siirenhus. ; see also the CJcmara in loc. X Mede, ubi supra. 390 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK III. was the age of their attendance at these festivals : which opinion is somewhat countenanced by the history of Jesus going with his parents to Jerusalem at the passover when he Avas twelve years old; Luke ii. 42 *. But I take the more probable opinion to be, that all the males meant all that were capable of taking the jour- ney t and of attending the feast, which some were able to do sooner and some later in life ; and therefore by the law no age was fixed, but it was left to be determined by every one's prudence and religious zeal ; only none might absent themselves without suffi- cient reason. There are yet two difficulties, which have been started concern- ing this law. One is, how Jerusalem could contain such multi- tudes as flocked from all parts of Judea to these solemnities. The other is, how the Israelites could leave their towns and villages destitute of men, without the greatest danger of being invaded and plundered by their neighbouring enemies. As to the former question, it may as well be asked, how it is possible for Bath and Tunbridge to contain such multitudes as flock to them in their seasons. For, as at those places there are great numbers of lodging-houses, nmch larger than are requisite for the accommodation of the families that constantly inhabit them ; so it was doubtless at Jerusalem, to which there were every year three stated seasons of concourse from all parts of the coun- try. It is probable, that most families let lodgings at those times. The man at whose house our Saviour eat his last passover with his disciples, had a "guest-chamber," or a room which he spared on these occasions; Luke xxii. 11. Or if this be not sufficient to remove the difficulty, it is an easy supposition, that many might be entertained in tents erected on these occasions ; as the Mo- hammedan pilgrims are at Mecca, to which many thousands resort at a certain time of the year. As to the other difficulty, concerning the danger of leaving their towns and villages without any men to guard them, we need not have recourse to the conjecture advanced by some, that this obligation on all the males was only during their abode in the wilderness, when their nearness to the tabernacle easily admitted of then- attendance. If that had been the case, Jeroboam need not have set up the golden calves at Dan and Bethel, to deliver the ten tribes from going up to Jerusalem to worship; I Kings * Lightfoot, Hor. Hebraic, in loc. * Vid. Mishn. ubi supra. CHAP. IV.] THE PASSOVER. 391 xii. 27, 28. Beside, there are sufficient instances in the Jewish history to show, that this practice was continued till after our Saviour's time. Thus we are informed in the Acts, that there were multitudes of Jews, out of every nation under heaven, come to Jerusalem at the feast of pentecost ; chap. ii. 5. KaroiKovpTfs, which our version renders "dwelling" at Jerusalem, should in this place be rendered " abiding," that is, during the time of the festival. KaroiKrjo-is is used by St. Mark for a place of transient abode, and not a fixed and settled habitation ; chap. v. 3. Nov need we suppose with others, that they only sent a certain proportion of men; as one in ten or twelve, to Jerusalem, to be as it were the representatives, and offer the gifts of the rest, while they kept the feasts in their own towns. Nor need we, again, suppose with others, that since there was a divine permis- sion granted to those who were unable to celebrate the passover in the first month, to do it in the second, Numb. ix. 10, 11, the same indulgence might probably extend to the other festivals ; and so one half of the males might stay at home and guard the country and their houses, while the other half went to the sanc- tuary ; and those who thus remained behind might celebrate the festival in the next month. We need, I say, none of these suppositions and conjectures, since God himself had expressly undertaken to guard their habi- tations and substance, by his special providence, while the men were absent to celebrate the sacred festivals : " Neither shall any man desire thy land," it is said, " when thou shalt go up to appear before, the Lord thy God thrice in the year ;" Exod. xxxiv. 24. This is, by the way, a very remarkable instance of the sovereign and absolute power which God exercises over the hearts and spirits of men. Accordingly, we -find not in the whole Scripture history, that any such evil ever befell the Israelites on these occa- sions ; insomuch that though in many other cases they were back- ward in believing God's promises; yet, at these seasons, they would leave their habitations and families without the least appre- hension of danger. Having thus considered a circumstance which was common to the three grand anniversary feasts, we are now to treat of the first of them, namely, the passover. Of the institution of this festival we have an account in the twelfth chapter of the book of Exodus. It is called in the He- brew «nDQ pascha, from tiDG pasneli, transiit. In the Greek it is 392 JEWISPI ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK III. called TTucrxd, Ijut not from the verb 7r«o-xw, patior, to suffer, on account of Christ's having suffered at the time of this feast, ac- cording to the illiterate supposition of Chrysostom, Irenaeus, and Tertullian. Chrysostom Saith, Uaaxa Xtyerm, on rore fTTadev 6 Xfjia-ros vTTfp I'jucov : " Pascha dicitur, quia Christus illo tempore pro nobis passus est *." Irenaeus saith, " A Moyse ostenditur Filius Dei, cujus et diem passionis non ignoravit, sed figuratim pronunciavit, eum pascha nominansf,*" Tertullian, " Hanc solemnitatem proecanebat (sc. Moyses) et adjecit, Pascha esse Domini, id est, passionem Christi J." But the Greek word naa-xa is derived from the Chaldee «nD-3 pascha^, which answers to the Hebrew nD-3 jjesach ; and the festival was so called, not from its being pro- phetical or typical of Christ's sufferings, but from God's passing over and leaving in safety the houses of the Israelites, on the door- posts of which the blood of the sacrificed lamb was sprinkled, when he slew the first-born in all the houses of the Egyptians* This etymology of the name is expressly given in the book of Exodus: "It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover," nD2 lty« asher pasach, who T^diisedihy, or leaped over, the houses of the Israelites ; chap. xii. 27. So that our English word passover well expresses the true import of the original not^pesach, or Hnoa pascha. Concerning the passover we shall consider, 1st. The time when it was to bs kept : 2dly. The rites with which it was to be celebrated : 3dly. The signification of these rites. First. The time when tliis feast was to be celebrated is very particularly expressed in Leviticus, " in the fourteenth day of the first month, at even, is the Lord"'s passover," chap, xxiii. 5; wherein is remarked the month, the day, and the time of the day. 1st. The month. It is called the first month, that is, of the ec- clesiastical year, which commenced with the Israelites' fliglit out of Egypt; Exod. xii. 2. This month had two names; Abib, chap, xiii. 4, and Nisan, Nehera. ii. 1 ; Esth. iii. 7. It is called Abib, that is, the earing month, or the month of new corn, for abib signi- fies a green or new ear of corn, such as was grown to maturity, but * Homil. V. in 1 Tim. ■f Iren. adversus Har. lib. iv. cap. xxiii. p. 309, edit. Grabii, Oson. 1702. I Tertullian adversus Juda;os, cap. x. sub fin. p. 197, A, edit. Rigalt. Paris, 1675. § Philo in Vita Mosis, lib. iii. p. 531, A, edit. Colon. AUobr. 1613, to ^aXhaiffri Xiy)f/.tvov Tuff^a. In liis treatise Do Decalogo, he saith, »v (sc. tioTy,v) 'Ejioam tra* Tpiifi y'/.u-r/i fruf^a r^offayooiucufi^, p. 591, C. CHAP. IV.] THE PASSOVER. 393 not dried or fit for grinding. In the second chapter of Leviticus the offering of the first-fruits is called ahib, and it is ordered to be dried by the fire, in order to its being beaten or ground into flour, ver. 14. Eng., 13. Heb. ; and in the ninth chapter of Exodus tlie barley is said to be smitten with hail, because it was ahib, ver. 31 ; that is, in tlie ear. Hence the Septuagint translates ahib, wherever it is used for the name of a month, iJ.r}va ti, liail'i iei)resentcd tiie arguments on both ^idcs 8ic also Wiuii ?ikktem. disctrl. xi. : and Leusdcn. IMnloli'^. llcbiao-.Mixt. disHit. .\.\.\viii. dc Pascliatc, qua;!!, v. 398 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK III. according to the ancients, there are two evenings ; one, which they called the latter evening, at the close of the day ; the other, the former evening, which commences presently after noon *. These were the two evenings more generally understood by the Jews in the time of Josephus ; for, he says, they killed the paschal lamb from the ninth hour to the eleventh, that is, from our three to five o'clock in the afternoon f. The Karraites understand the first of the two evenings to com- mence from sun-set; before which, according to them, the passover was not to be killed and eaten ; and the latter, from the beginning of dark night ; so that, in their opinion, " between the two even- ings" means in the twilight. Their notion, at least as to the time of eating the passover, seems to be countenanced by the letter of the law in Deuteronomy : " Thou shalt sacrifice the passover at evening, at the going down of the sun ;" chap. xvi. 6. And in the book of Joshua it is said, that " the children of Israel en- camped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even ;" chap. v. 10. Nevertheless, the duration of the twilight at the equinoctial seasons, at one of which the pass- over was kept, being shorter than at any other time of the yeai', would hardly afford time sufficient, especially in that climate, for killing, roasting, and eating the lamb. It is, therefore, pro- bable, either that by " sacrificing and keeping the passover," in the forecited text in Deuteronomy, is meant merely the eating of it ; or that, by " evening and the going down of the sun," is de- noted the whole time of its declining from the meridian altitude till sun-set p Thus much for the time of this feast, 2dly. Concerning the rites with which it was to be celebrated, we are to observe, 1st. The matter of the paschal feast ; which was to be " a lamb without blemish, a male of the first year from the sheep or from the goats :" Exod. xii. 5. The Hebrew word nii> sek, Avhich we render lamb, signifies the young either of the sheep or of the goats ; which we have no English word, as I remember, to answer. The nty seh of the passover might be, what we call either a lamb or a kid. But as lambs were preferable, being the better food. * Vid. Bochnn. Hierozoic. part i. lib. ii. cap. 1. Oper. torn. ii. p. 559, edit. 1712. t De Bello Judaic, lib. vi. cap. ix. sect. iii. p. 399, edit. Haverc. X On this controversy see Martinii Etymologicum ; Bu.xtorfii Lexic. Biblic. ; et Bo- cliarti Hierozoic. part i. lib. ii. cap. 1. p. 558 — 560. CHAP. IV.] THE PASSOVER. 399 Theodoret* hath probably given the just sense of this law : " He that has a lamb, let him offer it ; but if not, let him offer a kid f ." Though our Saviour, therefore, is so often called a lamb, in refer- ence to this ancient type of him, yet he is never called a kid. The paschal lamb must be a male ; which is accounted preferable to a female; Mai. i. 14. Therefore, though the peace-offerings, which were eaten by the people, might be either male or female, Levit. iii. 6 ; yet tlie burnt-offerings, which were wholly offered to God, or consumed upon his altar, and which were, therefore, the more perfect sacrifices, must be all males ; chap. i. 3. 10. Perhaps in this circumstance, as in many others, Jehovah de- signed to oppose the rites of the Jewish worship to the customs of the idolatrous Gentiles, who esteemed sacrifices of the female kind to be the most valuable, and the most acceptable to their gods : " In omnibus sacris foeminei generis plus valent victimse," says Servius in his notes on Virgil |. We are informed, indeed, by Herodotus, that it was the custom of the Egyptians to offer only males §, which Bochart supposes they borrowed from the Jews ||. Again, the paschal lamb must be n;ty-p ben-shanah, " the son of a year;" by which some understand a lamb of the last year, which, considering the usual yeaning time, must be upward of a year old at the season of the passover. But as a lamb grown to that degree of maturity was rather too large to be conveniently roasted whole, and eaten up at one family meal, as the paschal lamb was to be ; the opinion of the Jewish doctors is, in this instance, more pro- bable, that it was to be a lamb of the present year, or of the last yeaning time ^, which ordinarily preceded the passover by a month or two. This well agrees with the use of the Hebrew phrase, " The son of so many years ;" which ordinarily signifies the year current ; as appears from the seventh chapter of Genesis, wherein it is said, that *' Noah was six hundred years old," mwo ti;iy-f3 ben- shesh meoth, the son of six hundred years, " when the flood of waters was upon the earth," ver. 6 ; and presently afterward this is said to be in the " six hundredth year of Noah's life," ver. 11. Thus the priests and Levites were to enter on their ministry " at * Thcodoict. Qusestiou. in Exod. quoest. xxiv. Opcr. torn. i. p. 90, B, edit. Paiis, 1642. -j- Vid. Mishn. tit. C'hciitbotli, cap. vi. sect. ix. cum not. Barteiior. torn. v. p. 265. :J: Serv. in iEncid. viii. v. 6'41. Other proofs may be seen in Bochart, Hieroz. part i. lib. ii. cap. xxxiii. Oper. toui. ii, p. 322. § Hcrodot. Eutcrp. cap. xli. p. 104, edit. Gronov. II Ubi siqira, p. 321, ct cap. 1. p. 584. 5[ Vid. Cartwright. Electa Targuiuico-rabbin, in Exod. xii. 5. 400 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK III. thirty years old," Numb. iv. 3 ; but that is properly to be under- stood of the year current, or when they had entered on the thirtieth year. So Christ entered on his public ministry, toaa erov rpMKovra apxofjLfvos, when he began to be about thirty years of age ; Luke ill. 23. The age then of the paschal lamb is thus determined by the rabbles ; it must not be less than eight days, and yet under a year old : not less than eight days, for so is the law concerning firstlings and burnt-offerings, that they were to be seven days with the dam, and from the eighth they might be accepted in sacrifices, Exod. xxii. 30 ; Lev. xxii. 27 : which law the Jewish doctors extend, and perhaps not without reason, to the paschal sacrifice ; and Maimonides says, '' If the lamb was older than the year only an hour, it was not permitted as an oblation *. Once more. As to the qualities of the paschal lamb, " It must be without blemish." The rabbles reckon up fifty blemishes, which disqualify beasts for sacrifices ; as five in the ear, three in the eyelid, eight in the eye, &c. f ; but what those blemishes were, which disqualify according to the law of God, sufficiently appears in the twenty-second chapter of Leviticus : the beasts that were blind, or broken, or maimed, or that had a wen, or the scurvy or scab, or any part superfluous or defective, or that was bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut; these were not to be offered in sacrifice ; ver. 20 — 24. We must not pass over a conjecture of some persons concerning the reason of God's commanding the Israelites to eat a male lamb, or young ram, with so much solemnity about the vernal equinox; namely, that it was in opposition to the idolatry of the Egyptians, who at this season, of the sun's entering into the sign Aries, paid some solemn worship to the creature by whose name that sign was distinguished. The author of the Chronicon Orientale, as quoted by Patrick :|:, saith, that the day on which the sun entered Aries was most solemn among the Egyptians ; and R. Abraham Seba observes, that this feast of the Egyptians being at its height on the fourteenth day, God ordered the killing and eating of a lamb at that time§ ; in contempt, it should seem, of their worship of Aries, * Miiimoii. tie Ratione Sacrificiorum Faciendoium, cap. i. sect, xii, siii. apud Cienii Fascicul. Scxt. p. ifiS. t jMaimon. dc Ratione adeundi Tciupli, cap. vii. apud Crenii Fascic. Sext. p. 208, et scq. X Fatrick fin Exod. xii. 3. § Tzeror. Hammor. fol. 70, col. 4. Sec tiie passage in Spencer dc Legibus HebrsBor. lib. ii. cap. iv. sect, i, vol. i. p. 296, edit. Cantab. 1727. CHAP. IV.] THE PASSOVER. 401 and as a sensible evidence that he could be no god whom the Israelites eat*. Rabbi Levi Ben Gershom saith, God intended by this to expel from the minds of the Israelites the bad opinions of the Egyptians. This, however, Dr. Patrick looks upon to be mere conjecture f . The Second thing we observe in the paschal rites is the taking the lamb from the flock four days before it was killed ; Exod. xii. 3. For which the rabbies assign the following reasons : that the pro- viding it might not, through a hurry of business, especially at the time of their departure from Egypt, be neglected till it was too late : that by having it so long with them before it was killed, they might have the better opportunity of observing whether there were any blemishes in it : and, by having it before their eyes so considerable a time, might be more effectually reminded of the mercy of their deliverance out of Egypt : and likewise to prepare themselves for so great a solemnity as the approaching feast. On these accounts, some of the rabbies inform us, it was customary to have the lamb tied these four days to their bed-posts; a rite which they make to be necessary and essential to the passover in all ages J. Others conceive, with an equal degree of probability, that this was one of those circumstances of the first passover, which were not designed to be continued and practised afterwards ; of which sort we shall observe several others. It was highly proper the providing the lamb before their departure out of Egypt should not be left to the very day of their departure, when they must un- avoidably be in some hurry and confusion : a reason, however, which would not take place in after-times. Besides, those who came annually out of all parts of the country to keep the passover at Jerusalem, could not well observe it, unless they came at least four days beforehand. It is indeed related in the eleventh chap- ter of St. John, ver. 55, "that many went out of the country to Jerusalem before the passover;" but the reason assigned is, that it was " to purify themselves." Nothing is said of their providing lambs beforehand. It moreover appears, that on the former part of that very day on which the passover was to be killed and eaten, * " Caeso aiiete," says Tacitus, " velut in contumeliam Hainmonis," Histor. lib. v. cap. iv. p. 200, edit. Glasg. 1743. See also Targum Jonathan on Exod. viii. 22, in AValton's Polyglot, torn. iv. t Patrick, ubi supra. I Targum Jonathan et R. Solomon in loc. Vid. Cartwn'ght. Electa Tarj;umico-rabbin, in £.\od. xii. 3. D D 402 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK III. Christ and his disciples had not so much as provided a place where they should eat it ; for '* the disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover ? " Mark xiv. 12. Whereas, if they had provided the lamb four days before, they would in all probability have kept it at the house where they intended to eat it ; and there would have been then no room for this question. It is more likely they went and bought one in the market, kept on the preparation of the passover for that purpose, as well as to furnish the other sacri- fices that were to be offered on the ensuing festival : which market some had profanely brought into the very court of the temple ; John ii, 13, 14. Again, if the lamb, the principal thing, had been provided, it is not so probable the disciples should have supposed, as we know they did, that Christ by his speech to Judas, " What thou doest, do quickly," meant, that he should " buy those things which they had need of against the feast ;" chap. xiii. 27. 29. 3dly. Next followed the killing of the paschal lamb ; which at the first passover in Egypt, as there was no national altar, was performed in private houses. But after their settlement in Canaan, it was ordered to be done in " the place which the Lord should choose to place his name there ;*^ Deut. xvi. 2. By the name of God in this passage is denoted God himself: to " call upon his name " is to call upon him. And by placing his name there, is meant fixing in that place the special tokens of his presence, as the ark, with the mercy-seat and the cloud of glory over it. This place seems at first to have been Mispah, afterward Shiloh ; and when that was destroyed, the ark was removed to several places, till at last it was fixed at Jerusalem. It is observable, that though there is frequent mention in the law of Moses of some place which God would choose to fix his name there, it is nowhere declared where that place should be. For this Mairaonides * assigns several reasons ; the best and most probable is, lest every tribe should desire to have that place to their lot, and thus strife and contention should arise among them. But when the place was afterward fixed by a new revelation, there the national altar was to be erected, and thither all their sacrifices were ordinarily to be brought and offered. The law to which we before referred, concerning their " sacrificing the pass- over unto the Lord their God, of the flock and of the herd, in the * Maimon. Moreh Nevoch, part iii. cap. xlv. p. 475, edit, et vers. Buxtorf. Basil. 1629. CIIAr. IV.] THE PASSOVER- 403 place which tlie Lord should choose to place his name there," Deut. xvi. 2, chiefly respects the sacrifices that were to be offered on the seven days of the feast of unleavened bread, which feast, we have observed before, was sometimes called the passover ; as appears, in that the sacrifice of the passover is said to be of the flock and of the herd ; whereas the passover, properly so called, was of the flock only. This law, nevertheless, included the pas- chal lamb, and was so understood by the ancient Jews, as is evi- dent from the account of the solemn passover kept in the reign of king Josiah, 2 Chron. xxxv. 5, 6. 10, 11, when "the priests and the Levites stood in the holy place, and they slew the passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood, and the Levites flayed it." They who killed the passover, are distinguished from the priests who sprinkled the blood; for a common Israelite might kill the paschal lamb, according to the law in Exodus, chap. xii. 6, " the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it." Ac- cordingly, in the passover which was kept in Hezekiah's reign, the service of killing the passover fell upon the Levites, only for those of the congregation that were not clean, 2 Chron. xxx. 17; otherwise, every Israelite was to kill his own paschal lamb. Nor was this a circumstance peculiar to the passover ; in all other sacri- fices, even in burnt-offerings, which were reckoned the most solemn and sacred of all others, every man might kill his own sacrifice. The proper duty of the priests was only to sprinkle the blood, and offer it on the altar after it was slain ; Lev. i. 2 — 5. The argument, therefore, as formerly hinted, which some have alleged against the priesthood of Christ, and the sacrifice of his death, that then, as priest, he must have killed himself, is futile and groundless, because it did not properly belong to the priest to kill the sacrifices. We proceed to the Fourth article of the paschal rites, the sprinkling of the blood ; in order to which it must be received in a bason : " He shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the bason," P]o:i hesaph ; Exod. xii. 22. Both the Septuagint and the Vulgate seem to have mistaken the meaning of this word, taking it to signify the door, or the threshold of the house, where some suppose the lamb was killed. The Septuagint renders it irapa rrjv Ovpav ; the Vulgate, in limine ; whereas d*QD sippim and MiEiD sippoth, which are plurals of F]D saph, are mentioned among the vessels of the sanctuary in the First Book of Kings, chap. vii. 50, and in Jeremiah, chap. Hi. 19. This blood was to be sprinkled with a bunch of hyssop upon the Hntel D n 2 404 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK 11 r. and the two side-posts of the doors of their houses, as a signal to the destroying angel to pass over those that were thus marked when he went forth to smite the first-born in all the other houses in Egypt; Exod. xii. 13 — 23. The blood was to be sprinkled only on the lintel and the side-posts, not on the threshold, that it might not be trod on, but that a proper reverence might be pre- served for it as sacred and typical. It cannot be supposed, either that this blood had any natural virtue in it to pi'eserve the family upon whose house it was sprinkled from the plague, or that God or his angel needed such a signal to distinguish between Egyp- tians and Israelites. The use of it could only be as a sensible token of the Divine promise of protection and safety to the Israel- ites, designed to assist and encourage their faith. With the like view God made the rainbow a token or sign of his covenant and promise to Noah, that he would never again bring a deluge on the earth ; Gen. ix. 10 — 15. No doubt the blood of the paschal lamb, sprinkled on their houses, was intended, likewise, to be a typical sign of protection from the vengeance of God through the blood of Christ, which is therefore called " the blood of sprinkling ;" Heb. xii. 24. In both respects it is said that Moses *' through faith kept the passover and the sprinkling of blood," chap. xi. 28 ; through faith in God''s promise of a present tem- poral protection, and through faith in the blood of Christ, as typi- fied by this blood, for spiritual and eternal salvation. The Egyptians, who were, in many cases, unacquainted with the original of their own rites, had among them, many ages after- ward, according to Epiphanius, a very sensible memorial of the preservation of the Israelites, by this red mark being fixed on their houses ; for at the vernal equinox, which was the time of the passover, they used to mark their sheep, their trees, and the like, fK fxi\T((os, with red ochre, or somewhat of that kind, which they supposed would preserve them *. The circumstance of sprinkling blood upon the door-posts was plainly peculiar to the first passover ; for we find in after-ages, when the paschal lamb was killed in the court of the tabernacle or temple, the blood of it was sprinkled on the altar like the blood of the other sacrifices ; 2 Chron. xxxv. 11. 5thly. The paschal lamb was to be roasted whole. " Eat it not raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire, his head, with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof;" Exod. xii. 9. * Epiphan. adversus Hares, hares, xviii. Nazaneor. sect. iii. p. 39, edit. Petav. CHAP. IV.] THK PASSOVER. 405 The prohibition of eating it raw, for which there might seem to be Uttle occasion, since mankind have generally abhorred such food, is understood by some to have been given in opposition to the barbarous customs of the heathens, who in their feasts of Bacchus, which, according to Herodotus * and Plutarch f , had their original in Egypt, used to tear the members of living crea- tures to pieces, and eat them raw. It is therefore observable, that the Syriac version renders the clause, *' Eat not of it raw, eat not of it while it is alive J."" . Bochart, after R. Solomon and Aben-Ezra, derives the Hebrew word NJ na, which we render raw, from the Arabic «3 naa, or ''3 ni, semicoctus, half-dressed §. The paschal lamb was to be roasted ; which, besides its typical meaning, to be hercafter considered, might be ordered as a matter G^f convenience at the first passover, in order that their boiling ves- sels might be packed up, ready for their march out of Egypt, while the lamb was roasting. It must be " roasted whole, with its legs and appurtenances." By th? appurtenances we are not to understand the guts, but the heart, lights, liver, and whatever other parts of the inwards are fit for food. This injunction might perhaps be designedly opposed to the superstition of the Gentiles, who used to rake into the entrails of their sacrifices, and collect auguries from them ; and it might be partly intended for expedition in the celebration of the first passover. 6thly. The first passover was to be eaten standing, in the pos- ture of travellers, who had no time to lose, and with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, and no bone of it was to be broken ; Exod. xii. 8. 11. 46. The posture of travellers was enjoined them, both to enliven their faith in the promise of their now speedy deliverance from Egypt ; and also, that they might be ready to begin their march presently after supper. They were ordered, therefore, to eat it with their loins girded ; for as they were accustomed to wear long and loose garments, such as are generally used by the eastern nations to this day, it was necessary to tie them up with a girdle about their loins, when they either travelled or betook themselves to any laborious employment. Thus, when Elisha sent his servant • Herodot. Euterp. cap. xlix. p. 107, 108, edit. Gronov. t Plutarch, de Iside ct Osiride, Oper. torn. ii. p. 355, 356. 362, B, &c. edit. Franc- fort, 16:20. t Spencer, tie Leg. Hebr. lib. ii. cap. iv. sect. ii. p. 300 — 303. § Hierozoic. lib. ii. cap. 1. Oper. torn. ii. p. o9o. 406 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [boOK III. Gehazi on a message in haste, he bade him "gird up his loins," 2 Kings iv. 29 ; and when our Saviour set about washing his disciples' feet, " he took a towel and girded himself;" John xiii. 4. They were to eat the passover "with shoes on their feet;" for in those hot countries they ordinarily wore sandals, which were a sort of clogs, or went barefoot. But in travelling they used shoes, which were indeed a sort of short boots, reaching a little way up the legs *. Hence, when our Saviour sent his twelve disciples to preach in the neighbouring towns, designing to convince them by their own experience of the extraordinary care of Divine Provi- dence over them, that they might not be discouraged by the length and danger of the journeys they would be called to undertake ; I say, on this account he ordered them to make no provision for their present journey, particularly not to take shoes on their feet, but to be shod with sandals ; Matt. x. 10, compared with Mark vi. 9. The Ethiopian Christians have indeed found out another reason for the Israelites being commanded to eat the first passover with shoes on their feet ; namely, because the land of Egypt was pol- luted ; whereas at Mount Sinai God commanded Moses to put off his shoes from his feet, because the place was holy ; and for this reason the Ethiopians say it is a custom with them to be barefoot in their churches -f. Again, they were to eat the passover with staves in their hands, such as were always used by travellers in those rocky countries, both to support them in slippery places, and defend them against assaults; see Gen. xxxii. 10. Of this sort was probably Moses's rod, which he had in his hand when God sent him with a message to Pharaoh, Exod. iv. 2, and which was afterward used as an in- strument in working so many miracles. So necessary in these countries was a staff, or walking-stick, on a journey, that it was a usual thing for persons, when they undertook long journeys, to take a spare stafTwith them, for fear one should fail. When Christ, there- fore, sent his apostles on that embassy which we mentioned before, he ordered them not to take staves, /x»?re pa^Sovf, Luke ix. 3; that * See AVagenseil, Sotah, p. 664, edit. Altdorf. 1674, or in Mish. Surenbusii, torn. iii. p. 261 ; Ligbtfoot's Hoiae Hebr. Matt. x. 10 ; Sagittarius de Nudipedalibus Yeterum, cap. i. sect. xix. et seq. apud Syntagma Disseitationum, torn, i, p. 272, et seq. Rotterod. 1699. But B^-nseus is of opinion, that shoes and sandals are the same, De Calceis Hebraeorum, lib. i. cap. vi. sect. ix. x. p. 90 — S8, Dordrac. 1715. t Damianus Goensis de Moribus jEthiopum, cited by Sagittarius de Nudipedalibus Veterum, cap. ii, sect. xv. ubi supra, p. 305, 306, Rotterod. 1699. CHAIMV.] THE PASSOVER. 407 is, only one staff or walking-stick, without making provision of a spare one, as was common in long journeys ; or, as it is in St. Mark, chap. vi. 8, " save a staff only." If therefore we adhere to the common reading in the parallel passage in St. Matthew, where Christ bade them take M^jre pa^bov, not a staff, chap. x. 10, it must be understood of a spare staff. Nevertheless many copies have pa^8ovs in this place, which is followed in our translation. Now these circumstances were plainly peculiar to the first pass- over; for when the children of Israel were settled in the land of Canaan, they no longer eat the paschal lamb in the posture of travellers, but like men at rest and ease, sitting, or rather lying, on couches ; the posture in which our Saviour and his disciples ate the passover ; John xiii. 23. The paschal lamb was to be eaten with unleavened bread ; in the Hebrew m^a matsoth, which some derive from j^fa matsets, or ntfo matsahi compressit, because bread made without yeast or leaven is heavy and close, as if pressed together. Bochart rejects this derivation, and derives it from an Arabic word, with the same radicals, which signifies pure and sincere * ; and so nivo matsoth signifies bread made of pure flour and water, without any mixture. This suits best with the apostle's allusion : " Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth ;" 1 Cor. v. 8. The reason of the injunction to eat the paschal lamb with un- leavened bread was, partly, to remind them of the hardships they had sustained in Egypt, unleavened being more heavy and les^s palatable than leavened bread ; and it is, therefore, called the bread of affliction, Deut. xvi. 3 ; and partly to commemorate the speed of their deliverance or departure from thence, which was such, that they had not sufficient time to leaven their bread ; it is ex- pressly said, that their " dough was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry," Exod. xii. 39 ; and on this account it was enacted into a standing law: "Thou shalt eat unleavened bread, even the bread of affliction ; for thou earnest forth out of Egypt in haste ;" Deut. xvi. 3. This rite, therefore, was not only observed at the first passover, but in all succeeding ages. The salad, or sauce, of bitter herbs was doubtless prescribed for the same reason ; namely, to be a memorial of that severe bondage * Bochart. Hiiioz. lib. ii. cap. 1. p. 601. 408 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK III. in Egypt, which " made their lives bitter to them," Exod. i. 14 ; and possibly, also, to denote the haste they were in, which laid them under a necessity of taking up with such wild herbs as were readiest at hand. We have not any account what herbs in par- ticular these were, except from the conjectures of the rabbies, which are not worth our attention *. To this salad, or sauce, the latter Jews, as Godwin observes, add another, of sweet and bitter things, as dates, figs, raisins, vinegar, and other ingredients, pounded and mixed up together to the consistence of mustard, which they call noiri charoseth, and make to be a memorial of the clay in which their fathers laboured in the land of Egypt f. Some imagine this was the sauce in which our Saviour dipped the sop that he gave to Judas ; John xiii. 26. It was farther prescribed, that they should eat the flesh of the lamb without breaking any of his bones ; Eiod. xii. 46. This the later Jews understand, not of the lesser bones, but only of the greater, which had marrow in them if. Thus was this rite also intended to denote their being in haste, not having time to break the bones and suck out the marrow §. But it had likewise a typical meaning, of which we shall have occasion to take notice hereafter. 7thly. It was ordered that nothing of the paschal lamb should remain till the morning ; but, if it was not all eaten, it should be consumed by fire ; Exod. xii. 10. The same law was extended to all eucharistical sacrifices, Levit. xxii. 30; no part of which was to be left or set by, lest it should be corrupted, or converted to any profane or common use. An injunction which was designed, no doubt, to maintain the honour of sacrifices, and teach the Jews to treat with reverence whatever was consecrated more especially to the service of God. As to the first paschal sacrifice, it was the more necessary that it should all'be eaten or consumed that night, as the Israelites were to march out of Egypt early the next morning. Otherwise they would have been obliged, either to submit to the inconvenience of carrying the remainder of it along with them, or to the disagreeable circumstance of leaving it behind them, to the contempt of the * Mishii. tit. Pesachim.cap. ii. sect, vi. torn. ii. p. 14], edit. Surcnbus. Their opinioa is discussed .at large by Bochart, Hierozoic. lib. ii. cap. 1. Oper. torn. ii. p. 603 — 609. •f- Maitnon. de Solenn. Pasch. cap. vii. sect. .\i. p. 889 ; Crcnii Fasc. Sept X Vid. Bocliart. Hierozoic. lib. ii, cap. 1. Oper. torn. ii. p. 609. § Maimon. Moreh Nevoch, part iii. cap. xlvi. p. 483, Basil. 1629. CHAP. IV.] THE PASSOVER. -109 Egyptians. Moreover, this law with respect to sacrifices might be made so comprehensive and general, on the same account that in- duced Hezekiah to break in pieces the brazen serpent, 2 Kings xviii. 4: that is, to prevent the abuse of such relics to superstitious uses, and to discountenance the custom of the heathen idolaters, who reserved some part of their sacrifices for any purposes they thought proper ; as Herodotus * informs us concerning the ancient Per- sians, and as seems to be intimated in the sixth chapter of the apocryphal book of Baruch, where the priests are said " to sell and abuse the things that were sacrificed to idols ; and in like manner their wives laid up part thereof in salt ;" ver. 28. From whence we may naturally derive the like superstitious custom of some wo- men among Christians, who procure and lay up some part of the bread which has been used in the Lord's supper, to cure their children of the hooping cough. 8thly. It was enjoined the Israelites at the first passover, that they should keep in their houses all that night, '• and none of them should go out of the door of his house till the morning," lest they should be exposed to the destroying angel ; Exod. xii, 22, 23. We are not to suppose the angel could not have distinguished an Israelite from an Egyptian, if he had met him in the street; but they were hereby intended to be instructed, that their safety lay in being under the protection of the blood of the lamb, "which was sprinkled upon the door-posts of their houses, as an emblem and type of spiritual salvation by the blood of Christ. This rite, how- ever, was peculiar to the first passover, and not observed in suc- ceeding ages ; otherwise, Christ and his apostles would not have gone to the mount of Olives the same evening on which they had been eating the passover ; Matt. xxvi. 30. Having thus considered the rites of the passover, we are, 3dly. To inquire into the signification of them. That the passover had a typical reference to Christ, we learn from the apostle's calling him "our passover;" 1 Cor. v. 7. God- win has drawn out a catalogue of thirteen articles, in which this type resembles its antitype, and a larger and more particular one may be found in the chapter de Paschate of Witsius's (Economia Foederis, under four general heads : the first respecting the person of Christ ; the second, his sufferings ; the third, the fruits and effects of them ; and the way in which we are to obtain an interest " Hcrodot. Clio, cap. cxxxii. p. 55, edit. Gronov. 410 JEWJSIl ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK III. in these fruits and efiects. We shall briefly select a few of the particulars under each of these heads. 1st. The person of Christ was typified by the paschal lamb. On which account, as well as in respect to the lamb of the daily sacri- fice, he is often represented under the emblem of a lamb : " Behold the Lamb of God," saith John the Baptist ; John i. 29. 36. The fitness and propriety of this type or emblem consists, paitly in some natural properties belonging to a lamb, and partly in some circumstances peculiar to the paschal lamb. A lamb being, per- haps, the least subject to choler of any animal in the brute creation, was a very proper emblem of our Saviour's humility and meekness, and of his inoffensive behaviour, Matt. xi. 29 ; for he, by whose precious blood we were redeemed, was " a Lamb without blemish and without spot," 1 Pet. i. 19 ; and likewise of his exemplary pa- tience and submission to his Father's will under all his sufferings, and in the agony of death ; for though he was " oppressed and afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth;" Isa. liii. 7. By his almighty power he could have delivered himself out of the hands of his enemies, as he had done on former occasions, Luke iv. 29, 30 ; John viii. 59 ; but behold the lion of the tribe of Judah now transformed into a lamb, by his obedience to his Father's will, and compassion to the souls of men. There were, also, some circumstances peculiar to the paschal lamb, which contributed to its fitness and propriety as a type and emblem of Christ : such as its being ordered to be free from all blemish and natural defect, that it might the better represent the immaculate Son of God, who was made without sin, and never did any iniquity, Heb. vii. 26 ; that it was to be taken out of the flock, therein representing that Divine Person, who, in order to his being made a sacrifice for our sins, did first become one of us, by taking our flesh and blood, and " was made in all things like to his brethren ;" chap. ii. 14. 17. The paschal lamb was to be a male of the first year, when-«the flesh was in the highest state of perfection for food ; more fitly to represent the " child that was to be born,'' " the son that was to be given " (Isa. ix. 6) to us, and the excellency of the sacrifice he was to offer for us, after he had lived a short life among men. Once more : The paschal lamb was to be taken out of the flock four days before it was sacrificed. This circumstance, if we understand it CHAP. IV.] THE PASSOVER. 411 of such prophetic days as are mentioned in the fourth chapter of Ezekiel, is perfectly apphcable to Christ, who left his mother's house and family, and engaged publicly in his office as a Saviour, four years before his death. 2dly. The sufferings and death of Christ were also typified by the paschal lamb in various particulars. For instance, that lamb was to be killed "by the whole assembly of the congregation of Isi'ael," Exod. xii. 6 ; and so the whole estate of the Jews, the priests, scribes, elders, rulers, and the populace in general, con- spired in the death of Christ (compare Mark xiv. 43, with Luke xxiii. 13). The paschal lamb was to be killed by the effusion of its blood, as pointing out the manner of Christ's death, in which there was an effusion of blood on the cross. It was to be roasted with fire, as representing its antitype enduring on our account the fierceness of God's anger, which is said to " burn like fire :" Psalm Ixxxix. 46 ; Jer. iv. 4. Hence that complaint of our suf- fering Saviour in the prophecy concerning him in the twenty-second Psalm: " My heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels ; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws ;" ver. 14, 15. There was, farther, a remarkable correspondence between the type and the antitype, with respect to the place and time in which each was killed as a sacrifice. The place was the same as to both ; namely, " the place which the Lord should choose to put his name there," which, from the reign of David, was at Jei'usalem : and the time was also the same ; for Christ suffered his agonies on the same evening on which the passover was celebrated ; and his death the next day, between the two evenings, according to the most pro- bable interpretation of that phrase, namely, between noon and sun-set. 3dly. Several of the happy fruits and consequences of the death of Christ were remarkably typified by the sacrifice of the paschal lamb ; such as protection and salvation by his blood, of which the sprinkling of the door-posts with the blood of the lamb, and the safety which the Israelites by that means enjoyed from the plague that spread through all the families of the Egyptians, was a de- signed and illustrious emblem. It is in allusion to this type, that the blood of Christ is called " the blood of sprinkling ;" 1 Pet. i. 2 ; Heb. xii. 24. Immediately upon the Israelites eating the first passover, they were delivered from their Egyptian slavery, and restored to full 412 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOKIIF. liberty, of which they liad been deprived for many years ; and such is the fruit of the death of Christ, in a spiritual and much nobler sense, to all that believe in him ; for he hath thereby " obtained eternal redemption for us," and " brought us into the glorious liberty of the children of God:" Heb. ix. 12 ; Rom. viii. 21. 4thly. The ways and means by which we are to obtain an in- terest in the blessed fruits of the sacrifice of Christ, were also repre- sented by lively emblems in the passover ; namely, by the sprinkling of the blood of the lamb on the door-posts, and by eating the flesh of it. The door-posts may be understood to signify the heart of man, which is the gate, or door, by which the King of glory is to enter, Psalm xxiv. 7 ; and which is as manifest in the sight of God as the very doors of our houses are to any one that passes by them ; 1 Sam. xvi. 7. The sprinkling of the blood on the door-posts may therefore signify the purifying of the heart by the grace of Christ, which he purchased for us by his blood. This seems to be the apostle's allusion in the following expression : " Having your hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience ;" Heb. x. 22. By eating the flesh of the lamb we have no difficulty to under- stand faith in Jesus Christ, since Christ himself has expressed saving faith in him by the metaphor of eating his flesh, probably in reference to the passover ; John vi. 53. It is worthy of our notice, that the lamb was to be roasted whole, and was to be all eaten, and none of it left ; which may fitly signify, that, in order to our obtaining the benefits of Christ's sacrifice, we must receive him, submit to him, and trust upon him in all his cha- racters and offices, as our prophet, our priest, and our king ; nor are w^e to expect, that he will redeem and save us from the wrath to come, if we will not at present have him to reign over us. The passover was to be eaten with bitter herbs ; which, besides its being an intended memorial of the afflictions of the Israelites in Egypt, may fitly signify, that repentance for sin must accompany faith in Christ ; and also, that, if we are partakers of the benefits of Christ's sufferings, we must expect, and be content, to be in some measure partakers likewise of his sufferings. To this purpose the apostle speaks of " the fellowship of his sufferings," Phil. iii. 10 ; and elsewhere saith, ** that if we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him ;" 2 Tim. ii. 12. The passover was also to be eaten with unleavened bread, which St. Paul interprets to signify sincerity and purity of heart, in oppo- sition to malice, wickedness, and falsehood; and which must neccs- CHAP. IV.] THE PASSOVEK. 413 sarily accompany faith in Christ in order to his being our passover, that is, our protector from the wrath of God, and our redeemer from spiritual bondage and misery ; 1 Cor. v. 7, 8. It was farther ordered, that in eating the paschal lamb they should " not break, a bone of it ;" a circumstance in which there was a re- markable correspondence between the type and the antitype ; John xix. 33. 36. Perhaps there is more fancy than judgment in that mystical in- terpretation which some have put on this circumstance, who by the bones understand those secrets of God, or those hard and difficult things in the divine counsels, which we are not able to compre- hend, and which we should, therefore, be humbly content to be ig- norant of, without too curiously and anxiously searching into them, according to the advice of Moses : "Secret things belong to the Lord our God ; but those which are revealed, to us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law ;" Deut. xxix. 28. None, who were legally unclean and polluted, might eat the passover, which may farther hint to us, that purity and holiness are necessary and incumbent on all that would partake of the benefit of Christ's sacrifice ; for " what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? what communion hath light with darkness ? what concord hath Christ with Belial?" 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15. The Israelites were to eat their first passover in the habit and posture of travellers, which, in the mystical sense, may signify, that such as enter into covenant with God, through Christ, must be re- solved upon, and ready to go forth to, every duty to which he calls them. They are not to look on this world as their home ; but, re- membering that they are travelling toward heaven, they are to bear that blessed world much upon their thoughts, and to be diligent in preparing for their entrance into it. To this purpose are we ex- horted "to gird up the loins of our minds and to be sober;" to " stand, having our loins girded about with truth ;" and, " as pil- grims and strangers, to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul:" 1 Pet. i. 13; Eph. vi. 14; 1 Pet. ii. 11. In all these expressions there seems to be some reference to the habit and pos- ture of tlie Israelites at the first passover. They were to eat the passover in haste ; and thus we must " flee for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us," Heb. vi. 18 ; must not delay and trifle, but " give diligence to make our calling and election sure," 2 Pet. i. 10 ; for the kingdom of heaven is said to " suffer violence, and the violent take it by force;" Matt. xi. 12. 414 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK III. In the last place, the Israelites were to eat the passover, each family in their own house ; and none might go out of the house any more that night, lest the destroying angel should meet and kill him. By the houses may be understood the chui'ch of Christ, in which only we are to expect communion with him and salvation by him ; and having entered into it, we must not go out again, lest we meet with the doom of apostates (see Heb. vi. 4 — 6 ; x. 39 ; 2 Pet. ii. 20, 21), which is dreadful beyond description *. Of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Having treated pretty largely of the passover, we proceed to the feast of unleavened bread, which immediately followed it, and was kept seyen days, from the fifteenth of the month Nisan to the twenty-first, inclusive ; as appears from the two following passages ; the first from the book of Exodus : " In the first month, on the four- teenth day of the month, at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one-and-twentieth day of the month at even;" chap. xii. 18. Again, from the book of Numbers: " In the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the Loi'd ; and in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast ; seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten ; in the first day shall be an holy convocation :" chap, xxviii. 16, 17. When, therefore, it is said in the sixteenth chapter of Deutero- nomy, " Six days shalt thou eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh shall be a solemn assembly," ver. 8, it cannot be meant that they were to use unleavened bread six days only ; but that having eaten it six days, they should conclude the festival on the seventh with a solemn assembly, continuing to eat unleavened bread on this day, as they had done on the six preceding. The Samaritan text and the Septuagint read likewise in the thirteenth chapter of Exodus, " Six days shalt thou eat unleavened bread," ver. 6, and not seven, as it is in the Hebrew copy and the Targum. The very day of the passover, viz. the fourteenth of Nisan, is called the first day of unleavened bread, both by St. Matthew and St. Mark : Matt. xxvi. 17 ; Mark xiv. 12 : whereas, according to the passage before cited from the book of Numbers, the fifteenth day of the month being said to be the first day of the feast, that is, of unleavened bread, the day of the passover was the day before * Besides Witsius, see Mather on the Types, p. 521 — 530, Dublin, 1685. On the subject of the passover in general, with the rest of the authors alread}' quoted, see Lightfoot, in his Temple Service, chap. xii. — xiv. ; and Spencer, De Legibus Hebraeor. lib. ii. cap. iv. torn. i. p. 293 — 310. In Wittii (Econom. Foederis, is a good abridgment of what Bochart hath said on the subject. CHAP. IV.] FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD. 415 the first day of unleavened bread. Some, therefore, suppose, that irpcoTj] is put by the evangelists for npoT^pa, as it is in the first chapter of St. John, where John the Baptist says, " He that comes after me," Trpwros /xou ?yi/, that is, nporfpos, " was before me;" ver. 30. Thus TTpoiTT] r}p.epa rav a^vp-cov should be rendered, not " the first day of the feast," but " the day before the feast of unleavened bread*." I apprehend, however, there is no need, in order to solve the difiiculty, to have recourse to this more unusual meaning of the word irpcoTos ; for these two feasts, the passover and that of un- leavened bread, though distinct in themselves, yet followed close upon one another, and being united into one continued festival for eight days together, hence the name of either of them came to be used for both. The feast of unleavened bread is called the passover by St. Luke, chap. xxii. 1 ; and why then may not the feast of the passover be called the feast of unleavened bread by St. Matthew and St. Mark, especially since the passover also was eat with unleavened bread; and this, notwithstanding the feast of unleavened bread, properly so called, did not begin till the next day, at least not till the evening of the paschal day ? For it must be remembered, the Jews celebrated their sabbath, and all sacred festivals, from evening to evening. This, indeed, gives us the hint of another solution, which is espoused by some, namely, that the paschal day is called the first day of unleavened bread, because the feast of unleavened bread began on the evening of that day f. But the former solution is, I think, the more satisfactory. During the whole continuance of this festival they might not eat any leavened bread, nor so much as have it in their houses ; Edod. xii. 15. 18, 19. Care, therefore, must be taken, before the feast began, to " purge out the old leaven," as the apostle, in allusion to this rite, expresses it ; 1 Cor. v. 7. Concerning this matter the modern Jews are superstitiously exact and scrupulous. The master of the family makes a diligent search into every hole and crevice throughout the house, lest any crumb of leavened bread should remain in it, and that not by the light of the sun or moon, but of a candle. And in order that this exactness may not appear altogether superfluous and ridiculous, care is taken to con- ceal some scraps of leavened bread in some corner or other, the discovery of which occasions mighty joy. This search, neverthe- less, strict as it is, does not give him entire satisfaction. After all, he beseeches God, that all the leavened bread which is in the " Reland. Antiq. part iv. sect. iii. p. 4.56, 3d edit. 1717. ■f Reland. iiVii s'lpra, p. 4.5.5, 4.5(J. 416 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK III. house, as well what he has found, as what he has not, may be- come like the dust of the earth, and be reduced to nothing. And as they are thus superstitiously careful in purging out the old leaven, so they are no less exact and scrupulous about making their bread for the feast, lest there should be any fermentation in it, or any thing like leaven mixed with it. For instance : the corn of which it is made must not be carried to the mill on the horseV bare back, lest the heat of the horse should make it fer- ment ; the sack in which it is put must be carefully examined, lest there should be any remainder of old meal in it, which might prove like leaven to the new meal : the dough must be made in a place not exposed to the sun, lest the heat of the sun should make it ferment; and it must be put into the oven immediately after it is made, lest it should ferment itself*. From the Jews, probably, the Roman Catholics have borrowed many superstitious niceties about the corn and dough, of which they make their hosts. The punishment to be inflicted on any who neglected to cleanse their houses from leaven against the feast, is, in the judgment of the rabbies, scourging f . But the penalty for eating leavened bread during the festival, is, according to the law of God, to be " cut off from the congregation of Israel," Exod. xii. 19 ; the same punishment which is threatened to the neglect of circumcision. Gen. xvii. 14 ; and to several other trespasses, both against the moral and ceremonial laws ; as to wilful sinning in contempt of the divine authority, Numb. xv. 30, 31 ; to profaning the sabbath, Exod. xxxi. 14 ; to the eating of fat and blood, Lev. vii. 25. 27 ; and to several other violations of the law. But what this niD chereth, as the rabbies call it, from ni3 charath, secuit, or cutting off, signified, is rather differently conjectured by various writers, than certainly determined by any. Some make it to signify ex- communication ; others death, to be inflicted by the magistrate ; others death by the immediate hand of God. Others say it was making a man childless, so that his family and his name perished in Israel. Maimonides would have it be the extinction both of the soul and body, or pei-ishing like the brutes ; and Abarbanel, the loss of future happiness %. But hardly any one of these senses will suit all the cases in which this punishment is threat- * See Buxtorf. Synag. Judaic, cap. xvii. p 394—398, 3d edit. Basil. 1661 ; and Mai- mon. de Solennitate Paschatis. cap. ii. — v. p. 843 — 877, Crenii Fascicul. Septimi. f Maimoii. de Solennitate Paschatis, cap. i. p. 838 — 843, Crenii Fascicul. Septimi. X Abarbanel. Dissert, de Pcena Excidii, ad calcem Buxtorf. Dissert, de Sponsalibus et Divortiis, where these several ojnnions are examined. CHAP. IV.] FEAST OF UNLFAVENED BREAD. 417 ened. It could not mean excommunication from the church of Israel when it is threatened to the neglect of circumcision, because no person was a member of that church till he was circumcised. Nor could it mean death to be immediately inflicted by the hand of God, since the Israelites neglected circumcision with impunity during their journey in the wilderness, for forty years together ; Josh. V. 5. Nor could it signify the same punishment, when threatened to the neglect of the passover, since that ordinance was shamefully neglected during several wicked reigns of the Jewish kings, till Hezekiah, and after him Josiah, revived it ; 2 Chron. XXX. XXXV. It is most probable, that rTii chereth is a general name for several sorts of punishment, which were to be deter- mined by the nature of the offence. Sometimes it seems to im- port punishment by the judge, and sometimes by the more imme- diate hand of God *. The first and last days of the feast of unleavened bread were to be kept as sabbaths, holy, and free from all servile work, except dressing of victuals, which was unlawful on the weekly sabbath (compare Exod. xii. 16, with chap. xxxv. 3) ; and they were like- wise to be solemnized by a holy convocation. But we find no precept concerning the keeping the five intermediate days, besides their abstaining from leavened bread, and offering certain sacri- fices on each of them; Numb, xxviii. 17 — 25. However, the rabbies have abundantly supplied these defects by their comments ; they allow the time to be spent in mirth, and all lawful recreation ; and some of them allow works of necessity to be performed, while others think it unlawful even to take up a straw, or to pick their teeth f . One remarkable offering that was to be made at this feast was the sheaf of the first-fruits of the harvest; Lev. xxiii. 10, 11. For though this feast was kept soon after the vernal equinox, yet, in that warm climate, the barley, which was usually sown in No- vember, became ripe at this season. But if it happened that the harvest was not forward enough to be fit to cut at the middle of Nisan, they intercalated a month, which they called Veadar, and the next Nisan, and so put ofTthe festival a month longer J. The day on which this offering was made, is said to be " the * Mr. Scldcu hath treated Largely on the chereth, Do Jure Nat. et Gent. lib. vii. c.ip. ix. aud De Syned. lib. i. cap. vi. ■j- See these and various other particulars in Buxtorf's Synag. Judaic, cap. xix. p. 430 —433, 3d edit. J See Lightfoot, Horse Hebr. Matt. xii. 1. E E 418 .TEWISII ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK III, morrow after the sabbath;" Lev. xxiii. 11. By which, though some have understood the weekly sabbath that fell in the time of this festival, yet the Jews more generally understand by it the first day of the feast, according to which sense the Septuagint renders it rrj cn-avpiov rrjs TrpcoTYjs, " the moiTow after the first." The Targum of Onkelos renders it, " after the feast day ;" and Jose- phus says expressly, "tt; Sevrepa rcov a^vp.a>v fifiepa,"" &c., on the second day of unleavened bread, which is the sixteenth of Nisan, they take of the fruits of the harvest which they have not touched be- fore ; and esteeming it their duty, first to pay due honour to God, from whom they have received their liberal supply, they offer him the first-fruits of the barley *. The rabbies inform us, that this sheaf was gathered and prepared for the offering with a great deal of ceremony, which, as we have no account of it in Scripture, we pass over in silence f . The moral signification of this title, the offering of the first- fruits, was undoubtedly to be an acknowledgment of his goodness " who gives rain, both the former and the latter rain, in its season, and reserves to men the appointed weeks of harvest,"" Jer. v. 24 ; and also of his right to, and property in, those bounties of his providence, in consequence of which he may bestow, or take them away, as he pleases, Hos. ii. 8, 9 ; and likewise, to teach them to look up to God for his blessing to render their earthly enjoyments and possessions profitable and delightful ; 1 Tim. iv. 4, 5. There might also be a typical signification of this rite, as refer- ring to the resurrection of Christ, whose sacrifice and death had been just before represented by that of the paschal lamb, and which is compared by our Lord himself to corn falling into the ground and dying, after which it springs up and brings forth fruit; John xii. 24. Accordingly, the apostle saith, 1 Cor. xv. 20, as it should seem in reference to this type, " Now is Christ risen from the dead, and is become the first-fruits of them that slept |." * Joseph. Antiq. lib. iii. cap. x. sect. v. p. 177, 178, edit. Haverc. ; see also Lightfoot, Horae Hebraic. Act. vii. 1. -|- See Ainsworth on Levit. xxiii. 10 ; Lightfoot's Temple Service, chap. xiv. sect. ii. ; Outram de Sacrificiis, lib. i. cap. viii. sect. vi. p. 87, Loudon, 1677; Mishn. tit. Sotah, cap. vii. sect. iii. not. ; Wagenseil. torn. iii. p. 259, 260, edit. Siirenhus. ; et tit. Mena- choth, cap. X. cum not. Bartenor. ; et Maimon. torn. v. :f On the sheaf of the first-fruits, see also Reland. Antiq. part iv. cap. iii. sect. viii. p. 464—466 ; Hottingeri Annot. in Godwin. lib. iii. cap. v. sect. iii. not. iii. Francof. 1716. On the feast of unleavened bread, see tlic authors before referred to on the passover. CHAP, v.] TIIF pf.xteco5;t. 419 CHAPTER V. OF THE FEAST OF PENTECOST. The pentecost was tlie second of tlie three grand festivals in the ecclesiastical year, at which all the males were to appear before the Lord at the national altar. It is called by several names in "the Old Testament; as the feast of weeks, the feast of harvest, and the day of the first-fruits. In the New Testament it is styled pentecost ; and the rabbies have other names for it, calling it " the day of giving the law," and niV)> gnatseretli, the word which we render " a solemn assembly."" 1st. It is called " the feast of weeks," Exod. xxxiv. 22, because it was celebrated seven weeks, or a week of weeks, after the pass- over ; or rather, after the first day of the feast of unleavened bread ; for the computation of the seven weeks began with the second day of that feast, and the next day after the seven weeks were completed was the feast of pentecost. Thus it is .said in Leviticus, '' Ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave-offer- ing, seven sabbaths shall be complete, even to the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days;" chap, xxiii. 15, 16. By the seven sabbaths here mentioned, we are to understand seven weeks ; and so it is rendered in the Targum and in the Septua- gint ; in which sense we find the word o-a/S/SoT-oi/ used in the New Testament : the Pharisee in the parable saith, vt^a-rfvo) 8ts tov aa^- iBarov, " I fast twicc a-wcck ;" that is, on the second and fifth days, on which fasting was recommended by the tradition of the elders ; and which were accordingly kept every week as fasts by the devout Jews. And in the first verse of the twenty-eighth chapter of Matthew, ^llav a-a^^uruv evidently signifies the " first day of the week." The rabbies lay great stress upon the precept to count the seven sabbaths, or weeks. And Maimonides remarks, that it was to the honour of this festival that they were obliged to count the days of its approach from the preceding passover, as a man, ex- pecting his best and most faithful friend at an appointed time, is E E 2 420 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [cOOK U\. accounted to number the days and hours till his arrival *. Accord- ingly, the modern Jews make an act of devotion of counting the days from the passover to the pentecost, beginning the computa- tion with a solemn prayer or benediction, in this form : " Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, the Lord of the world, who hast sanc- tified us with thy precepts, and commanded us to number the days of the harvest ; and this is the first day." Thus they go on with their prayer, or benediction, till the seventh day; then they add, *' Now there is one week ;" and so they proceed with the same act of devotion every day to the evening of the pentecost f . This counting is, in some places, performed publicly in the synagogue. But whether it be thus performed or not, every master of a family is obliged to do it every evening at home J. Now since there were seven weeks complete between the first day of the feast of unleavened bread and the day of pentecost, it is made matter of inquiry, on what day of the week that remark- able pentecost fell, when the Holy Ghost was shed forth on the apostles ; which is said to have been ev tco a-vinfkqpova-daL -rqv rjfiepav TT]s TTfvTTjKoa-rrjs, the meaning of which is ambiguous, as it may either signify, when the day of pentecost was fulfilled and over; or, as it is rendered in our English version, " when it was fully come ;" Acts ii. 1. The former sense is most agreeable to the common meaning of the word TrXrjpoco, and the text is accordingly rendered in the Italian version, " when the day of pentecost was fully gone." This sense Dr. Lightfoot prefers, and not without reason § : for since Christ ate his last passover on the same day with the rest of the Jews, as we have already proved, namely, on the fourteenth of Nisan, which was Thursday ; the next day, on which he was crucified, must be the first day of the feast of unleavened bread ; therefore, the sixteenth day, the Saturday, was the first day of the seven weeks between that and the pentecost; consequently the fiftieth day, or the morrow after the seventh sabbath or week, which was the day of pentecost, must fall on the Saturday, or the Jewish sabbath. The Doctor apprehends no reason can be assigned for *' the dis- ciples being all with one accord in one place," on the day when the Holy Ghost descended upon them, more reasonable and probable, than that they were assembled for the celebration of the Lord's * Maimon. Moreh Nevocli. part iii. cap. xliii. p. 471. f Hottinger. in Godwin, lib. iii. cap. v. sect. v. p. S?^, 576. X See Buxtorf. Svnag. Judaic, cap. xx. p. 441, l^d edit. § Horae Hcbr. in loc. CHAP, v.] THE PENTECOST. 421 day ; which must be, therefore, the next day after the pentecost. Upon which he farther observes, that our Lord, in fulfilHng several types by which he was represented, did not confine himself to the day of the type, but deferred the accomphshment to the day fol- lowing. It was not upon the very day of the passover, but on the ensuing day, that " Christ our passover was sacrificed for us;" 1 Cor. V. 7. It was not on the day that the sheaf of the first-fruits was offered, but the next day, that Christ became the " first-fruits of them that slept;" 1 Cor. xv. 20. In hke manner he supposes the descent of the Holy Ghost was not on the day of pentecost, but when it was gone, or the next day after. Nevertheless, our English version, " when the day of pentecost was fully come," is supported by the use of the word n-Xi^pow in several places of the Septuagint, as Dr. Hammond hath fully shown *. Thus in the evangelist Luke, ore fjr'krja-dtjaav TjfjLepai oktu, which we render, " when eight days were accomplished for circumcising the child," Luke ii 21, must signify, not when the eighth day was over, but when it was come, for on that day, according to the law, circumcision was to be performed ; Levit. xii. 2, 3. Supposing, then, it was the very day of pentecost when the disciples were thus assembled, and the Holy Ghost came upon them, it might nevertheless be the first day of the week, or the Lord's day ; for as the Jews reckoned all their sacred and festival days from the evening, so we have the testimony both of Rabbi Solomon and Maimonides -f-, that they began the computation of the seven weeks from the evening of the sixteenth of NisanJ. Insomuch, that the Saturday, on which our Saviour lay in the sepulchre, was not one of the forty-nine days which made seven weeks complete ; but that evening and the first day of the week, on which Christ rose from the dead, made the first day of the first week ; and consequently, Friday evening and Saturday were the forty-ninth, and the Lord's day was the fiftieth, or the day of pentecost. Thus it appears, that according to the manner in which the Scribes computed the seven weeks, the day of pentecost that year, when the Holy Ghost descended upon the apostles, was the first day of the week. According to the computation of the Baithusians and Karraites, the day of pentecost always fell on the first day of the week; for * See Hammond in loc. • -}• R. Soloni. cited by Meyer in. not. ad Mcgill.ath Ta.inith, cap. i. p. 7, ad calceni Trah- tat. do Tempor. et Festis Hcbrwoiiim ; Maimon. de Sacrificiis Jiigibus, cap. vii. sect. xxii. p. 477, Crcnii Fascic. Scxti. J See also Megillath Taauitli, ubi biijua, p. 4 — 6, 422 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK 111. by " the sabbath on the morrow after which the sheaf was offered," and the computation of the seven weeks began, they understand the weekly sabbath (or the sabbath of the creation, as the Scribes call it), which fell in the paschal week. So that, according to them, the first day of the week was always the first day of the forty-nine days or seven weeks ; and, consequently, the fiftieth day, or pen- tecost, was always the first day of the week *. 2dly. It was called *' the feast of harvest," Exod. xxiii. 16, on the following account, according to the learned Mr. Joseph Mede, because, as the harvest began at the passover, so it ended at pen- tecostf. Bochart is of the same opinion, who saith, that as about the time of the passover the sickle was brought out for cutting the corn, so about pentecost it was laid up again, the harvest being en- tirely finished J. And it is likewise the sentiment of Godwin. But it doth not seem to be justly founded; for at this feast the first-fruits of their wheat harvest were brought and oflTered to God ; on which account it was called " the feast of harvest," as that name is explained : *' the feast of harvest, the first-fruits of thy labour, which thou hast sown in thy field." Now as the first-fruits of the barley harvest were offered at the very beginning of it, as we have shown in the last chapter, so it is reasonable to suppose, the first- fruits of the wheat harvest were likewise offered at the beginning of it, and not delayed till it was over, and all brought into the barns. Hence, 3dly. Another name of this feast is, " the day of the first-fruits," as it is called, in the twenty-eighth chapter of the book of Num- bers, ver. 26, because on that day they were to " offer a new wheat-ofTering unto the Lord of two loaves of fine flour baked with leaven," as we are informed in Leviticus, chap, xxiii, 16, 17; and these were to be accompanied with animal sacrifices, namely, " seven lambs, without blemish, of the first year, and a bullock and two rams for a burnt- offering, a kid of the goats for a sin- offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace- ofFerings;" ver. 18, 19. It may to us seem very strange, that the wheat harvest should * R. Obad. (le Barteuora iu Mislin, tit. Chagigab, cap. ii. sect. iv. p. 419; Megillath Taanitb, ubi supra- See the dispute concerning this computation iu Meyer, de Tenipor. et Festis Hcbrieor. part ii. cap. xiii. sect. xxi. — xxiv. p. 295 — 297 ; Reland. Antiq. part iv. cap. iv. sect. iii. iv. p, 474 — 476, .3d edit. ; Liber Cozri, part iii. sect. xli. p. 217, cum not. ; Buxtorf. in loc. p. 218, 219; Ligbtfoot, Hora Hebr. Act. ii. 1 ; Selden, de Anno Civili JudfEorum, cap. vii. t Mcde's Diatrib. disc, xlviii. p. 269 of bis 'Works. X Bocbart. Hicroz. part i. lib. iii. cap. xiii. Opcr. torn. ii. p. 867, edit. 1712. See also Fallcr. Miscell. lib. iii. cap. xi. ; apud C'rilicos Sacros, torn. ix. p. 2362, edit. Loud. CHAP, v.] THE PENTECOST. 423 not begin in Judea till seven weeks after the barley harvest; whereas we are accustomed to see them both together. It was otherwise in the eastern countries * ; in Egypt particularly, the barley, it is said, was smitten with the hail, for it was in the ear, whereas the wheat and the rye were not smitten, for they were not grown up; Exod. ix. 31, 32. It is inquired, why leaven was used in the bread offered at pen- tecost ; whereas it was expressly forbidden at the passover ? The rabbies say, because their bread at the passover was in commemoration of their sudden departure out of Egypt, when they could not stay to have it leavened ; but the loaves offered at pentecost were in behalf of the bread which they were ordinarily to eat f . 4thly. This feast is styled in the New Testament TrevnjKoaTtj, that is, the fiftieth ; because it was kept fifty days after the passover. Pasor in his Lexicon supposes the word rji^epa to be understood, with which the feminine adjective wevTtjKocrTT] agrees. This, how- ever, would make a sad tautology of the expression in the Acts, Ttjv i)fiepav TTjs TTfVTrjKoaTrjs, chap. ii. 1. othly. The rabbies call this feast " the day of the giving of the law ;" for it is the constant opinion of the Jews, that on this day the law was given on Mount Sinai, namely, on the fiftieth day from their departure out of Egypt %. This is collected from the nineteenth chapter of Exodus, in the first verse of which it is said, that in the thii'd month (or in the third new moon, as the Hebrew word mip chodhesh signifies), when the children of Israel were gone forth out of Egypt, the same day (that is, the day of the new moon) they came to Sinai. Adding, therefore, to this day twenty-nine for the last month, and fifteen days of the first month, it makes forty-five from the time of their departure from Egypt to their arrival at Sinai. To which if we add the day when Moses went up to God in the mount, Exod. xix. 3, and the next day when he reported his message from God to the people, and returned their answer, ver. 7, 8 ; and the three days more which God gave them to prepare themselves for his coming down among them, ver. 11 ; there were just fifty days from the first passover to " Vitl. Bochart, ubi supra, p. 857, 858. f Abarbancl in Lev. iii., cited by Lightfoot in his Temple Service, chap. xiv. sect. iv. J Maimou. Morch Ncvoch. part iii. cap. xliii. p. 471, who makes the ilcsign of pentecost to be a memoiial of the giving of the law. Abarbancl, who differs with hiui as to tho design of the institntion, .admits, nevertheless, tliat it was celebrated in the same day on which the law was given. See Mivcr, Dc Temper, et Festis lIcbra;or. part ii. cap. .Yiii. sect. xvi. xvii. p. 293, 294. 424 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK HI. the giving the law at Mount Sinai ; to which, therefore, according to Maimonides, the institution of this feast had a special regard. 6thly. The rabbles again call this feast niY)) gnatsereth * ; the word which we render "solemn assembly," Lev. xxiii. 36 ; Deut. xvi. 8 ; which, though it is never applied to the pentecost in Scrip- ture, yet they in a manner appropriate it to this feast, calling it ri-\')iV gnatsereth, kut (^oxr]v. The reason of which might be, as Dr. Lightfoot conjectures, because this feast consisted of one solemn day only, whereas the feast of the passover and of tabernacles had more f . The more immediate design of this institution seems to have been, that they might thankfully acknowledge the goodness of God in giving them the fruits of the earth, and beg his blessing on the bounties of his providence, by their offering the first-fruits of their harvest to him ; and it doubtless had a typical reference to the first-fruits of the Holy Spirit, and of converts to Christ, after the erection of the gospel kingdom, by means of Peter's preaching on the day of pentecost +. CHAPTER VI. OF THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. The feast of tabernacles was the third grand festival, at which all the male Israelites were to attend at the national altar, Deut. xvi. 16. It derived its name from their dwelling in tabernacles §, or booths, during its celebration; Lev. xxiii. 42. It is likewise called the " feast of ingathering in the end of the year," Exod. xxiii. 16, because at this season the whole harvest, not only of the corn, buf also of the vintage and other fruits, for which they were to express their thankfulness to God, at this feast, was completed ; Lev. xxiii. 39. It began on the fifteenth day of the month Tisri, the first of the * See the Chaldee Paraphrase on Numh. xxviii, 26 ; Mishn. tit. Gnerachin, cap. ii. sect. iii. tom. v, p. 196. See also Reland. Antiq. part iv. cap. iv. sect. iii. p, 472 — 474 ; and Lightfoot's Temple Service, chap. xiv. sect. iv. •f Horse Hebr. Act. ii. 1 . \ See on the pentecost, Meyer, Do Temporibus et Festis Hebrseoruni, part ii. cap. .\iii. ; Reland. Antiq. part. iv. cap. iv. ; Lightfoot, Horae Hebr. Act. ii. 1, and Temple Service, chap. xiv. ; Leydekker de Republ. JJebracor. lib. ix»cap. v. § The rabbles say a gieat deal concerning the form of these tabernacles ; sec Mishn. tit. Succali, and Surcnhusii Tabul* rariesimorum Tabcrnaculorum, prefixed to totu. v. CHAP. VI.] THE FliAST OF TABKRNACLES. 425 civil and tlie seventh of the ecclesiastical year, and was to be celebrated seven days : " The fifteenth day of the seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days ;" Lev. xxiii. 34. To which there was also added an eighth day, which was to be observed with peculiar solemnity : " Seven days shall ye offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord ; on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you, and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord ; it is a solemn assembly, and ye shall do no servile work therein :" ver. 36. But as the feast of tabernacles is ex- pressly limited to seven days, " The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord," ver. 34 ; during which only they are commanded to dwell in tabernacles or booths, ver. 42 ; this eighth day was not so pro- perly a part of the feast of tabernacles, as another distinct feast which followed immediately upon it; agreeably to the account which is given in the book of Nehemiah, " They kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly accord- ing unto the manner;" chap. viii. 18. The seven days are ex- pressly said in Leviticus to have been kept in commemoration of their dwelling in tents in the wilderness for forty years, chap, xxiii. 42, 43 ; the eighth day, therefore, was properly the feast of ingathering, on which they were to give thanks for their whole harvest, " after," as it is expi-essed in the book of Deuteronomy, " they had gathered in their corn and their wine," chap. xvi. 13 — 16. Indeed, there is no mention, in this last passage, of this eighth day, but only of the festival of seven days. Nevertheless, these being observed on a separate account, namely, to commemo- rate their dwelling in tents in the wilderness, we may conclude, that the rejoicing and thanksgiving, enjoined at this festival on account of the harvest, were chiefly if not wholly appropriated to the eighth day. And it is observable, that they were commanded to dwell in booths no longer than the seven days ; a circumstance which shows that the eighth day was not observed on the same account as the seven preceding. Nevertheless, as the names of the feast of the passover, and the feast of unleavened bread, which immediately followed it, are frequently confounded *, so the feast of tabernacles and of ingathering, though properly distinct, yet, following close upon one another, are sometimes spoken of as one feast, and the name of either indifferently applied to both. It was probably the eighth day, which is ordered to be kept with * Sec before, chap. iv. p. 115. 420 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [uOOKIlI. the solemnity of a sabballi, and not the seventh, concerning which there is no such appointment in the law, that is styled by the evangelist John " the last and great day of the feast,"" chap. vii. 37 ; that is, of the feast of tabernacles ; ver. 2. The first day of this feast was to be kept as a sabbath. Lev. xxiii. 39, and during that and the six following days they wei'e to dwell in tents, or booths, made of branches of several sorts of trees, which are particularly mentioned, ver. 40. The name of the first sort is-wn^'H gnets hadhar, which we render, "goodly trees." The Jews will have it to mean the citron *. The next is called '^an tliamar, or the palm. The third is rO.)i fi? gnets gnabhoth^ which signifies any thick or bushy wood ; by which the Jews understand the myrtle. The last is the willow. But when Nehemiah, upon the revival of this feast, directed the people what branches to gather, he called some of them by different names, which we render olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches; Neh. viii. 15. Probably, therefore, the Karraites were right in their opinion, that it was not the intention of the law to oblige them to use certain trees and no other, but only such as were fit for the purpose, and could be most readily procured, in the places were they dwelt. Accordingly Moses named such trees as were most common in his time, and Nehemiah others that were grown more common in his. It appears from the passage in Nehemiah, that the booths were to be made of these branches ; but this is not expressly declared of the boughs mentioned in Leviticus. It is only said, " You shall take 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." These boughs and branches the Sadducees understand to be for making their booths ; but the Pharisees, that they were to be carried in their hands f ; which is the practice of the modern Jews to this day. They tie together one branch of palm, three branches of myrtle, and one of willow. This they carry in their right hands, and in their left they have a branch of citron, with its fruit, or at least of pome- citron, when they cannot procure such a branch. With these, every day of the feast, that is, for seven days, they make a pro- cession in their synagogues round their reading desks, as their (o * Reland. Antiq. part iv. cap. v. sect. ix. ; Hottinger. in Godwin, lib. iii. cap. vi. sect, iii. not. iv. p. 581 — 584. -|- RclanJ. Antiq. ubi supra; sec Joseph. Antiq. lib. iii. cap. x. sect. iv. ]>, 175, edit, Haverc. CHAP. Vr.] THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 4*27 ancestors did round tlie walls of Jericho, in token of the expected downfall of tiieir enemies *. Under each of these branches a mystery is comprehended. The palm, inasmuch as it bears an insipid fruit, is an emblem of the hypocrite. The myrtle, as it has a fragrant smell, although it be barren, resembles those who perform good works without the law. The willow is an emblem of the wicked, and the citron of the righteous f. They also turn about with these branches to the four cardinal points, and shake or push with them each way, and upwards and downwards, to drive the devil from them +. While they are making this pro- cession, they sing Hosannah ; whence this feast is called by the rabbies the Hosannah ; and sometimes the branches are called by the same name. On the last day, which they call Hosannah Rabbah, or the great Hosannah, they make the procession seven times together, in memory of the siege of Jericho. The form of the Hosannah in their ritual, which they sing on this occasion, is remarkable : " For thy sake, O our Creator, Hosannah ; for thy sake, O our Redeemer, Hosannah ; for thy sake, O our Seeker, Hosannah ;" as if they beseeched the blessed Trinity, saith Dr. Patrick §, to save them, and send them help. This feast is kept with the greatest jollity of any of their festivals, especially on the eighth day; when, according to the law, they were to feast and i-ejoice upon their having gathered in their corn and their wine. Hence, in the Talmud, it is often called :n cAay, the feast, kot e^oxn^ : and Philo calls it eoprav fieyia-Trjv, the greatest of the feasts || ; and hence likewise this Jewish festival came to be more taken notice of by the heathens than any other. It is pro- bable king Cecrops took from it the hint of the law which he ordained at Athens, " that the master of every family should after harvest make a feast for his servants, and eat together with them, who had taken pains with him in tilling his ground ^." _, And as this Jewish festival was kept at the time of the vintage, or pre- sently after it, when " they had gathered in their corn and their wine," it is not unlikely, that the heathens borrowed their Baccha- nalia from it ; and this might lead Plutarch into that egregious mistake, that the Jews celebrated this festival to the honour of * Buxtorf. Synag. Judaic, cap. xxi. p. 460, 461. ■f Buxtorf. Syn.ig. Judaic, cap. xxi. p. 457, 3d edit, X Buxtorf, c:ii>. XA. p. 150. § Patriik on Lev. xxiii. 40. II See Wolfii Cura; Pliilolog. in Job. vii. .37- 5f Macrob. SaturnaL lib. i. cap. x. p. 231, edit. Groiiov. Lugd. Bat. 1670. 428 JKWI.SH ANTIQUITIES. [nOOK III. Bacchus ; for he saith in his Symposia*, " tliat in the time of the vintage the Jews spread tables, furnished with all manner of fruits, and lived in tabernacles, especially of palm and ivy wreathed to- gether, and they call it the feast of tabernacles ;" " and then a few days after," saith he (referring, I suppose, to the last day of the feast), " they kept another festivity, which openly shows it was dedicated to Bacchus ; for they carried boughs of palms, &c., in their hands, with which they went into the temple, the Levites (who, he fancies, were so called from Evios, one of the names of Bacchus) going before with instruments of music," &c. Although only the first and last days of this feast were to be kept as sabbaths, there were, nevertheless, peculiar and extraordi- nary sacrifices appointed for every day of it ; Numb. xxix. 12, et seq. On the first day, "thirteen young bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year," were sacrificed ; whereas on the other festivals two bullocks sufficed; see Numb, xxviii, 11. 19. 27. The next day twelve bullocks were sacrificed, and so on, with the decrease of one bullock a day, till on the seventh day only seven bullocks were offered ; which in all made seventy bul- locks. The lambs and the rams also were in a double proportion to the number sacrificed at any other festival. The doctors give this reason for the daily diminution of the number of the bullocks ; the whole number, say they, being seventy, was according to the languages of the seventy nations of the world ; and the diminution of one every day signified, that there should be a gradual diminu- tion of those nations till all things were brought under the go- vernment of the Messiah f. Others suppose this diminution had a respect to the seventy years of man's age, which is daily decaying J. For the eighth day, though it was properly a distinct festival, and was to be kept with extraordinary solemnity, fewer sacrifices were appointed than for any of the foregoing seven. On every one of them two rams were offered and fourteen lambs ; on this day there were but half as many ; and whereas seven bullocks were the fewest that were offered on any of these days, on this there was only one ; Numb. xxix. 36. By which. Dr. Patrick saith, God consulted perhaps the weakness of mankind, who natu- * Plutarch. Synipos. lib. iv. prob. v. Opei\ torn. ii. p. 671, edit. P'rancof. 1620. f R. Solomon in Numb. xxix. cited by Lightfoot in his Temple Service, chap. xvi. sect, i. J Abarbanel in Numb. x.\ix. cited by Lightfoot, ubi supra. CHAr. VI.] THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 429 rally grow weary both of the charge and labour of such services, when they are long continued ; and therefore he made them every day less toilsome and expensive ; and put them in mind likewise, that the multitude of sacrifices did not procure their acceptance with God, and that in length of time they would come to nothing, and be utterly abohshed, to establish something better in their room *. Before we dismiss the ceremonies of this feast, we must not forget to mention a very extraordinary one, of which the rabbies inform us, though there is not the least hint of it in the law of Moses, notwithstanding he gives a more particular description of this feast, than of any other ; namely, the drawing water out of the pool of Siloam, and pouring of it, mixed with wine, on the sacri- fice as it lay on the altar f . This they are said to have done with such expressions of joy, that it became a common proverb, " He that never saw the i-ejoicing of drawing water, never saw rejoicing in all his life J." To this ceremony our Saviour is sup- posed to refer, when " in the last day, the great day of the feast, he stood and cried, saying. If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink ; he that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water," John vii. 37, 38 : thereby calling oflT the people from their carnal mirth, and festive and pompous ceremonies, to seek spiritual refreshment for their souls. The Jews pretend to ground this custom on the following passage of Isaiah, " With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation ;" chap. xii. 3. This libation was performed every day of the feast, at the time of the morning sacrifice § ; but the greater part of their rejoicing on that occasion was adjourned till evening ; when a wild and ridiculous scene of mirth was acted in the court of the temple, by those who were esteemed the wise men of Israel ||, namely, by the elders and members of the San- hedrim, the rulers of the synagogues, and doctors of the schools, and such others as were most honoured for their age and piety. A^ the temple-music played, and these old men danced, while the women in the balconies round the court, and the men on the * See Patrick in loc. f See this ceremony described in Maimon. de Sacrificiis Jugibus, cap. x. sect. vii. p. 494, 495; Crenii Fascic. Sexti in Annot. Constant. I/Empcicur, ad cod. Middoth, cap. ii. sect! V. i).'67 — 69, edit. Lugd. Bat. 1730 ; or in Mishn. Surenhus. toni. v. p. 343, 344. + Mislm. tit. Succab, cap. v. sect. i. torn. ii. p. 277, edit. Surenhus. § Maimon. ubi supra, sect. vi. II Maimon. in Lulahb. cap. viii. sect. xii. et seq. See the quotations in Tahnudis Babjlonici codex Sucrali, by Dachs, not. i. ii. ad cap. v. sect. iv. p. 451, 452, Traject. ad Rhen. 1726. 430 JEWISH ANTIQUITIKS. [bOOK HT. groundj were spectators. All the sport was to see these venerable fathers of tlie nation skip and dance, clap their hands and sing; and they who played the fool most cgregiously, acquitted them- selves with most honour ; for in this they pretend to imitate the example of David, " who danced before the Lord with all his might, and said, I will be yet more vile than this, and be base in my own sight ;" 2 Sam. vi. 14. 22. In this manner they spent tlie greater part of the night, till at length two priests sounded a retreat with trumpets. This mad festivity was repeated every evening, except on the evening before the sabbath which fell in this festival, and on the evening before the last and great day of the feast. It seems, these two evenings were accounted too holy for such ridiculous gambols *. We can be at no loss for a reason, why the feast of ingathering, which was annexed to the feast of tabernacles, was celebrated at this season of the year, when the vintage, as well as the corn harvest, was newly finished ; in respect to which the feast is said, in tlie book of Exodus, to be " in the end of the year," chap, xxiii. 16, though it was not celebrated till three weeks after the new civil year began ; and so the next words seem to explain it, " in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered thy labours out of the field :" in which sense it comes nigh our autumn, the latter end of the year. Or, perhaps, the phrase nityn nwvn hetseeth hashanali, may admit of a different version, for the verb vci^jatsa signifies not only exiit, but ortus est, in which sense it is applied to the rising of the sun, Gen. xix. 23 ; Psalm xix. 6 ; and to the birth of man; Job i. 21 ; 1 Kings viii. 19 ; Isa. xi. 1. Accord- ingly hetseeth hashanah may be as justly rendered in ortu anni, as in exitii anni ; in the beginning as in the end of the year, and may as properly be applied to the first month as the last. But it is not so obvious, for what reason the feast of tabernacles was fixed to this season. One might naturally expect, that the annual com- memoration of their dwelling in tents in the wilderness should be celebrated at the same time of the year, when either they first betook themselves to tents on their leaving Egypt presently after the passover, or when they quitted their tents upon their entrance into Canaan, a little before the passover, which was kept in the plains of Jericho ; Joshua v, 10 : whereas this feast was ap- pointed to be celebrated at near six months' distance from either. Rabbi Jacob Levita conceives, that, as it was usual with people * See a larger account of this ceremony in Lightfoot's Temple Service, chap, xvi, sect, iv. CHAP. VI.] THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES, 431 in warm climates to live much in tents or booths in summer, for coolness, God purposely directed the celebration of this feast to be delayed to that season of the year when the cold mornings, winds, and rains, ordinarily obliged them to quit their booths and betake themselves to their houses ; that it might appear, their dwelling in booths at this time was not for convenience or pleasure, but in obedience to the Divine command *. Maimonides, on the contrary, observes, that this feast was wisely fixed to that season, when the people might dwell in booths with the least inconveni- ence, because the weather was then moderate, and they were not wont to be troubled either with heat or with rain f. Others have therefore endeavoured to prove, that this was the time of the year wdien Moses came down the second time from the mount, and brought them the joyful news, that God was appeased for the sin of the golden calf; and that he had accordingly ordered the tabernacle to be reared, in token that now he no longer dis- dained to dwell among them, in memory of which this feast is supposed to be appointed. However, this is assigning a quite different reason for their dwelling in booths or tabernacles from that which the Scripture assigns ; for according to the Scripture this appointment was designed, not in commemoration of God's dwelling in the tabernacle among them, but of their " dwelling in tents forty years in the wilderness." The learned Joseph Mede's opinion seems to be the most pro- bable, as well as the most ingenious %, namely, that this feast was affixed to the time of the year when Christ was to be born, and the dwelling in tabernacles was intended as a type of his incarnation ; as St. John seems to intimate, when he saith, " the word was made Resh, KM eaKrjvcoaev ev t;/liii/, and tabernacled in or with us;" John i. 14. We are assured by the apostles, that the law in the general had "a shadow of good things to come," Heb. x. 1, or a typical reference to Christ and the gospel dispensation. It is, therefore, incredible, that any of the three grand festivals should be without some illustrious type of him, or should not point to some principal circumstance concerning him ; as we know the passover and the pentecost did, the former being a type of his passion, the latter of his sending the first-fruits of his Spirit, on his setting up the * Meyer, dc Temporibus et Festis HcViiwor. part ii. cap. xvi. sect. iv. p. 318, 319. f Maimon. Morch Nevoch.lib. iii. cap. .\liii. X Mode's Diatril). disc, xlviii, p. 2(J8 of liis Works, edit. 1(577. 432 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [liOOK HI. gospel kingdom. And can it be imagined, that tlie third principal feast, which was more solemn than either of the others, having a more extraordinary course of sacrifices annexed to it, should not ty.pically point to some grand event concerning him and his king- dom ? And to what can we so naturally apply it, especially after the hints St. John has given us in the passage before quoted, as to the incarnation and birth of our Saviour? The events, then, that were typified by the two former feasts, falling out at the very time of those festivals, it is probable the case was the same as to the feast of tabernacles, and that Christ was born at this festival *. Of the Time of Christ's Nativity. As to the vulgar opinion, that the birth of Christ was on the twenty-fifth of December, there is not only no good reason for it, but the contrary. It is certain, this day was not fixed upon in the Christian church, as the day of our Saviour's nativity, till after the time of Constan- tine, in the fourth century ; and then it was upon a mistaken sup- position, that Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, was the high-priest, and that the day M'hen he burnt incense upon the altar in the temple, while the people were waiting without, was the day of expiation, or the tenth of the month Tisi'i, which fell out that year about the middle of September. As soon as Zacharias had fulfilled the days of his ministration, John the Baptist was con- ceived, that is, toward the end of September. Our Saviour was conceived six months after, that is, toward the end of March, and consequently his birth must fall out toward the end of December. This is the ground upon which the feast of our Saviour's nativity was fixed to the twenty-fifth of December f . However, that it is erroneous is very evident ; for Zacharias was not in tlie holy of holies, into which the high-priest only entered, when the angel appeared to him ; but by the altar of incense, which stood in the sanctuary without the veil, Luke i. 11 ; at which altar the common priests performed their daily ministry. Neither was Zacharias the high-priest ; for we are told, that " he was of the course of Abia," * On the feast of tabernacles, besides the Mishna, tit. Succah, and Dachs, Talmudis Babylon, codex Succah, sive de Tabernaculorum Festo passim, see Meyer, de Temporibus et Festis Diebus Hebraeor. part ii. cap. xvi. ; Reland. Antiq. part iv. cap. v. ; Aiusworth on Levit. xxiii. 34 — 43 ; Lightfoot's Temple Service, chap. xvi. ; Leydekker. de Republ. Hebr. lib. ix. cap. vii. -j- Spanheim. Histor. Eccles. secul. i. sect. ii. ; de Nativitate, sect. iii. p. 523, .524 ; et sccul. iv. sect. vi. de Ritibus, p. 855, edit. Lugd, Bat. 1701. CHAP. VI.] THE TIME OF CI1RIST''s BIRTH. 433 and that his lot " was to burn incense," ver. 5. 9 ; whereas the high-priest was of no course at all, neither did burning incense in the most holy place fall to him by lot, but was part of his proper and peculiar office. Accordingly there is no reason to conclude, that the day when the angel appeared to Zacharias was the day of expiation, which is the foundation of the common opinion con- cerning the time of the birth of Christ. I add farther, that not only is the vulgar opinion of the season of his nativity destitute of any just ground ; but there are good and valid arguments against it. For instance, There was a decree from Caesar Augustus issued and executed at this season, that all persons, women as well as men, should repair to their respective cities, to be taxed, or enrolled. This occasioned the Virgin Mary to come to Bethlehem at that time ; where she was delivered. But surely this decree was not exe- cuted in the middle of winter, which was a very severe season in that country, and highly inconvenient for travelling, especially for such multitudes, and in particular for women in Mary's condition ; as may be inferred from what our Saviour saith in the twenty- fourth chapt'eV of St. Matthew, concerning the difficulties to which his disciples would be exposed, if their flight, previous to the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, should happen in the winter, ver. 20. Again, at the time when Christ was born, there were shepherds abroad in the fields by night watching their flocks ; certainly a very unseasonable service for the winter in Judea, if we may judge of the weather in that country, and at that season, by the Psalmist''s description: " He giveth snow like wool, he scattereth the hoar frost like ashes ; he casteth forth his ice like morsels ; who can stand before his cold ? " Psalm cxlvii. 16, 17. Upon the whole, there is great probability, that Christ was not born in December. But, though we do not pretend to be certain of the real time when he was born, there are, however, several reasons to incline us to believe, it was at the feast of tabernacles ; particularly, as was hinted before, the synchronism of the type and the antitype in the two other principal feasts ; and the same, there- fore, was probably the case as to this feast. Again, Dr. Lightfoot has offered several arguments, to prove that Christ was baptized at the time of the feast of tabernacles *. But when he was baptized, he was ita-d erav rpiaKovra apxojievos, that * Sec liis Harmony on Luke iii. 21. F F 434 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK IH. is, entering on his thirtieth year, Luke iii. 23 ; consequently this was the same time of the year in which he was born. Farther, Joseph Scaliger observes, that the twenty-four courses of the priests, which went through the year, began with the month Nisan about the vernal equinox ; and that consequently the eighth course, to which Zacharias belonged, ministered in the latter part of July. If from thence you reckon the five months to the virgin's conception, and nine more for her gestation, the birth of Christ will fall in the latter end of September, that is, at the season of the feast of tabernacles *. CHAPTER VII. OF THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS AND NEW MOONS. Having considered the three grand festivals, at which all the male Israelites, who were able, were obliged to assemble at the national altar, we proceed to consider the lesser feasts, of whicli some were menstrual, others annual. The menstrual were the new moons, which were kept on the first day of every month ; and of these one was more remarkable and to be observed with greater solemnity than the rest ; namely, on the first day of the month Tisri. This is styled the " feast of trumpets." It is proper first to consider the common new moon feast, of which we find no other institution in the law of Moses than merely a prescription of certain sacrifices to be offered on the day of the new moon, or, which is the same, on the first day of the month, over and above the sacrifices that were daily offered ; see Numb, xxviii. 11 — 15. The sacrifices prescribed on this occasion, are two young bul- locks, one ram, and seven lambs, for a burnt-offering, and a kid of the goats for a sin-offering, to be attended with meat-offerings and drink-offerings, as usual in other sacrifices. The number of the animal sacrifices are eleven, for which the Hebrew doctors have devised the following reason, because the * See Scalig. Fragment, p. 58, 59, ad Calceni Emend. Temp. ; Mede's Diatrib. disc, xlviii. on Dent. xvi. 16 ; Christ's Birth mistimed, a Tract, No. iv. in the Phoenix, 1707; and in defence of the common opinion, Selden on the Birth-day of our Saviour, apud Opera, vol. iii. torn. vi. p. 1405, et seq. CHAP. VIT.] THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS. 435 lunar year falls short of the solar by eleven days *. We find only one precept more in the law of Moses concerning these new moons ; namely, that *' in their solemn days, and in the beginning of their months, they shall blow with the trumpets over their burnt- offerings, and over the sacrifices of their peace-offerings;" Numb. X. 10. But this is rather to be considered as a ceremony attending the sacrifices, than as peculiar to the new moon days ; for the same thing is enjoined at their other solemn sacrifices, or on their other solemn days, at the several feasts which are instituted in the twenty- third chapter of Leviticus, which were to be proclaimed as holy convocations, ver. 2 ; and this was always done by sound of trumpets ; Numb. x. 7, 8. Indeed, in the eighty-first Psalm this seems to be mentioned as a rite peculiar to the new moon : " Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, at the time appointed, on the solemn feast day;" ver. 3. But it is probable the new moon, here mentioned, was the feast of trumpets, or the new moon at the beginning of the month Tisri ; for the use of which festival Dr. Patrick supposes this Psalm was composed. This was the chief new moon of the year, and was distinguished from the rest by peculiar rites, particularly by the blowing of trumpets, as we shall see hereafter. The trumpet, or musical instrument, of which Asaph here speaks as to be sounded on the new moon to which he refers, was the ")QW shophar, made of horn, and therefore sometimes rendered the cornet ; whereas the instrument used on the ordinary new moons, or at the beginning of their months, was the n^iwn chatsotserah , Numb. X. 10, which was made of silver; ver. 2. Of both these instruments we have formerly given an account f. The new moon to which Asaph refers was to be kept as a sab- bath, for it is called a solemn feast day. But I do not find the or- dinary new moons ever so styled ; nor does it appear by the law of Moses, that they were to be observed as sacred festivals, or sabbath days, in which no servile work was to be done. They are not mentioned among the sacred feasts in the twenty-third chapter of Leviticus. Nor is any thing prescribed on those days more than the offering of the sacrifices already mentioned : nevertheless, sacri- fices relating to and implying devotion in the offerers, those days were accounted more sacred than common ones, and were accord- ingly observed by pious Israelites for the exercises of devotion; they used at these seasons to repair to the prophets, or other mi- * Reland. Autiq. pan iv. cap. vii, sert. iv. p. 510, 3d edit. t See p. 169. F F 2 436 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK til. nisters of God, to hear his word. This occasioned the Shunamite's husband inquiring, for what end she desired to go to the prophet that day, "when it was neither new moon nor sabbath;" a plain intimation, that it had been her custom to do it on those days. The new moons and sabbaths are mentioned together, as days of public worship, by several of the prophets. " It shall come to pass," saith the prophet Isaiah, " that from one new moon to an- other, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to wor- ship before me, saith the Lord;" chap. Ixvi. 23. Again, " Thus saith the Lord God" (by the prophet Ezekiel), " The gate of the inner court, that looketh toward the east, shall be shut the six working days ; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened ;" chap. xlvi. 1. And in the following remarkable passage of the prophet Amos : " Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn, and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat?" &c., chap. viii. 4, 5. It appears from this passage, that though the law did not expressly requii'e that they should abstain from servile work on the new moon, as it did on the sabbath, worldly busi- ness, notwithstanding, was, in a good measure, laid aside on those days. Besides the public, national sacrifices that were to be offered on the new moons, it was customary to make feasts, probably on the more private sacrifices oflfered by particular persons and families ; see 1 Sam. xx. 5, 6. In the opinion of the rabbles, whilst men are allowed to follow their vocations on the new moons, as on other days, the women are exempted from all labour. For they pretend, the new moon is in a peculiar manner the festival of the women, in commemoration of their liberality at the time of erecting the tabernacle, in contributing their most valuable jewels to promote the magnificence of the di- vine service, which memorable action was performed, they say, on the new moon of the month Nisan *. It does not appear in Scripture by what method the ancient Jews fixed the time of the new moon, and whether they kept this feast on the day of the conjunction, or on the first day of the moon"'s ap- pearing. The rabbles are of the latter opinion. They tell us, that, for want of astronomical tables, the Sanhedrim, about the time * See Buxtorf 's Synag. Judaic, cap. xxW- p. 473, 474, 3d edit. ; et Leidekker. de Re- publ. Hebraeor. lib. ix. cap. ii. p. 538, 539, Amstel. 1704. CHAP. VII.] THE FEAST OK TRUMPETS. 437 of the new moon, sent out men to watch upon the tops of moun- tains, and give immediate notice to them of its first appearance ; upon which a fire was made on the top of Mount Olivet, which, being seen at a distance, was answered by fires on the tops of other mountains, and they in hke manner by others still more remote ; by which means the notice was quickly spread through the whole land. But experience at length taught them, that this kind of in- telligence was not to be depended on, the Samaritans, and other profane persons, sometimes kindling such fires on the tops of mountains at a wrong season, on purpose to deceive the people, and disturb the order of the sacred festivals. In later times, there- fore, the Sanhedrim was forced to send expresses on this occasion to all parts of the country. It is farther added, that because of the uncertainty that would attend this way of fixing the time of the new moon, especially in cloudy weather, they observed two days, that they might be secure of being in the right *. Hence they account for Saul's expecting David at his table two days successively, on the feast of the new moon ; 1 Sam. xx. 24. The modern Jews keep this festival by repeating certain prayers in their synagogues, and afterward by feasting in their own housesf: and some devotees fast on the vigil of it ^. Many of them add another ceremony about three days after. They meet in companies in the night in some open place, when they bless God, in a prayer of considerable length, for having cre- ated the moon, and for having renewed her, to teach the Israelites that they ought to become new creatures. Then they leap up thrice in the air as high as they are able, and say to the moon, *' As we leap up toward thee without being able to touch thee, so may it be impossible for our enemies to rise up against us to hurt us§." The reason of God's appointing peculiar sacrifices to be oflfered at the new moon might be, in part, to make the time of it more carefully observed ; which was a matter of considerable import- ance, not only to prevent confusion in their chronology, since they reckoned by lunar months, but likewise because the true time of observing all their great festivals depended upon it. Neverthe- less, I conceive the chief reason of this institution was to preserve * Sec above, chap. i. p. SCO. + Buxtorf. Synag. cap. xxiv. p. .")00. 504. X Buxtorf. cap. xxiii. p. 489. § See Basnagc's History of the Jews, book v. chap. xiv. sect. ix. p. 451, 452, 438 JEWISH ANTiauiTiEs. [book IH. the Israelites from the idolatry of the heathens, who used to offer sacrifices to the new moon. Thus, among the Athenians, the first day of the month was ri? Upcorarr] fifiepau, a most holy day, as Plutarch styles it *. And there was a law, rats vovfirjviais 6vev, to offer sacrifices on the new moons f. Some indeed have observed so great a resemblance in several articles of the Athenian law to that of Moses, as to suspect, that the Athenian lawgiver took the hint of many of them from the Jewish institutions. Be that as it will, nothing is more likely than that as the sun and the moon were the principal idols the heathens worshipped, it was usual for them to pay their devotions to the moon, probably by sacrifices, chiefly at the time of her first appearing after the change. In order, therefore, to check this species of idolatry, God commanded the Israelites to offer solemn sacrifices to him at the same time that the heathens were sacrificing to the moon. Accordingly it is very observable, that the sin-offering on this occasion, which was to be a kid of the goats, is particularly and expressly directed to "be offered to Jehovah; Numb, xxviii. 15. The design of this, Grotius observes, was to put them in mind of the right object of worship at a time when they were in peculiar danger of being seduced to offer sacrifices to the moon, after the manner of the heathens : which remark is the more worthy of notice, in that, though in the same chapter a goat is ordered to be sacrificed for a sin-offering, both at the feast of the passover and at pentecost (ver. 22 — 30), yet it is not said in either instance, that it must be offered to Jehovah, though it was, no doubt, so intended ; in all probability because there was no such danger of this kind of idolatry at those seasons as there was at the new moon. Mai- monides likewise hath observed, that " this sin-offering is so peculiarly said to be unto the Lord, lest any should think this goat to be a sacrifice to the moon, after the manner of the Egyp- tians, who used to sacrifice one to the moon at this time, as they did to the sun at his rising :*;." And it seems, among the hea- thens, the goat was a favourite sacrifice to the moon, because the horns of that animal somewhat resemble the new moon §. X^us much for the common new moon. The new moon which began the month Tisri, the seventh of • Plutarch, de Vitando serealieno, Oper. torn. ii. p. 828, A, edit. Francof. 1620. t Vid. Petiti Commeut. in Leges Atticas, lib. i. tit. i. p. 85. X Moreh Nevoch. part iii. cap. xlvi. praesertim, p. 488. § Spencer, de Legibus Hebrceor. lib, iii. dissert, iv. cap. i. sect. v. p. 814, torn. ii. edit. Cantab. 17'27. CHAP. VII.] THK FEAST OF TRUMPETS. 439 the ecclesiastical, but the first of the civil year, was to be observed with more than ordinary solemnity, not only with several sacri- fices additional to those that were offered on other new moons, but it was to be kept as a sabbath, in which they were to have a holy convocatioH, and to do no servile work. And besides the sounding the trumpets over the sacrifices, as on the other new moons and solemn festivals, this was to be " a day of blowing the trumpets," Numb. xxix. 1 ; that is, as the ancient Jews under- stand it, they were to be blown from morning to evening * ; at least it imports they were to be blown more on this day than on any other. This day is also called " a memorial of blowing of trumpets ; " Lev. xxiii. 24 f. The Scripture nowhere expressly assigning the reason of this festival, and particularly of the blowing of trumpets, from whence it is called the feast of trumpets, the learned are very much divided about it. Maimonides thinks it was instituted to awaken the peo- ple to repentance against the annual fast, or great day of expiation, which followed nine days after. He makes the sound of the trumpet on this day to be in effect saying, " Shake off your drow- siness, ye that sleep, search and try your ways, remember your Creator and repent, bethink yourselves and take care of your souls," &c. X Some have supposed, that the apostle refers to this use and meaning of blowing the trumpets in the following passage of the Epistle to the Ephesians : " Wherefore he saith, Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light;" chap. v. 14. Accordingly they make the nominative case to Xtyft, he saith, to be Qeos, God, as speaking by the voice or sound of the trumpet. To this it may be objected, not only that there is no intimation in Scripture, that the trumpets were blown for the purposes Maimonides imagines, but likewise that the apos- tle would hardly have referred to a Jewish ceremony, as if the meaning of it were well known, when he was writing to tlie Gen- tiles, who probably were unacquainted with the ceremony itself, * Miinster. in loc. ; et Buxtorf. Synag. cap. .\xiv. p. 504. f See the institutiou of tliis festival, Numb. xxix. 1 — 6 ; Lev. xxiii. 24, 25. J Maimon. dePoeniteiitia, cap. iii. sect. vi. p. 56, edit, et vers. Clavering. Oxon. 1705. See also Moreh Nevoch. pait iii. cap. xliii. p. 471, 472, edit. Buxtorf. IG'29; and Shorn Tobh on Maimonides, quoted by Hottinger on Godwin, lib. iii. cap. vii. eect. vi. not. iv. p. 601. 440 JEWISH ANTIQUlTIliS. [bOOK III. and much more with its design and intention. Others, therefore, suppose the nominative case to Xeyet is ■ypa(pi], the Scripture, or God speaking in the Scripture, and tliat there is a reference to the following passage of Isaiah : " Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee," chap. Ix. I ; quoted by the apostle, though not verbatim, yet according to the sense ; while others apprehend the allusion is not so much to any par- ticular passage as to the general and principal design of the sacred oracles, which evidently is to awaken, convert, and save sinners. It is an ingenious conjecture of Heumannus *, that this passage is taken out of one of those hymns, or spiritual songs, which were in common use in the Christian church in those times, and which are mentioned by the apostle in a subsequent passage, " Speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs ; " Eph. v. 19. This author observes, that it consists of three metrical lines, Eyiipai xahuhuv, Ka/ ocM^ffrn. ix tcdi vixpcuv, Kai iTi(pa-V(rii ffoi o HpitrTOi. As for hio Xfyet, he makes it to be the same with bio Xcytrai, " wherefore it is said," as in Rom. xv. 10. . But, on supposition that these lines were taken out of some hymns or spiritual songs, known to have been composed by inspiration, I should rather think the nominative case to Xeyet may be Qeos, or nvevixa ayiov. To return to the subject we are upon : — It may be farther objected to Maimonides and some other Jews, who conceive the design of blowing the trumpets was to awaken men to repentance, that niMin pi^r zickron terungnah, which we render, "a memorial of blowing the trumpets," Levit. xxiii. 24, properly signifies a memorial of triumph, or shouting for joy : for, as Dr. Patrick observes f, the word ni^Tin terungnah is never used in Scripture but for a sound or shout of rejoicing, as the Chaldee «ni'' jabhaba, by which Onkelos renders it, always sig- nifies %. Other Jews, therefore, make the blowing of the trumpet to be a memorial of Isaac's deliverance by means of the ram, which was substituted to be sacrificed in his stead. Accordingly they * Poeciles, torn. ii. lib. ii. p, 390, as cited by Wolfiiis, Curffi Philologies in loc. t Patrick on Numb. xxix. 1. J See Chaldee Paraphrase on Numb. xxix. 1. CHAP. VII.] THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS. 441 say, the trumpets blown on this day must be made of rams' horns ; and such are those which the modern Jews blow in their syna- gogues *. They sound the horn thirty times, sometimes slow and some- times quick. If the trumpeter sounds it clear and well, they reckon it a presage of a happy year ; if otherwise, they express their con- cern by the sadness of their countenances, esteeming it an unfa- vourable omen. When he hath done, the people repeat these words loudly and distinctly f , '' Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound; they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance ; " Psalm Ixxxix. 15. And when they return from the synagogue, their salutation to one another is, " Mayest thou be written in a good year ;" the reply, "And thou alsoj." Some of the Christian fathers, particularly Basil § and Theo- doret II, make the sounding of the trumpets on this day to be a . memorial of the giving of the law at mount Sinai, which was attended with the sound of a trumpet; Exod. xix. 16. But the opinion more generally embraced, both by Jews and Christians, is, that it was a memorial of the creation of the world, at which the " sons of God shouted for joy," Job xxxviii. 7 ; and which is supposed, not altogether without reason, to have been at this season of the year. The month Tisri, therefore, was not only anciently, but is still, reckoned by the Jews the first month of the year ; and the feast of tabernacles, which was kept in this month, was said to be n^iyn n^ipn tekuphath hashanah, Exod. xxxiv. 22, which we render " at the end," but in the margin more truly, " at the revolution of the year ;" importing, that at this season the year had revolved, and was beginning anew. So that the feast of trumpets was indeed the new year's day, on which the people were solemnly called to rejoice in a grateful remembrance of all God's benefits to them through the last year, which might be in- tended by blowing the trumpets ; as well as to implore his blessing upon them for the ensuing year, which was partly the intention of the sacrifices on this day offered. The modern Jews have a notion, which they derive from the Mishna^, that on this day God judges all men, who pass before him as a flock before the shepherd. Therefore, as Basnage saith, * Abarbanel in Levit. xxiii. 24. •f- Buxtorf. Synag. Judaic, cap. xxiv. p. 502. + Buxtorf, p. 497, 498. § Basil in Psilui Ixxxi. II Tlicotlorct. Quc&tioncs in Levit. qiixst. xxxii. 'ij Mishn. tit. Rosli Hashauuh, cap. i. sect. ii. toiu. i. p. 31 1. 442 JKWISII ANTIQUITIES. [liOUK III. their zealots spend some a whole month beforehand, others four days, and especially the eve of this feast, in confessing their sins, beating their breasts, and some in lashing their bare backs by way of penance, in order to procure a favourable judgment on this decisive day. He adds, if Christians should be told that they have derived their vigils, their whipcord discipline, and the merit annexed to them, from the Jews, though they would not be pleased, it is nevertheless probable *. As for the long account which Godwin gives us of the transla- tion of feasts, it is mere rabbinical trifling, without the least foundation in the sacred oracles, and, of consequence, utterly unworthy our attention f . CHAPTER VIII. OF THE DAY OF EXPIATION. Godwin styles this day the feast of expiation, whereas it was altogether a fast, a day of deep humiliation, and of "afflicting their souls J." Nevertheless he is so inconsistent with himself, that he understands the fast mentioned in the account of St. Paul's voyage to Rome, Acts xxvii. 9, to be meant of the day of expiation. It is true there is no express injunction in the law of Moses, nor any- where in the Old Testament, to fast on this solemnity. But that it was understood to be a fast by the Jews appears from Josephus§ and Philo ||, who both style this day vrja-reia, " the fast." The rabbles commonly distinguish it by the name of nT) kdv tsoma rabba, the great fast % Tertullian likewise, speaking of the two goats that were offered on this day, S3X\h., jejunio offerebantur, they were offered on the fast **. As for the fast mentioned in the account of St. Paul's voyage, and concerning which it is said, that " sailing was now dangerous, * See Basnage's History of the Jews, book v. chap. xiii. On the feast of trumpets, see Meyer, de Tempor. et Festis Diebus Hebrseor. ■f Vid. Bochart. Hieroz. part i. lib. ii. cap. i. Oper. torn. ii. p. 561, 562, Liigd. Bat. 1712. X See an account of the institution of this annual solemnity, Lev. xvi., and chap, xxiii. 27—32. § Joseph. Autiq. lib. iii. cap. x. sect, iii. p. 172. II Philo de Vita Mosis, lib. ii. Oper. p. 508, F, edit. Colon. Allobr. 1613. % Midrasch Ruth. xlvi. 4, et Echa Rabbati, Ixxx. 1, quoted by Reland, Antiq. part iv, cap. vi. sect. i. p. 492. ** Tertullian adversus Judseos, cap. xiv. Oper. p. 201, C, edit. Rigalt. CHAP. VI1I-] Till; DAY OF EXPIATION. 443 because the fast was now past," Acts xxvii. 9 ; Castalio, not being able to conceive what a Jewish fast could have to do with saihng, supposes there is an error in the Greek copy, and that instead of vrja-reiav it should be i/rjueniap, which signifies calm weather ; and according to him the meaning is, that sailing was now dange- rous, because the fine weather, or calm season, was now over. However, all the manuscripts and ancient versions remonstrate against this emendation; and, indeed, there is no need of it, to support even Castalio's own sense of the passage ; for this Jewish fast being kept on the tenth day of the month Tisri, a little after the autumnal equinox, it is in fact the same thing to say the fast was already past, or the calm season of the year was over. Before the invention and use of the compass, sailing was rarely practised in the winter months ; and it was reckoned very dange- rous to put to sea after the autumnal equinox. Hesiod observes, that at the going down of the Pleiades navigation is dangerous * ; and the going down of the Pleiades, he saith, was in autumn, when after harvest they begin to plough f . Again, speaking of safe and prosperous sailing, for which he allots fifty days after the summer solstice, he admonishes to make haste, and get home before the time of new wine, and the autumnal storms, which make the sea difficult and dangerous +. Philostratus, in his Life of Apollonius Tyaneus §, saith, that at the latter end of autumn the sea was more unsettled. And Philo speaks of the beginning of autumn as the last season that was fit for navigation ||. These testimonies suflSciently demonstrate, that when the sacred historian declares, that " sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was already past," he speaks according to the common sense and apprehension of those times ; and he likewise ascertains the season of the year, when this fast was kept, to be about or soon after the autumnal equinox ; which, answering to the time of the day of expiation among the Jews, renders it highly probable, that this was the particular fast to which the writer of the Acts refers. As to the objection of Erasmus Schmidius^, that it is improbable these Alexandrian mariners should denominate the seasons of the year from Jewish fasts or festivals, he should have observed, that the passage under consideration is not the words of the Alexan- * Hesiod, Opera et Dies, lib. ii. 1. 23(i— 210. t Hesiod, lib. ii. 1. 2. + Hesiod, lib. ii. 1. 281—295. § Philostrat. iu Vita ApoUonii, lib. iv. cap. iv. p. 168, A, edit. Paris, 1608. II Philo, Lcgat.ad Caiutn, Oper. p. 770, B, edit. Colon. Allobr. 1613. H Erasmus Schmidius iu loc. 444 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [UOOK III. tlrian mariners, but of Luke the historian, who was a Jew by nation, and no doubt, therefore, denominated the seasons from some Jewish fast, according to the custom of his country. Scaliger * conceives the fast here referred to was that in the month Tebeth, or the tenth month, answering to our December or January ; which fast is mentioned by the prophet Zechariah, chap. viii. 19, and was kept in memory of Nebuchadnezzar''s sitting down before Jerusalem, to besiege it, on the tenth day of the month ; 2 Kings xxv. 1. ScaHger has been followed in this opinion by several others; but is confuted by Hasaeusf, who shows, that sailing was absolutely disused, both by the Romans and. Greeks, in the depth of winter. The Romans shut up the sea, or forbad sailing, from the third of the ides of November to the sixth of the ides of March ; that is, from November the twenty-second to March the twenty-first; and it appears by Theophrastus %, that the Greeks opened the sea at their Dionysia, or feast of Bacchus, which was kept in March. It is, therefore, altogether improbable, or rather incredible, that the ship in which Paul sailed should put to sea soon after the fast of the tenth month. It remains, then, that the fast here intended must be the day of expiation, which fell out in our September or October. This account from Hasaeus will likewise explain the reason of Paul and his companions stopping three months at Melita, before they could get a passage to Italy. " After three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle ;" Acts xxviii. 11. Now, supposing they first put to sea at the beginning or middle of October, yet sailing slowly, and much time being spent before their shipwreck, chap, xxvii, 7. 9, proba- bly they did not arrive at Melita till the middle of December ; and there they were forced to stay till the sea was opened in the spring, or till the law allowed them to put to sea again in March. Upon the whole, as there is great reason to conclude that the fast, which was lately past at the beginning of Paul's voyage, was the day of expiation; we may from hence infer, that this day was kept as a fast by the Jews ; though, as we before observed, fasting is not expressly enjoined in the Mosaic institution, unless it was included, or, as some have thought, directly intended in the words "Ye shall afflict your souls:" Lev. xvi. 29. This seems to be * De Emcndat. Tempor. cited by Wolfius, Curse Philologies in Act. xxvii. 9. f See his Discourse do Computatione Mensium Paulini Itineris, in the Bibliotheca Bre- incnsis, class, i. p. 17, et seq. J Thcophrast. Charact. Ethic, cap. iv. alias iii. CHAP. VIII.] THE DAY OF EXPIATION. 445 the meaning of tlie same expression in the following passage of Isaiah : " Is it such a fast that I have chosen ? a day for a man to afflict his soul ? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?" chap. Iviii. 5. Among the several external rites here particularly specified, as belonging to a fast, and as carefully observed by the hypocritical Jews, there is nothing said of their abstinence from food, which undoubtedly belonged to a fast, and might naturally have been expected to have been mentioned on this occasion, unless it be intended by the phrase, " afflicting their souls." By the soul we may understand the sensitive part of man, which is afflicted by fasting. Accord- ingly David saith, that he had " humbled his soul with fasting ;" Psalm xxxv. 13. The word here translated humbled is the same which in Leviticus is rendered afflicted. And if by the soul we understand the rational soul, or mind, some have observed a natural connexion between afflicting the soul with a deep, peni- tential sense of sin, and bodily fasting ; inasmuch as great grief never fails to pall the appetite, and incline men to fast ; and therefore " afflicting their souls" very naturally implies abstinence from food. Hence, perhaps, the light of nature hath led men to practise fasting, as a proper token and evidence of inward contri- tion. Thus the Ninevites, though heathens, proclaimed a fast of strict abstinence from food, when they were threatened with speedy destruction; Jonah iii. 5. 7. We find, indeed, no Scrip- ture example of religious fasting before' the institution of this an- nual fast by Moses; yet this silence concerning it will by no means prove it was never practised. But from the time of Moses the Jewish history abounds with instances and examples of this sort. After the unexpected defeat before Ai, Joshua and. all the elders of Israel continued prostrate before the ark from morning to night, Josh. vii. 6 ; which must therefore be without eating. The same was practised by the eleven tribes, upon the desolation which had befallen the tribe of Benjamin ; they " wept, and sat there before the Lord, and fasted that day until evening ;" Judges XX. 26: and again by all the people at Mizpeh, in token of their repentance for having served Baalim and other strange gods, 1 Sam. vii. 6 ; and particularly by David, in hopes of saving the life of the child which he had by Bathsheba, 2 Sam. xii. 16; and on other occasions, when, as he saith in the before-cited passage, lie " humbled his soul with fasting.'"' Besides the annual fast in the seventh month, we read of three 446 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK III. othei's kept by the Jews after their return from the captivity ; one in the fourth month, another in the fifth, another in the tenth ; Zech. viii. 19. The later Jews had so muUiphed them, that they filled almost half their calendar. According to the rabbies, the fast we are now speaking of was to be observed with extraordinary strictness : they mention six things in particular, which they were that day to abstain from : namely, eating, drinking, washing, anointing themselves, wearing shoes, at least those made of leather, and the use of the marriage- bed *. This fast being called a sabbath, and being kept like a sabbath, by their abstaining from all servile work (Lev. xvi. 31), as proba- bly their other fasts were, might occasion the error of those heathen writers, who represent the Jews as fasting on their weekly sab- baths. Suetonius cites Octavius saying, in an epistle to Tiberius, " Ne Judseus quidem, mi Tiberi, tarn diligenter sabbatis jejunium servat quam ego hodie servavi :" a Jew does not observe the fast of his sabbath so carefully as I have done to-day f. And Justin saith of Moses, " Quo (sc. ad montem Synae) septem dierum jejunio per deserta Ai'abiae cum populo suo fatigatus, cum tandem venisset septimum diem, more gentis sabbatum appellatum, in omne aevum jejunium sacravit, quoniam ilia dies famem illis erroremque finie- rat:" that, arriving at Mount Sinai, after wandering and fasting in the deserts of Arabia seven days, he consecrated every seventh day, called the sabbath, for a perpetual fast, because that day had put a period to their wandering and hunger %. This annual fast is called in the Hebrew nns^ri L^vjom hacchi- purim, the day of atonement, kut f^ox^v, Lev. xxiii. 27, because of the extraordinary expiatory sacrifices offei'ed thereon, and because the rites which the law prescribed to be then used, were more eminently typical of the ministry of our great high-priest Jesus Christ, and of the atonement made by him for the sins of his people, than those which appertained to any other festival. And whereas other expiatory sacrifices atoned for particular sins, and the sins of particular persons, the Jews say, the sacrifices of this day atoned for all the sins of the foregoing year, and that of the whole nation §. They add, likewise, that on this day Satan had • Mishn. tit. Joma, cap. viii. sect. i. torn. ii. p. 252, Surenhns. t Sueton. in Vit. Octav. cap. Ixxvi. p, 473, 474, tom.i. edit. Pitisci, Traject. ad Rhen. 1690. X Justin, lib. xxxvi. cap. ii. sect. xiv. p. 524, edit. Grasvii, Lugd. Bat. 1701. § Mishn. tit. Joma, cap. iii. sect, viii. With respect to offences against their neighboura, the expiation was on condition the offended persons were appeased . See sect. ix. CHAP. VIII.] THE DAY OF EXPIATION. 447 no power to do any harm to their nation, as he had oh the other three hundred and sixty-four days of the year. Which opinion is abundantly confirmed by the cabaUsts; for they find that the letters of the word \\Dwn hasafan, make, according to their gematria, three hundred sixty and four*. Several reasons are assigned by the Jews for God's fixing this annual fast and expiation to the tenth day of the month Tisri. For instance, their tradition saith, this was the day on which Adam repented of his transgression, and God was reconciled to him ; and the day also on which Abraham was circumcised ; and therefore they were in so particular a manner to repent of and atone for their transgressions of God's covenant, on this day, when they (as being included in their fatlier Abraham) were first taken into covenant with Godf. Farther, the rabbies tell us, this was the day on which Moses came down the last time from the mount, having received the second table from God, with an assurance of his having pardoned their sin of the golden calf, and therefore it was annually to be kept as a day of expiation and plenary remission '^. It was probably on this last Jewish ti-adition that Mohammed founded the institution of his annual fast on the month Ramadan, in which he saith the Koran was sent down from heaven §. On these Jewish traditions we can have no dependence ; nor need we be solicitous to discover the reason of God's appointing the tenth of the month Tisri for the day of expiation in prefer- ence to any other, since the absolute silence of Scripture concern- ing it is a sufficient indication that the knowledge of it is of no importance. We have only to observe further concerning the time of this fast, that it was to be kept from evening to evening, Lev. xxiii. 32; which expression, as it is peculiar to this day, and is not used concerning the weekly sabbath, or any other festival, the Jews understand to import more than a natural day, or that this fast was to comprehend the evening, or some of the latter part, of the ninth day, as well as the whole tenth. Although, therefore, the tenth day of the month is appointed for the day of atonement, * Buxtorf. Synag. Judaic, cap. xxvi. p. 535, 3d edit. •f Abarbanel in Lev. xxiii. cited by Meyer, de Tcmporibus ot Festis Hebraeor. part ii. cap. XV. sect. iii. p. 309, 310; and more fully by Nicolai, Annot. in Cunaeum de Republ. HebrsBor. lib. ii.cap. iv. not. i. p. 223, 224, Lugd. Bat. 1703. X Maimon. Moreli Nevocb. part iii. cap. xliii. § Sale's Translation of tbe Koran, cbap. ii. p. 21. 448 JliWISn ANTIQUITIES. [book III. ver. 27, yet it is said, ver. 32, " Ye shall afflict your souls in the ninth day at evening.'" Accordingly they are said to have begun this half an hour before sun-set on the ninth, and to have con- tinued it till half an hour after sun-set on the tenth. So that this sabbalh was an hour longer than any other*. It is therefore called in the Talmud ^qT' Joma, the day, by way of eminence, and by the Hellenistic Jews, o-a/3/3aroi/ c-afi^armv. We now proceed to the consideration of those rites with which the day of expiation was to be observed. And here, from the rabbles, I might give you a long detail of those which were pre- paratory, and were used for several days beforehand ; especially relating to the high-priest, who on this day was to perform the most solemn part of all his ministry. They tell us, that, leaving his own house, he constantly resided in an apartment of the temple for a week before, and during every day practised the sacred rites, such as sprinkling the blood of the daily sacrifices, burning in- cense, &c., that he might be expert in performing the peculiar duties of his office on the day of expiation. And lest, after all, he should be ignorant or unmindful of them, the Sanhedrim sent elders to read the ceremonial to him, to direct him in the service requisite on this occasion, and to swear him not to make any alteration in itf. But, as Basnage very justly observes, the Tal- mudists make no scruple to invent ceremonies unknown to their fathers X ; we shall therefore pass over the rites mentioned by them without any farther notice, and attend only to those that are prescribed in the divine law. Besides fasting, spoken of before, this day was to be kept with all the strict and religious regard of a sabbath, Lev. xxiii. 32 ; xvi. 29 ; and with offering sacrifices, first for the high-priest and his family, and then for the people, Heb. vii. 27 §. The victims offered on this day, including the daily burnt- offerings, were fifteen. The two fii'st were a bullock and a ram, and were designed to make atonement for the " high-priest him- self, and for his house ;""' by which is probably meant the other priests, and perhaps the whole tribe of Levi ; for the priests are called " the house of Aaron; " Psalm cxv. 10. 12 ; and cxxxv. 19. * Maimon. dc Solennitate Expiationum, cap. i. sect. vi. p. 823,824, Crenii Fascicul. Septitni. •f Mishn. tit. Joma, cap. i. sect. i. — v. p. 206 — 209, torn. ii. edit. Surenhusii ; Maimon. de Solenni Die Expiationum, cap. i. sect. iii. — v. p. 653—655, Crenii Fascic. Septiini. See also Buxtorf. de Synag. cap. xxv. xxvi. :{: Basnage's History of the Jews, book v. cbap. xiii. sect. vi. p. 448. § See an account of these sacrifices in Lev. xvi. 3. 5, 8, and Numb. xxix. 7—11. CHAP. VIII.] THE DAY OF EXPIATION. 449 However, Rabbi Jehuda, understanding by the high-priest's house chiefly his wife, makes it so necessary for him to have a wife on this day, that, if she died, he must marry another, that he might satisfy the law, by making expiation for himself and his wife. But this opinion is rejected by the other rabbles *. Of the victims, none are more remarkable than the two goats, which the high-priest was to receive from the congregation, and to set them before the tabernacle, casting lots which of the two should be immediately sacrificed, and which should be sent alive into the wilderness, after the sins of the people had been confessed over him, and laid as it were upon him. The manner in which these lots w^ere cast does not appear in Scripture. But if we may credit the rabbles, there was an urn brought to the high-priest, into which he threw two wooden lots, on one of which was written, " For the Lord;" on the other, " For bi«ri? gnazazel," the word which we render the scape-goat. After he had shaken them, he put both his hands into the urn, and brought up the lots, one in each hand ; and as the goats stood one on each side of him, their fate was determined by the lot that came up in the hand next to them. If the right hand brought up the lot for the Lord, they regarded it as a good omen. This, they say, fell out through the whole priesthood of Simeon the Just. If the left hand brought up that lot, they accounted it as a bad omen, and an indication that God was not pacified f . The goat on which the lot fell for life is called in the Hebrew hli^\)i gnazazel, Lev. xvi. 8 ; concerning the meaning of which word there are divers opinions. The chief are the three fol- lowing : — 1st. The most common opinion is, that h'ii.VJ gnazazel is a name given to the goat itself, on account of his being let go ; as being derived from li? gnez, a goat, and bT« azel, ahiit, to go away. Thus it is explained by BuxtOrf |, and by Paulus Fagius §, and many others || ; and so it was understood by our translators, who therefore render it a scape-goat ; the Septuagint likewise renders it aTroirofiiraios, and the Vulgate emissarius. To this interpretation • Mishn. tit. Joma, cap. i. sect. i. oum notis Maimon. et Bartenor. in loc. p. 20(5, torn, ii. edit. Surenhus. •f- Mishn. tit. Joma, cap. iii. sect. ix. p. 223, torn. ii. ; et Maimon. de Solenni Die Ex- piationum, cap. iii. sect. i. — iii. p. 665 — 669, Crenii Fascic. Septimi. + Buxtorf. liC-xic. Hebraic, et Chaldaic. in verb. II Fagius in loc. apiid Criticos Sacros. § Francisc. Turretiue de Veritatc Satisfact. Christi, part iii. sect. .\xiv. p. 141, fJciiev*, 1666. G G 450 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [boOK III. it is, however, objected, that Xi (jnaz, signifying a she-goat, !?T« azel^ which is the third person mascuhne, cannot agree with it. Bo- chart, therefore, derives gnazazel from the Arabic word gnazala, signifying to remove or separate ; and understands by it a separate place or wilderness*. But others perceive no occasion to have recourse to the Arabic, as with respect to compound words such an enallage generis is not uncommon in the Hebrew f- 2dly. The second opinion, espoused by Le Clerc %, is, that gnazazel was the name of a place, either a mountain or cliff, to which the goat was led, and from thence, as the rabbles say, he was cast down and killed §. In favour of this it is alleged, that the words in the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus, " He that let go the goat," M«Ji?^ langnazazel^ cannot be properly rendered any other way than to gnazazel, which intimates that gnazazel must be a place. To this it is objected, that those who have examined the geo- graphy of the Holy Land have never been able to point out any place of that name, except in an anonymous writer of very little credit, mentioned by Aben-Ezra, who speaks of such a mountain near Mount Sinai, which must have been too far distant for the scape-goat to have been conducted thither from Jerusalem. Be- sides, Moses usually prefixes the word mount to the proper name of any mountain, as Mount Hebor, Mount Gerizim |)," &c. 3dly. The third opinion is that of Spencer ^, who is followed by Witsius **, Cocceius ff , Altingiusjj, Meyer §§, and others, that * Bocliart. Hicrozoic. part i. lib. ii. cap. liv. p. 653, et seq. •f" Vid. Witsii QSconom. Feeder, lib. iv. cap. vi. sect. liii. p. 506, edit. Leovard. 1677. Mr. Jones, in his MS. Lectures on Godwin, observes, that the word tJ? gnez, seems to be of the epicene gender. Non difBtendum est quidem, inquit ille, quin ly gnez, quatn plu- rimum in Scripturis usurpatur in genere foetnineo ; sed non inde sequitur quod ea vox nun- quam in masculine fuit usurpata ; revera vero potius vox epicena videtur, qu£B utrique generi tribui possit, quum pluralem format more masculinorum ; et quod revera ita est ex Gen. XXX. 32,33, constare videtur; proculdubio enim hircos wque ac eapras habuit Labanus, et quamvis ibi Com. 35, usurpantur adjectiva foeminei generis, tamen cap. xxxi. 8, eadem ad- jectiva de iisdem rebus in masculino usurpantur. X This is the opinion of R. Bechai, R. Solomon, R. Levi Ben Gerson, Aben-Ezra, and other Jewish wTiters, and of Cuuaeus, Vatablus, Schindler, and other Christians. See Ni. colai, Annot. in Cunaeum, lib. ii. cap. vi. It is likewise the opinion of Hottinger ; see his notes on Godwin. § Mishu. tit. Joma, cap. vi. sect. vi. cnm not. Sheringham. torn. ii. p, 243, 244, edit. Surenhus. ; Targum Jonathan Ben Uziel in Lev. xvi. 10, apud Walton Polyglot, tom. iv. ; Maimon. de Solenni Die Expiationum, cap. iii. sect. vii. p. 674, Crenii Fascicul. Septimi. II See Bochart. Hierozoic. part i. lib. ii. cap. liv. p. 653 ; Spencer, de Legibus, lib. iii. dissert, viii. cap. i. sect. i. p. 1040. ^ Spencer, ubi supra, sect. ii. p. 1041. ** DeCEconom. Feeder, lib. iv. cap. \'i. sect. Ixv. Ixvi. p. 513, edit. Leovard. 1677; et jEgyptiaca, lib. ii. cap. ix. sect. iii. p. 120, Amstel. 1696. tt Comment, in Heb. ix 25. ++ Alting. ad Lev. xvi. Open. tom. i. p. 82, 83. §§ Meyer, de Festis Hebraeor. part ii. cap. xv. sect. xvi. p. 315, 316. CHAP. VIII.] THE DAY OF EXPIATION. 451 pnazazel was the name of the devil, wlio was worshipped by the heathens, and particularly by the Egyptians, in the form of a goat *\ Hence Juvenal saith of Egypt, ■ Nefasiljic fsetum jugulare capcllse. Sat. XV. I, 11, because there the goat was honoured as a god. According to this interpretation of gnazazel, it is supposed by some, that both the goats were typical of Christ, that which was sacrificed signifying his death, and the other which was sent to gnazazel, his being exposed to and overcoming the power of the devil. Dr. Patrick objects to this opinion, that though it hath been espoused by very great men, it is difficult to conceive, that, when the other goat was offered to God on his altar, this should be sent among the demons who delighted in desert places. Nor will it accord with the Hebrew text, which saith, this goat was for gnazazel, as the other was for the Lord. Now surely none will imagine, that both these goats being " set before," and presented to " the Lord," as equally consecrated to him. Lev. xvi. 10, he would oi'der one of them for himself, and the other for the devil, especially as he soon after expressly commanded the Israelites "no more to offer their sacrifices unto devils," 'Z'''^t''::\i) sengnirim, *' Hircis, sive Daemonibus hirci formibus;" Lev. xvii. 7. And though Spencer will not allow that the goat, which, he saith, was sent to gnazazel, or to the devil, was to be considered as a proper sacrifice to him, but only as being delivered into his power, and given up to his disposal ; nevertheless, as the former goat, upon whom the lot to the Lord fell, was a sacrifice to the Lord, so the same expression being used concerning the goat on whom fell the lot to gnazazel, if the word gnazazel means a demon, it would seem to imply a sacrifice to that demon ; but granting the sending the goat to that demon was not properly a sacrifice, or an act of reli- gious worship, it seems, however, to have been a rite, which might so easily have been interpreted into an encouragement of demon-worship, that it is very difficult to conceive of it as a divine institution. Upon the whole, though we cannot arrive at absolute certainty in this matter, the first opinion appears most probable ; and that, as the sacrifice-goat was typical of the expiation of sin by the * Herodot. Eutei'p. cap. xlvi. p. IOC, 107, edit. Gronov. ; Maimon. Moich Nevoch. part iii. cap. xlvi. p. 480. Sec various testimonies to the same purpose in Bochart. Hieroz. parti, lib. ii. cap. liii. p. f)41, and part ii. lib. ri. cap. vii. p. 828. 830. Compare Lev. xvii. 7, and 2 Chron. xi. 1.^, in the Hebrew D^Tyw sengnirim, hirci. C> G 2 452 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK Ul. sacrifice of Christ, the scape-goat, which was to have the sins of the people confessed over him, and as it were put upon him, and then to be sent away alive into some desert place, where they would see him no more, was intended to signify the effect of the expiation, namely, the removing of guilt, insomuch, that it should never more be charged on the once pardoned sinner *. The rites attending the public service of this day were chiefly performed by the high-priest, who had more to do on this than any- other day of the year, or perhaps all the rest together. He was to kill and offer the sacrifices, and sprinkle their blood with his own hands; Lev. xvi. 11 — 15. He was dressed, therefore, in a manner suitable to this service, with only a single linen vest and breeches, and with a linen girdle and mitre ; ver. 4. These the Jews called the white garments, as distinguished from the other four, which completed the pontifical habit, wherein the high-priest ministered on other occasions, and which were styled the golden garments, because they had a mixture of gold in them ; namely, the blue robe, adorned at the bottom with golden bells and pome- granates ; the embroidered ephod, with its curious girdle ; the breast-plate, enriched with jewels set in gold; and the golden fillet or crown upon the mitre. Whenever the high-priest mini- stered on other occasions, he was dressed in these eight garments f. On the day of expiation he wore only the four which were com- mon to him and the other priests. Some conceive this was de- signed as a token of humility, this day being appointed for the confession of sins and for repentance. There was also another good reason why he should on this occasion be dressed like an ordinary priest, because he was to do the work of one in killing and offering the sacrifices, which being a laborious employment, required him to be thinly clad, and his upper garments to be laid aside. Besides, as some of it was but dirty work, performing it in these vestments, which were rich and finely embroidered, would have been altogether improper. The grand peculiarity in the service of this day, was the high- priest entering into the holy of holies, which was not permitted at any other time; Lev. xvi. 2, &c., compared with Heb. ix. 7. • On this subject, see Frischmuthi Dissert, diiae de Hirco Emissario, apud Thesaur. Tlieolog. Philolog. tom. ii. p. 914,et seq. ; Deylingii Observat. Sacrse, parti, observ. xviii. de Hirco Emissario Christi Fignra ; Spencer, de Hirco Emissario, apud Leg. Hebrasor. lib. iii. dissert, viii. ; and Bochart. Hieroz. pnrt i. lib. ii. cap. liv. •f See these garments described in Exod, .xxviii., and above, book i. chap, v, p. 130—145. CHAP. Vni.] THE DAY OF EXPIATION. 463 And as it was his peculiar privilege thus to draw nearer to God? or to the tokens of his special presence, to the ark, to the mercy- seat, and to the shechinah, tluui was allowed any other mortal, Philo makes him, on this occasion, to be transformed into some- what more than man. To which purpose he cites a passage of Leviticus in the following manner : 'Orav — dcrii] eis ra ayia tcov ayiay, ■scilicet, 6 fjLfyas IfpfvSf avBpunvos ovk (crrai ecos av t^iKBrj- " Cjuum ingreS- sus fuerit, nempe raagnus sacerdos, in sancta sanctorum, non erit homo, donee egressus fuerit *." But this conceit is built on a sad misrepresentation of the passage ; for the words are these, nay avdpcoTTOi OVK ea-rat ev tj] aKrjvrj, " there shall be no man in the taberna- cle when he," the high-priest, "goes in to make an atonement in the holy place ; " Lev. xvi. 17. It is queried, whether on this day the high-priest entered more •than once into the most holy place. It should seem, by the ritual in the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus, that he must do it three or four several times, in order to carry in, ^rst, the censer full of burning coals in one hand, and the incense in the other, ver. 12 ; secondly, the blood of the bullock, which was sacrificed for himself and his house, ver. 14 ; thirdly, the blood of the goat of the sin- offering for the people, ver. 15; and it may he, fourthly, as the rabbles say, to bring out the censer and the pot which contained the incense. Thus, according to them, he entered into the holy of holies, on this one day, four several times f ; whereas some Christian writers, on the contrary, have asserted, that he entered only once ; supposing it to be so declared by the apostle, when he saith " Into the second [tabernacle] went the high-priest alone once every year ; " Heb. ix. 7. Besides, they allege, that if he had entered oftener, he would have failed, in that particular, of being what the apostle represents him to be, a type of Christ %^ " who entered once into the holy place ;" ver. 12. To this it is replied, that the high-priest might properly enough be said to enter in only once, that is, one day in the year, though he entered in ever so many times on that day. In like manner all the male Israelites are said to appear before the Lord, or at the national altar, three times in the year, that is, at three different * PLilonis lib. secund. de Somniis, Opcr. p. 880, F, etlit. Colon. AUobr. 1613. \ Maiiuonides et Bartenora in Mislin. tit. Chcliin. cap. i. sect. ix. torn. vi. p. 23 ; et Mishn. tit. .Ionia, cap. v. sect. i. p. 231 ; sect. iii. p. 234 ; sect. iv. p. 235; cap. viii. sect. iv. p. 248, edit. Surenhus. ; Mainion. de Solcnni Die Expiationum, cap. iv. sect. i. p. 681, sect. ii. p. 682, 683. 686, Cienii Fascicul. Septimi. X See Wilkcns do Fiinctione PoiiUricia Ma.xiui. ad Hebr. i.\. 7. dissert, ii. cap. iii. prse- sertim a sect. x. ad fin. capitis, p. 763 — 76-5, toiii. ii. Thesauri Theologico Philolog. 454 Jl:^^'ISlI antiquities. [book hi. seasons, or on the three grand festivals. But no one would sup- pose they were permitted to visit the temple no more than once at each of those festivals, especially considering that two of them lasted each for the space of a week *. The service j^erformed by the high-priest in the inmost sanc- tuary was burning incense, and sprinkling the blood of the sacri- fices before the mercy-seat, which he was to do with his finger seven times; Lev. xvi. 14. The same number of sprinklings of the blood of the sin-offerings of the congregation is required on another occasion, chap. iv. 6 ; and likewise of the blood of the red heifer, which was burnt, in order to make the water of separation with its ashes ; Numb. xix. 4. The same rite is prescribed for the cleansing of a leper, Lev. xiv. 7 ; in dedicating the altar, chap, viii. 11 ; and at the consecration of the priests, Exod. xxix. 21, compared with ver. 35. Some persons discover a great deal of mystery in this number seven, observing that it is much used on other occasions. Jericho was besieged seven days, on each of which seven priests were to blow with seven trumpets; Josh. vi. Seven priests also blew with seven trumpets before the ark, when David brought it home ; 1 Chron. xv. 24. Naaman is ordered by the prophet Elisha to wash himself in Jordan seven times ; 2 Kings V. 10. In the book of the Revelation we read of the seven spirits of God, chap. v. 6 ; of the book with seven seals, ver. 1 ; of seven angels with trumpets, chap. viii. 2 ; and of seven phials full of the wrath of God ; chap. xv. 7. Every seventh day was the sabbath ; every seventh year was a year of rest unto the land, in which there was no ploughing or sowing ; and seven times seven years brought the jubilee. Seven was also much regarded in the number of victims offered on extraordinary occasions. Job offered seven bullocks and seven i*ams for his friends ; Job xlii. 1. David sacrificed the same number of victims on occasion of his bringing the ark to the place he had prepared for it ; 1 Chron. XV. 26. Hezekiah offered victims by sevens, when he abohshed idolatry, and restored the true religion; 2 Chron. xxix. 21. Nay, it appears that the number seven was highly regarded, and thought of great eflicacy in religious actions, not only by the Jews, but by the heathens. Balak, king of Moab, offered, by the direction of Balaam, seven oxen and seven rams upon seven altars ; Numb, xxiii. 1, 2. Apuleius saith, " Desirous of purifying myself, I wash in the sea, and dip my head seven times in the waves ; the * Vid. Deylingii Observat. Sacrae, part ii. observ. xiii. sect, xvi.— xxx. p. 184 — 198. CHAP. VIII.] THE DAY OF EXPIATION. 455 divine Pythagoras having taught, that this number is above all others most proper in the concerns of religion*." The high-priest is ordered to sprinkle the blood eastward, Lev. xvi. 14 ; in the appointment of which circumstance, likewise, some have discovered a profound mystery ; that whereas the priests, in all the other parts of their service, turned their faces to the west, the high-priest, in performing this chief part of his ministry, dis- posed his face toward the east, " as turning his back upon the beggarly elements of this world," and as representing him whose name is the East ; for so the Septuagint and the Vulgate render the Hebrew word nnv tsemach, in Zechariah vi. 12, " Behold the man whose name is," as we render it, " the Branch f but accord- ing to the versions just mentioned, avaroXr], or oriens. However, the true reason of his sprinkling the blood eastward is evidently because the mercy-seat, before which he was to sprinkle it, stood on the east side of the holy of holies, the side by the veil, which parted it from the sanctuary. It is said, " he shall sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat, and before the mercy-seat ;" by which one would think he sprinkled the mercy-seat itself with some of the blood. But the Jews unanimously understand it otherwise ; and indeed •'ia-!':/ gnal-pene^ which we render ** upon," may as well be translated " toward ;" or, as we express it, " over against the face of the mercy-seat." The difference between •':£-b;? gnal-pene and *'jQ^ lippeiie, which we render " upon," and " before,"" is only this, that the former signifies toward the top, and the latter toward the lower part of the mercy-seat f. The rabbies represent the high-priest as washing himself all over, and changing his dress several times during the service of this day, sometimes wearing the white and sometimes the golden vestments %. As to the spiritual or evangelical meaning of these rites, the apostle hath very particularly explained them in the ninth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews. As the high-pi-iest was a type of Christ, his laying aside those vestments which were " made for glory and for beauty,"" Exod. xxviii. 2, and appearing only in his * Apuleius de Asino Aurco, lib. xi. ad init. Those who would sec more concerning the number seven, and its supposed mysteries, may read St. Jerome on Amos v. 3, and Philo de Opificio Mundi, Oper, p. 15 — 21 ; de Legis AUcgor. lib. i. p. 31 — 33 ; dc Deca- logo, Oper. p. 585, 586, edit. Colon. Allobr. p. 1613. •\ Deylingii Observat. Sacrae, part ii. observ. xiii. sect. xxvi. xxvii. p. 194, 195. X Vid. Reland. Antiq. part iv. cap. vi. ; Mishn. tit. Joma, cap. iii. sect. iii. — \\\. p. 218 — 221 ; cap. iv. sect. v. p. 23(1 ; cap. viii. sect. iii. iv. p. 247, 248, torn. ii. Surcnhus. ; Maimon. dc Solenni Die Expialiouiiin, cap. ii. sect, i.— vi. p. 658 — 662 ; cap. iv. sect. i. p. 678; sect, ii. p. 685, 686, Crenii Fascic. Septimi. 456 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES, [BOOK III. white garments, might signify our Lord's state of humiliation, when he " laid aside the glory which he had with the Father before the world was," and " was made in fashion as a man." The expiatory sacrifices, offered by the high-priest, were typical of the true expiation which Christ made for the sins of his people by the sacrifice of himself; and the priest's confessing the sins of the people over, and putting them upon the head of the scape-goat, Lev. xvi. 21, was a lively emblem of the imputation of sin to Christ, " who was made sin for us," 2 Cor. v. 21 ; for " the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all ;" Isa. liii. 6. And the goat's "bearing upon him all the iniquities of the Jews into a land not inhabited," Lev. xvi. 22, signifies the effect of Christ's sacrifice in delivering his people from guilt and punish- ment. The priest's entering into the holy of holies, with the blood of the sacrifice, is interpreted by the apostle to be typical of Christ's ascension and heavenly intercession for his people, in virtue of the sacrifice of his death *. CHAPTER IX. OF THE SABBATICAL YEAR, OR SEVENTH YEA^'s REST. Among the Trrcoxa a-TOix^ia, or beggarly elements of the Jewish dis- pensation, the apostle mentions days, and months, and times, and years, Gal. iv. 9, 10. For besides the weekly sabbath, or days of rest, the law prescribed the observance of the monthly new moons, and annual festival seasons, such as the passover, pentecost, feast of tabernacles, &c., which are the /catpot, or times, to which the apostle refers ; and likewise whole years, to be observed with peculiar regard after certain returning periods, such as every seventh year, called the sabbatical year : and every seven times seventh, styled the jubilee. It is the former which falls under our present consideration! j * For a more particular account of the spiritual design of the rites attending the service of the day of expiation, see Witsius de (Econoni. Foederum, lib. iv. cap. vi. sect. Iviii. Concerning the day of expiation, see the commentators on the sixteenth chapter of Levi- ticus, particularly Ainsworth, Lightfoot's Temple Service, and the Mishnical tract Joma, with Shcriugham's notes. •\ The institution of the sabbatical year is in Exod. xxiii. 10, 11 ; Lev. x.w. 2 — 7; Deut. XV. 1—18; and xxxi. 10—13. CHAP. IX.] THE SABBATICAL YKAR. 457 and in the law of Moses it is distinguished from all others by several names. It is sometimes called n^r::ti>n ri:m sliaiiah hashe- bingnith, the seventh year, kut f^oxnv ; sometimes p«n nnu^ sabbath haarets, the sabbath, or rest of the land; and sometimes mrrp ntaatir shemittah Laihovah, the release of the Lord. The peculiar observances of this year were the four fol- lowing : 1st. A total cessation from all manner of agriculture. 2dly. Leaving all the spontaneous product of the ground to be used and enjoyed in common ; so that no person was to claim any peculiar property. 3dly. The remission of all debts from one Israelite 'to another. 4thly. The public reading of the law at the feast of taber- nacles. Before we consider these several particulars, there are two chronological questions to be briefly discussed : 1st. From whence the computation of the sabbatical year com- menced ; and, 2dly. At what season of the year it began. 1st. It is made a question, from whence the computation of the sabbatical year commenced, or how soon it began to be observed by the Jews. In the general, it was when they came into the land of Cannan. For they received this command, while they were yet in the wilderness, " When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath to the Lord ;"" Lev. XXV. 2. Nevertheless, it is far from being settled what year after their entrance into Canaan was observed as their first sabbatical year. Archbishop Usher * determines it to be the seventh year after the manna ceased, from which time the Israelites lived upon the fruits of the land of Canaan, Josh. v. 12; and six years being taken up in the conquest and division of the land, the seventh proved in all respects a year of rest, when they peaceably enjoyed the fruits of their victories, and of the country they had sub- dued. Nevertheless, others observing that the sabbatical year is en- joined to be observed after six years of agriculture, — *' Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vine- yard, and gather in the fruit thereof; but in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land;" Lev. xxv. 3, 4 ; I say others • Usser. Annalcs, A.M. 2554. 458 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK III. for tliis reason conceive it more probable, that the six years pre- ceding the sabbatical year did not commence till after the conquest and division of the land. For it is not to be supposed, that they could apply themselves to agriculture till they had actually con- quered it, or that they would do it till each man's property was assigned him. Now the year in which Joshua divided the land may be thus computed: Caleb was forty years old when Moses sent him from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land. Josh. xiv. 7 ; and this was in the autumn of the second year from their exodos, or at the season when the grapes, pomegranates, and figs were ripe, of which the spies brought a sample with them ; Numb. xiii. 23. But Caleb was eighty-five years old at the time of the division of the land. Josh. xiv. 10 ; it was, therefore, forty-five years since he went as a spy ; to which adding one year and a half before elapsed between that time and the exodos, and the division of the land will appear to have been made in the forty-seventh year of their departure from Egypt ; from which subtracting forty years, the time of their wandering in the wilderness. Numb. xiv. 33, 34, and there remain six years and a half from their entrance into Canaan to the division of the land, which was completed the latter end of the summer ; insomuch that every man's property was assigned him against the ensuing seed time, with which began the six years that preceded the first sabbatical year. Probably, there- fore, the first sabbatical year was not kept till the fourteenth year from their entrance into Canaan *. 2dly. The other chronological question is, at what season the sabbatical year began, whether with the month Nisan in the spring, or Tisri in autumn ; or, in other words, whether the sabbatical year was reckoned by the ecclesiastic or civil com- putation. This question, though not expressly determined by the Mosaic law, is, I apprehend, not very difficult to be decided. That the sabbatical year followed the civil computation, beginning with the month Tisri, may be strongly inferred from a passage in the twenty-fifth chapter of Leviticus, ver. 3, 4, where they are com- manded to " sow their fields and prune their vineyards, and gather the fruit thereof, for six years successively, and to let the land rest," or lie fallow, " on the seventh." Doubtless, therefore, the seventh, or sabbatical yeai', began after the harvest and fruits * Maiinon. de Anno Sabbatico et Jubikep, cap. x. sect. ii. CHAP. IX.] THE SABBATICAL YEAR. 459 were gathered in, and against the usual season of ploughing and sowing. It must then have begun in autumn*: for had it begun with the month Nisan, they must have lost a crop of the last year's sowing, as well as have neglected the seed time for the next year ; which is inconsistent with the law in the twenty-third of Exodus, ver. 10, " Six years shalt thou sow thy land, and gather in the fruits thereof." We proceed to consider the particular observances of the sab- batical year. The First is, The total cessation from all manner of agriculture : " Thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard ;"" Lev. XXV. 4. If it be asked, what they were to live upon during this year, the answer is, 1st. They were allowed to eat whatever the land and. fruit-trees produced spontaneously, without ploughing and pruning ; only the proprietors of the ground and trees were not to look upon the product of that year as peculiarly their own, but all was to be in common; as will be showed under another head. Now some crop would rise this year from the corn shed in the last harvest, and from what was scattered in winnowing, which they performed abroad in the fields. But, 2dly. The question is best answered by God himself: " I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years,"" ver. 21 : that is, for part of the sixth, the whole seventh, and part of the eighth, till harvest come, reckoning the years to begin with Nisan. Thus one whole year and part of two others were called three years ; as one whole day and part of two others, during which our Saviour laid in the sepulchre, are termed three days and three nights, Matt. xii. 40, rpds fifxtpas KM rptis vvKras, which is a Hebraism of the same import with the Greek word vvKdrjpepu, or three natural days f . This divine promise of an extraordinary blessing on the sixth year is doubtless to be understood conditionally, on supposition of their obedience to the law of God. When therefore they became neglectful on this head, and frequently revolted to idolatry, it is reasonable to suppose God, in a great measure at least, withheld that extraordinary blessing. Whereupon, as one sin frequently leads to another, they also frequently neglected the observance of * ^lishu. Rosh Hiisluinah, cap. i. sect. i. p. 300, torn. ii. f Sec Reland. Antiq. part iv. cap. i. sect. xx. xxi. p. 442 — 444, 3il edit. ; Kidder's De- monstration of the Mcssias, part i. chap. viii. p. 104 ; part ii. chap. iii. p. til — 64, '2d edit, fol. London, 1726. 460 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [book iir. the sabbatical year. And on that account, as Mr. Mede observes, the Lord, agreeably to what he had foretold and threatened (Lev. xxvi. 34, compared with 2 Chron. xxxvi. 21), caused them to be carried captive, and the land to be waste for seventy years, without inhabitant, till it had fulfilled the years of sabbath which they ob- served not. For their idolatry he gave them into the hand of their enemies, the Gentiles ; and moreover, for their sabbatical sacrilege, he caused them not only to be made captives, but carried away into a strange country, and their land lay desolate for seventy years *. This making profit of their land on the sabbatical year, as well as not remitting debts upon that year, as the law enjoined them, was " the iniquity of their covetousness, for which the Lord was wroth with them, and smote them ;"" Isa. Ivii.-IT. Indeed, after they had been thus chastised for their disobedience, they grew supersti- tiously scrupulous, rather than religiously obedient, in observing the sabbatical year. Nevertheless, it does not appear God ever renewed the extraordinary blessing on the sixth year, which he first promised them, and they had shamefully forfeited. So that in after-ages the sabbatical year was always a year of scarcity. Hence, when Alexander the Great, by a wonderful providence, was di- verted from his purpose of destroying Jerusalem, and, on the con- trary, became most kindly disposed toward the Jews, bidding them ask what they had to desire of him ; they petitioned for an exemp- tion every seventh year from paying tribute, because, according to their law, they then neit^ier sowed nor reaped f . Hence also our Saviour, forewarning his disciples of the approaching cala- mities of Jerusalem and Judea, whereby they would be obliged to quit their habitations and their country, advises them to pray that their flight might not be in the winter, nor ev o-a;3/3ara). Matt. xxiv. 20, which is most naturally to be understood of the sabbatical year ; when provisions being scarce, would make it doubly incon- venient to be forced to travel and sojourn among strangers. Secondly, Another observance, belonging to the sabbatical year, was leaving the spontaneous product of the fields and fruit-trees to be used and enjoyed in common ; so that no persons were to claim any peculiar property in them. For, although the product of this year was to be for the poor and the beast of the field, Exod. xxiii. 11, yet the pi-oprietors of the fields and vineyards were not ex- • Mode's Diatrib. discourse xxvii. p. 123, of his Works. + Joseph. Antiq. lib. xi. cap. viii. ; or Prideaux's Connect, part i. book vii. sub A, ante Christ. 332. CHAP. IX.] THE SABBATICAL YEAR. 4G1 eluded from sharing it in common with others ; as appears fi'om the following passage : " The sabbath of the land shall be meat for you, for thee and for thy servant," Lev. xxv. 6, 7 : where the word sabbath means the fruit that grew on the sabbatical year ; as else- where, chap, xxiii. 38, the sabbaths of the Lord signify the sacrifices offered on the sabbath-days. On this year, therefore, the whole land was one common field, in which none were considered as having any distinct property, but every rich and poor Israelite and foreigner who happened to be in the country, nay, men and beasts, were fellow-commoners. So that, as Maimonides saith, whoever locked up his vineyard or hedged in his field on the seventh year, broke a commandment ; and so likevvise, if he gathered in all his fruits into his house. On the contrary, all was to be free, and every man's hand alike in all places *. Since beasts are mentioned in the law as fellow-commoners with men, the Jews, according to Maimonides, were over-careful that they should have an equal share with themselves. So that when there was no longer any fruit for the beasts of the field, they would not eat of what they had gathered for themselves, but threw it out of their houses f . Thirdly, The next observance, attending the sabbatical year, was the remission of all debts from one Israelite to another; Deut. XV. 1— S. The rabbies have devised such a number of exceptions to this law, as in a manner wholly tp defeat it. They say, for in- stance, he that lends upon a pawn, is not bound to release ; that mulcts, or fines for defaming a man, &c., are not to be released ; that if a man was cast at law in a certain sum to be paid to another, it w^as not to be released ; and that if a man lent money on tlie express condition that the debt should not be released on the sabbatical year, he was not bound to release it J. Some of them will have the release to signify no more than that the debt should not be claimed in that year ; but that after the ex- piration of it, it might be demanded §. Thus they make void the commandment of God by their traditions ; for the law seems plainly to require an absolute discharge of all debts from one Israelite to another, though it did not extend to debts owing them by foreigners or heathens. The only point in this law, which can well bear dis- • Maimon. de Anno Sabbatic, et Jubihco, caji.iv. sect. xxiv. -|- Maimon. iibi supra, cap. vii. J Mishn. tit. Shebingnith, cap. x. prtcscrliin, sect, ii iv. p. 195, 196, torn, i, § Maimon. dc Anno Sabbat, cap. i.v. 462 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOKIH. pute, is, at what time the discliarge was to be given to the debtor, whether at the beginning or at the end of the year. Mainionides * understands, that it was not to be given till the end ; because it is said, " At the end of every seventh year ye shall make a release;" Deut. XV. 1. Others conceive, I apprehend on juster grounds, that the release took place at the beginning, or that the debtor was freed from his obligation as soon as the sabbatical year commenced. For in a parallel case, the I'elease of a Hebrew servant, we find this phrase, " at the end of seven years," means in the seventh year, as soon as the six years' service was completed ; see Deut. xv. 12. 18, compared with Jer. xxxiv. 14 : " At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother, an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee ; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee." The whole seventh year, then, is called the end of the seven years, as being the last of the week of years ; in like manner as we call the whole Saturday the end of the week. Some also refer to the sabbatical year the release of the Hebrew servants, or slaves ; who had liberty to go out free on the seventh year. But in that case, the seventh year seems rather to mean the seventh from the beginning of their servitude f ; because it is said, " If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve you, and in the seventh year lie shall go free;" Exod. xxi. 2. Again, " When he has served thee six years, then shalt thou let him go free from thee ;" Jer. xxxiv. 14. The year of manumission could not therefore be the sabbatical year, unless the servitude commenced immediately after the last sabbatical year. Although, therefore, the mention of the release of Hebrew servants may seem to be introduced in this place a little out of its proper course, we shall notwithstanding take this oppor- tunity briefly to comment upon the law concerning them in the twenty-first chapter of Exodus, ver. 1 — 6. I would especially re- mark, that in case such a servant, or slave, should voluntarily renounce his proffered liberty, and choose to abide with his old master, he was to be brought before the judges, that it might ap- pear he was not forcibly or fraudulently detained against the law, but staid with his own consent, ver. 5, 6. Upon which his ear was to be bored with an awl to the door-post of his master's house, in token that he was now affixed to his house and service for life, or * Maimon. de Anno Sabbatic, et Jubilaco, cap. ix. sect. iv. f Maimon. de Servis, cap. ii. sect. ii. iii. CHAP. IX.] THE SABBATICAL YEAR. 463 at least till the year of the jubilee. This Jewish custom was bor- rowed by other nations ; particularly by the Arabians ; as appears from a passage of Petronius Arbiter *, where he introduces one Giton expressing himself in these terms : "Circumcide nos, ut Ju- daei videamur ; et pertunde aures, ut imitemur Arabes." Juvenal puts the following expressions in the mouth of a Libertinus: -Quamvis Natus ad Euphratem, molles quod in aurc fenestra; Arguerint, licet ipse ncgem. Satyr, i. ]. 104. It is generally supposed by the commentators, that the Psalmist refers to this rite in the fourth Psalm : " Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire ; mine ears hast thou opened," ver. 6 : " Or," as the margin translates the verb nn^ caritha, " my ears hast thou digged." But the apostle, quoting this passage, which he applies to Christ, renders it o-w7;a Se Kar-qpTia-oi fioi, " a body hast thou pre- pared me," Heb. x. 5 : which is a quotation of the apostle's from the Septuagint, though it manifestly differs from the Hebrew text ; and great use hath accordingly been made of it, to prove the au- thority of that version. It cannot, however, be easily imagined he would follow the Septuagint in preference to the Hebrew original, when he was writing to those who were Hebrews, and would pro- bably object against such a citation. The commentators have endeavoured to show, that the quotation is made Kara diavomu, though not Kara \f^ip; according to the sense, though not according to the letter f . The learned Mr. Pierce observes, that the authority of the Sep- tuagint, and of an inspired apostle, should weigh more with us than that of our present Hebrew copies, which may have been corrupted through the mistake of transcribers, and that in this case the Hebrew should be corrected by the Greek. He conjec- tures, therefore, that the word D''3m osnaim, aures, was in the true copy Fii:-t« as-(/fipIi, time corpus. We have other instances of the like mistakes of joining two words in one. In the fifteenth verse of the third chapter of Isaiah, adb no mah lacliem, quidvobis, as it is in the keri, is made one word in the chetibh, a^^D viallacliem, which signifies their king ; but in that place it carries no sense at all. As for the change of fqlJ guph into D''i naim, it is not very improbable, considering the similitude of the j (/imel and j nnn^ [ * Petron. Arbitri Satyncon, p. 364, edit. Michael. Hadrian. Amstel. 1669. t See Wliitby, P00I/&C. in loc. 464 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [iJOOK III. the ''jod and i vau^ and the ^ phe final, and D mem final ; for it' the long stroke of the ?] /'Ag, below the line, was obscure, it might easily be mistaken for mem clausum. Indeed the word r]iJ guph is not found in the Hebrew Bible ; but we have iit^M f/uphah, the feminine ; and pjI^ ffi/pjJi is frequently used by the rabbies. Perhaps, therefore, it might be an otto^ Xeyofxevov in the clause under consideration. However, if that be disliked, we need only read rrlJ gevah, which the Seventy else- where render a-ajxa ; see Job xx. 25. As for the verb mi charah, Stockius shows its proper meaning is paravit*. So that, accord- ing to this conjectural criticism, the clause is literally rendered, by the Septuagint and by the apostle, amfia KaTrjpTLo-a) ixoi, "a body hast thou prepared me." Dr. Doddridge f brings another solution of the words from Monsieur Saurin, who supposes that the Septuagint chose to ex- plain the phrase of boring the ear by that of preparing the body for service ; as better known to those for whom the version was intended ; and therefore to be pi*eferred also by the apostle, who, though he directs this epistle to the Hebrews, to whom the other custom might be well known, yet intended it for general use J. We return to the sabbatical year. The Fourth observance, which we mentioned, was the public reading of the law at the close of it at the feast of tabernacles, Deut. xxxi. 10, 11. As men's minds were now free from cares by the release of their debts, it might be supposed they would the better attend to God's law. This, therefore, was a proper opportunity for the public reading it to the people. As for the general reason, on which the law concerning the sab- batical year was grounded, it was, no doubt, partly political and civil, to prevent the land being worn out by continual tilling § ; partly religious, to afford the poor and labouring people more leisure one year in seven, to attend to devotional exercises ; and partly mystical, typifying that spirisual rest, which Christ will give to all who come unto him : Matt. xi. 28. Some, both Jews and Chris- tians, make the sabbatical year to be typical of the Millennium. For as the law consecrates the seventh day and the seventh year, they conclude the world will last six thousand years in the state * See Stockii Clavis Vet. Test, in verb, •f Doddridge in loc. X Saurin's Serni . vol. xi. p. 17 — 23. § Maimon. Moreh Nevoch. part iii. cap. xxxix. ; Philo de Execrationibiis, Oper. p. 724, B, C, edit. Colon. Allobr. 1613. CHAP. X.] THE JUBILEE. 46o in which we now see it; or, as R. Elias in the Tahmid expresses it, two thousand years without the law, two thousand under the law, and two thousand under the Messiah *. After which comes the grand sabbath of one thousand years. This notion, though it be perhaps without any sufficient ground, might be improved into an argument ad hominem, to convince the Jews that the Messiah must be already come ; since the world is gone far more than half way through the last two thousand years of the six thousand, allowed by their tradition for its continuance ; during which period, therefore, if at all, must be the reign of the Messiah f. CHAPTER X. THE JUBILEE. The jubilee was the grand sabbatical year, celebrated after every seven septenaries of years ; namely, every forty-ninth or fiftieth year. This was a year of general release, not only of all debts, like the common sabbatical year, but of all slaves; and of all lands and possessions which had been sold, or otherwise alienated from the families and tribes to which they originally be- longed %. The critics are not agreed about the etymology of the word hy\ Johel. Some derive it from Jubal, who was the inventor of musi- cal instruments, Gen. iv. 21 ; and suppose, that this year was named after him, because it is a year of mirth and joy, on whicii music is a common attendant; or, as we say in English, a jovial time, the word jovial being perhaps a corruption of the Hebrew word Jobel ; or else, because it was ushered in with the musical sound of the trumpet through the whole land §. Others, particu- larly R. David Kimchi, tell us, that Jobel signifies a ram in the Arabic ; and that this year was so called, because it was proclaimed with trumpets made of rams' horns ||. With him the rabbies in * Vid. Cocceii, Sanhedrim et Maccoth, apud excerpt. Gemar. Sanhedr. cap. xi. sect, xxix. p. 340, edit. Amstel. 1629. ■f" See on this subject the Commentators on Deut. xv., particularly Ainsworth; see also Reland. Antiq. Hehr. part iv. cap. viii. sect. xiii. — xvii. X See the institution of this festival, in Lev. xxv. 8 — 17. § See Mafius ad Josh. vi. 4, apud Criticos Sacros. 11 R. D. Kinich. in Lev. xxv. H II 466 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK III. general agree *. Bochart, however, is of opinion, there were never any trumpets made of rams' horns, they being very unsuit- able for such a purpose, and that the phrase n'-^lTi in)i^m shopheroth hqjjohhelim, which, in the sixth chapter of Joshua, ver. 4, we render trumpets of rams' horns, means only such trumpets as were to be used in proclaiming the jubilee ; which, it is far more pro- bable, were made of the horns of oxen than of rams j-. Hottinger is of opinion J, that Jobel is a word invented to imi- tate the sound of the instrument, and that it does not therefore signify the trumpet itself, but the sound it made §. Dr. Patrick espouses this etymology, and conceives this year was called Jobel from the sound then everywhere made ; as the feast of the pass- over was styled Pesach, from the angel's passing over the Israel- ites when he slew the Egyptians ||. There is another opinion, which bids as fair for probability as any of the former, that Jobel comes from hl^'jahal, in hiphil, V^n hohil, which signifies to recall, restore, bring back, &c., because this year restored all slaves to their liberty, and brought back all alienated estates to the families to which they originally belonged j[. Accordingly the Septuagint renders Jobel, arpeais, a remission, Lev. XXV. 10 ; and Josephus saith it signifies eXfvdepiav, liberty**. As the learned are not agreed about the etymology of the name, so neither about the year in which the festival was to be cele- brated ; whether every forty-ninth, or every fiftieth ; and it is hard to say, which of these opinions hath the most eminent, or the most numerous advocates. On the former side are Joseph Scaliger f f , Petavius J:|, Jacobus Capellus§§, Cunaeus || ||, Spanheim f ^, * R. S. Jarchiin Lev. xxv. ; and the Chaldee Paraplirast sometimes explains b'^.V Jobel by K"t3n dichra, a ram, particularly in Josh. vi. 4. ■f- Bochart. Hierozoic. part i. lib. ii. cap. xliii. Oper. torn. ii. p. 425, 426. X Joh. Hen. Hottinger. Analect. Historico Theolog. dissert, iii. ; et Joh, Hen. Hottinger. jun. Annot. in Godwin. § See Exod. xix. 13, and other places. II Patrick on Lev, xxv. 10. ^ Fuller. Miscell. Sacr. lib. iv. cap. viii. apud Criticos Sacros, torn. ix. ** Joseph. Antiq. lib. iii. cap. xii. sect. iii. p. 184. tt Scaliger de Emendat. Tcmpor. lib. vii. p. 782, D, Colon. Allobr. 1629; Canon. Isagog. lib. i. p. 55, ad calcem Thesaur. Tempor. Amstel. 1658 ; et Animadvers. in Chronic. Eusebii, p. 15. XX Petav. Rationar. Tempor. part ii. lib. ii. cap. vii. p. 87, et seq. edit. Paris, 1673 ; et de Doctrin. Tempor. lib. ix. cap. xxvii. §§ Jacob. Capell. Histor. Sacr. et Exotic, ad A.M. 2549. nil Cimseus de Republ. Hebr. lib. i. cap. vi. p. 54, et seq. ^f Spanheim. Chronolog. Sacra, part i. cap. xvi. p. 84 86, apud Oper. Geograph. Chronolog. et Histor. Lugd. Bat. 1701. CHAP. X.] THE jubilep:. 4G7 Usher*, Le Clerc f, and many others; on the latter, tlie Jews in general |, many of the Cinistian fathers, and among the moderns, Fagius§, Junius II, Hottinger^, Schindler**, Leidekker ff, Leusden :{:| Meyer §§, Calmet ||||, &c. The ground of the former opinion is chiefly this, tlia't the forty- ninth year being of course a sabbatical year, if the jubilee had been kept on the fiftieth, the land must have had two sabbaths, or must have lain fallow two years together, since all agriculture was forbid on the jubilee, as well as on the sabbatical year. Now this is thought an unreasonable supposition, since in all likelihood, without a miracle, it must have produced a dearth. If the law, therefore, had carried any such intention, one might have expected a special promise, that the forty-eighth year should bring forth fruit for four years, as there was that the sixth year should bring forth fruit for three. On the other hand it is alleged, that the Scripture declares for the fiftieth year. Lev. xxv. 10, 11: "And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof; it shall be a jubilee unto you, and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family ; a jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you." Besides, if the law had meant, that the forty-ninth should be the jubilee, there would have been no need of forbidding sowing, reaping, &c., on the jubilee, because, tliat being the sab- batical year, it was forbidden in the preceding law relating to that year ; Lev. xxv. 4, 5. As to the supposed dearth, the gentlemen on this side of the question conceive, there could be no danger of that while God protected the nation by a special providence ; and especially since we have an instance of their living without any harvest for two years together, when the Assyrians had trodden down or spoiled * Usser. Annal. A. M. 2609 Jubilaeus Primus; A. M. 2658 Jubilaeus Secundus, sec p, 24; A.M. 2707 Jubilxcus Tertius, p. 25, edit. Genev. 1722. •f Cleric, in Lev. xxv. 10. :{: See Chaldee Paraphrast on Lev. xxv.; Maimon. de Anno Sabbatico et Jubilaeo,cap. x, sect. vii. ; R. Menachem in Lev. xxv. § Fagius in Lev. xxv. 10. || Junius ct Trcmellius in loc. % Hettinger. Annot. in Godwin, lib. iii. cap. x. sect. xi. annot. i. p. 635, 636. "* Scbindlcr. Lcxic. Pentaglot. in verb '73T. ■ff Leidekker. de Republ. Hebrseor. lib. v. c.ip. xiv. sect. iv. p. 32.3, Amstcl. 1704. Xt Leusden. Philolog. IIcbra;o-Mixt. dissert, xli. p. 290, edit. Ultrajecti, 1682. §§ Meyer, de Temper, ct Fcst. Hebraeor. part ii. cap. xviii. sect. vii. — xli.v. p. 343— > 358, 2d edit. Amstcl. 1724, where he considers the argument at large. nil Calmet on the word Jubilee. H H 2 468 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [BOOK HI. the crop of one year, and the next was probably a sabbatical year ; and yet there was no famine, but they had sufficient to eat of that which grew of itself; 2 Kings xix. 29. The authors of the Universal History have endeavoured to re- concile these two opinions ; observing, that as the jubilee began on the first month of the civil year, which was the seventh of the ecclesiastical, it might be said to be either the forty-ninth or fiftieth, according as the one or the other of these different computations was followed *. The jubilee began on the tenth day of the month Tizri, at the evening of the day of atonement ; Lev. xxv. 9. A time, saith Dr. Patrick, very fitly chosen ; for they would be better disposed to forgive their brethren their debts, when they had been craving pardon of God for their own. To which we may add, that when their peace was made with God by the sacrifices of atonement, it was the proper time to proclaim liberty and joy throughout the land. The peculiar observances of the jubilee, beyond those of the common sabbatical year, were the following : — 1st. That it was proclaimed by the sound of the trumpet throughout the whole land. Maimonides saith, every private man was to blow with a trumpet, and make a sound nine times f. 2dly. The jubilee was a year of general release of all slaves and prisoners. Even such as had voluntarily relinquished their free- dom, at the end of their six years' service, and had had their ears bored in token of perpetual servitude, were yet set free at the jubilee ; for " then they were to proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all the inhabitants thereof; " Lev. xxv. 10. 3dly. In this year all estates which had been sold, were re- turned back to their former proprietors, or to the families to which they originally belonged ; by which means it was provided, that no family should be sunk and ruined, and doomed to perpetual poverty ; for the family estate could not be alienated for longer than fifty years. The nearer, therefore, the jubilee was, the less was the value of the purchase of an estate, ver. 15. This law of the Jews was famous among the Heathens, some of whom copied after it. Diodorus Siculus saith, it was not lawful for the Jews, rovs ibiovs Kkjjpovs iraAeiv, to sell their own inheritances % ; and * Universal History, Hist, of the Jews, book ii. chap, vii., Laws relating to the Jubilee, note R. -f Maimon. de Anno Sabbat, et Jubilaeo, cap. x. X Died. Sicul. lib. ,\1. eclog. prim. p. 922, edit, Hanov. 1604. CHAP. X.] THE JUBILEE. 469 Aristotle, in his Politics *, saith of the Locrians, that they were prohibited by their laws from selling their ancient possessions. The reason and design of the law of the jubilee was partly poli- tical and partly typical. 1st. It was political, to prevent the too great oppression of the poor, as well as their being liable to perpetual slavery. By this means the rich were prevented from accumulating lands upon lands, and a kind of equality was preserved through all their fami- lies. Never was there any people so effectually secured of their liberty and property, as the Israelites were ; God not only engaging so to protect those invaluable blessings by his providence, that they should not be taken away from them by others ; but providing in a particular manner, by this law, that they should not be thrown away through their own folly ; since the property, which every man or family had in their dividend of the land of Canaan, could not be sold or any way alienated for above half a century. By this means also the distinction of tribes was preserved, in re- spect both to their families and possessions ; for this law rendered it necessary for them to keep genealogies of their families, that they might be able, when there was occasion, on the jubilee year, to prove their right to the inheritance of their ancestors. By this means it was certainly known of what tribe and family the Mes- sias sprung. Upon which Dr. Allix observes, that God did not suffer them to continue in captivity out of their own land for the space of two jubilees, lest by that means their genealogies should be lost or confounded. A farther civil use of the jubilee might be for the readier com- putation of time. For, as the Greeks computed by olympiads, the Romans by lustra, and we by centuries, the Jews probably reckoned by jubilees ; and it might, I say, be one design of this institution to mark out these large portions of time for the readier computation of successive years of ages. 2dly. There was also a typical design and use of the jubilee, which is pointed out by the prophet Isaiah, when he saith, in reference to the Messiah, " The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek ; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the * Arist. Politic, lib. ii. cap. vii, ; see also lib. vi. cap. iv. 470 JKWIbll ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK III. Lord," chap. Ixi. 1, 2; where " the accc])table year of tlie Lord," when " Uberty was proclaimed to the captives," and " the opening the prison to them that were bound," evidently refers to the jubilee ; but, in the prophetic sense, means the gospel state and dispensa- tion, which proclaims spiritual liberty from the bondage of sin and Satan, and the liberty of returning to our own possession, even the heavenly inheritance, to which, having incurred a forfeiture by sin, we had lost all right and claim, I have only farther to observe, that this jubilee of the Jews hath been in some sort imitated by the Pope ; who, after a certain returning period, proclaims a jubilee, in which he grants a plenary indulgence to all sinners, at least to as many as visit the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul at Rome. The jubilee was first established by Pope Boniface VIIL, anno 1300, and was only to return every hundredth year ; but the first celebration brought such stores of wealth to Rome, that Clement VL reduced the period to fifty years ; afterward Urban VL ap- pointed the jubilee to be held every thirty-five years ; and Sextus IV. brought it down to twenty-five *. One of our kings, Edward IlL, caused his birth-day, when he was fifty years of age, but neither before nor afler, to be observed in the manner of a jubilee ; this he did by releasing prisoners, pardoning all offences, treason itself not excepted, and granting many privileges to the people f . CHAPTER XL THE FEASTS OF PURIM AND OF DEDICATION. Besides the sacred festivals already considered, no other were appointed by the law of Moses. However, the Jews, in process of time, added several others : two of which are to be the subject of this chapter ; namely, the feast of purim, of the occasion and insti- tution of which we have an account in the book of Esther, chap. ix. 20 — ult. ; and the feast of dedication, mentioned by the evangelist * See on this subject, Dicteric. Antiq. Biblica;, ex Lev. xxv. 4, p. 220, ct scq. edit. GisssB ct Francof. 1671. t Tolydor. Virgil. Histor. Anglican, lib. xix. j). 494, Liigd. Bat. 1651. CHAP. XI.] THE FEAST OF PURIM. 471 John, chap. x. 22. They were both of them annual festivals, and observed in commemoration of national mercies and deliverances. The former, the feast of purim, was instituted by Mordecai, to commemorate the deliverance of the Jews from Haman's con- spiracy, of which we have an account in the book of Esther. Many suppose, that in this he had a special direction from God, delivered by some prophet, perhaps Haggai, or Malachi. But if so, it is strange that the sanction of divine authority should not be expressly stamped on the institution, and that the name of God should not be mentioned so much as once in the history of it, or of the events relating to it. Thus much is certain, it hath had the effect, which mere human institutions in matters of religion very commonly have, to occasion corruption and licentiousness of man- ners, rather than to promote piety and virtue. Though still cele- brated by the Jews with great ceremony, it is a time of general riot and debauchery ; and they make it a sort of rule of their religion to drink till they can no longer distinguish between the blessing of Mordecai and the cursing of Haman *. Insomuch that Archbishop Usher very justly styles the feast of purim the Bacchanalia of the Jews f . This festival was to be kept two days successively, the fourteenth and fifteenth of the month Adar ; Esth. ix. 21. In the interca- lary year, therefore, when there are two Adars, it is kept twice over I ; the first time with less ceremony, which they call the little purim ; the second, in the Veadar, with more ceremony, which they term the great purim §. On both days of the feast the modern Jews read over the Megillah, or book of Esther, in their syna- gogues. The copy there read must not be printed, but wi'itten on vellum in the form of a roll; and the names of the ten sons of Haman are written in it in a peculiar manner, being ranged, they say, like so many bodies hanging on a gibbet. The reader must pronounce all these names in one breath. Whenever Haman 's name is pronounced, they make a terrible noise in the synagogue ; some drum with their feet on the floor, and the boys have mallets, with which to knock and make a noise \\. They prepare them- * Talmud cod. Mcgillali, fol. 7. 2, quoted by Buxtorf. Synag. Judaic, cap. xxix. p. 559, 3d edit, in Lcxic. Talmud, sub voc. CD^i P- 3l!4 ; and by Lcusdcn. Philolog. Hebrseo- Mixt. dissert, xl. p. 285, 2d edit. Ultraject. 1682. t Usser, Annales, sub A. M. 3495, p. 88, edit. Gcnev. 1722. X Mishu. tit. Mcgillab, cap. i. sect. iv. torn, ii, p. 389. § Buxtorf. Synag. lib. xxix. sub (in. II Buxtorf. Synag. Judaic, cap. .\.\ix. p. 555 — 558. 472 JEWISH ANTIQUITIliS. [bOOKIII. selves for their carnival by a previous fast, which should continue three clays, in imitation of Esther's (chap. iv. 16); but, for the generality, they have reduced it to one day *. We may here take occasion to consider three questions started upon the story to which this festival relates. 1st. When, and in whose reign, the affair happened, which it is intended to commemorate. 2dly. For what reason Mordecai refused to pay that respect to Haman, the neglect of which so much incensed him against the Jews. 3dly. Why Haman cast lots, in order to fix the day for the massacre of the Jews. First. The first question is, when, and in what king's reign, this affair happened. Though it was doubtless after the kingdom of Judah returned from its captivity, yet the ten tribes still continued in their dispersion, from which they have not been recovered to this day. Accordingly the Jews are said, at that time, to have been dispersed through all the provinces of Ahasuerus's kingdom, " who reigned from India even to Ethiopia, over one hundred twenty and seven provinces ;" Esth. i. 1 ; iii. 8. But who this Aha- suerus was, is a question upon which chronologers are much di- vided. Usher f takes him to be Darius the son of Hystaspes, who promoted the building of the temple at Jerusalem ; Ezravi. Sca- liger thinks it was Xerxes, who was Darius's successor J. J. Ca- pellus § is persuaded this Ahasuerus was Ochus, one of the last kings of Persia ; for in his reign Alexander the Great was born, who brought the Persian empire to its period. Dr. Patrick, in support of this opinion, observes, that Ochus's Persian name was Achash, to which Verosh being added as his si^-name, he was called by the Persians Achas-verosh, which the Greeks translated Aha- suerus ||. Rollin ^ supposes him to have been Cambyses. I take the opinion of Prideaux** to be the most probable of any, that Ahasuerus was Artaxerxes Longimanus ; through whose favour to the Jews • Ezra and Nehemiah completed the restoration of the * Hottinger in Godwin, lib, 'iii. cap. xi. aunot. i. p. 643. t Usser. Annal. A.M. 3483, p. 85. J Scalig. de Emendat. Temper, p. 585, et seq. piaesertim, p. 591 — 593. § Histor. Sacr. et Exotic. A. M. 3640 et 3650. II Patriclc on Esth. i. 1. ^[ Rollin's Ancient History, vol. ii. book iv. chap. ii. ** Prideaux's Connect, part i. book iv. sub anno ante Christ. 465, p. 361 — 364, vol. i. lOtli edit. ; see also Clerici Annot. in Esth. i. 1. CHAP. XI.] ' THE FEAST OF PUUIM. 473 kingdom of Judah, and rebuilt Jerusalem. It is likely his extra- ordinary kindness to that people was owing to the influence of his queen, Esther : it is particularly remarked, that when Nehemiah obtained his commission to rebuild and fortify Jerusalem, the queen was sitting by ; Nehera. ii. 6. As for the name u^i'iVtynw Achash-verosh, it seems rather to have been a title common to the kings of Media and Persia, than a pro- per name of any of them. It is evidently compounded of the Persic word tyn« achash, dignitas, which the rabbles commonly use for magniis, and u^^''. rosh, caput, summitas, dux,princeps *. So that Achash-verosh signifies magnum caput, sive magnus princeps ; and was, as some think, nomen gentilitium, the name of all their kings, as Phai'aoh was of all the kings of Egypt. Accordingly this name or title is also given, as is commonly thought, to Cambyses, in the fourth chapter of Ezra, ver. 6. Nevertheless, it might be given to Artaxerxes, kut e^oxrjv. The Second question is, for what reason Mordecai refused to pay that respect to Haman, the neglect of which so much incensed him against the Jews ; Esth. iii. 1 — 6. This question can be only answered conjecturally. Some think the reason was, because Haman was an Amalekite ; and the Israelites had been commissioned from God to destroy that whole nation, because of the injuries they had formerly done them; Deut. XXV. 17 — 19. But this hardly seems to be a sufficient account of Mordecai 's refusing civil respect to Haman, who was first minister of state ; especially when by so doing he exposed his whole nation to imminent danger. Besides, if nothing but civil respect had been intended to Haman, the king need not have enjoined it on his ser- vants after he had made him his first minister and chief favourite, Esth. iii. 1, 2 ; they would have been ready enough to show it on all occasions. Probably, therefore, the reverence ordered to be paid this great man was a kind of divine honour, such as was sometimes addressed to the Persian monarchs themselves ; which being a species of idolatry, Mordecai refused it for the sake of a good conscience. And perhaps it was Haman's understanding that his refusal was the result of his Jewish principles, that was the very thing which determined him to attempt the destruction of the Jews in general, knowing they were all of the same mind. As to the Third question, why Haman cast lots, in order to fix the day for • Vid. PfeitTcii Excicitatioiies ad calcem Dubior. Vcxator. excrcitat. iii. de Lingua Protoplast, p. ('7, 3d edit. Lipsiac. 474 JEWISH ANllQblTIKS. [uoOK 111. the massacre of the Jews^ Esth. iii. 7 ; from whence the feast of purim, which is a Persic word, and signifies lot *, took its name, chap. ix. 26 ; it was no doubt owing to the superstitious conceit, which anciently prevailed, of some days being more fortunate than others for any undertaking ; in short, he endeavoured to find out, by this way of divining, what month, and what day of the month, was most unfortunate to the Jews, and most fortunate for the suc- cess of his bloody design against them. It is very remarkable, that while Haman sought for direction in this affair from the Per- sian idols, the God of Israel so overruled the lot as to fix the intended massacre to almost a year''s distance, from Nisan the first month to Adar the last of the year, in order to give time and oppor- tunity to Mordecai and Esther to defeat the conspiracy. Thus much for the feast of purim f . The feast of dedication is in Greek termed eyKmvia, John x. 22, from eyKamCoy, renovo, instauro ; a word commonly used by the an- cient Christian writers for an annual festival kept in commemora- tion of the building of cities, or dedication of churches. Thus Codinus, in his Origines Constantinopolis, saith, ra eyKaivia rrjs TToXfcos yeyove kul irpocreyopevde KcovcrTavTivovTrokis, — " EnCOenia UrblS fuerunt celebrata, et Constantinopolis fuit appellata J :" and Euse- bius, in his Ecclesiastical History, speaks of the eyKatviav eoprai §, meaning the feasts of the dedication of churches. There is no doubt the eyKaivia, mentioned by St. John, were celebrated in com- memoration of the dedication of the temple. Now the season of the year when this festival was observed, will enable us easily to determine what dedication of the temple it must refer to. The evangelist saith, " it was then winter;" it could not therefore be observed in commemoration of the dedication of Solomon's temple ; for that was in the seventh month, or autunm, 1 Kings viii. 2 ; nor of the second, or ZerubbabeFs temple ; for that was in the month Adar, in the spring; Ezra vi. 15, 16. The festival here intended must, therefore, be that instituted by Judas Maccabeus, on his having purified the temple and the altar from the pollution of An- tiochus Epiphanes, which was celebrated for eight days succes- sively, in the month Chisleu, about the winter solstice ; 1 Mace. iv. * Vid. Pfeifferi Dubia Vexat. centur. iii. loc. xxix. p. 486, 487, 3d edit. Lipsiae. t Sec, on this subject, Shickaid. Oiatiuncula dc Festo Purim, apud Criticos Sacios, torn. viii. J See Suicer. Tliesaur. ad voc. Ey»a;via. § Euseb. Eccles. Hist. lib. x. cap. iii. p. 463, 464, edit. Cautab. 1720. CHAP. XI.] FEAST OF DEDICATION. 475 52 — 59. It is mentioned by Josephus as a festival much regarded in his time *. The circumstance of Christ's walking in the temple at this feast, John X. 23, is alleged by Dr. Nichols f, Prideaux :{:, and others, in favour of the observance of sacred festivals of mere human institution ; for though this was such an one, nevertheless Christ honoured it with his presence. But how will this prove, that our Lord had a more sacred or religious regard to this festival than it may be proved he had to the winter, from his walking «in the temple at that season ? Or if he chose to come to Jerusalem and to the temple at that time, when more people frequented the temple service than ordinarily at any other, the only reason might be the opportunity of preaching to greater numbers ; on which account we find the apostles likewise frequented the synagogues upon the Jewish sabbath, even after that institution was abrogated §. Besides these two festivals, we read in Scripture of several other feasts, or fasts, observed by the Jews in later ages, though not appointed by the law of Moses ; as the fast of the fourth month, on account of the taking of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, Jer. lii. 6, 7 ; of the fifth month, on account of their burning the temple and city, 2 Kings xxv. 8 ; of the seventh month, in memory of the murder of Gedaliah, ver. 25 ; and of the tenth month, when the Babylonian army began the siege of Jerusalem ; Jer. lii. 4. These fasts are all mentioned together in the eighth chapter of Zechariah, ver. 19 ; to which we may perhaps add the feast, which Josephus calls fvXo^opia, the feast of the wood-offering, when the people brought great store of wood to the temple for the use of the altar ||. This is said to be grounded on the following pas- sages in Nehemiah : " We cast the lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood-offering, to bring it into the house of our God, after the houses of our fathers, at times appointed year by year, to burn upon the altar of the Loi'd our God, as it is written in the law ;" chap. x. 34. Again, " I appointed the wards of the priests and the Levites, every one in his business ; and for * Antiq. lib. xii. cap. vii. sect, vii. p. 617, edit. Havercanip. + Nicholsii Defensio Ecclcs. Anglican, part ii. cap. xi. p. "2,08, 299, Londini, 1707. + Connect, partii. book iii. vol. iii. p. 278, 27f), 10th edit. § Vid. Pcirrii Vindic. Fratnim Dissent, part iii. cap. xi. p. 381, Londini, 1710, or liio English Translat. part iii. chap. xi. p. 218, London, 1717. II Joocph. de Bell. Judaic, lib. ii. cap. xvii. sect. vi. p. 194, Havcrcami). 476 JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. [bOOK III. the wood-offering at times appointed, and for the first-fruits ;" chap. xiii. 30, 31. Besides these fasts and festivals, the modern Jewish calendar is crowded with a multitude of others * ; of which, there being no mention of them in Scripture, it is beside our purpose to take any farther notice. " Vid. Selden. de Syncdriis Hebraeor. lib. iii. cap. xiii. sect. xii. APPENDIX, CONCERNING THE LANGUAGE OF THE JEWS. THE LANGUAGE OF THE JEWS. To the large account given of the Jews and their rehgion, chiefly from the sacred records of the Old Testament, I shall now subjoin a dissertation on the languages in which those records were written ; namely, the Hebrew and the Chaldee. However, as only a small part of the latter writings are in Chaldee, our chief attention will be paid to the Hebrew. And here we shall consider, 1st. The antiquity of the language ; and, 2dly. The language itself. First, as to its antiquity. The Jews are very confident it was the first and original language, which, they say, was contrived by God himself, and which he inspired Adam with a complete know- ledge of*. Accordingly those words, which we translate "Man became a living soul," Gen. ii. 7, are rendered in the Chaldee Paraphrase of Jonathan, *•' The breath, breathed into him by God, became in man a speaking soul." And to the same purpose the Paraphrase of Onkelos. But notwithstanding the confident assertions of the Jews, there are other persons who have taken the liberty to doubt of this opinion, not only as to the high antiquity of the Hebrew language, but as to such a divine original of any language at all. 1st. As to the original of language itself. Though the Jews assert their language was taught to Adam by God himself, yet they are not all agreed how far the divine institution reached. Abarbanel supposes, God instructed our first parents only in the * Vid. Buxtorf. Dissertationes Philologico Tlicolog. dissert, i. dc Ling. Hebr. Orig. et Antiquit. sect, xvii, p. 1 1—14 ; sect. xx.x. p. 20 — 23, Basil. 1G62. 480 THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE. roots and fundamental parts of the tongue, and left the further improvement to themselves * : but others, that they received tlie whole extent and propriety of the language by immediate revela- tion f. The same opinion hath been embraced by several Chris- tians, particularly by Eunomius, who, because God is introduced by Moses as speaking before the creation of man, maintained that there was in words a certain eternal and immutable nature. But it is difficult to conceive what connexion there can be, for the most part, between sounds and things, except what is arbitrary, and fixed by consent or custom |. And Gregory Nyssen exposes it as ridiculous and blasphemous to imagine God would turn gram- marian, and set him down subtilely to invent names for things§. Dr. Shuckford || conceives, that the original of our speaking was indeed from God ; not that he put into Adam's mouth the very sounds which he designed he should use as the names of things > but only, as he made him with the powers of a man, he had the use of an understanding to form notions in his mind of things about him, and he had power to utter sounds, which should be to himself the names of things, according as he might think fit to call them. These he might teach Eve, and in time both of them teach their children ; and thus began and spread the first language of the world. Perhaps in this, as in many other disputes, the truth may lie between the extremes. If our first parents had no extraordinary divine assistance in forming a language, it must have been a considerable time before they .would have been able to con- verse freely together ; which would have been a very great abate- ment of the pleasure of their paradisiacal state. Nevertheless, as, no doubt, God formed them with excellent abilities, ' it may reasonably be supposed he left them to exercise those abilities in perfecting a language upon the hints which he had given them 1[. * Abarb.inel in Gen. ii. 19. See Buxtorf, ubi supra, sect. xsii. p. 15, 16. i" R. Jehudah in libro Cozri, etejus commentator, R. JeLudah Muscatus. See Buxtorf, ubi supra, sect. xsi. p. 14, 15. J Etsi homines (inquit Heidegger. Hist. Patriarch, torn. i. exercit. xvi. sect. iii. p. 443, Amstel. 1667) potentiam habeant sibi mutuo animi sui notionem per verba eeu ayyiXcv; quosdam vonfearav expromendi, tamen ipsa verba non significant naturaliter, hoc est per connexionem aliquam naturalem seu similitudinem verborum cum rebus ; sed inveniuntur ex pacto et placito, vel cert^ per institutionem et consuetudinem addiscuntur. § Contra Eunom. lib. xii. See Heidegger. Histor. Patriarch, dissert, xvi. sect. v. — vii. torn. i. II Shuckford's Connect, vol. i. book ii. p. 111. ^ See Heidegger, ubi supra, sect. viii. ix. THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE. 481 But in whatever way the original language was formed, 2dly. In the dispute, which was the original language, other nations have put in their claim with as much assurance as the Jews. The Armenians allege, that as the ark rested in their country, Noah and his children must have remained there a con- siderable time, before the lower and marshy country of Chaldea could be fit to receive them ; and it is therefore reasonable to sup- pose they left their language there, which was probably the very same that Adam spoke. Some have fancied the Greek the most ancient tongue, because of its extent and copiousness *. The teutonic, or that dialect of it which is spoken in the Lower Germany and Brabant, hath found a strenuous patron in Geropius Becanus f, who endeavours to derive even the Hebrew itself from that tongue. The pretensions of the Chinese to this honour have been allowed by several Europeans |. The patrons of this opinion endeavour to support it, partly, by the great antiquity of the Chinese, and their having preserved themselves so many ages from any considerable mixture or intercourse with other nations. It is a notion advanced by Dr. Allix §, and maintained by Mr. Whiston with his usual tenacity and fervour ||, that the Chinese are the posterity of Noah, by his children born after the flood ; and that Fohi, the first king of China, was Noah. It is farther alleged in favour of the Chinese language, that, con- sisting of few words, and those chiefly monosyllables, and having no variety of declensions, conjugations, or grammatical rules, it carries strong marks of being the first and original language. Shuckford saith, it is so like a first uncultivated essay, that it is hard to conceive any other tongue to have been prior to it; and whether it was itself the original language or not, in respect to its consisting of monosyllables, the first language was no doubt similar to it. For it cannot be conceived, if men had at first known that plenty of expression which arises from polysyllables, " Eutych. Annales, p. 50. ■f See his Origines Antwerpioe, lib. v. p. 539,etseq. X See Webb's Essay toward discovei-ing the Piimitive Language. § Reflections on the Books of the Holy Scripture, vol. i. part i. chap. .\.v. p. 1 12. II AVhiston's Theory, book ii. p. 137, et seq. ; and his Short View of the Chronology, &c. p. fil, pt seq. See also Shuckford's Connexion, vol. i. book i. p. 29; book ii. p. 98—104. I I 482 THE OKIGINAL LANGUAGE. any people or persons would have been so stupid as to reduce their language to words of one syllable only *. As for those which are called the Oriental languages, they have each their partisans ; and of these the Hebrew and Syriac have the most votes. The generality of eastern writers allow the pre- ference to the Syriac -f-, except the Jews, who assert the antiquity of the Hebrew with the greatest warmth ; and with them several Christian writers agree, particularly Chrysostom :}:, Austin §, Origen||, and Jerome^, among the ancients; and among the moderns, Bochart **, Heidegger ff, Selden J^:, and Buxtorf§§. The chief argument, to prove the Hebrew the original language, is taken from the names of persons mentioned before the confusion of Babel, which, they say, are plainly of the Hebrew derivation. As wm Adam, from no'iH aclamah^ the ground, because God formed him out of the earth : rrin Eve^ or Havah, from rvn liajah, vixit, because " she was the mother of all living :" pp Cain, from rr-p kajah, acquisivit : nty Seth, from ma? suth, posuit : ih^ Peleg, from j!?q palag, divisit ; and several others. It is said these are plainly Hebrew names, and therefore prove the Hebrew language to have been in use when they were given. Besides, it is alleged, the names of some nations are derived from Hebrew names. As lavia, Ionia, from \^^' Javan, the son of Japhet. And so likewise of some heathen gods, as Vulcan, which seems to be a corruption of Tubal Cain ; as Apollo does of Jubal. But Gro- tius II II and others will not allow this argument to be conclusive, and therefore reply, 1st. There are many more patriarchal names, of which we can find no such Hebrew derivation, than there are of which we can; and it might very likely happen, that among such a multitude of names, some few might answer to the word which expressed the sense of that original word from whence the name was derived, in * Shuckford's Connex. vol. i. book ii. p. 123, 124. t Theodoret. Quaest. li. in Gen. J Chrysostom. Homil. xxx. in Gen. xi. torn. ii. p. 239. § Augustin. de Civitat. Dei, lib. xvi. cap. xi. xii. II Origan. Homil. xi. in Numb, xviii. ^ Hieron. in Soph. cap. iii. sect, xviii. ** Bocharti Phaleg, sive Geograph. Sacr. lib. i. cap. xv. Open torn. i. p. 50, 51, edit. 1712. -}--f Heidegger, Histor. Patriarch, torn. i. exercitat. xvi. sect. xiv. et seq. torn. i. p. 455, etseq. Amstel. 1667. XX Selden. de Synedr. lib. ii. cap. ix. sect. iii. vol. i. torn. ii. p. 1420, 1421. §§ Buxtoi-f. Dissertationes Philologico Theolng. dissert, i. p. 21, et seq. Basil. 1662. II II Grotius in Gen. xi. 1. THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE. 483 whatever language Moses had written. Thus, supposing he had written in Latin, and accordingly translated the name Adam into homo, it would have borne as near a relation to humus, the ground, as it does in the Hebrew to noi« adamah. 2dly. We have no reason to conclude the names in the Mosaic history were the original names, and not translated by Moses into the language in which he wrote, since we have a plain instance of such a translation in his own name, which, as it was given him by Pharaoh's daughter, an Egyptian, cannot be supposed to have been originally Hebrew ; therefore, not nt^o Mosheh, as he wrote it, but as it is in the Coptic version Moiisi, from Moil, which in that language signifies water, and si, taken. But Moses, finding the Hebrew word ntyo mosheh, to " draw out," bearing some re- semblance in sound to his name, and in signification to the occa- sion of it, translated the Egyptian name Moiisi into the Hebrew Mosheh. 3dly. It is said, that several of those names are more pertinently derived from some other of the Oriental tongues than from the Hebrew : as Abel, or Hebel, which in Hebrew signifies vanity or a vapour, seems not a name very apposite to Adam's second son ; and, therefore, Moses hath assigned no reason for his being called by that name. But if it be derived from the Syriac Vi^ irvjehah cU, which signifies Deus dedit, it is very proper and expressive. So the name Babel, -which the Hebrew text informs us was so called because God did there bi^n balal, that is, confound the language of all the earth, may be more naturally derived from the Syriac, in which tongue Babel, or bobeel, signifies confusion. So that the Syriac, or perhaps any other of the eastern tongues, might be proved, by this argument from the etymology of the names, to have been the original language, as well as the Hebrew. Le Clerc farther advances, that several of these names were not the proper names, by which the persons were called from their birth ; but cognomina, or sirnames, which were given them after- ward on account of something remarkable in their lives, and which an historian would naturally have translated into his own language. Thus the Greek writers speak of Pelusia, a city of Egypt, which was so called ano tov tt^Xov, from clay, because it stood in clayey ground ; yet it can hardly be supposed this was its proper Egyptian name. Upon the whole, Le Clerc's opinion seems to bid fairest for the I I 2 484 THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. truth, that neither the Hebrew, nor Syriac, nor Chaldee, nor any other language now extant, was the true original tongue; but that this, and the other Oriental tongues, have all sprung from, or are so many different dialects of that first language, itself now lost among them. As the Italian, French, and Spanish, are none of them the language of the ancient Romans, but all derived from it *. Having failed in the attempt of tracing up the Hebrew language with any certainty to Adam, we are now to inquire to what people or nation it properly belonged after the confusion of Babel. Those who are zealous for the high antiquity of the Hebrew tongue, tell us, it was preserved, in the midst of that confusion, in the family of Eber, who, they say, was not concerned in the build- ing of Babel, and consequently did not share in the punishment inflicted on those that were. Before we examine this opinion, it may be no improper digres- sion to consider briefly the account we have of that confusion, and of the origin of different languages, in the eleventh chapter of Genesis, where we I'ead, that " the whole earth was of one lan- guage, and of one speech ;'"" ver. 1. And again, ver. 6, 7, " The Lord said, Behold the people is one, and they have all one lan- guage." But God said, " Let us go down and confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." And again, " The Lord did there confound the language of all the earth;" ver. 9. Now as to the degree of this confusion, and the manner in which it was effected, there is a great diversity of sentiments. The modern Jews, as Julius Scaliger informs us f , understand it not of a multiplication of tongues, but of a. confusion of those ideas which they affix to words. Suppose, for instance, one man called for a stone, another understood him to mean mortar, having that idea now fixed to the word ; another understood water, and another sand. But though such a different connecting of ideas with the same words must needs produce a strange confusion * See on this subject Cleiici Piolegom. i. in Pentateuch ; Grotius in Gen. xi. 1 ; Heutii Dcmonst. Evang. prop. iv. cap. xiii. sect. iv. ; Buxtoif. Disseitat. de Antiquitate Ling. Hebr. sect, xxvii. ; Heidegger. Histor. Patriarch, torn. i. exercit. vi. sect, x — xviii. p. 451 — 465 ; Walton. Prolegom. iii. sect. iii. — xii. ; Pfeiffer. Dissert, de Ling. Protoplast, ad calcem Dub. Vexat., and his Critica Sacra, cap. iii. ; Bocharti Phaleg. lib. i. cap. xv. ; Vi- tring. Observationes, dissert, i. cap. i. — v. ; Father Simon''s Critical History, book i. chap, xiv, XV. t Scalig. Exercitat. in Cardan. 259, sect. i. cited by Stillingfleet, Oiigen. Sacr. book iii. ch.ap. V. sect. iii. p. 362, 8tli edit. 1709. THE CONFUSION OF LANGCAGES. 485 among the people, enough to make them desist from their under- taking, nevertheless this by no means accounts for the diversity of tongues, which consists not in the same words being used in dif- ferent senses, but in the use of words quite remote and different from one another. Others are of opinion, that all the confusion which happened at Babel, was in the people's quarrelling among themselves, and thereupon bandying into parties, and separating from each other ; which, they say, is ascribed to God in the same sense in which it is elsewhere said, there " is no evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it;" that is, permitted and overruled it to the accomplish- ment of his own wise and gracious designs. As for the diiferent languages now in the world, these gentlemen suppose, that they all arose at first from one original language, and that this variety is no more than must naturally have happened in so long a course of time, partly through the difference of climates, which, it is said, will occasion a difference of pronunciation, and thereby gradually a variation in languages ; and from various other causes, which are sometimes observed to have so altered the lan- guage of some nations, that it hath hardly been intelligible at the distance of two or three hundred years. Thus the Salian verses, composed by Numa, were scarcely understood by the priests in Quinctilian's time *. " Saliorum Carmina," saith he, " vix sacer- dotibus suis satis intellecta." And we find it no less difficult to "understand the language of our forefathers three or four centuries ago. To this hypothesis, that what is commonly called the confusion of tongues was only a difference of opinions, and the contentions consequent thereupon, it may be objected, that this does by no means come up to the obvious meaning of the sacred history, which tells us, "that God did there," even at Babel, "confound the language of all the earth ;" which before was "one "''' and the same ; implying, that in consequence of this extraordinary pro- cedure of Providence, there was now a diversity of tongue, which occasioned their " not understanding one another's speech ;" and likewise, that several of the present languages are so entirely remote from one another, that with no reasonable probability can they be supposed to have sprung from the same original. For * Quinctil. Institut. Orat. lib. i. cap. vi. p. 4,j, edit, Gibson, Oxon. 1693. 48B THE CONFUSION Ol" LANGUAGES. though length of time may very much alter a language in its wui do and phrases, according to the observation of Horace *, Multa renasccntur, quae jam cecidere ; cadentque, Qua! nunc sunt in honorc vocabula, si volet ubus : yet what instance can be produced of mere length of time bringing a whole language out of use, and introducing another in the room of it ? Besides, the greatest alterations of languages, of which any history since that of Babel informs us, have arisen from the intei'mixture of people of different languages. Thus the Roman language was corrupted and altered by the multitiide of foreign slaves which were kept at Rome. But if all languages had ori- ginally sprung from one, such an intermixture of the people of different nations must have tended to prevent the diversity of lan- guage instead of promoting it. Dr. Shuckford has an hypothesis, I suppose, peculiar to him- self; that the builders of Babel were evidently projectors, and their heads being full of innovations, some of the leading men among them set themselves to invent new words, as particularly polysyllables, and to spread them among their companions, from whence in time a different speech grew up in one party from that in another, till at length it came to such a height, as to cause them to form different companies, and so to separate f. It may be objected to this hypothesis, as well as to the former, that it by no means comes up to the obvious meaning of the sacred history. Besides, Theseus Ambrose X hath started another material objection, that the diversity of languages cannot be sup- posed to have arisen from choice and contrivance, unless it can be imagined that men would do themselves such a prejudice as that, when they had one common language to represent their concep- tion, they should themselves introduce so great an alteration, as would break off that mutual society and converse which even nature itself dictated. As to what Dr. Shuckford saith, that experience shows the fear of doing mischief hath not restrained the projects of ambitious men, it may be replied, that though it may not have restrained them from doing it to others, it surely will restrain them from doing it to themselves. And as to what he farther alleges, that * De Arte Poetica, 1. 70. t Sliuckford's Connect, vol. i. book ii. p. 133. J Theseus Aiiibros. dc Causis Mutationis Linguaium. THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. 487 he sees no detriment arising from the confusion of languages, let experience, and the immense pains men are forced to take in learn- ing foreign languages, which they have occasion for, tell us, whether it be an inconvenience and detriment, or not. Upon the whole, I can see no reason to depart from the obvious meaning of the historical narrative, which represents the confusion of tongues as the immediate act of God, but think it right to conclude with Calvin, " Prodigii loco habenda est linguarum diversitas *."" It would be to little purpose to inquire, in what way and man- ner these new languages were formed ; for though there are various, they are all uncertain conjectures about it f . There is one inquiry more on this head, on which we shall briefly touch ; namely, how many languages arose from the con- fusion of Babel. The Jews make them seventy, imagining there were seventy different nations then planted in the world J, a notion which they ground on the following passage in Deuteronomy : " When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he se- parated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people accord- ing to the number of the children of Israel ;" chap, xxxii. 8. That is, say they, he divided them into seventy nations, seventy being the number of the children of Israel when they came into Egypt §. Bochart, however, hath given a far more probable sense of this passage, that God so distributed the earth among the se- veral people that were rtierein, as to reserve, or in his sovereign counsel to appoint, such a part for the Israelites, though they were then unborn, as might prove a commodious settlement and habitation for them ||. We have no way to determine how many languages sprung out of the first confusion. No doubt but their number hath been since multiplied ; for we have instances in later ages of several languages growing out of one: the Italian, French, and Spanish, for instance, out of the Latin. And thus, probably, several eastern " Calvin, Annot. in Gen. xi. 1, 2. f See Buxtorf. Dissert, de Ling. Hebr. Confusione, et Plurimum Linguar. Origine ; Vitiing. Observat. dissert, i. ; Stillingfleet's Origines Sacrce, book iii. chap. v. sect. iv. ; Dr. Wotton's Discourse concerning the Confusion of Languages ; and Dr. Brett's Essay on the same subject. X Targuiu Jonathan in Gen. xi. 7, 8. § Targum Jonathan in Deut. xxxii. 8, and R. Bechai, quoted by Buxtorf, apud Disser- tationes Philologico Tlieolog. dissert, ii. de Ling. Hebr. Confus. sect, xliii. p. 79, where, and in the following pages, are many other testimonies to the same purpose. II Bocharti Geogi-aph. Sacra, lib, i. cap. xv, Oper. torn. i. p. 57, edit. 1712. 488 THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. tongues, or dialects, arose out of one; but whether out of the an- tediluvian language, or some other, is by no means certain. We now return to the inquiry, To what people, after the dis- persion of the nations, the Hebrew language originally belonged. The opinion of the Jews hath been already mentioned that it was the language of Heber's family, from which Abraham sprung. But this is gratis dictum, or rather highly improbable, since we find Heber's family, in the fourth generation after the dispersion, living in Chaldea, where Abraham was born. Gen. xi. 27, 28 ; and there is no reason to think they used a different language from their neighbours around them. Now, that the Chaldee, and not the Hebrew, was the language of Abraham's country, and of his kindred, appears in that he sent his servant to his own coun- try, and to his kindred, to take a wife for his son Isaac, namely, Rebekah, Gen. xxiv. 4 ; and that Laban, the brother of Rebekah, spake a different language from the Hebrew, namely, the Chaldee ; for the same pillar, or heap of stones, which Jacob called ^yhi qalgnedh, which is a Hebrew word, Laban calls in his language M.'nnnty ^y jegar sahadhuthd, which is pure Chaldee ; Gen. xxxi. 46, 47. From whence it seems reasonable to conclude, that Abraham's native language was Chaldee, and that the Hebrew was the language of the Canaanites, which Abraham and his posterity learnt by dwelling among them. This Le Clerc hath endeavoured to prove *, 1st. From the names of places, as well as men, in the land of Canaan being pure Hebrew. Fuller, indeed, in his Miscellanies -f-, supposes, that Moses, in writing his history, translated the Ca- naanitish names into Hebrew, which, if well grounded, would entirely destroy the argument which he himself and others make use of to prove, that the Hebrew was the antediluvian language, from the names of some of the ancient patriarchs being pure Hebrew. But this does not seem to be the case as to the names of places in Canaan ; for we find, that though the Israelites changed the names of some of them, yet their old names were as much Hebrew as their new ones. For instance, Mamre, which they changed into Hebron, Gen. xiii. 18 ; Kirjath-sepher, which they changed into Debir, Josh. xv. 15; and Lashem, which they changed into Dan ; Josh. xix. 47. It is farther observed, that the names of the cities of the Philis- • Vid. Clerici Prolegom. i. in Pentateuch, de Ling. Hebr. j- Fuller. Miscall, lib. iv. cap. iv. apud Criticos Sacros, torn. i.\. p. 2398. EXCELLENCY OF THE IILBIIEW LANGUAGE. 489 tines, who were a part of the Canaanites not subdued by the IsraeHtes, were probably Hebrew, such as Gaza, Ashdod, Gath, Ekron, &c. 2dly. Whereas the Egyptians, and other neighbouring nations, are called " a people of a strange language "" to the Jews (Psalm cxiv. 1 ; Ixxxi. 5), nothing like that is ever said of the Canaanites. 3dly. If none but Jacob's family had spoken Hebrew, where could Joseph have found an interpreter between him and his bre- thren, when he affected not to understand Hebrew? Gen. xlii. 23. Probably this interpreter was some Canaanite. 4thly. The Hebrew language seems, to this author, to have been originally formed by Polytheists, and such as worshipped deified heroes, particularly from the plural name of God, Elohim ; and from those metaphorical descriptions of the Divine attributes, which are plainly borrowed from man, as the soul, the ears, the face, the eyes, the hands of God ; which metaphors, he supposes, would never have been used, if the language had been originally formed by people who had no other notion of God but that of a pure spirit. It seems to have been originally the language of idolaters. othly. He alleges the testimony of Bochai't, who shows, from some remains of the Phoenician language, that it was originally Hebrew*. Thus the chief magistrates of the Carthaginians, who were oi-iginally Phoenicians, or Canaanites, were called Suffites, which seems to be a corruption of the Hebrew word □''toDty sho- phetim, judges. The most material objection I can find against this hypothesis is taken from the thirteenth chapter of Nehemiah, ver. ,24, where it is said, that some Jews having married wives of Ashdod, " their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language." Now Ashdod was one of the cities of the Philistines, who were Canaanites ; from whence, therefore, it should seem, that the Jews' language, namely, Hebrew, and that of the Canaanites, were not the same. But it may be an- swered, 1st. That this was after the captivity, when the Jews had in a great measure lost the Hebrew. So that by the Jews'* language we may here rather understand Chaldee than Hebrew. 2dly. That the speech of Ashdod, perhaps, might differ from * Bocfaarti Chanaan, sive Geograph. Sacr. pai-s posterior, lib. ii. per totum. 490 EXCELLKNCV OF TIIK II KIMIKW LANGUAGE. • that of the Jews only in pronunciation and dialect ; as the Ephraimitcs, Judges xii. 6, pronounced differently from the other tribes, while yet they all spoke Hebrew *. Having thus endeavoured to trace the antiquity of the Hebrew language, we now come to consider the language itself. It being common for people to find out peculiar excellencies in their own language, the Hebrews have done so in theirs ; and many Christians have joined with them in bestowing high enco- miums upon it, as superior to all others. But whether that be owing to its real intrinsic excellencies, or to its advocates being prejudiced in its favour, on account of so many of the sacred books being written in it, we do not pretend to determine. This language is said to abound in the aptest etymologies and roots of the names both of men and things ; that in it the names of brutes express their nature and properties more significantly and accurately than in any other known language in the world ; that its words are concise, yet expressive ; derived from a small number of roots, yet without the studied and artificial composition of the Greek and Roman languages ; that its words follow each other in an easy and natural order, without intricacy or transposi- tion ; and above all, that it hath the happiest and richest fecundity in its verbs, of any known tongue, either ancient or modern ; which arises from the variety and sufficiency of its conjugations ; by means of which, as Bellarmine observes in his Hebrew Gram- mar, all the variety of significations into which it is possible for a verb to be branched out, are expressed with a very small varia- tion either of the points, or of a letter or two, which in any other language cannot be done without circumlocution. In a word, this language is said to be so concise, yet significant, so pathetic, yet free from lightness, or bombast, as of all others to approach nearest to the language of spirits, who need no words to convey their ideas to each other. But whether this language deserves these high encomiums, in preference to all others, or not, yet as God hath thought fit to convey to us so great a part of his revelations thereby, it certainly concerns us to be well acquainted with it. But it is not my pre- sent business to teach it ; nor do you need instruction from me on this head. * For proof that the Hebrew was the language of the Canaanites, see also Joseph Sca- liger, Epist. ccxlii. ct ccclxii. ; Walton. Prolegom. ii. sect. xiii. — xix. ; Selden, cap. ii. Prolegom. dc Diis Syris. UKBREAV CHARACTER. 491 All I shall farther offer, with respect to the language itself, will regard t}ie letters in which it is written. Concerning these there are two controversies : one about the consonants ; the other about the vowels, or points. First, Concerning the consonants. It is disputed, whether the sacred books were oi'iginally written in the present Hebrew square chai'acter, otherwise called the Assyrian or Chaldee character, or in the old Samaritan. Each side of this question is warmly main- tained by different critics, though the latter opinion is now more generally received. Joseph Scaliger, in his notes upon Eusebius''s Chronicon *, thinks it so evident that the sacred books were originally written in the Samaritan character, at least those of them written before the captivity, that he saith it is luce clarius ; and, with the usual politeness of a great critic, calls those of the contrary opinion semi-doc fi, semi-theolotji, semi-homines^ and asmz. He, with others on this side of the question, conceives the Samaritan was the ancient Phoenician character, and constantly used by the Jews till the Babylonian captivity, when, learning the Chaldee character from the Babylonians, they preferred it to their own on account of its far superior beauty. So that by the time they returned from the captivity, they had in a manner quite dis- used their ancient character ; for which reason Ezra found it requisite to have the sacred books transcribed into the Chaldee square character, and from that time the old character hath been retained only by the Samaritans. But there are others who strenuously contend for the antiquity of the present Hebrew letters, as if they, and no others, were the sacred character in which the holy Scriptures were originally, and have always been, written ; and that the Samaritan was never used for that purpose, except among the Samaritans, who, in op- position, they say, to the Jews, wrote the law of Moses, which is said to be the only part of Scripture they received, in this charac- ter, different from that which was used by the Jews. Some of the talmudists f , indeed, are quoted by Father Morin, Bishop \\&\- ton J, and others, as having declared for the contrary side. Never- theless, other talmudical writers maintain the antiquity of the * Scalig. Animadversioncs in Euscb. Chronic, sub anno 1617, p. 111. See also his Epist. ccxlii. et ccclxii. f Vid. Cocccii Excerpt. Gcmar. Cod. Sanhedr. cap. ii. sect. xiii. p. 186". :{: Walton. Polyglot. Prolcgom. iii. sect, xxxii. xxxiii. p. 21. 492 iii;Biu;w chaii.vcter. present character *. And tliere is a remarkable passage in the tract McgiUah, wherein, on occasion of its having been said by Moses, that the tables of the law were written on both their sides, nrai nro mizzeh umizzeh, on one side and on the other, Exod. xxxii. 15, we are informed, that the letters were cut through and through, so as to be seen and read on both sides. And when it is asked, how it was possible for the middle of the D samech and d mem clansum, or final mem, to support itself, the answer is, it was sus- pended by a miraculous power ■\. Certainly those talmudical rabbies, who have advanced this story, did not at all dream of the' Samaritan being the ancient Hebrew character ; for the Samari- tan samech a.ndi mem are of a quite different shape from the present Hebrew, and would have stood in need of no such miracle to sup- port the middle of them. Not to add, that the Samaritans make no difference between the final, or the medial and initial letters X. Buxtorf § endeavours to reconcile these two opinions, by pro- ducing a variety of passages from the rabbies || to prove, that both these characters were anciently used ; the present square character being that in which the tables of the law, and the copy deposited in the ark, were written ; and the other character being used in the copies of the law which were written for private and common use, and in civil aflfairs in general ; and that afi;er the cap- tivity Ezra enjoined the former to be used by the Jews on all occasions, leaving the latter to the Samaritans and to apostates. And whereas the talmudical rabbies style the Hebrew square characters fT'^ity^ ashurith, scriptura Assyriaca, this is said not to be a proper name, denoting the country where this character was used, and from whence it was bori'owed, but to be nomen appel- lativum, derived from imw asliar, heatum reddere, and to signify, thei'efore, heata Scriptura, the blessed Scripture. R. Gedaliah, indeed, supposes it was called the Assyrian character, because it was appropriated to sacred, and never employed for common pur- poses, before the captivity in Babylon, from whence it was brought by the elders, who alone had the knowledge of it by * Vid. Excerpt. Gemar. ubi supra, p. 186, 187. t Talm. Babylon. Cod. Megillah, cap. i. et de Sabbatho, fol. 104, col. i. See Buxtorf, Dissert. Philologico Theolog. diss. iv. sect. xvi. p. 174, 175. :j: Universal History, book i. cbap. vii. concerning tlie language, writing, and ]ea)ning of the Jews, note (v.) § Bu.\torf, Dissertat. Philolog. Theolog. dissert, iv. de Literar. Hebraic, genuina anti- qiiitate, sect. xiv. xv. xvii. xviii. xx. xlii. — xliv. II In particular Maimon. ct Bartenor. in Mishn, tit. Jadaim, cap. ult. sect. v. torn. vi. p. 490. HF.BREW CHARACTER. 493 tradition *. However, a bare inspection of the two characters renders the supposition, that both of them sliould ever have been used at the same time, somewhat improbable ; for whereas the Chaldee is one of the most beautiful, the Samaritan, on the con- trary, is one of the most uncouth, unsightly, and puzzling charac- ters that ever was invented ; and it can hardly, therefore, be imagined, that if the Jews had been acquainted with one so much superior as the Chaldee, they would ever have used the other, unless out of a superstitious regard to it as sacred, and as deeming it a profanation to use it in common and civil concerns. But it can scarcely be believed, that such an idle and superstitious opinion prevailed among them in the times of Moses and the prophets. The chief arguments, on both sides of this question, are as follow : — First. Those who argue in favour of the present square charac- ter being the original, allege, 1st. The following passage of St. Matthew : " One jot or tittle shall not pass from the law till all be fulfilled ;" chap. v. 18. From hence it should seem, that Iota, or Jod, was the least of the consonants, as indeed it is in the present Hebrew, but in the Samaritan it is one of the largest letters. Schickard calls this argumentum Pahnaruim-\. But Bishop ^yalton replies, that, supposing Christ speaks here of the least letter of the alphabet, which, however, he does not admit, all that can be fairly inferred fx'om it is, that the present Chaldee character was used in our Saviour's time, which is not denied by those who maintain the Samaritan to be the original %. 2dly. They allege the following passage of Isaiah : " Of the increase," n::'"^^ lemarheh, "of his government and peace there shall be no end," &c., chap. ix. 7 ; where the word H^'^l:^ lemarbeh hath a mem clausum in the middle of it, of which there are only two instances. It is imagined this contains a mystery, and signifies, that Christ should come ex utero clauso. But this mystery cannot be expressed in the Samaritan character, it having no mem clansmrt. The prophecy of Isaiah, therefore, it is said, was originally written in the present character. It is answered, that it is only gratis dictum there is any mystery in this letter; and the easiest * Biixtorf. 11 bi supra, sect. xliv. p. 203. •f- Vid. Schickard, in Bechinath Happeriishim, disp. v. p. 82, 83. :j: Walton, ubi snpra, sect, xxxvi. p. 23. 494 HEBREW CHARACTER. way of accounting for it is by the carelessness of some tran- scriber *. 3dly. They argue from the temper of the Jews, who, being an obstinate and superstitious people, would never have suffered their sacred character to be altered. But this is more than can be proved, especially if it was done by the direction of Ezra. 4thly. They say, that Ezra could not do this if he would, nor would if he could. He could not do it, because it was impossible to make this alteration in all their copies. But it may be asserted as well, that the old English black letter, in which Bibles were formerly written and printed, could not be changed for the Roman, which we know is now universally used. It is farther said, that Ezra would not do it, had it been practicable; for since he blamed those that spake the language of Ashdod, Nehem. xiii. 23, he would not surely profane the sacred writings with a heathen character. But this argument supposes some sanctity in the shape of the letters, which we can hardly imagine Ezra was so superstitious as to believe. 5thly. They argue from ancient coins found in Judea, with Solomon's head on the face, and the temple on the reverse, with a legend in the Chaldee or Assyrian character. But these medals were probably made by some knavish Christians, in order to get money by imposing on the pilgrims to the Holy Land. The same may be said of some Hebrew inscriptions in the pre- sent character, upon the sepulchres of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Rachel, and Leah, which R. Benjamin saith he saw in the year 1170f. The arguments on the other side, for the Samaritan character being the original, are, • 1st. From the account in the Second Book of Kings, chap, xvii. 28, that when the ten tribes were carried captive, and the Samaritans put in their room, they were annoyed with lions, upon which a Jewish priest was sent to teach them the manner of the God of the land, or the worship of Jehovah ; in order to which he must certainly teach them the law ; but we have no account of his teaching them the language or character; from whence it is presumed the law was then written in the character which the Samaritans used. * Walton, vibi supia. t Walton, ubi supi-a, sect. xxxv. p. 22. See Couringii Paradoxa de Niimmis Hebraeoruui, cap. V. — vii. et xi. apud Crenii Fascicul. Secundum, HEBREW CHARACTER. 49o 2dly. It is argued in favour of the Samaritan character from the authority of Jerome, who observeth, on occasion of the pro- phet Ezekiel's being ordered " to set a mark," in the Hebrew in tau, " upon the forehead of the men that sigh and cry for the abominations done in the midst of Jerusalem,"" chap. ix. 4 ; that this mark was the sign of the cross, there being a resemblance of that figure in the tau of the ancient alphabet, which, saith he, is what the Samaritans now use. If so, the form of this letter must have been, as some assert it was, different in his time from what it is at present, in which the resemblance is very small *. Sdly. The chief argument is taken from the old Jewish shekel, which on one side hath the pot of manna, and on the other Aaron's miraculous rod that budded; with a legend on one side, "The shekel of Israel ;" on the other, " Jerusalem the holy," both in Sa- maritan characters. Some of the shekels were in the possession of Rabbi Moses Nachmanides, and Rabbi Azarias t, among the Jews ; and of Montanus \, and Villalpandus §, and others among the Christians. Now this shekel could not belong to the Samaritans after the captivity, whose hatred to the Jews would never have suffered them to strike such an inscription on their coin, as " Jerusalem hacko- desh.'' It must, therefore, have belonged to the Jews before the captivity, which consequently proves the Samaritan character to have been then in use. This argument seems, indeed, to be demonstration. Nevertheless, considering the many notorious im- positions with respect to coins and medals, we should be well assured of the genuineness of these shekels ||, before we are abso- lutely determined by them ^. * Hieron. in loc, Antiquis, inquit, Hebrseorum Uteris, qiiibus usque hodic utuntur Sa- maritahi, extrema litera Thau crucis habet similitudinem. See Dr. Kennicott's second Dissertation on the state of the Hebrew Text, p. 49, 50, and Hieron. Alexandri. Epist. .To. Morino, apud Antiquitates Ecclesiae Orientalis clar. virorum Card. Barbarini, &c. Disserta- tionibus Epistolicis enucleatus, epist. vi. p. 144, 145, Londini, 1682. \ Menor. Enaim, p. 171. See the passage apud Ezek. Spanhcim. de usu ct pra;stant. Numism. dissert, iv. p. 334, edit. Amstel. 1671 ; or in Hottingcr de Nunimis Oriental, dissert, iii. ad calcem Cippor. Hcbr. p. 133 — 139, 2d edit. Heidelberg, 1662. I Aria; Montani Tubal-Cain, de Siclo, vol. iii. abiuit. apud Criticos Sacros, tom.viii. p. 657, edit. Londini. § Villalpandi Apparatus in Ezekielem. II Hottingcr maintains the genuineness and great antiquity of these shekels, supposing at the same time that the Samaritan character was used only for civil and profane purposes, and not for writing the holy Scriptures. See his Crippi Hebr. dissert, iii, de Nummis Ori- cntalibus. On the other hand, Conringius, in his Paiudoxa de Nunimis HebrKorum, cap. viii. ix., endeavours to prove they were struck after the captivity, in the times of the Asmouean princes, and of the Herods. See also Rcland do Nummis Samaritauis, dis- sert, i. \ See, concerning the Hebrew letters, Ludov. Capell. dc Antiq. Litcrar. Hebraic. ; Mo- 496 THE HEBREW POINTS. We proceed, now, Secondly, To consider the points or vowels, concerning which there is likewise no little controversy, whether they are of the same antiquity and authority with the consonants, or of a later original. In the beginning of the sixteenth century, the famous Elias Levita, a German Jew, ventured to call their antiquity in question, and ascribed the invention of them to the Masorites of the school of Tiberias, about five hundred years after Christ. The book which he published on this subject, soon raised him a cloud of adversaries, both of his own nation and among Christians. Of the latter were principally the two Buxtorfs ; the father, in his book called " Tiberias, sive Commentarius Masoreticus;"and the son, in his " Tractatus de Punctorum, Vocalium, et Accentuum, in libris Veteris Testamenti Hebraicis, Origine, Antiquitate et Authori- tate *;*" which he wrote in answer to Ludovicus Capel, a Pro- testant divine, and Hebrew professor at Saumur, who in his " Arcanum Punctationis " had espoused Levita's opinion ; as did likewise Joseph Scaliger f, Morinus '\., Drusius §, and several other critics. This controversy hath employed the learned for upwards of two hundred years. I shall first give an account of the several hypotheses which have been advanced on this subject, and then of the arguments pro and con. The hypotheses are, 1st. That the points are coeval with the consonants, and were written along with them in the original copies of the sacred lav/. The second is, that they were added by Ezra, at the time when he is supposed to have changed the old Samaritan for the Assyrian or Chaldee character. The third is, that they were invented and added by the Masorites of the school of Tiberias, certain Jewish grammarians, who de- voted themselves to the revisal of the Hebrew text, and, in order vini exercitat. in Pentateuch. Samarit. exerc. ii. cap. iii. sect, iv, et seq. ; Father Simon's Critical History of the Old Testament, book i. chap. xiii. ; Pfeifferi Critica Sacra, cap. iv. sect. ii. ; Leusden. Philolog. Hebrasus; Prideaux's Connect, part i. book vi. sub A, 446 ; and Scaliger, and Buxtorf, and Walton, as before quoted. * See Buxtorf. de Antiquitate Punctor. part ii. cap. xi. f Scaliger, Epist. ad Buxtorf. 243. + Morin. Exercitat. Biblicse, exercit. ^^. et Epist. Buxtorfio apud Antiquitates Ecclcsi?e Orientalis, &c. ; Dissertationibus Epistolicis enucleatus, epist. Ixx. prsesertim, p. 368, ad finem. ^ Drusius ad Loca DifEcil. Pentateuch, cap. 25. TilK HK.BIU-.NV I'OINTS. 497 to prevent any future alteration-, numbered the sections, words, and letters, in each book. The school of Tiberias in Galilee was a very famous one, and flourished long after the destruction of the second temple. The grammarians, or critics, of that scliool, commonly called Masorites, are supposed to have invented the points after the completion of the Talmud. The Papists generally embrace this hypothesis, because, in their opinion, it serves the cause of oral tradition, and hath a tendency to weaken the authority and sufficiency of the sacred text; and for other reasons several Protestants have re- ceived it. As for Capel, the most celebrated Christian champion for this hypothesis, although he agrees with Elias Levita in ascribing the first edition of the points in the text to the Masorites of Tiberias, he nevertheless differs from him in this, that he makes the invention of them to be purely human, and so represents them as of no authority ; whereas Levita supposes the points expressed the true and genuine reading, which had been preserved and handed down by tradition from the first writers of the sacred books ; so that in effect they are of equal authority with the con- sonants. There is yet a fourth hypothesis of Dr. Prideaux, who goes a middle way between those who contend for the points being coeval with the consonants, or at least for their being added by Ezra under divine inspiration, and those who allow them no higher original than the school of Tiberias. He conceives they were added by more ancient Masorites, soon after Ezra, when the Hebrew ceased to be a living language ; but did not come into common use, nor were taught in the divinity schools, till after the compiling of the Talmud. There were anciently two sorts of schools among the Jews, the schools of the Masorites, and the schools of the Rabbles. The former only taught the Hebrew language, and the reading of the Scriptures in it ; the latter, the understanding of the Scriptures, and the traditional interpretation of them. Now the vowel points, Dr. Prideaux supposes, were in use in the schools of the Masorites several ages before they were introduced into the schools of the Rabbles; and thus he accounts for their not being mentioned in the Talmud, nor by the ancient Christian fathers before the time of the Masorites of Tiberias *. NVe now proceed to consider the arguments for and against these different hypotheses. * Priileaux's Connect, part i. lio.ik v. vol. i, p. >> — ')20, lOtli cilit. K K 498 THE HEBREW POINTS. First. For the antiquity and divine authority of the points, whether coeval with the consonants, or added by Ezra. To prove that they were not invented by the Masorites of Tibe- rias, it is alleged, 1st. That there is no mention in any Jewish writer, of such an alteration being made in tlie Hebrew Bible ; which doubtless there would have been, had it been fact*. 2dly. That all the annotations or notes of the Masorites, upon the vowels, relate to the irregularity of them. For instance, in their commentaries on the nineteenth chapter of Genesis and the second verse, they observe, on the word U^n Jiiane, ecce, which ought regularly to have been U^r^ Jmiue, that every n;rT hi7me in this sense is with kametz parvum (by which they mean the vowel which we call tzeri), except only in this place. And in the sixteenth chapter of Genesis, there being in the thirteenth verse OED shem, which in the fifteenth verse is 01?^ shem, they re- mark, that every UW shem is with a kametz parvum, except six. Now had the Masorites been the inventors of the points, it is not to be thought they would have made them irregular according to their own judgments ; consequently they must have had these irregular points in the copies that were before themf. But it is observed, that though we should suppose the Masorites of Tiberias invented the points, yet others, perhaps several ages afterward, might make critical remarks upon them : for the Masorah, as printed in our present Bibles, saith Dr. Prideaux, is a collection and abridgment of the chief criticisms made on the Hebrew text from the beginning ^. 3dly. There is express mention of the points or vowels in books more ancient than the Talmud ; namely, Bahir and Zohar : the first of which is said to have been written a little before our Sa- viour's time ; and the second, which quotes and refers to it, not much above a century after §. Buxtorf the elder quotes the fol- lowing passage, among others, out of Bahir : " Talia sunt puncta cum Uteris legis Mosis qualis est aniraa vitae in corpore." But these two books are rejected by Capel|| and others, as spurious * Pfeifferi Critica Sacra, cap. iv. sect. ii. qiisest. ii. p. 83, 84, Lipsiae, 1712. ■\- Buxtorf. Tiberias, cap. \%. p. 47, et seq. edit. Basil. 1665; et Buxtorf. Fil. de Punc- torum Antiquitate, part ii. cap. vi. p. 338, et seq. :|: Capelli Arcanum Punctationis, lib. ii. cap. x. xi. ; Prideaux's Connect, part i. book v. vol. ii. p. 504, 10th edit. § Buxtorf. Tiberias, cap. ix. sect. iii. p. 70 ; Buxtorf. Fil, de Antiq. Punctorum, part i. cap. V. p. 68, et seq. II Capell. Arcanum Pimctat. lib. ii. cap. iii. ; et Vindiciae Arcani, lib. i. cap. viii. sect, xiii. et seq. THE HEBREW POINTS. 499 and modei'n. Prideaux saith, there are many particulars in them, which manifestly prove them to be so, and that, for above a thou- sand years after the pretended time of their composure, they were never heard of, quoted, or mentioned *. 4thly. That the points were in use in our Saviour's time, and therefoi-e long before the Masorites of Tiberias, is argued from the following passage of St. Matthew : " One iota, or Kepcua" which we translate tittle, '* shall not pass from the law ;" chap. v. 18. The tittles, or points, therefore at that time belonged to the lawf. But Capel understands by the Kepmai, not the points, but the coroUce, or flourishes, sometimes made about the Hebrew con- sonants J. For the high antiquity of the points, and that they must be coeval with the consonants, it is argued, 1st. That as it is impossible to pronounce the language without vowels, so it would be alike impossible to teach it, unless the vowels were expressed §. And, 2dly. If it be allowed, that the present vowel points are not of the same authority with the consonants, but merely of human and late invention, it will greatly weaken the authority of the holy Scriptures, and leave the sacred text to an arbitrary and uncertain reading and interpretation ||. It is indeed advanced by the gentlemen on the other side of the question, that the aleph, he, van, jod, and gnain, originally served for vowels ^. To which it is replied, that there are multitudes of words, in which none of these letters occur**. And it is certain they were not in all words in Jerome's time, who in his com- mentary on Isaiah saith, that the word "lil dhahhar, is written with three letters -f-j-. But Capel thinks it reasonable to suppose, that neither Moses nor Ezra would have used the aleph, van, and Jod at all, if they had been the authors of the points, which render these letters needless. And though all words have not these matres lectionis, yet wherever they are wanting, they may easily be * Prideaux's Connect, part i. book v. vol. ii. p. 601, 502, 10th edit. ■f- Buxtorf. Fil. de Punctorum Antiquitatc, part ii. cap. xv. p. 435, 436. J Capelli, Arcanum Punctationis, lib. ii. cap. xiv. ; and Vindicise Arcani, lib. ii. cap. xiii. ; sec also Marckii Sylloge Dissertationum, exercitat. iii. § See Buxtorf. de Punctor. Antiq. part ii. cap. i. p. 305, et seq. II Buxtorf. Tiberias, cap. ix. p. }!6 ; ct Buxtorf. Fil. de Punctor. Antiq. part ii. cap. xiv. p. 41.0, et seq. ; Carpxovii Critica Sacra, part i. cap. v. sect. vii. p. 243 — 248- ^ Capelli Arcanum Punctationis, lib. i. cap. xviii. xix. ** Buxtorf. de Punctorum Antiq. part i. cap. xiv. p. 198; etpart ii. cap. viii. +t Hicron. in Isa. iii. 8. K K 2 500 THK ni',Hnr.w points. supplied in reading, by those who are skilled in the tongue, as the persons undoubtedly were to whom it was a native language *. To which some have added, that these letters have been struck out of many words, in which they were formerly written, as being of no use since the invention of vowel points. To this it can only be replied, If that were the case, many " iotas must have perished from the law.'*'' Besides, who would venture to expunge these letters ? Not, surely, the Masorites ; who were so superstitiously scrupulous and exact, as to preserve even the irregularities of the letters ; and having counted and set down the number of the letters contained in each book, they thereby placed a guard ngainst its being done by any body after them. But notwithstanding all their care f, it is certain the matres lectionis have been sometimes omitted : for they are more frequent in some of the older manu- scripts than in later manuscripts, or in the printed text+. The foregoing arguments for the antiquity of the points are produced, chiefly, by Buxtorf We come now, Secondly, to consider the arguments against the antiquity of the points, by which Capel endeavours to prove, they were added by the Masorites of Tiberias. These are drawn from grammar, from testimony, and from history. 1st. The grammatical arguments are built principally upon the keri and chethibh. The chetldbh, from nrii chathahh, sc7'ipsit, is the reading in the text, the keri, from x'np ka7Yi, legit, the reading in the margin. Generally the wrong one is in the text, and the true in the margin. Some of the more modern rabbies ascribe these marginal corrections, or various readings, to Ezra. Abarbanel imputes the chethihhim, the irregularities and anomalies in the text, to the original writers, who designed to comprise some mysteries in them. Or, he thinks, they might, in some instances, be owing to their inadvertency, or to their want of skill in grammar and or- thography ; and that Ezra, not willing to insert in the text his cor- rections even of the mistakes of the original writers, contented himself with placing them in the margin. Elias Levita very ab- surdly maintains, that the various readings themselves were derived * Capel. Vindicise Arcani, lib. ii. cap. vi. ■f Concerning the inconsistency and imperfection of the Masorah, and its insufficiency to guard the purity of the sacred text, see Capclli Critica Sacra, lib. v. cap. xii. p. 373, et seq. ; lib. iii. cap. xvi. p. 156. 186 ; cap. xix. p. 203 ; Dr. Kennicott's first Dissert, on the He- bresv Text, p. 247, 261, et seq., 297, et seq., 348, 349. 54b", 547 ; second Dissert, p. 1>45, et seq., 26"2 — 2yl. 451. 46f!, 4()!) ; and in some other places. + See Dr. Kennicott's first Dibsert. on the Hebrew Text, p. 303. THE HEBREW POINTS. 501 by tradition from the original writers *. The first of these opinions is the most plausible ; namely, that Ezra, in reviewing the different copies, in order to publish a perfect edition, marked the several variations, and put one reading in the text, and the other in the margin. But it is a strong objection to Ezra"'s having done it, that such marginal readings, different from the text, are found in the book of Ezra itself, who cannot be supposed to have been in doubt of the true reading of his own writings; and therefore they must, at least partly, have been inserted since Ezra's time f . Further, it should seem that these marginal corrections were not in the copies from whence either the Seventy, the Chaldee Para- phrast, Aquila, Symmachus, or Theodosian, made their versions ; since they sometimes follow the keri, sometimes the cliethibh ; whereas had these marginal corrections been in their copies, they would doubtless, ordinarily, if not always, have followed them. Neither Josephus, nor Philo, nor Origen, nor Jerome, make any mention of the keri and the cliethihli ; nor does the Mishnah. The Gemara, indeed, mentions those words which were written but not read, and those which were read but not written, as also obscene words, instead of which were read others that are more pure and chaste. But it does not take notice of the other part of the k£ri and chethihh, namely, those words which are written, and read in a different manner. From all this it is concluded, that the keriotlt began to be collected a little before the completion of the Talmud, probably by the Masorites of Tiberias :]:. From hence Cape! argues against the antiquity of the points, endeavouring to prove that they have no higher an original than the keri and the chethihh : and for this he offers the following reasons : — First. The keriotJi are various lections of the consonants only ; there are none of the vowels or points, as doubtless there would have been, had the points been in the copies from whence the kerioth were made §. Secondly. There are certain iiTCgularities in the punctuation, which show that the points were not in the copies from whence the ker-i and the chethihh were made. Now these irregularities are observed, both in whole words, and in parts of woi'ds. 1st. In whole words; these are either single words, or words * CapcUi Critica Sacra, lib. iii. cap. xiv. t That the KcrioUi were properly a collection of various readings, whoever made the collection, is well proved by Dr. Kennicott, second Dissert, on the Hebrew Text, p. -81, ft seq. X Capell. Critica Sacra, lib. iii. v,\\i. xiv. .\v. § Capell, Arcanum Punctationis, lib. i. cap. vii. 502 THE HEBREW POINTS. combined, or divided. Tliose in single words are when the con- sonants are either redundant, or defective, or are wholly suppressed. Of the first sort, there is an instance in the fifty-first chapter of Jeremiah and the third verse; where X^y jidhroch is written twice. And this superfluous word hath no points : which is thus ac- counted for ; that those who settled the keri and chethibh, finding the word in their copies, durst not strike it out, but perceiving it to be an erratum, and superfluous, they would not point it : whereas, had it been pointed in their books, they would doubtless have given it as they found it, and no more have dared to expunge the vowels than the consonants. Hence it is inferred, that the kerioth were more ancient than the points, and that the copies which supplied them were unpointed. Of the second sort, where the consonants are defective, we have an instance in the thirty-first chapter of Jeremiah, and the thirty- eighth verse ; where we have the vowels of a word in the chethibh, without the consonants, which consonants are supplied in the keri ; and without which supplement the text is not sense. The Ma- sorah observes eleven instances of this kind. Now it cannot be thought the words were written thus originally or by Ezra, or that any other transcriber through carelessness should omit the con- sonants, while he set down the vowels. Therefore it is supposed, that those who invented the points, found the word omitted, doubt- less through the incuria of some transcriber ; yet durst not put the consonants in the text, but in the margin, and the vowels only in the text. There are also instances of the consonants being suppressed in reading the text, by other consonants being put in their room in the margin ; as, when the original word seemed to those who in- vented the vowels to be obscene, and therefore not proper to be read, they have substituted another word in the margin, and put the vowels proper to that word under the word in the text : for in- stance, in the eighteenth chapter of the Second Book of Kings, and the twenty-seventh verse ; where the consonants in the text cannot be read with the vowels annexed to them, which evidently belong to the consonants in the margin. We cannot, therefore, suppose, that the vowels in the text were originally affixed to the words they are now under, or that they were put to those words before th.e invention of these marginal readings *. There are observations likewise made on the combinations of * Capell. Arcanum Punctat. lib. i. cap. xi. especially sect, vi ix. THE HEBREW POINTS. 60S words. Thus the word ddu^md meeshtam, in the sixth chapter of Jeremiah and the twenty-ninth verse, ought to be written in two words, as in the margin; for the punctuation is not just if the consonants are joined together; but agrees very well with the consonants if they are divided. Sometimes, again, we find one word broke into two in the text, which are joined together, as they should be, in the margin. In the thirty-fourth chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles, and the sixth verse, onTin "ini hechar hothehevi, ought certainly to be one word, as in the margin ; otherwise the punctuation is very irregular. Now the books of Chronicles are generally supposed to have been written by Ezra. But whoever wrote them, it can- not be imagined, that this irregular punctuation was in the original copy ; but the consonants happening to be afterwards divided through the incuria of the transcriber, those who invented the points, fixed them as if it had been, what it ought to have been, one word. Thus much for the irregularities observed in whole words *. 2dly. The irregularities which are observed in parts of words, or letters, are, 1st. A pleonasm, when there are superfluous letters, either in the beginning, middle, or end of a word. In the beginning : as np3 for n^2 beth, 2 Kings xxii. 5; Jer. lii. 11: 'IS!?^ for ^'tiK^ tseu, chap. 1. 8. In the middle; as 23")^ for ^'^^ berohh, 2 Kings xix. 23: °r'.??"3^'! for anbm vehallechem, 2 Sam. xvi. 2. In the end: as "'trsi for a?'« isk, 2 Sam. xxiii. 21 : "^"'^7 ^"d ~'^?'? fo^' "^ langnai, and ''^J^ bangnai, Josh. viii. 12 : in all which places the superfluous letter hath no vowel to it; which shows, that the vowels were affixed to the text since these errors crept into it. 2dly. An ellipsis, or the omission of a letter, either in the beginning of a word, as ^^^. for TWS"^ jangnaseh, 1 Sam. XX. 2 ; where the vowel is in the text, under the place of the consonant which is omitted. So likewise ^/ for ^^^ velo. Lam. ii. 2: Tl:? for T^*^ veein ; chap. v. 7. Or in the middle of a word: as ???nn for Dn3Dnn taccaphanchem, Jer. ii. 16: ?5M for 13n3S anadmu, chap. xlii. 6 ; where the nun and cheth are both wanting. Or at the end of a word : as 'I'Pt for I'law omi-u ; 1 Sam. xviii. 19. * Capell. Arcanum, ubi supra, sect. x. •'304 THE HKBPiKW POINTS. 3dly. Permutation, or changing one letter for another : as ^^1). for ^^"^^ jidhcha. vau hr Jod, Psalm x. 9; which error occurs in twenty-two places : ^^^] for ^^^271 veshaal, jod for vau^ Prov. xx. 4 ; Psalm Ixxvii. 12 ; which error occurs seventy-five times: ^"7? for ^"T3 fjedhal^ resh for daleth, Prov. xix. 19: 'Tj^y^ for ^'*^ /'^. gnalei^ upon, they read ""V^? gnalai, rendering it Kar ffiov (Psalm xxxi. in the Greek). In the forty-seventh Psalm, and the tenth verse, for Dr gnam, the people, they read ^V gnim, with ; instead of " the people of the God of Abraham," it is in their version liera tov Qeov A^paafi, with the God of Abraham. In the thirty-third Psalm and the seventh verse, instead of T?? cannedli, like a heap, they read "f23 cannodhf like a bottle, rendering it wo-ei avKov. In the ninth chapter of Hosea and the first verse, for bs e/, to, they read, vS a/, not, rendering it ^ii]Ie. In the first chapter of Joel and the eighteenth verse, for ^13-3 nabhochu, are perplexed, they read ^2^3 nibhchu, wept, from n23 bachah, Jievit; and accordingly they render it eKKavaav. From these and several other instances it is inferred, that the translators of the Septuagint had • Capcll. ubi supra, sect. iv. ct seq. THE HEBREW POINTS. 507 no Bible with points ; or, at least, that the copy they translated from was not printed as ours is. The instances of the like sort, which Capel produces out of the Chaldee Paraphrases, and other ancient versions, are not so evidently to the purpose of his argument as those from the Sep- tuagint. Let us now see what is replied to these arguments of Capel by Buxtorf and others, who contend for the high antiquity and authority of the Hebrew points. First. As to the argument drawn from the keri and chethibh : — Buxtorf admits the keri and chethibh to have been prior to the points ; and therefore, in order to maintain his opinion, that Ezra was the author of the points, he asserts, that it was Ezra, and not the Masorites of Tiberias, who first collected the kerioth, and then regulated by them the punctuation in the text *. We have already taken notice of the reasons which Capel offers on the contrary, for allowing the kerioth no higher antiquity than the time of the Masoi'ites of Tiberias. There are others, who assert, that the various lections, which are to be found in the Masorah, and part of which are inserted in the margin of the Hebrew Bible, are made upon the vowels as well as upon the consonants f ; and they endeavour to show, that the various lections upon the consonants are owing to the irregularity of the vowels ; and if so, the vowels must have been prior to these marginal corrections. Thus they prove the antiquity of the points from the keri and chethibh ; and their argument is this : There are many instances, where the consonants in the margin are plainly fitted to the vowels in the text. But had there been no vowels in the text when the keri were made, there would have been no occa- sion for these corrections ; for the text might have been read with other vowels, and the sense of it much mended. For instance, in the eighth chapter of Genesis and the seventeenth verse, where the word in the text is '^r?'?'^ havtse, bring forth, the keri reads S!2''n hajjetse, divide ; which is plainly suited to the punctuation in the text ; for had there been no points, they would rather have read it W^in hots^, as it ought to be, and then there would have been no occasion for this marginal correction. There is much * Buxtorf. (le Antiq. Functor, part i. cap. viii. ; and, on the other side, Capell. ViudicisB Arcani, lib. i. cap. ix. + Sec AVliitfield's Dissertation on the Hebrew Vowel-iioints, sect. i.\. p. 13-1, ct seq. Liverpool, 1748. 508 THE HEBREW POINTS. such unotlier instance in the fifth Psahn and the ninth verse, where "^^l-? havsluir in the text is corrected by "'ti^'^n haj- shar in the margin; whereas it ought to be "ii^"in hos/iar, or "Itt^in kosher, in the imperative hiphil, from "^W^ janhar, rectus fidt. In the twenty-first Psalm and the second verse, the word •?T J"^^'^4 exultahit, is changed in the keri into h^" jagel ; but the consonants in the text are regular in hiphil, and should be pointed ^''2*' jagil. There could, therefore, be no reason for the keri to leave out the letter jod, but only to make the consonants suit to the erroneous punctuation in the text. In the fifty-first Psalm and the fourth verse, "^^iri multiplica, in the text, is cor- rected by nin herebk in the margin. Now had there been no points in the text, they would doubtless have read '~'|i"]'7 harbeJi, of which ^"jn kerehh is nothing but a contraction. In the fifty- ninth Psalm and the sixteenth verse, V137J13">_ jenungmin, vagahuntur, is made in the keri pi?''i'', suited to the erroneous punctuation, l^^"*?^; for had there been no points, instead of making this correction, they would doubtless have read it "I^^^^^, as it ought to be; for the sense is plainly in kal. In the seventy- seventh Psalm and the twelfth verse, "'''3?^ recordabor; in the margin it is "Ti;3i« ezchor ; whereas it might have been as well read "^^^T^ azchir in hiphil. In Psalm the eighty-ninth and eighteenth verse, C'lri exidtahit, is changed by the keri into m~in tarum, in kal; whereas tS**"?^ tarim, in hiphil, better agrees with the context. See more instances of the kind in the eighty-fifth Psalm and first verse, the hundred and fifth Psalm and eighteenth and twenty-eighth verses, the hundred and fortieth Psalm and ninth verse, the hundred and forty-fifth Psalm and sixth and eighth verses ; and especially the thirtieth Psalm and the fourth verse, where 1''^'?"'^^ from 1"''' jaradh, descendit, is corrected in the keri by leaving out the vau, and so making it the infinitive or gerund kal, with the affix jod, ''IT'O, a descendere me ; whereas the sense is better if we retain the vau, and point it as the participle '^^I'll'^P mijjoredhei ; according to the Seventy, who render it ano ttuv Kara^aLvovTcov ; which is followed in the old English version, " Thou shalt keep my life from them that go down into the pit." This instance is said to have convinced Pocock, above all others, of the antiquity of the points. THi', HEBUEW POINTS. 009 However, it may be observed on this argument, that it supposes the kerloth not to have been various readings collected from manu- scripts, but corrections of the text, made in conformity to an ano- malous punctuation. Now, admitting that this erroneous pointing was prior to the kcrioth, would it not have been more natural to have put a keri upon the vowels, than to have placed erroneous consonants in the margin, in conformity with erroneous vowels in the text? If we suppose the keriotk to have been the various readings of different cop es, all that seems necessary to account for their being often worse than the readings in the text, is to suppose, that those who collected them were very injudicious persons, or had a great reverence for particular copies, the readings of which they on that account preferred, though less eligible in themselves than the readings in the text. Besides, supposing the kerioth were made in conformity with the vowels in the text, we must then suppose likewise, that, with respect to the instances where we meet with points in the text without consonants, the transcriber wrote the points, forgetting at the same time to write the con- sonants, which is very hard to conceive ; and where we meet with consonants without points, if the points were there when the ko'ioth were made, why should the points be omitted in the text any more than the consonants ? To the Second class of arguments against the antiquity of the points, which are taken from the Sepher-Torah, the Cabala and Talmud, it is replied, 1st. As to the Sepher-Torah *, it is acknowledged, that the copies of the law which were publicly read in the Jewish syna- gogues, were always, at least as far back as we can trace them, without points. But to the inference, that the points are of mo- dern invention, because the Jews durst not make any alteration in their law, but would transcribe it just as they found it, it is replied: that from hence it might as well be proved, that the heri did ori- ginally belong to the law (which is absurd to imagine), as that the points did not. The Jews give two reasons for the Sepher-Torah's being written without points. The one is, that it is thereby capable of more mysterious interpretations ; the other, that every one is bound to write over the law once in his life, or at least to get it written for him ; and it must be written without any blunder, • See Buxtorf. de Antiq. Piinitor. part i. cap. iv. ; and, on the otlier hand, Cajx-ll. Viii- diria; Arcani, lib. i. cap. ii. 510 THE HEBREW TOINTS. for one blunder profanes the whole. It is therefore proper it should be written without points, because in such a vast number of points, it would be morally impossible to avoid blunders. Perhaps a third reason may be added for the Scpher-Torah's being written without points, namely, that bjing written merely for the use of such persons as are well versed in the Hebrew tongue (for it is not to be supposed that any others are employed as public readers in the synagogue), there was no need to write it with the points, they being very capable of reading without them. But as M. T. C. is sufficient for one who is versed in the Roman contractions, while a more unskilful person cannot read unless Marcus Tullius Cicero be wrote at length ; so those copies, which were written merely for the use of the learned in the Hebrew language, being written without points, will by no means prove that points were not necessary for, and anciently used by, the more unlearned. As for the assertion, that the Jews durst not make any alteration in their law, but would transcribe it just as they found it, and that therefore they would have inserted the points into the Sepher- Torah, if they bad then been used originally, or had been invented by Ezra; this supposes, that the same superstitious regard was always paid to the characters and letters in which the law was written, as hath been done since the time of the Masorites of Tiberias ; and that the Jews would have scrupled to write out copies without points, for the use of their public readers, who did not need them ; which is not probable, even though they had looked on the vowel points to be as authentic as the consonants. Again, though the modern Sepher-Torah is written without points, yet we cannot be certain how the fact hath always been, particularly how it was in the time of Ezra; for there are no copies of the law now extant, near so ancient as his time. As for the copy in the church of St. Dominick, in Bononia, pretended to be written by Ezra himself, it is in a fair character, on a sort of leather, and made up in a roll, according to the ancient manner ; and it hath the vowel points ; but the freshness of the writing, which hath suffered no decay, pi*events our believing it to be near so ancient as is pretended. We are not informed, whether the points in this manuscript appear to have been written by a later hand than the consonants ; but in many manuscripts, examined by Dr. Kennicott, and those some of the oldest and best, either THE HEBREW POINTS. oll tliere are no points at all, or they are evidently a late addi- tion *. The Second argument against the antiquity of the points was drawn from the Talmud, which makes no mention of them. To which it is replied -f-, not only that there are books said by Buxtorf to be older than the Talmud, though rejected by Capel as spurious, in which they are expressly mentioned ; but likewise that it is highly probable the talmudists, though they make no mention of the points, nevertheless used pointed copies ; because all the senses they give of Scripture are agreeable to the present punctuation ; whereas if there had been no points, it can hardly be thought they would always have given the same sense of words as the points determine them to mean. As to the Third argument, which is taken from the Cabala ; it is replied, that both ancient and modern cabalistical writers have found mys- teries in the points, as well as the consonants. For instances of which, see " Buxtorf de Antiquitate Punctorum %," and what Capel saith in confutation of him §. The Third sort of arguments against the antiquity of the points was drawn from comparing the ancient versions, particularly the Sep- tuagint, with the original ; by which, they say, it appears, that the Hebrew copies, which those ancient interpreters used, had no points. But those of the contrary opinion remark ||, 1st. That hereby one argument for the antiquity of the points is greatly confirmed; namely, that without them the sense would be uncertain. It is pretended, indeed, that though there are a num- ber of Hebrew words of different significations, whose consonants are the same; yet where these words occur, the context will always determine the true meaning. But we see the contrary in those ancient versions, which are made from copies without points; for they have frequently mistaken the sense by reading with wrong vowels. 2dly. They remark, that if this argument proves any thing, it * See Dr. Kennicott's first Dissert, on the Hebrew Text, p. 313 — 342, passim. And Js. Vossius asserts, tliat in examining above two thousand Hebrew MSS. he had never met with any pointed, that were above GOO years old ; or if the books were older, the points were a late addition; Voss. de Sept. Interp. Translat. cap. 30. f See Buxtorf. de Antiq. Punctor. part i. caj). vi. ; and, in answer to him, Capell. Vin- diciae Arcani, lib. i. cap. vii, ; see also above, p. 498. X Part i cap. v. § Capell. Vindic. Arcani, part i. cap. viii. II See Buxtorf. de Antiq. Punctor. part i. cap. ix. x. : and, on the other side, Capell. Vindicia Arcani, lib. i. cap. iv. v. ;)12 Tlir. IIKBRF.W POINTS, j)roves too much ; for if the copies we now have of the Septuagiiit be just transcripts of the original version, we may as easily prove by it, that the Hebrew copy from whence that version was made had no consonants, as that it had no vowels ; since it differed as much from our copy in the former as in the latter. This appears in a variety of instances, not only as to the letters, but likewise as to words and sentences. In the first place, as to letters : there are many instances, 1st. Of the metastoicheiosis, or putting one letter for another. In the fifty-sixth Psalm and the ninth verse, instead of «, their copy must have had J, in the word llt^n; for they read it "|i::n, and ac- cordingly render it eva>iTLov a-ov. In the sixtieth chapter of Isaiah and the fifteenth verse, for n they read r ; for '\2^x> trandens, nni? auxiUans, and accordingly they render it o ^or]du>v. In the thirty- fourth chapter of Ezekiel and the sixteenth verse, for i they read i; for TaU7« disperdam, T'Diys custodiam. In the eighth chapter of the First Book of Samuel and the sixteenth verse, for rr they read ^ ; for nti^i?i et faciet, they read it^in, and render it km anobeKaraxrei, et decimobit. In the sixtieth Psalm and sixth verse, for tD they read n, for loVDp Veritas, nVDp arcus. In the sixth chapter of the First Book of Samuel and the eighteenth verse, for b they read 3 ; for h^a, p« Xi6os. In the third chapter of Ezekiel and the eighth verse, for a they read j; for Zi'n^'O frontem eoriim, cnvj, viKos avToiv. On the contrary, in the First Book of Samuel, the twenty-third chapter and the seventh verse, for J they read d ; for 133 tradidit, they read 12D vendidit. In the hundred and fourth Psalm and the twelfth verse, for j; they read p ; for L^'i^^i: fi'ondes, ct^Qp, and translate it nerpoi, riipes. In the third chapter of Genesis and the fifteenth verse, for Q they read i ; for ^t^m^ conteret tibi, they doubtless read x^^m^' which they render (tov rrjp^a-fi, sc. Kf(f)aKrjv. In the eighth chapter of Isaiah and the twentieth verse, for "I they i-ead "i ; for inti? aurora, "inty munus. Again, in the thir- teenth chapter of Zechariah and the first verse, for i they read n ; for '■)']pr2 Jb7is, mpo locus. In the thirty-seventh chapter of Isaiah and the twenty-fifth verse, for n they read n ; for ^nTiiyi et bihi, they read ''n^nti^i, as if from rinti> perdidit ; and accordingly they render it Tjprjfiuxra. 2dly. There are instances of epenthesis, or letters inserted in words in the copies they translated from, whicli are not in the present copy. In the twenty-eighth chapter of Proverbs and the THE HEBREW POINTS. 513 twenty-eighth verse, mpn in surgendo^ they read mpa^, and render it ev TOTToti^ in locis. 3dly. Metathesis, or changing the place of letters in a word. In the twentieth Psalm and the sixth verse, for hyi^ vexillum erige- vms, they read biJ:, from h^i gadhal^ magnus fuit, and render it fiiyakvv6r)(TOjj.i6a (Psalm xix. 5, in the Greek). 4thly. Aphaeresis, or leaving out letters. In Isaiah, the four- teenth chapter and thirty-second verse, for 0«^d nuncii, they read ^5^50 reges, and render it ySao-iXet? eOvav. Thus much for a specimen of the difference in letters, be- tween the Hebrew copy, from which the Seventy translated, and ours. Secondly. ■ There appears also to have been a considerable dif- ference in whole words and sentences. In the second chapter of Job, and the ninth verse, there is a long speech of Job's wife in the Septuagint, which is not in the present Hebrew copy. At the end of the forty-second chapter there is a long genealogical history, which is said to be taken out of a Syriac book. There is a whole Psalm added at the end of the book of Psalms. Twenty verses are left out of the First Book of Samuel, about the middle of the seventeeth chapter *. In the seventeenth of Jeremiah there are four verses wanting in the beginning; and in the thirty-third chapter (chap. xl. in the Greek), thirteen verses at the end. There are also strange transpositions, particularly the thirty-sixth, thirty-seventh, thirty-eighth, and thirty-ninth chapters of Exodus are miserably confused. So that upon the whole it appears, that if the Septuagint version we now have be genuine, the Hebrew copy it was translated from differed greatly from our present copy, as well in the consonants as the vowels ; and therefore it is said, that the argument drawn from this version against the antiquity of the points will either prove too much, or nothing at all. As to the hypothesis of Dr. Prideaux f , that the points were added to the Hebrew text soon after Ezra's time by the ancient Masorites, and used in their schools in teaching to read the Bible, yet not received into the schools of the rabbles till several hundred years afterward ; in support of the former assertion, he alleges the utter impossibility of teaching to read the Hebrew * See Dr. Kenuicott's second Dissert, on the Hebrew Text, p. 418 — 431. 554 — 558. •f- Prideaux's Connect, vol. ii. part i. book v. p. 505, &c. L L 514 GENERAL DIVISIONS OF THE IMBLE. without points, when it was become a dead langunge ; which it is allowed on all hands to have been ever since the captivity. This opinion, that the points were invented and used by the Masorites soon after the time of Ezra, who is supposed to have settled the true meaning of the Hebrew text, makes their authority very considerable. But if it can be proved, that they were invented a little after Ezra's time, because they were necessary to teach the reading of the Hebrew, when it was become a dead language ; I see not, but the same argument will prove they were invented in his time ; for the Hebrew was a dead language then as well as after. The latter assertion, that they were not introduced into the schools of the rabbles till some hundred years afterward, is ad- vanced in order to account for the silence of the Talmud, Josephus, and Philo, with most of the ancient Christian fathers, concerning them. Now this silence will indeed prove, that there was no dispute about them in those times ; but, whatever presumption it may be, it is no demonstration, that they were not then used even in the schools of the rabbies. Indeed it was so natui'al for the inventors of the alphabet to contrive characters for the vowels as well as the consonants, that no small presumption arises from hence, that the present points were coeval with the consonants, unless the matres lectionis are supposed to have been the original vowels. To which some add, the use of the points in determining the different meaning of several words, which have the same consonants ; particularly in distinguishing the two conjugations of pi hel and piihal, in all the moods and tenses except the infinitive. And this shows the modern points to be at least as ancient as the present structure of Hebrew grammar. However, this controversy not admitting of demonstration on either side of the question, I shall leave you, after considering what hath been said, and what Buxtorf and Capel have further offered, to judge for yourselves, on which side the greatest probability lies ; and proceed next to consider the usual divisions of the Hebrew Bible. Of the general Partitions and Divisions of the Bible. The general title of the whole is MiJ^il^'i D^lti^i? nesrim vearbangnah, that is, the twenty-four, because it contains twenty-four books ; though, from a passage of Josephus, in his first book against GENERAL DIVISIONS OF THE BIBLE. o\5 Appion, it appears, that in his time they divided the whole Bible into twenty-two books, corresponding to the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. He saith, we have only twenty-two books, which are deservedly believed to be of divine authority, of which five are the books of Moses. The prophets, who were the suc- cessors of Moses, have written thirteen. The remaining four books contain hymns to God, and documents of life for the use of men *. At present the Jews make the sacred books to be twenty-four; for they reckon Ezra and Nehemiah as one book, and the twelve minor prophets as one, and the two books of Samuel, of Kings, and of Chronicles, each as one book, which reduces the thirty- nine books, according to our division, to twenty-four. Ancl these twenty-four they distinguish into five of the law, eight of the pro- phets, and eleven of the hagiographa. The law, or pentateuch, which they call rrnn ''U^oin niyan chamishah chumishei torali, that is, quinque quintce legis, contains the five books of Moses, each of which is called by the word with which it begins, or the most con- siderable near the beginning, as Bereshith, Shemoth, &c. The prophets, in Hebrew D^«''ni nebhihn, are distinguished into n^N'^ni D''3ity^*i nehhi'un rishonim, or former prophets, which are Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings ; and the ^a'-iTinx d'-X'-U nehhiim acharonim, or the latter prophets, which are again distinguished into the majores, which are Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel ; and the twelve minores, namely, Rosea, Joel, &c., which are all reckoned one book. The har/iofjraplia, or c^::inD ^,tiZ! sepher chetnhhim. contain Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Canticles, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesi- astes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles. But in some books, as Athias's and Plantin's editions, the n^s'-Jo u^on chamesh megillath, that is, the books of Canticles, Ruth, Lamen- tations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther, are placed just after the Penta- teuch ; and then the hagiographa contain only Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles. The reason why * Joseph, contra Appion. lib. i. sect. viii. torn. ii. p. 441, edit. Havcrc. This pnssa . 465, 466 DDi . . 393 jjtyin^ . 19 D^-liO . 118 «o^ . . 448 Mt2;: . . 195 V)^'' . 154 \^1w^ . . 18 D PD . . 159 D ^D . . 403, 404 ?TO . . 116, 117 nao . 237 ^b3 . . 295 niD . . 330 Tua , . 172 f\D:i . . 309 V m^ . . 416, 417 iii> . 71 3T13 . . 805 Dnn:i? . . . 64,66 nna . . 463 mbii? . 197 ' m5^3 . . 300 bmt:i; . . 449—452 □Dba niai> . 112 b "liQ-bi; . .. 455 tyn^nnb . . 78 iin fj? 1 . 426 "h . . 24 nni^ p J nn-iDb . . .493 mv:? . . 393, 424 -Qb . . 455 . 349 nib mjnb . . . 30, 31 . 246 . no, 136 nityniDio . . 380 13 . 109 . 482 nina . 318 nnvnia . . . 36,37 d'iQ . 136 mpbno . 162 noD > . 391,392 ppno . ' . 48 i^noQ ^ ^niD . . 46 c^mTiQ . 266 'IDD . . 244 DV"^3 . .171 n''0'' ypro . 354, 355 mty^.Q . 323 W'lpO . . 247,318 b^nSD . . 274 nti?D . . 483 ni'iati^a . 162 y nit^D . . 105,247 fV . 141 526 INDEX OF HEBREAV WORDS. ftop VP bum Page . 274 172, 173 . 455 . 234 . 124 374 88 8 482 298 40 263 208—211 . 252 . 263 . 48 187, note . 295 Pniie toniy . . 47 i^nu; . 355 rrty . . 398 DHu; . 139 D^iaty . 11,22,176,241 nhm . 48,49 iinv TT'bm . . 322 •ni^m . 351 n'-tosti^ • . 176, 177 nsty . 169 D'-bnTi nTnQtir . . 466 tyiy 132, 133 nu; . . 482 n r]in . 169 mnn . . 297 pib^n . 135 D^on . . 142 •nan . 426 n;n . . 30 naiin . 178 p!?Qn . . 272 njtyn nsipn . 441 rraiin . . 178 Y^mn , 132 INDEX OF GREEK WORDS AND PHRASES EXPLAINED. ayaoos . ayanais apapria avaOrjpara . avadepaTi^co anoKpivopai UTTOaTokoi arrocppabfs aprov eadicoaiv apx^icrvvaycoyos ap^iTfXcovai. aareios ru> Sfw ^efiaioTepov "R-qOiaba IBt^Xos ya^o oa'(j)vos Tov A^paap ^ • I ^ e^opoKoyfiv . . 71 e7ri(f)coaKov(Tr] . 347 efTKr]V(t}(Tev ev rjpip . . 431 irfpov (Tcapa . . 269, 270 e(pr]pepui . 162, 163 ^v\o(popLa . . 475 deoKparia . 12 dfpanfvrai . . 282 dvaias . • . 284 iSeiv davarop I . .72 'LKacrrrjpwv K . . 304 . 482 Kadapiapos KadrjyrjTrjs Kara Kcupov ' . 368 . . 251 . 386 KaTOlKOVVTfS . 391 KaroiKijais K(>\vp(irjdpci Kpaa-TTtbn . . 335 . 273,274 A XapTTpos \i(iipTivos M . 114 . . 320 pfTprjrai . . 368 P'jTt pai38()Vi prjT€ pa^bov } . 406, 407 528 INDEX OF GREEK WORDS. vrjarfia VOfllKOl vofiobidaaKuXot OlKOVfJifVTJ oXoKavcTTa n nfPTTjKOCTTT) irepav TlrfKova-ia npaKTopfs TTpacriai Trpaaiai TTpo^aTiKrj TTpoXafifSavfi TTpoaeXvToi TTpOO'KVl'eCO . 7rpo(jev)(r) irpoaanoXrjyj/La Trparij rjfiepa rcov a^vpwv prjpa crapparov poTrpcoTov J 442, 443 . . 239 . 239 . . 349 57 197 391, 392 . . 423 . 71 . 483 . 22 . . 73 . 335 . . 364 . 81 . . 73 330, 331 . . 328 . 415 • . 71 . 370 370, 371 . . 448 Page a-a/3/3nrQ) (fy) . . 460 aTrXnyx^vL^ofiai . . . 71 o-vyxp'ovTai . 281 (TvpLTrX-qpova-Ba . . . 420 crvvayoyyr] . . 328 (TxoXri . . . 330 (TTOai T . 314 TfXflOS . . 36 reXficov . . . 36 reXos . . . 68, 69 TfXayvai . . 58,59 rpeis fjp.epas /cat I . . 459 Tpeis vvKras I Tvpavvos Y . . 330 v7r>]pfTr)s . . 322,323 vTTOTacra-fTai * . . 228 vXnKrr]pLa X . . 272 XapiToco . . 72 Xeipo6f(Tia . veipoTovia • . . 179 . 179 it by months, 358. Antiochns JSpiphanes, his impious behaviour at Jerusalem, 44; his decree iigainst the Jews, 45 ; plundered and profaned the temple, 312 ; forbad the reading of the law in the Synagogues, 323. .<4risynagoguc service, 323. Hechabites were Kenites, descended from Jethro, 2G0 ; their vows of not drinking M irie or possessing vineyards, id. Righteous and good man, these words explained, 2fi2. Romans conquer Judea, and reduce it to a Roman province, 46. S. Sabbath, to be observed by the proselytes as well as the Jews, 89. Sabbath, the different acceptations of that word, 370, 371 ; proofs of its institution after the creation, 372 — 374 ; probable that the Jewish \yas kept the day before the patriarchal sabbath, 375 ; the institution of the Jewish sabbath, 375, 376 ; marked out by manna not raining that day, id. ; kept on a different day from the paradisaical sabbath, id. ; a memorial of their deliverance out of Egypt, 376 ; a sign between God and Israel, 378 ; the law of the sabbath enforced by capital punishments, 379 ; what duties belonged to it, id.; what tlie keeping of it holy imports, 379, 380; what bless- ings the word " remember' ' hath a respect to, id. ; they were to abstain from all man. ner of work, 381 ; were not to do or find their own pleasure, id.; self-defence forbid on this day by some, which occasioned a thousand Jews to be slain, 382: thirty-nine negative precepts about things not to be done on this day, id. ; what is to sanctify the sabbath, 383, 384 ; the ends of the institution partly political, partly religious, 385 ; the political, that servants and beasts of burden might be refreshed, id. ; the religious, to commemorate God's work of creation, id. ; and deliverance from Egyptian bond- age, 386 ; and to prepare for heavenly blessedness, 387 ; was a type of the heavenly rest, id. Sabbatical year, or seventh year's rest, 456; distinguished by several names, id. ; the peculiar observances of that year, 457 ; from whence the computation of the year began, id.; at what season it began, 468; a total cessation this year from agriculture, 459, 460; the product of the ground to be enjoyed in common, 460 ; the remission of debts from one Israelite to another, 461 ; whether the Hebrew servants were released in the sabbatical year, 462 ; the public reading of the law at this time, 464 ; the reason on which the law was founded, partly civil, partly religious, id. ; this year typified the spiritual rest Chnst will give to his people, id. Sacrifices, a double use of them, 16 ; by whom they were offered, 1 17 — 120 ; sacri- fices at the consecration of the piiests, 150. Sacrifices, practised in the first ages of the world, 186 ; the opinion of some that sacrifices were an inhuman institution, 187 ; the meaning of some passages of Scripture about sacrifices, 187, 188 ; evidences that sacrifices were originally of divine institution, 189 — 191; but afterward greatly corrupted, both as to their subjects and objects, 191; they include all the offerings made to God, 1 92 ; taken in a large and a strict sense, id.; were strictly either of beasts or birds, id. ; were an acknowledgment of receiving good things from God, id. ; were a means of repentance and humiliation for sin, id.; they typified the promised sacrifice of atonement by the Son of God, id. ; the victim Avas substituted in the room of the transgressor, 1 93 ; and God in mercy took the vic- tim as an expiation for the offender, id. ; what was offered in sacrifice was to be perfect in its kind, 197; distinguished into four kinds, id. ; the burnt-offeiings were wholly consumed, id. ; sin-offerings, the law about them laid down in Scripture, 200 ; tres- pass-offerings greatly resembled the sin-offerings, 202 ; peace-offeriugs were one sort of sacrifices, 204 ; public sacrifices offered morning and evening, 206 ; a double offering every sabbath-daV, id. : extraordinary sacrifices offered at the public feasts, id. ; were liNUEx. 539 also offered for pariicular persons, 207 ; distinguished likewise into animal and veec- table, id. ; meat-offerings and drink-offerings offered, id. ; the Jews rarely refused to offer their proper sacrifices, 208 ; the difficulty reconciled of being offered in other places besides the national altar, •US. Sadducees differed much from the Pharisees, 276 ; the etymology of their name, id. ; the most wicked of the Jews, 277 ; their doctrines, id. ; deny the resurrection, id. ; their bad character by Josephus, id. ; what sacred book they admitted, 278 ; are said to be the richest sect, 279. Saqati, the high-priest's deputy, 159 ; what alleged for their divine institution, 161. ■ Sailing, formerly reckoned dangerous after the autumnal equinox, 443. Salutations, why Elisha forbid Gehazi to give a salutation, 366 ; why our Lord said to his disciples, "salute no man," id. Samaritans, what they were originally, 279 ; their religion, 280 ; the mutual ani- mosity between them and the Jews, id. Sanhedrim, arguments alleged for its antiquity, 23 ; but probably only in the time of the Maccabees, 25 ; what methods they used to find the time of the new moon, 360. Scaliger, his opinion of the sacred books being wTote in the Samaritan character, 491 ; his severe names to writers of a different opinion, id. Schools of the prophets, 233 ; and sons of the prophets, 234 ; schools and acade- mies among the Jews, 329 ; the pupils sat at their tutor's feet, id. ; these schools different from the synagogues, id. Scribes, two sorts of them, 237 ; what the office of the civil Scribes, 237, 238 ; what of the ecclesiastical Scribes, 238, 239 ; they were the preaching clergy among the Jews, 240; the difference between their teaching and that of Christ, 240, 241 ; what meant by the phrase, "Scribes and Pharisees,'' 243; were of great power and authority in the state, id. ; the origin of their office, id. Septuagint, some say that the Hebrew copies these ancient interpreters used, had no points, 511. Shechinah, or miraculous light, a token of the special- presence of God, 307. Shiites and Sonnites, sectaries among the Mahometans, 265. Shilok, in Jacob's prophecy, explained, 48. Shophetim and Shoterim, the distinction between them, 176. Shuckford, his opinion about Cain's mark, 4 ; his hypothesis about tlie confusion of languages, 486. Simeon and Levi, a curse denounced on them, 9. Simeon, whether good old Simeon was president of the Sanhedrim, 248. Sin-offerings, laws and rites about them, 200 ; on what occasions ofi'ered, 200 — 202. Solomon, whether guilty of idolatry, 33. Sortes HomericcB and " Sortes Virgilianse," a sort of divination, 232. So7-tes Sanctorum, formerly used, but afterwards condemned, 232, 233. Sprinkling of blood and oil upon the high-priest's garments, explained, 136, 137. Strangers " of the gate" among the Israelites, 88 ; should not blaspheme God, and should keep the sabbath, id. ; thousands of strangers in Solomon's time, 90. Siibdeacons of the Church of Rome, imitating the Nethinira, 186. Suburbs of the cities of the Le\'ites, the extent of them, 180. Sun, worship of, supposed to be set up by Cain, 3. Sgkes, his Essay on Sacrifices considered, 186, note ; makes all sacrifices to be fede- ral rites, 192 ; his ai-guments against vicarious expiation confuted, 194 — 196. Synagogues, used in two senses, 317 ; denoted commonly places of public worship, id. ; a great number of them said to be in Jerusalem, id. ; questioned whether there were any before the Babylonish captivity, id. ; in what manner the people met after their settlement in the land of Canaan, 319 ; what was the synagogue of the Liber- tines, 319 — 321 ; queried how Christ and his apostles '' taught" in the syn.igogues, 321 ; what meant by " a ruler" of the synagogue, 322 ; and by " the officer"' who prayed, *(/. ; the worship in them was by reading the Scriptures, prayci', and preaching, 323 ; the law divided into fifty-four sections, id. ; the syu;»gogucs useil also for holding courts of justice, 327 ; that passage of Scripture, of coming into the assembly or synagogue in goodly apparel, cou&ide*ed, 328. •540 INDEX. T. Tabernacle, the Divine presence manifested there, 12; minutely described by Moses, 291 ; three tabernacles before Solomon's temple, 291, 292 ; that made by Moses, according to God's command, considered, 292 ; the heathens had tabernacles, id. ; a moveable fabric, 293 ; an expensive building, id. ; the particular model of the tabernacle, 296, 297 ; the covering of it, 297 ; the inside of it, 298 ; the court, 298, 299 ; the altar of burnt-offering, 399 ; the fire to be kept constantly burning, 301 ; the brazen lavcr, id. ; the altar of incense, 302 ; the golden candlestick, and table of shevv- bread, 303 ; the holy of holies, and the ark, 302, 303 ; the form of the mercy-seat and cherubim, 304; the tabernacle and its furniture typical of spiritual blessings, 308. Tabernacles, feast of, the third great festival of the Jews, 424 ; why so called, id. ; called also " the feast of in-gathering," id. ; that properly different from " the feast of tabernacles," 425 ; during this feast they were to dwell in tents and booths made of branches of trees, 42G — 428 : the practice of the Jews as to those branches, id. ; the firsthand last day kept as sabbaths, 428; an extraordinary ceremony about drawing water out of the pool of Sjiloam, 429 ; various reasons why celebrated at this time of the year, 430, 431 ; had a typical reference to the incarnation and birth of our Saviour, 431. Talmudists, their account of the inscription on the high-priest's breast-plate, 144. Taxes, Jewish, occasional and stated, 50 — 55; various sorts levied by the Romans, 6Q. Temple at Jerusalem more magnificent than the tabernacle, 308 ; one built by Solomon, and another by Zerubbabel, id. ; wherein the glory of the latter was greater than the former, 308, 311 ; stood on Mount Zion, 308 ; its expense prodigious, 309 ; built in the same form with the tabernacle, 310 ; the first temple destroyed by the king of Babylon, id. ; the time of its standing, id. ; the second temple built by Zerub- babel, ?c?. ; much inferior to the first, 311 ; the second temple wanted five remarkable things, id. ; profaned by Antiochns, and again purified by Judas Maccabaeus, 312 ; the temple rebuilt by Herod, id. ; its great circumference, 314 ; the first court thereof that of the Gentiles, id. ; then the court of the Israelites, id. ; excommunicated persons not ex- cluded from the temple, 339. Temple-music, when first introduced, 168; what instruments used, 170 — 173. TherapeutcB, who they were, 282. Theocracy among the Israelites, 12 ; instances of God's being their king, id. ; was to be consulted from time to time, ] 5. Tithes, the Levites' subsistence chiefly from them, 181 — 183; why they were thus supported, 183; why that proportion of a tenth, rather than any other, was ap- pointed, I 84. Trespass-offerings resembled sin-offerings, 202 ; their difference, 203 ; the opinions of learned men about this, 203,204. Trumpets, blowu when the year of jubilee was proclaimed, 169; Avere sounded by the priests, 171. Trumpets and new moons, feast of, kept on the first day of every month, 434 ; the sacrifices prescribed on this occasion, id. ; new moons and sabbaths, days of public wor- ship, 43.5 ; the uncertainty of fixing the new moon, 436 ; the manner wherein it is kept by the modern Jews, 437 ; why sacrifices were offered at this season, id. ; the sin-offer- ing then offered, and remarks upon the design of it, 438 ; the new moon in the month Tisri observed with solemnity, 438 ; the trumpets blown from morning to evening, 439 ; the learned divided about the reason of tliis festival, id. ; the design of blowing the trumpets, id. ; what the sounding of the trumpet is a memorial of, 440 ; what notion the modern Jews have about this day, 441. Tyrannus, who he was, and the etymology of the name, 329. U. Unleavened bread, feast of, followed the passover, and was kept seven days, 414; the passover distinct from this feast, but the name of either used for both, id. ; during this feast no leavened bread to be eaten, or to be in their houses, 415 ; the penalty for eating leavened bread, 416 ; the first and last days to be kept holy as sabbaths, 417 : INDKX. 541 an offering of a slieaf of the first-fiuits to be made, id. ; tic luoval and typical signifi- cation of this offering, 418. Uritn and Thumniim, the signification of these words, 14'2; various opinions about them, 142—145. Vessels for keeping the oil used for anointing the kings, of two sorts, 109. Vestal virgins, some of their customs borrowed from the Jewish Levites, 167. Vestments, sacerdotal, peculiar to the high-priest, 134 ; provided at the e.vpense of the people, 147 ; their moral and typical signification, 149. Viri stationarii, what the Jewish doctors say of them, 185, Visions, one of the ways of divine revelation to the prophets, 218, 219 ; the criteria whereby their revelations were known to come from God, 219 — 221 ; whether several symbolical actions of the prophets are an history of real facts, or only visions, 221 — 225. W. Washing, Chiist washing his disciples' feet an extraordinary case, 368 ; designed to instruct them in humility and benevolence, id. Watches, the night divided by the Hebrews into four of them, 349. Waving the sacrifice, of two kinds, 178. Weeks, Jewish, of two sorts, 3.54 ; the one ordinary, the other extraordinary, id. ; the ordinary made by God himself from the beginning, id. ; hence the seventh day has been held sacred, id. ; a passage in Genesis considered in relation to weeks, id. ; time divided by Noah and Lahan by sevens, 355 ; the extraordinary or prophetical weeks, 356 ; the amount of the prophetical weeks of Daniel, id. 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